Best Burgundy 2018 premier cru wines

Take a glimpse at Tim Atkin’s Burgundy 2018 en primeur report and the majority of the top-scoring wines come from grand cru vineyards. This comes as no surprise, but scratch the surface and you’ll find a raft of highly-rated wines from premier cru sites. [subscriber-content]These are wines which – unlike many of the grand crus – are going to be easier to find and relatively less wallet-busting. Scroll down for Tim Atkin's top Burgundy premier cru 2018 tasting notes and scores When it comes to Burgundy’s top wines, small volumes and growing global demand have made many grand cru wines extremely difficult to acquire, and if you can find them, eye-wateringly expensive. When it comes to en primeur, merchants naturally handle Burgundy grand cru allocations carefully and their job has become as much about diplomacy as selling in some cases, especially following a run of small harvests. It’s common for wines to get snapped up prior to general en primeur release offers. See all the full Burgundy 2018 en primeur report and tasting notes Premier cru focus With this in mind, a smart way to buy in Burgundy is to look at the best premier cru wines. We’ve highlighted below the best Burgundy premier cru wines from the 2018 vintage, as rated for Decanter Premium subscribers by Tim Atkin MW. Atkin says that 2018 is a vintage where, due to extreme weather during the growing season, it pays more than ever to know your producer and choose carefully. ‘Follow individual producers rather than villages or vineyards,’ he advises, so bear this is mind with making purchases. Prices for the highlighted wines have yet to be released and while they are never going to be pocket-money cheap, you may have more joy finding these wines for your cellar than their grand cru counterparts. [breakout] Tips Finding the right producer for you

At this level, the name of the producer holds as much weight - if not more - than the terroir, although of course it's always sensible to be as informed as possible about both.

It's important to find a producer with a stylistic approach that you enjoy.

Allocations: Playing the long game

Generally speaking, the more you buy, the more likely merchants are to keep you in mind for allocations.

You have a better chance of rising up merchants' lists if you're a proven buyer. That doesn't just mean buying all the premier cru - or even grand cru - level wines, but also good village-level wines, too.

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Introduction copy by Chris Wilson. [/subscriber-content] Tim Atkin's top Burgundy premier cru wines from 2018: [wine-collection] You may also like Burgundy 2018 en primeur: Full report Best Burgundy 2018: Top scores Top 2018 Côte de Nuits en primeur wines Top 2018 Côte de Beaune en primeur wines Top 2018 Côte Chalonnaise & Mâconnais en primeur wines Chablis 2018: Full vintage report plus top scoring wines