This will be your last chance to try 2009 Audrey for futures purchasing and we’ll have several more new Burgundies to show too.  Scott will have just returned from Burgundy with tales to tell…

I wrapped up this quick Burgundian adventure with a great final day, starting with what is always one of the most inspiring and informative tastings I ever have the pleasure to do – in the cellars of Domaine de Vogüé in Chambolle-Musigny with François Millet. I’ve often said that if I could wave a magic wand and suddenly own any domaine in Burgundy, I would choose de Vogüé. Their magnificent holdings in Musigny, Bonnes Mares and Amoureuses are unparalleled. And what they do with it is beyond spectacular.
 As I’ve written in these pages before, François is perhaps more philosopher than winemaker. Or perhaps it is being an insightful philosopher that makes him a gifted winemaker. However you slice it, the combination of the de Vogüé terroirs and Monsieur Millet seems to be the perfect marriage – they bring out the best in each other.

The entire range of 2009s is stunning. François describes the vintage as a “summer beside a lake”, with pure rich creamy fruit melding seamlessly with the precise minerality of the Chambolle limestone. I was most captivated today by the Amoureuses and it’s crystalline purity, it’s amazing delicacy, and it’s sensual touch. “Sensual, but not vulgar”, says François. And it has a double minerality to it – minerality of texture, and minerality of taste in the laser-pure limestone on  the finish. Musigny is of course on another planet all its own. “It shows power without having to make a show of power.” Indeed…

Chateau des Rontets

Then I headed south on the Autoroute to the Mâconnais, for a quick stop in at Chateau des Rontets in Fuissé. Fabio invited me in for lunch, and he made a fabulous mushroom risotto that rocked my world. The ‘09s are still a few months away from bottling there, but are showing gorgeously, with the old-vine “Les Birbettes” being the best wine I’ve tasted from them yet. What a great addition to our portfolio they have become. We have been drinking a lot of their Clos Varambon at home on a regular basis, to be sure…

Then on the way down to the airport in Lyon I detoured through the Beaujolais to taste at a new producer I have been hearing whispers about. What I found was so extraordinary I can still hardly believe it. There is someone making wines in Fleurie and Moulin à Vent that easily rival, if not blow away, a lot of Grand Cru Burgundy. This was the most exciting new discovery we’ve made since starting this business. If it comes together that we can work with this producer for the US, I guarantee you that these wines will blow your mind. They are not yet available outside of France, and I got the impression that every importer on the planet is knocking at their door. I’ll keep you updated as to how this develops…

Before I knock off, some interesting thoughts and observations this week from the Burgundian vignerons…

Michel Lafarge, age 82 – “If I were ever to leave Volnay and live somewhere else, it would be Oregon”

Jean-Charles de Bault de la Morinière, Domaine Bonneau du Martray, Pernand-Vergelesses – “It amazes me how over time, knowledge is lost. Just three generations ago everyone knew how to observe, how to work in harmony with nature, how to respect the life in the soils. Now three generations later it seems that knowledge has been forgotten. We need to learn these lessons all over again.”

Thierry Violot-Guillemard, Pommard – “What bothers me and scares me is the huge rush to “technical wines”. I see it all over our little village here. Concentrators, reverse osmosis machines, enzymes, yeasts. These are wines made to show well for the press, but they are in the end lifeless. I cannot be jealous when I see these wines getting the good scores, because I know these are not honest wines.”

Frédéric Mugnier, Chambolle-Musigny – “What have I learned? What matters most is the health of the soils. In terms of winemaking, I have only learned to do less.”

François Millet, Domaine de Vogüé, Chambolle-Musigny – After 25 vintages of working with Musigny, what have you learned? “Modesty.”

Ça y est! Another one is in the books. The best wine event on the planet every year, bar none – the inimitable “Burgundy Friends Paulée” in the cellars of Joseph Drouhin in Beaune, hosted by my dear friend and former partner in crime at DDO, Véronique Drouhin.

In attendance this year, (in no particular order) Jean-Luc Pepin - Domaine de Vogüé, Alex Gamble, François de Nicolai – Domaine Chandon de Briailles, Pierre-Henry Gagey – Maison Jadot, Louis-Fabrice Latour – Maison Latour, Louis-Michel Liger-Belair, Jean-Nicolas Meo -  Meo-Camuzet, Marie-Christine Mugneret – Mugneret-Gibourg, Egon Muller, and Jean Trimbach – not to mention Allen Meadows and a plethora of the leading Burgundy collectors and aficionados of the world.

I have not missed this event ever. Every November, since 2003, my favorite day of the year is right here, surrounded by like-minded Burgundy maniacs and a literally a couple of hundred bottles of great grape juice.

Lunch is prepared each year by a different Michelin 3-star chef. This year it was Gérald Passedat of Le Petit Nice in Marseilles, with Philippe Augé of Burgundy’s Hostellerie Livernois manning the stoves for a couple of courses as well. To wet your appetite, the menu:

Leek & Celery Soup with poached Quail egg, followed by line-caught Sea Bass, a Lobster Navarin, Mushroom Ravioli with truffles, celery cream sauce and hazelnut oil, Pheasant stuffed with Foie Gras & Potatoes Millefeuille, Cheeses, and a Lime and Exotic Fruits Parfait. Oh yes, and chocolate truffles and other mignardises. Mon dieu – every bite was spot-on delicious – especially the Sea Bass and the Pheasant. Major, major yum.

But the real focus is the wines, of course, brought by all of the guests and shared freely with all. Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti stopped by to say he couldn’t stay, but he left us a bottle of ’65 Romanée-Conti. With that, we were sorry to see him go, but happy to have that interesting bottle in our future, to be sure.

I will list here the wines that crossed my end of the table over our 7-hour lunch, and I’m sure I missed at last half of the goodies that were going around today. I don’t care what I may have missed – what I had was a treasure trove of wines that could only happen at this very unique event. I’ll start with the whites:

’05 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
’88 Chasssagne-Montrachet Ruchottes – Ramonet
’92 Chassagne-Montrachet Ruchottes – Ramonet
’96 Montrachet (Magnum) – Drouhin
’90 Meursault Perrières – Potel
’04 Montrachet – Marc Colin
’90 Chassagne-Montrachet les Vergers – Michel Niellon
’75 Montrachet – Fleurot
’93 Puligny-Montrachet Champs Canet – Sauzet
’78 Puligny-Montrachet Champs Canet – Sauzet
’89 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile
’00 Puligny-Montrachet Folatières – Drouhin
’90 Puligny-Montrachet Champs Canet – Sauzet
’49 Corton-Charlemagne – Thevenot
’94 Corton-Charlemagne – Jadot
’97 Chevalier Montrachet – Jadot
’76 Kabinett – Egon Muller
’76 Meursault Charmes – Roulot
’82 Meursault Sous le Bois – Ampeau
’66 Montrachet – Drouhin
’85 Chevaliers-Montrachet les Demoiselles – Jadot
’90 Meursault Perrières – Coche-Dury
’61 Corton-Charlemagne -   Bouchard
’34 Batard Montrachet – Latour
’99 Montrachet – Drouhin
’76 Trimbach Clos St. Hune
’47 Chassagne-Montrachet – Misseray et Fils
’47 Meursault Goute d’Or – Misseray et Fils

And then the reds started coming…

’85 La Romanée – Bouchard
’06 Romanée St. Vivant – Dujac
’90 NSG Boudots – Meo-Camuzet
’64 Clos de la Roche – Rousseau
’00 Musigny – de Vogüè
’85 Clos de Beze – unknown
’96 Chambertin – Mortet
’96 Vosne-Romanée Petits Monts – Drouhin
’85 Echezeaux – Jayer-Gilles
’91 Romanée-St. Vivant – DRC
’49 Chambolle-Musigny – Camille Giroud
’59 Beaune Grèves – Drouhin
’80 Bonnes Mares – de Vogüè
’64 Vosne-Romanée les Suchots – Drouhin
’99 Vosne-Romanée Petits Monts  Alex Gamble
’85 Vosne-Romanée Beaux Monts – Drouhin
’78 Corton – Meo-Camuzet
’79 Griotte Chambertin – Drouhin
’93 Griotte Chambertin – Ponsot
’66 Bonnes Mares – Drouhin
’53 Clos des Lambrays
’98 Chambolle Musigny Fuées – Mugnier
’78 Corton – Florent de Merode
’80 Chambolle-Musigny les Amoureuses – de Vogüé
’59 Romanée St. Vivant – Drouhin
’99 Vosne-Romanée les Malconsorts – Alex Gamble
’82 La Tâche
’64 Volnay – Pontiet-Ampeau
’76 Richebourg – Meo-Camuzet
’15 Nuits-St. Georges – unknown
’64 Clos de la Roche – Drouhin
’69 Pommard – Raoul Verdereau
’59 NSG les St. Georges – Gouges
’61 NSG les St. Georges – Faively
’55 Richebourg – Loiseau
’37 Richebourg – Latour
’99 Ruchottes Chambertin – Mugneret-Gibourg
’66 Clos de Bèze – Clair Dau
’29 Clos Vougeot – Jadot
’65 Romanée-Conti
’45 Musigny – de Vogüé (Drouhin bottling)

And then a few dessert wines, including –

’43 Chateau Climens
’55 Taylors vintage Port
’83 Ice Wine – Muller

Holy Shit! What else can I say? We do this every year, but it never ceases to amaze me and blow my mind. Alex Gamble, who was there for the first time this year, remarked “This is sick, and it’s only the first five minutes!” Exactly…

Out of all of this over-the-top extravagance, my wines of the day were the ’49 Corton-Charlemagne (amazingly pure, elegant and vibrant), the ’64 Rousseau Clos de la Roche, the ’76 Meo Richebourg, the ’29 Jadot Clos Vougeot, the ’45 de Vogüé Musigny (still one of my top 10 all-time faves), and the ’65 Romanée-Conti (a very difficult vintage – very little wine produced, most of it not very good, but the magic of the R-C terroir shines brightly through nonetheless.) Merci Aubert!

Véronique Drouhin with the '45 de Vogüé Moose

Before the storm...

... and some of the aftermath...

And more of the aftermath...

In all, a nice Monday lunch in Beaune! Let’s do it again next year…

For 6 year-olds it’s Christmas morning, for me it’s the Paulée. Over a hundred old Grand Cru burgs await me in the cellars under Beaune in a few hours. It is indeed a rough job, but somebody HAS to do it!

The 150th Hospices de Beaune auction is now in the books, with a palpable buzz all over town about the 400,000 Euros paid for a single barrel of wine. We bought a barrel at the auction this year, but not that one! (Ours was about 100 times less than that, thankfully.) We got a nice barrel of the Beaune 1er Cru Cuvée Maurice Drouhin, and in about 18 months or so it will be in bottle and in our hands in Oregon. The 400,000 Euros was for a special barrel, with the proceeds all going to charity. In past years it has gone for 40-50,000, so the jump to 400,000 made headlines all over the country this morning.

My “day off” yesterday consisted of two long, lovely, large meals, punctuated by a bunch of fabulous wines. Vigneronne Kellen Lignier invited me to lunch in her home in the hamlet of Corboin (Pop. 46 – “soon to be “47″) in the hills above Vosne-Romanée. Just a light meal. Rilletes de Goose, Oysters, Roast chicken with mushrooms, veggies and potatoes, a massive selection of cheeses, and an apple crumble with fruit from the garden. Marie, the former cellarmaster from Jacquesson in Champagne was there, with a nice bottle of Cuvée 734, and Kellen popped a lovely 2004 Clos de la Roche. Yum.

"Rocky" the cat that adopted the Ligniers...

Then I rolled, literally, down to Meursault for dinner at the home of Patrick & Catherine Essa of Domaine Buisson-Charles. Another “simple” meal – a thick slab of foie gras with spice bread, shrimp and greens, 2-day Coq au Vin with potatoes, veggies and mushrooms, more massive cheeses, and an apple tart with fresh caramel ice cream. Oh, and among the many wines – ’71 Meursault Poruzots & ’43 Rugiens from the Buisson family archives, and a nice bottle of something called Audrey from the 2008 vintage in Oregon, served alongside an excellent 2005 Beaune Grèves from Drouhin. It is a good thing I’m running half-marathons. In fact it has become a necessity.

After a good night’s sleep (funny how after a week you don’t even hear the churchbells at 6:30am anymore), I am on form and ready for the Paulée. I will do my best to note the amazing array of wines that cross the table today, as well as the meal from two 3-star Michelin chefs. Yes, I love my job!

Good eats...

Champagne and Chambolle.  They are magic words, and it was such a hit the past two years, we’ve decided to do it again! And there are three extra reasons (at least) to raise your glass — we’ve added three more small grower Champagne producers to our portfolio: Champagne Camille Savès, Champagne Bruno Gobillard, Champagne José Dhondt, (and of course our longtime fave Champagne Marc Chauvet). Savvy wine tasters like to kick-start the holiday season by attending festivities at wineries across the Willamette Valley the weekend before Thanksgiving, and they will be rewarded at Scott Paul with bubbles and the best of Burgundy!

Noon – 5p.m. $20 tasting fee waived with 6 bottle purchase.

Please join us!  Cheers!

I train on the hills of Forest Park above our house in Portland. I obviously need to train on much STEEPER hills. I finished the Beaune half-marathon this afternoon, and that was the hardest thing I’ve ever done – much harder than the half I ran in Oregon back in September. I feel like I’ve been beaten with a bag of hammers, and that 99% of my life force has been sucked out of me. Aside from that, I do feel great that I made it.

I had naively hoped to shave a few minutes off of the 2:14 I ran in Oregon. I started to realize that perhaps that was not going to happen during the 2-mile long hill from the bottom of Meursault up to Volnay Clos des Chênes. I felt it slipping away even further on the climb from Clos de la Bousse d’Or up into the village of Volnay. I knew for sure it was out of the question on the hill through  Pommard Charmots. It occurred to me that putting that hill on the course was somebody’s idea of a cruel joke. A lot of healthy people could not walk that hill. I passed a woman that was sobbing hysterically on her attempt to get up it.

Fortunately it was mostly downhill after that, and I ended up running 2:16:20 – just a couple minutes slower than the Oregon race. So please tell me why it felt like an extra hour out there!

A few observations – This will be my last race in France. They seem to have different ideas about the value and importance of sanitation and hydration. There are no bathrooms or porta-pottys anywhere on the course – beginning, end, anywhere. Thus, the runners just step off the side of the road and relieve themselves right in the vines, or on the streets of Meursault in one case I witnessed today. The women, I guess, just have to hold it.

Water stations, typically every two miles in US races, are 4-5 miles apart here, and of course there’s no water at the beginning of the race should you want to hydrate just before the run, as is my habit. When you do finally get to the water stations – they are inexplicably serving squares of gingerbread – “Pain d’Epices” in local parlance. Just what I want in my stomach while I’m churning up the hills of Pommard…

And then there’s the finish line. When you hand in your timing chip you get a slip of paper that entitles you to the finishers’ bag – which includes a chit for a paper cup of bad instant hot chocolate and another square of gingerbread, a sign-up form to subscribe to “Le Jogging” magazine, a copy of “R” running magazine, a lollipop, a juice box, a stale Special K bar, and a packet of assorted band-aids – which I thought was a nice touch. However, no running shirt, no t-shirt, no medal, nothing to commemorate the pain one went through to cross the line. At least give me a crappy t-shirt – I gave you my soul! The finish line is a couple miles away from the start, and of course there is no parking at either end, nor is there any kind of shuttle. That seemed like the longest walk I’ve taken in my life. 

It would be a spectacularly beautiful course, but in today’s dark gray, cold, and pouring rain, it seemed to lack a little awe-inspiring wonder somehow. All that said, I am glad I did it. I have now run a marathon in my first year of running – however half of it was in Oregon and the other half was here in France. Maybe next year I’ll put it together and do it all at once. I hear the Portland Marathon is flat. I hope it is very flat.

I broke down in tears myself hearing Martha’s and Pirrie’s voices when I called them back in Oregon after the race. I thought of them all the way – and the Grand Cru Burgs and Fleur de Sel chocolate chip cookies, of course.

There is not enough Advil on the planet to ease these aches. I will now curl up on the couch and watch the France-Argentina rugby match. Something nice and relaxing…

9am in Volnay on Saturday Morning. In five hours I’ll be at the starting line for the Beaune semi-marathon. Hopefully in about seven hours I’ll be crossing the finish line. The bustle of thousands of tourists in Beaune for the Hospices de Beaune weekend is only about 3 miles away, but here it is silent, save for the church bells every 15 minutes. A perfect place to relax and reflect, before hitting the pavement and winding through the vineyards of Beaune, Pommard, Volnay & Meursault. It’s looking like we might luck out and get a dry afternoon – wish me luck on that and on all fronts…

In the meantime, plenty of time to gather thoughts and notes from tastings and meals over the last few days. the 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau was released on Thursday, of which I could care less. I am excited, however, about the new generation of exciting high-quality artisan producers of the superior Cru Beaujolais – especially in the villages of Morgon and Fleurie. I’ve had the opportunity to taste several that are amazingly complex and delicious. I’ll be meeting with some folks down there before I leave, and may return with some new goodies for our portfolio. (I’ve also been turned onto a couple of exceptional wines from the Languedoc that are amazing values – details soon…)

I must take a minute to remark on the three vintages of Corton-Charlemagne I tasted with Jean-Charles at Bonneau du Martray the other day. The ’08 and ’07 were both akin to sucking on a wet limestone rock, such is the intensity. The ’08 is coiled like a spring, where the ’07 is like a pure beam of light. Both of these will need the better part of 7-10 years to reach their peak, but my god they are amazing. Jean-Charles also showed the ’97, which now has a floral, lifted nose, with a long and lean profile and still some youthful chalkiness on the intensely powerful finish. That one still has many years ahead of it…

Corton-Charlemagne

At Mugnier yesterday, Frédéric said there will probably not be a Clos des Fourches from the 2009 vintage, but it has not been decided as of yet. Most likely all of the fruit from the 25-acre monopole Clos de la Maréchale will go into the 1er Cru bottling, as even the younger vines performed superbly in 2009. Interesting that the ’09 Mugnier wines are all between 13.5 and 14.5% alcohol – levels not often reached in Burgundy. (It’s the Musigny that topped out at 14.5%) However, none of the wines showed any trace of extra heat. Whether that is atttributable to the terroir or Freddy’s “non-winemaking” I’m not sure. He believes that this vintage will benefit from a long elevage, and plans to bottle in May, and says he has seen the wines take a huge turn toward finesse in the last few months in barrel. What we tasted yesterday was the epitome of elegance and finesse to my way of thinking. M. Mugnier thinks they will get even more refined in the months to come before bottling. The Musigny is indeed the definition of harmony &  grace already…

Kudos to our friends Marjorie Taylor and Kendall Smith-Franchini, the mother-daughter team whose Cook’s Atelier in Beaune was just written up in USA Today (even though the paper misspelled it!) Our dinner there on Thursday night was spot-on excellent. Marjorie cooks everything direct from the Beaune market and the butcher and cheese-monger down the street. The food is simple – just great ingredients lovingly prepared and presented in their best light. Her Boeuf Bourguignon, a 2-day preparation, shows layers and layers of complex flavors as all of the different textures melt together in the mouth. Yum. And the fleur de sel Chocolate Chip cookies are insanely decadent. It’s what I will crave immediately after finishing the race later today! (That, and the lure of 100 or so bottles of great old Grand Cru Burgundy awaiting me at the Paulée Monday will drive me on through the 13.1 miles today!)

At Lafarge yesterday afternoon, I was struck again, as always, by the amazing energy and wisdom of 80-something Michel Lafarge, who just finished putting his 61st vintage into barrel last month. Michel and his son Frédéric continue to set the standard for what is to me the essence of Volnay. I consider myself fortunate for every minute I get to spend around those two. Of the 17 different wines they produced in 2009, all of which are outstanding, there was a special glow to the Beaune Grèves, the Clos du Chateau des Ducs and of course the Caillerets and Clos des Chênes. But what blows me away the most may be the Passetoutgrain l’Exception – 85 year-old vines, 50-50 Pinot and Gamay, and perhaps the single finest example of the appellation that you’ll ever find. Buy every bottle you can and enjoy it with gusto…

Michel and Frédéric Lafarge

And so, off to the race. Hopefully my sore legs will bring me back in front of the MacBook later today for an update. Cheers!

So how does one follow up a morning of tasting at Mugnier and then a 15-vintage vertical of Chambertin from Mortet? How about with a stop in Pommard to see Thierry Violot-Guillemard, one of Burgundy’s greatest characters, and then finishing up with a taste through the amazing Volnay cellar of Michel & Frédéric Lafarge? Sure, why not.

First I stopped off at the registration area/finish line for tomorrow’s half-marathon, and picked up my packet. Of course the organizers here wouldn’t think of giving the runners safety pins to pin our numbers on our running jerseys – thankfully I was able to rummage through the junk drawer in the Volnay kitchen and I actually found 4 pins, so I’m good to go. Then a quick cruise up to Pommard to see the larger-than-life Thierry Violot – whose ’09s had just been racked and sulfured yesterday, so were really in no shape to taste. He had already bottled, however, his ’09 Bourgogne “Maison Dieu”, from a well-situated parcel of old vines just beneath the limit of the Pommard appellation boundaries (and before the AOC lines were drawn in 1935 it had always been considered “Pommard”.) 2009 is a vintage where the lower level appellations did extremely well due to the excellent fruit richness and ripeness, and this example is one of the most pleasurable Bourgognes Ive run across yet. He made about 10 barrels of it, and I will try to get my hands on as much of it as I can.

Violot-Guillemard's Monopole Clos Derrière St. Jean

I took a quick look at the ’09 Platières, Clos des Mouches, Epenots and Rugiens – they all had very nice fruit and concentration, but the recent racking and SO2 additions had closed up the back ends for now. I’ll check them out in earnest in the spring, but they look to be stunning wines.

There is no better way to end the day than with a tasting at Lafarge. The venerable Michel Lafarge, now a veteran of 61 vintages in Burgundy, and his son Frédéric, produced 17 ridiculously good wines in 2009 – across the range from the Aligoté Rasins Doré to the Volnay Clos des Chênes and everything in between. They really hit it out of the park in ’09, and here once again I found ’09s that were in no way heavy or too driven by the fruit. Yes there is delicious, ripe fruit throughout, but the terroir is speaking loudly as well, with each appellation speaking with its distinct voice. We finished up in the 12th century cellar with a bottle of ’83 Clos des Chênes – a vintage I have very little experience with. It was an extremely tough year in Burgundy, and the ’83s are shown very rarely. But proving the old adage that the good producers make good wine every year, this ’83 lept out of the glass with swirling, captivating aromas, and after about 5 minutes in the glass unfolded into the silky, pure essence of Volnay. Bravo, Michel!

So now it’s a simple plate of pasta and a good long rest. Wish me luck tomorrow – I will post again after I’ve recovered from the race. (If you happen to be here in Burgundy, I’m #216, and need all the cheering from the sidelines I can get!)

We’ll start with the something new. As in the ’09s at Frédéric Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny. Perhaps his best range of wines since the stunning ’05s, and with time they may stand among his best ever. Words fail to ever completely grasp the beauty of Mugnier’s wines, and in the 2009 vintage there are new levels of fruit freshness to go with the ethereal elegance and the weightless dance that have become the domaine’s signature. The 2009 Amoureuses may be the best young wine I have ever tasted out of barrel, period. Five hours later and I can still feel it in my mouth – the lace and minerals, the exquisite purity, seemingly endless length, and that certain je ne sais quoi that can only be found in Amoureuses. It is indeed a magical terroir, and as Frédéric said this morning – if one’s preference in wine tends to run to Amoureuses, there is really nothing else that one could recommend as a substitute or something similar. Only Amoureuses is Amoureuses. Full notes on the full range to follow in a future post…

In the cellar with Frédéric Mugnier

As for something old, how about the amazing 15 vintage vertical of Denis Mortet’s Chambertin - every vintage from 2006 to 1995 inclusive, and then the 1993, 1990 and 1985. This was a magical tasting at Becky Wasserman’s compound in Bouilland, with Burgundy journo-legends Jasper Morris and Anthony Hanson in attendance, among others. Highlights for me were the ’05, ’99, ’98, ’93 and ’85, but there really wasn’t a bad wine in the bunch. The silky and lithe ’85 was probably past its peak now, and slightly corrupt, but still a lovely beauty of a wine from a personal favorite vintage…

A few nice bottles of Chambertin

Oh yes, and there was the ’59 Musigny on the table for lunch, along with the magnum of ’99 Ramonet Batard. Off to more tastings – details to follow…

Every year I’m in Burgundy in late November for the Hospices de Beaune auction, the Paulée, and all the accompanying festivities. This year there is one more event to add to the calendar – our first ever winemaker dinner in Beaune, the ancient wine capitol of Burgundy.

If you’re going to be in the neighborhood, make plans to join us on Thursday night, Nov. 18th at The Cook’s Atelier - a very cool and very private supper-club in the heart of Beaune. Our friend Marjorie Taylor is the chef-proprietor and she’ll be serving up a special dinner for an intimate group of 10. I’ll bring some nice bottles, and you are welcome to do the same. Seats are 95 Euros per person, and you can reserve directly with Marjorie.

I look forward to seeing you there, in my home-away-from-home. Santé!