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La Paulee is one of the greatest wine experiences available to mankind. Daniel Johnnes, now wine director of Daniel’s culinary empire, has persevered year after year for the last eleven years in pulling off this extraordinary event, where Burgundy lovers from all over the world come together in either New York or San Francisco to share their greatest passion ”“ Burgundy. I was reading an interview with DJ before the main event this year, and found out that his first trip to Burgundy was when he worked for Acker Merrall in the beginning of his illustrious career, and on that trip he met Christophe Roumier, now a close friend. That really brought everything full circle for me this year, and set the stage for another extraordinary weekend. If you haven’t been, you most certainly should. It’s worth planning a vacation around.

Fortunately for me, it’s work :). La Paulee usually ends up being a three or four day affair, with pre-events both public and private, and this year we did a couple private ones. The first was a party I hosted on Thursday night, and the second an intimate evening of 1971s hosted by Mark and Roger and attended by such Burgundy dignitaries as Lalou and Vero. However, as I sit here on the flight from Guam to Honolulu, I can’t seem to find those notes (I swore I brought them!), so we will go straight to the main event.

The first wine I sampled on this incredible night was a 1990 Pernot Bienvenues Batard Montrachet, which was a friendly Hail Mary pass courtesy of Brett Favre’s cousin. Brett wasn’t around, I don’t think he feels too welcome in New York anymore. The Pernot had lovely corn aromas and flavors and a round mouthfeel, it was in a nice spot with lots of tasty butter flavors and excellent acidity still. I was quite impressed with this insider’s wine (94).

La Paulee is the wine world’s version of Fast and Furious, and Big Boy always gets to play Vin Diesel. He entered on cue with a 1976 Salon magnum. Its nose was what I called ‘white rusty,’ and it was very dry and tight, possessing that laser-like Salon quality on the palate but still noticeably a touch dry (93M).

Dr. Wilf Jaeger, the artist formerly known as Dr. Vino and one of America’s greatest collectors, is a La Paulee anchor as much as he is a Burgundy icon. He pulled out a pet wine of his for starters, a magnum of 1990 Gagnard-Delagrange Montrachet. It was clean and delicious with nice citrus and guava qualities. Still quite fresh, it had that fresh rainwater feel, and while not as developed and forward as the Pernot, it still provided some very good drinking (92M).

I assume that all magnums of Champagne come from Big Boy, although I know I got a couple of killer Champers from the Bad Boy as well. I think the magnum of 1966 Philipponat Clos des Goisses was one of Rob’s, but if not, he should still get the credit anyway for the awareness he has singlehandedly created about old Champagne! The Goisses was super fresh, no doubt more recently disgorged than not, with that signature wheat meets wheatgrass edge that always comes across quite pungently. Its pungency translated on to the palate, but this magnum showed more citrus than usual, which I found an appealing twist (95M).

The first wow wine came courtesy of Big Mike, who was crushing it as usual with an incredibly rare magnum of 1990 Coche-Dury Corton Charlemagne. I had never even seen one myself, so there was some initial trepidation, although one sip from the glass eased all concerns, as this was certainly Coche, certainly Corton Charlemagne and mature like a 1990 should be. While still clean and fresh, no doubt aided and abetted by the magnum format, there were warm, mature aromas with a touch of honey on top. Someone commented how it ‘doesn’t have the power of 1996,’ and it didn’t, but it didn’t have to; after all, it was the 1990 :). There was subtle strength here and an unwinding quality to its acidity that I found extraordinary (96M).

One spectacular magnum of 1990 was followed by another, this one being a 1990 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier Montrachet. The Leflaive was more open and gamy than the Coche, displaying more rainwater and buttered corn, and that signature Leflaive kernel. It was rich and ready (95M).

A bottle of 2002 Simon Bize Corton Charlemagne snuck in courtesy of Brian if memory serves me correctly.; apparently this wine is super rare and not mainly people know Bize even makes it, or he only made it one year, I am not sure to be honest. There were hints of anise in the nose, and it was clean and long with sweet nut and fruit flavors (91).

Bad Boy burst on the scene with one of the best bottles of Dom Perignon that I have ever had. It was just one of those bottles that was pure magic and ecstasy, delivering everything I could possibly want in an old Champagne and then some. This bottle of 1966 Dom Perignon was recenty disgorged in 1995, which leads me to believe that everyone needs to wait fifteen years after disgorgement before drinking. The size and stature of this bottle was huge and larger than life; its power and length were extraordinary. Now it wasn’t the first time that I have had this Champagne, but it certainly was the best. Unreal (98).

Gotta Have It Bobby followed up nicely with a magnum of 1973 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, which was tasty and sweet, full of pink and red fruits and still showing some solid ’73 zip (93M).

A bottle of 2000 Coche-Dury Meursault Perrieres slipped in there. It was a classic 2000, clean and fresh, agile and cut, with that signature Coche kink to its nose. Rainwater, kernel and spice all graced its classy palate, which epitomized both 2000 and Coche quite well. I have been a fan of 2000 whites from day one, although it may be getting to be that time for many over the next handful of years (95).

Dueling 1996 Montrachets were next, one out of magnum, the other out of jeroboam. First up was the 1996 Ramonet Montrachet. The nose was minty, gamey and corny, while its palate was rich and long. It was a touch too gamy on the palate unfortunately, but the bare bone raw materials and potential in this wine were extraordinary. Its acidity was almost endless, somehow in balance with the texture and the fruit. I’m not sure if it was a touch of cork or heat taint that affected this bottle, but I could still appreciate its greatness (96A-M).

The jero of 1996 Bouchard Montrachet held its own quite nicely, delivering a delicious experience of must have Montrachet. It was class in a glass, showing great spice and lemony chalk, and not too much acidity as some 1996s are prone to have (95J).

A 1979 Louis Roederer Cristal snuck in there, and I was glad it did. This bottle had only one owner its entire life pre-Paulee, and it showed. It was racy, long and zippy with fine butterscotch flavors, still a youthful personality (96).

The first red of the evening was a disappointing 1990 Chezeaux Chambertin, the estate where Ponsot makes the wines, although I am not sure if he made all of them or just the Griottes. It was pungent and ok at best (88).

It was soon an afterthought as the Chardonnay grape made its last hurrah with five more whites, beginning with another magnum of Ramonet, this time a 1992 Ramonet Montrachet. This magnum was doubly special, as it came from the cellar of Wolfgang Grunewald. It was a delicious expression of Chardonnay, clean and fresh with no signs of cracking or that 1992 rot. Amazing and pure, it gave me this white snow impression, and its balance was superb. I may be dating myself, but it made me feel like an actor in a York Peppermint Pattie commercial back in the day lol (97M).

A magnum of 1982 Domaine Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Clavoillon was super fresh, almost too much so. This had to be reconditioned, and while dusty, long and pungent, it felt stripped of its age and nuance (90M).

A bottle of 1993 Raveneau Chablis Montmains was still holding on, gamy and enjoyable but an afterthought on this star-struck night (90).

The 1990 Montrachet was the third to last white wine of the evening and certainly its finest to date. The nose just boasted about its greatness, and no other wine would dare speak back. It was as pure as this wine gets; there was no usual touch of botrytis in this distinguished, refined and youthful nose. Aromas and flavors of rain, white meat and butter danced in massive harmony, like an 80-piece orchestra all in the same key. Long and unreal, it was, well, long and unreal. What a wine (97+).

There aren’t many wines that can follow a 1990 Monrachet in fine fashion, but thankfully the 1985 Ramonet Montrachet is one of them, especially when out of magnum. Thanks to the Don for this beauty, which wasn’t as beautiful as the sight of Don carrying around this magnum like a torch in the cold, Beaune night. This was another no-doubt-about-it, fantastic white. Its enormity was incredible, and its bigger than life personality took center stage immediately. The palate was gritty and grainy, long and fantastic. It had the purity of anything virgin, you know, like snow, territory”¦(97M).

Perhaps now might be a good time to take a break, or I’ll never finish this article. The reds were ready to go, leading off with three 1971s from , two jeros and a magnum, and all 96 points or better. There were still thirty-five wines more that I would end up tasting. The rabbit hole goes very deep at La Paulee, so it’s a good thing that Burgundy goes well with rabbit :).