Best Burgundy premier cru 2017 wines

Even many of the best premiers crus can be swamped by the near-100-point scores of the grands crus. So below, we've highlighted the top premier cru wines tasted by Tim Atkin MW recently for our Burgundy 2017 en primeur report...

It won’t be too much of a surprise to see that most of our top-scoring Burgundy 2017 wines are from grand cru vineyards.

As many readers will know, however, relatively small volumes have combined with growing global demand to make a lot of grand cru Burgundy wines extremely difficult to acquire. If you can find them, they’re naturally expensive.

At the time of writing, Hedonsim in Mayfair had a bottle of Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 2015 listed at £864. And that’s not even the top-end of grand cru prices.

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.

Even though a larger 2017 Burgundy crop might curb price momentum in 2019 on the secondary market, no one is expecting a significant reversal of the trends outlined above.

See all Burgundy 2017 en primeur tasting notes & scores

Buying smart

So if you’re serious about your Burgundy but are looking for a smarter way to buy, we have highlighted the best Burgundy premier cru wines from the 2017 vintage, as rated for Decanter Premium subscribers by Tim Atkin MW.

Although prices have yet to be released, names like Raveneau, Rousseau, Roumier and Roulot are never going to be pocket-money cheap; but you may have more joy here than searching for their grands crus.

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.

Introduction editing by Chris Mercer.