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

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)

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.

One of the most exciting gathering at this year’s festival was the Chambolle-Musigny tasting and seminar with New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov (above, right) and leading sommelier and author Raj Parr (left) — two of the leading Burgundy experts in the U.S. today.

Brett Zimmerman MS, founder of the Boulder Burgundy Festival (center), presented them at this year’s marquee event, which was held in the ballroom of the St. Julien Hotel.

As we’ve seen in years past, it’s always exciting to have such brilliant presenters for the seminar (last year, we were joined by Master of Wine Jancis Robinson and legacy Volnay producer Étienne de Montille).

But this year, the standing-room crowd of 150 + persons (including another leading wine writer, Jeb Dunnuck, and Master of Wine Ashley Hausman Vaughters) just seemed rapt by both the speakers and the wines themselves — an extraordinary flight of wines and styles from Chambolle-Musigny.

Where Raj delivered a superb talk on the appellation itself, including a virtual climb up the côte and his description of how the soils change from the bottom to the top of the hill, Eric offered invaluable insights into how perceptions of these wines has changed over a generation of Burgundy lovers. There couldn’t have been a more perfect balance between the technical and geeky, the sensorial and the intellectual.

What a great seminar!

We still haven’t lined up the speakers for the 2018 festival but this one is going to be tough to beat…

There’s a running joke each year at the Boulder Burgundy Festival. Ever since Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman began inviting leading wine writers to speak at the gathering — Ray Isle (Food & Wine), Master of Wine Jancis Robinson (Financial Times), and this year’s keynote speaker Eric Asimov (New York Times), they all say the same thing.

“It’s my first time to Boulder and my first time dining at Frasca,” they all have said, “and I’ve come on the one night of the year that Frasca is a French restaurant.”

They are referring to the fact that Frasca, one of the most acclaimed fine dining destinations in the U.S., is actually an Italian restaurant with a focus on the foods and wines of Friuli.

Of course, it’s no secret that chef and co-owner of the restaurant Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson studied and cooked in France before his interest shifted to Italy and Friuli more specifically. He also cooked at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry in California where he met Master Sommelier Bobby Stuckey (above, right) who would become his business partner when they opened Frasca together in 2004.

So it’s safe to say that guests at the festival’s Saturday night dinner were in good hands!

It was quite an evening: Between an unbelievable selection of old and rare Burgundy selected by legendary importer Danny Haas (Vineyard Brands), keynote speaker Eric Asimov, and too many Master Sommeliers to count, the event was one of the festival’s best ever.

Photo by M. Thurk Photography.

Jenn and Brett Zimmerman welcomed New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov (above, right) last night to Frasca where guests dined with the wine writer and American legacy importer Danny Haas of Vineyard Brands, whose wines were featured at the gathering.

And the weather couldn’t have been more perfect or more picturesque for yesterday’s event at the Flagstaff House with its sweeping views. Here are a few glimpses from yesterday’s Paulée-inspired lunch.

What a thrill for the festival organizers to welcome wine writer Eric Asimov last night at the Exceptional Burgundy Dinner last night at PMG restaurant, where owner Emily Gold and her team served a truly superb French country-style meal.

That’s festival founder Brett Zimmerman MS (right, standing) presenting the wines and introducing Eric (left) to guests.

There are just a few spots left for Eric’s Sunday seminar on the wines of Chambolle-Musigny. He will be joined by sommelier Raj Parr for the discussion and tasting.

What an extraordinary flight of wines to kick off the festival!

This morning Jason Smith MS, Jay Fletcher MS, Ashley Hausman Vaughters MW, and Brett Zimmerman MS (below, from left) presented a spectacular lineup of “old and rare” wines.

It was also great to have acclaimed wine writer Jeb Dunnuck (below) with us for the tasting.

Most agreed, as Brett put it, that the 1988 Clos de Tart was a “lights out” wine. An unforgettable flight and tasting.

Stay tuned for more…

Each year our guests tell us that one of the most memorable events at the festival is the Grand Tasting, where more than 200 wines are poured by the distributors who represent these elite properties in the U.S.

Not only do you get to taste the 200+ labels at the same event (which, in itself, makes the ticket cost an excellent value) but you get to experience these wines with some of the most knowledgable wine professionals working in the U.S. today.

Like all of the festival volunteers, these women and men are among the top wine pros in the country and they literally live and breathe Burgundy. Most of them have traveled to the properties they represent and most are veterans of the Burgundy wine trade. And because they work so closely with the producers, they are intimately familiar with the wineries, the winemakers, and the vineyards where the wines are grown and raised.

There’s nowhere else in the world that such a simpatico group of Burgundy lovers convenes and there couldn’t be a better way to “wrap your mind” around Burgundy and its wines than the Boulder Burgundy Festival Grand Tasting.

Click here for registration details.