Greetings from Burgundy! I’ve been here for five days now and have two days (five producer visits) remaining before leaving for the Rhone. Dom Albert Grivault, Pascal Maillard, Lamy-Pillot and a new producer in Pouilly-Fuissé are behind us – Bzikot, Guillon and some others to come. As usual, the pace has been close to punishing but the visits and tastings very rewarding.
As we get ready for our big Fall Burgundy Festival in the store this weekend – 10 great Burgundies plus handmade chocolates from Double Premium Confections! – I thought it would be worthwhile to share a few quick impressions from our annual Burgundy dinner last week at Michel Richard’s Citronelle in Georgetown. The dinner featured five stunning dishes from Chef Richard paired with the wines of Domaine Albert Grivault,
‘Tis the season for distributor/importer portfolio tastings – big events where vendors open a lot of wines for the trade to sample and, often, offer special deals on wines available in limited quantities. In the past two weeks or so, I’ve probably tasted 150 wines at these events. You’ll be seeing the fruits of those labors arrive in the store over the next month.
First up – three beautiful Pinot Noirs that each say something special about their site and their winemakers’ distinctive approach to making delicious wines from this often fickle grape. Best of all, all three wines are coming to us at very attractive pricing!
Tonight I crossed borders, pairing a Burgundian Pinot Noir with a Spanish roast chicken dish. While I tried to pair the wine with some regional French cuisine, I didn’t think it was necessary. That’s a lie. I just didn’t want to have to cook some French dish for 5 hours...but if you feel the urge, then by all means, knock your little, Francophile socks off.
These were shorter visits (only about 2.5 hours each), so I’ll combine them in one post. Topline - both Grivault and Lamy-Pillot made wonderful wines in 2008 and the 2009 barrel samples we tried are very promising indeed. And, the Grivault 2007s (which should arrive in another few weeks) are simply fantastic.
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