"Confusion Arbitrage" - A Crazy Value on a New Spectacular "Volnay" with a New, Confusing Designation from a Top 5 Volnay Producer - Less Than Half of What it Should Cost

The State of Confusion - Bourgogne Côte d'Or
 - New Appellation Between HCDB and Village in Quality
 - Should Cost Between $40-$65 for an Average Producer
 - But Everyone Is Confused and Thinks Bourgogne Côte d'Or Is Bourgogne Rouge
 - So It Costs the Same As Bourgogne Rouge
 - Which Really Stinks for the Winemakers
 - But Is a Huge Opportunity for Us

Pierrick Bouley Is Now Top 5 in Volnay
 - Took Over a Consistently Very Good, Affordable Estate
 - Cut Yields, Improved Winemaking
 - Incredibly Deep, Elegant and Ageworthy Wines
 - The French Caught on and Prices Doubled
 - This Is a Chance to Taste His Wines at a Crazy Cheap Price

2018 Vintage
 - Amazing from Top to Bottom
 - The Lower End Wines Are Drinking Out of Their Minds
 - Once in a Decade Vintage for Lower End Burgundy

2018 Pierrick Bouley Bourgogne Côte d'Or
 - From the Triangle Next to Village Terroir
 - To the West of the D974 (The Good Terroir)
 - Gorgeous Nose: Incredibly Intense
 - Amazingly Detailed Late Season Cherry Fruit
 - Floral with Incredible Spice
 - Very Elegant
 - 1er Cru Volnay Level Fruit on the Nose
 - Superb Minerality
 - Palate: Terrific Lift and Awe-Inspiring Purity
 - Incredible Freshness and Depth
 - Ripe with Extract and Stunning Purity and Freshness
 - This Beats $65 Volnay from Average Producers by a Mile
 - At Less than Half the Price

Classic Arbitrage
Classic arbitrage as practiced by the wizards on Wall Street is simultaneously buying an asset in one market and selling it in another market a higher price. So if a stock trades in New York and Europe, you buy it in New York for $42.00 and sell it in Europe at $42.10 at the same time. It's easy money. This is not to be confused with risk arbitrage where one bets on a takeover or other event happening and if the event doesn't happen, you lose lots of money.

Confusion Arbitrage
Confusion arbitrage is where you pay less for an asset than it should cost because people are confused as to what it is. Don't bother Googling it, I just made it up. Basically, the French were jealous of the Germans constantly creating new classifications to confuse consumers and wanted to get in on the action so they invented Bourgogne Côte d'Or. But don't worry - confusion arbitrage is your friend!

What Is Bourgogne Côte d'Or?
Today's wine is from a new appellation called Bourgogne Côte d'Or. It's basically a sub denomination of Bourgogne Rouge that are produced within 40 designated villages in the Côte de Beaune and the Côte de Nuits. This appellation sits between the regional and village appellations. This should be seen as right below the village level.

 - Haute Cotes de Beaune will cost around $40 for an average producer including tariffs.
 - Village Volnay Should Cost $65 or more for an average producer
 - Bourgogne Côte d'Or should cost between $40-$65 (for an average producer)
 - This wine costs $30.99 (on a 4 pack purchase)
 - This price is roughly what Bourgogne Rouge costs (which is inferior to Haute Cotes de Beaune).

Pierrick Bouley
Pierrick took over his family's estate (which we had sold) and took a very good estate and made it

elite in a couple of years.  He sent me some samples of the 2018s because I obviously could not travel this year. And his 2018 collection is Oh My God good. I sold most of them already because they sold out in France and I had to but the difference between barrel samples and these wines out of bottle is huge in this vintage. These are truly elite Burgundies. I will be re offering the more expensive wines in the coming weeks as he has some unfilled orders and I can get more bottles. I would encourage you all to buy a bottle of this wine today as it's such a ridiculously underpriced value.  If you are a Burgundy drinker, you''ll want to see what Pierrick can do.

The Wine
I am happy to offer the 2018 Pierrick Bouley Bourgogne Côte d'Or for $30.99 each on a 4 pack.  What makes this wine special is that it is the most accessible young Pierrick Bouley wine ever. The fruit on this wine is so ridiculous. After 24 hours, and yes the 2018 vintage always gets significantly better on Day 2 with air, this is Volnay 1er Cru level aromatics with just the most amazing fruit. The lower levels at 2018 provide an incredible buying opportunity.

Gorgeous nose. The nose is intense. Village-level nose is not even a question here. Amazingly detailed late season cherry fruit. Sappy raspberry. So floral with incredible spice. So vivid and clear. This is killer. Deep and impactful aromas that just blow away so many other better village wines. Great palate. So deep and juicy with thick and fresh black cherry and late season red cherry. Slate like tannins. Big, ripe and structured as is the Bouley style but will fleshed beautifully over the next two hours. Very elegant and as it opens the fruit gets more and more ridiculous. As do the aromas. Unreal 1er Cru Volnay Level fruit on the nose now after serious air. Superb minerality and so so refined. Gloriously pure. Unreal sappy black cherry fruit on the nose.

Palate has terrific lift and awe-inspiring purity. Juicy and so sweet. Rustic yet reigned in tannins they signify this will age 5-10 years. Just superb. Best Bourgogne I've had from Pierrick. Incredible freshness and depth. Toothsome. So good. An absolutely delicious bottle of Burgundy, especially for the price.  You will not stop drinking this because of the incredulity of what it is which is directly proportionate to the pleasure one is receiving as how delicious this wine is. My direct to consumer model is perfect for wines like these as you cannot find value like this in the marketplace for this new appellation. The palate has the biggest fruit you'll encounter in a Bourgogne Côte d ' Or. It's ripe with extract and stunning purity and freshness.

The 2018 Vintage
After tasting through a decent amount of 2018 Red Burgundies I have some general thoughts on the vintage. Last time I tasted them they were so young in 2019 and it's very hard to assess. One thing that's remarkable is that the wines turned out like nothing I remembered tasting in February of 2019. Which is crazy and shows how talented winemakers are and how bad my assessment of the vintage was based on my limited tastings usually at the end of tasting 2017s. I was expecting something like 2015 or maybe 2009 and to be honest I'm not crazy about those vintages. I like many wines in those vintages and have had many good examples but the style is not one that I personally prefer.

So when I got my 2018s sent to me recently I had no idea what to expect. I was hoping they changed. And boy did they. They changed in such a remarkable way that comparisons to 2015 and 2009 are comical to me now. The style is unique since I've been tasting red Burgundy out of barrel which is maybe starting with the 2008 vintage.

The fruit is stunning. Thick, juicy, vivid and pure. Every wine has this glorious fruit. The best fruit. It's throughly and perfectly ripe and not excessive like 15s and 09s can be. The freshness of these wines is undeniable. There is more material and concentration than the 2017's. Some of the 2018's will provide epic young drinking.

I think that the appellation hierarchy is going to play a huge role in these wines.
 - The lower appellations in 2018 are incredible. I mean, just off the charts. There is a ridiculous level of this thick, dense and perfectly ripe fruit that just enthralls you, but the lesser wines are more open and all of them bat above their appellations. Like this is the year all the .275 hitters decided to hit .350 all at the same time. From Bourgogne Rouge to Beaune to Hautes Cotes de Nuits to Monthelie these wines shine so bright in 2018 and can be drunk and enjoyed young. But they will age because every wine I've tasted in 2018 has a significant and pronounced structure. These wines will age like 2010's. Slow and glacially and ultimately will blossom into benchmark wines.
 - Now this brings me to the 1er Cru level wines.  These are built like brick house that need age but have a level of raw materials that is ridiculous.  They will be brilliant but will need a few years to integrate. The fruit soak on the 1er Crus is like nothing else I have tasted.


The way this vintage translates to the sites is so transparent but in a unique way. Any vineyard that makes wine with big tannins will be double that in 2018. I've had 3 Volnay 1er Cru Taillpieds and they are stunning and some all time wines but they all need 5-8 years. In a normal vintage Taillpieds can be tannic but in 2018 it is 1986 Mouton levels. But with the fruit to back it up. I haven't tasted a more obvious long term aging vintage than 2018. These have a very very long life ahead of them. They are mindblowing wines. Most closed within an hour of opening and then slowly opened over 2-3 days. One of today's wines drank unreal on day 3. That never happens. Happened with zero 2017 Burgundies. Maybe this is like 1993/2010 hybrid but much better, with higher yields and much more consistent.  But there is also this awesome structure to the wines that reminds me of 2010. The transparency is also why it reminds me 2010. These will be fascinating to follow over the short, medium and long term. It's a vintage like no other. Deliciously unpredictable with all time levels of some of the best fruit I've ever tasted.

2018 Pierrick Bouley Bourgogne Cote d'Or - $32.99 ($123.96 4-Pack) (*Including Tariff of $3.05)