Twelve bottles, chosen one cellar at a time
I build every case here in Burgundy, by tasting in the cellars of the families who make the wine.
Three steps, one case a year
I taste.
Through the year, in the cellars of the Côte de Nuits, the Côte de Beaune and beyond: established families, new hands, and domaines almost nobody outside the village has heard of.
The case is built.
Twelve bottles that make sense together: villages that explain each other, a range of styles, and at least a few wines you could not have found on your own.
It arrives with its story.
Every bottle comes with its own sheet: the domaine and its history, how the wine is farmed and made, and when to open it: this year, or in ten. And I answer seven days a week if you want to ask before pulling a cork.
Burgundy travels.
It just does not travel simply.
Between a cellar in the Côte de Nuits and a shelf in America there is an importer, a distributor and a retailer. Each takes a share, and the bottle ends up costing several times what it costs here, assuming the shop that carries it is in your city, and still has any this year.
This club removes three of those four steps. You are not buying access to secret wine. You are buying twelve bottles I have tasted and approved myself, from growers I know, sent from Burgundy to your door in one move, for one price.
What changes between the three
Not the care, and not the number of bottles. What changes is the level of appellation: where the parcels sit on the hillside, and how much Premier and Grand Cru is in the case.
The domaines in this selection are the reason the club exists. Real family domaines, often taken over by the next generation, working a handful of hectares and making very little. Their bottles rarely reach the United States, and when they do, almost nobody pays what the domaine actually charges. Bottle for bottle, this is where the gap between what a wine costs and what it gives you is widest.
- Twelve bottles I choose myself
- Family domaines and confidential producers
- Regional appellations, village wines, Premiers Crus and one Grand Cru
- A sheet for each wine: the domaine, the cuvée, and when to open it
- Door-to-door shipping from France, in November, February or May
- One payment, one price: transport, duties and taxes included, nothing to pay on arrival
A serious case, built around Premiers Crus, plus two Grands Crus, enough to put a few bottles aside for the occasions that deserve them. The rest draws on the same family domaines as the first collection.
- Twelve bottles I choose myself
- A majority of Premiers Crus, two Grands Crus, and a few village wines from the better-known appellations
- Recognised producers alongside confidential domaines
- A selection spanning several villages and styles of Burgundy
- A sheet for each wine, with cellaring guidance
- Personal follow-up, directly with me
- One payment, one price: transport, duties and taxes included, nothing to pay on arrival
The most serious case I build, made for people who already have a cellar and know what is missing from it. Six Premiers Crus and six Grands Crus, from established and prestigious domaines. Some of these bottles are obtained one or two at a time, and not every year.
- Twelve bottles I choose myself
- Six Premiers Crus and six Grands Crus
- Recognised and prestigious domaines
- Rare cuvées, subject to the allocations obtained
- A sheet for each wine, with serving, cellaring and pairing guidance
- Priority contact, directly with me
- One payment, one price: transport, duties and taxes included, nothing to pay on arrival
I will not name a bottle, an appellation, a domaine or a vintage before it is actually in the cellar. In Burgundy, allocations are decided by the families who make the wine, harvest by harvest, and no amount of goodwill guarantees a case.
What I do promise is the standard: twelve bottles I would be happy to open at my own table, at the level of appellation your selection describes. If a wine I hoped for does not come, I replace it with what I consider its equal — and I tell you what happened.
Two questions, and it is built for you
Choose your collection above first. The two questions below are then asked on the payment page, before anything is charged. The finer preferences come afterwards, by email, when there is no hurry.
12 red · 9 red + 3 white · 6 red + 6 white · 9 white + 3 red · 12 white
Whichever is soonest · November · February · May
From one to six.
2 cases: 5% off · 3 or more: 10% off. Applied automatically, for cases going to the same address.
When you want to drink them · young or with some age · anything you would rather not be sent.
These shape the selection but do not hold up your membership.
An annual membership. I write to you a month before each renewal to confirm the payment and change anything you would like. You have fourteen days from payment to change your mind, and nothing is prepared for shipping before then.
One case a year, sent when the weather allows
Your case leaves as soon as your membership is settled, in the window you choose. Nothing ships during the summer: heat is the one thing that can ruin a bottle before you ever open it, and no tracking number makes up for a cooked wine.
Cool weather, and the case arrives in time for the year's end.
The quietest month for shipping. Nothing is rushed.
The last window before the summer. After that, we wait.
Shipping, delivery and conditions
Wine crossing a border is a regulated matter, and I would rather be clear about it than discover a problem at your door.
A case ready to shipA case with someone else's name on it
A selection can be sent as a gift, with a note in your name and a letter explaining what is in the case and why. Write to me and I will arrange it.