Well tis the season of en primeur and people are posting offers for Rhones
and Red Burgundy.

It does seem that 2005 was a star vintage in all French regions and after
the hype of the claret, the prices of Rhones and Burgs seem almost
reasonable.

At my age, there seems no point in going for big Rhones, but there seem to
be plenty of early drinking Burgs at a reasonable price. These are not DRC
etc,for which silly money is asked, but wines you and I will enjoy at home
with good food over the next 15 years.

Certainly Jancis in FT today is buoyant
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f1a06ed2-a72...0779e2340.html

I wondered if people would like to see the stuff that has been offered and
UK prices.
I use Tanners and the Wine Society as my main source.
http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/publi...rgundy2005.pdf

I hope the link works.
FWIW, I have already ordered a case of the Potel, Vosne Romanee.

For any old farts out there, note the most pleasing early drinking dates for
these Burgs

As for Rhones, I may get a couple of cases of Croze to see me through my
vinous Autumn ;-(

My wine club annual dinner tonight, will post TN tomorrow.

John T

Lately all prices seem pretty steep in US, due to weak dollar. Once you
remove that factor,
not sure the prices on the top wines are much more reasonable than
Bordeaux. Looks like huge increases in wines like Drouhin's Musigny vs
2004.The greatest increases- in Bdx, Burg, and Rhone- seem to be on the
trophy wines. The Firsts and Superseconds were up amazingly in Bdx; the
big increases in Burg seem to be mostly in the most prized Grand Cru
and "Super 1ers" (my own term, but the most prized Premier Crus such as
Chambolle Amoureuses, Gevrey CSJ, Volnay Clos de Chenes, maybe NSG Les
St George , etc) from the prime producers in each; the biggest Rhone
increases seem to be in the luxury cuvee CdP, Chave Hermitage, La-las,
etc. The market is correcting (overcorrecting in all likelihood) from
pricing which was leading to a lot of secondary-market profit.

Which means (especially with David going to college) I can no longer
afford my normal (I thought restrained) spending. I used to buy mostly
village level but with some splurges for 1ers I really liked (or
bargain GCs). But I doubt I can afford Lafarge Chenes or Chevillon top
1ers for 2005. But all reports re Burgundy seem to be along the lines
of startling quality from top to bottom, so my strategy will be to try
and find regional and village level wines from producers I like, as
well as good 1ers from lesser prized villages like Savigny (from
producers like Pavelot, Ecard, Bize, etc).I did buy a couple bottle of
Clos des Lambrays, because quality has rebounded over last 5-7 vintages
and several reports say the 2005 is best since its heyday many many
years ago.

Similarly, no Bdx superseconds for me in 2005. Most expensive thing I
bought were a few Beausejour-Duffaus. Mostly I concentrated on things
like Ch du Tertre, Rouget, etc. I've bought no Rhones yet, but I have
less favorites there (except Beaucastel, which looks like it will be
too dear for me).

John T wrote:
> Well tis the season of en primeur and people are posting offers for Rhones
> and Red Burgundy.
>
> It does seem that 2005 was a star vintage in all French regions and after
> the hype of the claret, the prices of Rhones and Burgs seem almost
> reasonable.
>
> At my age, there seems no point in going for big Rhones, but there seem to
> be plenty of early drinking Burgs at a reasonable price. These are not DRC
> etc,for which silly money is asked, but wines you and I will enjoy at home
> with good food over the next 15 years.
>
> Certainly Jancis in FT today is buoyant
> http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f1a06ed2-a72...0779e2340.html
>
> I wondered if people would like to see the stuff that has been offered and
> UK prices.
> I use Tanners and the Wine Society as my main source.
> http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/publi...rgundy2005.pdf
>
> I hope the link works.
> FWIW, I have already ordered a case of the Potel, Vosne Romanee.
>
> For any old farts out there, note the most pleasing early drinking dates for
> these Burgs
>
> As for Rhones, I may get a couple of cases of Croze to see me through my
> vinous Autumn ;-(
>
> My wine club annual dinner tonight, will post TN tomorrow.
>
> John T

In article m>,
"DaleW" > wrote:

> Lately all prices seem pretty steep in US, due to weak dollar. Once you
> remove that factor,
> not sure the prices on the top wines are much more reasonable than
> Bordeaux. Looks like huge increases in wines like Drouhin's Musigny vs
> 2004.The greatest increases- in Bdx, Burg, and Rhone- seem to be on the
> trophy wines. The Firsts and Superseconds were up amazingly in Bdx; the
> big increases in Burg seem to be mostly in the most prized Grand Cru
> and "Super 1ers" (my own term, but the most prized Premier Crus such as
> Chambolle Amoureuses, Gevrey CSJ, Volnay Clos de Chenes, maybe NSG Les
> St George , etc) from the prime producers in each; the biggest Rhone
> increases seem to be in the luxury cuvee CdP, Chave Hermitage, La-las,
> etc. The market is correcting (overcorrecting in all likelihood) from
> pricing which was leading to a lot of secondary-market profit.
>
> Which means (especially with David going to college) I can no longer
> afford my normal (I thought restrained) spending. I used to buy mostly
> village level but with some splurges for 1ers I really liked (or
> bargain GCs). But I doubt I can afford Lafarge Chenes or Chevillon top
> 1ers for 2005. But all reports re Burgundy seem to be along the lines
> of startling quality from top to bottom, so my strategy will be to try
> and find regional and village level wines from producers I like, as
> well as good 1ers from lesser prized villages like Savigny (from
> producers like Pavelot, Ecard, Bize, etc).I did buy a couple bottle of
> Clos des Lambrays, because quality has rebounded over last 5-7 vintages
> and several reports say the 2005 is best since its heyday many many
> years ago.
>
> Similarly, no Bdx superseconds for me in 2005. Most expensive thing I
> bought were a few Beausejour-Duffaus. Mostly I concentrated on things
> like Ch du Tertre, Rouget, etc. I've bought no Rhones yet, but I have
> less favorites there (except Beaucastel, which looks like it will be
> too dear for me).
>
> John T wrote:
> > Well tis the season of en primeur and people are posting offers for Rhones
> > and Red Burgundy.
> >
> > It does seem that 2005 was a star vintage in all French regions and after
> > the hype of the claret, the prices of Rhones and Burgs seem almost
> > reasonable.
> >
> > At my age, there seems no point in going for big Rhones, but there seem to
> > be plenty of early drinking Burgs at a reasonable price. These are not DRC
> > etc,for which silly money is asked, but wines you and I will enjoy at home
> > with good food over the next 15 years.
> >
> > Certainly Jancis in FT today is buoyant
> > http://www.ft.com/cms/s/f1a06ed2-a72...0779e2340.html
> >
> > I wondered if people would like to see the stuff that has been offered and
> > UK prices.
> > I use Tanners and the Wine Society as my main source.
> > http://www.tanners-wines.co.uk/publi...urgundy2005.pd
> > f
> >
> > I hope the link works.
> > FWIW, I have already ordered a case of the Potel, Vosne Romanee.
> >
> > For any old farts out there, note the most pleasing early drinking dates
> > for
> > these Burgs
> >
> > As for Rhones, I may get a couple of cases of Croze to see me through my
> > vinous Autumn ;-(
> >
> > My wine club annual dinner tonight, will post TN tomorrow.
> >
> > John T

Spain and Portugal are looking better and better. German Rieslings and
Austrian Gruner's are still good buys so that's the direction my wine
dollar is going. France will have to be mostly Beaujolais for me.