I was recently able to meet the press attaché Cécile Mathiaud and Michel Baldassini, the head of the main Burgundy wine growers’ association, the (BIVB) – he is also head of the Cave Coopérative de Lugny. My reason was to try and get a perspective in the research of the BIVB into the phenomenon of […]
I addressed this observation to all the winemakers I met last week and culled the following information: Winemaker 1. “Yes I know exactly what you mean – it’s also there in some whites. We see this to a lower extent in many vintages, but I have to admit it’s on a much higher level since […]
I thought I would just let that initial comment hang there a while 🙂 Of-course that comment is aimed at the red wines of the vintage; whites are opulent and rich (2003 with acidity) – with the potential exception of Chablis they may not be everyone’s cup of tea – but don’t worry 2006 looks […]
There is always hype of some kind associated with the launch of each new vintage – but comments like the one above are not the norm. That the comment came today from someone who has already largely pre-sold all their 2005’s is telling – even internally at the domaine they are carving up their remaining […]
News on the Antonin Rodet website announces their acquisition of Maison Dufouleur Père & Fils including the addition of the large Nuits Monopole, the 1er Cru Clos de Thorey to the “Domaines Rodet family”: The Mercurey-based Burgundy Wine group Antonin Rodet, founded in 1875, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sequana Capital, has announced the acquisition of […]
You only need to look at notes for the 2004’s tasted here in the last 2-3 months to see that something is going-on in those bottles – and it’s not entirely pleasant – so I had to write something about it. Initially I felt compelled to say something, simply because I felt that others were […]
Whilst they are far from commonplace, some producers are looking to extract a little extra from the consumers for this vintage. I have already forward purchased from several producers with prices at, or below, 2004/2003 levels, but some are going the other way: I am exhorted by a swiss merchant ‘attention – quantities are low’, […]
Back to reality – Christmas is over – it seems in a flash! Lots of friends were seen and surprisingly few bottles were drunk as I was mainly the chauffeur. My first disappointment is that I’ve finally given up trying to match red burgundy with the traditional Christmas meal – it doesn’t work – there […]
I’ve left New York behind and find myself in Philadelphia – well the airport Marriott anyway, and it’s definitely not grubby! The bar of the hotel throngs to quite a number of people cheering an (American) football team, on (as far as I can see) 6 TV screens in the bar area – maybe it’s […]
Apparently the ‘Brits’ like to name wines by their varietal. I’m not sure who came up with that statement, or how it applies to Chablis, Châteauneuf-du-Pape or ‘claret’ for instance, but someone was convinced enough to pay for a series of adverts in ‘lifestile magazines’ and the ‘colour supplements’ of the weekend newspapers in the […]
It seemed to me that in 2005 the selling ‘machine’ of Christies (at theit first attempt) did not really get into full gear for the sale of the 2005’s; prices were average and the wines should be excellent – perhaps Christies needed to get into the swing of things. This year, for the 2006’s, the […]
I don’t often whinge – I think! When it comes to corked wine, my average is only around 4% detected – close to, but at the bottom-end of the rates from most studies – so I don’t consider myself a hypercondriac. My approach to merchants when I have a bad bottle is simply to point […]
