Wine dinners and maker visits.

Importer-led dinners and the occasional Sunday afternoon producer visit at the shop.

Smaller, deeper, more conversational than a big tasting.

Wine dinners and maker visits at Boulder Wine Merchant are intentionally small. Most have between fifteen and thirty seats. The format varies by the producer, but the structure is consistent: the importer or winemaker presents the wines in person, the team pours, and dinner is plated by a partner restaurant or catered to the shop. We rarely host more than six of these a year, and they fill quickly through our email list and at the counter.

Pricing varies. Most dinners run $150-$350 per person depending on the producer and the food partner. Maker visits at the shop — afternoon producer Q&A sessions with five or six wines — are usually free or nominal, walk-in friendly, and announced a week or two ahead.

Sancerre, Vouvray, Cabernet Franc with the importer.

A spring tradition: a five-course dinner organized around the cool-climate whites and reds of the central Loire. The importer who brings us our Sancerre, Vouvray, and Saumur-Champigny wines hosts and walks the table through each pour. Five wines, five courses, twenty-five seats.

Spotlight producers in past years: Domaine Vacheron, François Chidaine, Charles Joguet, Domaine Huet. The format gives time for real questions about vineyard work, vintage variation, and where the producer is heading next.

Dates announced March each year. Email info@boulderwine.com or ask in person to be added to the dinner notification list.

A Sunday afternoon at the shop with a Côte-Rôtie producer.

A standing summer event: when one of our Northern Rhône producers passes through Colorado, we host a Sunday afternoon visit at the shop. Five or six wines from the producer’s lineup, an hour and a half of conversation, light food. These are casual, walk-in events.

Recent visits have included Domaine Faury (Saint-Joseph), Maxime Graillot (Crozes-Hermitage), and Vincent Paris (Cornas). The Sunday format works well for serious customers who cannot get away on a weeknight, and the smaller scale means everyone gets time with the maker.

Watch the email list for announcements. We also post these on Google Business and Instagram about a week before the visit.

Multiple producer dinners during the festival weekend.

The Boulder Burgundy Festival, founded by Brett in 2012, takes over the shop and several Boulder restaurants each fall. Friday and Saturday evening dinners feature visiting Burgundy producers in conversation with festival attendees. These are the most ambitious dinners on our calendar and they sell out from the festival registration list.

Past dinner producers have included some of the most respected names in Burgundy — we keep the festival’s producer list confidential until the announcement to give registered attendees first access. The dinners are part of the full festival package; individual dinner tickets are released closer to the event if seats remain.

Festival dates announced spring/summer each year. The current event page is linked from the homepage when registration opens.

Wine Wednesdays, dinners, festival weekends, maker visits.

Everything we host on one page, updated weekly. Subscribe at the shop to get email announcements as soon as new dates are set.

More from the journal.