First an important notice – if you’re planning on coming in or out of the train station in Dijon anytime over the next two years, beware. They have torn up and closed off virtually every road one could possibly use to get there, and it’s a rat’s nest of u-turns, one-way streets and endless circles to finally arrive at the station. Yikes! Be sure to allow extra time…

We’ve been blessed with magnificent weather ever since we arrived in France a week ago. It has been stunningly beautiful in Burgundy. The wines are showing beautifully and we’ve been eating way too well – in all everything is going superbly.

Our group of 12 Burg-explorers arrived on Sunday, and we kicked it off with a great lunch at Chez Guy in Gevrey-Chambertin. It was quite bizarre to see the country & western line-dancing demonstration going on in the village square right on front of the resto. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bunch of Frenchmen dressed in Cowboy hats and boots and bandanas, dancing to George Strait while I was eating 12-hour cooked beef cheeks from a cast-iron pot. Ah, you gotta love France…

Yesterday was the first full day with the group, and we had a magical day down in the Mâconnais at Fuissé, kicking off with a tour and tasting and lunch on the garden at the magnificent Chateau des Rontets. Fabio & Claire Gazeau-Montrasi were magnificent hosts, and our private chef Olivier put on a killer lunch. As I may have stated many times before, in my next life I want to live in the vineyard at Clos Varambon – truly one of the most inspiring spots on the planet I’ve had the pleasure to know…

We followed up with a tasting of 7 different appellations from the incredibly talented Christophe Thibert at Thibert Père et Fils, with the ’07 Pouilly-Fuissé Ménètrières absolutely knocking me out. Great stuff…

In Fuissé with Christophe Thibert

Last night’s dinner was at Auprès du Clocher in Pommard, probably my favourite resto here these days. A killer meal of Foie Gras, Ravioli stuffed with Escargots, Veal tenderloin and Veal Shank over fresh mushrooms and asparagus, and a perfect molten-chocolate cake with bourbon-vanilla ice cream. This is why I am skipping lunch today!

du Foie Gras...

Ravioli with Escargot and parlsey cream...

Veal 2-ways (both of them good!)

And a nice bottle or two...

Wine of the week so far was a gorgeous ’99 Volnay VS from Michel Lafarge, enjoyed with lunch in Fuissé yesterday. Pure silk, perfume and elegance… This morning I got in a nice run from Volnay to Meursault and back – this week marks week #1 of my official 16-week training program for the Portland Marathon in October. I am definitely going to have to scale down the eating here or I will be dragging my butt over the last of those 26.2 miles, to be sure…

In the cellar at Violot-Guillemard with Estelle Violot...

Then we descended in to the cellars of Thierry Violot-Guillemard in Pommard to taste through his ‘09s. In a word – OMG. Volnay, Pommard, Clos des Mouches, Platières, Epenots, Rugiens, Clos Derrière St. Jean – a stunning lineup again (all of which just got monster Burghound scores as well – well deserved indeed!)

The group is at lunch at the Cellier Volnaysien, just around the corner from me as I work in Thiébault Huber’s office and tasting room here in Volnay. Martha is with them along with tour guide Kim Gagné, while I continue to digest last night’s meal, and get ready for another go-round at Le Chevreuil in Meursault tonight. Before that we’ll taste here at Huber-Verdereau, and then at Buisson-Charles in Meursault. Oh my. Life is good.

Don’t forget to check out Martha’s blog for more scoop and her perspective on all of our Burgundian adventures. Back with more after a few more 5-course meals and a couple dozen old burgs

“If I died right now, it would be ok,” said one “camper” on our tour.  Another, in the midst of a happy sensory overload just gets quiet.  We’re all grinning…a lot.  And pinching ourselves.  We’re together for a week-long summer camp for adults – for Burg geeks specifically –led by Scott, in the hallowed appellations of Pouilly-Fuissé, Volnay, Pommard, Gevrey, Meursault, etc.  Our party of 14 includes fine folks from Virginia, Hawaii, Washington State, Texas and Oregon.  They are all what is called “amateurs” of Burgundy, meaning they are fans, they buy it and appreciate it.  But for many it is their first trip here (for some, it is their first trip to France or even Europe).  It’s a rocking good group of good-natured people.  We are hanging on the every word of some of the world’s top producers in intimate extended tours and tastings.  We are eating divine cuisine, both in restaurants, and from the hands of a private chef named Olivier.  We are drinking beautiful wines including many an older vintage — and this is just day two!!

I have to say that it just feels like a huge privilege to be a part of this experience.  I’m thrilled to be along for the ride as each one gets to the heart of the profound, heartbreakingly beautiful, poetic, geologic wonder that is Burgundy.  I appreciate their faith in Scott and Kim Gagné to create the perfect trip for them.

Meanwhile, a Parisian family is cooking for my girl, washing her clothes, and extending themselves to show her the most thrilling sights in the city of lights — let’s just say that there is a lot of good juju going on in my world right now.

enjoying a gougère and glass of Pouilly-Fuissé while waiting for lunch cooked by Chef Olivier at Chateau des Rontets

Fabio Montrasi, co-proprietor (along with his wife Claire) of Chateau des Rontets gives an excellent discourse on his vineyard practices, importance of pruning decisions and benefits of plowing

That pimente d'espelette showed up again! -- ( see previous post) -- in a butter sauce on poached cod with steamed vegetables. Delicious.

Gussie helped my mom cook and clean once a week for our family of eight when I was little.  If Gussie wasn’t impressed with something, she would simply say, “I wouldn’t write home about that!”  Here then is a smattering of things that I am impressed enough to write home about.  For a great overview of our locations and activities over the last view days, you might first read Scott’s blog.

I am on the lookout for some good Pimente d’Espelette.  Sold powdered from a pepper that was first grown in Mexico and South America, it is a specialty of the French Basque region, centered around the French town of Espelette.   I was first aware of it through a dinner in Portland at Kitchencru.  Then, in Champagne, our hostess Clotilde seasoned both the marvelous rabbit dish, and a zucchini gratin with this smokey, gently warming pepper.

Clotilde gets everything she cooks from neighbors, friends and farmers - local rabbit drizzled with olive oil, thyme and rosemary, pimente d'espelette and mustard, wrapped in bacon and baked.

The first night with Clotilde and Digger, to start, we ate white asparagus with a delicious dressing that Clo called “a mousseline” made by whipping egg whites, separately whisking the yolks with mustard and letting stand a few minutes so the mustard “cooks” the yolks, then whisking in chives, lots of garlic and good olive oil and gently folding in the whites. It was impossible to resist drizzling a little of this mousseline on the grilled charolait boeuf beef.

Scott and I had picked up from the bakery in Epernay some macarons and "biscuits de rose," a specialty of the region - very much like a lady finger and meant to accompany Champagne well.

We are so happy for our friends Thiébault and Marielle who have purchased a gorgeous “clos” or enclosed parcel of vineyard, that is directly across the tiny road from their house.  It is encircled by an ancient stone wall and you access it through an old, wooden door that is locked.  Besides the vines that have gorgeous exposure to the sun, there are wild raspberries and strawberries, a huge cherry tree with delicious red cherries ripe right now, peach and apple trees, and a kitchen garden that Thiebault has planted to potatoes and tomatoes.  Their four children are apparently as enchanted with this magical little Eden as I am.  They’ve built a tree house and have caught trout in a rivulet that runs alongside the stone wall.

Perhaps the only monopole (single-owner) vineyard inside the prestigious village of Pommard that also boasts a treehouse?

What has impressed me most is the sincere generosity of our producers, who have become our friends.  Disgorging a bottle of 1990 Champagne for our apero (aperatif)….going in to town early to get the best croissants for us…serving a vertical of L’Homme Mort Chablis…putting us up in their home and cooking dinner on a school night, two nights in a row…putting us up in their gorgeous apartment…or putting us up in their historic house/crush pad (the Germans even occupied it during the war).  Merci mille fois!!

Where do I begin? It’s been 72 hours of a seemingly endless and surreal swirl of Champagne, Chablis and Chocolate – yes folks, we’re back in France and hard at work once again!

Lots of news to report from the tiny village of Rilly-la-Montagne in Champagne, where we spent two nights at the home of our friends Clo & Digger (pronounced “Deeg-air”). Champagne Marc Chauvet has a new Blanc de Blancs bottling, all barrel-fermented and aged, which we will be bringing in this fall in limited quantities. It is an amazing wine – sort of like a great Meursault with bubbles, really a stunning wine. The unique labels are from a southern France artist Nathalie Portejoie – see below. I also loved the new Chauvet Brut Rosé, which is now fuller-bodied and more savory than it used to be, and it too will make its debut in the US this fall.

The vineyards in Champagne are well advanced, and they’re looking at a late August harvest! For the first time in history they had no rain in March-April-May, so they are happy to have some rain now in early-mid June to help relieve the water stress. The vines have already been hedged, and the crop looks balanced and healthy.

Clo was incredibly generous as always, disgorging a magnum of her outstanding 1990 with dinner one night (roast rabbit with bacon, girolles and black trumpet mushrooms, yum.) We did a very interesting tasting trial for the next cuvee of the Chauvet Brut Sélection – tasting the same wine with a dosage of 9, 10 & 11 grams. Ultimately we were all in agreement that the 10-gram version showed the best balance and harmony, and pulled the wine into the best focus. The next morning Clo and her crew disgorged the wine, topped it off with the 10-gram dosage, corked and caged it, ready for labelling and a release in about three months…

Tasting trial for the Marc Chauvet Brut Sélection

News for Champagne Special Club fans – there will be a new label for all Special Club wines debuting over the next 6 months. With an anusually good run of vintages in the 2000s, there will be a Special Club bottling from Chauvet from 2002, 2004, 2006 & 2008. Here’s a sneak preview of the new label…

The always gracious and elegant Hervé Savès opened up a staggering 12 bottles for us to taste in his cellars in the Grand Cru village of Bouzy, including the extremely limited cuvée Anäis Jolie Coeur, named after his great-grandmother. It shows and extra dimension of richness, with beautiful notes of grilled nuts and bright citrus, and a finish that goes on for days. A scant few bottles will be available this fall – watch this space for all the details…

Hervé Savès, riddling in the cellars at Camille Savès

The animated and joyous José Dhondt in the Grand Cru village of Oger talked non-stop for about two hours while we tasted through the current lineup and some of the upcoming cuvees. His son had just been married in a big ceremony in the village last weekend, and José had bottled and  hand-labelled 178 magnums of his 2006 for the festivities. Amazingly a few remained unopened, and José popped one for us in his living room-tasting room. Major yum!

Maybe you do, but José Dhondt...

All is looking well in Chablis for a potentially excellent vintage, as they are quite in advance as well, looking at a September 1st harvest at this point. Frédéric Gueguen poured through his 2010s, none of which are bottled yet. I always love the entire lineup here – there is a purity and honesty to the wines that always shows through. The Chablis Grandes Vignes (from 1926 plantings) and the 1er Cru l’Homme Mort were the standouts once again, along with a great pork roast and fresh garden veggies from Frédéric & Céline’s garden in the village of Préhy. Yum again.

And then down to Burgundy yesterday afternoon, back in my usual digs in Volnay. It feels so right to be here, that’s the only way I can really describe it. Walking through the village, running in to Freddy & Chantal Lafarge, it was a beautiful and inspiring re-entry into what has become my home away from home.

We got to see Thiébault Huber’s new prize monopole – the Clos du Colombier in Pommard – 2 acres of pure heaven. Old-vine biodynamic vineyard, cherry, apple and peach trees, a huge veggie garden, a tree-house for the kids, and a river full of trout running along the edge! The previous owners sold off all of the fruit from this site, so when Thiébault bottles the 2011 vintage it will be the first Pommard Clos du Colombier on the market in ages. Very exciting stuff indeed.

In the Clos du Colombier in Pommard - Thiébault & Martha

Dinner last night at Caves Madeleine in Beaune was excellent as always. Proprietor “Lolo” was in fine form, turning us onto a killer glass of ’09 St. Aubin (that I correctly guessed blind – that’ll never happen again!), and an amazing bottle of ’07 Pommard Argillières 1er from a micro producer in Vosne-Romanée (that’s all I can say for now – more details soon, perhaps…)

The group of 12 of our top customers arrives later today for our insider’s tour of Burgundy, which I’m really looking forward to. I truly enjoy nothing more than turning people on to my beloved Burgundy. We kick off with lunch at Chez Guy in Gevrey-Chambertin, one of my faves. Stay tuned for more adventures up and down the Côte – its gonna be a good one…

Before we head off to Burgundy where I’ll report periodically on the delicious food we’ll be lucky enough to enjoy at the homes of our producers, I wanted to leave you with two things to try now.

Slow-roasted salmon has been a revelation. Most recipes call for baking fish at higher temperatures, so I was intrigued with an idea shared in a recent Bon Appetit Magazine. They suggested rubbing a salmon fillet with little olive oil, lemon zest and chopped herbs (thyme worked well – I’ll also try chives), and then roasting at 250 for about 15 minutes. After discovering how moist and easy this is, you’ll never cook salmon at a higher temperature. Catch the salmon when it is still rare and translucent. Serve this with kale salad and quinoa and you’ve got an unbelievably yummy meal that would make your cardiologist proud (or put him/her out of business). If there is any left-over salmon, mash it with softened butter and chopped shallot and lemon zest for an absolutely delicious spread on homemade crostini. This reminds me of something we used to eat years ago called Salmon Rillettes at Thomas Keller’s Buchon in Yountville.

And I made a mighty mean batch of Emeril’s shrimp and grits recently. Gracious, is this good!  Happy, happy, as Emeril would say.  Beautiful stepdaughter Ally wanted the recipe (I hope she’ll make her friends in DC think she slaved but it’s really a total snap).  Scott proclaimed it best…dish…ever (ok, so he is known for his superlatives).  It went over so well and was a great way to showcase the terrific andouille made by our friends at Olympic Provisions. I didn’t make his version of grits. I just make grits and add chopped garlic and cheese. His version calls for a lot of cream and a lot more time. This would be delicious served over rice too.  Stay tuned, because I’ll have lots of good eats and photos to share in the coming weeks.

Family affair working in the tasting room before a dinner of shrimp and grits!

The sun is finally smiling upon us, and the vines are very, very happy indeed! May the light and warmth continue – we need every ray and every degree we can get if we’re going to get ripe fruit before November…

It’s been nothing but action recently, and there’s no end in sight. I had a blast at the Cochon555 competition in San Francisco, and a rockin’ great lunch at Raj Parr’s RN74. I’m very excited that a new RN74 is opening in Seattle on Monday (with our La Paulée on the list, btw) – I’ll be driving up to the Emerald City for the Grand Opening festivities…

Here, piggy piggy...

We’ve just locked in dates for a bunch of great events here at the winery over the next few months, including another great 2009 Burgundy tasting on July 16th, our IPNC Weekend tastings July 29-31 (featuring superstar Benjamin Leroux), yet another 2009 Burgundy event on August 13th, the release of our “Dix” 10th-anniversary bottling on Sept. 17th, and a killer Chambolle-Musigny tasting on Sept. 24th. Whew! See our EVENTS page for details and updates…

On Tuesday, I’m off to France for a few weeks in Champagne and Burgundy – definitely one of the tougher parts of my job! I’ll be reporting back regularly on all of our adventures – so please watch this blog and our Facebook page for all the action. We’ll be leading our first-ever insider’s tour of Burgundy June 19-25, and it should be a blast. (And yes, we have plans to do a tour or two in 2012 – details soon…)

Finally – kudos to the Oregonian’s wine writer Katherine Cole on her excellent new book on Biodynamic viticulture and winemaking. It’s a great overview and explanation of this “voodoo” we practice in the vineyards and cellar, and I highly recommend it!

A container full of 2009 Burgundies has just arrived, and we’re pouring a great flight on Saturday: Domaine Buisson-Charles 2009 Meursault VV, Domaine Bonneau du Martray 2008 Corton Charlemagne, Domaine Anne & Hervé Sigaut 2009 Chambolle-Musigny, Domaine Taupenot-Merme 2009 Morey St. Denis, and Domaine Violot-Guillemard 2009 Beaune, Clos de Mouches 1er.  We’ll also pour the 2008 Scott Paul La Paulée Pinot Noir and our stunning new Scott Paul ’09 Meursault – our first-ever white Burgundy! $20 flight refundable with 3 bottle purchase of featured wines.

A seasoned gardening veteran, giving up on planting a garden for the first time in 20 years?!  That’s what he told me last year in our tasting room, due to our miserably late and cool spring.  He just didn’t think it would be worth it.  And here we are again, with possibly an even later start to the growing season (just ask the grape vines!).  But don’t despair.  Don’t give up on your kitchen garden!  Despite the fact that I’m going to be away for a month, and despite the fact that my garden is attached to a house that is for sale, it’s still more than worth my while to put a few things in the ground.  I’ll recoup the costs with the first harvest of greens and it’s just good for the soul to get your hands in the dirt.

Here are a couple of shots to show you that even with a slow start like last year, it is always worth planting!

And I don’t know about you, but it’s also the time of year here in the Willamette Valley that I get what I call the “garden woes.”  I’m not as organized as I was last year, when I poured over seed catalogs.  I’m later than I was last year.  My little garden feels more haphazard than last year.  Let go of the woes, plant a few things, and you’ll have forgotten all about these misgivings in July and August when you are eating your crops night after night.  Promise!  There is sunshine (finally) on tap for the weekend, so get planting.

Here then are my tips for the easiest, most productive and rewarding vegetables for our climate.

Bush beans!  Plant these from seeds and they will pop up as quickly as the next week.  They’ll get about a foot or 18 inches high and need no trellising and they are great producers.  I’ve enjoyed a Burgundy Bush Bean variety that was stringless.  Plant some green beans too, next to a trellis or tomato cage.  I’ve planted several varieties of Blue Lake, from organic plant starts purchased at the Farmers Market.  Very productive.  If you end up with more beans than you need, just freeze them.  Maybe blanch them in boiling salted water for less than a minute, shock them in cold water, let dry on paper towels and then freeze.

Purchase organic Kale and Chard plant starts.  Plant about 4 of each, and you’ll keep your family in greens, just harvesting the outer leaves and letting the plants continue to grow all summer.   I have photos that show I was still harvesting kale mid-September!  So many recipes for kale are for braises or gratins.  But here is a recipe for a family favorite, a bright, fresh kale salad enriched with a sprinkling of pine nuts, that will convert even those who claim to detest it. With excess kale, I quickly blanch leaves in salted water, drain, then roughly chop, then freeze.  Great for vegetable galettes, or to top pizza or in pasta or mixed into mashed potatoes or minestrone.  I just used up the last of my freezer supply a few weeks ago in a savory bread pudding with mushrooms and gruyere.

Lettuce!  Plant from organic starts.  A 4-pack of little starts might cost $2.50 and you’ll recoup that in a few weeks, the very first time you harvest the outer leaves.  If you’re buying pre-washed organic lettuce in bags, you’re paying $9-12/pound for lettuce so this is one of the number one crops to save you money.  You can grow lettuce anywhere!

Cherry tomatoes…yes, one plant, but nothing bigger.  Tomato bullies might try to make you feel that you’re not a real man/gardener/foodie unless you plant heirlooms and lots of them.  But from my experience, tomato plants are space and nutrition hogs.  To add insult to injury, in this climate, by September, you’ve got to scramble to find a recipe for Green Tomato Jam.  Instead, find a buddy with lots of land and sunshine (ie Eastern Oregon), and trade them their tomaotoes for your prodigious greens and beans!  Yikes, look how just one cherry tomato plant took over!  This was taken mid-August, and it is just beginning to flower, so quite a ways from ripe cherry tomatoes.

Potatoes!  Easy, and an extra-fun treasure hunt for kids when digging them up.  Bonus for me — I apparently didn’t dig up all of them out of the raised bed last year, so I’ve got volunteers this year.  Take organic potatoes and cut them into quarters, so that each quarter has an eye or more.  Before you plant them, let the pieces dry, indoors or in the sun, so that the cut sides are dried.  Push them into the dirt and wait for the green vines to emerge.  When you see flowers, see photo, you’ve got baby potatoes.  When the vines start to flop over and dry out, you’ve got big potatoes.  You can dig them up at any stage, as you need them.

These are just my top picks for hassle-free crops that give many pounds of production per square foot.  Email me your best bets.  Happy gardening.  We WILL have sun and growth eventually!

Kale Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Serves 6

One of our family favorites, this recipe idea came from my sister-in-law Jill White, a fabulous cook and entertainer who encountered it at a DC restaurant.  This would be nice with a crisp Chablis. The thin chiffonade is key to the raw kale being appealing and delicious, and the variety that lends itself especially well is the Italian variety that is long and narrow, dark green and bumpy, sometimes called lacinato or nero or dinosaur kale.  Using a Microplane grater results in soft fluffy cheese that coats the kale well. Another type of grater might require that you use slightly more cheese.  This salad will convert anyone, even kids, to raw kale. This is absolutely delicious with roasted salmon (rubbed with olive oil, lemon zest and chopped thyme and slow roasted at 250), and quinoa or couscous.

1 bunch Italian kale, washed, ribs removed

½ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

3 ounces Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated

1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

Whisk lemon juice, salt and pepper together. Whisk in oil. Roll the kale leaves and cut into very, very thin strips. Toss kale and just enough vinaigrette to coat well. Add cheese and pine nuts and toss again.