On one of my last days in Burgundy I was tasting at Domaine de la Vougeraie and the winemaker, Pascal, noted that he was going to be in Chicago the Monday after Thanksgiving and invited us to join him for a wine dinner. It was held upstairs at Bistro Margaux in Old Town (so aptly named a neighborhood) in Chicago. The food was so-so, but the wine was divine. The wine that stands out for me is an extremely unique white wine that is a monopole (a monopoly, duh: Le Clos Blanc de Vougeot. The vineyard is surrounded by red wine vineyards and is walled off. The wine (we drank a 2001) has incredibly minerality and a tinge of richness (this is one I’d like to retaste in about 5 years), but the finish is really special. It goes on and on and on.

Afterwards we went to Avec and uncorked some so-so wines and then bought a wine from an incredible Italian producer who has rescued these near-extinct indigenous grape varietals. I have had two of his reds and one of his whites, and they are some of the most unique and pleasant wines I have tasted in a long time. His name is Emilio Bulfon. His bottles are very distinct; they all have an old school, pre-Renaissance images of Jesus and the apostles (or some shit like that) with those yellow halos.