La Paulée de San Francisco is in the books – the U.S. take on the legendary Burgundian tradition of post-harvest bacchanalia and celebration. NYC mega-sommelier Daniel Johnnes rotates New York and SF as the site for his annual event, and this year’s version on the west coast was a rockin’ good time for all.

Over 25 of Burgundy’s top producers were on hand for four days of tasting and feasting, including four from the Scott Paul portfolio (Domaines Bonneau du Martray, Michel Lafarge, Benjamin Leroux and Marc Roy.) The main event is the  Grand Tasting on Saturday afternoon, where every producer pours several of their current releases, and a dozen or so of SF’s top restaurants serve small plates to go with the wines.

With over 100 wines on offer, I didn’t get to them all, but I managed to hit the majority. It was the opulent and appealing 2009 vintage that was being poured, and this tasting served to reinforce my conviction that the 2009 Burgs are some of the most immediately accessible and downright likeable young Burgundies one may ever run across. Brimming with ripe fruit (but not in a New World fashion), these wines are truly built to please.

Benjamin Leroux pours at the Grand Tasting

Wines that knocked me out included both the ’08 & ’09 Corton-Charlemagne from Bonneau du Martray, the ’09 Chambertin from Camille Giroud, the entire line-up of grand Crus from Domaine Ponsot (especially the Clos St. Denis), the Volnay Mitans and Clos des Chênes from Lafarge, Griotte Chambertin from Fourrier, Meursault Perrières from Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, The Gevrey Cuvée Alexandrine from Marc Roy, Clos des Mouches Blanc from Drouhin, Meursault Genevrières from Antoine Jobard, and my favourite wine of the day was the stunning Clos St. Denis from Benjamin Leroux – quite simply flat-out great.

The Grand Dinner Saturday night featured older vintages from each of the producers, as well as all the wines that everyone in attendance had generously brought to share with tablemates and friends. It truly depends on who is at your table – some folks obviously have deeper cellars than others. No matter where one is seated, great bottles of older Burgundy are flowing all night long.

Daniel Johnnes with the 9L of Musigny

I was seated with Alexandrine Roy and Rolande Masse (winemaker for the Hospices de Beaune), and across from Véronique Drouhin, Frédéric & Chantal Lafarge and Benjamin Leroux. Suffice it to say a decent amount of good wine crossed our tables over the course of the night.
Some of my faves for the evening, in no particular order: a lovely ’85 Gevrey Clos Prieur from Marc Roy, ’83 Romanée St. Vivant from Cathiard, ’99 Corton-Charlemagne from Bonneau du Martray, ’02 Montrachet in Magnum from Drouhin, ’87 Batard Montrachet from Ramonet, ’99 Richebourg from Anne Gros, ’99 Chablis Clos from Dauvissat, ’90 Clos de Bèze from Drouhin, ’93 Clos Vougeot from Robert Arnoux, and a ’73 Echezeaux from Mugneret. (The evening started with a Salmanazar (9L bottle) of 2000 Musigny from Jadot – enough for a taste for everyone in the room. Not a bad way to kick off dinner…)

In all it was a great weekend of deep Burgundy immersion and some glorious weather in San Francisco. Research for my forthcoming book on the Paulée tradition is nearing its conclusion, and a chapter on the U.S. Paulées is on the works.  Kudos to Daniel Johnnes for such a well-run event, and thanks to all for sharing all the amazing bottles!

I’m nearing the end of the writing process for my book – “La Paulée, the legendary harvest celebration in Burgundy”, but of course there always seems to be more research to do. That’s the problem when you’re researching wine-related subjects – there’s always more great old wine to taste and more bacchanalia-fueled events to attend. Hey, we do what we must.

This time I’m off to San Francisco for “La Paulée de San Francisco”, the annual U.S. version of the event that swaps back and forth between New York and SF yearly. Longtime NYC power-sommelier Daniel Johnnes puts together these American versions of the events. While they are clearly not the Burgundian original, they are definitely in the same spirit, and they most certainly do not suck. Not one bit.

Writer Jordan Mackay and mega-somm Raj Parr at La Paulée de Meursault, 2009

This year’s line-up of attending producers includes the legendary Aubert de Villaine of DRC, Frédéric Lafarge, Laurent Ponsot, Jean-Charles from Bonneau du Martray, Benjamin Leroux, Jean-Marc Roulot, Véronique Drouhin, Alexandrine Roy, and a couple dozen more. Not to mention superstar chefs including Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud. It’s a good thing I’m training for another marathon in April – I’ve put in enough mileage the last several weeks to at least somewhat feel I’ve earned all the goodness about to come my way… (Which reminds me of a veritable orgy of food I took part in back in the 90s. In one 7-day period I managed to eat at Daniel in NYC, The French Laundry in Napa Valley, and Alain Ducasse and Pierre Gagnaire in Paris – returning home with more than a little extra weight and triglyceride numbers so high they were “off the charts, immeasurable”,  but we digress…)

At any rate, I’ll be reporting back on all the wines, food and festivities – posting, tweeting, etc., all in the name of science and good reporting, of course.  Stay tuned, action to come…

Join us at Portland’s only Champagne-only wine bar, Ambonnay, for a special flight of three Champagnes from micro-producer Bruno Gobillard.

Importer/Champagne Junkie Scott Paul Wright will be on hand to talk about the Gobillard bubblies – which are made in miniscule quantities and have an avid cult following.

The flight will include the lush and creamy NV Brut, the bright and citrusy NV Brut Vieilles Vignes, and the simply stunning NV Brut Rosé. This flight will be available from 6-9pm and is a don’t-miss for any and all Champagne-lovers. Cheers!

Join us in NW Portland at Scott Paul PDX for a Happy-Hour Champagne tasting on Friday Feb. 17th from 4-6pm, prior to our Champagne seminar later that night.   We’ll be pouring a couple of great bubblies from our portfolio of Grower Champagnes – micro-production bottlings that are guaranteed to seduce you, your valentine, or all of the above! Tasting fee is $5, refundable with any 3-bottle purchase.  On the flight will be the Blanc de Blanc from José Dhondt and the cult-fave Brut Rosé from Camille Savès, and our ’08 La Pauléee Pinot. The “Splurge” pour this time is the amazing 2009 Volnay Vendanges Sélectionées from superstar Michel Lafarge – $5, non-refundable.

(And if you’ve always wanted to take one of Scott’s classes, now is the chance! Due to a cancellation, 4 seats remain for the Champagne seminar. Email kellykarr@scottpaul.com to grab these seats!)

Last saturday in Carlton we invited everyone for a vertical tasting of our La Paulée Pinot Noir. It was exciting for us to open every vintage we’ve released of the La Paulée, and pour them side by side. The last time we opened them all at once was in the summer of 2006, so it had been a while, and there were of course a few new additions to the line-up as well.

From the first La Paulée in 2002 through the current-release 2008, I was quite happy with all of them, and thought they were each a good representation of what the individual vintage had given us. That makes me very happy, as the goal of the La Paulée bottling is to present the best overall expression of the vintage, using fruit from a number of our different vineyards to come up with the most-balanced blend. Here then, my quick notes on each of the wines –

2002 – I was managing Domaine Drouhin Oregon at the time, and Véronique Drouhin graciously offered to sell me fruit from a really prime block of the DDO estate, a mix of own-rooted Pommard and Dijon clones planted in 1989 on the mid-slope below the winery. It was an excellent vintage in the valley, one of the best ever in fact, and the ’02 La Paulée was clearly the star of the day for me. It is everything I look for in mature Pinot – layers of secondary aromatics, soft, silky textures, a good reserve of primary fruit still in evidence, and a long, elegant finish. Sadly, there is no only one bottle left in our cellar. This is rockin’ good stuff. If you have any, drink now or over the next 2-3 years.

2003 – From Shea & Stoller fruit. The hottest year on record, and a vintage that produced a lot of over-the-top wines. I was happily surprised that this one was still pretty fresh and vibrant. Big fruit, bigger tannin than we normally see, but still pretty juicy and succulent. A bit too much for me, but nice in the contect of the vintage. Drink now and over the next 3-5 years.

2004 – From Shea, Stoller, Three Sisters & Ribbon Ridge. A cooler year with some rain, but the wines ended up better than expected at the time. Understated, nuanced, developing some nice secondary flavors, but nothing outstanding. Probably my least favorite of the flight. Drink now and over the next 3-5 years.

2005 -  Shea, Stoller & Ribbon ridge fruit. A vintage that was not roundly praised at the time, but we always loved it. A vintage that favored elegance and finesse, and this one shows it in spades. Captivating aromatics, nicely integrated acidity, refined and pretty. Subtle, but very seductive. Love this wine! Drink now and over the next 5-7 years.

2006 – Ribbon Ridge, Momtazi, Stoller & Shea. Another hot year, but not as much as ’03. This is showing really well right now, with a deliciously rich mid-palate full of juicy fruit, nicely balanced, good length. It’s a very sexy, showy wine, sort of the stylistic opposite of the ’05, but yummy all the same. Has at least another 5-7 years of upside potential.

2007 – Maresh, Ribbon Ridge, Shea & Momtazi fruit. A cool and damp year that took a lot of grief for rains during harvest. After being trashed in the press, most critics backtracked and admitted they blew it, that in fact the good ‘07s were quite good indeed. Kelley & I have always loved this wine – it’s everything we’re about. Silky, pure, nice concentration, pretty red fruits, very nice length. Has a great life ahead of it to for another 5-10+ years.

2008 – Maresh, Ribbon Ridge & Momtazi. From the perfectly balanced vintage comes a beautiful wine, harmonious, rich, long, and still a baby right now. Can easily go another 10-15 years, as yummy as it is today. Red & Black fruits, succulent mid-palate, long and concentrated. Wow.  Will ultimately be the best wine of the bunch, and should outperform the killer 2002 over time. Drink some and stash some, this one’s just getting better and better…

On Saturday Feb. 11th at our tasting room in Carlton, we’ll be pouring every vintage of our La Paulée Pinot ever released, from 2002 through the current-release 2008.

For the first time ever, we’ll be pouring all of our La Paulée bottlings side-by-side, seven in all, starting with the 2002 (made at Domaine Drouhin Oregon, where Scott was the GM at the time) right up through the 2008, which was recently featured on the cover of Food & Wine magazine. There are only a handful of bottles in the cellar of some of the older vintages, so sadly they are not available for sale. Join us to taste the full vertical, and take home some of the 2008 before it too is gone.

“La Paulée” is the name of the ancient Burgundian tradition at the end of the grape harvest every year, where each domaine puts on a feast for all of their pickers and winery crew to celebrate the harvest. In the 1920s “La Paulée de Meursault” was born, and has become the most famous wine event and celebration world-wide, with 800 of Burgundy’s top winemakers and their guests gathering each year to share ancient and treasured bottles from their cellars. Scott is presently completing work on his book on the Paulée tradition, scheduled for release in fall 2012.

Tasting fee is $25 for this special flight, refundable with any 6-bottle purchase.

Join us in Carlton on Saturday Feb. 4th from 12n-5p – this is an absolute don’t miss tasting for Burgundy lovers of all stripes. We’ll be pouring all five of the outstanding 2009 Meursaults from top-drawer producer Domaine Buisson-Charles. Though perhaps not as famous as Lafon, Roulot or Coche-Dury, the Buisson-Charles wines are at the same amazing level of quality, for a fraction of the price. Burgundy authority Allen Meadows of Burghound puts it succinctly -

“I have noted this before but the quality coming out of this domaine in recent years is nothing short of spectacular. 2008 saw them fashion some excellent wines but they have outdone themselves in 2009 as everything is outstanding and they have made some of the top wines of the vintage. If you aren’t familiar with the wines, you should be…”

Patrick and Kate Essa in the cellars at Buisson-Charles

We’ll be pouring the Meursault Vieilles Vignes (90BH), the single vineyard Meursault Tessons (91BH), and three outsanding 1er Crus – the Meursault Bouches-Chères (93BH), Meursault Charmes (94BH), and Meursault Goutte d’Or (95BH). Wow.

This will be a great study in the terroir of Meursault, the village that produces Burgundy’s most oppulent and sexy Chardonnay, as seen through the hands of Patrick Essa, the 5th generation vigeron at the helm of this tiny domaine.

Tasting fee is $20 for this special flight, refundable with any 3-bottle Meursault purchase.

Join us in NW Portland at Scott Paul PDX as we kick-off our series of First Friday Happy Hours – Friday February 3rd from 5-7pm.

We’ll be pouring our hand-crafted Oregon Pinot and a selection from our import portfolio – with a “Splurge Pour” of Grower Champagne also available (just in time for Valentine’s Day, of course!) Regular tasting fee is $5, refundable with any 3-bottle purchase. “Splurge Pour” details tba…

The Oregon Pinot Kitchen is open. No wine is made in this kitchen, but a good deal of it may be consumed there, to be sure! Oregon Pinot Kitchen is Martha’s exciting new food blog, focusing on her simple but fabulous recipes and all the exciting fresh ingredients we get to work with here in the Pacific Northwest. Martha has actually been blogging for a few years now, but her posts have been buried on our website – kudos to you if you’ve actually found it over the years

I can personally vouch for every delectable dish and recipe – trust me when I say I am extremely well fed! Eat it up and enjoy, and help us spread the word…

In other exciting news, our first winemaker dinner of the new year is set for March 14th at Portland’s fabulous Little Bird Bistro with special guest winemaker Alexandrine Roy of  Domaine Marc Roy in Gevrey-Chambertin. “Alex” is a motorcycle-riding rockstar of a rising-star winemaker in Burgundy, and her limited-production wines have had a cult following in Portland for several years.

We are honored to add her wines to the Scott Paul Selections family, and stoked to have you join us for dinner. We’ll be paring the full range of Alex’s wines with a killer 4-course menu from chef Gabe Rucker’s kitchen Only 10 seats are available, at $125 each, all-inclusive. Email Kelly Karr to book your seats now!

Alexandrine and "Merlot" in Gevrey-Chambertin

The best way to learn about wine is to taste wines side-by-side. With two or more glasses in front of you, and the chance to compare wines one to the other, you’ll be amazed at how easily the wines reveal their differences to you. I hear people say all the time “I don’t know how to taste”, or “I can’t tell the difference” – to both of which I say “hogwash”. Yes you do, and yes you can.

Over time we all develop our own vocabularies to help describe what we’re tasting, but even at the beginning of our journeys we can tell that one wine feels thicker in the mouth, one seems more abrasive, one appears sweeter, one smells like roses, one like cherry pie, etc.

Pour two different glasses of wine – preferably with something in common between them (such as vintage, region, producer, or variety) – then look, swirl, sniff, taste, swish, and swallow (or spit, if you’ll be tasting a lot or need to drive.)

Et voilà, as my French friends would say. You will quickly notice the differences, at the very least. Then you can start to describe those differences in your own way. Don’t get caught up in looking for obscure fruit references or “wine speak” lingo, just start a dialogue about what makes one wine different from the other. It will lead you down some very interesting paths, if nothing else.

Freddy Mugnier

In the name of science, I popped a bottle of the ’09 Mugnier Clos de la Maréchale and an ’09 Lafarge Volnay VS the other night with dinner. Two wines I enjoy immensely, but had never tasted side-by-side. It was quite illuminating indeed.

Freddy Mugnier and the father-son team of Michel & Freddy Lafarge are two of my very favorite producers on the planet. I love them and their wines, and prize their understated and elegant styles. I think of both their aesthetics in a similar vein – ethereal, lighter-bodied and less-extracted. And indeed they are. But when you taste these two wines side-by-side, the differences are as clear as night and day.

Michel & Freddy Lafarge

Terroir, of course, accounts for the lion’s share of the difference between these two – the Mugnier coming from the more powerful and intense mother-rock of Nuits St. Georges, and the Lafarge from the fractured limestone of Volnay. Boy is that clear in this tasting. Yes, the Mugnier is a lithe and slender dancer, but it has so much more underlying power and tannic punch than the Lafarge. The Lafarge is also achingly beautiful, but very delicate and lacy, almost crystalline in its purity.

I would say I love them both equally for what they are. Tasting them together provided a magnifying glass into what makes them tick. As much as I know about these producers and their wines, and as often as I drink them, it wasn’t until drinking these two together that I saw such a clear delineation.

So pull some corks and practice at home.  It’s tough work, but you’re just the one to do it, and you will definitely learn a lot!