What's Pressoir Watching?

Victoire Chabert

August 18, 2022

To continue in the series What's Pressoir is watching, I wanted to present a documentary this time. 

Three Days of Glory is a must-watch for you Club Members but also Burgundy wine lovers and La Paulée attendees. Indeed, this short documentary retraces the history of Burgundy, interviews some winemakers, shows scenes of what the Paulée de Meursault is and evokes the future of the region. You will also have a glimpse of my family domaine because my uncle is interviewed, as well as Dominique Lafon, Véronique Drouhin, Thierry Violot-Guillemard and Thiébault Huber.

But first, a teaser from the trailer : click here to see the trailer. 

Three Days of Glory tells the story of the world's largest wine festival in the most legendary of wine regions - known locally as Les Trois Glorieuses - including the lunch titled La Paulée in Meursault. This documentary offers a glimpse into aspects of Burgundy never before filmed. Burgundy is home to some of the most legendary wines on the planet. But it took time and hard work to get there. 

You'll see the journey of several Burgundian producers, including Thiébault Huber of Domaine Huber-Verdereau in Volnay, Patrick Essa of Domaine Buisson-Charles in Meursault and Thierry Violot-Guillemard in Pommard, as they deal with April's devastating frost and the many curveballs that the 2016 vintage sent to winemakers.

A series of difficult years in the 1920s and 1930s led to the creation of events called the Three Days of Glory. This is the story of the traditional and age-old La Paulée, its origins, the sharing of fantastic wines, good times, and the winemakers of today's small estates, who faced a series of brutal years that had a real impact on their harvests.

While grappling with the complications of the present, the winemakers - as well as Burghound's Burgundy expert Allen Meadows and Director Scott Wright - reflect on their place in Burgundy's traditions as well as the role they play in the future of their families' estates.

Three days of Glory is Available for Free on Amazon Prime .

What's Pressoir Drinking? La Paulée de New York Edition...

3/16/2022

By Raj Vaidya

We, the Pressoir community, find ourselves in the throes of back to back La Paulée celebrations, but I wanted to take a moment to reflect on a truly special, once in a lifetime dinner we were honored to host at my alma mater, Restaurant Daniel, last weekend.

Guillaume D’Angerville has become a dear friend over the years. While planning our ideas for the Paulée program for 2022, Daniel and I felt we had to ask a little bit of the impossible of Guillaume; could we do a dinner of exclusively large format bottles of Volnay Premier Cru Clos de Ducs? Guillaume grumbled a bit at first, but then realized this presented a once in a lifetime opportunity to open a bunch of jeroboams that he’s been producing since 2009. We gladly accepted!

The line up started with a flight of Champans, Jeros of 2017, ‘14 and ‘11. While 2011 was a challenging vintage all around the Côte, Guillaume’s wines were likely the most balanced and compelling of the vintage, and this jero confirmed this truth robustly, with an unusual sweetness of fruit for the vintage.

Next two flights of Clos des Ducs, also all from jeros, with the first flight featuring the truly delicious 2017. While the ‘15 vintage was much more heralded (and featured alongside), the ‘17 lived up to its reputation as imminently drinkable.

The stars of the show were definitely in the final flight of Clos des Ducs, with one home run and one surprise showing. The 2009, a stellar vintage since day one, showed incredible power and precision, and was arguably the ‘best’ wine of the line up (as it should be!) But in a surprise to me, it was the 2013 that I found the most charming. The vintage has long been confusing to me aromatically, though I’ve always liked the acid structure. This bottle was astounding, layers upon layers of complexity, nuance and such an elegant and long palate that I was taken aback. As a fun side by side, a guest at the dinner bought a bottle of the same vintage from the restaurant’s wine list, and so we got to see a slightly more advanced example also, a lucky treat.

Lesson learned: wine, especially great, regal wines like these, are best drunk out of giant bottles…

Celebrating La Paulée de Meursault "At Home"

November 11, 2020

Les Trois Glorieuses (Three Glorious Days) is the November trilogy of events in Burgundy beginning with the wine auction at the Hospices de Beaune followed by a dinner at the Clos Vougeot and culminating in La Paulée de Meursault, the famous BYOB lunch in the Château de Meursault that normally hosts around 750 guests but sadly had to be canceled this year.

In honor of the event that inspired our own Paulées de New York & San Francisco, we are drinking Meursault all week!

Follow us on Instagram to see what bottles we (and some special friends from Meursault) are opening.

La Paulée @lapaulee
Daniel @danieljohnnes
Jaime @jwestd
Max @maxgoldbergliu
Edouard @sommbody
Raj @rajvine
Justine @ju_puaud
Eléonore @eleonore_lafarge

News from the Vineyard - La Paulée at Domaine Michel Lafarge

Domaine Lafarge, la Paulée wines

September 2, 2020
By Eléonore Lafarge

When the harvest is done, it’s time for La Paulée!

The 2020 harvest ended Friday August 28 at noon at Lafarge.

As soon as the last grape is cut, all the pickers start celebrating in the vineyard, making crowns out of vine leaves and returning to the domaine being hauled by a tractor. Everyone is singing and honking to let the village know that the harvest is done. The signing doesn’t stop for a few hours usually.

In the evening, La Paulée starts with l’apéritif, then continues with a dinner and can go on until the morning. There are always a few brave ones who don’t go to sleep!

In the Burgundian spirit, to thank the team, some nice bottles are opened. This year, my father decided to share an Aligoté Raisins Dorés as an apéritif, a Meursault 2017, a Fleurie La Joie du Palais 2016, a Volnay 1er Cru Les Caillerets 2011 and a Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Chênes 1983. Once all of these bottles are empty, people continue partying for a few hours.

La Paulée in Volnay is a bit more modest than the one in New York but everyone is happy and celebrating.

Impressions of my first Paulée de New York

July 21, 2020

By Eléonore Lafarge

Although I am from Burgundy and heard many stories about La Paulée de Meursault I have, unfortunately, never attended one. So, La Paulée de New York 2020 was my first official Paulée (the unofficial ones being Domaine Michel Lafarge Paulées!). I had an idea what to expect from La Paulée based on what my parents and grandfather shared after each Paulée de New York but I was still surprised when it started.

 I started working for Daniel Johnnes in February, one month before the event. Seeing all the Burgundy producers I usually see in Burgundy (and my family) made New York feel like home, even though I had only been living there for four weeks.

 When I look back on La Paulée de New York, the only word that comes to my mind is stunning!

 The Gala Dinner was by far the most amazing dinner I have ever attended. There were more people in one room than in the entire village I grew up in. My first thought when I saw all the tables and attendees was to wonder how the chefs were able to cook for so many people. I was amazed by the service as well. Being able to cook and serve so many people on time is quite a feat.

One of the most important features of the Gala is the wines. Seeing so many sommeliers and so many wines from different producers was very impressive and intimidating. I do not think I ever saw so many bottles of wine from different producers. I don’t think I imagined the dinner to be this important with so many wines. Seeing so many people willing to share their delicious wines was heartwarming. I had the chance to taste a Richebourg 1994 from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. Not the best Burgundian vintage but it is my birth year. It was the first time I tasted a wine from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti from my birth year, it felt like a special treat. I am still grateful that someone was willing to share this wine with me.  

A very Burgundy spirit floats in the air during the dinner. All the elements that make up the reputation of Burgundy were there: excellent food, festivity, good atmosphere, sharing and of course legendary wines.

For one night, New York is no longer in the USA but is a part of Burgundy.

 Unfortunately, toutes les bonnes choses ont une fin (everything comes to an end)!

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!