These last weeks have passed in a blur - funny how that always seems to happen this time of year! As we get ready to go into shut-down mode for the holidays, and enjoy a couple of nice, relaxed weeks with family and friends, I’d like to take a minute to look back over the year and give thanks for all of our good fortune.

First of all to my wife and children - who support me unswervingly with love and patience, put up with my travel schedule and all the working weekends - thank-you, I am truly blessed to have you in my life. On this day of the winter solstice I must also thank our great friends and partners Cameron Healy and Suzy Snow - none of this would be happening without you, and we love you dearly.

It all moves so fast that I often forget that it was just 9 years ago I was crazy enough to think that we could make wine somebody would like enough to actually buy. And only 7 years ago that I convinced my wife Martha, with 4 month-old Pirrie on her hip, to move to Oregon to follow my dream of making true cool-climate Pinot Noir. Somehow or other we managed to build a new winery, start a major Burgundy import company, manage Domaine Drouhin for a few years, and build alittle brand that has come to have unbelieveable support from you - our customers. Huge gratefulness goes to you who buy our wines, year-in, year-out, and help spread the word about our elegant little Pinots.

We’ve been so fortunate in bringing in an amazing team of professionals to join us on our journey, and I am proud to thank Kelley Fox, Kelly Karr, and Emily Freiler for their immense contributions to our success. And I’m happy to announce that Emily will be taking on the full-time position of Tasting Room Manager beginning in April.

Oh yeah - and we’ll be planting our first estate vineyard in the spring - a spectacular 10-acre piece on a Jory soil high on a south slope of Chehalem Mountain. Details soon!

Again, many thanks for all of your support. At the end of the day, it’s all about putting good wine in the glass that will be enjoyed with good food and good friends - and if we can continue to do that, life is good.

My best wishes for a joyous holiday season - see you here (and at the winery) in the new year!

These last weeks have passed in a blur - funny how that always seems to happen this time of year! As we get ready to go into shut-down mode for the holidays, and enjoy a couple of nice, relaxed weeks with family and friends, I’d like to take a minute to look back over the year and give thanks for all of our good fortune.

First of all to my wife and children - who support me unswervingly with love and patience, put up with my travel schedule and all the working weekends - thank-you, I am truly blessed to have you in my life. On this day of the winter solstice I must also thank our great friends and partners Cameron Healy and Suzy Snow - none of this would be happening without you, and we love you dearly.

It all moves so fast that I often forget that it was just 9 years ago I was crazy enough to think that we could make wine somebody would like enough to actually buy. And only 7 years ago that I convinced my wife Martha, with 4 month-old Pirrie on her hip, to move to Oregon to follow my dream of making true cool-climate Pinot Noir. Somehow or other we managed to build a new winery, start a major Burgundy import company, manage Domaine Drouhin for a few years, and build alittle brand that has come to have unbelieveable support from you - our customers. Huge gratefulness goes to you who buy our wines, year-in, year-out, and help spread the word about our elegant little Pinots.

We’ve been so fortunate in bringing in an amazing team of professionals to join us on our journey, and I am proud to thank Kelley Fox, Kelly Karr, and Emily Freiler for their immense contributions to our success. And I’m happy to announce that Emily will be taking on the full-time position of Tasting Room Manager beginning in April.

Oh yeah - and we’ll be planting our first estate vineyard in the spring - a spectacular 10-acre piece on a Jory soil high on a south slope of Chehalem Mountain. Details soon!

Again, many thanks for all of your support. At the end of the day, it’s all about putting good wine in the glass that will be enjoyed with good food and good friends - and if we can continue to do that, life is good.

My best wishes for a joyous holiday season - see you here (and at the winery) in the new year!

I am in total denial, and unable to accept that it is already December, with Christmas just three weeks away. Yikes! I am looking forward to a relatively quiet month, after the non-stop action of September/October/November. It is pouring rain here for the forseeable future, and a nice time to cocoon, to recharge the batteries, and get ready for the new year.

The one thing I’m really grappling with right now is our Burgundy program for 2008. I need to finalize my reservations and orders for the 2006 wines in the next couple of weeks. What’s making it difficult is that we’ve hit the “perfect storm” - the producers have raised their prices slightly over the 2005s, the dollar is at the all-time low versus the Euro, and while the 2006 wines are indeed excellent, they do not have the reputation of the superb 2005s. The result is that the 2006 wines will be more expensive than the 2005s, and I can imagine that they will not sell at the blistering pace of the 2005s. I need to buy carefully this year, of that I am sure.

There will be no great “bargains” in 2006 Burgundy, but of course that’s all relative. One thing I’m very proud of is that our portfolio, on the whole, offers excellent values in relation to the quality. Most of our wines seem to get one or two fewer ratings points than the “trophy” wines, but are sold at a fraction of the price of the “big boys”. Even with the crash of the dollar and producer price increases we can still offer a great wine like the René Leclerc 2006 Lavaux St. Jacques for around $80, while the Armand Rousseau version will likely be offered by major retailers at over $500 (at least that’s what they’re getting for the 2005). As a point of reference - Burghound scores for the 2005 versions of these wines were 89-91 points for the Rousseau, and 90-93 points for the René Leclerc. You can have six bottles of the Leclerc to enjoy over the next several years, or one bottle of the lower-rated Rousseau. It seems like an obvious choice to me, but then I’m biased…

At any rate, my hope is that true Burgundy lovers will recognize the value in our offerings of the 2006s. Many of the 2005s were purchased by people who never bought Burgundy previously, many in fact who were not even big wine lovers. There was a feeding frenzy for the 2005s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. 2006 will be a vintage for people who really love the stuff - and fortunately the wines rock and there will be a lot to love!

In the few days since my last post, I have: Slept. Spent a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my family and friends. Slept. Held an open house for a few thousand of our closest friends at the winery for three days. Slept. Reintroduced myself to my wife and daughter. Slept. Changed the cat box. Slept. And now I am close to feeling back to normal - whatever that is! It’s nice to be back, even nicer not have any major events on the calendar for a while (just that little thing called Christmas coming up in a few weeks…)

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the open house over the weekend- thanks to you it was our most successful ever. The 2006 Cuvée Martha Pirrie is nearly sold out, only a handful of cases are left. Same goes for the 2006 Audrey futures - if you’re interested in picking up a 6-pack, we have only a few left after the weekend events. It looks like there will be none left to offer when the wine is actually released in April… As for 2005 Burgundies, some treasures still remain, but in short supply. We’d behappy to put together a nice gift selection for the Burg-heads on your list - just get in touch with Kelly Karr at the tasting room and she’ll hook you right up. Now back to catching up with two weeks worth of mail and bills - you know the drill…

So I’ve got about three hours between planes here at JFK in NYC - it’s been quite a safari already and I’m only half-way there! The strike was still in full effect this morning in France, so I had to drive to the airport in Paris rather than take the train. Because of the crazier than usual traffic (due to the strike) - it took almost 6 hours to drive what is normally a 3 1/2-hour jaunt. I’ve been up since 4am French time, and will hopefully reach PDX around midnight Portland time - just a little journey of 29 hours. To top it off, the A/C is out in the Delta teminal at JFK and it is hot and clammy in here. Help! At any rate, it occured to me that a few comments on some more of the wines from the Paulée might be in order. I was still on a spiritual high from the ‘47 Moose when I posted last…

It was very educational to have the 2000 DRC Richebourg, La Tâche and Roumier Musigny side by side - they were all lovely, to be sure, but the Roumier had extra dimensions, more elegance, better length, and blew the other two away on this day. Less than one barrel made, but I was happy to sacrifice one in the name of science, of course…

As for the whites - the 1918 Meursault Goutte d’Or from Grossweiler was amazingly fresh and alive - I mean there was still fruit! I was sitting across from my crazy German friend Dieter and we toasted the end of WW1 with that one. Out of all the other whites, the one that really stood out was the ‘93 Drouhin Clos des Mouches blanc in Mag - wow! Amazingly complex on the nose and in the mouth, and a kaleidescope of swirling flavors and aromas that never seemed to end. We were all blown away at my end of the table.

Pretty much everything was interesting throughout the day, but a few more deserve special notice. The 1938 Clos des Lambrays generously shared by Allen Meadows was rockin’pretty strong, as was the ‘47 Richebourg from Grivelet and the ‘47 Chambertin from Grafe/Drouhin. The 1923 Clos Vougeot from Bouchard also had a lot going on, but it was trumped by the ‘49 Clos des Mouches from Drouhin - my notes simply say “superb!”. Not a bad day, indeed…

I wrapped up this trip with a great tasting at JJ Confuron yesterday, and I was thrilled with the 2006s there. Alain Meunier was a joy to spend some time with as always. The 2006s are really strong across the board at all of our producers, and I imagine they’re going to get some very good press - which is pretty amazing coming on the heels of the 2005s. I hope people aren’t drinking the 2005s too soon, as many are closing down, and most won’t be at their best for many years to come. I recommend drinking your 2000s, 2002s, 2004s, and the upcoming 2006s and 2007s before you get to the ’05s. Your patience will be rewarded…

Today is my favorite day of the year, every year - for this is the day of La Paulée in Burgundy. As much as I anticipate it, I am never disappointed, and in fact it usually exceeds my wildest expectations. This year may have been the best of them all.

I started off with a couple of great tastings this morning, first at a super-secret location (that I hope to be able to reveal to you in due time), and then my annual November visit to Lucien Le Moine in Beaune. Suffice it so say that the 2006s at LLM are beyond stunning - I like them better than the 2005s at this point, and they will surely be some of the highest rated wines of the vintage once again. Look out for their Amoureuses, Clos de Beze and Clos Vougeot next year - they are mind-blowing.

Before I forget, I am happy to report that we were successful in buying a barrel of the 2007 Beaune 1er Cru cuvée Maurice Drouhin at the Hospices de Beaune auction yesterday - the wine is lovely, and we’ll offer it as futures in a year or so. Great stuff…

And on to La Paulée. Where do I begin? It is a great pleasure to attend this special event, and I thank our hosts Véronique Drouhin and her husband Michel for putting together the greatest of all wine events on the planet. In attendance were winemaking luminaries from Drouhin, de Vogüé, Latour, Jadot, Moet et Chandon, George Mugneret, Chandon de Brialles, Egon Müller, Etienne Grivot, and of course Allen Meadows and a group of some of the most passionate Burgundy lovers/collectors on the planet. Lunch was prepared by Jacques Lameloise of the 3-star Lameloise in Chagny. The Burgundy truffle ravioli rocked my world in a big way.

On to the wines. Over 70 amazing bottles crossed my path over the course of the day, and I’m sure I missed at least a hundred more that were going around. It was truly an exercise in excess and pure hedonism, and I find nothing wrong with that!

I am clearly one of the most fortunate people on the planet. There are two legendary wines that mean a great deal to me, that are deeply engraved in my memory, and are the reasons I set off on this path to make wine and ultimately import wine from Burgundy. Amazingly, in the last two years I’ve had the opportunity to taste both of them at the Paulée. Last year a lovey lady from the UK brought the ‘61 Krug in magnum, and this year it was the mythical ‘59 La Tâche. Whenever I’m asked what got me into wine, I always mention the ‘59 La Tâche - and this time around it was again a truly transcendental experience. Only a handful of times in one’s life do you drink a wine so profoundly great that it seems to stop time - it is only you and the wine, fully concentrated and focused in a moment of intense clarity that feels as if it could last forever - and in fact that feeling is indelibly etched in my soul. I can truly say that I will likely never have anyting finer cross my lips, and the thought of being able to die happy comes easily after a wine like that.

So what can I say when I am then presented with not one but two magnums of the legendary ‘47 Musigny from de Vogüé (made by Christophe Roumier’s grandfather) - one bottled by Drouhin, and the other an estate bottling. I was in absolute awe of simply being in the presence of these bottles. Tasting them side by side proved monumental. The Drouhin bottling was in better shape and thus fresher, but they were both stunning. To cut to the chase, the last swallow was the single greatest wine experience I’ve had. It is hours later and I’m still moved. I was then staggered to be confronted by a bottle of the ‘45 de Vogüé Musigny and a magnun of the ‘52! Many burg-geeks will tell you that the ‘45 or ‘47 Moose is the greatest Burg of all time - and having both on the table tonight was simply beyond belief. The bottle of ‘45 turned out not to be a great example, but the underlying material was amazing nonetheless. I expected not so much from the ‘52 (a difficult vintage with very few good wines) - but this mag was singing nicely - not transcendental, surely, but still a great treat. I feel very blessed. This was the most most enjoyable day of my life in wine, and 365 days from now we’ll do it again!

Here then the list of of wines we enjoyed with lunch today in the ancient cellars at Drouhin…

’99 Clos des Mouches Blanc – Drouhin

90 Puligny les Referts – Carillon

’04 Batard Montrachet (mag) – P. Colin-Morey

’55 Chassagne-Montrachet – Dumay

’93 Puligny Combottes – Sauzet

’64 Meursault – André

’99 Batard Montrachet – Latour

’93 Chassagne Maltroie – Niellon

’92 Corton – Chandon de Briailles

’93 Meursault Rougeots – Coche-Dury

’90 Montrachet – Laguiche (Drouhin)

’18 Meursault Goutte d’Or – Grossweiler

’86 Batard Montrachet (mag) – Delagrange-Bachelet

’92 Chassagne Grands Ruchottes – Ramonet

’91 Chassagne Grands Ruchottes – Ramonet

’78 Batard Montrachet (mag) – Bachelet-Ramonet

’64 Reisling Spatlese – Egon Muller

’02 Corton Charlemagne – Latour

’92 Corton Charlemagne (mag) – Jadot

’92 Corton Charlemagne – Raphet

’90 Corton Charlemagne – Drouhin

’99 Chevalier-Montrachet – Geo. Deleger

’93 Clos des Mouches Blanc (mag) – Drouhin

’00 Richebourg – DRC

’85 Bonnes Mares (mag) de Vogüé

’85 Pommard Rugiens – Ganoux

’05 Romanée-St. Vivant – Dujac

’04 Bourgogne – LeRoy

’05 NSG 1er – Dom. De Perdrix

’47 Richebourg – Grivelet

’78 Clos de Beze – Moillard

’99 Clos Vougeot (double mag) – Grivot

’00 La Tâche – DRC

’85 Savigny Lavières – Camille Brouchon

’62 Beaune – Hospice de Beaune

’92 Chambolle les Amoureuses – de Vogüé

’85 Grands Echezeaux – DRC

’71 NSG les Pruliers – Faively

’94 Clos de Tart – Mommesin

’93 Grands Echezeaux – Engel

’38 Clos des Lambrays

’90 Bonnes Mares – de Vogüé

’59 La Tâche – DRC
’00 Musigny – Roumier

’48 Grands Echezeaux – DRC

’90 Clos de la Roche – Ponsot

’91 Savigny les Beaune – Chandon de Briailles

’90 Corton – Chandon de Briailles

’71 Echezeaux (6L) – Mugneret

’47 Musigny (mag) – de Vogüé (Drouhin bottling)

’47 Musigny (mag) – de Vogüé (estate bottling)

’59 Corton-Bressandes – Drouhin

’23 Clos Vougeot – Bouchard

’64 Volnay Clos des Ducs – d’Angerville

’44 Richebourg – DRC

’47 Chambertin – Grafé/Drouhin

’91 Clos de la Roche – Ponsot

’78 Volnay Clos des Chênes – Lafarge

’02 Echezeaux (mag) – Mongeard-Mugneret

’24 Clos des Mouches – Drouhin

’46 Clos des Mouches – Chanson

’49 Clos des Mouches – Drouhin

’45 Musigny – de Vogüé

’78 Clos de Beze – Drouhin

’52 Musigny (mag) – de Vogüé

Wow, what a day! Started off with the 90-minute drive up to Chablis (with someone doing 130 km/h inches from my bumber every couple of minutes, of course.) Tasted through the 2007s at Frédéric Gueguen’s cellar in the village of Chablis - and they are excellent. Lovers of classic, minerally, intense Chablis will be very happy. The l’Homme More 1er Cru is so palate-stainingly intense and long that I was blown away. Had a great lunch at home with Frédéric and his wife Céline, and their two little ones. Their home is a gorgeous renovation of an ancient stone farmhouse, in the middle of Chablis vines and surrounded by their own private park - really lovely. Fred also took my on a tour of his vineyard parcels, including his oldest vines, dating to 1926.

Then I turned around and headed back down to the Côte d’Or, for an amazing tasting at my friend Jean-Pierre Charlot’s cellar in Pommard. He invited about 150 people for a vertical of his Pommard Pezzerolles, going from 2005 to 1961! It was very interesting and educational. The standouts form me were the ‘93, ‘90, ‘85 and the ‘61 - which I found still amazingly youthful and vibrant. (It always helps that these old wines have never moved since the day they were bottled.)

From there it was on to the “Souverain Bailliage de Pommard” - a confrèrie or brotherhood similar to the Chevaliers de Tastevin. It was created by my dear friend Aleth Girardin, and it is really a great event. Every year on the weekend of the Hospices de Beaune auction they have their annual dinner and induction ceremonies. It starts in the cellars of the Chateau de Pommard, where I was honored to be inducted into the brotherhood - there’s a great ceremony in which they place the ribbon and medallion around your neck, hand you an ancient silve chalice and fill it with a gorgeous old Pommard, and then tap you on each shoulder with the preserved trunk of an ancient grapevine and pronounce you a “Bailli de Pommard”. I was inducted along with Caroline Parent (the daughter of Anne-Françoise Gros - owner of a great Vosne-Romanée domaine, and François Parent, the famous Pommard producer.) Then we moved on into the ancient cellars below the Pommard City Hall, for a six-course dinner paired with wines - one of which was our Scott Paul 2005 La Paulée Pinot! I was honored, in fact blown away to be asked to provide wine for the dinner - and to have our wine served in this setting, and to have it show well, was so exciting. A number of the guests came up to say how much they enjoyed the wine - and even if they were just being nice, I was very happy indeed. Throughout dinner a singing group serenaded the crowd with dozens of classic Burgundian drinking songs, finishing up just before midnight with a rousing version of my favorite - “Je suis fier d’etre Bourguignon” (I am proud to be Burgundian). Apparently I sang it with much gusto - as Anne-Françoise Gros came up to me afterward and remarked on my spirited rendition, and told me that as a result I had been “accepted as a true Burgundian”! I can’t think of much else that could make me happier!

Tomorrow is the auction itself, and a relatively quiet and calm day and a much-needed chance to recharge my batteries. More then…

Just a quick note of appreciation for the hotel Le Richebourg here in Vosne-Romanée. The three hardest things to find in France - a good shower, a great bed, and good climate control - are all here in top form. The Mongeard-Mugneret winemaking family owns and runs this place, and it makes a really comfortable home away from home. The mini pain au chocolat at breakfast rock, by the way…

Continuing now at the end of the day - too many wines to count, too much great food (lunch with my friend Lolo at Caves Madeleine, dinner at the Violots), and warmth and generosity that continues to amaze me every time I’m here. The 06’s are much better than anyone expected, and the early view of the 07s is really lovely - they’re fresh, bright, lovely fruit, pretty aromas, and will probably drink well young - all of which is good in my book. Huge thanks to Thierry Violot for sharing all the good stuff over dinner, including a spectacular bottle of ‘93 Pommard Rugiens that was hands-down the wine of the day…

A mere 47 exciting wines today - the full range at Pascal Bouley, François Lamarche, René Leclerc and Hubert-Verdereau, capped off by a lovely dinner at Les Jardins des Ramparts with Thiébault & Mariel Hubert and a killer bottle of Mugnier “Les Amoureuses” 2002. Yes, I am in heaven. And I can confirm yesterday’s findings that the 2006s are rockin’good. So far I’m a fan. The whole world is seemingly here for the auction and all the action this weekend - Beaune is buzzing and it feels very festive. I am completely knackered, and will report back in more detail later…

Well, nothing like easing into it slowly here. I had as full of a day as possible right out of the chute - tasting through the range at 5 domaines today, lunch at the new Table d’Olivier Leflaive in Puligny-Montrachet, and dinner at the estate in Morey-St. Denis with the entire Taupenot-Merme family. 67 Wines tasted in total, including a gorgeous ‘93 Charmes-Chambertin and a stunning ‘85 Combe d’Orveau from the Taupenot’s cellar. We are off to a nice start indeed!

The best news is that, from the first round of tastings yesterday, I am happy to report that I am very happy with the 2006s at this point. They are succulent, fruity, very friendly and forward at this stage in barrel. My first take is that, from the good producers - who worked dilligently in the vines and sorted rigorously - there will be a lot of crowd pleasing wines. It will not be across-the-board great like 2005, you will need to choose more carefully. I of course am happy to be your guide.Perhaps the major fault of the 2006s is that they are coming right after the 2005s. It’s tough to follow a once in a lifetime vintage, but nonetheless, we will have a lot of excellent juice for you next year. I started off down in the picturesque village of Mercurey this morning, visiting an exciting young producer who will likely become the next addition to the portfolio. I look forward to bringing in some really nice Mercurey red and white - excellent prices and killer quality at this estate - details soon…

Without boring you with all the details, suffice it to say that the entire range was a knockout at Philippe Chavy again this year. Ditto for Jean-Marc Millot - where the only problem is the minscule quantities available from 2006. He’s got only 2 barrels of the stunning Grands Echezeaux, 4 of his Clos Vougeot, 4 of the Suchots - unfortunately I think the word “allocation” is on our future. I loved the 06s at Anne & Hervé Sigaut in Chambolle (and I covet their house, might I add), and at Taupenot-Merme the entire range is impressive again. I am exhausted but very happy, and am looking forward to round two tomorrow - only 4 estates, just a light day…