WTN: Hautes Stuff

[Jenise]

2005 Claude Nouveau Hautes-Cotes de Beaune
Every time I get fed up with Garagiste (anyone want some Anjou?), a bottle like this cool little Bourgogne makes everything right again. Highly aromatic nose, appealingly pure and pretty red fruit, light-med body, no tell-tale oak, delicately satisfying, and probably the best $17 Burgundy I've ever had. I'm even more impressed now that I've dug out the sales pitch, post-consumption, to review the reasons I bought it in the first place. Drinks well now, but apparently one doesn't need to be in a hurry with this wine:

With a famous producer in the Cote de Nuits, they put their best foot forward in their Richebourg or Charmes-Chambertin. With a producer like Nouveau, his best foot forward is in this - a wine he is extremely proud of and one he believes will last 10-20 years. Claude Nouveau is one of the most respected and admired producers in this area to the south of Pommard and Volnay. Known for his highly reviewed and gold medal winning Maranges, Nouveau also produces this Hautes Cotes de Beaune from extremely old vines that are a few rows from one of the most famous vineyards in Volnay and Pommard....When nearly every producer has taken the opportunity to raise prices on their 2005’s (sometimes to absurd levels), Nouveau just wants you to cellar and drink his exemplary wine without draining your life savings....I urge you to sample and indulge in this luminescent, even-keeled wine of terroir and distinction as deeply as your budget will allow.

It would be interesting to try his Maranges. I find it to be a very underrated village.

Jenise, who imports this wine to the states? I would really like to try some decent Bourgogne, both red and white. And at $17 it sounds like a no brainer to me. If you know where it can be found online please tell me. Thanks.

[Jenise]

Jenise, who imports this wine to the states? I would really like to try some decent Bourgogne, both red and white. And at $17 it sounds like a no brainer to me. If you know where it can be found online please tell me. Thanks.

Joe--me, too!

Bob--Importer is Millesime out of Seattle. As for acquisition, Garagiste is a local online-only retailer. They pre-sell wines before delivery, so once I actually get my hands on my wines even I don't have a chance to buy more. Not sure where you'd be able to get this.

[David M. Bueker]

Sometimes Garagiste does bring in a veritable bargain, but I just cannot stand Rimmerman's sales pitch. His comment "When nearly every producer has taken the opportunity to raise prices on their 2005’s (sometimes to absurd levels)..." is ridiculously misleading. Yes prices on the 2005s went up at the producer level, but not by all that much. The plummeting dollar and huge distribution (and retail in some cases) mark ups for a blue chip vintage did the lion's share of the damage.

[Jenise]

I know. It's actually the statements like "....I urge you to sample and indulge in this luminescent, even-keeled wine of terroir and distinction as deeply as your budget will allow" that bug me the most. And I've had more disappointments than gems, but I have had some gems, to be sure.

[David M. Bueker]

Jenise,

If you want to unload some Anjou I'll give it a try.

Sometimes Garagiste does bring in a veritable bargain, but I just cannot stand Rimmerman's sales pitch.

At least you got the pitch: in attempting to get email sent to me, my requests (repeated 3x) were promptly ignored, so I figured if this is how they treat customers east of the Rockies, then they didn't need my business.

[David M. Bueker]

Plenty of folks east of the Rockies get the Garagiste e-mails. It's just you Mark.

Plenty of folks east of the Rockies get the Garagiste e-mails. It's just you Mark.

I'm NOT paranoid. Really!

[David M. Bueker]

Plenty of folks east of the Rockies get the Garagiste e-mails. It's just you Mark.

I'm NOT paranoid. Really!

But believe me...they are out to get you.

[Jenise]

Jenise,

If you want to unload some Anjou I'll give it a try.

SOLD!

Plenty of folks east of the Rockies get the Garagiste e-mails. It's just you Mark.

I'm NOT paranoid. Really!

But believe me...they are out to get you.

It's true - I've seen the list.

Jon Rimmerman's hyperbole makes him fair game, but below his purple prose often lie considerable bargains and more gems than clinkers, and over the years Garagiste has given me excellent service. One of the things I like is they often provide the bad news along with the good, like critical WA and WS reviews and scores along with the favorable ones.

Their prices are not always the lowest in the country -- this month I managed to buy 2004 Cantina del Pino Barbaresco "Ovello" from a local merchant for about a buck less than the price Garagiste is advertising today -- but usually Garagiste is the lowest. Or so I've found on Winesearcher Pro.

Agree with Clint - Jon does offer some absolute gems at times, and he's one of the few retailers I can trust with Aussies and one of the few people willing to bring in really cool climate stuff - the Torzi Matthews Schist Rock I bought from Garagiste is one of my favourite value-for-money wines and has become a case-buy for my parents, plus the 99 Mount Langi Shiraz he offered a year+ ago is one of the greatest deals I've ever seen.

I've had a few misses, but a lot of hits and a number of wines from Garagiste that have really opened my eyes to some other regions/styles I wouldn't have gone after otherwise (Savennieres and NZ Syrah for a couple). Plus I love the passion in his writing at times - I've had emails where he'll write a small thesis on a near-nirvana experience he had eating a slice of pizza or a roasted potato (with the wine offer only getting a few lines at the end) that are just fantastic to read.

Although I've just received an absolutely absurd story in the latest email I've just got from him (appropriately named "Fairy Tale"). Good grief...

[Jenise]

Agree with Clint - Jon does offer some absolute gems at times, and he's one of the few retailers I can trust with Aussies and one of the few people willing to bring in really cool climate stuff - the Torzi Matthews Schist Rock I bought from Garagiste is one of my favourite value-for-money wines and has become a case-buy for my parents, plus the 99 Mount Langi Shiraz he offered a year+ ago is one of the greatest deals I've ever seen.

Oh, he definitely offers some gems. Perhaps I just haven't gotten good enough at reading between the lines, but I know I have four six-packs of wine in the cellar that should have been better than they are. I've got half a case of Cerdon Bugey out there that just reeks of VA--thinking back, I can quickly think of three cases (one whole case and four six-packs) of wines that I'd have never bought if I'd been able to taste them first--they come nowhere close to meriting the praise he heaped on them, and time won't help. And yes I've had some I wish I'd bought a whole case of instead of just three or six bottles, but my point is--buying unknowns from him is a bit of a crap shoot.

Agree that it's a crap shoot, but for the most part I've been quite lucky (that, and it takes some serious hype - or a great Aussie offer - for me to bite on a lot of things) and haven't had any real stinkers yet (touchwood). Plus I normally just buy from them in ones - twos only if it's a really great deal, like the Schist Rock or the recent Yarrabank sparkling offer, so the odd letdown isn't too bad.