Another one of my favorite days in the year – new goodies arrive from across the pond! 3-4 times per year new shipments arrive, and the first of three loads this fall has just pulled up to the warehouse door. Some tantalizing bottles in this shipment: (none of which are posted on our website order form yet – you’re getting the advance heads-up here. If you want to order, email kellykarr@scottpaul.com and we’ll hook you up!)

First up – the stellar ’07s from J-J Confuron. Simply amazing, what can I say. The soft-spoken, intense, and brilliantly talented Alain Meunier has produced a stunning range from the bottom to the top. For the first time ever in the U.S. – we’ve got a few cases of his Bourgogne Rouge ($22). It’s called “La Jeunesse”, which means “The Youth” – though it’s not a reference to vine age in this case – Alain & Sophie’s 17 year-old son has been in charge of tending these vines for the last few years, and this parcel is now being farmed biodynamically. Simply as pure and delicious as you’ll ever find in a Bourgogne Rouge. (Only 5 cases available.)

Then there are the Confuron wines you already know and love – the Côte de Nuits Villages les Vignottes ($38 – 86-89BH, 15cs avail.), the Clos Vougeot ($129 – 90-93BH), and the showstopping Romanée-St. Vivant ($225 – 92-94BH) - only 3 cases of each of the Grand Crus are available.

Benjamin Leroux at home

Young Benjamin Leroux of Domaine Comte Armand fame launched his eponymous winery in 2007, and has quickly become a star in his own right. Two new succulent bottlings have just arrived. His Auxey-Duresses Blanc ( $42 – from the same parcel he used to use for the Comte Armand version) and the powerful, silky Nuits-St. Georges aux Thorey 1er Cru ($85 – 90-92BH) are both here in minute quantities – these will last a nano-second…

Then a couple more from old friends. From Domaine Taupenot-Merme we’ve got the ’07 Gevrey-Chambertin ($50 – an understated, elegant, and bright offering from one of Burgundy’s most revered villages), and from Thierry Violot-Guillemard the ’07 Pommard ($42 for the loveliest villages-Pommard you may ever see…)

Pommard

And more to come in the coming weeks, including the latest from Jean-Marc Millot and the long-awaited ’07s from mega-star Lucien Le Moine – watch this space and your email for all the info…

We encourage our Burgundy Express Wine Club members to come taste a lineup of great Volnays and pick up your current club package, all wines from the village of Chambolle-Musigny.  For information on our Burgundy Express Wine Club go here

Our Pommard tasting last month was a big hit, and now we’re moving next door to the village of Volnay. Home to the most floral, feminine and graceful reds of the Côte de Beaune, the tiny village of Volnay (Pop. 250) is the base for an exciting new generation of vignerons. We’ll feature both village and 1er Cru wines from Huber-Verdereau, Pascal Bouley, and Violot-Guillemard – all of which will be offered at 25% off.

$20 tasting fee refundable with three bottle purchase of featured Volnays.

Thiébault Huber

Four times per year, the new issue of Burghound is released and my world stops for hours as I delve through the hundreds of pages of the most in-depth coverage of the wines of Burgundy (and Champagne and New World Pinot too…) Yesterday was the release of Issue 36 – the fall report focusing on Chablis, the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais, with bonus coverage of Champagne and CA Pinot (OR Pinot has been slated for the next issue in January, btw…)

I can’t say I’ve had the time to digest it all, but of course I immediately dove into the reviews of the producers that interest me most – the ones I import for the U.S.! Very happy to see that our guys did well:

Frédéric Gueguen

In Chablis – Frédéric Gueguen (listed as Domaine des Chenevières) got lovely reviews and excellent scores – 89 for the Chablis Grandes Vignes, 90 for the Côte de Lechet 1er Cru, 91 for the Fourchaume 1er Cru and 92 for the l’Homme Mort 1er Cru – look for all of these 2008 Chablis to arrive here after the first of the year…

Sandrine & Christophe Thibert

In the Mâconnais – Christophe & Sandrine Thibert scored big at Domaine Thibert Père & Fils – with a whopping 13 wines scoring in the 90s – an assortment of ’07 and ’08s from St. Véran, Mâcon and Pouilly-Fuissé. Bravo mes amis! (’07 St. Véran and Macon-Prissé are in stock now…)

Erell Ninot

And in the Côte Chalonnaise – our newest find, Errel Ninot at Domaine Ninot was reviewed for the first time in the pages of Burghound, and scored 87s-90s across the board for her great value bottlings from Mercurey and Rully (we’re sold-out at the moment – more coming in early 2010!)

In the meantime, fermentation continues,  and we’re back to punchdowns and keeping an eye on temperatures in the must. And getting psyched for our Volnay tasting here in Carlton on Saturday!

It was so cold when we were sorting fruit last week that my fingers went numb and turned to frozen, anesthetized stubs for a few hours. (The clusters felt like ice-cubes after a while. This is good for the wine, btw, not good for my digits…) It has now gotten cold enough that I have to wear gloves on my morning run in Forest Park. The predicted rains have arrived, and it looks like they may never stop. I am hugely happy that all our fruit is in. The season has indeed turned…

She likes us, she really likes us! Great to wake up to a phone call from Michael Alberty at Portland’s Storyteller Wines this morning with the news that British wine goddess Jancis Robinson just published a great write-up on our Marc Chauvet Champagnes that we import for the U.S. -  read all about it here…

The view from the Chauvet's over Rilly-la-Montagne

I just noticed something of interest in the October issue of Food & Wine – from an advance look at their upcoming 2010 Wine Guide. The section on Burgundy caught my attention:

“…current economic conditions have driven down Burgundy prices to some degree. Add to that the fact that in the most recent vintages, reds from 2006 and whites from 2007 are already drinking very well, and it’s clear right now is a good time to buy Burgundy.” Hear hear!!!

When i get a moment to think about it, I’m getting very excited about our Volnay tasting and sale coming up on Saturday – I’m pouring a flight of 6 wines from Volnay, including four Premier Crus. Everything from Volnay will be 25% off – so join us on Saturday from 12-5.
Now back to your regularly scheduled punch-downs…

… and very glad we’re not still waiting. Only time will tell, of course, but I think we made good picking decisions this year. Good ripeness, yummy flavors, and everything seems to be behaving well in tank to this point. Alcohols won’t be too high (I’m guessing now that we’ll average right at 13.8%, +/-…), but acids are a little lower than I’d like to see ideally, but still acceptable. pH levels are also in line. My first impression is that the 2009s will be bursting with ripe fruit and juicy, fragrant berry aromas and flavors. Reminds me of maybe 2000 – delicious, yummy Pinots that will drink best over the first 5-7 years.

It looks like we’ve got an extended period of rain arriving tomorrow, so lots of neighbors are scrambling today to bring in any fruit still hanging. When the window closes here, it often shuts with a bang! In all, it should be an excellent vintage across the board in the Willamette Valley, but I don’t think it will be unanimously great like 2008. Certain sites were hit with more dehydration or botrytis issues, but all pretty minor in the scheme of things.

Our first ferments of the vintage are just starting now, so we should be in barrel and all put to bed by the first week of November (just in time to celebrate at our 4th annual La Paulée de Carlton dinner on Saturday Nov. 7th, of course! A few seats still remain – call Kelly at 503-319-5827 or email kellykarr@scottpaul.com to book yours…)

Watch for our next video podcast in the coming days – we’ll take you inside the winery for a look at the fermentation process as vintage 2009 continues to unfurl…

We picked about 8.5 tons of beautiful Pinot from our Block 10 at Maresh Vineyard in the Dundee Hills yesterday morning – Crush 2009 has begun! The quality seems to be quite good – should be a very promising vintage if this is any indication of the overall quality…

Here’s a video podcast of the grapes arriving at the crush-pad, and the sorting and destemming process…

More soon, as Crush 2009 continues…

This is the end of the line for our young-vine, yummy, value-priced Pinot. We’ll have a bunch of special goodies on the tasting flight along with the first and last vintages (2000 and 2007)– plan to join us in the tasting room from 12-5, and take home some wine to stash for your upcoming parties. It’s an excellent example of everything we hope for in this bottling – pretty red fruits layered over a lithe and supple frame, nicely balanced acidity, and a silky, yummy finish. It has put on some weight and added complex spice notes over the last year in the bottle, and is drinking beautifully right now.

New Video – A look at our blocks of Maresh Vineyard in the Dundee Hills on a fabulously sunny fall day in the Willamette Valley… Cheers!

As we prepare to bring in our first fruit next week (maybe Monday & Tuesday as it’s looking now…) I’ve been loading up the iPhone with tunes and playlists for crush. I am unabashedly in love with the new Pearl Jam album “Backspacer” – easily their best work since the first two albums, imho. The track “Just Breathe” is a masterpiece that has been on endless repeat here for most of the day…

In one of my previous incarnations, I was an executive at Epic Records, during the time we signed the band and launched their groundbreaking first record. One of of my proudest posessions is my 5X-Platinum award for their debut album “Ten” (the album has gone on to sell over 15 million at last count, btw.)

It’s a bizarre and unlikely connection and history for me. Singer Eddie Vedder’s real father, who he never knew, was a close “friend of the family” when I was growing up in Chicago. His dad was very close to my mom – who was in her 70s when I took her backstage to see Pearl Jam in 1993 in New Orleans. It was a classic rock & roll moment I’ll never forget – her pushing his hair out of his face and instructing Eddie to “look at me when I’m talking to you” and telling him that he was a “handsome young man who looked so much like his father.” Eddie ended up spending that night in New Orleans Central Lockup after getting into some kind of trouble in the French Quarter – don’t know if it was my mom that pushed him over the edge or what…

At any rate, kudos to Eddie and the boys for a brilliant piece of work (which debuted at #1 this week, btw.) It will be inspiring me on the sorting line throughout crush and beyond…