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It’s always a pleasure to be featured in media coverage, both in the wine press and in general media.
If you run across a media mention that we haven’t noticed, please let us know about it: MrsBurghound@burghound.com.
The Must-Have Wine Book of the Year
REVIEW by CURTIS MARSH
ASIA SENTINEL, December 7, 2010
Although this book is the perfect Christmas present for Burgundy and pinot noir lovers, or all wine enthusiasts for that matter, it is imperative reading for anyone wanting to better understand the deep complexities of Burgundy and more specifically, the pinnacle of the region and the pinot noir grape, the appellation Vosne-Romanée – as Meadow’s puts it more evocatively, ‘The Pearl of the Cote’.
We were only just discussing the mysteries of Burgundy the other day at a most enjoyable Maison Louis Latour lunch and how the consumer grapples with the myriad intricacies with the region and its wines. Some comments were made to the effect that for the consumer to better understand Burgundy, the subject needs to be demystified and the approach to it more user-friendly.
Actually, I don’t agree with this at all. In reality you could not get an easier base level of wine to come to terms with than Burgundy, with only two personable grapes – chardonnay and pinot noir – to contend with. The genesis of the wines is intrinsically linked to their geography with an unmistakable ‘sense of place’.
However, the beauty is that you can take your level of interest to a limitless extreme in discovering the idiosyncrasies of the pinot noir grape and the myriad of complexities in the mosaic of different soils, vineyard aspects and orientation, micro-climates and man’s influence in the vineyard – essentially what the French call terroir, to the winemaking itself, all translated through the wines’ scents, flavors, textures and nuances.
Essentially, Burgundy can be a simple pleasure or as complex as you want it to be, but please, don’t try to dumb it down, you will strip all the pleasure out of wine!
As with the infectious nature of pinot noir, once you pick up this book, you will find it hard to put down. Even as I write this review, I admit I have not read all of it, and when I do finish it, I will probably read it again and again.
You could say it is a reference book, indeed the ultimate reference on Vosne-Romanée and its producers. However, as thoroughly exhaustive as it is, it is written in a way that one does not tire of – as one can with such comprehensive works. There is a seamless flow between a progressive and logical journey through Burgundies’ history and evolution from ‘The Monks, the Dukes, Pinot Noir and the Idea of Terroir’, to a tour through the villages and appellations, reaching a crescendo with ‘An Historic Tasting – The Genius Revealed’, an account of an unparalleled tasting in April 2007, of 74 vintages of Romanée-Conti spanning three centuries.
The fascinating and profound, all-encompassing account of this extraordinary event and tasting notes are reason enough to buy the book alone, with each chapter covering the village appellations with detailed and exacting notes on top producers, the trajectory of their wines and an extensive tasting notes on multiple vintages –as far back as 1870!
The book is beautifully crafted and presented with alluring, impressionistic photographs that make you reach for a bottle of Burgundy and the phone to call your travel agent at the same time. There are state-of-the-art vineyard maps and legends along with painstaking records of grower vineyard holdings that will be the benchmark reference.
Above all, it is written with extraordinary passion and precision in wine prose that is unparalleled, both on the subject of Burgundy and in individualistic style and authority.
Released in July 2010, it is Meadows’ first published book, all 350-pages of it, although many of us are already well-acquainted with Meadows as under his nom de plume Burghound, or www.Burghound.com, and his extensive quarterly review, devoted to the coverage of the wines of Burgundy, US pinot noir and chardonnay and a bi-annual coverage of Champagne.
Self-published, ‘The Pearl of the Cote’ is only available through http://www.burghoundbooks.com/ Meadows is personally autographing books up until 31st December, so another reason to order now. My copies arrived within four days of ordering, which is pretty impressive from the US to Singapore, so there is certainly ample time for Christmas orders, assuming there are copies available as I know the first print run is almost sold out.
Footnote:
Burghound in Asia – Having first met Allen Meadows in Hong Kong at the inaugural Acker, Merrall & Condit wine auction in 2008, my continued correspondence and a persuasive dialogue on the bourgeoning Asia wine market and the insatiable thirst for wine knowledge, I am delighted that Meadows has agreed to travel to Singapore to spread his passion for pinot noir and chardonnay and to expound on his new book, We are indeed privileged to have him emcee the event. Details are at www.burghoundinasia.com
Hyperdirected Oenophiles: Burghound, For the Love of Port, and other great niche wine sites
EXCERPT from REVIEW BY MIKE STEINBERGER
SLATE, November, 2010. Reprinted with permission.
…because of the Internet, there are also probably more people than ever writing about wine. Anyone with a computer and a corkscrew can be a critic now; offering regional expertise is a way of standing out in an increasingly crowded field.
So who are the regional gurus worth following? Allen Meadows is the best-known and most successful of them, and his reputation for excellence is richly deserved. A California-based former banker, Meadows publishes a quarterly e-newsletter called Burghound, which as the name suggests focuses on the wines of Burgundy. A longtime Burgundy nut, Meadows launched his publication in 2001…and is widely recognized as the go-to guide for the wines of Burgundy – the place to not only get the skinny on new releases from the likes of Dujac and Mugnier, but to learn about up-and-coming producers and to receive detailed information on issues of concern to Burgundy aficionados, such as the “premox” mystery…. He just took the specialization a degree further by self-publishing a book about Vosne-Romanéee, the most acclaimed of Burgundy’s wine villages. The Pearl of the Côte is a beautifully designed, exhaustively researched tome that underscores why Burgundy is the most maddeningly arcane but ultimately rewarding wine region on the planet. It is truly porno for winos (particularly the last section, a sip-by-sip account of an epic tasting that Meadows attended of the fabled Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – some guys have all the luck)…
Burghound – The Burgundy Journal of Record
Wine Camp Blog and Forum September 6, 2006
While the appointment of the talented and dedicated David Schildknecht to cover Burgundy for The Wine Advocate is a very, very positive step, anyone who is seriously following Burgundy long ago discovered that Allen Meadow’s Burghound is the only place to go for anyone collecting (or just drinking) Burgundy of all price points. If you have any lingering doubts you only need to tune in to the recent GrapeRadio podcast “The Wines of Maison Louis Jadot with Allen Meadows” to be blown away not only by his knowledge, but by his loving respect of the region and its wines. I have been fortunate to hear Meadow’s speak several times now and followed his newsletter for some time and his knowledge of Burgundy is literally encyclopaedic.
I want to make this as clear as I can: anyone interested in buying Burgundy no matter what your level of expertise or the size of your collection should be a subscriber to Burghound.
A Day of Rest and Burghound
Anne Amie
Posted on Home Page October 11, 2007
Today was really the calm before the storm. While the weather cleared up, we can feel the threatening storm of three days of intense picking that will start Saturday and run through Monday. On Saturday and Sunday we will process almost 40 tons of fruit each day.
However, today was quiet and gave us a chance to catch up and a few members of the crew even got a day off. As we enjoyed the day we also got some good news about vintages past as Burghound gave us and our neighbors some nice reviews. I, in particular, am pleased with Allen Meadows’ comments on our wines as he is clearly the definitive writer on pinot noir in the industry today. No one knows the entire world of pinot noir better than Allen and anyone who loves pinot noir should be a subscriber to his newsletter, Burghound.
For more go to: anneamie.typepad.com/anne_amie_vineyards/
2007/10/a-day-of-rest-a.html
Wine for Right Now (Excerpt)
Matt Kramer
The New York Sun, January 3, 2007
“HERE’S THE (IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION) DEAL … According to Allen Meadows, whose four-times-a-year newsletter called Burghound.com is the definitive word on matters Burgundian, says the 2005 vintage is ‘the single most consistently excellent vintage from top to bottom that I’ve ever seen.’ Mr. Meadows rarely engages in gush, so you’d better believe it.”
Oregon Pinot Noir Club (Excerpt)
October 2007
“Burghound Scores Are Out! Most wine lovers these days know about Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate, and of course they subscribe to The Wine Spectator, but among Pinot noir and Burgundy freaks…Allen Meadows, aka Burghound, is The Man.
About 15 years ago, I was an AOL member posting scads of tasting notes and engaging in vinous debate with a lively online community there. Many of those folks have gone on to success in the industry in one fashion or another. But one poster simply blew all of us away with his detailed notes on some of the world’s finest wines – lots of wine, several times a week…that was Burghound.
Now he is 28 issues into his quarterly newsletter and is simply the best reviewer of Burgundy and pinot noir writing in English, in my opinion. One Caveat: He’s the most exacting and stingy of all the reviewers, and breaking the 90-point barrier with him is significant.
For full article go to www.oregonpinotnoir.com/StoreFront.bok
A Vintage Year in Burgundy (Excerpt)
Matt Kramer
Diversion Magazine, May 2007
“The Burghound Phenomenon. Burgundy lends itself to obsessives, what with its hundreds of growers, thousands of named vineyards and maddening variations in vintages. The world’s foremost Burgundy expert – who, thankfully, is also in possession of an acute palate – is Los angeles-based Allen Meadows. A former investment banker, Meadows, 52, has been dreaming about and drinking Burgundy for years. Bored by Finance … and tantalized by a life sepnt in pursuit of the wine, Meadows launched a web-based subscription newsletter called Burghound.com in January 2001.
In a surprisingly short time, Meadows, who had never previously written professionally, became the authority on Burgundy. And it’s easy to see why. Each quarterly edition, if printed out, typically runs to 150 single-spaced pages printed on both sides. It’s like writing four books a year.
Meadows reports that he now has several thousand subscribers in 46 countries…attribute to his exhaustive research (he’s in Burgundy for several months a year), impressive tasting acuity and reliability. No Burgundy lover leaves home for the retail shop without a copy …”
The Wine Workshop
Spring 2007
Join The Wine Workshop for an extraordinary weekend, October 12-14, 2007, with the world’s foremost expert on Burgundy, Allen Meadows, aka the Burghound. Allen’s insights on Burgundy have become invaluable to wine professionals and collectors alike. His authoritative views on Burgundy are the reference standard in this highly complex and diverse region…To hear him speak on the subject is the equivalent of taking a Masters course on Burgundy! The scope of Allen’s knowledge and experience should not be missed by anyone who enjoys or aspires to understand the intricacies of Burgundy…”
New voice on the grapevine (Excerpt)
Mike Steinberger
Financial Times Arts & Weekend, Aug. 8, 2003
No wines divide opinion quite like Burgundies. People either adore them or despise them: there is no mushy middle, and especially not when it comes to red Burgundies, made from the fickle Pinot Noir grape.
Those who love red Burgundies tend to love them in an obsessive way; indeed, the wines command an almost cult-like devotion. It is a cult that appears to have finally found its prophet in a former banker from southern California known as Burghound.
Burghound is the nom de plume – nom de vin, if you prefer – of Allen Meadows. Since 2001, Meadows has been publishing a quarterly newsletter, called Burghound, devoted to the reds and whites of Burgundy. It is not a cheap read – an annual subscription costs $110 – but then, Burgundy is not a cheap drink. Wine critics exist in part to save us from making mistakes, and when it comes to Burgundies, mistakes are expensive, frustrating, and frequent.
Burgundy gets plenty of attention from the press, and at least two well-known critics – Clive Coates of The Vine, and Steve Tanzer, who puts out International Wine Cellar – have long been considered trustworthy guides to the wines.
Meadows is modest about the function he serves. “I don’t think there was a void,” he says, “but I did feel that there was perhaps room for another voice.”
The market plainly agrees: with around 2,000 subscribers, a high renewal rate, and growing influence among retailers and auction houses, Meadows seems to have established himself in the eyes of fellow Burgundy fanatics as a reliable first line of defence.
