What's Pressoir Drinking?

by Raj Vaidya
Tuesday April 5, 2021

Despite being lucky enough to be visiting some friends, family and wineries in California this month I found myself craving some old world wines. What can I say, I’m a creature of habit :).

Here are two standouts that I’ve been thinking back on for the last few days that I’d like to share with you…

This bottle came as a delightful surprise; a Bourgogne Hautes-Côtes de Beaune from a young couple, Christian Knott and Morgane Seuillot in a small village in the Hautes-Côtes (high plains above the Côte de Beaune). I met Christian for the first time this past winter while working on content for La Paulée (he is the winemaker for Domaine Chandon de Briailles) and realized that I had tasted his wine first a couple of months back knowing little to nothing about them. I was over the moon to connect the dots, as this wine was truly scrumptious. This vineyard is about one hectare, sitting above the towns of Mavilly and Meloisey in the clay and sandstone soils of the Hautes-Côtes. Approximately 60 year old vines, worked organically with horses and no sulfur or additives used in the vineyard or winery, super pure and precise with the most charming fruit profile and tremendous acidity. Tart tiny red berry fruit dominates the palate but there is some excellent structure underlying also. This 2017 was picked late, the 1st of October, but remains super fresh and vibrant despite this thanks to the very cool site. A great discovery!

The second bottle that stood out was less of a surprise, but certainly a wine which punches above its weight and appellation (Gevrey-Chambertin Premier Cru, so not too shabby…).

The 1995 vintage tends to invoke high tannin austerity in my mind, but this bottle of Dujac from ‘95 was anything but austere, with layers of incense spice and tobacco notes, a very delicate palate with a silkiness that truly delighted all of us that shared the moment. Combottes is one of my favorite Premier Crus as it is entirely surrounded by Grand Cru vines, to the South and East are parcels of Clos de la Roche, to the west (downslope) is the Charmes-Chambertin and to the North sits Latricières-Chambertin. For some reason this parcel remained Premier Cru, and I can’t say it has the structure or profile of a Grand Cru. Rather, it is an overachieving Premier Cru which definitely has the finesse and length of a Grand Cru. Jacques Seysses was certainly known for nailing vintages which leaned towards austerity, his ‘88’s and 91’s for example are tremendous. This ‘95 was exactly in the same vein, and a perfectly stored example!

News from the vineyard 7/6/20

by Max Goldberg Liu

Veraison - the onset of ripening - is a turning point in the vine’s life cycle when it changes gears from producing energy through photosynthesis to storing that energy as sugar in grapes.

After flowering and fruit-setting, the grapes are hard, highly acidic, and green from the plant’s chlorophyll. Veraison replaces the chlorophyll with anthocyanins (giving red grapes their color) or carotenoids (in white grapes) and pumps sugars and other compounds from the vine into the berries. Over the course of ripening, the grapes swell with juice, their percentage of sugar (measured in brix) increases, and their acidity falls. Choosing to harvest when the sugar, acidity, and other phenolic compounds like tannins are perfectly balanced is one of the most important decisions a winemaker has to make each vintage.

In Burgundy, veraison classically happened in late July, although rules of thumb are obviously out the window in recent years with climate change. This vintage, winemakers are seeing veraison start to happen right now. The precocious vintage continues…

"Coup de Coeur" Wines from La Paulée

One of the great joys of Burgundy is finding a wine that over delivers. Sometimes, a lesser-known producer or humbler appellation gives that "WOW" factor that makes the drinking experience all the more exciting. Daniel dubbed this category "Coup de Coeur" (French for "heartthrob") when creating the first wine list at Bar Boulud. Here are some bottles that stood out to us at La Paulée even among all the DRC. Of course, the great producers and appellations provide this emotion as well, but usually expectations are already high. In Daniel’s case, he already had high expectations for the wine but even those were surpassed.

Max: Domaine Fornerol, Côte de Nuits Villages 2008 en magnum

“Remontage” (pumping over) at Fornerol in 2015 - notice the whole clusters of Pinot Noir!

I worked harvest at Fornerol in 2015 so I have a soft spot for the man and the wines, but anyone who loves old-school whole cluster Burgundy will fall in love with this domaine. Didier Fornerol worked for years as the vineyard manager at Domaine de l'Arlot where he became friends with Jean-Pierre de Smet. Didier left l'Arlot in the early 90's to run his family estate in Corgoloin, the southernmost village in the Côte de Nuits. Jean-Pierre retired in the mid 2000's but the winemaking bug never left him and he started to consult with Didier during the harvest and fermentations at Domaine Fornerol.

Fornerol's wines are bright and sappy with an amazing freshness and aromatic depth that comes from his generous use of stems (100% in most vintages). His terroirs around Corgoloin are classed as Côte de Nuits Villages but the quality of his farming and winemaking make a wine that oozes soulfulness and old-school Burgundian class. I only tasted a glass of this wine at the Gala but I could have easily finished off the magnum!

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Edouard: Pierre Morey, Pommard 1er Cru Grands Epenots 1992

I was incredibly lucky to attend the legendary and original La Paulée in Meursault with Daniel back in 2018. After being told by Dominique Lafon's father René (who we visited earlier that day) that I should be able to taste up to 60 wines during the lunch at the Chateau de Meursault, I made it a mission to achieve that number. I almost made it with 50 wines tasted and although it is difficult to pick one particular "coup de coeur" bottle, there was one that really left a mark in me. It was a Pommard from Pierre Morey, a Meursault specialist, and from the challenging 1992 harvest. It was the premier cru "Grands Epenots" and this bottle really surprised me by its incredible youth and vibrancy. I typically favor appellations like the neighbor Volnay or further up the Cote like Chambolle-Musigny or Gevrey-Chambertin but this Pommard had a sweet core and a real stature that made it very charming. Of course, there are many factors that influence the drinking experience and the fact that Pierre Morey himself was sitting in front of me during this 7-hour lunch surely played an important role!

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Raj: Remoissenet Père & Fils Bourogne Rouge “Renomée” 1978 en Jeroboam

This pristine bottle from a seemingly humble appellation had a few surprises held within the confines of its three liter packaging. I learned the sneaky truth some years prior to tasting this bottle when I asked Pierre-Antoine Rovani about the name, “Renomée” upon seeing it on a label.

Pierre, the President of the winery since the mid aughts when it was purchased by American investors and a former wine critic, is one of my favorite people in Burgundy (really the world) because he is the most honest, direct and no nonsense fellow and has an awesome palate. He is also a tremendous wealth of knowledge on the history and inner workings of Burgundy. He clued me in to a little known fact about this era and prior in Burgundy; that the restriction on yields, or the amount of fruit and therefore wine produced from a given vineyard had an odd loophole. Grand Cru, the top of the hierarchy of quality, has strictly controlled yields, but this is measured not in the number of grapes coming from the vineyard or juice in the vats, but rather by the number of bottles produced and declared. In plentiful harvests, like 1978, the top vineyards would often overproduce in quantity, while still maintaining top quality. In such cases wineries would bottle the maximum permitted yield of Grand Cru to sell at market, and any remaining wine (the very same wine that went into bottles with Grand Cru written on the label) were bottled as generic Bourgogne wine, and more often than not consumed by the family.

In Remoissenet’s case, such ‘overflow’ was bottled in large formats as Bourgogne “Renomée”, or “renamed.“ Such was the case of this Jero of ‘78, it had the breadth and expanse of a truly great wine without the appellation. Of course, there were no records at Remoissenet stating what was actually in the bottle, but the wine had a beautiful dark red cherry note on the palate, which evokes a memory for me of wines from the Grand Crus of Gevrey Chambertin. It wasn’t regal enough to be Chambertin or Clos de Beze, rather it had the softness and generosity reminiscent of Charmes-Chambertin. Purely a guess as to identity because i’ve not had occasion to taste the 78 Charmes from Remoissenet, and even if I had, it would have aged differently in 750 ml than in this 3L bottle. But the mystery did nothing to cloud the wine’s deliciousness and concentration. Best regional wine of the Paulée by far, and there was a lot of it so I was lucky to get a second glass!

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Daniel - Henri Jayer, Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 1999

This is a challenging task. How to choose one wine that knocked my socks off at La Paulée 2020.

With literally hundreds of wines seemingly floating around the room and nearly every person I pass offering me a taste in the true spirit of La Paulée. I have a terrible confession to make. It is an event I have been hosting for over 20 years and while the temptation is nearly unbearable to taste as many wines as I can, I am strictly disciplined about maintaining a sense of decorum and business-like posture during the event. With hundreds of people (guests, winemakers, chefs, sommeliers and staff) in the room, it is a work day, after all. But a work day like no other. That means I have to be sober. Well, pretty sober. There are some wines I cannot resist but mostly I am focused on the spirit in the room and the well being of as many people as possible.

At the end of the night this year around 5 am when the event was signed, sealed and delivered I, with a few colleagues, settled into a quiet spot and enjoyed a very special and rare treat. In fact, 3 treats. Coche-Dury, Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres 2009, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1971 and Henri Jayer Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cros Parantoux 1999. All 3 spectacular wines and as the saying goes, “There are no great wines, only great bottles”. On this night (morning) the stars were aligned and all 3 bottles were singing at full volume. For me, Henri Jayer has an extra special spot in my heart. I was fortunate to know the man and would even be granted time to just sit and talk with him after he retired from wine making. I gained access to his deep wisdom and thoughts on grape growing, wine making and Burgundy overall. Having known the man only deepened my appreciation for his wines.

What's Pressoir Drinking? Domaine Clair-Daü, Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru 1980

June 25, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

This wine was a real treat to taste towards the end of the Gala Dinner at La Paulée de New York 2020. It was fully mature and showed the dark and intense side of Bonnes Mares but with enough fruit to keep things pleasurable. The wine was also a portal into the history of a now-defunct domaine, as Clair-Daü would be sold just five years later, mostly to Jadot.

Founded in 1919 in Marsannay by Joseph Clair and Marguerite Daü, this was one of the greatest estates in Burgundy by the 1970’s with holdings from Clos Vougeot to Bonnes Mares to Clos Saint Jacques. Disputes among the five children, however, caused the domaine to be divided up, with many parcels going to Jadot and the rest being locked into long-term leases with other producers.

Nevertheless, there is a happy ending to the story. Bruno Clair, a grandson of Joseph and Marguerite, was determined to follow in Clair-Daü’s illustrious viticultural footsteps and started his own domaine with his immediate family’s plots in Marsannay and a few other villages. As other family parcels have come out of their long-term leases, he has added them to his now 23 hectare domaine through which the Clair name lives on.

This bottle exhibited the glory of Clair-Daü at the top of its game before it was torn apart, a recurring Burgundian story we see in the histories of so many great estates.

For more information check out:
Daniel, Raj, Edouard, & Max’s podcast discussion of the 1980’s in Burgundy

Eléonore’s interview with Arthur Clair, Bruno’s son

Insider's Look - Wines at La Paulée de New York 2020 Gala Dinner

June 23, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

The Gala Dinner at La Paulée de New York’s 20th anniversary was our biggest yet, and winemakers and guests came thirsty! Check out these facts and figures from the full list of wines served that night by our crack team of sommeliers.

Total number of bottles
2 Methuselahs (6L)
41 Jeroboams (3L)
195 Magnums (1.5L)
514 Bottles
2 Half Bottles

813.75 liters of wine or 215 US gallons for 400 guests - an average of over 2 bottles per person. That’s the Paulée spirit of generosity!

Type breakdown
65% Red
31.5% White
3.5% Champagne

As we often see, guests enjoyed the whites but quickly moved into the reds.

Classification breakdown
58% Grand Cru
27.5% Premier Cru
6% Village
1% Regional
7.5% other region or class

Most popular villages
15% Gevrey-Chambertin
11% Vosne-Romanée
11% Puligny-Montrachet

Most popular vintages
2000
1999
1996

The first Paulée de New York took place in 2000, so many winemakers and guests leaned into the nostalgia by bringing wines from the 2000 vintage.

Oldest Wines
Violland, Romanée-Saint Vivant Grand Cru 1943
Drouhin, Clos Vougeot Grand Cru 1943

Most popular appellations
Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
Bonnes-Mares Grand Cru
Chambertin Grand Cru

Most popular domaines
Domaine Armand Rousseau
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Domaine Dujac

Approximately 1 in 15 bottles in the room was a Rousseau!

News from the vineyard 6/18/20

June 18, 2020
by Max Goldberg Liu

Continued warm weather in Burgundy means that the vines are still progressing at a very fast clip. Here, Nicolas Rossignol shows us La Nouaison (Fruit Setting) of his Volnay Taillepieds where the berries are growing rapidly. In some of his parcels, the clusters are nearly fully formed. Winemakers all over France are marveling at the precocity of their vines this year, with some areas an entire month ahead of the average growing season.