And so it begins...2015 burgs

Just got an email from a merchant (admittedly not the same merchant I bought from last year) showing prices on Heresztyn Mazzini wines increasing by 30-50% on last year. Don't know whether it reflects them not being under the radar any more or whether it's a general trend but not a good sign.
 
Was talking to an acquaintance who owns a large domaine in Burgundy. He's been discussing pricing with other domains re: pricing. His take is that grand cru and serious 1er crus will go up 30% in Euros, village and lesser 1er crus up 20%. Add another 15% of GBP:EUR movement and it looks amazingly ugly for UK consumers.

It's also worth remembering that wine imports are taxed 32% under WTO rules, which may well be in application by the time the 2017 vintage is physically delivered to consumers.
 
Just before you get into a buying frenzy...this article from a Greek immigrant in France ;)
2015 Gevrey-Chambertins
Vintage of the century for sure. ..and for our grand children maybe...
Ref Prices, Hospices de Beaune sales saw red wine prices going down by 25% and white wine prices by 37%... but in euros...
Warm vintage Panos compares to 2009 and mentions some heat and alcohol.
 
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2009? Only for those that picked quite late - and still the wines have a different shape. 2009 is not a valid comparison...
Don't forget that the temperatures of 40 degrees or more were pre veraision. All the last 3 weeks of ripening were normal summer temperatures, and with reasonable rain too...
 
Bill,
I have no personal opinion but the author is clear (and not derogatory)
Introduction
"While not exactly like 2009, the wines I tasted at this event often seemed to approach that vintage’s characteristics – and for many readers there is much to cheer about."
Further down
" Acclaimed Burgundy critic John Gilman, for example, tweeted today (19 November): “In my book, I’m not certain that ’15 will be more famous than ’14 in 20 years.”
"
But JG also adds there are several 2015 styles with some "pure, sappy and very transparent"

Of course, Panos also mentions the tasting was in warm conditions which may have affected the wines.

On the other hand Steen Ohman is very enthusiastic on wineghog.org, so, as usual, there is a spectrum of opinions and I will wait for January tasting (I only tasted at Mugneret Gibourg and loved what I tasted).
 
plus 1 (plus, plus plus) re Bill in all respects.

Cut through the merchants 'selling bull shit', desole, they dont have to try hard, (apologies, not a lot of time here for elements of the UK trade), both Bill and myself 'got our hands very dirty' in this vintage amongst others (2015 - my 8th), but the fruit quality was clearly exceptional from the 'get go', better than 2014 which was pretty damn good (CdNuits for me) , as numerous vignerons/vigneronnes have said (to me). Tasting in Burgundy this last week, and listening to sentiment (to me the Burgundy vigneron mostly tells it as it is), 2015 is a seriously good vintage, along the lines of 2005. Whether ultimately better remains to be seen, and could be years off after I've departed, but the wines at this stage (for the most part - selection key as per usual) are remarkably 'easy' to taste, have super freshness, great balance/structure, but 'enough' for longevity. I'm getting a bit old for EP, and fortunately have a cellar of certain size, so can come to all this free of 'inhibition' but my long time Morey-St-Denis employer, bless him, isn't given to hyperbole and suffice to say he's pretty happy giving us a tasting of 23 different 2015 cuvees this week (despite his bad cold) - we only 'missed' the PTG because the barrels of that were too hard to reach ;-) .

Dont want to promote thread drift but, looking ahead, I have serious 'hopes' re elements of the press/merchant (insert rude words of choice for either & remember motives) much maligned 2016 - that is at least for the CdNuits that is (or parts of it). The flat, low lying lands, and certain premier crus less higher up, got hammered by frost, but otherwise some of the fruit quality I saw this harvest was just jaw droppingly fantastic . For example Domaine Arlaud, Morey, produced only 35% of the 'normal' Bourgogne Roncevie (5 ha), lost Chambolle Chatelots and Noirots in full, plus the negoce Nuits 1er Porrets St Georges, but the domaine Morey Village/1er crus, Gevrey 1er Combottes, Clos de la Roche & negoce Vosne 1er Petit-Monts were all just stunning in fruit terms. The press juice of CdlR was Ribena delish :)

For me, if I had the cash, was building a long term cellar, subject to prices not being too OTT stupid, and (the key as always) selectively, I'd fill my boots with 2015 in both colours although those in the know should have already done so re 2014 whites (and 2013/2012/2010 reds).
 
The vignerons I spoke to this September weren't terribly optimistic for a good 2016 - more hit and miss. They had late frosts in the spring which affected the budding of the fruit. And then come harvest week (the week we were there) they were hit by big thunderstorms (following a lovely hot dry spell) and you could see different vineyards making the decision to either get out there quick before the rain, and risking that the grapes weren't quite juicy enough, or wait for the rain for a bit more plumpness and hope that there wasn't too much storm damage. For example, the village Nuits St Georges vineyards were being harvested before the rain, while the premier crus were left till after. Clos de Vougeot was after the rain (we visited there on the Thursday after the first lot of storms)

Exemplar Romanee-Conti vines prior to the rains, if this is of value to anyone! upload_2016-11-22_21-31-38.png

And educating the child :) upload_2016-11-22_21-33-13.png
 
FWIW, Bill Nanson and I were both at the same Gevrey tasting that Panos was at, and indeed Bill and I arrived a couple of hours earlier when the wines were fresher. Plus, Bill and I have been doing visits to individual estates to taste through the lineups. I don't know what Bill's views are, but mine are that there are many great wines in Gevrey from 2015, but also quite a few that I would not be interested in buying -- even at low prices, I will be able to find better wines at the price. In particular, it's a vintage where one could go wrong by extracting too much or using too much new oak -- and many in Gevrey did just that. Harvest dates weren't simple either.

Different strokes for different folks.
 
Claude, Bill, Mark,
Thanks for comments.
Critics useful as always: what I hear/read tells me that this is an irregular vintage with many extraordinary down to mediocre wines. So, need to pick and choose which is fine by me as I am not getting any younger.
 
I'm still buying 9/10/11/12 for less than the price of 14s, so I fully expect to buy zero 2015s.

Of course, if I had the money I'd be keeping my allocations of Roumier, Mugneret Gibourg etc going... but that's over for me I'm afraid.
 
My buying has some similarities Richard. The last time I 'went large' on GCs was 2005 - and still significantly below previous vintages. I bought plenty of 09 and 10, sparingly 11, and 12 was the last vintage I bought to cellar - but like a chump - mainly in magnum ;-)
 
I have bought a fair quantity of village wines of 09, 10, 11 and 12 from some of the very best growers (e.g. Mugneret, Mugneret-Gibourg, Cathiard and Geantet-Pansiot), which I expect to keep me very happy over the next 10 years or so. They weren't exactly cheap, but they are likely to have been relative bargains seen against prices for the same wines of 2015, and probably beyond.

For me, GCs are now much too expensive, and I have a reasonable number from 05 and 99 which seemed very dear at the time, but now seem to have been cheap. In time, I will probably sell some of those, and just enjoy my excellent village wines from more recent vintages, which are rather better made than they were 20 years ago.
 
I have bought a fair quantity of village wines of 09, 10, 11 and 12 from some of the very best growers (e.g. Mugneret, Mugneret-Gibourg, Cathiard and Geantet-Pansiot), which I expect to keep me very happy over the next 10 years or so. They weren't exactly cheap, but they are likely to have been relative bargains seen against prices for the same wines of 2015, and probably beyond.

For me, GCs are now much too expensive, and I have a reasonable number from 05 and 99 which seemed very dear at the time, but now seem to have been cheap. In time, I will probably sell some of those, and just enjoy my excellent village wines from more recent vintages, which are rather better made than they were 20 years ago.

The general level is certainly higher now, Mark( though I occasionally feel now that things are becoming sometimes a little TOO pure) but there are some fabulous village wines from the many great vintages of the 90s from growers such as those you mention. I'm always of the view that a properly mature village wine is a whole lot more exciting than a too young 1er or GC.
 
But sadly, Tom, I have so few village wines left from the '90s. Mostly drunk on the young side, I now know, and am rather rueful for it. But I think some of the '05 village wines will be ready by 2020, which isn't so long now, and I have a few '02s still.

Funnily enough, one of the very best of all my wines of the '90s is a humble bourgogne rouge -- the Anne Gros 1999, which would easily pass for a premier cru Vosne.
 
I for a long time wondered why I'd been so stupid storing so very many cases of village 99s but I'm starting to feel quite pleased that I did now though it made no economic sense I suppose. They are just starting to really show why the vintage was special as indeed are the bourgognes which have taken forever but are tip-top. I remember buying a bottle of the Anne Gros when it was new from Laytons in Pont street I think. It wasn't even slightly approachable and I can absolutely see that it needed years.
 
Indeed! The only reason the Anne Gros has survived in my cellar is that for years it was so totally forbidding and impenetrable that I had given up on it, and then I forgot about it. Happily, I tried another a year ago, and there are 8 bottles left. Such riches:D!
 
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