Bal Harbour

P H OTO BY JA M E S C F R E N C H (J O B A R D) ; C O U R T E S Y O F L A PAU L É E s the annual celebration of Burgundy wine known as La Paulée kicked off its 25th anniversary gala in New York this spring, an eager mix of winemakers and collectors filed into Pier Sixty, the cavernous event space on the Hudson River, toting precious finds from their cellars. Every one of them had brought wine to share. As they inched up to the check-in table, dinner seating assignments were doled out and bottles taken in. In the "war room," the main staging area at the back of the house, a brigade of sommeliers processed the deliveries—tagging, uncorking, chilling, and tasting through every bottle. "It gets pretty harried, pretty crazy, pretty quickly," said La Paulée's Director of Operations Raj Vaidya, leading a behind-the- scenes tour. Bottles were assigned to sections of the room corresponding to tables in the dining room. It was easy to spot where the most serious collectors would sit. Their prime vintages of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Domaine G. Roumier, and Domaine Leroy, among other big-ticket bottles, glistened like jewels, wrapped in protective cellophane bags. For the anniversary gala, so many guests had dug deep into their cellars. "This is the kind of night where it will be heavy everywhere," said Vaidya, of the bottles brought in. Some 50 sommeliers from across the country, many among the biggest names in the business, had signed on to work the event, happy to pitch in unpaid, given the wines they'll pour—and taste—at what may be the world's most over-the-top BYO dinner party. With top Burgundies sometimes pricier than a new car these days, for many wine professionals many of the bottles passed around freely at La Paulée would be otherwise entirely out of reach. "It's all-volunteer," said David Gordon, the former wine director of the recently shuttered Tribeca Grill, who worked the event for 25 years but was attending, for the first time, as a guest this year. "But where else do you get to taste these crazy wines?" he continued. "Even if you don't get to try every bottle, there's always something exceptional available." The cult of Burgundy that has exploded in the US over the last 30 years owes much to this annual bacchanal—catered this year by chefs Daniel Boulud, César Troisgros, and Jungyhun Park. What began as a small gathering of niche collectors and Burgundy winemakers in the spring of 2000 has blown up into a global phenomenon and spawned a consulting and events business with tentacles across the wine world. La Paulée (paulée refers to a traditional grape harvest gathering popular in the Burgundy region) isn't just a banquet today, but a full week of affiliated dinners and tastings. And it has inspired countless imitators, with copycat events springing up in Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia, among other places. For American Burgundy nuts, the New York galas, and their sister banquets in San Francisco, have become the social events of the year, known for their carnival spirit and the extreme generosity of their guests. Sharing is the name of the game here. Large-format magnums and jeroboams are quickly drained as they make their way across the room, the table-hopping growing more frenzied as the night wears on. At the New York gala this year, Jay McInerney, the novelist-turned–wine columnist, wobbled through the crowd clutching a magnum of Domaine Dujac, with a frayed label, from 1979. "This is the rarest wine in the room," he boomed, pouring out tastes. "I have no idea when or where I got it." A young collector approached with his own baller bottle. "I'll trade you my La Tache for your Dujac," he offered. A bottle Writer Jay Cheshes snags an invite to La Paulée, the world's most over-the-top BYOB—that's Bring Your Own Burgundy—dinner party, which this year celebrated 25 years of exceptional vintages. Cheers! " The sommeliers at La Paulée all volunteer their time. But where else do you get to taste these crazy wines?" — DAVID GOR DON Paulée de Meursault President Antoine Jobard pours from a jeroboam of his wine. Chef Daniel Boulud raises La Paulée de New York founder Daniel Johnnes in the air at the inaugural event in 2000. BALHAR B O U RSH O P S .CO M

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