I would like to start buying some nice Burgundy but have no idea where to start! My cellar is currently about 600 bottles, mostly CA, Australia and Italy so I realize I need to branch out. I live in PA and although the State Store system has improved I'm a little skeptical about buying Burgundy from them. Does anyone have any advice on a few producers and where I could find them ie WineExchange, PremierCru so I could get started? Any help would be appreciated.

Joe

I will respond more later but I am in a rush at the moment.

Start with negociant producers. They are easier to find at stores and usually cover a large range of villages and crus. As an example, start with Bouchard Pere et Fils, Joseph Drouhin and Louis Jadot.

Start at the bourgogne or villages level. In most cases if you do not like a producers lower end wines, you will not like their 1er or grand cru's either so save yourself the money.

I would recommend starting with almost any current vintage but 2003. They are more akin to California then to Burgundy.

Later on you can worry about what producers, villages, etc you like. First find out whether you like burgundy or not. Some do, some don't.

oops...realized that I am not sure I answered your question. I was answering more about where to start if you are just getting into Burgundy

i tend to agree with jason. a couple of other producers to look at in the beginning are girardin, magnien and lignier michelot. their village wines can be found in the $30 range and premier cru's about $45. the 2003 vintage is very similar to california type of pinots so it might be a good start. if you want to understand more of what burgundy is about, look for 2000's and 2001's from these producers that are being discounted. the village level wines are drinking well right now.

a couple of ideas.

dan posner from grapes the wine company still has some nice red burgs from 2000 through 2002 in stock. i know he has some lignier michelot at decent prices. i would call him.

also recently, i saw garys wine and market place had some good deals on 2001 and 2002 red burgs, but you may need to put a case together to get the 20% discount. they had some lignier michelot premier cru's and also a 2002 bize savigny les beaune's.

a bit of caution with burgs. you must crawl before you walk and walk before you run. then in the end if you get the bug, you will be on your knees.

ojeffso, which Magnien? There are at least two, Michael and Fredric. This is one of the things you have to look out for with Burgundy, there can be more than one producer with a given last name (for instance there are at least three "Gros" producing wine, Michel, Anne, and Anne Francois)

michel magnien is the domaine estate producer. frederic magnien is the nogcient producer. i was thinking of frederic, but if you can find michel at decent prices they are worth buying. frederic is more readily available.