2005 en primeur Burgundy and Rhone.......

Lately all prices seem pretty steep in US, due to weak dollar. Once you remove that factor, not sure the prices on the top wines are much more reasonable than Bordeaux. Looks like huge increases in wines like Drouhin's Musigny vs

2004.The greatest increases- in Bdx, Burg, and Rhone- seem to be on the trophy wines. The Firsts and Superseconds were up amazingly in Bdx; the big increases in Burg seem to be mostly in the most prized Grand Cru and "Super 1ers" (my own term, but the most prized Premier Crus such as Chambolle Amoureuses, Gevrey CSJ, Volnay Clos de Chenes, maybe NSG Les St George , etc) from the prime producers in each; the biggest Rhone increases seem to be in the luxury cuvee CdP, Chave Hermitage, La-las, etc. The market is correcting (overcorrecting in all likelihood) from pricing which was leading to a lot of secondary-market profit.

Which means (especially with David going to college) I can no longer afford my normal (I thought restrained) spending. I used to buy mostly village level but with some splurges for 1ers I really liked (or bargain GCs). But I doubt I can afford Lafarge Chenes or Chevillon top

1ers for 2005. But all reports re Burgundy seem to be along the lines of startling quality from top to bottom, so my strategy will be to try and find regional and village level wines from producers I like, as well as good 1ers from lesser prized villages like Savigny (from producers like Pavelot, Ecard, Bize, etc).I did buy a couple bottle of Clos des Lambrays, because quality has rebounded over last 5-7 vintages and several reports say the 2005 is best since its heyday many many years ago.

Similarly, no Bdx supersec> Well tis the season of en primeur and people are posting offers for Rhones

Spain and Portugal are looking better and better. German Rieslings and Austrian Gruner's are still good buys so that's the direction my wine dollar is going. France will have to be mostly Beaujolais for me.