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Sunday Chablis Brunch, a cherished festival tradition

Ask any festival veteran and they will tell you that one of the gathering’s most cherished traditions is the Sunday Chablis brunch.

The popularity of the event is owed partly to the fact that the brunch is a great way to trade notes and visit with fellow festival-goers before the marquee seminar and grand tasting later in the day.

Never rushed and always a cozy affair, the Chablis Brunch is also a wonderful opportunity to taste a wide spectrum of wines from Chablis — not something you get to do every day. And besides, who doesn’t like to start the day off with some 1er and Grand Cru Chablis?

Click here to register.

Sunday, November 4

Sit down Chablis Brunch at Arcana Restaurant

1st Course:

2015 Vincent Dauvissat Chablis
2016 Eleni et Edouard Vocoret ‘Bac de Chapelot’ Chablis

2nd Course:

2014 Louis Michel ‘Sechets’ 1er Cru (from MAGNUM)
2014 Louis Michel ‘Vaudesir’ Grand Cru (from MAGNUM)

3rd Course:

2016 Bernard Defaix Chablis Grand Cru Bougros
2007 Daniel-Etienne Defaix ‘Grenouilles’ Grand Cru

Arcana Restaurant
10:00 am
$95 per person all-inclusive

Exceptional Burgundy Dinner featuring the wines of North Berkeley Imports (11/2)

Above: Biodynamic grower Domaine Magnien doesn’t allow tractors or other machinery in its vineyards. Horses are used instead. The horses don’t weigh as heavily on the soil and this helps the biodiversity of the vineyards. They don’t bring any chemical residue with them. And their droppings are natural fertilizer (image via the Domaine Magnien site).

“For those just beginning their exploration,” write the editors of importer North Berkeley’s website, “Magnien Burgundy is the ideal gateway to truly understanding the myriad tastes that this wine region promises. Each of Magnien’s many exemplary crus brings you closer to the true meaning of terroir…”

Magnien’s wines will be featured at the Exceptional Burgundy Dinner featuring the wines of North Berkeley Imports on Friday night of the festival (November 2). There are still spots available for this extraordinary event but they are going fast.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Friday, November 2

Exceptional Burgundy Dinner featuring the wines of North Berkeley Imports

Exceptional Burgundy dinner at Corrida Restaurant with a selection of special wines from the outstanding North Berkeley Burgundy wines.

Reception

2004 Jean Vesselle, Petite Clos, Grand Cru, Champagne

1st Course

2012 Guy Robin Chablis Valmur Grand Cru

2012 Guy Robin Chablis Le Clos Grand Cru

2nd Course

2000 Frederic Magnien Chambolle-Musigny Charmes 1er (Magnum)

2001 Frederic Magnien Chambolle-Musigny Charmes 1er (Magnum)

3rd Course

2013 Domaine Gerard Raphet Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru ‘Cuvee Unique’

2012 Philippe Livera (Domaine des Tilleuls) Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru Vieilles Vignes Reserve

Dessert

NV Mas Amiel Maury Cuvée Speciale 10 Ans d’Age

Corrida Restaurant
6:00 pm
$295 per person all-inclusive

“Old and Rare” tasting offers a unique opportunity to taste unicorn wines

As every year, the festival gets its official start with the “Old and Rare” tasting and auction. Master Sommelier Jay Fletcher bases his selections on what he feels is drinking well and what will appeal to top collectors. The monies raised from the auction and ticket sales go to Boulder Burgundy Festival causes.

CLICK HERE FOR EVENT DETAILS AND REGISTRATION INFO.

Thursday, November 1st
Old and Rare Burgundy Tasting and Silent Auction

Old and rare Burgundy wine tasting and silent auction will be hosted by Master Sommeliers Jay Fletcher, and Brett Zimmerman with proceeds benefiting the Somm Foundation and Boulder Burgundy Festival NFP.

The tasting will include a selection of extremely rare and old wines from the Somm Foundation cellar. We will enjoy passed appetizers from PMG and taste some of the great wines of Burgundy while bidding on rare wines from the Somm Foundation cellar. Jay Fletcher is the cellar master for this amazing cellar and will be personally selecting these special wines for the tasting and auction.

This is a special opportunity to taste old and rare Burgundy wine while supporting two outstanding charitable foundations.

PMG Restaurant, 2018 10th St, Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 786-8585

5:30 pm – 8:30 pm
$225 per person all-inclusive (50 tickets available)

BBF features Beaujolais for the first time with seminar by 3 Masters of Wine

The Boulder Burgundy Festival will be featuring Beaujolais for the first time this year. And sweetening the deal, the seminar and tasting of Beaujolais single-vineyard wines will be presented by three — yes, count ’em — three Masters of Wine!

About the event:

Friday, November 2

Dear Burgundy, Lighten Up. Love, Beaujolais. A Cru Beaujolais Wine Seminar.

An in-depth conversation highlighting the 10 crus of Beaujolais with Special Guests Doug Frost, MW, Ashley Hausman, MW, and Mary Margaret McCamic, MW.

The panel will be discussing the region and its terroir. Topics will include geography, climate, soil types, wine making techniques and philosophy used in Beaujolais. We will taste 10 top quality examples from each of the cru vineyards. This will be an amazing opportunity to learn about this exciting Burgundy region. Beaujolais is currently experiencing an amazing renaissance and this seminar will offer a comprehensive dive into this fast moving region.

Click here for event details, wines, and registration info.

Image via Beaujolais.com.

Featured cause: SommFoundation

Above: SommFoundation recently led a group of young wine professionals on a trip to Vinho Verde in Portugal.

The mission of the Guild of Sommeliers Education Foundation (“SommFoundation”) is to assist the wine and spirits professional to achieve the highest level of proficiency and accreditation in the food and beverage industry. It provides enrichment opportunities and scholarships to sommeliers, restaurant professionals, wine journalists, and winemakers to further their knowledge about the world of wine and spirits and elevate the level of competency in the understanding of the beverage profession. In 2017, it sent 102 Wine Professionals on 13 Enrichment Trips (Israel, Napa, Rias Baixas, Willamette, St. Emilion, & Tuscany to name a few). It also awarded over $120,000 in scholarships to 147 individuals from the US, Canada, Mexico and Asia.

Kelli White, one of this year’s featured speakers, writes regularly for the Guild of Sommeliers.

*****

Boulder Burgundy Festival is a not-for-profit 501c3 organization whose mission is to support education for aspiring wine professionals, medical aid for the needy, and meals for children facing hunger.

Our events celebrate the fine wines of Burgundy through educational seminars, tastings, and meals that raise money for those in need.

Image via the SommFoundation Facebook.

Featured cause: Chefs Cycle

Chefs Cycle is part of Share Our Strength, whose mission is to end hunger and poverty in the U.S. and abroad.

Share Our Strength’s founders believe that “everyone has a strength to share to help ensure every individual can live a healthy and productive life.”

Chef Cycle organizes fundraising endurance events featuring award-winning chefs and members of the culinary community.

The money it raises benefits programs, like No Kid Hungry, which seeks to end childhood hunger in the United States.

*****

Our events celebrate the fine wines of Burgundy through educational seminars, tastings, and meals that raise money for those in need.

Image via the No Kid Hungry (Shared Strength) Facebook.

Featured Cause: There With Care

Above: A There With Care volunteer collected donations to provide supplemental groceries to families facing a critical illness (from the There With Care Facebook).

There With Care is of the Boulder Burgundy Festival’s 2018 causes.

Our events celebrate the fine wines of Burgundy through educational seminars, tastings, and meals that raise money for those in need.

From the There With Care Website:

There With Care’s mission is to provide a wide range of thoughtful and fundamental services to children and families during the critical phase of a medical crisis. It serves families referred by medical agencies, by building a network of services and people who ease the burden of life’s day-to-day obligations with compassion and care.

When a family receives a medical diagnosis of critical illness for their child, the wholeness of the family is threatened. There With Care works with the hospitals and social workers to identify and ease the stresses for the families, giving them more time with their children. The meaningful support There With Care provides is unique to each family.

Acclaimed wine writer and sommelier Kelli White to speak at Sunday seminar

We couldn’t be more thrilled to announced that Kelli White, one of the top wine writers and sommeliers working in the U.S. today, will be joining us as a panelist for the Sunday morning seminar this year!

About Kelli:

Kelli A. White is the Senior Staff Writer for GuildSomm. Prior to that, her work as a sommelier, first at New York City’s Veritas and then at PRESS in St. Helena, has been covered by many of the wine industry’s top publications, including Food & Wine, Vinous, The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator, the San Francisco Chronicle, World of Fine Wine, and Forbes; in 2013 she was named one of Food & Wine’s top ten sommeliers in the country. Her writing has appeared in World of Fine Wine, Robb Report, Sommelier Journal, Le Pan, and Vinous. At Vinous, Kelli was a key member of the maps team, and worked with famed Italian cartographer Alessando Masnaghetti to map many of the appellations of Napa Valley. In 2016, she was nominated for the highly prestigious Roederer Award for Best Emerging Wine Writer. Her book, Napa Valley, Then & Now, was released in November of 2015 and has received enormous critical acclaim, winning both the IACP award for Best New Wine, Beer, or Spirits Book as well as a Graphis design award. In 2011, she co-founded a small wine brand called Houndstooth and she also made a brief appearance in 2015’s documentary Somm II: Into the Bottle. In October of 2016, Kelli led a wine tasting seminar at Fortune Magazine’s Most Powerful Women’s Summit in Laguna Niguel, CA. Most recently, she was nominated for Sommelier/Wine Director of the Year (2017) by Wine Enthusiast magazine.

More recently, she was nominated for another Roederer Award this year (Online Communicator) and was included in this year’s “40 Under 40” tastemakers list by the editors of Wine Enthusiast.

Registration for BBF 2018 now OPEN!

Click here a complete list of events and ticket links!

Registration for the Boulder Burgundy Festival 2018 is now OFFICIALLY OPEN!

This year’s gathering includes our best line-up to date, including a spectacular selection of library wines from North Berkeley Imports.

Here’s the flight of wines planned for the Saturday night marquee dinner at Frasca with Burgundy expert and wine writer Pierre Rovani:

Egly-Ouriet Brut Tradition Grand Cru, Champagne
2007 Remoissenet Puligny-Montrachet Les Folatieres 1er (Magnum)
2007 Remoissenet Beaune Marconnets 1er (Magnum)
2007 Remoissenet Beaune Greves 1er (Magnum)
2011 Remoissenet Chapelle Chambertin Grand Cru
2012 Remoissenet Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
1967 Remoissenet Clos Vougeot Grand Cru
2016 Remoissenet Meursault Blagny 1er

Click here to register for the event (which sells out quickly each year).

Click here a complete list of events and ticket links.

We regret that wine writer and novelist Jay McInerney is not going to be able to join us this year. He just informed us that an unforeseen family conflict makes it impossible for him to be with us at the 2018 festival.

But we are currently working to invite another Burgundy expert to join Pierre for the Sunday morning seminar. And we should be announcing the guest shortly. Stay tuned!

We look forward to seeing you at this year’s festival: Please register at your earliest convenience to ensure availability.

Boulder Burgundy Festival is now a non-profit.

Earlier this month, we received a letter from the IRS:

“We’re pleased to tell you,” it read, “we determined you’re exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). Donors can deduct contributions they make to you under IRC section 170. You’re also qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers or gifts under Section 2055, 2106, or 2522.”

The Boulder Burgundy Festival is now officially a non-profit. Not only are we now tax-exempt, but your support of the festival is also now valid as a charitable tax deduction.

Now in its eight year, the gathering has always been focused on raising awareness of and money for local charities. Over the years, we’ve raised tens of thousands of dollars for our partners.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to have finally achieved our 501(c)(3).

Please click here to read about this year’s causes.

And thank you for your continued support. We look forward to seeing you at this year’s festival.