Great thread Paul, just the sort of discussion for a group like this.
Toby, I've really enjoyed your considered thoughts and views.
I am a committed(or should be) lover of old white burgundy, despite all of the issues. I still buy old, usually pre-96, bottles at auction where it tends to priced with the risk factor built in. I have bought a lot of Jobard and find them to be remarkable good in 96's and 98's. The en le barre has been my go to on the basis of price/value at around £30.
I've taken a few chances on random auction purchases, including some 1999 Boillot Bourgogne only a few years ago which perfectly encapsulated the discussion here. It was a humble Bourgogne, with 15+ years of age and yet had survived the poxiness but had aged superbly and transformed into the wonder that is old white burgundy. Cost me £4 per bottle.
I agree the problems are unbelievably frustrating and have experienced my own share of the pain, so won't buy new and won't buy at the GC level without the risk of pox included in the price and a willingness to have a lash but if you can except those caveats, there are some glorious wines to be experienced. I know that shouldn't be the case but c'est la vie.
As I write this, I am finishing off the last glass of the Au Bon Climat 2010 mentioned earlier and it tastes for all the world like an older white burgundy thought was only around £20 a bottle and carries no baggage. It has blossomed overnight and yet I would swap a bottle of this for Mike's Jobard in a heartbeat, which had the perfect acidity, precision and a savoury edge which is unmistakably white burgundy and with food became something entirely greater than the sum of its parts, which the ABC couldn't match.
I am just an unashamed lover of aged white burgundy and am prepared to search for those pleasures, though I cheat quite often with a new world mistress or two...