My Barolo Buying Strategy (vs Burg and N Rhone)

I love Barolo. I especially love properly aged Barolo from great producers. These days, I pretty much only buy Barolo, Burgundy and Northern Rhone (Cote Rotie and Hermitage). For Burgundy, for lots of stuff, you have to move very fast. Same with Guigal and Chave as the ‘good’ price vanishes very quickly. So why is Barolo different? There seems to be so much Barolo out there, so easy to buy, just no need to buy anything but the 100% proven vintages, from great producers, and even then you can take your time and wait for a sale. Barolo is, for some reason, not Burgundy where you get an allocation and if you don’t take it, 10,000 others are lined up to grab your spot and you’re out forever! My Barolo Strategy is to only buy '01, '04, '07 (I’ll also buy '09 and '10 eventually when offered), and of course pre '00 when the price is right ('99, '97 sometimes, '96, '90). And I always Wait for a 20% off or much bigger blowout sale, they always eventually come along. Or wait for the classic dump like the Conterno one from last Spring/Summer. So easy to wait and just get a great deal.
So why is that? Why can you not wait for the great Burg and Northern Rhone ‘sales’ (and even when they come, they’re generally off vintage or off vineyard or off vintner), but you have all the time in the world for virtually all Barolo (even Giacosa is no rush as they’ve raised their prices to what seems like above market clearing levels)?

Barolo is more niche…less players.
Having said that one needs to move very quickly if you want Vietti in our market.

Interesting observation and one that I certainly agree with based on my own experience. I think it is just a demand issue as both the Barolo DOC and Cote Nuits have roughly identical hectares under vine. Almost every Barolo producer I know loves to drink Burgundy. Not sure the opposite is true. It may also be that there are so many more high quality producers in Burgundy that make miniscule amounts of wine relative to the top tier Borolo producers. Finally, I think Barolo came later to the dance. As Burgundy prices continue north Barolo might start to feel the pressure.

As for buying, I have effectively stopped purely based on my age.

The Italians make a $hitload of wine. I think the market is more niche, like was already said. The demand just isn’t there and I think it feels a little intimidating for people to get into. Still, after a point, I’d rather have the wines sitting in my cellar than out on a retail floor collecting dust.

I think the other factor is that Barolo is not as “friendly” when young as Burgundy or Northern Rhone. Sure, those latter wines improve with age, but you can drink a Chave at any age and it tastes great. Barolo is much tougher in that regard, especially with Giacosa or Conterno.

Of course with any wine, the longer you wait to buy it, the longer it spends not under your care. And one always needs to be suspicious on big sell offs (as many were with that A Conterno one).

In addition to the factors mentioned already, I think the somewhat sudden jump in prices for some big name wines (esp. Giacosa Riservas) up to Monfortino range has turned off or turned away many potential buyers. I have bought very few bottles of Monfortino, Ca’ d’Morissio, Vietti Villero Riserva, . . . in recent years, and fewer bottles of Giacosa Riservas. Some of that is my age, but some of that is why pay those $300+ prices if I can still find great B&B around $100 or less.

The very small production top wines that haven’t yet achieved super prices are often very hard to find. They were snapped up by the cognoscenti on release.

Finally, I will say there is an element of snobbery and status here. I am not saying that anyone who buys Burgundy is a snob or status seeker by any means, but there are far more of those for the wines of France than for Italy, people with money who just want what is considered great no matter what the price.

Agree with both Kelly & Brian, and I think the lack of early accessibility when compared with Burgundy definitely hurts. Like Kelly, I’m over the hill, and haven’t really chased a Barolo vintage seriously since 2001, although I do have odds & ends younger thasn that in the cellar.

I think that’s got as much to do with it as anything. The French are peerless when it comes to marketing their culture, which certainly includes wine. I’ve known more than a few people who wake up one day and decide that they’re “into wine”. Then they find out they’re supposed to like Burgundy and go out of their way to get as much as they can.

Bordeaux has a bit of that but it’s also got a niche as the wine you’re “supposed” to have. People who don’t know or care about wine have a little of that just because it’s expected. I think that’s the reason it’s popular in China these days. Same reason people drink Champagne or something sparkly at celebrations and cocktail parties whether or not they even like it.

I concur in all the thoughts above. I’d just add that:

1. There isn’t a lot of demand in the UK, and with Europe in a deep recession, I’m sure sales to Germany – a major market – are down.

2. No market-making critic has emerged like Parker in Bordeaux or Meadows in Burgundy to steer the purchases of people who don’t know the region well.

3. As to snob appeal, no Italian wine had any serious cachet before about 20 years ago. Nor did the Rhone!

Peter,
Thanks for posting your insights on the barolo market. Sounds similar to the German riesling and the port markets. Your comments were timely for me as just yesterday I was thinking that I needed to lay down some '07 barolos for my son as that is the year he was born. If you were looking to acquire '07 barolos as birth year wines, would you be buying now or waiting for for a period of time to take advantage of price discounts? Also, if $100/bottle was a somewhat arbitrary price point, are there any specific '07s you would target?
Thanks,
Alan

I agree with most all of these ideas. The answer lies in a cobbling together of them. Two additional and important factors:

1. Barolo has a perception as being impenetrable when young. The serious mouthpuckering tannins of traditionally made barolo made a lot of folks think it wasn’t something to order off a menu in a restaurant. And if you didn’t have time to wait for those tannins to soften, barolo was not for you. Those perceptions continue.
2. Barolo is not nearly as old a wine producing region as Burg or Bordeaux. Huge histories there and the world has recognized those histories. Heck, Aubert de Villaine is even pushing for the various climats of Burg to be names a UNESCO world heritage site. Barolo is, relatively, a more recent phenom.

Peter,
Why 2007 vs. 2006 or 2008? I am curious as to your thoughts regarding those vintages.

thanks,

Byron

Peter, you did qualify " the good stuff" in burgundy in regards to price. The good stuff vs the rest of the Cote D’or is microscopic. In red almost none of the Cote de Beaune is snapped up THAT quickly, and is available at or near release price at any time within 6 months to a year. Cote Rotie and Hermitage is even smaller.
I agree with Kent as he mentions Barolo being more Niche. I also believe the common perception is that the segmentation of quality from merely good to great is compressed in Barolo vs. Burgundy, which may result in less of a hoarding mentality and urgency.

That and the fact that in my experience anyone passionate about Barolo is AT LEAST as passionate about Burgundy.

Me too I used to ask myself and there are many aspects pointed out above.

But you know, I guess the best strategy is to forget about why barolo is different from burgundy; as long as you love them, enjoy the lower prices (and sometimes these very low prices can be found even on release) and go with the program, i.e. BUY!

P.S. Yes there are wines that are reaching burgundy-level prices, such as Cascina Francia and Vietti Rocche, but there is still plenty to enjoy for very decent prices. So again, BUY!

Haven’t tasted 08s but I prefer 06 to 07. I have bought a few 07s when the price is attractive, but only a couple like F. Rinaldi and Brovia, for early consumption. Even F. Rinaldi is pretty fruity due to the vintage.

Why stop with 90s. It is possible to buy Baroli from the 70s without prices really going through the roof.

I would say your experience on this is quite limited. In my experience, this might be 20-25%.

Peter, Also curious why no '06s and '08s?

That, and my friends have taste…

Those older Baroli are overpriced & inconsistent.