Wine Investing—Burgundy or Bordeaux?

I have three full EuroCave, Revelation wine coolers. And not a bottle of Bordeaux or Cabernet in residence. In Jay Mcinerney’s excellent The Wine Questionnaire, Jay puts the Burgundy or Bordeaux question to a number of experts

Daniel Johnnes, Wine director for Daniel Boulud’s Dinex Group: “Ask anyone in the world of wine and they will laugh at the question. BURGUNDY!!!”

Perhaps the most valuable book in the Sommelier world is the legendary Rajat Parr’s Secrets of the Sommeliers: How to think and drink the World’s Top Wine Professionals.

In Secrets, Rajat devotes nearly 30 pages to Burgundy and 30 lines of type to Bordeaux. On Bordeaux Rajat opines, “Bordeaux plays a rather small role in both my wine programs and my personal cellar. You will see lots of aged Bordeaux on my lists, but they are generally bought from old cellars. As a destination in the French wine country, Bordeaux is less appealing than almost anywhere else I have been once and felt that was enough. When you go to Bordeaux, you do not taste out of a barrel and you are never taken to a vineyard. So I see no reason why I should go to Bordeaux when I can go to Burgundy and actually learn about wine and experience the true environment of its making-where I can see vineyards, visit cellars, and talk to winemakers. … My favorite wine, my obsession for many years, is Burgundy. At their best, the reds and whites of Burgundy are perhaps the greatest wines in the World.”

Debbie and I travel to the vineyards of Burgundy twice a year (links). In part II, I will introduce five nice Burgundies to drink today and not break the bank in the process. And I will introduce you to a New England restaurant wine buyer who has actually figured this out. Rare indeed.