“If Not Burgundy, Then Where?”

Burgundy is a region that has become a paradigm for a different kind of classic wine. Not wine as an estate’s brand (Bordeaux) or a time- and space-consuming technical process (Champagne), but wine as a farmer putting wine into a bottle, elegance over raw power, small-scale transmission of place. For that reason, it’s historically been embraced by geeks and poets as much as it’s been wielded as a weapon of high luxury. 
 
Unfortunately, over the long haul, the money’s been winning. The geeks and poets are being priced out. The wines—and there were never that many of them!—are disappearing into vaults and tax shelters. 
 
So where do we go from here? I’m not saying, ‘stop drinking Burgundy’. But what if what you love about it is being evoked in more places, by more people, than ever before?  
   
The Place   
We’ll be meeting in one of the pavilions at Rule of Thirds, in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, which are magical places to taste: a handful of seats around a small communal bar, enclosed in wood panels and movable screens.    
  
The Journey
I’ve raided the cellar at Leon & Son for wines that do what I love Burgundy for doing. We’ll taste something made from chardonnay or pinot noir, just to keep us grounded, but mostly we’ll be venturing further. We’ll be uncorking bottles made by growers, defined by grace, that unlock the particularities of place. 
   
The Bottom Line
There will be two seatings, in two different pavilions, at 5:30 and 7:30PM on Monday, November 8th. Tickets are $120 per person inclusive of tax and gratuity. Seatings are limited to 8 people. 
   
Altogether, we’ll talk through six or seven different wines over an hour and a half. If you’d like to stay for dinner, the pavilion is yours for the night. You’ll have the option at checkout to select a small food & sake supplement that will land at the tasting’s end and transition you to the rest of your evening’s dining (after that, you get to drive). 
 
These are wines that have surprised and moved me; I hope they will you, too.