Folks, Thanks so much for your input. I’ve been to other large tastings like the UGCB, Bassin’s California Barrel Tasting, Calvert’s Champagne and Italian Tastings at the embassies, so I can spit! One question I have. Do the people pouring make your taste every wine in their line-up or can you just pick which one of their bottles you’d like to try? Or is that considered rude? It definitely is a large amount of wine!
Seems like Salon could bring enough wine for each ticketed guest to get a tasting pour. It would not be difficult to figure out for example 150 guests each get a 1 ounce tasting pour bring enough standard 25 ounce bottles (6x plus 1) for 150 pours with a backup to cover a corked bottle. Instead long lines, people pushing and paying guests missing out because they weren’t fast enough ? Yikes
They do bring enough wines. Enormous amount of Vintage Delamotte. And NV.
People could sit and chat with the Reps for 20 min+. With the Delamotte. But most rush & dash.
4 Likes
Agree with only spitting unless you really love the wine.
Palate fatigue is real, take breaks, slow down, have some sparkling water. Don’t feel wed to the listed order; I liked tasting reds first and then whites. Ended up having more space and chances to chat with winemakers with the counterflow strategy.
They will usually start you at the low end, and work up. But you should feel no shame in asking to start with another wine, or just pick what you want. There are a LOT of wines in the room, and no way you could taste everything. And you’ve paid a significant price for the opportunity, so feel free to do whatever you want, politely of course.
My pace is to get a pour, walk away, taste and jot notes, let my palate recover for a minute or two, go back to that producer if there is more I want to try, or ask a question, otherwise move on to another table. Every now and then grab a bite to eat, some water, chat with other berserkers you may know. And spit. Spit every taste, regardless of how expensive the wine is lol. Even spitting, you will absorb enough alcohol to be tipsy. I have seen my share of young ladies in heels falling over drunk by the end 
2 Likes
Are there usually any other events or meetups happening during the event that aren’t hosted by La Paulée?
Most of the best events are not official.
2 Likes
Yes there will be a lot of events.
1 Like
The type of person who has time and disposable income to attend Paulee verticals can taste these wines in the real world.
Yes, there’s tremendous efficiency and value in sampling broad variety of wines at centralized site.
That said, the most value I get in attending is the opportunity to engage with the winemakers — to joke with them, to offer honest opinions, to ask pointed questions.
I could easily organize a tasting vertical of Lafon and PYCM in LA in any given month.
But getting to meet with Dominique Lafon and discuss with him the simple joy of getting high …or half drunkenly and incredulously debating with Pierre Yves Colin Morey in the parking lot when he claimed his wines have no “signature.”
Priceless.
Yes, spend time with the wines. But spend equal time with the winemakers.
4 Likes
It depends, but it’s mostly casual. The pourers are often U.S. Somms volunteering, and happy to adapt to what you ask for. If you are not sipping at the crowded cool kids tables like Mugneret-Gibourg, Hudelot-Noellat, Fourrier, Leflaive, Dujac etc, its easy to have a conversation with the winemakers.
In my small experience (n=2) even the most sought-after winemakers are right there and happy to answer a few questions. But if there was a rugby scrum at the table I generally didn’t want to intrude or monopolize their attention.
Personally I think it might be a little rude at the grand tasting to zero in on only the grand cru bottle and skip the village and 1er. And why would you want to miss the opportunity? If Jeremy Seyesses, Charles Canneyt, Jean-Marie Fourrier, Dominique Lafon or Veronique Drouhin is personally pouring (and they will), its fun to taste in whatever order they want 
When you can detach from the high-school popularity dynamics and sensory overload, the best of Paulee is the people and the diversity of Burgundy to sample.
I’ve stood like a supplicant with Musigny and MG Vougeot in hand to share at a table of big swinging d**ks and still been snubbed. Eh, forget them. Life’s too short.
The majority of folks generously pour and there is an ocean of Burg to try. At the gala or other shareable events, a magnum of something special, even if it’s not La Tache or Leroy makes you welcome. @MChang, whom I’d never met in person, poured me DRC Corton. In the hubbub I misplaced my glass so he poured me another. @Greg_K has shared rarities with pours from his own glass more than once (Montrachet? G-Max? Sure). Pour heavy for the Somms and they’ll find you later with something great in hand.
As a final plus, you can meet plenty of Berserkers and other luminaries of the wine-O-sphere: @Matthew_King , @Andrew_K, @Nick_Christie @Dennis_Atick @Brad_England and more. Burgundy Al will be holding court somewhere.
7 Likes
So, it seems like the Verticals is a must attend event. Is the grand tasting a must attend as well, or pass and attend more offline non Paulee events?
I would 100% attend the grand tasting. The gala is more hit/miss although I will usually go. With the Amex deal the grand tasting is free with the gala.
Grand tasting is good to get a bead on the latest vintage, but with EP offers typically coming the year before, it’s not really that useful for helping to structure your buying.
If you buy EP, that’s true. I won’t buy wine in quantity before I have it from bottle, though, except from the producers I always buy most of which aren’t at LP anyways.
This is certainly not the case for me. Paulee is a unique opportunity to taste numerous wines it would take much effort and expense to do any other way.
7 Likes
I think verticals is a really useful opportunity to see how some vintages are doing without opening them. Sure I have all the vintages of MG clos vougeot for example from this years paulee, but I don’t necessarily want to open them right now. Being able to see what winemakers did in various years, and yes being able to talk to them is very useful.
1 Like
Thanks for the kind words Steve, always a pleasure sharing bottles with you. For those that don’t know, @Steve_McL is a gentleman, a scholar and a fabulous sous chef.
I think verticals is the best individual tastin gPressoir does (across all of events) and I would highly reccomend it to anyone. The wines are usually well prepped, they’re not current vintages and usually the vintages are in a good place to drink. It’s also a nice intellectual exercise to see where some wines are, albeit a brief snapshot. It is also a much easier way to talk to the winemakers than the Grand Tasting, which is a considerably more chaotic affair.
I think everyone should attend the Gala at least once - most of the attendees are very generous and unless one has regular access to great and/or old Burgundy, it’s a great experience to be able to try some of the wines. From personal experience, it’s as much a pleasure to pour someone their first ever taste of Musigny or to pour a winemaker a bottle from their first vintage as it is to try something great from another guest. The first time I went to the Gala (more years ago than I care to admit 
) was my first experience having truly great aged white Burgundy.
Given how Burgundy is now sold and which vintages are poured, I think the Grand Tasting is mostly about getting a bit of an idea about the vintage, but it’s always nice to taste from favorite producers as well. I find it difficult to really do a particularly academic/scientific tasting when the event is a bit of a scrum (in a good way), but it’s meant to be fun.
As various posters have mentioned, there are events and dinners that week because so many winemakers come in. Some are done through friends, some through importers, some through other groups - it’s all fluid. But it’s a wonderful time to be a Burgundy drinker in New York. Well, an especially wonderful time 
7 Likes
I’ll be visiting NYC la Paulee for the first time and will be traveling solo. What is the gala like if you attend alone without knowing anyone? Would you still recommend going in that situation?
I’d also really appreciate it if anyone could include me in any offline tastings that weekend, as I currently only have the verticals and the grand tasting planned so far.
1 Like
Robert Lipman and I are going to the gala, so you can hang out with us if you want. I saw you’re on the waitlist for our dinner and I think there’s a good chance a spot will open up for you, but if not you should stop by around 9 or so as we’ll be hanging out for awhile. Btw I think the Amex offer gives you the grand tasting for free if you attend the gala.
3 Likes
Michael, your generous spirit is noted!