OMFG, as the denizens of the boards have been known to say. The 07s at J-J Confuron are mind-blowingly beautiful. From the Bourgogne Rouge to the unbelievably elegant Romanée-St. Vivant every wine was singing with lovely red fruits, a texture of the purest silk, and beautiful length. It’ll be a year from now until they’re in the market, but make your plans now to get in on these babies. Here’s Alain Meunier & Sophie Confuron-Meunier outside the cellar on this gorgeous sunny morning…

Alain & Sophie - J-J Confuron

Had a great lunch with a nice group of Burg-hounds from Atlanta and NoCal at Le Chambolle in Chambolle-Musigny. They were part of a group touring and tasting here with our friend Kim Gagné. The food rocked (especially the salt-caramel ice cream), and the 01 Roumier les Cras and 00 Mugnier Musigny were both in nice form. I just so happen to have another bottle of the Mugnier with me, which I’ll bring to the Paulée on Tuesday along with other goodies.

Here’s a shot from the top of Les Amoureuses taken on the way back from lunch…

Chambolle-Musigny Les Amoureuses

Then this afternoon was the 136^th annual Fête des Grands Vins de Bourgogne – literally thousands of wines to taste at a huge walk-around tasting. I got a good look at a bunch of 08 barrel samples from Chambolle (Roumier, Barthod, Sigaut), Puligny (Chavy, Carillon, Leflaive) Meursault (Coche-Dury, Roulot, Jobard) and Gevrey (Dugat, Humbert) – coupled with the 08s I’ve tasted in our producers cellars I can say that the wines seem very very nice – lovely big fruit, good balance, and I look forward to tasting after malo a year from now. Tasted a jillion other wines from around the Côte from 04 & 06, and then my palate was shot and I retuned to the house in Volnay.

Off to dinner with friends old and new – more soon…

What a great first full day on the Côte. Picking up where I left off, I tasted thru the just-bottled 2007s at Huber-Verdereau. Another lovely line-up as always, though very different from Pascal Bouley’s. The H-V wines are always more dense and concentrated, but not as approachable out of the gate. They even up over time, but it’s very interesting to see two very different winemaking styles from the same village and similar terroir. Here’s Thiébault in his “tasting room”/office in the winery in Volnay. (I recorded much of our conversation while tasting, for use in a future podcast…)

Thiébault Huber

Thiébault desended into the cellar and returned with a 1943 Pommard Rugiens (his mom’s birth year), and a 1961 Volnay – but both were shot for various different reasons (the ’43 was simply past its prime – no fruit left, but a lovely nose. The ’61 was totally oxidized due to a bad cork, but was more interesting on the palate.) Merde! Well, it’s always a roll of the dice with the old ones…

Then we were off to dinner at Ma Cuisine – fabulous as always (the côte de Veau was exceptional.) A killer bottle of Selosse Brut to kick it off, and an early look at the 2005 Les Amoureuses from Lucien Le Moine were the wines – the Amoureuses was obviously way too young, but it continued to open in the glass over the course of the meal and was showing impeccable balance and all the stuffing to be great in the years to come. Nice grape juice indeed…

Back now after a good night’s sleep – I slept thru ‘til 7 this morning. If you’re ever in a Burgundian village, you’ll notice that it seems they REALLY want you to get up by 7:00 – the church bells ring non-stop for about 15 minutes at 7 o’clock in some wild pattern, as if to say “if you weren’t up already, you’re getting your butt up NOW!” You get used to it after a while, in fact you don’t even hear the bells after a couple of weeks, but at the beginning it always seems like those bells are directly outside your window!

A nice run thru the vineyards in Volnay & Pommard again this morning, and I’m looking forward to tasting today at Confuron – always a highlight of every visit. Also today is the “Palais des Congrés” tasting – the gigantic annual expo of damn near every wine made in Burgundy. There’s a special session for the trade  this afternoon – I’ll check it out and report back in a bit…

Je suis arrivée! I’m here, I’ve made it in one piece yet again, everything went smoothly, and for the first time in my adult life I managed a litle sleep on the flight from Chicago to Paris. I stopped in to Beaune yesterday afternoon to pick up some food for the fridge (and some chocolates at Bouché, of course), settled into Thiébault Huber’s guest house in Volnay, and then had a quick dinner with him and the family at their house in Pommard. It is great to be back.

I was immediately struck by every magazine cover in the Paris airport and train station – they all have Obama on the cover, I mean every one! It sems the french are as fascinated and excited as we are, and they share our hopes for a brighter future under his new and dynamic leadership. The economy is in recession over here too, but not yet as bad as at home. Let’s hope both Obama and monsieur Sarkozy can pull us all through this mess…

Woke up this morning at 5:30 and took a nice run thru the hills of Volnay, then over to Pommard and back, before grabbing a pain-au-chocolat from the Boulangerie and the morning paper from the one commercial enterprise in Volnay (open only two hours a day, and seemingly randomly at that.)

The first tasting of the day was at Pascal Bouley’s – and suffice it to say his ’07s are achingly beautiful. Tender, elegant and refined, it’s oneof the most beautiful ranges of Volnays I’ve had the pleasure to taste. We then walked across the street for lunch at Le Cellier Volnaysien – a classic Burgundian resto where the menu hasn’t changed in at least 100 years. I go there every year with Pascal & Réyane, who always carefully study the menu and then order the same thing everytime (Escargots and Oeufs en Meurette, for those who asked.) The entire Burgundy world is here for the upcoming festivites – I ran into NY Burg-heads Doug  Barzelay & Michael Rockefeller at lunch, along with Benjamin Leroux (Comte Armand, and his own new label Maison Leroux), Jean-Pierre Charlot (Joseph Voillot), Hubert de Montille, Mike Stephens, and a host of others.

Le Cellier Volnaysien

I’m off to taste Thiébault’s 07s in just a bit, and then to dinner at perrenial favorite Ma Cuisine with our friend journalist Jordan Mackay, who’s flying in from Italy this afternoon to join in the Burgundian bacchanalia for a few days.

It’s about 25-26 hours door-to-door from Portland to Volnay. No matter how you slice it, it’s a bit of a safari. I go stir-crazy on 12+-hour flights, so here’s how I usually slice it: A 4-5 hour flight from Portland to Chicago or Atlanta, and then a 7-hour flight to Paris. I’m at the gate at PDX right now, waiting to board a United flight to Chicago. Then it’s a 2-hour layover there, then the flight to Paris.

After getting the bags in Paris (1-hour minimum, it seems), then it’s a taxi to the Gare de Lyon (another hour in Paris traffic), then the TGV to Dijon (a blissful 1:45), then grabbing the rental car and a cruise down the Côte to Volnay. I’ll get there at about 4:00pm on Wednesday France time, or about 7am back home. It’s basically like pulling an all-nighter back in college days. I’m just a bit older, however!

I’ll be staying in the guest house above the Huber-Verdereau cellars in Volnay, which is very warm and cozy. I look forward to the church bells just outside my window, marking time every 15 minutes, and settling into the flow of life in the winemaking villages.

Here’s a great shot of the sunrise over Vosne-Romanée – more to come from the other side of the pond soon!

First light over the most valuable vineyard land on the planet...

First off, thanks to everyone who made this year’s Salud auction a huge success. At last report we had raised over $736,000 over the two day event, all of which goes directly to health care for Oregon’s vineayrd workers and their families. Here’s a shot of some revelers at the gala dinner Saturday night -

Linda & Lloyd Towne at Salud

I’m off in the morning to Burgundy, for 10 days of tasting with all of our producers, and of course the festivites surrounding the Hospices de Beaune auction and the amazing Paulée. It is truly my favorite time of year (and as I’ve often said, the Paulée is my favorite day of the year, period.) As much as I dread the travel itself, my November trip is always the most joyous of the year.

I’m looking forward to getting a good look at the 2007s, now in barrel for one year, and I’ll also take a first glimpse at the just fermented 2008s. I’ll be reporting back as often as the irregular internet connection in Volnay allows, hopefully with photos and all sorts of scoop from the motherland. More soon from the road!

First off, thanks to everyone who made this year’s Salud auction a huge success. At last report we had raised over $736,000 over the two day event, all of which goes directly to health care for Oregon’s vineayrd workers and their families. Here’s a shot of some revelers at the gala dinner Saturday night -

Linda & Lloyd Towne at Salud

I’m off in the morning to Burgundy, for 10 days of tasting with all of our producers, and of course the festivites surrounding the Hospices de Beaune auction and the amazing Paulée. It is truly my favorite time of year (and as I’ve often said, the Paulée is my favorite day of the year, period.) As much as I dread the travel itself, my November trip is always the most joyous of the year.

I’m looking forward to getting a good look at the 2007s, now in barrel for one year, and I’ll also take a first glimpse at the just fermented 2008s. I’ll be reporting back as often as the irregular internet connection in Volnay allows, hopefully with photos and all sorts of scoop from the motherland. More soon from the road!

Again this year we’re proud to have been chosen to participate in SALUD, the Oregon Pinot Noir

auction. Every year a selection of Oregon’s finest Pinot producers each make a single barrel of exceptional wine specifically for SALUD, which is then auctioned off in case lots to raise funds for free healthcare for Oregon’s vineyard workers. It’s a great program, the events are first-rate, and we’d love to see you there. The events are scheduled for November 7^th & 8^th this year – and you can get information at:

http://www.saludauction.org.

… and I’m just the guy to do it! Tasting, dining, drinking, charity auctions – that’s my life for the next few days. It’s a busy time for us, but totally wonderful to be involved with Salud – the Oregon Pinot Noir auction that supports health care for vineyard workers. It kicks off tonight with a small dinner for the folks who bought our wine at last year’s event (it just happens to be Bill Sweat and Donna Morris of Winderlea VIneyard in the Dundee Hills) – and then then the big tastings and auctions at DDO on Friday and the Black-tie event in Portland on Saturday night. Martha and Kelley and I look forward to seeing you over the coming days. Don’t miss our 2007 Audrey wine – it’s a single barrel from our old vines at Maresh, and it’s really showing beautifully right now…

I have not fully processed yet that I leave Tuesday morning for Burgundy! I’ll be tasting in all of our producers cellars of course, as well as going to the Hospices de Beaune auction and the Paulée as I do every year, and I’ll be reporting back with all the details and updates as everything unfolds. Stay tuned for all the hedonistic decadance to come!

In the meantime, here’s a shot of a few old soldiers ready for action at the Paulée last year…

So much wine, so little time...

The elegant woman that you see in today’s Oregonian (Katherine Cole’s Wine Notes Column in the Food Day Section) is none other than Scott Paul Wines Winemaker Kelley Fox pouring wine at Salud.  If you missed the print version, you can see it here.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it too.  http://www.oregonlive.com/foodday/index.ssf/2008/11/making_the_world_a_better_plac.html

Katherine was hoping to include another fundraiser in her column, but couldn’t fit it in just yet.  It’s an event well worth this save-the-date mention.  I hope you’ll consider centering a weekend get-away around Flavors of Carlton, which takes place Saturday, March 7, 2009.  It’s an intimate setting that allows you to mix and mingle with the area’s top winemakers, enjoying food, wine and art…at a fraction of the cost of other area benefits and less than the cost of a meal out for two.  The event benefits a vital community resource, Carlton Together Cares which provides educational and enrichment opportunities for children and teens in our area.  50 area artists have donated paintings, sculpture, collage, watercolor and textiles for the live and silent auction.  Local wineries will pour tastes of recent releases, paired with savory creations from top Wine Country chefs.  Large format wines, older vintages and verticals will also be auctioned, along with winery tours & meals with vintners, luxury vacations and adventure excursions.  Scott Paul Wines, Ken Wright Cellars, Tyrus Evan, Carlo & Julian, EIEIO, Andrew Rich, Solena, and Resonance are just a few of the wineries involved.  Also, see our events page for suggestions for accommodations. 

Tickets:  $50/person

For reservations, call 503-852-4405

carltontogethercares@embarqmail.com

A good time was had by all last night at our 3rd annual “La Paulée de Carlton” dinner & celebration in the winery. A total of 60 of us – vintners, growers, friends, customers & neighbors – chowed down on a decadently delicious meal from the crew at Simpatica in Portland, with an avalanche of great wines that everyone had brought to share around for the evening.

Some of the best bottles that crossed my table for the night were the ’88 DDO – pure silk and elegance now, the ’90 DDO and ’94 DDO in magnum, a nice ’03 Amoureuses from Freddy Mugnier, a killer ’97 Musigny from Mugnier, a very interesting ’75 Pinot from Martini in California, a mag of ’88 Clos Vougeot from Rene Engel, and another bottle of the ’66 RSV from DRC (I opened a previous bottle at IPNC this summer – that one was better, but this one did not suck!)

In all, a bunch of great wines and great people!

Happy campers at table 6

Bella & Emily get their groove on

Dewey & Robin Kelly of Ribbon Ridge Vineyard

Scott Paul interns Graham & Miguel with revelers

Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a success – especially Kelley Fox and crew for getting the winery magically turned into a dinner venue right in the middle of harvest, and  Kelly Karr and Emily Freiler for making it all run so smoothly.  And thanks to my wife Martha for all the great photos. Cheers!