I received an invite to the annual Southern Wine & Spirits Pennsylvania portfolio tasting at 5:20 Monday evening. That was the good news, the bad was it started at 6:00 and would take me an hour to get there in rush hour traffic.
I arrived late, around 7:00 but went to the tables with the precision of a skilled surgeon. There were in the vicinity of 300 wines to choose from, so the spittoons really received a workout from me! Below are the wines that made the cut.
B.R. Cohn, Sonoma winery producing wines from a wide array of varietals. Chardonnay 2006, $21, straw color, bright fruit flavors of apple and citrus, with a nice background of vanilla balanced by mouthwatering acidity and a long finish.
Stuhlmuller Vineyards is located at the crossroads of the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River valleys. I am familiar with Chardonnay grapes coming out of their property and being made by Mazzocco vineyards, one of my favorite Cailifornia producers. Chardonnay, Estate 2006, $25, a lovely wine, nice fruit on the nose with nice balanced oak matching the evolving citrus flavors.
(more after the break!)
What transpires when you put a premier Oregon Winemaker, a noted Philadelphia Chef, and a top sommelier in the same room and tell them to play nice? If it happens to be Josh Bergstrom, winemaker extraordinaire from Bergstrom vineyards, Daniel Stern owner of Philadelphia restaurants Gayle / RAE, and Ryan Davis, RAE’s Sommelier and manager , you’re in for one hell of an evening.
I belong to a wine club called the “Dead Guys,” founded about ten years ago by Scot “Zippy” Ziskind , a builder/consultant of high-end wine cellars, and the owner of a wine storage facility with a “I’d have to kill you if I told you” address. The wines we drink were made before you were born, owned by guys that are dead, winemakers not here anymore, you get the picture. Anyway, we had a special “Drinking,” as we call them, Wednesday night.
For a little background, a wine collector named Hardy Rodenstock supposedly found a hidden cache of rare wine behind a brick wall in a house in Paris in the spring of 1985. Thomas Jefferson lived in Paris from 1784 to 1789 and purchased Chateau Lafite Rothschild from the Chateau. Some of the rare wines Hardy discovered were purported to be some of these bottles with the initials THJ etched into them. Later that year, one of these Thomas Jefferson Lafite’s went up for auction at Christie’s. Marvin Shanken–publisher of the Wine Spectator and Kip Forbes, Malcolm Forbes son were in a bidding war for the bottle. Kip won the bidding at a record $156,000! Unfortunately it ended up being counterfeit, Christie’s had egg on their face, and Hardy Rodenstock had a lot of explaining to do.
Ben Wallace wrote a book called “Billionaires Vinegar” about this saga and other Thomas Jefferson Lafite bottles sold to different collectors. In a word, buy the book and you will not put it down. We were lucky enough to have Ben come and speak about his research on the “Jefferson” bottles and techniques counterfeiters use to create a fake. Really fascinating stuff in a stranger than fiction sense.
Admission into the event was a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild, their second label, Carruades de Lafite, Chateau d’Quem, or another first or second growth Bordeaux.
Kim and I went out with some friends for our 20th wedding anniversary (Poor Kim!) to the Black Lab Bistro, one of our favorite BYO’s, in downtown Phoenixville, Pa. Originally known for its manufacturing, and the filming of the horror movie “The Blob”, it has gone through quite a revitalization with hip restaurants and bars, live music, and shopping. This place has all the ingredients for a fun night out.
We supplied the wine, which the Black Lab complimented with some wonderfully prepared food.
Almond crusted Goat Brie with poached fresh Figs went beautifully with the bright acidity, grass, and grapefruit notes of a 2005 Merry Edwards, Russian River Valley, Sauvignon Blanc, big for a Sauvignon, try and find a bottle, it is worth seeking out.
Calamari with tomato coulis and Poblano pepper Aioli, some would say a boring menu item but one I love to try whenever we’re out did not disappoint. Tender, lightly fried, with just the right amount of sauce drizzled on, had its spiciness complimented by the aromatic Honeysuckle and Vanilla flavors of a 2004 Turley “White Coat”, a Rhone blend of Roussanne and Viognier from San Luis Obispo from the Edna Valley. In a word, this wine ROCKS!
(more rocking after the break)
Morton’s Steakhouse and Riedel “Flow” stemware is quite the match in the coming months. Celebrating their 30th anniversary, Morton’s along with Riedel Crystal, is highlighting the difference a proper wineglass can have on a wine’s aroma and taste. Titled “From the vine to the glass”, It’s a great deal, for $65 you receive some really nice hors d’ oeuvre’s ( Filet mignon sandwiches, Broiled Sea scallops wrapped in Bacon, Chicken Goujonettes, and Key lime pie), four kick-ass wines (thanks to Jeff Yeck , at Southern Wine & Spirits), and four different pieces of crystal stemware from Riedel’s new “Flow” series ($60) to take home with you!
Jason and I had the pleasure to attend the Morton’s King of Prussia event Monday August 18. Nicole Morgenstern, Sales & Marketing Manager was our host, and did a nice job of coordinating the event. Doug Cohn, Regional Sales Manager for Riedel gave what ended up to be the best overall explanation and demonstration of how a wineglasses shape affects your ability to smell and taste all the aromas and flavors the winemaker intended to be there.
[more details on the wine and glasses after the break]
Would anyone like to venture a guess to what this title refers? Try 600 wines, 6 people, and 2 hours.
I was fortunate enough to attend the “Philadelphia Wine Festival”, sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), along with WineLog’s illustrious owners, Bill, Kim and Jason, my wife Kim, and Bill’s better half Veena.
This was an opportunity to try wines from all over the world, in addition to wines I had heard about and never tried. It was also an excellent chance to explore and expand my wine horizons with different varietals, regions, and producers. There was also opportunity to speak with some of the winemakers, Brand managers, and distributors’ representatives. With row upon row of tables the first task at hand was to plot out an approximate tasting order. I chose to begin with white, then red and finally the dessert wines. From a formal wine tasting perspective this is typical, but the downside is having to revisit tables for their other selections. A lot of extra work but, hey I like to make things complicated.
Okay, enough with the jabbering, my tasting notes are informal, here are the highlights:
Wines to try before I get old.
Are you tired of seeing certain wines reviewed or being auctioned for exorbitant prices? Do you often wonder, “what’s the big fuss”? Would you like an opportunity to voice your opinion? If so, what would be the wines you choose? I made a list of my current picks of the moment, a winemakers dozen, if you will. These wines are Old World biased, but when you grow grapes in the same place for thousands of years it’s going to help the quality a bit.
1. Le Montrachet: The Chardonnay, a 20 acre vineyard with approx.18 growers and 26 producers, straddling the villages of Puligny and Chassagne in the Cote de Beaune of Burgundy. The vineyard practices and winemaking of the best producers are meticulous to a fault. The wines from the Le Montrachet vineyard are some of the most age worthy whites produced, 10 years being the absolute minimum, unfortunately most is drunk much too soon. Patience has its rewards, but with the 2005’s priced over $500, I’ll drink any vintage offered.
2. Domaine Romanee Conti: (DRC) Legendary Burgundy producer of some of the finest and some would rightfully argue, the finest Pinot Noir grown on the planet. While there are six different wines: Romanee-Conti, La Tache, Richebourg, Romanee-St-Vivant, Grand Echezeaux, and Echezeaux. The only one available to mere mortal’s price wise is Echezeaux. (’87 $700, ‘02 $900) To heck with the children’s tuition fund.
10 more great wines after the break…
