WHAT'S PRESSOIR DRINKING? (Spoiler, all the best Burgundy, of course...)

by Raj Vaidya

March 30th, 2022

When I worked as a sommelier for Chef Daniel Boulud, I was blessed with a cellar which allowed for a serious collection of Burgundy to be amassed as well as an appropriately engaged and excited clientele to draw from that cellar. Over my 11 years there some of the most fun I had was in putting together a few small ‘Cellar Raid’ dinners for serious Burgundy lovers, giving them a chance to taste wines in a manner that was both studious and pleasurable. We built up a great group of tasters over the years, and last night I was able to host one again with Chris Dooley, the new Head Sommelier at the restaurant, for much of that original group, with a few new faces thrown into the mix. It felt a little like a proper chance to pass the baton to Chris, and at the same time, to gain closure on the fact that I’d first planned this tasting of the top 2015 red Burgundy wines as a last hurrah, scheduled for March 12th in 2020, just prior to my planned exit from Restaurant Daniel…

Needless to say that the dinner in 2020 was cancelled at the last minute, as the world descended into chaos that fateful week. But the cellar at Daniel stayed cool and steady and we got to return to the subject a tad more than two years later. The line up included many of the top 2015 Grand Crus, with the addition of Les Amoureuses from Mugnier (which showed amazingly, the most aromatic of the line up) and Rousseau’s Clos Saint Jacques (also a tremendous bottle). As we’ve long stated, these two always deserve a place amongst the Grand Cru wines on the table…

A few takeaways on a vintage that is much lauded but easily misunderstood; firstly that the quality is uniformly excellent, second that it doesn’t always seem to follow the ‘rules’ or trends of a warm vintage (see DRC and Rousseau), and third that it is definitely open and drinking well despite the fact that these wines will be excellent for another 50 years at least. No hurry to drink up, but if you pull a cork on one, you won’t feel like you’ve made a mistake (just give the bottle 4-6 hours of air to open up!)

The line up:

Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier, Chambolle Musigny Les Amoureuses, Bonnes Mares 2015 & Georges Roumier, Bonnes Mares 2015

This line up impressed me, because Mugnier doesn’t always vibe with warm vintages, but his ‘15s truly spoke to me. The Roumier continues to be stellar, and was (along with the Dujac wines) an exception in being quite tightly wound albeit delicious.

Domaine Dujac, Clos Saint Denis, Clos de la Roche, Echezeaux 2015

Dujac’s 2015s showed more tannin and structure than the rest, by no means a negative thing as they were beautiful (though the Morey Grand Crus completely outshone the Echezeaux). Just need more time to resolve and become pretty…

Mugneret-Gibourg, Ruchottes-Chambertin, Clos Vougeot, Echezeaux 2015

Perhaps the most open and pretty flight of the evening, these were juicy, generous, complex, and overtly yummy. They are so damn delicious that nearly nobody was able to save a sip to compare with the subsequent flights :)…

Rousseau, Gevrey Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques, Clos de Beze, Chambertin 2015

Rousseau is known for making excellent wine in warm vintages, and this was no exception, but the surprises for me were that the CSJ was so open and singing (it can often take longer than these two Grand Crus to resolve) and that the Beze showed more open and precise than the Chambertin (usually, my experience has shown, Chambertin outshines the Beze in warm vintages and the inverse in cool vintages, but not so in 2015.)

DRC, Grands Echezeaux, Romanée Saint Vivant, La Tâche 2015

Not much to say here except that they were all stellar, and La Tâche 2015 is nearly perfect!

What's Pressoir Cooking? Summer Cooking from Empire Farm with Chef Daniel Boulud

June 30, 2020
by Jaime Dutton

We had a great experience last week at Empire Farm in the Hudson Valley where we filmed a 3-episode series with American Express. We were introduced to the FarmOn! Foundation, an organization that works to provide educational programming at the farm, promotes independent Hudson Valley farmers and Farm to Table initiatives.

We were in the kitchen with Daniel Johnnes and Chef Daniel Boulud talking summer cooking and summer sipping wines. Daniel selected a Burgundy and a Champagne to go with each of the 3 dishes that Chef Daniel cooked.

Inspiration came in many forms but a few moments stood out!

Outdoor grilling is key during the summer months. Gas and charcoal grills are our go-to tools to keep the heat outside.

Chef Daniel was cooking pork belly which he braised in the oven and then finished on the grill. He wanted to highlight the smoky aromas in the Chablis that Daniel had selected to pair with this dish. He lit it up when he threw handfuls of hay onto the fire – super fun and added flair to impress! The final dish was delicious – the pork belly melted in your mouth and the smoky and savory flavors were a great pairing with a 2018 Chablis from Moreau-Naudet.

Another fun moment was Chef’s summer rendition on the classic French dish, Poulet à la Mère Blanc – here he brought to the dish the fresh dairy products that are so much a part of the farming culture in the Hudson Valley. Chef cut up a whole chicken. For the sauce he used about a quart of fresh cream, 6 egg yolks and about 1.5 lbs of butter. It was incredibly delicious, maybe not what you expect when you think of light summer meals, but Chef and Daniel added the element of cooking it on an open fire, cowboy style. Taking this dish outside to the fire pit, made it all about the summer. Daniel paired a rich 2017 Meursault from Domaine Vincent Latour with the chicken.

Keep a look out for this entertaining series that will be accessible to American Express Card Members later this summer. Stay tuned.

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