NY Purchase of Single Bottle Grands Echezeaux

[cabrales]

I'd appreciate members' input on where in NY a very nice, lone bottle of Grands Echezeaux could be purchased retail. Please note the pricing of relevant bottles, and try to remain under $400 if practicable. On Winesearcher, I noted DRC Grands Echezeaux at $300 for the 1986.

I'd be interested in NY retail prices for H Jayer Echezeaux as well.

[MartyL]

Are you inquiring about only DRC's bottling?

Regardless, I think your best bet would be to do some calling around. Often that kind of bottle never makes it out of the back room of the retailer on to the shelves.

I've noticed some DRC bottles from 95 and 96 (both good vintages) lying around in the cold room in the back of Columbus Circle Wine & Liquors. It would be worth calling them. You might also try calling any of the following retailers: Acker Merrill, NY Wine Warehouse, Burgundy Wine Company, Sherry Lehmann, Sokolin and Royal Wine Co.. None of these places is cheap, but places that carry a good selection of Grand Cru Burgundy don't tend to match well with that description.

If you are interested in trying GE from some of the less exalted but still very fine producers, you might consider looking for Mongeard-Mugneret or Engel. I also enjoyed a wonderful bottle of '85 Drouhin GE recently (bought by a friend from a grey market source in Beaune).

I would also suggest comparison shopping with retailers elsewhere in the U.S. and possibly having them ship it. Woodland Hills and Premier Cru out in California tend to have very good Burgundy selections and fair prices. Sometimes I find good things at Picadilly Wine & Spirits out in Illinois as well.

As for H Jayer Echezeaux, I know Acker had a bunch of it they purchased from a private cellar that they were offering in their end of summer sale. They may still have some left. I believe Sokolin may have some as well. Alas, I never look at Jayer prices because I know that would just be depressing.

Liking Burgundy is truly a curse. The good bottles are few and far between, and then once you find one you enioy, it is either impossible to find again or impossible to pay for.

Happy hunting though.

[Steve Plotnicki]

Does vintage matter? 1986 is not a good vintage. 1985 DRC G-E is a very good vintage and that will run $500. You don't get another good vintage until 1988 or 1989 which will be more reasonably priced. 1990 which is an excellent vintage should cost about $300. Jayer echezeaux's from good vintages can cost from $1000-$1500 a bottle.

[cabrales]

Steve P -- Premier Cru, mentioned by MartyL above, has a 1990 Echezeaux, DRC for $350 on Winesearcher. In your mention of $300, were you mentioning Echezeaux or Grands Echezeaux?

I would really prefer DRC or something special, as the wine is intended to accompany something special. Would a 1/2 bottle of d'Yquem be appropriate after an Echezeaux or Grands Echezeaux if one were sampling, say, small fatty pigeon?

[Steve Plotnicki]

I was just giving you what the price should be from memory. My best recollection is 1990 Echezeaux $250, G. Ech $300, and the rest of the wines are higher. It also depends on the shop. Premier Cru is usually priced in the ballpark.

[marcus]

Cabrales -- If you go to the Christies and Sothebys sites, you can review past wine auctions with pricing in which you will find multiple instances of any wine from any year from any producer. If you then determine an average price, you will do well at retail if you can come within 150-175% of the auction price. The Chicago Wine Company is another site with both auctions and direct sales.

Is there some particular reason that you're looking for a Burgundy. On a price performance basis you will do better with Bordeaux which are also more reliable on a bottle to bottle basis.

[tony h]

Cabrales - you're not tuning into a lush by any chance are you?

[robert brown]

Cabrales, you may want to call ChopJWU12's boss Nicholas. He also has a wine business and has some quite rare bottles on his restaurant's wine list. When do you need it by? If you can wait, I would imagine someone you met could find and part with a really good and properly-stored bottle.

[cabrales]

Is there some particular reason that you're looking for a Burgundy.

marcus -- I just subjectively prefer Burgundies, although I really like Haut-Brion.

robert -- I see. I'm hoping to have the bottle in hand by mid-October, as the period during which I might need the bottle would begin generally in late October. It would be a great outcome, but would it be inconvenient or otherwise burdensome?

[marcus]

Cabrales -- I can't think of any wines that are more polar opposites than Burgundies and Pessacs. Can you describe why you like these, and don't like other grand cru Bordeaux as well.

[cabrales]

marcus -- I don't disagree with you. As I have mentioned, my wine knowledge is very limited. I just know what I subjectively like, and try to sample bottles on restaurants' wine lists that are not too expensive. However, for the meal in question, I'd like a Burgundy and not an Haut-Brion. I think the meal will be one of the most memorable of my life, if it pans out.

[Sandra Levine]

I think the meal will be one of the most memorable of my life, if it pans out. 

Inquiring minds want to know...if you feel comfortable discussing it.

[AdamLawrence]

Cabrales - Flap flap.... tweet tweet.... napkin over head. Am I right?

Was it Claiborne who recommends Grands Echezeaux by the way? If you're in the UK before then, Seckford Wines (www.seckfordwines.co.uk) has a fair selection of these, including 1990 DRC G-E for GBP 375.

Adam

[Steve Plotnicki]

Well if you are going to be in the U.K. first, or they can even send it to your hotel in France so it can be waiting there upon arrival, the largest dealer of DRC anywhere and the people who usually have the best DRC prices are Turville Valley Wines just outside of London. But if the wine is for an occassion as momumental as napkins over heads, you are making a gross error by bringing a less then fully mature wine. A 1990 DRC Grand Echezeaux will be so tannic that it will ruin your palate and you won't be able to taste the little budgies. If you are intent on it being DRC, you need 1978 or older. Good vintages would be 1962, 1964, 1966, 1971, 1987. The best priced wines are the three in the 60's which should sell for about $600 a bottle. The two from the 70's will be more in the $750-$900 range. If you are not wedded to Grands-Echezeaux (and I don't see why you would be since there are better wines,) the best "bargain" bottle of DRC is 1972 La Tache. It is not a heralded vintage but the wine is fantastic and available in the $350-$500 a bottle range. There are a number of European dealers who offer the wine from time to time.

[cabrales]

Thanks, everybody. Once again this year, I am hopeful, but that has been the case every year for a while now (with ultimate failure having been the result.)

[Miguel Gierbolini]

Cabrales-

Are you planning on having that little bird-the Ortholan?

[cabrales]

Michael -- "Plan", hmm, too concrete a connotation.

[Miguel Gierbolini]

hoping? wishing for? desiring? longing?