"Skip-the-La-Paulée-Gala-Dinner"-Dinner in NYC

I will attend the Grand Tasting at La Paulée in NYC with my wife. We’ll fly from Berlin, Germany especially for this tasting event and I originally planned to also attend the Gala Dinner…but after reading a lot of comments here and there I doubt this will be my cup of tea.

Therefore I think about a nice “Skip-the-La-Paulée-Gala-Dinner”-Dinner with around 8 wine lovers at a nice BYOB restaurant in NYC bringing a total of 8 excellent bottles. As this will be around La Paulée I think at least 50% of the wines should be from Burgundy.

I will attend with my lovely wife and she hope that she won’t be the only girl on the table.

I’ll bring a 2012 Henri Bolliot Puligny-Montrachet Clos de la Mouchere, a nice gem which I have enjoyed very much in recent vintages.
My wife will bring a 2002 Insignia :wink:

Looking for recommendations for a very nice restaurant, if possible large round table for 8 and reasonable corkage fee.

Date would be the evening where the La Paulée dinner will take place…which is Feb 28 (Sat).

Anyone?

Jens, I would have loved to sit down for such a dinner, but unfortunately I will not be in NY this year. I’ve attended that past three Paulees, and have always had a great time. I would strongly suggest you give the Verticals Tasting a try. – it’s always a highlight for me. I like the morning session since I prefer to taste before lunch. I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting a few Berserkers to join you for dinner. Have fun!

I would be up for this. I’ll be at the Grand Tasting but the Gala dinner is too rich for my blood.

@ Xavier: thanks for the recommendation for the Vetical Tasting…just booked the morning session :wink:

@ Corey: glad to hear…would you attend alone or with your wife? Any idea what you will bring? And: any recommendation for a great restaurant?

I’m interested as well.

You need to have something from the US just to complete the experience as well as something from Burgundy, so I would be happy to volunteer to bring one of each. My Burgundy collection is somewhat limited, but I have been chomping at the bit to open my first 2006 Hospices de Beaune Corton-Cuvée Docteur Peste Faiveley (Hospices Auction Group) Grand Cru, so I could bring that. As to something from the US, I’ll leave that up to you - tell me what you would like to try and I will do my best to bring it or find something close. If you want to pair with the 2002 Insignia, I could offer a 2002 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red, or if you want something completely different, please let me know.

Restaurants? Many, many great choices. What kind of food do you like?

My wife would also be interested in attending, depending upon the date.

Jay,

as for the restaurant: a really top end steak restaurant would be nice but love of course also european cuisine (French, Italien) as well.

Date should be Feb 28 (Sat)

The Hospices Corton Faiveley sounds nice

US wine: never had a Kapcsandy so if you could offer one of their top wines from a good vintage that would be very nice

Seems Keens would be an obvious choice for steak.

I wouldn’t mind getting in on this as well. I am also going to the grand tasting, but not the dinner. I could bring Rhys, or if we are in Corton mode, a magnum of 95 Chandon de Briailles Corton-Bressandes. (Other Burg possibiilities are some Chambolle, '93 Lignier Les Baudes, or something fresher, but rarer '11 Jenniard Les Sentiers "11.)

Josh

The world is about to come to an end, and the crossing of the streams has occurred, but I agree with David. We had a good dinner at Keens in September and Rothmann’s has closed and the other steakhouses all seem to have bad corkage policies.

Keens 21 day dry aged. Always delicious.

Or the chateaubriand.

Oops. Just realized I have to be in New Orleans for a wedding that weekend. Oh well.

Skipping Paulee is a great idea. I went 2 yrs ago and felt totally ripped off for the money. Unless you are part of the ultra in crowd you will just get smatterings of great wine, at best. A friend is offering to pay for me this year and I told him I don’t want to go! The afternoon tasting was excellent in 2013, we tasted mostly 2010s. You want to try great wines for free, have a meal at a bargain price and experience a piece on NYC? Go to a wine auction with Zachys, Wallys, or Acker. They are usual at top notch NYC restaurants. Bring a modest trophy and share with others and they will share with you.

This is [bullshit.gif]

I went 2 years ago, didn’t really know anyone (maybe a handful, but certainly wasn’t part of any “in crowd”), and drank tons of great wine, so much so that it was embarrasing to be pouring out rare grand crus from my glass just to get a taste of something new (from complete strangers!).

Bring a modest trophy and share with others and they will share with you.

This is precisely how the Paulee gala dinner works. Maybe you didn’t bring sufficient wine to share? Or aren’t very extroverted? Nothing wrong with that, but making a blanket statement about the event based on your experience is misleading at best.

TBF, at berserkerfest a couple of years ago, I heard almost the exact same story from someone else, so he’s not alone. By reputation (I’ve avoided them for exactly this reason), the BYO gala dinners can be a bit of an sycophancy competition if you’re not one of the heavy hitters with a big bottle.

Scott, maybe you got lucky and sat at a great table. I was at a table with very nice people who brought mostly average wines. I brought 69 leroy1979 Dujac and others. I worked the room but felt like a moocher. You are paying $1400 to have a mediocre meal, served mediocre wines, and have a chance to share your wine with others. QPR sucks. If you want to meet wine makers you can do it at the grand tasting.

Fair enough. I agree with you that it is expensive for what it is, but it’s still a lot of fun, IMO. You definitely need to get up and walk around. My table was not that great, other than Jim Clendenen, who brought Jayer Cros P!

Jayer. Very nice. Best wine the Paulee provided was a 1990 Jadot Beaune clos de Ursule in large format. IMO not that great for what they charge. A friend wants to pay for to go, the truth. I told him no! The auctions are more fun and free

if you’re going to fly all the way from berlin just for the grand tasting, i think you might as well stay and do the gala and decide for yourself whether it was worth it.

by the way, i think if you have friends going together, i believe you can request to be seated at the same table…