A Very Special Bordeaux Dinner (and Opportunity!)
As many of you know, I took over a number of our head wine buying duties last Fall and I'm now heavily involved in both the Bordeaux and Burgundy departments, traveling with our owners to taste each new vintage moving forward. During that time I've made a number of friendships and acquaintances, which I've continued to develop and maintain via email. When I made my first official en primeur trip to Bordeaux in 2016, I was most taken and impressed by the wines of Hélène Garcin-Lévéque, the owner of chateaux Barde-Haut, Clos l'Eglise, Poesia, and d'Arce on Bordeaux's Right Bank. Based in St. Emilion, she was my Bordeaux counterpart—a person firmly interested in tradition, but willing to buck the old ways when necessary in the interest of inclusivity. She was the only person who didn't serve us beef when we visited her home, and her youthful approach to wine enjoyment captivated me immediately.
So why am I telling you this here on the spirits blog?
I'm not the Bordeaux guy (yet) who's going to wax philosophically about how the 1962 Lafite was better than the 1985. I don't have those chops at this point in my career. I'm simply here to bring you on the journey with me, just like I've been doing with spirits for the last eight years. While I can't give you the level of expertise I'd like to at this point (although every day I get a bit better) I can create opportunities for my customers to have their own epiphanies, while gaining some insight into what might be a new and exciting hobby. That's why I've put together one of the coolest dual events ever, one that should be of equal interest to the Bordeaux veteran and newcomer. On Thursday, August 31st we'll have a Redwood City in-store tasting with Hélène between 5 PM and 6:30 PM where you can walk in and taste previews of the fantastic 2015 vintage (still not yet released!), along with a few other gems for a mere five bucks.
Pretty cool, right? I had to fly all the way to France to taste those samples, but you can drive over to the Redwood City store and taste them for only a few dollars.
That's not it though.
If you want to go even further, you can join us at Donato afterward at 7:30 PM for a pre-fixe dinner where Hélène will unveil advance samples of the even more heralded 2016 vintage, one that has been heavily lauded for the last few months during our en primeur campaign. You'll get the chance to taste wines that so far only wine writers and retailers have had the chance to taste, and you'll get to compare them with the 2014 vintage, as well as library editions from 2000 and 2005.
You not only get to do this, you also get to eat dinner with one of Bordeaux's iconic personalities and (in true David Driscoll fashion) you're going to get to do it for only fifty bucks.
Let's recap:
August 31st - special Redwood City walk-in tasting - 5 PM to 6:30 PM - $5
- 2015 Clos d'Eglise (sold for $80 on pre-arrival)
- 2015 Barde-Haut (sold for $35 on pre-arrival)
- 2015 Poesia (sold for $40 on pre-arrival)
- 2015 d'Arce (sold out at $17)
- plus a few other gems
August 31st - special K&L dinner at Donato - 7:30 PM - $50
- 2014 d'Arce $16.99
- all of the above wines, and dinner for fifty bucks.
You can reserve your spot below. I only have room for forty people and I'm offering them to the spirits blog readers first because I think this is an amazing opportunity for budding Bordeaux enthusiasts. I can promise you that as soon I as send this out to the Bordeaux list, there will be people fighting for every spot available and they will be gone in a heartbeat. I'd like to see some new blood in the category, however.
I hope some of you can make it out, either to the in-store tasting, or the dinner, or both!
A Special Bordeaux Dinner w/ Helene Garcin @ Donato, Redwood City - August 31st; 7:30 PM - $50 - Join us at Donato Enoteca in Redwood City on Thursday, August 31st as we sit down with esteemed Bordeaux winemaker Helene Garcin-Leveque for a very special sneak peak of the heralded 2016 vintage with preview samples of her Clos l'Eglise, Barde-Haut, and d'Arce properties. Also included will be a side by side look at the current 2014 releases, as well as special library editions of 2000 Barde-Haut and 2000 Clos l'Eglise. The cost of the tasting, your pre-fixe meal, and gratuity are all included for an amazing price of only fifty dollars. Space is very limited and tickets are first come, first served.
-David Driscoll