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Sarah Markman (pictured above)
Wine importer, Chicago, Illinois, and Paris, France<\/p>\n
How many of these have you been to?
I\u2019ve been coming to La Paul\u00e9e for eight years. It\u2019s changed over time. It used to be kind of stodgy and really serious, and everybody felt very staid. Now it feels more like a party. There\u2019s much more dancing.<\/p>\n
How do you decide which bottles to bring?
It\u2019s really stressful. I went a little off the radar because I was sitting at a table with all the collectors and I knew there would be a lot of what I like to call \u201cFuck you\u201d bottles. So I tried to bring something a little younger, fresher, more lively\u2014an intermezzo between the old, rare bottles. The most interesting bottles I brought were a Cedric Bouchard La Bolor\u00e9e\u2014he makes his wines in a very Burgundian style\u2014and a Prieur\u00e9 Roch Bourgogne Blanc because that\u2019s what the sommeliers would want to drink. Everyone enjoyed tasting the Prieur\u00e9 Roch, but they didn\u2019t really get it. They were more excited when they saw how the somms reacted to it.<\/p>\n
Marcus Gillam<\/p>\n
Construction CEO, Toronto, Canada<\/p>\n
Luis Flores<\/p>\n
Wine specialist, Bushwick<\/p>\n
How did you get into wine?<\/p>\n
Before this, I was an accountant, but I really wasn\u2019t a fan of my career. I wanted to challenge myself, so what better industry to jump into than wine, where I had no idea what I was doing? I had zero knowledge. I didn\u2019t even drink alcohol.<\/p>\n
Andrew Gottlieb<\/p>\n
Global agency development lead, Greenpoint<\/p>\n
Lisa Simon<\/p>\n
Caviar-company founder, Sausalito, California<\/p>\n
Daniel Boulud<\/p>\n
Chef, Upper East Side<\/p>\n
Chef, you have a lot of friends here tonight. What\u2019s everyone talking about?<\/p>\n
They were saying, \u201cOh, younger people don\u2019t drink wine anymore.\u201d It\u2019s not true. My daughter went to Tufts with Wolfgang Puck\u2019s son. He called his father and said, \u201cCan you send me some wine? We\u2019re starting a wine society.\u201d Every college kid should be in one.<\/p>\n
Charlene Breggia<\/p>\n
Professor, Providence, Rhode Island<\/p>\n
Drew Nieporent<\/p>\n
Restaurateur, Piermont<\/p>\n
Sabra Lewis<\/p>\n
Wine adviser, Financial District<\/p>\n
What wine did you bring?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a secret. But I\u2019ll share some with you.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Henri Rougeot<\/p>\n
Winemaker, Meursault, France<\/p>\n
Faelan Switzer<\/p>\n
Head sommelier, Upper East Side<\/p>\n
Daniel Johnnes<\/p>\n
Founder and host of La Paul\u00e9e, Park Slope<\/p>\n
Can you tell me how La Paul\u00e9e started?<\/p>\n
Wineries in Burgundy celebrate the end of their harvest. They call it a paul\u00e9e, which came from the French term po\u00eale, a saut\u00e9 pan, which they\u2019d fill with food to feed the workers and pickers. A good friend of mine\u2019s great-grandfather started the tradition in the French village of Meursault. So 26 years ago I got his blessing to do the same thing in the United States.<\/p>\n
Sally Johnnes<\/p>\n
Manager of La Paul\u00e9e, Park Slope<\/p>\n
Rachel Grant<\/p>\n
Customer-success specialist, Lower East Side<\/p>\n
Ketlyne Edouard<\/p>\n
CPA, Woodland Park, New Jersey<\/p>\n
Do you consider yourself a wine expert?<\/p>\n
No. For me, it\u2019s just a journey of continual learning. If you\u2019re doing a blind taste, sometimes what you think it is might not be what\u2019s actually in the bottle. That can humble you.<\/p>\n
Jenny Tian<\/p>\n
Graduate student, Boston, Massachusetts<\/p>\n
Isiah Byrd<\/p>\n
Sommelier, East Village\u00a0<\/p>\n
How would you describe this event to someone not in the wine industry?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s like the Grammys of beautiful wine. If you love wine, you\u2019ll be here. Some of them are unicorn wines that I probably will never see again.<\/p>\n
Kimberly A. Burd<\/p>\n
Philanthropist, Sutton Place<\/p>\n
Julien Achard<\/p>\n
Senior operations manager, Edison, New Jersey<\/p>\n
\n Photographs by Frankie Alduino\n <\/p>\n
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\n If you prefer to read in print, you can also find this article in the April 6, 2026, issue of
\n New York\u00a0Magazine.<\/p>\n
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