I just tripled my red Burgundy holdings...

[DavidG]

...by buying 2 bottles of '05 Burgs for the DC convention.

[Comte Flaneur]

Welcome to the Dark Side David

[JimHow]

Well done, DavidG. Well done.

[William P]

Big mistake.

[stefan]

2 today, 20 next week, 200 this year--you are well on your way, David.

stefan

[DavidG]

Spoken like a true mathematician, Stefan.

Listen, you mugs. I'm drinkin' these in DC, and that's it between me and the Cote de Nuits. Is that clear, or do I have to spell it out for you? No more. Done. Fin.

[PappaDoc]

And what might they be, inquiring minds want to know?

[DavidG]

Keep in mind I know nothing about red Burgs, but I went into Macarthurs and asked for a couple of '05 Burgs in the $20-50 range, easy on the oak, ready to drink now for a tasting next month. This is what they suggested,and what I bought:

'05 Gardin-Perrotto Givry Premier Cru Clos Salomon, and...
'05 Potel Volnay Vieilles Vignes

[JimHow]

I'll bring a bunch of '05 Burgs from the "JimHow New Hampshire liquor store Collection."
Man, SteveH and i got some good deals there last summer, especially during the week when they had both the 20% sale off of already low prices plus a $25 gift card if you bought over $120 worth.

[DavidG]

I don't know if these were good prices or not, but the Potel was $45 and the Clos Salomon was $30. I'm looking forward to trying these and your NH Collection. I'm also tempted to bring some similarly-priced '05 Bdx to put up against these BWE WsOTY, but it all comes down to which samples you pick. Something tells me your WOTY pick was heavily influenced by pricing - you were getting screaming deals on '05 Burgs in NH at the same time everyone was hollering about how overpriced Bdx has become.

[JimHow]

Well, the biggest deals were those '05 d'Angerville Volnay Premier Crus which Steve and i ended up getting for about $30 apiece after the various discounts, I'll be sure to bring a few of those, it's an excellent wine.

[DavidG]

It's very satisfying to get a good deal like that on a wine you love and can buy in quantity. I'm getting excited about our plans for DC.

[stefan]

Maybe I'll bring some 06 St Innocent to taste blind against 05 Burgundies, maybe in Jim's suite? I have liked the 05 Burgs I have tried, including the Potel Volnay VV, but Vlossak's wines can give them a run for the money.

I'm trying to decide what to bring to the Thursday dinner that Rick is organizing. It will be mostly Burgundies. The 97 Grand Crus are mostly excellent now. I think either a Bouchard Bonnes Mares or a Hudelot-Noellat Romanee St Vivant. But I love the Jadot Corton Pougets even if it is a less heralded GC. I guess I'll ask Rick to choose.

stefan

[Claret]

Jim needs to try some Oregon Pinots. St. Innocent is one of my favorite producers. The 2006's are from a warm vintage with some wines that really hit the mark combining richness with good acidity and moderate structure, while some others can be a bit flabby.

[DavidG]

Glenn, you can't leave Stefan as the lone defender of Oregon Pinot. Come on out!

[Claret]

I would love to atttend, but my budgetary considerations will not allow it this year. A California venue in the future is definetly doable.

[JimHow]

We were at a Boston BWE offline a few years back and there was a producer from Oregon there who brought a bottle of his wine that I really, really like but I can't for the life of me recall what it was. I don't doubt at all that the west coast is producing some quality pinot.

[dstgolf]

My experience with 2005 Village Burgs has been different than Jim's. Yes there may be some very good select Village wines but he's not randomly going in and trying various Village wines available. I've found this very disappointing and I've tried several dozen. Mostly thin,green tannic poorly made wines. I think it's like anywhere else. If you get a good recommendation on a wine from someone that you trust then it's likely to be good. That doesn't mean that the entire commune is producing great stuff based on 5 or 6 recommended wines. Don't get me wrong. I think 2005 is a very good vintage in Burgundy but you still have to be very selective. Burgundry in my opinion remains a minefield even in this great vintage.

Danny

[JimHow]

Interesting, Danny, I've just loved everything i've tried from 2005 Burgundy. And my ultimate selection of '05 Burgundy for WOY was also based on the experiences of not just myself but others like werner, bill, PappaDoc, Nic, and others. I think during the course of the DC '09 weekend, both within the rooms of Hotel BWE and without, we will have to quest to answer the question: Is 2005 Burgundy the real deal? Wish you could join us!

Also, remember that the vote for 2005 Village Burgundy as BWE Wine of the Year was also not just an endorsement of 2005 burgundy, but it was also a protest of some of the things going on in Bordeaux. Gotta keep them honest.

[PappaDoc]

Dan,

Without a doubt, Burgundy is the most dangerous place in the wine game. Fortunately some recent things have somewhat lowered the risks involved.
1. global warming- German vintners used to get 3 good vintages out of ten as they are north of Newfoundland. Proxsimity to rivers has helped form microclimats, and sunlight comes direct and is also reflected up the steep slopes from the river. That double sune effect is the cause fo more people being sunburned while standing in the water at the beach. The same warming has allowed for better ripening in Burgundy. Hail is still one of the great difficulties, especially in the Cotes d Beaune.

2. Improvements in the Vineyards and Cellars over the last ten years. Of course these methods have been improving the quality of wine throughout the world.

3. For me 2005 is without a doubt the best Burgundy vintage since 1971, as all of Burgundy including Cote Chalonnaise (Givry-Joblot), Macon, Chablis, and Beaujolais made gorgeous wines. The simple Bourgogne and Village ACs are splendid.

I buy wine from all over the world, 1/4 of my collection is German wine, the largest percentage. I regularly buy "Older Bordeaux" on Wine bid.com and older Italian wines as well. A day will come that I will regret that I didn't buy more 2005 Red Burgundies.

[dstgolf]

Pappa,

Agree totally with what you are saying and I'm very happy to have purchased 7 cases of hopefully good Burgs. My only issue still is you can't blindly buy and hope you'll have a winner. Chances in 05 are greatly improved but I've still had some pretty disappointing wines including Bouchard Aine-fils Beaune 1re cru Les Marconnets,Duvergney-Taboureau Gevrey-Chambertin,Clerget Volnay which we've had in the last two weeks and were pretty lousy. Maybe the Bouchard was shut down but really showed little pleasure. The other two were just thin,watered down poorly balance juice, not showing much at all.

I think it's still like any region where it helps to know the good producers,good regions and have a good recommendation. I've certainly enjoyed some very pleasant 05 Burgs but I can't say they have been equally stellar across the board. There have been many disappointments.

Danny

[Harry C.]

David, you will find medium weight wines with noticeable acid on the end. Feh.

[Claudius]

Guys,
I bought over 30 to 40 cases of 05 Burgs, inlcuding 8 cases of whites.
The Aust dollar was also strong at the time (dog now....) and I got them for good prices.
I have drunk only the lesser whites and reds so far - straight Bourgognes et al.

Not every wine is great - a few were rather dull and over-cropped, but even at a generic level, they are the best red vintage I can recall in Burgundy.

Interestingly, I bought several cases of 05 Bordeaux but the prices were pretty obscene and I down graded in quality. Still bought good wines but not the very best.

The 05 reds are now much more expensive here as I bought on indent or private imports.

[DavidG]

Harry, I'm guessing you will be proven right. Something tells me these aren't going to be reminiscent of the bottles we drank at Ch de Beaune in '05.

Claudius - Wow, that's a lot of '05 Burg! Or is it partly an investment? When I go big on a region in a particular vintage, it's more like 5 cases, but I usually buy 3s and 4s of things, not whole cases. I must not be drinking enough...

[JimHow]

Claudius, can you expand on why you you think 2005 is "the best red vintage you can recall in Burgundy"? I think it is the best red vintage I've ever had in Burgundy as well, but then again it is the only vintage from Burgundy that I've consumed in any quantity.

I'm not so sure how well these wines will fare in tastings with other wines. Some of them have started off slow and then blossomed during the course of several hours over dinner. For example, the 2005 Mongeard-Mugneret Fixin started off thin and acid as Harry describes, but by the end of dinner it was a completely different wine, rich and lush and cherry and strawberry infused.