Edouard’s Champagne Heartthrob - krug vintage 1988

Edouard Bourgeois
July 18, 2025

I wanted to share my thoughts on a truly memorable bottle: the Krug 1988. I've been fortunate enough to taste this exquisite Champagne more than once, and each experience has been exceptional. I particularly remember sharing a bottle with friends a couple of years ago alongside other fantastic wines, including Dauvissat, a vertical of Clos de Tart, and other exciting selections. However, the Krug 1988 truly stole the show.

So, what makes this wine such a standout? First, it's Krug. Few Champagne producers can maintain such a consistent level of class with a recognizable style that perfectly blends vibrancy and depth. Second, the vintage itself is remarkable. We often hear about the "trilogy" of exceptional Champagne vintages from 1988, 1989, and 1990. The 1988 vintage, with its combination of heat and rain, resulted in a slow maturation and balanced grapes with excellent acidity.

Subtle yet expressive, Krug 1988 originated from a year without extremes. This Champagne offers an exceptional balance between freshness and maturity. According to Wine Searcher, it has been the most popular Champagne in the world for the past 25 years. Another interesting aspect is the high proportion of Pinot Meunier (18%), with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay making up 50% and 32% respectively.

Krug 1988 is considered a hallmark of Maison Krug's artisanal excellence; an expressive, opulent, and sensual vintage on par with other legendary years like 1982, 1976, 1964, and 1947. It's worth noting that this 1988 was initially released almost a decade after harvest. While that might seem like a long time, Krug later decided to age it even longer, with bottles of the 1988 released in 2017 under the Krug "Collection" 1988 label. This speaks volumes about the incredible ageability of this exceptional vintage!

Whether it's the Collection or the regular vintage edition, the release of Krug 1988 marked the first time in Krug's 158-year history that its vintage chronology was reversed. The house actually released the 1989 and 1990 vintages before the 1988.

Moulin a Vent 1929

Daniel Johnnes
July 3, 2025

As I stepped into the cool wine cellar in Rye, New York, I was entranced by the stacked cases and loose bottles of Chateau Margaux 1928, Cos d’Estournel 1929, Yquem 1928, Hermitage 1935, Cote Rotie 1929, Batard-Montrachet 1928, Montrachet 1935 from Comte de Moucheron (whose parcel later became part of the DRC Montrachet holding) half bottles of Richebourg 1917, and demi-johns of Madeira and Taylor Port 1928.

As a testament to the refined and educated taste of this collector, there was also a case of Moulin a Vent 1929 “Les Carquelins” from Maurice Crozet.

I spent years trying to find out about Maurice Crozet and what became of the estate. Finally, my friend Alain Graillot from Crozes-Hermitage enlightened me saying the domaine no longer existed but had some of the best vineyards in Moulin a Vent and Fleurie. At the time, Alain was establishing his own winery in Beaujolais so he was spending a lot of time there meeting and talking to the locals. Alain was a bit of a Renaissance man in the world of wine. He knew almost everyone in every region of France and almost always had the inside story.

He told me the Crozet family sold the Carquelins vineyard to both the Jean-Louis Dutraive and Alain Coudert families, which became the foundation of their respective domaines. So the Carquelins ended up in the hands of two of the best Beaujolais producers!

I knew Beaujolais could age but 80, 90 years and still be drinkable?

There was only one way to find out. This all happened right around the time of the early days of La Paulée. It must have been 1992 when Dominique Lafon, Jacques Seysses, Patrick Bize, Jean-Pierre de Smet, Etienne Grivot and Christophe Roumier came to New York to do what would later (in 2000) become La Paulée de New York. We were sitting in the dining room at MONTRACHET about to go out to lunch when I decided to serve them this wine blind.

The consensus was that it was a Grand Cru Burgundy from 1976!! Wow. It was youthful yet fully mature. A real wine. Not at all the tutti-frutti style of commercial Beaujolais but a wine of terroir and made to age.

The only way to taste the glories of a 96 year old Moulin a Vent and some younger yet mature Beaujolais will be on August 6 at our Pressoir Beaujolais Dinner. 

A NIGHT IN BEAUNE - THREE INSPIRING WINES TASTED BLIND

by Edouard Bourgeois
Friday, June 20, 2025

It has become a new tradition for my two childhood friends and I to meet up for what we like to describe as “a blind tasting of inspiring wines”. My buddies don’t work in the wine industry but their palate and hedonistic spirit are perfectly in tune with mine!

Tasting bottles blind is always the most honest way to judge. Zero indication on what the wine could be and only your senses to appreciate is often very humbling. That night in Beaune, we had prepared the essential and copious array of fine cheeses and charcuterie, generously spread on the table of our Air BnB while PSG was demonstrating how to play soccer on TV in the background during the Final of the Champions’ league…

We started off with a beautifully fresh, zippy Aligoté from Alexandra Couvreur, a producer based in Bouze-lès-Beaune. To be perfectly honest, I think the newer fad around Aligoté is a bit exaggerated and seeing some of these wines reach well over 4 digits is simply absurd. But this bottle was truly delicious and maybe the best Aligoté I’ve ever had, reminding me of a young, lively Chenin Blanc.

With the second wine, we moved on to a mind-blowing experience. Again served blind, I was immediately convinced to be smelling a white Burgundy. I went even further by guessing Meursault and suggested it could be from the one and only, Coche-Dury. I was totally wrong, but I also got tricked. Was it from Burgundy? Nope, Portugal! Was it even made from Chardonnay grapes? Nope, a blend of Rabigato, Códega do Larinho, and Arinto! But finally, the name of the wine, unscrupulously written in bold letters: COCHE. What? Certainly, a bold and ambitious move from this famous producer Niepoort, which of course is fueling controversy. In my opinion, an impressive tour de force and admittedly a great wine.

But lastly, the bottle that impressed me the most was a gorgeous Jura elixir from Renaud Bruyere and Adeline Houillon, vignerons in Pupillin. Smelling this wine blind was wild! Extravagant notes of tropical fruits reminded me of a fruity Rhum punch! Pineapple, Mango, Vanilla, sweet pear, peach, and simply incredible. Once I was told it was from the Jura (that’s right, I didn’t guess!) the light ruby colour in the glass could only come from one grape, the magic Ploussard (sometimes called Poulsard). With nothing added (understand no sulfites added) and made using biodynamically principle, the Ploussard from this dynamic couple is made using carbonic maceration (a method largely used in Beaujolais) and is obviously unfiltered so the result is a bit cloudy. We were lucky on top of it to taste a bottle with a bit of age from the 2016 vintage. This producer is imported here in the US by natural wine guru Zev Rovine, and the wines from Bruyere/Houillon have become super hip within the sommelier community.

La Paulée des Champs 2025 - a harmonious blend of burgundy, cuisine, music, and art

by Max Goldberg Liu
Friday, June 20, 2025

It was great honor to host a third edition of our “mini-Paulée” - La Paulée des Champs - with the Troisgros family at their magnificent properties in Ouches and Iguérande. The Troisgros’ signature soulful hospitality and fastidious attention to detail made this a weekend to remember.

The Great Family Estates of Burgundy

La Paulée des Champs is a celebration of the best of the best, and we were privileged to welcome:

Domaine Michel Lafarge of Volnay, represented by Frédéric & Chantal Lafarge
Domaine des Comtes Lafon of Meursault, represented by Dominique Lafon
Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg of Vosne-Romanée, represented by Marie-Christine Mugneret
Domaine Georges Roumier of Chambolle-Musigny, represented by Christophe Roumier
Domaine Pierre Morey of Meursault, represented by Anne Morey
Domaine Coche-Dury of Meursault, represented by Jean-François Coche & Odile Dury

This was the latter two domaines’ first time with us at La Paulée des Champs, and it was particularly special to have the legendary vigneron Jean-François Coche and his wife Odile Dury with us as they rarely make appearances at events like this.

Wines of La Paulée

These are some of the hundreds of wines opened and shared over the three day event:

• Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg, Echézeaux Grand Cru 2019 | Magnificently open and singing, dense and powerful yet with the signature Mugneret perfume

• Domaine Pierre Morey, Meursault 1er Cru Perrières 1985 en magnum | Fresh and vibrant, showing all of Perrière’s stoniness. Mature White Burgundy at its finest

• Domaine Coche-Dury, Meursault 1er Cru Perrières 1999 | A triumph that shows why Jean-François Coche is so revered. Focused and saline, lip-smacking

• Domaine Georges Roumier, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses 2009 | Impossibly multifaceted and pretty

• Domaine Michel Lafarge, Volnay 1937 | An emotional piece of history - still alive and expressive

• Domaine Chandon de Briailles, Corton Grand Cru Maréchaudes 1990 en magnum | Gorgeously floral and expressive

• Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Musigny Grand Cru 1996 en magnum | Tremendous intensity without weight

Cuisine to match

The Troisgros are of course some of the best chefs in the world and treated the guests at La Paulée des Champs to some truly incredible culinary creations, like Léo’s Posé de choux et pigeon, a classic cabbage and pigeon dish, and César’s Homard Bleu Grillé, Sauce Miroir, grilled blue lobster with an impossibly rich red wine sauce. In fact, all of the red wine sauces for the weekend were made using end-of-tank wine from Domaine Lafarge, who earlier in the year delivered more than 200 liters of the precious ingredient to Ouches!

Omnipresent were the Troisgros’ famous gougères, the best that we’ve ever had. Michel was kind enough to share the family recipe with us - they are extremely easy to make at home!

Troisgros Gougères with Comté

Ingredients:
190g or 3/4 cup Water
190g or 3/4 cup Milk
12g or 2 tsp Salt
150g or 10.5 tbsp Butter
225g or 1 3/4 cups Flour
120g or 1 cup Shredded Comté cheese plus more for baking

Bring the first four ingredients to a boil until the butter is melted. Add the flour and stir until the mixture is slightly more dried out.

Put the dough into a mixer with a paddle and mix in 6 eggs.

Once cool, stir in the cheese.

Drop small mounds onto a tray and surround each gougère with more shredded Comté.

Bake for 20 minutes at 175, then an additional 5 minutes at 165.

Allow to cool slightly then serve while still warm.

Musical Pairings

The weekend was filled with music - and not just La Paulée’s unofficial theme song Sympathy for the Devil!

We were serenaded by the lively group Les Accords’Léon, a quintet of musicians led by the charismatic accordionist and chanteuse Yvette Ornière. Self-described as “ambassadors of the art of French singing,” they emerged from the fields surrounding the Troisgros’ restaurant Le bois sans feuilles on a curious collection of human-powered vehicles to perform classics of French chanson like Edith Piaf’s La Foule as well as leading us in a hilarious dance apparently called La Salade Occitane.

Odile Coche also shared her musical talents at Saturday’s Paulée luncheon, playing fanfares on the natural horn, an extremely difficult instrument to master, as it has no valves and pitch is exclusively controlled by the musician’s embouchure.

A Shared Artistic Experience

We were shadowed throughout the weekend by a pair of artists who worked tirelessly a fantastic keepsake for each guest - a screen printed image of a bottle of Burgundy, each one a unique print with a personalized label created through interactions with the artists over the course of the events.

The vignerons and team after a grand entrance in a fleet of Citroën Deux Chevaux

The La Paulée team

Wines of the Friday night dinner at Le bois sans feuilles

A few bottles were enjoyed at La Paulée on Saturday!

Les Accords’Léon emerge from the fields

Jean-François Coche toasts his tablemates

Michel Troisgros with the artists

“Un repas sans vin est comme un jour sans soleil.” - Brillat-Savarin
“A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.”

Pairing Wine and Indian Food

Nikita Malhotra
June 6, 2025

Growing up with Indian parents in New York meant I was subjected to a lot of Indian food, midtown restaurants that all served the agreed upon British influenced North Indian food. We would go at least once a week, and my earliest memories are of falling asleep on banquettes and waking up in my dad’s arms in a taxi headed home. It’s from those restaurants where I found an affinity for butter chicken, and during my summer visits to India this obsession forced my poor grandfather in Delhi to walk to the market which had a stall that specialized in the dish. My grandmother never made butter chicken and her dinner table was a collection of vegetable dishes and daals. Butter chicken originated in Delhi, but only in the last century, a product of partition and a mistake of mixing leftover tandoori chicken in a tomato sauce rich in butter. It was first found in print at a restaurant in Manhattan in 1975, and now, 50 years later, Adda a new Indian restaurant in the East Village, features a whole table-side experience that has to be pre-ordered and involves heritage chicken and a whole range of butters to choose from.

I went to Adda recently, sitting solo at the bar and eating a large portion of lamb biryani. They have just opened up, and I went on the day when the restaurant’s sister restaurant Semma was awarded the best restaurant in New York by the New York Times. This year has been a good year for Indian cuisine, an Indian restaurant in Dubai, Trèsind Studio, was awarded 3 Michelin stars, the first South Asian restaurant to do so. Masque, Mumbai’s best restaurant, was ranked 68th on the 50 world’s best list. It is an exciting time for South Asian food, and as it enters the realm of fine dining it is exciting to see a more serious conversation occur with wine and beverage.

I paired a bottle of Morgen Long Chardonnay that I found on Adda’s list with my biryani, and I thought that it worked quite well. Chardonnay hasn’t been my first choice for Indian cuisine, especially when considering the spice levels. But the dollop of yogurt with a spoonful of fragrant lamp biryani made for a well matched pairing. Historically, it has been difficult to navigate wine in Indian restaurants, many prefer beer. I usually enjoy Champagne or German Riesling with Indian cuisine. But I wanted to explore some other fun pairings to try out.

Masala Dosa and a chilled glass of Beaujolais

Dal Makhani and a glass of Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo

Saag Panner and a glass of Jurançon Sec

Prawn Balchão and a glass of Frappato

Rogan Josh and a glass of domestic Mourvèdre

Momos and a glass of Vouvray

Bern’s Steak House

Daniel Johnnes
May 22, 2025

There is almost nothing I won’t do for dear old friends. This week I made an overnight trip to Florida to celebrate 3 birthdays. I normally would not go to Florida this time of year when the apple and cherry trees, peonies and tulips are all blooming and popping in and around New York.

We have made a tradition out of celebrating our 3 birthdays each 5 years apart. This year was special. One is turning 60, the other 65 and yours truly 70.

With time and ageability clearly a theme, we went to the place where one can still find great mature wine: Bern’s Steak House in Tampa.

Bern’s was started by Bern Laxer and his wife in 1956 and over time developed one of the greatest wine lists in the world, amassing close to a million bottles. His true passion was France but his eclectic taste brought him to collect wines from the iconic vineyards of the world. From Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia and the US. Not only did he have a taste for many different styles of wine but had a passion for the “terroir” and culture of the place. He has a fascinating collection of travelogue books with original pictures, tasting notes of wines, restaurant menus, landscapes and even road signs.

It is a living museum where upon entering the building you feel as if it could be 1950 or older.

However, the reason we went was for the kitsch AND above all, the wine list.

Starting of with a 1982 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese was the perfect jump starter for the palate. Liquid gold with texture, a touch of residual sugar and brilliant juicy acidity. Next was perhaps the wine of the night, G. Barthod, Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Charmes 1980. 1980 was one of those overlooked vintages that when stored perfectly (like at Bern’s) the fruit is still strong and the delicate flavors of mature pinot noir seduce the palate. Above all, the aromas of mature Burgundy is the holy grail we all strive for. Next was another wine of the night- Chateau Fonsalette 1984 Cotes du Rhone from Jacques Reynaud of Rayas and Pignan fame. This was another show stopper from another “off” vintage. Who has had a great 1984 outside of California??? This was spectacular. Still crunchy with the earthy flavors of grenache with silky tannins and balanced acidity.

After all that, we had to continue our journey into the past and always with vintages you never hear about. 1975 La Mouline, the single vineyard Cote Rotie from E. Guigal was surprisingly fresh and good, although a bit flat and not up to what I am looking for from La Mouline.

Last but not least, we discovered an Inglenook Charbono 1974, a legendary California vintage. I have to admit, I have never had a Charbono, nor did I even know what kind of grape it is. Apparently, it is a vinifera grape and is found in the Savoie region of France and in Argentina. It has somewhat brambly, spicy, plummy flavors with decent acidity which made me think of barbera. It was good but at that point, honestly, my palate wasn’t its sharpest which is why I had a pilsner to finish the night.

Overall, Bern’s is great but not as great as celebrating with 3 friends on a crazy excursion to Florida when my favorite flowers are blooming.

What’s Pressoir drinking *Convivio del Vino Edition

Raj Vaidya
May 6, 2025

Last week we officially launched our new Italian wine festival, Convivio del Vino. And it was a terrific time indeed, with some 35 producers from all around Italy descending on NYC with their infectious enthusiasm, their delicious wines and their oh-so charming accents!

I discovered quite a few gems amongst the visiting producers which I had not known before, and was especially impressed and excited by the fresh, mineral white wines that I usually look to France for when quenching my summer thirst. So I thought I could highlight a few that really impressed me which I plan on drinking often this summer…

You should look for a bottle and enjoy them this summer too. Let me know if you do and how you enjoyed the suggestions. Cin Cin!

Borgo di Tiglio Studio di Bianco 2022

This was a discover from the Collio in Friuli. A medium bodied but very zippy blend of Sauvignon, Riesling and Tocai, this fairly late harvested wine is co-fermented and produces a mellowed version of the floral tendencies of Tocai and Sauvignon. Excellent depth and mineral tones, super long finish and great with grilled seafood, I’m certain.

Nicola Gatta Blanc de Blancs Nature

Nicola Gatta makes wine in the Franciacorta area of Lombardy, yet he does not adhere to the appellation of Franciacorta, preferring to make his wines from biodynamically farmed vineyards on limestone soils with no sulphur additions and via spontaneous fermentation for the base wines. The limestone soils really come through via the Chardonnay grape, and despite being a warmer region than Champagne I found these to have tremendous grip and structure, and a delightfully textured mousse.

Schirru Bianco ’Bianku’ 2022

Marco Schirru was a revelation to me, as they represent the first wines I’ve tried from Sardinia that have the presence and pedigree of noble and great wines, as opposed to the simpler quaffers I have been exposed to previously. A blend of Vermentino and a local variety called Nuragus, vinified with some skin maceration and in stainless steel tanks, this is a savory yet citrus tinged delight. Grown on pure schist soils and pretty high up at an average of 400 meters above sea level, the vines are very old, some dating back as much as 70 years.

Penna-Currado Timorasso Colli Tortonesi ‘Derthona’ 2023

Elena Penna and Luca Currado are some of my favorite people in the world, the delightful couple who for years were the proprietors and producers of the wines of Vietti. Today, they’ve begun their new project making Barolo, Dolcetto and Langhe Nebbiolo under this new label. They also produce one amazing white, from the Timorasso grape grown in the South-Eastern edge of the region close to Alessandria. A mix of fossilized clay and marl give this wine a bite, almost a toothsome mouthfeel, while remaining saline and refreshing on the palate.

Sheep in vineyards

Nikita Malhotra

May 8th, 2025

Raj and Daniel in Burgundy

The La Paulée team loves sheep!

I was recently asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Georgia for a week, a trip that would explore a tradition with wine that goes back thousands of years. Timing didn’t work out, and instead I had a chance to welcome all the Italian winemakers who visited New York last weekend for our first annual Convivio del Vino. But I was allowed to select someone to take my coveted spot, and so I nominated my friend Jacob. He’s the last person I remembered drinking a bottle of Georgian wine with and he just finished all of the volumes of Robert Caro’s LBJ series, so I felt I could trust him to take some notes and at least my proxy might bring some perspective that the average wine professional wouldn’t. As I checked my phone for updates on his trip last week a trickle of videos of sheep in vineyards began to accumulate. Frazzled sheep in need of a fresh shear, cute sheep peaking their heads out of the vines and trying to lick the amber colored wine out of small bistro style glasses, and sheep and a variety of other animals sharing the space in these ancient vineyards. Looking at his social media posts I found the wine and cultural content I would have expected as well as a good amount of kitten content, seems like there are many cute stray cats in Georgia; wait, was I the only one receiving sheep content? Maybe Jacob was guiding me, unknowingly, to acknowledge not only my love of sheep, but also this was a nudge to consider the relationship with sheep and vineyard management.

Before delving into the history and benefits of sheep in the vineyards, I would like to share an early memory of combing wool as a child. I went to Waldorf School here in New York City, and so this was oddly something I remember doing quite often alongside knitting and crocheting. Our school had satellite farms upstate and in Pennsylvania, and so we had ample supply of wool and endless hours of combing that filled our long wonder filled days as children. What I remember most about this activity is the smell of lanolin on my hands, and how that musty smell persisted and formed a strong memory, I can picture the carpeted room with woolen dolls and wooden furniture and soft hues of blue, yellow and pink that I spent time in. When I started to seriously taste wine, that room and those smells came to haunt me when I tasted certain Loire Valley Chenin Blancs. I secretly wanted those more funky, wet wool, almost feral wine over the more precise and riper fruit and cleaner interpretations. So even at the beginning of my wine career, I had unknowingly had sheep at the back of my mind.

Make it stand out

Raj got to visit the sheep at Phelan Farm last year in California.

So why are sheep good for vineyards? Sheep serve the dual purpose of providing weed control and natural fertilizer. Shepherding stands as one of the most ancient vocations and is a marker for our transition from nomadic to a settled agrarian lifestyle. Our historical relationship with vines also provides insight into this particular transition, as we began to cultivate the land around our settled spaces. So much of husbandry has been transformed by technology and modern systems, but the image of sheep grazing and the shepherd guiding his flock is still recognized and appreciated through time. The Romantic movement in literature and art in the 19th century helped preserve this tradition even as urban life continued to dominate with factories and large populations changing the landscape and in turn changing our relationship with domesticated animals and crops. The advent of synthetic fibers and a shift in prioritizing land for crops as food consumption posed a challenge to the traditional shepherding practices. Our contemporary interests in sustainability and conservation and diversity in farming has shifted this role and this is where we are seeing more sheep in the vineyards.

Winemakers have been returning to old school practices, encapsulating a holistic approach to farming, and visiting the vineyards you can see a difference between those who prescribe to this approach, even without animals playing between the vines; the difference between a healthy vineyard, one teeming with life and energy, and a vineyard that has been consistently treated with chemicals, bringing about an almost martian feeling to the landscape, is vast and stark. We talk a lot about farming practices, and regenerative farming is a topic that holds just as much interest as sustainable, organic or biodynamic. One of the best arguments I have heard in regards to using sheep has to do with the concept of terroir, because bringing in compost or manure from another place is taking something that doesn’t belong and putting it in the vineyards. And if you begin to have other animals such as pigs and chickens and such then you get to create a unique environment with a self-sustaining ecosystem. Many wineries are committed to using sheep because it does decrease the need to use pesticides, and I think a majority of us do care what we end up putting in our bodies, but I think there is also something romantic and nostalgic and very much in line with how many of us view wine.

For the wine drinker, wine isn’t just a beverage, and I think this translates to how one would like to farm as well. I could look at nitrogen levels in the soil from studies of vineyards that have switched to having sheep graze in their vineyards for five years, but instead I will take a cue from the story when I combed wool as a child. I hold that memory with me because it preserves something magical, and that a glass of Chenin Blanc can take me back to that place is joyful. I think Jacob sent me all those pictures of sheep because of that sense of wonder and joy. Making wine is quite technical, but it can be magical as well. And when you see sheep alongside the vines you can feel that sense of beauty, a moment where the veil of reality lifts and you are surrounded by wonder and awe. I hope you enjoy the sheep on your next visit to a vineyard, and remember, I will always look forward to any pictures you might want to send of these adorable animals.

Bike to Care Bordeaux 2025

Pressoir Team
April 25, 2025

Team 2022 celebrating the success of their two day ride

Our own Pressoir Wine Director, Edouard Bourgeois, is gearing up to lead the team of sommeliers who will be riding 200km over two days in Bordeaux this June. We have a few veterans riding this year, Nikita Malhotra from our team, Andre Mack of Mouton Noir Wines, Sudeep Rangi of Garneesh Experiences, and Jamie Schlicht of Jungsik. The team is rounded out by Ebru Mayer of Acker Wines and Raymond Trinh of 63 Clinton and Cactus Wren. The cyclist team is riding to raise funds for Sommelier Scholarship Fund, our non-profit which provides educational travel opportunities for sommeliers and rising members of the wine trade to immerse themselves in the regions and learn wine from the people who make it. We would greatly appreciate any support you can offer, and donations can be made via our website.

We wanted to share some highlights from the previous years’ teams to get you all in the giving mood. Thanks in advance for your generosity!

Our fearless leader for teams 2022-2024 and his snazzy socks

Our first edition raised $32,000 for our non-profit, Sommelier Scholarship Fund

A typical end-of-ride spread in Bordeaux always includes oysters and claret

Domaine rene engel - a burgundy icon

Edouard Bourgeois
April 10, 2025

The wines of Domaine René Engel are among the most coveted in Burgundy, and René himself became a true icon in the region. As a professor of oenology for 35 years and co-founder of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, he left behind an incredible legacy of wines from his Vosne-Romanée-based winery. The estate, though modest by Burgundy standards at 6.5 hectares, boasts holdings in highly esteemed appellations, including three Grands Crus: Échézeaux, Grands Échézeaux, and the celebrated Clos Vougeot, as well as an excellent Vosne-Romanée "village" and the 1er Cru Aux Brûlées. Born in 1894, René became a passionate ambassador for the great wins of Burgundy, helping to elevate the region's image at a time when many of its now-famous producers struggled to sell their wines. His legacy was continued by his son Pierre, who took over in 1949. However, Pierre's illness led to a decline in the domaine in the 1970s due to a series of poor vintages and a lack of maintenance.

After Pierre's passing in 1981, followed by René's in 1986, Philippe Engel took over at just 26 years old. His skill and dedication dramatically improved the wines' quality. Working alongside René for several years, and with his mother for about a decade, Philippe was instrumental in the domaine's rebirth. In 1988, he made the decision to bottle the entire production under the domaine name. By the early 1990s, Philippe had established his own signature style, and the wines today are as highly sought after as a late-50s Les Paul guitar…

In 2005, tragedy struck the family again with Philippe's passing. The entire harvest of that vintage was sold in bulk. The following year, the Burgundy world was shaken by the news that French billionaire François Pinault had purchased the estate, renaming it Domaine d'Eugénie after his grandmother. Backed by substantial resources and experience from prestigious wineries like Château Latour in Bordeaux, Pinault's team began revitalizing the vineyards, replanting vines that had died. These young vines, though planted in Grand Cru appellations, were initially declassified to village-level Vosne-Romanée. Michel Mallard served as Domaine d'Eugénie's first winemaker for the 2006, 2007, and 2008 vintages, before the winery moved to the refurbished Clos Frantin in Vosne-Romanée. Other changes under the new ownership included reduced yields to promote greater concentration and a more refined style. Stem inclusion also started early, with the crown jewel Clos Vougeot being made in two cuvées: one whole cluster and one destemmed, then blended.

We are thrilled to open some of these bottles, all made by Philippe Engel, on May 22nd for what promises to be an unforgettable wine dinner at Charlie Bird!

Convivio del vino

March 27, 2025

by Daniel Johnnes

Some of you may be scratching your head about us introducing a new wine festival, Convivio del Vino. 

We celebrate Burgundy, Champagne and the Rhone. What are we doing going outside the French borders to Italy? Is that who we are? In fact, yes. The reality is, it is in our collective DNA to collaborate with friends and colleagues in honoring the great wine regions of France but there is no reason we have to be limited to France. Our motivation is the same.

We respect the traditions, culture, heritage and passion of Italy the same as we do for France. We see the excitement in Italy just as we see it in France and other wine regions. The passing of the torch to the next generation of family estates. The respect for their terroir and traditions. Their desire to honor the grape varieties they grew up with and their passion to extract the most from their special sites and give their grape varieties their greatest expressions.

There is no false advertising here, we admit we are not Italian wine experts. We don't pretend to be. But, we have friends such as Peter Liem (Champagne) and now Jeff Porter who lives in Turin who has dedicated his career to Italy and Italian wine and who shares our common beliefs in being a champion and ambassador to the vineyards of Italy.

Just like our other festivals, we want to tell a complete story. We are not going to focus on the most popular or glamorous regions, (although we have some of the most exciting producers from Piedmont and Tuscany as well). We have invited exceptional family estates of Italy from north to south, from the Alto Adige to Sicily.  

We, as a team, are energized to be making new friends, discovering new wines and grape varieties.

We hope you will join us April 30-May 3 as we embark on this adventure and embrace the warmth of the Italian spirit. Tickets are available here.

Champagne and Sushi

February 21, 2025

Nikita Malhotra and Edouard Bourgeois

A light snow carpeted the cozy West Village streets, and the private dining space at Sushi Nakazawa became a little refuge from the cold and wet conditions outside. It was a perfect setting for our ambitious Champagne offering, a smattering of iconic producers and a list that offered a narrative of Champagne that the Pressoir team has been excited to showcase with our festival La Fête du Champagne, our monthly apéro or sessions and intimate dinners such as this one at Sushi Nakazawa.

We started the evening with a magnum of Agrapart Vénus 2017, with the first flights centered around blanc de blancs and followed this with a magnum of Savart’s Gouttes d'Or 2017, also in magnum and only bottled as such. A strong start, and these two bottles showed a more powerful side to the blanc de blancs narrative. The next wine we had is a paradigm for many in terms of blanc de blancs, Pierre Peters Les Chétillons, we poured the 2011 vintage, and it certainly reinforced everyone’s admiration for Rodolphe Péters. We were able to talk about Le Mesnil sur Oger, and thus explore the best of the Côte des Blancs Grand Cru Villages, as the Savart bottling is sourced from Cramant.

Next was Salon, with a flight featuring 2 vintages, 2012 and 2007. Since the very beginning, Champagne Salon has been made in a unique way. Unlike most Champagnes it is never a blend. Always from a single grape (Chardonnay) a single village (the majestic village of Mesnil sur Oger) and one vintage (only the best), Salon is always exceptional and was one of the first, if not the first Blanc de Blancs ever created!

Continuing with another giant of the Blanc de Blancs world, guests were pleased to taste the prestige cuvée of house Ruinart, the first Champagne house, founded in 1729. Aged no less than nine years on the lees, this Grand Cru Champagne is a true “haute couture” wine, disgorged by hand and crafted with the utmost care.

The flights that followed introduced Champagne made from red grapes. It is important here to mention that Champagne makes it a specialty to elaborate white sparkling wine using red grape, a result obtained by the very delicate handling of the juices and the grape skins where the color is not allowed to stain the pristine juice. La Closerie kicked off this Blanc de Noirs category with a marvelous example of Pinot Meunier, full of red, ripe fruit. Jerome Prevost’ La Closerie has become a very difficult Champagne to find, made from a tiny 2 hectare plot in small quantities. It is also quite a recent operation with the first released vintage in 1998.

Another giant of the Champagne universe we felt obliged to present was the unmistakable Dom Perignon. Named after the monk who refined the art of blending in Champagne in the 17th century, “DP” always displays a distinctive aromatic signature and we were thrilled to serve side by side the excellent 2012 as well as the special bottling “P2”, which stands for second plénitude and was aged for no less than 16 years from the 2004 vintage.

After such an exhilarating lineup, the only possible producer to ensure a relevant grand finale is obviously Anselme Selosse. A giant name in Champagne, Anselme Selosse is regarded as a pioneer and vastly influential personality with many disciples. His techniques and approach to farming and winemaking are as simple as they are complex. Since he took over from his father in 1974, Anselme has been on a quest for expressing the terroirs he inherited with the most authenticity. Perhaps one of his most well-known skills is the expert use of oxygen during winemaking and his deep understanding of the magic of fermentation. We served two extremely sought after wines from Selosse, the vintage 2002 and 2009. Interestingly, that cuvée was originally a blanc de blancs made from two plots in Avize. But, beginning with the 2007 vintage, it is assembled from all of the estate’s plots, both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

This memorable night was punctuated with many interesting conversations amongst sips and swirls, we have witnessed that a love of Champagne presents a never-ending quest to understand the wine and this region. There are so many decisions to be made and variables to understand, and we hope to continue presenting Champagne as this beautiful tapestry, with many layers and stories to tell.

Reflections on the Birth of La Paulee

February 27, 2025
Daniel Johnnes

As I board my plane to San Francisco the reality has sunk in that we are embarking on a nearly two week journey celebrating a quarter century of La Paulée. 25 years is a lot but somehow stating it as a quarter century lends another degree of gravitas. 

I could not be more proud. 

It all started in the back room of a small restaurant in Tribeca called Montrachet. Tribeca was hardly a culinary destination in 1985. There was the Odeon and that’s it. With the fine cuisine of David Bouley and the front of the house direction of Drew Nieporent, we drew attention to the neighborhood.

Daniel and Drew 1985 at Montrachet

Timing could not have been better. New York was seeing a small culinary revolution, with fine dining starting to move towards a taste for more casual dining. The French restaurants - Lutece, La Cote Basque, La Grenouille of midtown - represented the old guard; Montrachet along with Chanterelle were setting the pace towards a more relaxed experience. 

So change was in the air, and not just in the dining room and the kitchen. Wine was growing in popularity. Instead of people ordering a glass of Chablis for just any generic white wine, clients were now starting to know that Chablis was a place and it produced a distinctive wine that spoke of that place.

You also had a new generation of winemakers in the vineyards of Burgundy. The first few years of the 80’s were the years many of my soon to become friends were taking the helm of their family domaines. Dominique Lafon, Christophe Roumier, Patrick Bize (a little earlier), Etienne Grivot, Anne Claude Leflaive were carrying on family traditions but with great interest in the land and improving the quality of their wine through taking better care of their vineyards. They decided to move away from chemical treatments and go towards organic and then biodynamic viticulture. They studied, travelled, and talked to winemakers in other regions and realized that to make the greatest wine possible from the incredible sites they had inherited, they had to produce healthy grapes.

Again, timing was paramount. There I was, a waiter in a restaurant called Montrachet. The name of a vineyard that produces the greatest dry white wine on the planet. I had studied, travelled, lived and worked in France a few years earlier, spoke fluent French and had an interest in wine. Drew asked me to help him manage his wine list of about 75 wines and because of the restaurant name, I had to curate a list focused on Burgundy. Poor me!

The crew at Montrachet 1985.

It didn’t take me long to grow the list to several hundred wines, mostly Burgundy,  and then travel to Burgundy to improve my knowledge of the wines I would be selling - also to meet the winemakers and enjoy the culture and traditions of Burgundy.

The namesake vineyard

These encounters led to asking for special allocations for the restaurant. Remember, Burgundy had trouble selling its wine up until that time so, getting serious quantities of village level, premier cru and grand cru wines at very reasonable prices was easy.

I then started inviting my new friends to New York for wine dinners at the restaurant. These dinners grew in popularity to the point where we started a Burgundy Club called “Grand Crew”. With close to 100 members and a deep passion and growing knowledge of Burgundy, it was easy to attract Aubert de Villaine, Jacques Seysses, Anne-Claude Leflaive, Christophe Roumier, Dominique Lafon, Veronique Drouhin, Patrick Bize, Jean-Pierre de Smet and many more for these small dinners. 

It wasn’t until 1991 when, at a dinner at the home of Jean-Pierre de Smet at Domaine de l’Arlot in Premeaux/Nuits Saint Georges, that the seed for La Paulée de New York was planted.

The dinner guests that night all concurred that it would not only be a good promotional trip for their wines but fun as well if they came as a group. So, the following year, 1992, we hosted at Montrachet and Tribeca Grill the first of what would become La Paulee de New York.

A lot happened in the next 8 years (saved for another chapter) but after asking permission from the mayor of Meursault and the president of La Paulee de Meursault, we set a date for the first official La Paulee de New York in  February 2000.

That first year, 2000, was difficult. A lot fewer people were drinking Burgundy and no one had ever heard of having to bring their own wine to a fancy gala dinner cooked by world famous Michelin starred chefs.  These BYO’s are now part of the wine communities’ landscape and they occur all over the world.

After the near tragic financial results of 2000, I decided to bring La Paulée to San Francisco the following year with the hope of recouping some losses and avoiding to take out a second mortgage on my home. The results were less dire but I couldn’t afford to do a third year back in NY. So we skipped 2002. 2003 was back in NY and with the enthusiastic and grateful support of the Burgundians and a burgeoning Burgundy clientele, we started to feel there was a real movement to continue to talk about (and drink) Burgundy. So, the ship had sailed and except for taking off another year in 2004, we have hosted a La Paulée every year either in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and a few mini versions in Houston, Chicago and several times in Aspen. And now, with the Troisgros family in Ouches, France.

Chef Daniel Boulud has been present since the first one. With his help, we have been able to welcome great culinary masters such as Michel Troisgros, Thomas Keller, Regis Marcon, Daniel Humm, David Bouley, Emma Bengtsson, James Kent, Dave Beran, and SF’s very own Michael Tusk, Chris Kostow, Stuart Brioza, Corey Lee, Traci des Jardins, Michael Mina and the late Charles Phan….and many many more.

So I guess I got lucky with timing but honestly, 2003 might have been the last Paulee had it not been for being able to assemble a skilled and passionate team to execute the thousands of moves necessary to pull off a successful event where we must properly take care of the winemakers, the clients, the chefs and the sommeliers so everyone goes home with fond memories. In a reference to baseball, I am lucky to have the “murderers row” of staff by my side. Murderers row described what many believe was the best baseball team in history: the 1927 Yankees led by Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth. My murderers row is Jaime Dutton, Raj Vaidya, Justine Puaud, Max Goldberg Liu, Edouard Bourgeois, Nikita Malhotra, Astrid Breggia and my wife, Sally Johnnes. They are the best!!! I could not survive without them. Then there are all the sommeliers… so many!! Many thanks to all who have been with us along the way.

Together we do our best to showcase the beauty of Burgundy, its wines and its spirit.

Today, we are in San Francisco, next week, we will be in Tennessee at Black Berry Farm to raise funds for Sommelier Scholarship and then we have the grand finale back in New York on March 8th. We hope to see you there. 

Bonne Paulée!!!

La Paulée’s 25th Anniversary; a few bottles I am looking forward to!

February 26, 2025
Raj Vaidya

As I sit across from the Bay Bridge in San Francisco on the eve of La Paulée’s 25th Anniversary kick off, I am brimming with excitement for the wines I am going to get to taste over the next 12 days or so. So I thought I would share some of the bottles I am really looking forward to opening and tasting with so many of you who are attending! A little primer and distillation (if you will) of the giant list of wines that we will be uncorking next week when the festival arrives in NYC on Wednesday.

First on my list is a bit of a tease, as for those of you who did not get tickets during early-access, we have been sold out of the dinner for nearly two months and you won’t likely see these bottles another day. The entire Lafarge family is going to welcome me back to NY on Wednesday as we host a phenomenal dinner with them at Francie Restaurant, and the highlight for all of us will definitely be the flight of old Volnay Clos des Chênes from 1966, 1945 and 1937. The ‘66 and the ‘45 I’ve been lucky enough to taste before but it will be my first occasion to taste the 1937 and I can’t wait!

The Verticals Tasting is always a huge highlight for me during La Paulée, and two producer’s line ups that I want to give honorable mentions to are Domaine Dujac and Domaine Lamy. Two great, classic producers, and each showing a wine which isn’t given enough due attention, the Gevrey-Chambertin Aux Combottes in the case of Dujac and the Saint-Aubin Les Murgers des Dents de Chien in Lamy’s case.

Aux Combottes is a very unique vineyard, on the north side of the village of Morey, just over the border into Gevrey on the upper slope from the Route des Grands Crus. This Premier Cru has the distinction of being the only one which is completely surrounded by Grand Cru vineyards, Clos de la Roche to the west and south, Charmes Chambertin to the east and Latricières Chambertin to the north. A very special place indeed, and the neighborhood definitely distinguishes the character of the wines as being deeper and more complex than many other Premier Cru. Jeremy Seysses will present the delicious 2017, the insanely complex and refined 2010 and the often misunderstood (including by me for many years) 2006, which will surprise many at the tasting.

The Murgers des Dents de Chien is not only one of the coolest names ever given to a Premier Cru (tr: the stone walls made of hound’s teeth), it is also interesting for having nearly the same subsoil as the vineyards directly to the north (Puligny 1er Cru Champs Gains) and to the east (Chevalier Montrachet!) but quite a different exposure, more northerly and west facing. In decades past, this exposure meant the wines did not reach optimal ripeness and the mineral character from the tremendous subsoil nonetheless produced wines of austerity which lacked depth. Today, climate change has rendered this vineyard quite capable of ripeness, and more well suited to reach that ripeness without being overripe, and maintaining freshness. Olivier Lamy is bringing magnums of the 2015 (ripe vintage with great power), 2018 (ripe also, but bigger yields than ‘15 and likely more balanced, and 2019 which despite warm conditions has shaped up to be a phenomenal vintage in the region.

Les Murgers des Dents de Chien

Sitting atop the hill of Montrachet just overlooking Chevalier Montrachet

Aux Combottes

A Premier Cru in a Grand Cru neighborhood.

Hugo and Chisa Bize during harvest 2024

Of course, there’s never a better place to taste the rarities and older bottles than at the Gala Dinner. This year, a goal of mine is to find Hugo Bize, Chisa and Patrick Bize’s son who will be attending his first Paulée, and making sure to sneak a glass of his 1996 Latricières Chambertin from 3L, a domaine I love and a wine I adore. I worked the harvest with Hugo and the team at Bize last year, so it will be a reunion of sorts over a glass from that jero. Hope to see many of you there also so I can get him to share some with you too!

Châteauneuf-du-Pape: a Love Letter

Nikita Malhotra

February 13, 2025

The thing that keeps us wine lovers infatuated and committed to our relationship with wine is the ever-changing and constantly evolving nature of the wine world. Yet, on the eve of Valentines Day, I can’t help but want to talk about one of my first loves in terms of wine regions, Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Nostalgia is at play here, not just because of the red hearts and cupids adorning store windows and bar shelves, but because it has come to light that one of the first restaurants I worked at as a sommelier, Tribeca Grill, is closing; it’s last day at the end of this short month. And that was the restaurant that taught me and nurtured my love for this region in the Southern Rhône.

We had a whole cellar dedicated to our Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines, magnums occupying the upper shelves, majestic with their papal seal adorning the neck of the bottle. Our wine director, David Gordon, was gifted the keys to this esteemed region, further solidifying our ties with Châteauneuf-du-Pape. On Valentine’s Day, when other restaurants would talk about the iconic heart on the label of Château Calon Ségur or the not so subtle romantic notion of Les Amoureuses, the sommeliers at Tribeca Grill would lovingly go over verticals of Domaine Marcoux, Domaine de la Janasse, Henri Bonneau and of course Rayas. I can’t think of anything more romantic than someone pouring me Rayas!

Châteauneuf-du-Pape represented

A normal night of service back in 2015 at Tribeca Grill

The region is also featured in ‘Drops of God,’ the French-American-Japanese series on Apple TV, that is inspired by the Japanese Manga series. I recently watched the episodes, falling in love with the scenic landscapes of the vineyards and following Camille, the heroine, as she learns about wine in scenes shot at Chateau de Beaucastel. The story follows two people, a Japanese man, Issei Tomine, who has been studying wine for sometime and feels the weight as an outsider in terms of fine wine and a French woman, Camille Léger, who has to overcome familial trauma in regards to wine and unlock her destiny. It is a series I would recommend outside of the parameters of wine, good storytelling and compelling characters, but as a wine lover it is refreshing to see winemaking and a region told with integrity and care. It was inspiring to see the sun soaked vineyards of the region. I usually imagine cooler climates when I conjure up an image in my mind. It’s great to see more representation for this region.

What Tribeca Grill instilled in me was the continuation of a legacy of spotlighting this region, a very important and historical region in France. These wines barely have room on lists devoted to other regions like Burgundy, Bordeaux and Champagne in New York; not many sommeliers or wine programs outside of Tribeca Grill championed them when they also had a cellar full of Burgundy. When I applied to Tribeca Grill, to be terrifyingly transparent, I wanted to taste Coche-Dury, it was this mythical wine for me. And I got to taste a good amount of Coche over the years there. But it is a map that Isabelle Sabon from Domaine de la Janasse gave me that remains on my apartment wall, showcasing the complexity and various soils and climates throughout the region. It is a map that most people have if they like the region, a good accompaniment to Harry Karis’ book Châteauneuf-du-Pape. But I treasure this map because Isabelle gave it to me with the promise that I could come work harvest whenever I wanted to in the future. My worn out maps of Burgundy that were printed prior to service, so that we could fill out the maps with the Premier Cru and Grand Cru vineyards in between serving guests wine, are tucked away in old notebooks and drawers. You had to study to talk about Burgundy, but with Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I got to listen to stories from winemakers and that is probably key to why this region became my first love.

Côtes du Rhône to make someone smile - an ideal bottle at the bar at Tribeca Grill

Annual Burgundy Immersion Trip with Sommelier Scholarship Fund

January 30, 2025

by Raj Vaidya

Many of you know about the non-profit organization that Daniel founded back in 2013, known today as Sommelier Scholarship Fund, an initiative that is very near and dear to me. I was excited to be a part of it this past month as we hosted two groups of sommeliers from the US on their first trips to Burgundy and Champagne respectively.

The opportunity to visit the storied domaines and houses as well as the young upstarts and new generations amongst the wineries we are lucky to work closely with is something we almost take for granted. For most people, consumer or professional alike, those doors are often firmly shut. Daniel was inspired to make sure that he shared his access as well as his relationships and immense knowledge with scores of young sommeliers over the years of La Paulée and La Fête du Champagne, and this passion has continued via the programming we plan for the scholars on these trips. So I thought I’d share some highlights from our week in Burgundy...

We kicked off shortly after the new year with four sommeliers from around the country, (New Orleans, Cincinnati and New York were all represented) by heading to Beaune and visiting the new Cité du Vin museum exhibit, a magnificent way to introduce the concept of Burgundy’s terroir and vignoble. I highly recommend checking this exhibit out!

Cité du Vin

Over the subsequent days we showed the group the great vineyards of Burgundy: Le Montrachet, Romanée-Conti, Musigny, Chambertin etc, while visiting some of the top producers and tasting (mostly) their 2023 vintage from barrel.

A few highlights;

We started by visiting the historic cellars of Drouhin with Veronique Drouhin herself, seeing the 500 year old manual press they have restored. An amazing lesson in history.

We visited the Clos des Ducs in Volnay with Guillaume d’Angerville, who shared a stellar bottle of 1990 from that vineyard with us, giving the scholars a sense of the generosity and kindness of the region.

Scholars with Guillaume D’Angerville

Scholars with Veronique Drouhin Boss

A visit to the venerable Domaine Armand Rousseau gave the scholars a deeper understanding of the terroirs of Gevrey-Chambertin, and the lovely and warm Cyrielle Rousseau delighted the group by sharing her personifications of the diSerent wines we tasted from barrel (especially fun was her characterization of Ruchottes Chambertin as ‘Casper the friendly ghost’, an example of something fun and whimsical but fleeting and not obvious.)

We finished the week in Chablis, with the inimitable Vincent Dauvissat, who shared with us the nuances of his various plots of Premier and Grand Crus and an older bottle of Daniel’s and my favorite wine, Les Preuses!

With Vincent Dauvissat

We have received amazing feedback from the scholars regarding the experience and their learnings. Most importantly, especially with a ‘fancy’ region like Burgundy, the fact that we are able to show these young professionals the fun, human, historic and culturally rich side of the region is the most rewarding by far. They break through the window pane of expense, rarity and pretense and see the vignerons for what they are; farmers and artisans.

We rely on generous donations from our patrons in order to fund these initiatives, and to help raise some funds this year, Edouard and Nikita will be leading a group of sommeliers on a fundraising bike ride in Bordeaux this spring. If you would like to support our efforts and cheer on the team as they traverse 200KM in 2 days, you can find a link to donate at our website, www.sommelierscholarship.org.

Romanée Conti in Vosne Romanée

Domaine Leflaive brings yet another great vintage with 2022

Edouard Bourgeois
January 14, 2025

I would like to recount a great experience I had on the cool, sunny day of October 15th 2024 in Puligny-Montrachet. I was in the company of Brice de la Morandière to taste the gorgeous 2022’s but we first went to the vineyard of Chevalier-Montrachet.

Brice felt like he was in his garden, overlooking the ocean of vines that his family starting purchasing back in the XIXth century. It was Brice’s great grandfather who started buying land, rather late in his life, at age 40. It may have not been the best timing to invest in Burgundy land because of the Phylloxera crisis that decimated around 90% of the French vineyards and quickly followed by the first World War. A punishing moment of history that saw the population of the village of Puligny-Montrachet plummet from 1,200 people to a mere 300, which remains about the same number today.

Brice is very much a man of the land and his passion for gardening is felt when he walks around his vineyards. This is in fact also where Brice and his family set up their picnics on weekends with the kids running around, looking for marine fossils.

As we were looking east, Brice explained that on a clear day, you can see Mont Blanc, formed 16 million years ago when the Alps erupted. It is thanks to this geological event that the magical terroir of Burgundy was formed. The broken layout that made the complexity of the Burgundy terroir with a myriad of plots, each one enjoying a slightly different orientation, sub soil composition and micro-climate.

Domaine Leflaive is of course known for its dedication to biodynamic principles and the late Anne-Claude Leflaive was a pioneer in the field. In the vineyard, synthetic chemicals are obviously never used but Brice also pointed out how delicate and meticulous workers need to be, favoring a light tilling rather than ploughing, which is considered too aggressive and compacting for the soil.

Back at the winery, we finally tasted the spectacular 2022’s. Brice started with this statement: “2022 was very hot!”

Indeed, reflecting on the past vintages, he recalls that his grandfather and his brother, who both ran Domaine Leflaive for 40 years, only recorded 13 harvests in October with the other harvests in September. You would have to wait for 2003 to see a harvest in August. And since Brice took over the reins in 2015, he experienced 6 August harvests, one of them being 2022, with the first pickers on the field on August 25th.

But this obvious change in the meteorological pattern doesn’t seem to have impacted the purity of the wines made at this legendary domaine. Since I first tasted out of barrels in 2018 at Leflaive, I have always found that stunning balance and energy in the wines. 2022 certainly didn’t disappoint; I was impressed with the singular expression of each cru. This is particularly amazing because in the winery, the same winemaking is applied for all the wines, from the regional Bourgogne to the mighty Montrachet Grand Cru! So, it is really the terroir, the birthplace of each wine that shines in the glass.

Domaine dujac - clos saint denis dinner recap

Edouard Bourgeois
December 18, 2024

We were lucky to taste superb wines at Gabriel Kreuther last Thursday. Domaine Dujac needs no introduction, and I never miss an opportunity to taste those wines. The fact that we were able to collect ten vintages of the Clos Saint Denis Grand Cru was truly exceptional. Below is my recap and notes about the different vintages.

While Dujac is known for its incredible red wines, whites made by the domaine shouldn’t be overlooked, as the two vintages of Puligny Combettes proved here. Starting with a great 2016, a year with a tiny crop after devastating episodes of frost in April. It was very fine, elegant and had evolved very gracefully. 2014 was even better in my opinion, offering more energy, zesty acidity and intensity with a long finish.

We started the long vertical of Clos Saint Denis with 2017, a year known for its freshness, signature of a cool, early season followed by nice and dry weather through the harvest in September. Besides an episode of hail in July, 2017 went well and produced healthy fruit, both for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I loved the iron character on the nose, a particularity of the site where iron oxide is present. A polished wine with silky tannins, great start.

The 2015 was served with the same course and showed superb aromas of chocolate and espresso. Quite incredible and surprising in my opinion as I tend to find 2015 red Burgundy still quite close and hard, but not with this one. 2015 is known as the ideal year in Burgundy. Just enough rain and sunshine, perfect temperature throughout the growing season, it was considered an “easy” vintage besides some oidium pressure.

2014 is typically the shy one. It was comparable to 2017 in terms of finesse and body but I found it to be a bit green. I don’t think it was “the wine of the night” for anyone and it flew under the radar. Still a great bottle but it suffered from the comparison with more expressive vintages.

Along with the 2014 was 2012, a year that produced a small crop with important millerandage (small berries). The high proportion of skin compared to the amount of juice played a role in concentrating the must and eventually the wine. This bottle was a tad reduced and needed plenty of air to open up. I think the wine was still developing when I tasted it by the end of the night after being opened for 4 hours!

2010 offered deliciously refined secondary aromas of underbrush with a hint of earth. Again, a rather small harvest was recorded in 2010, this time due to a serious frost episode before the year even started, impacting the vigor of the plant and its ability to produce fruit.

The next course, a wonderful squab and foie gras dish specially designed for this menu, was accompanied by three vintages starting with 2008, a rather difficult year with both mildew and oidium playing a part. Luckily for vignerons, northern winds helped clean the vineyards to produce healthy fruits for a nice harvest under the sun. This Clos Saint Denis was not as fruit forward as I would have liked but I really enjoyed its graceful evolution and similar noble secondary aromas we had with the 2010.

2005 was another happy surprise, comparable with the superb 2015. I couldn’t stop smelling this wine. I am a fan of the black cherry one can find in red Burgundy and there was plenty in this one. Incredibly deep and complex, the nose kept on giving. I even got a hint of smoke. Impressive. Dujac is known for using a high proportion of whole cluster and I think here, it provided the perfect touch of freshness and vibrancy.

2002 quickly became the conversation piece at the table with mixed opinions from the guests. I really enjoyed it, with its hints of tertiary aromas, tomato skin and lighter color. Although not as intense as the 2005 fruit bomb, 2002 had a touch of Brettanomyces (a yeast strain that in too high proportion is undesirable) but I found it beautiful and charming.

The last flight arguably offered the best wine of the night but also the least enjoyable. 1998 was unfortunately disappointing; the nose never recovered from what appeared to be maderization.

But we were able to close with a grand finale provided by an exceptional bottle of 1995. This was the only wine made before Jeremy Seysses arrived at the domaine, so entirely made by his father, founder Jacques Seysses. Jacques is known for making wines lighter in color, less extracted but somehow very expressive! It was exactly the case here. The balance was pitch perfect and the aromas intriguing and sensual. Still juicy after that many years, spicy and mineral, I even found hints of menthol on the nose. Incredible!

The Superb Wines of Domaine Alain Graillot

While working on the upcoming Pressoir dinner featuring the wines of Domaine Alain Graillot, I felt inspired to write a few lines about these great wines. This is one of my favorite producers when it comes to everyday wine, simply delicious and affordable. In fact, I still can’t believe how accessible this wine is and for me that makes it a true gem. If you attended La Tablée, you may have tasted the wines and hopefully met the new generation running the winery, represented by Maxime and Antoine Graillot. Their father, Alain, was the man who founded the domaine, back in 1985, and brought the humble appellation of Crozes Hermitage to new heights. After training with Burgundy legends such as Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac and Patrick Bize in Savigny-les-Beaune, Alain came back to his native Northern Rhône wine region and started crafting Syrah of incredible elegance. While many wines in the area are still seen as rustic and too often ordinary, Domaine Graillot, whose use of whole cluster fermentation is a signature (time spent at Dujac definitely paid off…) embody great finesse.

Alain passed away in 2022 at the age of 77. His two sons, Maxime and Antoine, mentioned earlier, took over and have clearly proved that the style of the domaine would remain the same.

Following organic farming and no chemicals from the field to the bottle, these wines are made very clean, they are very balanced and pair easily with many dishes on the table. To me, that is a no brainer for the holidays and if you can find magnums, don’t hesitate.

Beginning with the 2008 vintage, Alain’s son Maxime took on the role of running his well-respected father’s domaine in addition to his own (Domaine Equis). The red wines that Maxime produces under his father’s label maintain a traditional appeal of using stems and whole-cluster to add structure and longevity. 

Of the different cuvées made by Graillot, the "La Guiraude" cuvée is not a specific terroir, but a selection of the year's best lots, chosen after each barrel is tasted. it usually offers great concentration and density.

The Saint-Joseph is made the same way as the Crozes, but from destemmed grapes. The Hermitage grapes are also destemmed, and then fermented in a small, shallow vat with pigeage by foot.

La Tablée Highlights

December 4, 2024

Nikita Malhotra

As I walked home from the La Tablée after party a couple of Saturdays ago, it dawned on me that this was our last festival this year. It was a moment that made me reflect on the experiences this year that will no doubt return to me as insightful and significant memories, and, as all things that signify a sense of finitude, it was a chance to reflect. Now we are now in the midst of planning the 25th anniversary of La Paulée, so that was a fleeting moment of unoccupied time that, although brief, compelled me to at least write down some impressions from the weekend of La Tablée.

David Combier is someone that really progressed the narrative of what is going on in the Rhône; the family’s top cuvée Crozes-Hermitage “Clos des Grives” comes from an enclosed vineyard whose soil is rich with red clay and chalk, along with plenty of alluvial stones. This is a serious wine, bold and with a long finish. Juxtapose this wine with their purple labels, considered entry level, a good wine to introduce the wines of Crozes-Hermitage. These wines showcase fruit; a purity of fruit that is both elegant and refreshing. Unlike their neighbors, the Graillots, the Combiers use destemmed fruit, and their purple label wine is aged in a cement egg (œuf) for 8-10 months. I adore the purple label, because at its core it represents a well made everyday drinking option, something that should be appreciated. For many years Graillot stood as the place holder for this region, and that continues to this day, but I hope Combier gets a chance to be printed next to them on wine lists and have bottles next to them on wine shelves. I saw many who interacted with David come away with a better understanding of the region and a preview of the next generation there. I also must comment on the fact that David brought one of his father’s vintages, and his father Laurent is still very much involved today as well. A bottle of 1996 Crozes-Hermitage displayed a variety of spices that lingered and clung to the glass, and this was all enhanced as David had a chance to relay that he was all but one year old when this wine was made. A playful moment, but also a chance to recognize how entwined the vineyards and wine are to these families, the 1996 wasn’t just a glimpse into the aging potential of these wines, but a taste from this bottle was also a chance to experience a family’s story, as the wine in the glass was being taken care of and raised much in the same way as the baby David was.

David Combier talking about Crozes-Hermitage

It’s always a pleasure to be in the presence of Laetitia Barrot, she is kind and patient, and her Châteauneuf-du-Pape "Fiancée" 2016 that was poured at the Mâchon event at Bar Boulud was stunning. A blend of Grenache and Syrah; the Grenache comes from the 100-year-old Terres Blanches plot. This cuvée is only bottled in exceptional years, and it is complex, there are so many notes that come off ranging from lavender to leather. The Barrot family have been making wine since the 14th century, and Laetitia makes the wine alongside her brother Julien. Elegance is what comes to mind, and the past years of La Tablée has shown how producers are moving away from the bold and powerful element that garnered them attention and accolades in the 1990’s, and Barroche, with its rich history and excellent vineyard holdings, has been emblematic of a fresher and more vibrant style of wine from this region.

Mâchon at Bar Boulud

Our team with Chef Daniel Boulud and Chef Daniel Guzman

I sat with Yves Cuilleron during the Gala Dinner, and there were moments peppered throughout the evening where he delivered such fascinating stories and provided historical framework, and the generosity and warmth of the Gala was such a lovely backdrop to that. The magic of these festivals is the potential to discover something new, to catch up with old friends, and to share wine personal to you with those who you know will appreciate your story. The wines from the Rhône feel personal to me, they remind me of my early days being a floor sommelier doing inventory in a whole cellar space devoted to Châteauneuf-du-Pape at Tribeca Grill. They remind me of holiday dinners with friends and family throughout the years, and for the sommeliers working the events, this is a time where we get to geek out about wines that we don’t always get to serve and talk about. I have nostalgia wrapped around these wines, and so seeing everyone celebrate this region feels comforting and joyful. La Paulée is the festival where I leave gaining so much insight, as conversations with winemakers, collectors, and sommeliers foster a really productive and educational week. La Fête du Champagne is the festival where there is just so much joy and enthusiasm, it’s hard not to escape the week without a smile. La Tablée is my personal favorite way to kick off the holidays as there is something warm and comforting about these wines. Whether it is Burgundy, Champagne or the Rhône that graces your table this holiday season, I hope one of our events provided a memory that will make that bottle allow for a similar moment of reflection as I had here. Looking forward to forming more memories with Italian wine in the new year as well.