“So tired, tired of waiting, tired of waiting for you…” As the Kinks sang in 1965, we’ve had enough waiting. We’re chomping at the bit to get going with harvest, as we’d normally be deep into it by now. But no, kemosabe. Looks like we’ve got about four more weeks to go before anything is reasonably ripe, and we could be heading for Oregon’s latest harvest ever. May the weather gods be kind and bring us some sun on a regular basis. Daughter Pirrie is studying ancient Egyptian religion in her 6th grade social studies class this year – I’ve asked her to ask Sun-Ra for some assistance…

Nothing is remotely close to ripe yet, In fact none of our vineyards have many clusters that have fully colored-up yet. Yikes. That said, we’ve been known to get some glorious October-November days here, so we could be alright. Or we could get handed a pretty rough deal. There’s really nothing we can do about it at this point. As Paul McCartney sang in 1970 – “Let it Be…”

Maresh Vyd. Block 12 - Sept. 29, 2011

Speaking of waiting, a year’s worth of training and preparation are about to come to a head with my attempt at the Portland Marathon on October 9th. I’m in the “taper” phase of training, running a lot less mileage the final two weeks before the race, but I’m ready to go. Sometimes I wish the race was tomorrow – I just want to line up and go. I just finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, and found it very inspiring. I know I’m never going to be a Scott Jurek or a Tarahumara Indian, but hopefully I can run with their sheer joy and buoyant spirit (and remember to go easy, smooth, and light – and upright!) Wish me luck – I will try to document my 1st marathon experience here in these pages after I’ve recovered from it all…

Scott Jurek & Arnulfo Quimare - rockstar ultra-marathoners

We’ve got an experienced international crew with us for crush this year – whenever we actually get to it. Kelly & I will be joined in the cellar this year by Arabella Hall, who worked crush for us three years ago  – and we’re thrilled to have her back. New this year will be the globetrotting Anna Ward, who makes wine in New Zealand as well as at Domaine Lucie & August Lignier in Burgundy. This will be her 3rd  harvest in 2011, as she’s just wrapping up in Burgundy now. The final piece to the puzzle will be the arrival of Jean-Charles from Beaune – he’s Benjamin Leroux’s right-hand man and runs Ben’s facility in Beaune, and we’re honored to have him with us for vintage 2011 (assuming we actually pick in 2011. Who knows, maybe we’ll pick in January?…)

Wow – these last few days have been a whirlwind of activity, with a series of great dinners, tastings and releases -  all combining to make me a very happy and very well-fed vintner. We started off at Bluehour in Portland for lunch Tursday, with new chef Thomas Boyce (from Spago) putting out a yummy spread for 15 of the top sommeliers and retail buyers in the market. Peter Wasserman from Burgundy was in town, and we were pouring the newly arrived ’09 Burgs from Lafarge, Comte Armand, Pavelot, Leroux, and some of our new Grower Champagnes as well.

We followed that up with a flight of new Champagnes from Jacques Picard, Vincent Carré and Guy de Chassey at Oregon Wines on Broadway, with a great crowd on hand all night. Then it was off to Le Pigeon for chef Gabe Rucker’s hedonistic cuisine – the rabbit & salami risotto is absolutely off the hook…

Superstars of Burgundy

The next day, lunch was at Le Pigeon’s sister bistro Little Bird. Marrow bones with apricot chutney. Fresh sweet corn with Pimente d’Espelette. OMG. Then back to Bluehour for a dinner for 30 customers and 7 new wines. Uni and Oyster Chowder, brown-butter poached lobster with crispy sweetbreads. OMG again. And you wonder why I run marathons…

Saturday in Carlton was one of our biggest and most festive events ever, with the release of our one barrel of Scott Paul ’09 Chambolle-Musigny, a flight of 5 wines from Chambolle, and another flight of ’09 Burgs from Mugnier, Lafarge, Pavelot, Armand & Leroux. We were rockin’ all day – the wines were all showing well, and I was just blown away by all of your love and support.

Chambolle-Musigny x5

After that it was dinner with a bunch of customer-friends at Jory at the Allison. Chef Sunny Jin did it up in the private dining room for us, with a pork belly and peaches dish and some Wagyu strip loin that rocked my world. I brought some Gobillard Brut, Savès Rosé, Lafarge Clos du Chateau des Ducs, Armand Fremiets, and Confuron Romanée-St. Vivant to wrap up a three day tour of totally decadent delights. Wow.

I recovered with a nice 8-mile run this morning, and am feeling good about the Portland Marathon two weeks from today. Thanks for all of your overwhelming support – I am hugely appreciative and honored. I am loving life – thanks for everything!

Is this the best tasting yet this year? It may end up being the best of the entire year - DO NOT MISS THIS ONE!

First, we’ll be releasing our own stunning Scott Paul 2009 Chambolle-Musigny that we made in conjunction with Chambolle’s rising stars -  Anne & Hervé Sigaut. Scott was involved in every key stage of producing this wine in Burgundy, from vineyard selection through élévage.  Only 300 bottles were produced, and this is surely the only time this wine will be open for tasting.

Then we’ll continue with the 2009 Chambolle-Musigny from J-J Confuron, followed by the ’09 Chambolle-Musigny les Bussières from Sigaut, the ’09 Chambolle-Musigny les Chatelots 1er Cru from Sigaut, and the ’08 Chambolle-Musigny Combe d’Orveau 1er Cru from Taupenot-Merme. Wow!

And if that’s not enough – we’ve added a special flight of Burgundy Superstars, to be poured for you personally by Peter Wasserman. Peter is the son of the legendary Becky Wasserman – who introduced estate-bottled Burgundy to the US back in the 1970s. Their company, Le Serbet, is the US export agent for many of Burgundy’s brightest and grandest stars, including, we’re honored to say, some of the top producers that we import and distribute.  Peter will be here in Carlton pouring an exceptional flight from the very top producers on the planet – Frédéric Mugnier, Michel Lafarge, Comte Armand, Domaine Pavelot & Benjamin Leroux! These wines are rarely if ever open for tasting – so plan to join us and check out the amazing ’09s from Burgundy’s best.

Tasting fee is $15 for the Chambolle flight, or $15 for the Superstar Burgundy flight, or $25 for both. Tasting fees are refundable with any 6-bottle purchase of the featured wines.

Get ready for a great night of Burgundy! Join Scott Paul Wines for a fabulous tasting and dinner in Portland, with Burgundy superstars and the hottest new chef in town.

The party starts at Great Wine Buys with a multi-vintage flight of red Burgundy, including new releases from some of the top Burgundy producers we import and distribute– producers that come to us via export agent Becky Wasserman Selection. The tasting runs from 5:00-7:30 pm and the cost is $20 per person.
Promptly following the tasting, we will head to Bluehour‘s private dining room, where we will be joined by Peter Wasserman, Becky’s son, for an amazing evening of wine and food prepared by Bluehour’s fantastic new chef, Thomas Boyce!

Becky Wasserman Selection was founded in 1979 by Becky Wasserman-Hone, an American expatriate who has lived in Burgundy since 1968. Highly respected for decades, they export some of the best small domaines and top wines from Burgundy and Champagne. Peter Wasserman is the globe-trotting ambassador, bringing life to the wines with his personal anecdotes and deep knowledge of Burgundy.

Chef Thomas Boyce‘s career trajectory began with Napa Valley’s Tra Vigne under Michael Chiarello and eventually led him to Aspen, New York City and the Chef de Cuisine post at Spago Beverly Hills, Wolfgang Puck’s flagship restaurant. Thomas joined Bluehour this summer and has made quite an impression in Portland thus far!

Here is the lip-smaking menu and wine line-up for the dinner:

course one
Oyster and uni chowder, toasted brioche
NV Camille Savès, Brut Carte Blanche 1er Cru, Champagne

course two
Brown butter poached lobster with Crispy sweetbreads, golden raisins, almonds
2009 Domaine Michel Lafarge Bourgogne-Aligoté, Raisins Dorés, Burgundy
2009 Benjamin Leroux, Auxey Duresses, Côte de Beaune, Burgundy

course three
Braised beef cheeks with Porcini, smokey bone marrow
2009 Domaine Jean-Marc Pavelot, Narbantons 1er Cru, Savigny-lès-Beaune, Burgundy
2008 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Clos de la Maréchale 1er Cru, Nuits St. Georges, Burgundy

course four
Cheese
2009 Domaine Michel Lafarge, Vendanges Sélectionnées, Volnay, Burgundy

Cost for the dinner is $110 per person (gratuity not included)
Seating is LIMITED
To reserve a seat for the dinner please call or email Bluehour:
didier@bluehouronline.com
503.226.3394

We started our winemaking adventures with just 125 cases of Pinot Noir back in 1999. Ten years later we decided to honor our 10th anniversary with a special bottling from the 2009 vintage. We selected four barrels from our old vines at Maresh Vineyard in the Dundee Hills for the wine we’ve named “Dix” (pronounced “deese”, as in peace)– French for “Tenth”. It is ripe, rich and succulent – the perfect wine for a celebration! (Only 100 cases produced – available only at the winery and on our website, and scheduled for release the week of September 5th.)

Old vines at Maresh

To make our 10th anniversary even more special, we’ll be tasting a vertical of several vintages of our La Paulée Pinot Noir and bringing a bunch of magnums up from the cellar as well! Join us for this festive event – 12-5pm on Saturday September 17th here in Carlton…

I pulled a bottle of each the vintages of our La Paulée out of the cellar this week, from 2002-2009. Mostly to see which ones we wanted to feature on our special flight this weekend for our 10th anniversary party and the release of the ’09 Dix, and also so see how they were all developing in bottle over the years.

The most fascinating thing to me was the realization of how incredibly young they all were. Most have not evolved much at all from their early primary stages, and just a couple were showing signs of significant secondary flavor and aroma development. My intention has always been to give the wines the capacity to age well, but also to be enjoyable on release – and that’s a fine line to walk. Every vintage was “younger” than I expected to find it at this stage, and most have several years of upside ahead of them.

The 2002 was beautifully balanced, and just starting to fold into that secondary mushrooms & truffles stage that I love. The 2003 seemed like it hadn’t budged much since bottling – a big, intense wine that is still all about primary fruit. The ’04 was gorgeous, and maybe my favorite of the flight – interesting in light of the fact that this was the most difficult wine in the cellar during its élévage and had what I would call a “troubled youth”. The ’05 was another stunner – with the aromas very forward and floral and developed, and a texture of pure silk. The 2006 I would have guessed blind as a young 2008, all vibrant and ripe fruit and youthful exuberance. ’07 is one of my favorite wines we’ve made, with the much-maligned vintage producing some really lovely wines, having put on weight and texture to go with the elegance it had from day one. 2008 remains the best-balanced La Paulée we’ve ever bottled, and is surely only at the beginning of a 15-20 year life of improvement in the bottle. ’09 is still a long way from release, but like most from this vintage is full of rich and succulent fruit and a wine of hedonistic pleasure.

We’ve decided to pour the ’05, ’07 & ’08 this Saturday, along with the ’09 Audrey and the debut of the ’09 Dix – so please plan to join us for this special tasting flight and event to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first vintage. It all happens here in Carlton 12-5p…

Then,  next Saturday, the 24th, it’s what may be the tasting of the year, here or anywhere. We were already planning a special event for the release of our 2009 Chambolle-Musigny, and a special flight of five wines from my favourite Burgundian village. And then we got some good news and added a very special surprise.

There would not be any great Burgundy available in the US without Becky Wasserman. Becky began importing estate-bottled Burgundy to America in the 1970s, and was the first to do it on a large scale. Over the decades her business has grown to represent the crème-de-la-crème of top estates in Burgundy and Champagne. Her company, Le Serbet, is based in Beaune and acts as the export agent for over 100 producers, a number of which we are proud to work with here at Scott Paul. Becky’s son Peter joined the business and covers the US as the ambassador for all of their fabulous wines, and he’s joining us here in Carlton for an unprecedented tasting of some of the best Burgundy has to offer.

Peter will be pouring new releases from five of Burgundy’s genuine superstars – Frédéric Mugnier, Michel Lafarge, Comte Armand, Domaine Pavelot, and Benjamin Leroux. These are wines that are rarely if ever open for tasting, and this is Burgundy’s highly lauded 2009 vintage. In other words, this may be the tasting opportunity of a lifetime. (And we’re pouring all those killer Chambolle-Musigny wines too!) DO NOT MISS THIS ONE! I look forward to seeing you here…

Join us for two spectacular days of Willamette Valley wines, winemakers and food. For the first time ever, Scott Paul and over 100 Willamette Valley Wineries will converge on Portland and turn an entire city block into a wine country experience. (Note that Scott Paul will be pouring on Saturday only.)

Sample new releases from over 50 wineries each day, taste great foods from local purveyors, meet the winemakers, get an inside look at grape growing and winemaking, and enjoy all the wine-related exhibits and book signings by local authors. Quite simply, this is going to be mega big!

Advance tickets are available online now - don’t miss this one!

(Note: even if you can’t make it into the city, our tasting room in Carlton will be open as usual, 1-5 pm, on Saturday, September 10th).

Et Voilà – the 2010s are in bottle! It’s always a great feeling to have a vintage completely put to bed, with the bottles now safely resting in their cool and dark cocoons for the next 18 months or so. Between cool spring rains and relentless fall bird attacks there was hardly any fruit left to pick on the vines in 2010, but what was there made some really nice wines at the end of it all. Very precise and pure, yummy bright red-fruit flavors, excellent acidity – sort of a cross between 2008 & 2007, but of course uniquely 2010 all on its own.

We added a new vineyard to the mix in 2010, with a few acres of mature vines at Nysa Vineyard in the Dundee Hills, right next to my old stomping grounds at Domaine Drouhin. It turned out so well that we bottled a few barrels of it separately in a wine we’re calling “Les Gourmandises” – watch for the release sometime in 2013, most likely…

Meanwhile, harvest has just wrapped up in Burgundy! For the 3rd time in the last 10 years, they started harvest in late August. An August harvest has only happened in Burgundy six times in the last 300 years – with 2003, 2007 and 2010 the recent precocious ones. Happily, it looks like a very good year there, with harvest unfolding under bright sunshine, and the early reports on quality are solid up and down the Côte. Burgundy had a what turned out to be a fairly “normal” growing season, it was just 3-4 weeks earlier than usual. Here at home we are also having a “normal”-looking season, but ours is about 3-4 weeks later than average. Go figure. At any rate, my guess is we’ll be picking the week of October 24th, give or take a few days. The crop looks healthy, and the heatwave we’re having is mostly a good thing – we need all the sun and heat we can get between now and October. Bring it on!

Sunday, September 4th, Labor Day Weekend.  The Oregon Wine Country Half-Marathon has its finish line, and wine-tasting after party, right in historic downtown Carlton, a few feet from our tasting room.

The announcement of last year’s race is what got Scott running…for the first time in his life.  Now he has two half-marathons under his belt and is training for the Portland Marathon this fall.

You can even split the distance with a partner.  Start training.  Make a weekend of it.  We’ll be pouring at the finish line.  See you there!