2012 Domaine de Chevalier

[JimHow]

As is usually the case with this estate, it is unmistakably true to its terroir, it is distinctively "Bordeaux," but, as usual, it is clinical, "well-crafted," obviously the grapes were meticulously selected, but... kind of boring. Excellent 90-point Bordeaux but nothing exciting or noteworthy here. Still young, but hard to see it improving. 90 points.

[William P]

I am not as pessimistic as you Jim. I bought this when it came out and found it to be a pleasing wine. My last bottle, about six months ago, was completely shutdown so I think (hope) it will come around with a few more years in the cellar.

[JimHow]

Yeah maybe I'm being a touch hard on it Bill, one thing that I like is that it is true to the terroir, certainly not overblown in any way.

[Nicklasss]

As is usually the case with this estate, it is unmistakably true to its terroir, it is distinctively "Bordeaux," but, as usual, it is clinical, "well-crafted," obviously the grapes were meticulously selected, but... kind of boring. Excellent 90-point Bordeaux but nothing exciting or noteworthy here. Still young, but hard to see it improving. 90 points.

I know my great friend. When a 2012 Domaine de Chevalier is not touching you more than that, like Vador/Whuzzup_ said, it is now the time for you to switch to the Dark side, the vins de Bourgogne...

[Antoine]

Bad time to switch to Burgundy... given prices... especially, it is often a no return trip... but heavenly...

[JimHow]

I was thinking of buying some village Burgundies from Zachy's a while back.
Jckba, if you see a mixed case of Burgundies in the Zachy's inventory that is appealing can you let me know.

[Claudius2]

Antoine
Since living here in balmy Singapore, Burgundy is the wine I drink most often though I typically drink at least one or two Bordeaux a month. Also drink a fair bit of Champagne, which is hard to beat when it is 35C and 95% humidity.
So tonight I'll check what is on the back of the wine fridge and open one.

The prices of Bordeaux in 2021 are now (excluding the very top wines - Premiers Crus, Garargiste wines, etc) reasonably priced.
2019 EP wines were the best deals I had seen for a long time (partly due to currency fluctuations) but the prices for Burgundy are now starting to get way out of hand. Premier Cru Burgundies from the better villages (GC, CM, VR etc) are now selling for prices that I could buy Grands Crus about 5 or 6 years ago, and white Burgundy prices are even more off the handle.

In the case of Cabernets, I can at least get good wines from several regions and countries but I cannot say that for PN or to a point, Merlot. I have only occasionally tried a non-Bordeaux Merlot based wine that is a patch on a good St Emilion or Pomerol and there are very, very few non-Burgundy PN's that I could be bothered drinking. I try and taste as many as I can (we still can't have live tastings here, so they are still via Zoom) and I am always interested to try new labels, but the least appealing wines I have had all year were PN's from Italy, Australia and NZ. I have had a few decent PN's from Australia over the years, but 9 out of 10 are disappointing, and the top wines are now so expensive, I may as well just buy a Burgundy. I have tried backfilling from auctions but some of the wines I bought a few years ago at auction (exactly the same incl vintage) have now at least doubled.

I read Neal Martin's BurgReport regularly, and he gets lots of offers from producers and a few months back, he analysed prices for the last five years, showing the average price had doubled in that time. Although he based this on reds, I think it may be even worse for whites, especially from the better Premier Cru vineyards.

A possible approach now is to buy the wines from the less famous villages such as Santenay, Pernand Vergelesses or Savigny Les Beaune, but I have noticed that Beaune and SLB prices have moved up rather quickly. Best deals I have got this year would be the wines of Justin Girardin - Santenay 1ers Crus and SLB and MSD village and 1ers, which were far less than the prices from other producers for the same vineyards.

cheers
Mark

[stefan]

Mark, don't you get any Oregon PN in Singapore? If you love Burgundy but do not want to pay the price it takes to get a good one these days, Oregon is PN is the answer IMO.

[Claudius2]

Stefan
I have never seen an Oregon PN in all the years I have been here. Some of the importers bring in the well known Napa Cabs which I occasionally try but they are really expensive here. I see a few Californian PNs on occasion but they tend to be entry level wines.

Similarly I see numerous Calif Chardonnays here but by a long way, most US wines here are Cabs and the only tasting I’ve ever done here of American wines were - once again - Cabs.

Cheers
Mark

[Antoine]

Mark,
You are right, Burg prices are getting out of hand. Checked a Grand cru I bought in 2016 direct from Producer for 68€ and it is 98€ in 2019! nearly 50% increase... 1er crus have also shot up!
The worst increase I say was Grivot who doubled his Richebourg price in 2012...
I am old enough to have plenty in the cellar and am cutting purchases with a view to stop altogether... but like you, it is the wine I open over 80% of the time...
I stopped buying from the trade in London a few years ago and have kept my direct purchases which happen to mainly be the top villages... a habit caught when they were cheaper.
The Chalonnais is improving and is still cheap. In cote d'or, Marsannay and other villages (I buy Bart Marsannays every year cheaper than any third world PN will cost you) are also worth investigating for everyday Burg.