News here.

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UPDATED from June 23rd:
I discussed with some of the family; there is (was) a complex holding of many, many family members, so a wide spread of shareholders. A large (majority) block chose to sell, and that block was not represented by those that currently actively manage the company…
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Fair to say that this was a surprise…

Béjot takes over Thomas-Moillard
Owner of the Jean-Baptiste Béjot trading company in Meursault and of an estate of over 300 hectares (Chablis, Hautes-Côtes de Nuits, and Fabrezan in the Corbières region), Vincent Sauvestre has strengthened his position as a key player in Burgundy by acquiring the prestigious Maison Moillard in Nuits-Saint-Georges. He thus ensures the continuity of this estate, owned by the Thomas-Moillard family since 1850. The two companies should in fact complement each other, both in terms of supplies and sales networks in France and abroad, giving them the opportunity to develop in parallel and allowing the new Béjot-Moillard group to become an important player on the market.
The estate, made up of some thirty hectares in Burgundy and 75 hectares in Languedoc, is part of the deal. However, the 35 hectares in Romania, inaugurated in 1996, remain the property of Denis Thomas, former Chairman of Thomas-Moillard.

Source: BIVB

Ouch.  Much more expensive than Bouchard Père 07 (same merchant) – they are good, but they are not that good.  There are too many clouds around white burgundy to justify dipping my toes for anything other than an ‘early tester’ at these prices.  Boillot’s Corton-Charlemagne can be class leading, but given the poor aging of the 2001’s in my cellar…

VILLAGES BLANCS
MEURSAULT 2007 37,5cl 29.00 swiss francs
MEURSAULT 2007 75cl 54.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 2007 37,5cl 30.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 56.00
PREMIERS CRUS BLANCS
MEURSAULT Les Charmes 2007 75cl 85.00
MEURSAULT Les Genevrières 2007 75cl 89.50
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 2007 75cl 95.00
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Perrières 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Clos de La Mouchère 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 89.50
PULIGNY-MONTRACHET Les Pucelles 2007 75cl 95.00
GRANDS CRUS BLANCS
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 2007 75cl 149.00
CRIOTS BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 215.00
BIENVENUES BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 249.00
BATARD MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 295.00
CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 368.00
MONTRACHET 2007 75cl 499.00
PREMIERS CRUS ROUGES
BEAUNE Clos du Roi 2007 75cl 59.50
VOLNAY Les Chevrets 2007 75cl 75.00
VOLNAY Les Caillerets 2007 75cl 79.00

2007 Burgundies from Bouchard Père et Fils
I’ve seen worse. The whites are not bad value considering the current impression of the quality – I last bought the 2002 Meursault Perrières for 59 francs per, but that’s an average 5% increase per year!

VINS BLANCS
MEURSAULT Genevrières 375 36.50 (Swiss Francs)
MEURSAULT Genevrières 750 69.00
MEURSAULT Les Perrières 750 75.00
CORTON CHARLEMAGNE 750 119.00
CHEVALIER-MONTRACHET 750 229.00
MONTRACHET 750 429.00

VINS ROUGES
CLOS DE VOUGEOT 750 139.00
ECHEZEAUX 750 129.00
CHAMBERTIN Clos de Bèze 750 169.00

More joke prices for me to ‘pass-on’:

Bonneau du Martray [Almost doubled in 5 years!]:
Corton Charlemagne 2006 CHF 149.–
Domaine Leflaive [Plus a modest 50% in 5 years]:
Bourgogne 2006 CHF 46.–
Puligny Montrachet 2006 CHF 75.–
Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 2006 CHF 105.–
Meursault Sous le dos d’ane 2006 CHF 119.–
Bienvenues Batard Montrachet 2006 CHF 289.–
Batard Montrachet 2006 CHF 299.–
Chevalier Montrachet 2006 CHF 385.–
Puligny Montrachet 1er Cru Clavoillon 1996 !! CHF 125.–
Comte de Vogue [More than doubled in 5 years!]:
Musigny Vielles Vignes 2006 CHF 520.–
Bonnes Mares 2006 CHF 430.–
Chambolle Musigny CHF 125.– Already up 25% from here!
Mommesin [Ha! – More than quadrupled in 5 years – 2001 was 90 chf!]:
Clos de Tart 2006 CHF 450.–
Clos de Tart 2006 MAGNUM CHF 920.–

Is it any wonder that I mainly buy villages wines now?

Interested in the future of fine wine according to Berry Bros and Rudd?

Of-course, what’s in the bottle will come under ever-more scrutiny…

I recently made a few Beaujolais suggestions here. It appears from the ‘complaint’ below, that rather than recover their position and take a forward-looking view, they would rather wither and die…

Jean-Paul Brun’s Beautiful 2007 Beaujolais l’Ancienne Denied the AOC Beaujolais! Can you imagine the stupidity!

“Jean-Paul Brun just learned that 5,222 cases of Beaujolais l’ Ancienne 2007 have been deemed as being atypical by the French wine police. I’ve enjoyed a bunch of these bottles. They are fruity and elegant and a true pleasure to drink. So what’s wrong?

They were not made with the miserable thermo vinification technique that Georges Duboeuf and the Beaujolais Establishment has decided is typical. The wine was not made with enzymes and cultured years but comes only from what the earth and the vine brought into the bottle. It was not made at high yields or high chaptalization, but is a real and natural wine.”

Note for balance that I’ve never tasted the wine concerned, it’s not confirmed exactly WHY the wine was denied AOC, the ‘targets’ are easy ones, and the story is from an importer who has a financial interest, but that said, this still sounds rather bad. Full story here.