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Maybe it’s because of this whole pandemic lockdown recovery thing and our provincial government is trying to lend some help to us oenophiles. Or perhaps the British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) bean counters are being their usual cold-eyed selves and simply looking at sales volumes, shelf space and cash-flows. Whatever the cause (and I’m willing to suspend disbelief and credit the former, given how well the BC government has handled our interconnected public health and economic crises), over the past few months fine wine lovers here in BC have been the happy beneficiaries of deep discounts on several Burgundy wines at the BCLDB.

No, you did not read that wrong. ‘Burgundy’ and ‘discounts’ don’t typically appear in the same sentence. The best Burgundy wines – especially those from the almost mystical Cote d’Or vineyards that stretch from just south of Dijon to well beyond Beaune in the south – are some of the world’s most prized and most expensive, eye-wateringly so. Great Burgundy (red as well as white wines) has become sadly unattainable for us regular wine lovers without big expense accounts or trust funds. Finding bottles that are both reliably good (a whole other story) and reasonably priced is a fool’s game. But at its best, Burgundy produces the world’s most thrilling, refined, haunting pinot noirs and chardonnays. Sooner or later, all serious wine lovers covet these vinous elixirs.

So it has been with great anticipation and pleasure that I’ve been looking out for the Burgundy discounts that have been popping up for the past little while at BCL stores. And I’ve plunked down some serious dough (Burgundy is never cheap, even discounted!) on a few bottles that I hope will give pleasure while not bankrupting me. The BCLDB discounts are mostly in the 10-25% range, with many wines being around 20% off full retail. That is significant when you’re buying a wine that normally sells for say $100 (I warned you Burgundy is not cheap!). So a $95 wine may be priced at say $76, plus you also get a further break on those dreaded taxes as well, which add another 15% to the price.

To be sure, most of these wines are in short supply, and many will only be available at one or two stores in your region. So finding some of these deals is not easy, and sometimes involve long drives to out-of-the-way BCL store locations. It’s a kind of treasure hunt for wine geeks. But in case you’re interested, here are a few wines that have caught my eye and lightened my wallet recently. See the photo above.

First thing, did you notice what these five wines all have in common? They’re all from 2015. More than most wine growing regions, vintage variation is a major factor in Burgundy, which still has a marginal climate for growing grapes despite global warming. So it really pays to be aware of and avoid ‘off-years’, unless you have full confidence in a particular producer. 2015 is considered to be one of the very best Burgundy vintages in decades, so try get them while you still can.

Another thing to note in the photo: while classic Cote d’Or communes such as Volnay, Gevrey-Chambertin and even Vosne-Romanée (home to the world’s most expensive Pinot Noir) are in the line up, I also have a couple bottles from less-famous communes. Communes such as Fixin (Albert Bichot’s Clos de la Perriere) and Auxey-Duresses (Clos du Moulin aux Moines), along with others like Marsannay, Pernand-Vergelesses, Savigny-les-Beaune, Saint-Aubin and Santenay, can all provide very good QPR (Quality Price Ratio) wines at substantially lower prices, in good years. Look out for wines from these lesser-known areas as well as from the Hautes Cotes de Nuits and Hautes Cotes de Beaune appellations, both of which are located atop the slopes that comprise the most famed appellations. In years with warmer, mostly dry, sunny weather (a more frequent recurrence with global warming) producers in these areas are making ever-better wines.

Next, note that none of these five wines is designated ‘Grand Cru’ (the highest quality band in the Burgundy vineyard classification system). The term ‘Grand Cru’ is a license to print money in Burgundy, and you will pay accordingly. Instead, go for the best wines you can afford from among the ‘Premier Cru’ vineyards (the next level down), many of which are near neighbours to the Grand Crus and can be almost as good. Or even mere ‘Village’ wines from the best communes (such as the Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin Mes Cinq Terroirs and the Clos du Moulin aux Moines Auxey-Duresses) can sometimes be even better value in great vintages such as 2015.

Finally, note that three of the wines bear the word ‘Monopole’ on the label, which means the wines are made from a vineyard owned exclusively by that one producer (as opposed to several producers each owning a small slice, as is common in Burgundy). Again, ‘Monopole’ designated wines are often a sign of higher quality control by a dedicated producer.

So, how much can you save on these kinds of Burgundy wines, you ask? Well, I saved $13 (plus the difference on taxes) on the Auxey-Duresses (reg $70); around $20 on the Clos de la Perriere (reg $90); another $20 on the Roblot-Marchand Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Rouges du Dessus (reg $95); and around $25 on the Jadot Volnay 1er Cru Clos de la Barre (reg $116). Right now at the BCLDB you can get a bottle of Albert Bichot Savigny-les-Beaune 2015 for $10 off (reg $58), or Faiveley Mercury La Framboisiere Monopole 2017 for $11 off (reg $58), or Domaine Cyrot Buthiau Pommard 2016 for more than $20 off (reg $73), or Mark Haisma Vosne-Romanee Paux Bois 2015 for $15 off (reg $82).

And if these don’t seem like real Burgundy deals to you, you can always grab the last advertised bottle of Domaine Faiveley’s Chambertin Clos de Beze Grand Cru 2016 at $100 off its regular price of $500. If only…