2019 Burgundy EP?

Heard from a friend in Europe that you can buy Burgundy futures for 2019. I’ve never heard of that and am only familiar with BDX, and the occasional Italian or Cali wine that sells EP. Anyone know anything about this?

Yep, they go on sale in London on Jan 7. Pricing just released today for some places.

plenty are already on sale. it’s the vintage of the century…

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Indeed, I should be picking up my first ones in January. Bottling has started at some (most?) places.

I am no expert, but my understanding is that they have large Burgundy tastings at various places in Europe for the new vintages. You can put in orders like Bordeaux en-primeur. Its just not the same in the US. I have a few retailers who give offers in Nov-Dec, and I’m sure there are more to which my pay-rate does not allow me access. However, you don’t get the early access to a broad range that you get in Europe.

As others already mentioned, some already started. I got mine in for few producers.

Trickling in now, as expected, prices feel flat to slightly up over 2018s, really scratching my head to see much worth buying beyond 1 or 2 producers despite vintage quality. Too many new producers already charging more than £40 for village wines and £175 for grand cru, so not really worth testing by the case, and all the usual suspects make you feel like the importer is doing you a favor with an allocation. As my father likes to say, too rich for my blood.

Pricing felt high, but I didn’t buy 2018. Is it really flat to 2018? Did the 2018s sell through?

Well, its in full-swing now and by next week I will have put in for all but the late releases, but I haven’t heard much here about 2019 burgundy en primeur. No grand tastings this year means fewer first-hand accounts of the wines. I thought Jasper Morris’s notes were incredibly helpful, particularly in how up front he is with the notion that one really has to decide if the style of 2019 (and 2018 and 2020, and maybe burgundy from here on out) is really your style. My strategy, as usual, is to buy the same things I always buy every year, maybe a drop more or less depending on what is available. That being said, it seems like we are dealing with the double whammy of a stylistic shift due to weather combined with the pandemic limiting our opportunities to taste in advance. What are others thinking?

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I am also surprised by the lack of chatter. I am buying the vintage because my palate aligns with a particular critic, while his vintage report is not yet out (despite all the offers starting and more than a few selling out). Some of my favorite vintages post-2000 are 2009 and 2015, so I like warmer years and I am going to blind trust that the higher alcohols won’t suck! I have gone in for producers that I know + a couple the critic scored well in 2017/18. However, the wines have been pretty hard to buy. A few retailers who I never bought from before welcomed my inquiries and then said they could not sell me any of the producers I inquired about (7-8 of them) because “quantities are down 30% and prior buyers buy them all” but “if you buy a case or two of bourgogne I can sell you a couple bottles of Premier Cru”. Buying Burgundy is not fun, it is a PITA.

i feel like ive been seeing mixed messages on the last few burgundy vintages… can anyone give a quick rundown of the comparative qualities of the last few years?

It sounds like things are moving at an ‘05-ish pace, despite higher prices. I guess that isn’t too surprising as the global appetite for burgundy seems to be ever-increasing and not sensitive to price coupled with some challenging yields. I’ve put in a request for the usual suspects and I’m interested to see the variation in what I get from other years.
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There are plenty of merchants here in the UK that are/will be making offers. You should be able to download the previous years offers from places like the Wine Society to get an idea of what is usually available.

I have read comments from Jancis that being a hot year there are some overripeness issues, and that slightly cooler sites may be the ones to pick.

The UK offers are the ones I’m talking about in this thread.