Subsequently, after my column first ran here on Wine Review Online, I got to talking to friends in the New York and suburban Westchester County retail wine trade. Without exception, everyone I talked to offered a version of the same line: “The hardest thing there is in my business today is finding really good red and white Burgundies that I can sell for under $30 a bottle.”
In the course of the two months since that column ran, I’ve been startled by the overall, general price increase in imported French wines, but especially among the burgundies. This, I ascribe mostly to continued worldwide demand. Nevertheless, it’s also true that what was not so long ago a $40 bottle of Premier Cru is today a $120 bottle. And up!
Almost as troubling, and, especially in the context of what I am writing about today, is the marked increase in the retail price of good basic grower Chablis and Mâconnais wines. The former being driven by the price increases among the Big Names on the Chablis totem pole, and the latter by the effects of the new Premier Cru system only recently introduced in Pouilly-Fuissé.
Even more troubling have been the jumps taken by the likes of Maison Faiveley for basic Bourgogne rouge and blanc. Forty dollars a bottle anyone? Really? Who is buying this stuff?
That said, I found plenty of good French whites under my $30 retail sticker goal. You just need to look and be patient. Readers are advised to pay particular attention to the weekly flash sales from their most trusted retailers.
So, now, let’s get down to business! Among the $30 and under deals for dry white (and one rosé) French wines, mostly Burgundies, I bought and liked, are these:
Two terrific bargain dry wines—both retailing for about $20 and both from Kermit Lynch—are the 2022 Cheverny Sauvignon Blanc from Domaine du Salvard in the Loire, which is zippy and minerally; and the 2023 Corbières “Gris de Gris Rosé” from Domaine de Fontsainte. The “Gris de Gris,” with its very light copper color and long finish, is made from 100 year-old Caraignan and Grenache vines. The old vine fruit shows too!
Three of my favorite basic Chablis and near-Chablis—one of them a great knock-off priced at under $20 a bottle, carrying the Bourgogne Blanc AC—come from the same grower, Domaine Jean-Marc Brocard. The Bourgogne Blanc labeled “Kimmeridgien,” after the famous Kimmeridgian limestone soil of Chablis, is, year after year, a deliciously flinty dry Chardonnay that could easily pass for a very good grower’s basic Chablis. The ’20 was terrific (and sold for as low as $16), while the ’21 is slightly leaner—the vintage—but, oh so tasty! $18-$20 per bottle. Brocard’s actual basic, the Chablis “Sainte Claire” is a bit fleshier, a bit rounder, and just a tad more expensive. Think $24. His 2020 Chablis “Vieilles Vignes” ($28) has both the roundness of the basic and the flintiness of the “Kimmeridgien.” All of these wines are impeccably made—and are great bargains.
As with Brocard, I have long admired the wines of Domaine Goisot in neighboring Saint-Bris-Le-Vineux. The brothers Goisot make absolutely wonderful Aligoté—“the other white grape of Burgundy—that sells for about $22-$25 a bottle. Crisp and dry, though perhaps a bit fleshier in 2022—again, the vintage, in this case a riper vintage, hence the roundness. Over a recent lunch at Gramercy Tavern in Manhattan, I was startled to see a dozen or so wines labeled “Bourgogne Aligoté”—many of them from famous domaines—most priced around $100 a bottle. This is obviously a trend—and it tells you how expensive Chardonnay-based dry white Burgs are becoming.
That said, there are still great bargains to be had among small growers producing outstanding and incredibly well-priced white Burgundy. Three names should be on everyone’s list: Bzikot, Pascal and Pernot-Bélicard. These three domaines (the first two of which are located in Puligny-Montrachet, the latter in Meursault, though all come from families long based in Puligny) regularly turn out exceptionally good whites that used to be labeled “Bourgogne Blanc,” but today are allowed the new Bourgogne “Côte d’Or” Blanc label because the grapes can only come from the celebrated Côte d’Or rather than anywhere in the region. But even with the new “Côte d’Or” AC, the wines still typically fetch a mere $25-$30 per bottle. Fantastic buys, whether in 2019, 2020, 2021 or 2022. I’d say, “These wines taste like Burgundy!” But really, when I drink them, I say to myself: “These wines taste like Puligny!” Or “This wine”—the Pernot-Bélicard—“tastes like Meursault!” Because they do. Philippe Pernot, offshoot of the eponymous Puligny family (the Pernots supply the grapes that go into the famous Drouhin Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Folatières”) married into a Meursault-based winemaking family (the Bélicards), which explains that part of the deal!
Speaking of Maison Drouhin, the house has long offered a very nice Saint-Véran, the current version of which is the 2020—and a very good vintage it is too. With the pressure of the new Pouilly-Fuissé Premier Cru system driving Mâconnais prices ever upwards, this is a snip at about $28 the bottle. Some nice, juicy, tender Mâconnais Chardonnay fruit in the bottle here. You may not confuse it for a Premier Cru Pouilly-Fuissé, but the price is definitely right.
Finally, two very good buys from that seldom seen and generally overlooked AC, Beaujolais-Villages Blanc. “The Cuvée Marquise de Robien” comes from Château de Raousset in Chiroubles and is imported by the estimable Jeanne-Marie des Champs, one of the great names among Burgundian specialists. The wine comes from the 2022 vintage and is thus round, ripe and accessible. About $28 per bottle.
Also from the 2022 vintage, the Beaujolais Blanc “Clos de Loyse” from the renowned Château des Jacques in Moulin-à-Vent (about $25) is fresh, persistent and minerally. A great buy.
The lesson here is the same as last you heard from me. To quote my friend, The Doctor, Michael Apstein: “Producer, producer, producer.” To which I’d add, “Importer, importer, importer.” Kermit Lynch, Jeanne-Marie, Kobrand for its Jadot wines, and the like. You’ll seldom ever go wrong with one of these. And they do have bargains—even Kermit! Seriously, Kermit has great, great wines and some very expensive wines, but he’s also always had some incredible bargains where the quality is also high. These are names you can trust. So, trust them, and buy up while you still can. The march upwards in price is still, alas, very much underway.
Santé!