Dispatch: Bastille Day Chez Lapierre

http://vimeo.com/71455954

Apologies for the lack of dispatches. I am back in Amsterdam for at least a week and I am excited to restart the telling of my tale.

I have been on an amazing adventure for the past three weeks since I posted and between some epic car issues, a ton of travel, and inconsistent wifi, I have not really had the energy, time or focus to post.

But I am determined to come back a vengeance.

Stay tuned later this week for wine and food adventures in Piemonte, the Italian Alps, and Germany as well.

So now let's look back to where my whole adventure turned into a bit of a blur…

The Lapierre family hosts an annual super-fete on the 13th and 14th of July. They invite what seems like the immediate world, roast some pigs, grill up sausages, tap endless barrels (yes barrels) of Morgon and proceed to throw down for real.

In attendance was a roll call of natural wine superstars.  Puzelat, Foillard, Guy Breton, Jean Thevenet, Overnoy, Houillon, Richaud, Lemasson, Descombes, Vionnet, Venier. I mean, honestly, everyone was there and they were ripping it up. I was just happy to be there.

Mathieu Lapierre and co. had constructed a big stage in the middle of their land and had invited a number of bands to perform.  There was a Roots Reggae group and a raucous French cover band whose singer broke into a full on Brian Jones AC/DC impression complete with the black cap, the rasp, and a thick French accent.

Perhaps the most impressive event of the evening was the epic samba performance by Mathieu Lapierre and his ensemble of drummers.  They performed for a good 30 minutes and kicked the energy up to new heights.

To be honest, most of the evening for me is a little fuzzy and unfortunately, I was not really in reporter mode.  I am not sure it would have even been possible to take images that would accurately capture the spirit of fun and celebration. It was raucous, heartfelt, warm, and super fun.  We finally crashed around 5 or so at the harvest dorm at chez Descombes.  I woke up the next day around 1 with what was officially the most earned and most brutal hangover I can remember.  I would take days to recover.