I will unequivocally say that Herve's 2011's across the board are better than his 2010's. They just are and he agreed wholeheartedly with me. The 2011 Les Herbues is just incredible. The '10 was great but the '11 just has more of everything. Complexity, sweet fruit, ripe tannin, insane velvet texture and an intense fruit soak on the finish. Combine this with the weight the 11's are putting on in bottle and you have a serious winner in this wine.
I am offering it in 6 pack because so many of you drank your 2010's too quickly or drank them right as they started to shut down. With 6 you drink 1, maybe drink 2 and then hold the other 4 for 7-10 years. Herve says these are long agers for the appellation.
I was bowled over how much it changed since I tasted it in July. It is so hard to get a snapshot of a Burgundy vintage, which so many people try to do. They want to quantify, pigeonhole and classify it as soon as possible. It can't happen. It won't happen. 10 years out is a good time to firmly assess a Burgundy vintage. 2011 is a the big sleeper of 2010-2013. I tasted many on this recent trip that made me reassess the vintage. Burgundy can be humbling in so many ways and tasting the the same young evolving wines 6-8 months apart is about as humbling as it gets. People who proclaim this and that as soon as the grapes are picked are full of you know what. And it ain't terroir.
I have always loved Burgundy, but on this past trip I think I finally got it. What is it that I got? It's hard to explain but there is no region like in in the entire world. The growers, the quality hierarchy, the passion and the absolute control Mother Nature has over this region is just startling. These growers, farmers, at all levels, from the grandest of grand cru's to the introductory Bourgogne Rouges, are all just players in Mother Nature's grand plan. And they get frustrated but still acknowledge, out of reverence and respect that it is out of their control. They do the best with what they are given and make do. It is quite admirable and we could learn a lot from the Burgundians. 2010, 2012 and 2013 are short crops. '12 and '13 especially.
It's hard for the average American Burgundy drinker to comprehend this while sitting at their dinner table in their home or in a restaurant. For them it's a label and a price. For the vigneron it is their livelihoods. Price increases are necessary when half your crop is destroyed by a freak hailstorm.
I used to complain about price increases as well. But to witness the galvanizing force of Mother Nature I won't again. They have families to feed and wine to make. People like to say the wine makes itself but if it really did then Burgundy would be cheap. Barrels, bottling machines, tools, workers who prune, pick grapes, bottles and labels cost money. It's just a fact. When a grower made 10 barrels of wine X in 2011 and made 2 barrels of the same wine in 2012, really what is that grower supposed to do? Keep the price the same, take the loss, piss off their customers, and say C'est la vie? No, they have to adapt. Cut people back, raise prices and, yes unfortunately piss some people off. But if you take a long view how the hell are they supposed to keep making the wine that we swoon over? They wouldn't be able to do THIS unless they cut people back and raise prices. I finally got it.
It was profound when I made this realization at the end of my trip in Herve Murat's cellar as we were discussing what he would do for pricing his 2012's. He was rattled about it and was definitely causing him some serious anxiety. He still doesn't know what to do.
A little more on the Lettie Teague article. Lettie just wrote an article about how it is difficult to find values in Burgundy under $40 and $30. I have responded in this blog post. In our antiquated 3 tier system it certainly is hard to find a good value in Burgundy. An 8 euro wine at the cellar door which most, if not all French people can afford, turns into a $28-$33 bottle stateside which most people can afford but it is not 8 euro, which pretty much everyone can afford.
As many of my customers can attest, Burgundy is full of value. I have sold you $33 Pommard VV, $26 Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru, $24 Hautes Cotes de Beaune, $20 Irancy and the list goes on. Even with the price increase Fass Selections is offering the best bang for the buck across the board ($80 Corton Charlemagne anybody?) in the Burgundy wine business today in America. It's not even close. Lettie found two reds that were values. On this recent trip I have picked up so many growers that you will see in the coming months in your e-mail boxes that it will be extremely tough for me to decide what to offer because I tasted that much good wine. I research Burgundy like a hedge fund manager researches companies. It is my passion and I have always wanted to help people. At Fass Selections I am helping the growers to sell their wines and my customers to find extraordinary values. It is fun and humbling. There is nothing I would rather be doing.
I want to thank each and every one of you for supporting Fass Selections one year in. There have been bumps, allocation issues, etc. It happens. It's all in the game, as Omar Little would say. But the countless e-mails from clients and growers put a smile on my face. It is soooooo worth it. As we get ready to ship you all new batches of my latest discoveries in April I am anxiously anticipating what you will all think. I appreciate each and every one of you.
This offer is open till 3/7/14.
Herve Murat Hautes Cotes de Nuits "Les Herbues" 2011 - $29.99
($161.94 6-pack)
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