Where to buy: BurgundyWine.com

I spend a lot of time on this website focused on what to buy. But when you’re on the hunt for great wines at bargain prices, it’s equally important to know where to shop for wine as well. Finding a wine shop with knowledgeable staff, who have your best interests in mind and who will steer you toward some great deals, is priceless.

Thanks to the Internet, you’re no longer limited to the wine shop in your neighborhood. Online wine shopping opens a range of opportunity to find wines you can’t find locally, as well as deals you can’t find locally.

But the Internet is full of swindlers trying to make a buck. Right? There are numerous wine clubs that sound like a sweet deal, but leave you underwhelmed and disappointed when you taste the wines they send your way. Once again, like finding a trustworthy local shop, finding a trustworthy online wine shop is priceless. And this is why I was thrilled when I came across BurgundyWine.com, the online store for Elden Selections. They sent me a few of their wines to try as media samples, but I’ve quickly become converted to a customer.

BurgundyWine.com, as you could probably guess from the name, sells only wine from the Burgundy region in France. If you know much about Burgundy, then you likely know it’s not a region often associated with bargain wines. In fact, although I’ve had some amazing wine from Burgundy, it’s rare that I even consider buying Burgundian wine because it’s typically overpriced from my perspective. But if you look hard enough, and get some help from local experts, there are deals to be found.

To give you fair warning, this story is not about “cheap” wines (i.e., those under $20) but it is about finding premium wines at value prices and about finding hidden gems. As Elden Selections describe it themselves, they’re able to sell “wines that often sell at $50 for $30 or less and hundred dollar wines for $60 or less.”

Elden Selections was started in 1992 by two American expats, Eleanor Garvin and Dennis Sherman (El + Den), who have now lived and worked in Burgundy for over 30 years. They originally moved to France in order to apprentice with French chefs and develop their culinary skills. After being there a few years, they purchased a 6-person river barge, named Le Papillon, where they served small-production Burgundy wines with the meals they prepared. When guests began to inquire about having these wines shipped to them, Elden Selections was born.

I know from experience, it’s difficult to learn about a wine region, to really wrap your head around the nuance of the wines from that region and discover the hidden gems without going there, meeting the winemakers, talking with locals, walking the vineyards and tasting your way around the region. Even if you go there for a short visit, it’s difficult to take it all in. A local, with years of experience in the region, who is immersed in details of the region every day, can be the ultimate curator for the wines of that region. That’s exactly what Elden Selections is doing in Burgundy.

Through their years of living in the region, as a part of the food and wine community, they’ve gotten to know the producers. They meet with them through each year and follow each harvest. They taste each wine before and after bottling in order to select wines they feel have the best potential. That’s how they curate the wines sold through their website.

There are 3,500 domaines, 100 appellations and 1,200-plus climats (i.e., vineyard plots) in Burgundy, which means there are a lot of different wines produced. Yet many of the Burgundy wines you’re likely to see in your local shops are large production négociant wines, or you may see a few from famous big names (which come with an equally big price tag). You won’t find either of those categories from Elden Selections as everything they offer is small quantity, minimal-intervention, farmer-made, estate-bottled wines. Many of the wines they sell are not available in the US through any other means.

Unlike some online wine clubs that pick the wines for you, you are able to pick and choose which wines to buy from Elden. It’s not a “wine club” model. Although you can get some great deals from Elden by purchasing one of their case specials, such as their “Introduction to Burgundy” cases, which averages out to under $23 per bottle! And shipping is free when you order a full case. For good Burgundian wine, that’s a steal!

Getting to know the winemakers

In addition to the deals on otherwise unavailable wines, another thing I like about BurgundyWine.com is the context they provide about the producers. Wine lovers often like to tell the story behind a wine. It brings more life to the wine than it would have without the story. Elden does a nice job of connecting shoppers to the producers by telling their stories. There’s a page about each producer they work with, providing some background about the producer. From there you can shop that producer’s wines.

For example, I tried a wonderful 2016 Chablis from Jean Dauvissat and through the website learned that Jean’s son, Fabien Dauvissat, has converted his father’s Chablis domain to organic practices. While only in his early 30’s, Fabien is taking chances to progress the quality of the wines produced from the domain. The results certainly impressed me. Lemon and herb aromas abound from the nose of this wine, along with a nice, mineral scaffolding beneath it all. That mineral comes through beautifully on the palate too. If you’ve ever wanted to find a wine that provides a great example of minerality, this is it. I would even say there’s complexity within the minerality, a touch chalky, a touch flinty and a touch salty. I can’t wait to see where Fabien takes these wines next.

I also tried a Pinot Noir, the GIVRY Rouge 1er Cru ‘Clos Jus’ from Domaine Mouton. Seeing the name Mouton on any wine certainly catches my attention and it was interesting to learn that the lawyers from Mouton-Rothschild tried to prevent Laurent Mouton from using his family’s name on this wine. These Mouton’s in Burgundy, I learned, have a number of Premier Cru holdings in Givry and strive to bring the nuance of each vineyard into their wines, this one being from their Clos Jus site.

Getting started with Burgundy

In addition to all that, Elden provides some education about Burgundy on their website and consider teaching wine lovers about Burgundy to be part of their mission. They provide education not only through their website but also on-site in Burgundy at their manor house, Domaine de Cromey. Guests can attend both informal and WSET-certified classes at their manor house. Visits with Burgundy winemakers are also available to guests.

If you want to learn about Burgundy, visit the wine region, get access to wines you can’t get elsewhere in the US and hopefully find some deals, it seems Elden Selections and BurgundyWine.com is a great resource.

Disclosure: Wines sampled in preparation for this article were received as media samples.