For those with an interest 😉

• http://www.shankennewsdaily.com/index.php/2015/05/05/12312/u-s-becomes-top-market-for-burgundy-despite-a-decline-in-volume-and-value/

Christophe Buisson and Alex Gambal sign at last – pic from Alex.

Hmm – what a good story – 🙂

This deal took a very long time to finalise, but now ‘Domaine Alex Gambal’ is exploiting the following:

My hat of the day award!

I’m more than 75% of the way through visiting roughly 35 domaines for my January, Chablis Vintage 2013 Report (though my last half-dozen visits are not for another 10 days) and its a very particular vintage.

I won’t publish my report until the start of the second week of February, but given all the offers that I’ve seen, and more particularly some of the descriptions (exultations/exhortations to buy!) I’ve seen, I thought it timely to add just a few words – caveats if you like…

Except a few wise old owls who invoke very old vintages (ones never, ever, drunk by 99.9% of current buyers) the producers will tell you that they have no reference points for this vintage. Yields were low, but that doesn’t always mean concentration. The wines may be direct, fresh and mineral ‘Chablis’, or they may be round and rich with hints of botrytis and apricot – admittedly tasty chardonnay, but not really Chablis. It really depends on the address. Really!

It should be fine if you get to taste samples beforehand, but buying blind makes 2013 a much more complicated proposition than 07, 08, 09, 10 or 12 was – or indeed 14 will be (just for the record, I really don’t like 2/3rds of 11 Chablis, sorry). So be careful out there! On the positive side, apart from a couple of massively over-subscribed domaines, whose 2013s are anyway fine, (and who only spend their money on funny hats), Chablis is generally some of the easiest white burgundy to source – so you’ve time to wait for my report 😉

PUNCH | Is the Jura Dealing with the “Urban Outfitters Effect”? http://t.co/gA9inFNPQe

— Melissa M. Sutherland (@melissa_ful) December 13, 2014

http://punchdrink.com/articles/is-the-jura-dealing-with-the-urban-outfitters-effect/

A well-written and thought-provoking piece. There are many viewpoints of-course, and it is really no different a complaint to that of people lamenting the high-price purchases of ‘outsiders’ in Burgundy i.e. LMVH, Château Latour and/or whoever is eventually going to stump up the cash for Pousse d’Or (I don’t see anyone stumping up the cash for Rebourseau!).

The argument cuts in all directions; Guillaume d’Angerville himself, hardly happy about a ‘negociant from Nuits’ having bought a sizable chunk of villages Volnay, when he would have preferred the vines to have stayed in ‘Volnay hands.’

It’s sometimes described as progress – it’s always transient – but change is inevitable…

DOMAINE LEFLAIVE 2013 – Puligny-Montrachet (En Primeur)
Just for reflection, you will see the same offer prices of their 2012s in the brackets. Oh, and can anyone tell me if Montrachet was really included for the first time? I remember seeing a price but was temporarily blinded!

Bourgogne 2012 75cl 35.00 Swiss Francs (35.00)
Puligny-Montrachet 2012 75cl 65.00 (65.00)

PREMIERS CRUS
Puligny-Montrachet Les Clavoillons 75cl 88.00 (85.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Clavoillons 150cl 186.00
Puligny-Montrachet Les Clavoillons 300cl 412.00
Meursault Sous Le Dos d’Âne 75cl 99.00 (96.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatières 75cl 148.00 (139.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Combettes 75cl 159.00 (149.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 75cl 175.00 (175.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 150cl 360.00 (355.00)
Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 300cl 760.00

GRANDS CRUS
Bienvenues Bâtard-Montrachet 75cl 319.00 (289.00)
Bâtard-Montrachet 75cl 355.00 (310.00)
Chevalier-Montrachet 75cl 450.00 (395.00)
Chevalier-Montrachet 75cl 150cl 910.00

Montrachet 75cl 4,850

I guess that last bottle will be 3x the price of DRC’s label then – at least the 1st tier DRC pricing – here’s mud in your eye 😉

DOMAINE FAIVELEY 2013 – En Primeur

PREMIERS CRUS
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Cazetiers 2013 75 cl 72.50 (69.80*) Swiss Francs
Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Saint-Georges 2013 75 cl 98.00 (98.00)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Fuées 2013 75 cl 119.00 (119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny la Combe d’Orveau 2013 75 cl 119.00 (119.00)
Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses 2013 75 cl 228.00 (228.00)

Corton Clos des Cortons 2013 75 cl 139.00 (139)
Corton Clos des Cortons 2013 150 cl 283.00 (283)
Mazis-Chambertin 2013 75 cl 167.00 (169)
Grands Echezeaux 2013 75 cl 198.00 (—)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2013 75 cl 249.00 (235)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze 2013 150 cl 503.00 (475)
Chambertin Clos de Bèze Les Ouvrées Rodin 2013 75 cl 598.00 (598)

Corton Charlemagne 2013 75 cl 169.00 (159)

*Same merchant, 2012 prices. As we can see, largely, steady as she goes…
(8% Tax to add in Switzerland, but then these are delivered prices)