Pre-IPNC dinner, and the last meal…
I’ve mentioned it here before, but it is time to broadcast all the details and for you to book your seats if you can join us. It’s our dinner of the year – the annual pre-IPNC dinner, to take place in our cellars on Thursday evening July 22nd. (Click here for all the IPNC details)
Alain Meunier - J-J Confuron
This year’s line-up is simply stellar. We’ll start with the wine, as one of Burgundy’s brightest stars – Domaine J-J Confuron will be joining us. Husband and wife Alain & Sophie Meunier have taken her father’s estate to the pinnacle of quality and admiration, and we are honored to be their U.S. importer – and most importantly their friends. Also joining us is the winemaker who got me started in the business and was my first mentor, the semi-legendary Greg LaFollette. He rose to fame as the winemaker at Flowers on the Sonoma Coast (where I made the first Scott Paul wines), then started Tandem Winery, and is now launching his new venture LaFollette Wines – which will debut at this year’s IPNC festivities. (seemingly everyone who makes Pinot Noir in this country has a connection to Greg – he has mentored many of California’s and Oregon’s top producers. We call it “six-degrees of Greg LaFollette” – almost all of us can trace our lineage to Greg one way or another!)
And of course we’ll have some special Scott Paul wines for the dinner as well. All together that’s three of IPNC’s featured wineries assembled for one great night. And to top it off our special guest for the evening will be IPNC 2010′s Master of Ceremonies – Food & Wine Magazine Sr. Wine editor Ray Isle!
Oh, and did I mention the food? Portland’s most celebrated chef – James Beard award winner Vitaly Paley of Paley’s Place will be at the stove, preparing his hedonistic delights to pair with the evening’s outstanding array of Pinots and Burgs. This dinner is priced at $150 per person, and seating is limited. To book yours now, simply email Kelly Karr or call her directly at 503-319-5827.
Speaking of food, it is interesting how my relationship with it has changed since I started training for the Wine-Country Half-Marathon that I’ll be running on September 5th. I’ve noticed that I’m definitely thinking of food more, but eating and desiring it significantly less. (I’m 16 weeks into my training, and up to running a 10K at this point – which I find amazing, as prior I don’t think I could have comfortably made it around the block.) I haven’t stopped eating anything in particular – but my desire for larger portions has diminished, and I don’t feel the need to eat a whole chocolate cake these days.
But I do think and dream about food a lot. Always have, (nowhere near as much as Martha, whose every waking thought is likely food connected, it seems!) It used to be a popular exercise to name your “Desert Island” albums you’d take with you (the collected works of Joni Mitchell, Springsteen and Dylan would work for me) – but how about the “last meal”? What would you want to eat if you knew it was your last chance?
Not that I think about it a great deal, but I do go back and forth between a 3-star Michelin meal and the simplicity of a great cheeseburger and fries. I’ve had the great fortune to dine at some of the top tables on the planet – including Ducasse, Gagnaire, Troisgros, Thomas Keller – and if I were to go that route I think I’d have to go with Thomas Keller and a last meal at The French Laundry – no one has dazzled my senses like that, no one captures the purity, the essence of flavors like Keller.
The burger at Le Pigeon
On the other hand, a great burger – say in the hands of Le Pigeon‘s Gabriel Rucker, might just be the perfect way to go out (with Paley’s fries & garlic aioli, a side of foie gras, and a perfect dark-chocolate pot-de crème, of course!) Of course we’d need a little wine to wash it down. If I could have any wine on the planet, it would be the ’45 Romanée-Conti (if there are any legitimate bottles remaining. There have probably been more fakes than the real thing.) Absent that, a ’45, ’47 or ’49 de Vogüé Musigny would do just fine (with a perfect magnum of ’61 Krug to start, bien sûr.)
What would your last food and wine combo be? Let me know – I’ll be reflecting on your answers while I’m on mile 5 on the trail tomorrow…
