Do not miss (even if you came to our tasting in Carlton over the wekend.)  This is truly the biggest Burgundy tasting of the year in Portland! We’re pouring 18 amazing wines, from superstar producers Frédéric Mugnier, Michel Lafarge, Bonneau du Martray, Buisson-Charles, Taupenot-Merme, Huber-Verdereau, Chateau des Rontets and Frédéric Gueguen – and grower Champagnes from Bruno Gobillard, Camille Savès and Marc Chauvet. Whoa!!!

The tasting is from 6:15-7:30pm at Liner & Elsen wine shop – NW 22nd & Quimby in Portland. Tasting fee is $25, and you can call the shop at 503-241-9463. I’m looking forward to seeing you there!

Join us for our biggest and best Burgundy tasting of the year – The Masters of Burgundy on Saturday Dec. 11th from 12-5 at our tasting room in Carlton.

We’ll be pouring a stellar line-up of top-end wines from Burgundy’s finest producers – wines that are rarely if ever available for tasting, including:

2007 Corton-Charlemagne – Bonneau du Martray

2008 Volnay Clos du Chateau des Ducs 1er Cru – Michel Lafarge

2008 Vosne-Romanée Beaux-Monts 1er Cru – J-J Confuron

2008 Nuits-St. Georges Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru – Frédéric Mugnier

2008 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru – Comte Armand

2008 Echezeaux – Jean-Marc Millot

And of course there will be yummy Scott Paul Pinots and fabulous grower Champagne on hand as well. Stock up for the holidays, grab some great gifts for the hard to please wine-lovers on your list, and celebrate the season with us in Carlton. Don’t miss this one!

While I am very delighted that our 2008 Audrey was selected for the year’s Top 100 list in Wine Enthusiast, I find it unbelievable that it was the only Oregon Pinot selected for the list. 2008 was the best vintage Oregon has probably ever had, and there are many dozens, if not hundreds of fabulous wines worthy of inclusion.

The Wine Spectator Top 100 list this year does slightly better, listing three Oregon Pinot Noirs and one Pinot Gris. But this is the magazine that gave the Oregon 2008 vintage a 100-point rating! From a 100-point vintage, are there not a few more wines worthy of the hallowed Top 100?

I guess the point is that Oregon is still not getting the respect we deserve on the world stage. It seems like there is a “glass ceiling” for Oregon wines. We’re not allowed to get scores higher than 95 (oops – WS gave Evening Land a 96!), we’re only allowed one feature article per year (and in “lesser” years we get skipped altogether in some publications), we’re still relegated to the back of the bus in the press, on restaurant wine lists and in wine shops across many parts of the country.

Never has it been clearer that our one and only mission is to be selling “Brand Oregon”. We cannot forget that just because we as producers know and accept that Oregon Pinot Noir can be a world-class wine, it is still not equally evident in all quarters. Why is there broad acceptance for $80+ California Pinot Noir, while $30-$40 Oregon wines continue to fight the perception of being “over-priced”?

We in Oregon have proven that what we are capable of putting in the bottle can stand with the best from anywhere. Now our job is to let the world in on what is still apparently too much of an “insider’s secret”. I thank you for your continued support, and for helping us spread the word.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!

The Masters has come to Oregon. Not the golf tournament held every spring in Augusta, Georgia. The Masters of Burgundy – a rare opportunity to taste some of the finest Burgundy has to offer, from some of the acknowledged masters of the genre. This Saturday from 12-5 in Carlton, join us for this incredible line-up:

2007 Corton-Charlemagne – Bonneau du Martray. The owner of the largest portion of the Corton Hill, one contiguous parcel of 27 acres of the best part of the appellation. 16 different sub-parcels are harvested and vinified separately, and then combined to create one of the most majestic whites on the planet. The 2007 is like a beam of pure white light, intense, powerful, and elegant all at once. Simply superb.

2008 Vosne-Romanée Beaux Monts 1er Cru – J-J Confuron. What else can we say about the master of “power without weight”, our absolute favorite style of Burgundy. From this tine parcel high on the hill above Vosne comes this wine of spice, flowers, and finesse. Pure joy.

2008 Volnay Clos du Chateau des Ducs – Michel Lafarge. From this magnificent monopole of the domaine (and literally right out their back door) – a wine of silk, grace, length, complexity and harmony – from one of the most revered producers on the planet. A study in purity and Zen.

2008 Nuits-St. Georges Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru – Frédéric Mugnier. New to the Mugnier line-up since 2004 (though they’ve owned the vineyard since 1900) this 25-acre monopole is now producing perhaps the most refined and elegant wine in all of Nuits St. Georges. As Mugnier fans know, there is Freddy, and then there is everything else…

2008 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru – Comte Armand. Winemaker Benjamin Leroux, the boy-genius of Burgundy when he took over this estate in 199 is now the young-man genius behind what is widely considered the Côte de Beaune’s greatest and longest-lived red. Power, intensity, and an amazing elegance underneath it all. One for the ages.

2008 Echezeaux – Jean-Marc Millot. The master of understatement strikes again, with this beauty from three prime parcels in the best sections of this Grand Cru. Silk, subtlety, and exquisite length…

Tasting fee is $25 for the flight, and I can’t wait to see you here on Saturday!

Speaking of tastings,  a couple of days ago Kelley Fox and I went through every lot of our 2010s, which are now resting comfortably in barrel and awaiting the start of malolactic fermentation. In short, we are super happy with the wines at this point. I think people will be shocked at the rich fruit and lovely mid-palate richness on wines that are 12.8-13.1% alcohol. Each block of Maresh is really showing nicely, with great early complexity. Nysa has some bright high-toned red fruits and beautiful purity, and the Ribbon Ridge is the roundest and richest at this point. It will be fun to check in on these after malo and see what paths they take then…

It has truly been an amazing year for all things Scott Paul. We are thankful for so many things, but mostly for your continued support. I’m really looking forward to some quiet family time over the holidays – after we blow it out with this killer Burgundy tasting on Saturday, of course! And I’m working on a list of my favorite wines of the year, which I’ll publish here in the coming days…

2010 has been an excellent year for Burgundy. First, the vintage will likely be very good, and what are probably the two best Burgundy books ever in the English language have both been published this year. It is a veritable treasure trove of great reading and reference material for Burg lovers of all stripes…

Leading Burgundy expert & critic Allen Meadows (“Burghound”) released his first tome late this summer, and it is a monumental work. It is a detailed and thorough study of the great wines of Burgundy’s most storied village, Vosne-Romanée. But it is so much more than that. In addition to the supremely accurate vineyard maps (custom for this book), the immense detail on every Grand Cru and Premier Cru vineyard, the hundred of tasting notes for every wine going back to the 1800s, and excellent photography -The Pearl of the Côte also captures the absolute soul of Burgundy. This is required reading for any and all who have an interest in the vineyards and wines of Burgundy. Allen has re-set the bar for wine books with this one, and I give it an unqualified 100pts and hearty Chapeau! to Monsieur Meadows. (The book is only available through Allen’s website – get all the info here.)

And then just a couple of weeks ago we got another great gift. 30-year Burgundy resident and Master of Wine Jasper Morris (who used to import the DDO wines in the UK when I was the GM there) has just release Inside Burgundy. It is a 600+ page massive work that has instantly become the definitive reference work on the vineyards, wines, and producers of Burgundy. It is the most accurate and up to date work of its kind ever, and will certainly be the reference standard for reference works on Burgundy for a long time to come. While I enjoy the recent Clive Coates update and that of Remington Norman as well, Jasper’s book takes it to a whole new level, and is to my way of thinking absolutely required reading for anyone with more than a passing interest in Burgundy. The bad news is that Inside Burgundy has not yet been released in the US – though it is apparently scheduled to be available here sometime next year. In the meantime, it can be ordered directly from the UK at Berry Bros. & Rudd, or from my favorite shop in Beaune, Athenaeum.

The best and most important book written on Burgundy remains Dr. Lavalle’s 1855 masterpiece History and Statistics of the Vineyards and Great Wines of the Côte d’Or. Amazingly it has never been translated, but I understand that Becky Wasserman’s son Paul is nearing completion on the English version – I’ll let you know as it develops…

Another tip to pass along – an excellent quarterly online magazine in English by Bill Nanson that is called Burgundy Report – the writing is first rate, and the coverage of a wide range of domaines makes each issue different and always interesting. And it’s free! Be sure to check it out…

Though I got back from Burgundy last Wednesday, I didn’t really feel like I was fully back until just an hour or so ago.  Upon arriving at the SEA-TAC airport the day before Thanksgiving, I discovered that the 16-degree weather up there had turned the bio-diesel fuel in my car from a liquid to a solid, and the car would not start! I had to quickly rent a car and drive down to Portland to get back in time for our holiday celebration. And then I jumped right into three days of Open House festivities at the winery, and then directly into teaching a Burgundy seminar in Portland last night. This morning I was finally able to drive the rental back up to Seattle, pick up the thawed-out and now-functioning Beetle, and drive back down to Portland. Home at last. And I have seen enough of I-5 to last me for quite some time…

Open House at the winery was a blast – great to see so many new faces and to see “downtown” Carlton bustling all weekend. Last night at Park Kitchen in Portland I did an informal Burgundy graduate-level seminar for our Chevaliers du Tastevin group. Chef Scott Dolich and his crew did an amazing job, sending out a seemingly endless array of platters of full-on goodness, including one of the best duck-confit dishes I’ve run across in ages. It all worked well with a wide array of Burgs, including some Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne, Confuron RSV, and a mini-Paulée’s worth of yummy bottles making the rounds.

In the cellar with jean-Charles at Bonneau du Martray

Speaking of Portland restaurants, I am super excited for the mid-December opening of Le Pigeon’s new spot “Little Bird” – we’ve been invited to one of the pre grand-opening dinners, and I’ll report back here with all the hedonistic news.

Speaking of hedonism, get ready to join us for our biggest and best Burgundy tasting of the year – The Masters of Burgundy on Saturday Dec. 11th from 12-5 in Carlton. Here’s the gorgeous line-up:

2007 Corton Charlemagne – Bonneau du Martray

2008 Vosne-Romanée Beaux-Monts 1er Cru – J-J Confuron

2008 Volnay Clos du Chateau des Ducs – Michel Lafarge

2008 Nuits-St. Georges Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru – Frédéric Mugnier

2008 Pommard Clos des Epeneaux 1er Cru – Comte Armand

2008 Echezeaux – Jean-Marc Millot

With Freddy Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny

Don’t miss this one – these wines are rarely or never open for tasting, and it’s a great opportunity to check out Burgundy’s finest (not to mention stocking up for the holidays and bagging gifts for the hard-to-please wine-lovers on your list!) Of course we’ll have some awesome grower Champagnes on hand as well. I look forward to seeing you here in Carlton on the 11th!

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...