Debbie Miller Nelson's Trip to France, Part 6

All of our managers and wine staff travel at least once a year to a wine-growing region somewhere throughout the world. Traveling is one of the many aspects of UWS that sets us apart from other wine shops. We know that by meeting the winemakers, walking the vineyards and tasting new wine from the barrel, we can see first-hand the passion that goes into each bottle. We can then convey this commitment to quality to our customers. Rather than having you just looking at a label and a score, we believe it is our responsibility to bring you closer to how the wine was made and the people who made it. We'll be sharing their trip reports with you here on the Blog.

In June 2011, Debbie Miller Nelson, Wine Manager, had the privilege of traveling to France and immersing herself in French food, culture, and most importantly, wine!


We drive to Mersault to see one of the most prestigious Burgundy houses, Domaine Jacques Prieur. We met winemaker Nadine Gublin who is one of the 35 women winemakers in Burgundy. She has been with the company since 1990 and is a current shareholder. I am in awe of her intelligence and her craft.

She briefly shows us around the winery and explains her practice of cork control. With each bag of corks she receives, she takes a few, soaks them overnight in water and if any test for TSA (aka cork taint), the whole lot goes back. Pretty impressive!


She takes us to an area with a tasting table and a map (oh, yeah, everyone has a wall map) to taste through the 2009 vintage (the 2010 is still in malolactic fermentation and tough to taste).


We also meet Edouard Labruyere who is in charge of the business end, exports, etc.


Prieur, like the Vincents, have a new Beaujolais for us to sample and it is impressive. I spoke briefly with Edouard to talk about his previous vintages and later one of my traveling companions told me that Edouard was impressed by me! WOW!

We go into town for a whole 15 minutes to shop. I bought nothing. This is way too much pressure for me.


We then traveled to Gevrey-Chambertin and stop for lunch at Chez Guy where I had the most amazing beef cheek. Next stop Domaine Humbert Freres!


In Stock (Extremely limited):
J Prieur Echezeaux 2006 BC $194.99
J Prieur Montrachet 2006 BC $509.99
J Prieur Musigny 2006 BC $269.99
J Prieur Chavalier Montrachet BC $387.99