I can offer you so many different experiences that we only have our imaginations and practical possibility to hold us back.

I like to meet with you as soon as possible when you arrive in Burgundy to find out a little bit about you and your interests.

then we finalise our plans together and make sure to allow room for some spontaneous possibilities!

Thank you to Margaret and her family who came to stay at 10pulignymontrachet at Christmas 2013 from Victoria, Australia and who sent me this picture plus two more in the slider above…

I have been told by guests that it is hard for them to understand what is special and different about what I do until I do it and then they love it! A great friend Theresa from Philadelphia suggested these words “this is a special service in that – unlike group tours/wine tastings – working with Pascal is like having your own wine expert in your family. One of the biggest attractions of his services is that he will create them exactly to your needs, without any reliance on picking something from column A and something from column B”. I think that’s it – you will never get the same experience twice!

The kinds of experiences I offer include:

• Wine tastings at home or with the winemaker
• Tips on up & coming wine makers who are still very reasonably priced
• Personalised visits to the vineyards with expert commentaries
• Insights into wine & its creation, which both beginners & experienced wine lovers will find fascinating
• Visits to, or advice on, restaurants which are off the beaten track
• Soirées at home with cookery demonstrations & wine tasting.
• I know every wine maker in the immediate vicinity and many beyond. I can facilitate visits to not-so-famous (ie less expensive) but every bit as excellent winemakers as the makers whose names you will know. This is completely different from a “touristic” visit.
• I can sometimes also pull some very special things out of my hat. But this depends on timing, what my friends and contacts have got on at the time etc etc and so I cannot set out any examples here.

 

Some of the projects I have taken on in the last year include:

• A large group wanted help selecting wines for a party whilst staying at my friends’ holiday rental in Puligny. We set a budget and selected a range from the basic but excellent to the out of this world for their adventure together.
• A couple wanted a basic lesson in how to taste wine, how to enjoy it and how to take their skills further. We walked the vineyards, experienced the terroir and then had both horizontal and vertical tastings to bring it all together – marvelous!
• One couple wanted to research red and white wines to use for their son’s wedding in August 2013. The challenge was to find excellent wines within a budget of €8 per bottle. In the event, they said that they were spoilt for choice.
• One group were tasked by me to shop for superb local ingredients for a tasting evening at home. We then strolled together through the vineyards where the wines we were going to be drinking start out, finishing up at the local fine-wine bar to buy the wines for the tasting. I was also given a budget for a few surprise additions to the evening.
• Another group asked me to select and accompany them as their guest to a couple of restaurants (one very fine and one bistrot type but really excellent) where I helped to select  the wines on the basis of what is drinking well now and conducted an informal tasting.