A Quieter La Paulée Gala at Scott & Kate’s
While some friends were heading to the spectacle of the La Paulée 2026 San Francisco Gala Dinner to cap off a week of Burgundy excess, we conspired to do the opposite.
No ballroom.
No stage.
No trophy magnums flying across tables.
Just six bottles we could actually pay attention to — and dinner cooked the way I admire most.
Scott’s cooking is very deliberate. He uses excellent ingredients and doesn’t hide them behind complexity. The dishes are minimal in composition — not a long list of components — but every element is placed intentionally. The proteins are cooked exactly right. The sauces are refined but restrained. The seasoning is thoughtful, not loud. It’s gourmet without being fussy. Nothing feels decorative or excessive.
That restraint is what makes it work so well with serious wine. The food supports the bottle without competing for attention.
Another unforgettable night at Scott & Kate’s. Thank you both for the generosity and friendship — and for continuing to elevate my cooking and wine nerdery. Harumi, thank you for bringing the Dujac.
Champagne & Sashimi
We opened Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle N°26 with a pristine sashimi spread — tuna, salmon, hamachi, daikon, a touch of soy and salt.
Grand Siècle is Laurent-Perrier’s prestige multi-vintage blend, constructed to recreate the idea of a “perfect year” through blending exceptional vintages. It’s precise, high-toned, structurally driven.
It showed impressive precision and drive, but for my palate it emphasized tension over breadth, coming across a bit too acidic and sharp. I’m drawn to Champagnes with more volume and vinosity — like Bérêche, Egly-Ouriet, Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, Krug, Bollinger R.D., or Billecart-Salmon’s Cuvée Louis Blanc de Blancs and Cuvée Nicolas François. With the sashimi the acidity did its job beautifully, cutting cleanly through the fat, but it didn’t quite captivate me.
Blind Whites — 2023 Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru “Les Pucelles”
Next: seared scallops over edamame with a blood-orange reduction finished with soy and butter. Sweet, slightly sour, glossy, delicious.
The two whites were poured blind.
My first impression: village-level white Burgundy from a warm vintage. Ripe fruit, sweet oak tones, generous mid-palate. I did not immediately see the layered restraint or mineral precision I associate with top Pucelles, a vineyard sitting just below Bâtard-Montrachet and long considered one of Puligny’s most refined Premier Crus.
The wines were:
Alvina Pernot — Les Pucelles
Barolet-Pernot — Les Pucelles
A bit of context on both.
The Pernot name is deeply embedded in Puligny-Montrachet. Paul Pernot built one of the village’s benchmark domaines, and over time vineyard holdings were divided among family members, leading to multiple Pernot-labeled estates.
Alvina Pernot, granddaughter of Paul Pernot, represents the next generation. Since launching her domaine in 2018, she has been pushing for greater precision in élevage — dialing back heaviness, seeking clarity and energy. Of the two wines, hers showed better balance and more definition. More cut. More intention.
Barolet-Pernot is directly tied to the Pernot family. In 1957, André Barolet married Huguette Pernot — sister of Paul Pernot. Through that marriage, Pernot family parcels, including holdings in Les Pucelles, became part of the Barolet side. Over time the estate transitioned from selling fruit to bottling its own wines, and today Romain Barolet-Pernot represents the fourth generation.
In the glass, their 2023 Pucelles felt broad and somewhat monolithic — generous fruit, noticeable oak sweetness, solid structure but less articulation. It showed scale and presence more than finesse. Compared to Alvina’s version, it leaned toward weight rather than precision.
In isolation, I might have critiqued both more strictly.
With the scallops and blood-orange sauce, however, the warmth of the vintage worked. The ripe fruit and sweet oak echoed the glaze beautifully. Context changed the perception.
Still, compared with several 2023 whites shown at La Paulée, these didn’t strike me as the most incisive examples of the vintage.
2023 Forey Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Petits Monts vs. Les Gaudichots
Main course: seared duck breast, marinated and seared portobellos, and a Pinot Noir reduction sauce.
Textbook Burgundy pairing.
We opened two 2023 Vosne-Romanée 1er Crus from Forey Père & Fils:
Les Petits Monts
Les Gaudichots
Run today by Régis and Quentin Forey, Forey has quietly become one of Vosne’s increasingly compelling estates — structured, traditional, serious. The family has owned parcels in some of the village’s most prized sites for generations, and they farm and vinify with a classical mindset: firm structure, thoughtful élevage, and a clear respect for site over flash.
Les Gaudichots is one of the most historically intriguing Premier Crus in Vosne. The vineyard lies directly below La Tâche and near Malconsorts — prime Vosne real estate by any measure. In the early 20th century, when Domaine de la Romanée-Conti consolidated La Tâche into its present monopole, significant portions of what had been Gaudichots were absorbed into La Tâche. What remains today is tiny — less than a hectare in total, divided among only a few owners.
Forey holds roughly a third of the remaining Gaudichots and is one of the very few producers to bottle it consistently under its own name. Other fragments are in the hands of Machard de Gramont and Dujac, though in Dujac’s case the vines are incorporated into their Malconsorts rather than labeled as Gaudichots.
What survives as Gaudichots today sits literally in the shadow of Grand Cru greatness and shares similar soils and exposure. It has never been elevated beyond Premier Cru, but its pedigree, rarity, and proximity make a compelling case for its stature.
In the glass, the 2023 Gaudichots was the wine of the night.
Complex already.
Mushroom and forest floor hints.
A sweet/savory preserved-plum / hoisin sauce nuance.
Tree bark.
Structure.
It had architecture.
Les Petits Monts — located upslope above Richebourg — was prettier and more red-fruited. Feminine. Open. Charming. But next to the Gaudichots, it felt lighter framed.
With duck and mushrooms, the Gaudichots was seamless.
2010 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts
For the cheese course, Harumi opened a serious bottle: 2010 Domaine Dujac Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Aux Malconsorts.
Domaine Dujac was founded in 1967 when Jacques Seysses purchased Domaine Graillet in Morey-Saint-Denis. He renamed it “Domaine du Jacques,” which quickly contracted into Dujac — a simple fusion of du Jacques.
Jacques was not born into Burgundian wine aristocracy. Before buying vines, he trained himself through harvest work and apprenticed with Gérard Potel at Domaine de la Pousse d’Or in Volnay. That early exposure shaped his technical foundation.
Seysses has long cited DRC as the stylistic north star — particularly its ability to combine perfume, structure, and longevity. Dujac adopted whole-cluster fermentation and meticulous vineyard work partly in pursuit of that same balance between aromatic lift and structural depth.
Over time, Dujac expanded beyond its original Morey-Saint-Denis holdings — which included Clos de la Roche and Clos Saint-Denis — into other elite Côte de Nuits sites, adding Charmes-Chambertin in Gevrey and, in Vosne-Romanée, a significant parcel of Aux Malconsorts.
Their holding in Aux Malconsorts is one of the jewels of the estate.
Malconsorts sits directly against La Tâche — literally sharing a border — and is widely considered one of the greatest Premier Crus in all of Burgundy. In the hierarchy of 1ers, Malconsorts belongs in the top tier, alongside names like Clos des Epeneaux (Pommard), Clos Saint-Jacques (Gevrey), and Cros Parantoux (Vosne). It is powerful, structured, and often the most Grand Cru-like of Vosne’s Premier Crus.
Dujac’s parcel is particularly prized. It lies in the upper section of Malconsorts, contiguous with La Tâche, and includes vines that historically touched the Gaudichots sector before boundary formalizations. The soils — thin topsoil over limestone — produce wines of depth and tension.
The 2010 vintage only amplifies that structure. A classic year: high acidity, firm tannins, long aging curve.
On this night, the wine opened tight. Even with some air, it only hinted at classic Dujac signatures — whole-cluster spice, savory red and dark fruit, stem lift, and a vertical, architectural build. Composed and serious, but muted. In hindsight, we should have opened it earlier. It felt young — less emotionally immediate than the 2023 Gaudichots.
Timing matters.
Cheese
The trio:
Morbier — supple, nutty, the ash line adding character.
A large Époisses-style washed rind — creamy, pungent, savory.
Golden Gate Washed Rind from Marin French Cheese Co. — earthy, mellow, beautifully textured.
The washed rinds amplified the Dujac’s savory dimension; the Morbier highlighted its acidity.
Instead of gala noise, we had focus.
Instead of spectacle, we had conversation.
There’s something grounding about sitting around a wooden table, debating vineyard history while duck rests properly and sauce reduces slowly.
Scott cooks in a way that makes wine the center of gravity without ever announcing it. The dishes are composed, precise, unfussy — and they allow Burgundy to speak clearly.
Another classic dinner at Scott & Kate’s. The kind that warms the soul, sharpens the palate, and reminds me why Burgundy is best experienced quietly.
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