December 3, 2007
I am in total denial, and unable to accept that it is already December, with Christmas just three weeks away. Yikes! I am looking forward to a relatively quiet month, after the non-stop action of September/October/November. It is pouring rain here for the forseeable future, and a nice time to cocoon, to recharge the batteries, and get ready for the new year.
The one thing I’m really grappling with right now is our Burgundy program for 2008. I need to finalize my reservations and orders for the 2006 wines in the next couple of weeks. What’s making it difficult is that we’ve hit the “perfect storm” – the producers have raised their prices slightly over the 2005s, the dollar is at the all-time low versus the Euro, and while the 2006 wines are indeed excellent, they do not have the reputation of the superb 2005s. The result is that the 2006 wines will be more expensive than the 2005s, and I can imagine that they will not sell at the blistering pace of the 2005s. I need to buy carefully this year, of that I am sure.
There will be no great “bargains” in 2006 Burgundy, but of course that’s all relative. One thing I’m very proud of is that our portfolio, on the whole, offers excellent values in relation to the quality. Most of our wines seem to get one or two fewer ratings points than the “trophy” wines, but are sold at a fraction of the price of the “big boys”. Even with the crash of the dollar and producer price increases we can still offer a great wine like the René Leclerc 2006 Lavaux St. Jacques for around $80, while the Armand Rousseau version will likely be offered by major retailers at over $500 (at least that’s what they’re getting for the 2005). As a point of reference – Burghound scores for the 2005 versions of these wines were 89-91 points for the Rousseau, and 90-93 points for the René Leclerc. You can have six bottles of the Leclerc to enjoy over the next several years, or one bottle of the lower-rated Rousseau. It seems like an obvious choice to me, but then I’m biased…
At any rate, my hope is that true Burgundy lovers will recognize the value in our offerings of the 2006s. Many of the 2005s were purchased by people who never bought Burgundy previously, many in fact who were not even big wine lovers. There was a feeding frenzy for the 2005s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 2006 will be a vintage for people who really love the stuff – and fortunately the wines rock and there will be a lot to love!
