It comes in Threes…
Amazing scores, wonderful press, and a dream come true – it has been a landmark couple of weeks in the world of Scott Paul and I’m excited to share it all with you.
First, we received the news that in Wine & Spirits magazine’s annual poll of top restaurants around the country, we showed up in the list of most popular Pinots in the U.S.! That really blows my mind – for our little 2,500 case winery to show up on that list with the big guns – I never would have imagined that happening. I am hugely thankful for the support of the sommeliers and restaurateurs around the country who so passionately support our little wines. (I say “little”, because we don’t make “big” wines – the kind that usually attract all the attention these days. Perhaps elegance and finesse will ultimately prevail after all! And, we must certainly be the smallest producer on that list, in terms of overall production volume).
Big kudos to all our Oregon friends and neighbors on the list – Oregon scored an amazing 15 of the top 30 slots (overtaking California who had 14 slots, and Burgundy with 1). High on the list of Oregon producers was my old stomping grounds – Domaine Drouhin Oregon. Congrat to Véronique Drouhin and the entire Drouhin family, and GM David Millman for continuing to be the class of the field.
In the same issue of Wine & Spirits we are also prominently featured in an article on the use of the so-called Dijon clones of Pinot Noir, by esteemed writer John W. Haeger (author of North American Pinot Noir and Pacific Pinot Noir – the reference books on the finnicky grape that we so love.) The magazine’s on news stands now (their website unfortunately does not publish the contents of the print magazine.)
Then came the even more amazing word that our “little” wines had just received some “monster” scores. Our wines are certainly not made in a style to chase the big scores, but it sure is wonderful when the reviews are good! Paul Gregutt, who covers Oregon & Washington wines for Wine Enthusiast (as well as his own excellent blog) – has given our 2007 La Paulée 93 points and the 2008 Audrey a whopping 95 points! These scores will be in the forthcoming June issue of the magazine – and we will certainly be framing them for display in the tasting room… “95″ is one of the highest scores ever given to an Oregon wine in any major publication, to my knowledge. (The legendary 1994 Broadley Claudia’s Choice got a 97, and there have been a few other 95s, but I think that’s the “glass ceiling” for Oregon Pinot these days…)
Chambolle-Musigny
And thirdly, a major dream of mine is about to come true. We will soon be importing the wines of Burgundy’s legendary Domaine J-F Mugnier in Chambolle-Musigny! Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier (“Freddy”, as he’s known) quite simply produces some of the most elegant, ethereal, enchanting, graceful, beguiling, and jaw-droppingly stunning wines on the planet – including his legendary Musigny and Chambolle-Musigny les Amoureuses. (And the secret weapon in the arsenal is his Nuits-St. Georges 1er Cru monopole Clos de la Marechale. Keep your powder dry and stay tuned for all the details…)
And there are more killer Burgundy surprises on the way, not to mention details on the Audrey release party coming up on April 10th, and all the scoop on our pre-IPNC dinner this summer, with chef Vitaly Paley at the stove! More soon…
