Buying wine in Burgundy?

I'll be in burgundy in may and given the quality of the '09 vintage will want to purchase a fair amount to ship home. do the domaines sell directly? at decent prices? are there retail stores there that have decent prices and reliable suggestions? thanks in advance.

do the domaines sell directly? at decent prices?

I've never been but from what I understand it depends on the domaine. So don't expect to waltz into Mugnier without any prior connection and snap up a bunch of Musigny at rock bottom prices. But some of the less sought-after domaines apparently do have stuff for sale.

I'm sure folks with more direct knowledge will be along shortly.

The top wines from the top producers all have very limited production and they most likely will be all spoken for. It of course never hurts to ask, when you're tasting at a domaine, whether they have any wine to sell.

IMO the big wine shop in the center of Beaune is a tourist trap.

The Caveau de Chassagne, 7 Rue Charles Paquelin, is worth a visit. It has wines from all over the Cote d'Or, including some of the top producers and rarities.

-Paul W.

Le Cavon de Bacchus in Nuits SG is the place to go to, but expect to find mostly the latest vintage and be prepared to buy bottles you were not exactly looking for if you want something rare. That is, to buy, say, a Richebourg from Anne Gros, you will have to buy less interesting wines from the same producer for roughly the same amount of money.

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

David,

When I was there (very briefly) the domaines did not seem to encourage visits at all. You can buy many wines from local wine merchants, though I did not see any GC wines for sale there.

The best way to arrange visits at domaines in Burgundy is to have the appointments arranged for you through the wine trade. See if your local wine merchant can arrange appointments for you through wholesalers and importers. In my experience, the top producers are usually delighted to meet face-to-face with the end consumers who actually buy and enjoy their wines, as opposed to the importers and middlemen that they usually deal with day to day.

But you are not going to find anything in Burgundy analogous to the situation in California, where a lot of wineries have tasting rooms and sell retail. There was a bit of that in the Cotes du Rhone, however. More usual is for each town to have a local Cave Cooperative, where you can taste and buy wines from local producers. These can be a useful place to find out who in the commune is worth a visit.

-Paul W.

But you are not going to find anything in Burgundy analogous to the situation in California, where a lot of wineries have tasting rooms and sell retail. There was a bit of that in the Cotes du Rhone, however..

In keeping with the logic that each region has its own wine culture, there is a fair amount of variation across France in terms of how the wineries are set up to receive visitors. Burgundy and Bordeaux probably stand out as the most difficult, considering their prestige. In the fancier appellations of the Rhone with limited production (e.g. Cote Rotie) you can visit but there won't be much to sell, especially of the top cuvees. In most of the country they have more 'homestyle' tasting rooms, where you meet the winemaker him/herself and the prices are usually lower than retail.

Knock on doors. I was never disappointed. The wine are almost uniformly very good to excellent. If you speak any French at all (or even try) you can have a decent conversation, and they are extremely proud of their wines. You will be amazed at the quality. I like to take an empty 12 bottle carrier and fill it up while I'm there, then check it as luggage going back home. Good Luck! Try to get to the Macon as well as the Cru Beaujolais if you can.

You might contact the American negociant/eleveur Alex Gambal, and see if he can arrange for you to taste his wines (both white and red Burgundies.) http://www.alexgambal.com/vin-beaune/en ... ambal.html

Alex divides his time between France and the USA but if he has the time, he might be able to arrange for you to visit some of his French neighbors.