According to Vinfolio.com the average retail price for the Chateau La Louviere1994 is $47.06. Keep in mind that aged wine prices actually peaked in 2007 and have been coming down lately due to the economy.
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How can a wine be "too fruity"? It starts out as a rich, sweet, luscious fruit. It has to be turned into wine gently so as not to ruin it along the process. I would think the more of the original flavor that can be retained, the better. I love a strongly fruity wine with just enough tannins to smooth it out and give it staying power. Some people describe this as "jammy" or "porty". Mmmmm.
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quality, quality, quality. Of course there are always exceptions. I love fruit forward new world wines- when they're done right. Quality doesn't necessarily mean price.
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2006 Dugat-Py Bourgogne

Drank a few glasses of this at the office yesterday while meeting with our landlord. Bernard Dugat-Py is one of the greatest houses in all of Burgundy, but you certainly pay for it. This is entry level Bourgogne which is "wallet stretching" for this level of wine, and the micro-produced Gran Crus get extremely expensive. That said, these wines can be ethereal. The family has been growing in Gevery for a ridiculously long time and the caves they use were originally built by monks in 1075! Very cool.

This wine opened with the most aromatics of any 06' burg I’ve tried so far, super heavy spices, with deep scents of dark fruit, and intense focus framed by light wood and earth. There are indescribable aromas that I had no idea what they were. Very intense. Medium to full bodied in the mouth, black cherry, sour tart notes, and watermelon? Crisp throughout, heavy but elegantly balanced with an intensely long finish for a Bourgogne. The finish has a wild lozenge effect where your tongue gets a little numb. Pretty damn wild for a pinot. A very very fine wine for this level, which needs several years to start, and I can see it flowering in a decade. Estimated retail in this market is $55 but easily as good as Premier Crus that you could buy at this price. Compared to Oregon or California Pinot at this price, well…. no comparison. Buy this instead. Can't wait to try the heavier hitters from this house.

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~Vitis
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Nice.

Certainly a big name in Burgundy. Still a baby I bet. Looking at scoring some '95 Burg's this weekend at auction. Call me Mr. Lowballer, I probably won't win any, but I do, yeah for me.
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Cool, Moses, what auction are you going to?
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Online auction, and I don't want to post which one it is. You can PM me if you want, but most wine collectors know which one I am talking about...
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Yep, I was just curious if you were going to one, you know, paddle and all. Good luck in your hunting. May the baccus smile upon you. :-)

~Vitis
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If we're talking about the same one- there are some awesome deals going right now.
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I treated myself to a winebid purchase two weeks ago:

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see you when I turn 30.
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Missed out on Villa Mt. Eden Cabernet Sauvignon - Vintage 1995 - 6 Bottles for $60.00 :-)

and Chateau Lascombes - Vintage 1995 case of 12 OWC for $350 :-)

Looked like a lot of action on the lots I had bookmarked... Where's the recession? Port lots that did sell, sold for too much money and everything else there was no bids on... I think we'll see some changes in Feb an March; they will be the times to start bidding.
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Few suggestions for a $10-12 Syrah, please.
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Got some Bordeaux futures in the other day; '04 Pontet Canet (finally!) and '05 Clos du Jaugueyron (Margaux), a few bottles of each. I had one of my bottles of '01 Jaugueyron not too long ago and it tasted like it was pressed yesterday, amazingly fresh. Won't open any more for a long while, but it was an excellent wine. Pontet is a good value, try to pick up a few every vintage unless its a bad year for them.
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try Powers from Washington State. Penfolds from Australia puts out some good stuff in that range too. Ask your wineshop if they have anything from the Northern rhone- you would be pleasantly surprised.
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Powers...will do.

Penfolds...I've had a couple of those. Do you know the difference in their bin #'s? Seems I can't remember what I've had or what I should be buying.:-)

Northern rhone...will do.

Thanks
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http://www.penfolds.com/wines/bin/default.asp

let us know what you pick up!
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Columbia Crest Grand Estates
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A quick note. We cracked this at the office a few days ago. I do not have that much experience with this house (I have a few bottles of 83' but they are pretty far gone at this point) but in general they are considered to have underperformed for many years (80's & 90's) Therefore, I wasn't expecting much, which often leads to pleasant surprises. Schonborn is the largest privately owned winery in the Rheingau and some of the estate vineyard sites have been in the family since 1349!


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1990 Schloss Schönborn Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen Auslese
Strong aromatics right from the onset, huge petrol nose, with mixed citrus fruits and honey in the background. Medium weight with lime zest and meyer lemon, oily viscosity and surprisingly some tight acidity as a backbone. The finish continues on with citrus and a lively grapefruit note. Much better than anticipated. By no means a heavy hitter, but a lovely wine that would match nicely with foods as the sugar levels are in check. 1990 was an epic year for Germany (and most places in Europe) and it would appear Schonborn benefited from this with the Nussbrubben bottling. No clue on the current cost but Id pay in the $40s for this if available.

Cheers
~Vitis
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Sorry to hear that this wind has done so poorly during the last few decades. Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen was the first great German wine that I fell in love with -- a Kabinet from the late sixties-early seventies. I'll have to dig up some old tasting notes to see which house.

Thanks for the review, Marc:-)
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They're drinkable, but 83 being such a great vintage you hope for more. The 83 JJ Prums (especialy the gold capsule and LGKs) are unf*@#ingbelievable at this point. Sublime.

~Vitis
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