Wine Aficionado Thatcher Baker-Briggs on Climate Change Impacts

Sometimes, no matter how smart, connected, and well-resourced you are, you simply need an expert—and not just any expert, but the rarefied insider whom other specialists call when they need help. Luckily, Robb Report has a roster of such world-class pros on speed dial. We’re even rolling out a highly curated directory of heavy hitters across categories: the Masters of Luxury.

This month, it’s Thatcher Baker-Briggs. The 34-year-old wine wunderkind started working in fine dining as a teenager and passed the Court of Master Sommeliers’ rigorous Certified Sommelier exam at just 22. In 2019, after stints at Michelin-starred establishments the world over, he launched his own wine consulting business. And last year, he debuted Thatcher’s Wine in Los Angeles, an importer and bottle shop where he shares his expertise with connoisseurs and casual drinkers alike.

Have a conundrum you’d like to see solved? Email askrobb@robbreport.com.

The Expert

Name: Thatcher Baker-Briggs
Occupation: Wine-world whisperer
HQ: Los Angeles
Specialty: Finding and acquiring the unicorns you’ve been hunting down for years

The Big Question

I’m getting concerned about how climate change will impact the value of my cellar. I’ve got a lot of wines from Champagne, Burgundy, Southern Australia, and Napa Valley. Should I pump the brakes on opening these bottles? And which regions do you think are primed to take their place?

It’s a bit early to think that these regions are going to stop producing wines,” Baker-Briggs says. “Sometimes what’s happening is the vintages are impacted, so the yields are much lower than perhaps they were.” With Burgundy, for example, producers have lost a significant amount in the past couple of vintages, but he doesn’t think there’s much reason to worry. “I wouldn’t be concerned [that], all of a sudden, Champagne or Burgundy just stop producing wine,” he adds. In fact, some of the more recent bottles from these areas might be more valuable than older pours.

For forward-looking collectors, Baker-Briggs pinpoints Germany as an emerging scene. “Years ago, the wines were sweet, and now they’re increasingly becoming dry,” he notes. “The ripeness is there, and I think the value in Germany is kind of continuing to increase.” In general, you may begin to see climate change affecting the appellations of certain wines. “Appellations that maybe were, for example, Premier Cru could potentially become a Grand Cru appellation,” he says. “Because it was a little bit of a cooler site, and now that it’s warmer, the conditions are there to make even higher-quality wine.”

Still, he cautions that none of these wines is yet taking the place of a white Burgundy or Champagne. And producers are trying to adapt to climate change, changing the viticulture or using grapes that are more heat- or drought-resistant. “I wouldn’t say that global warming has affected the fine-wine market yet consistently,” Baker-Briggs says. “It’s hitting it, but it’s vintage to vintage. And the value is going up; it’s not going down.”

Speed Round

When you’re going over to someone’s house, what bottle do you bring as a gift?

I always tend to bring Champagne. Champagne is one of those things that people don’t always have a great selection of. And I love Champagne, and I think it works with everything.

Favorite method of staving off a hangover?

I think the key is to eat something terrible for you at the end of the day. So, I’m a strong believer in hard-taco Supremes from Taco Bell—just a couple before bed to clear everything up. I like to get ahead of it.

Be honest: How many different styles of glasses do you actually use for tasting?

I’m not one to mix it up with glassware. I’m fine with using one kind of universal glass. I think that that’s fine for pretty much everything.

Best restaurant experience in the world right now?

Asador Etxebarri in San Sebastián [in northern Spain], because it has a great wine list. Of course, the food is incredible. It’s only open for lunch. It’s a special place.

What’s the best bottle you’ve opened recently? What made it stand out?

I drank a bottle of 2014 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne last week, which was really perfect. It’s one of my favorite producers; it’s one of the greatest appellations. I actually think it’s a slightly overrated vintage, but not from this particular producer, and not from this particular wine.