WEINGARTEN
#3 APRIL 2012 WINE,
FINANCE & ASTROLOGY 1. WINE NEWS & TRENDS 2. WINE & FINANCE 3. WINE 101 & WINE CLASSES 4. WINE CALENDAR 5. WINE TASTINGS & EVENTS 6. BOOK REVIEWS 7. THIS AND THAT 8. LETTERS 1. In the mood for wine? A wine for every
mood Have Some Wine With That Tie Online wine websites
get mixed reviews 2. Liquid Economic Indicators: The Wine Debacle 3. Wine appreciation: It just takes practice 4. I was recently disappointed to learn that I had over
looked celebrating National Wine Drinking Day on February 18.In order to avoid this almost unforgivable
wine sin in future, I will be placing a wine calendar of important NY wine
events on my website shortly.In the
meantime, you can view/link our prototype at http://www.afund.com/wine/Calendar.html April 16 Oregon Wine Flight to NY April 17 World Malbec
Day May 2 Wine&Spirits TOP OF
THE LIST 2012 5. Jan
30 First-Ever Slow Wine Guide in English in New York City We highly applaud this quest.
One of our main tenets is that the wine lifestyle by its very nature
encourages one to “slow down and smell the roses.”Hence there is a natural marriage between the
slow food and slow wine movement.Our
key disappointment, however, was this was not an event accompanied by slow food
exhibitors.Perhaps next time? A few standouts: Damilino Barolo
Lecinquevigne 2007 ($42) lovely, a tasty Nebbiolo Nino Negri Valtellina Sup
Sassella le Tense 2008 ($19) and an excellent Pra Amarone Della Valpolicella
2007 ($49) (corvine, corinone rondinella).Finally, I was delighted to reconnect with my favorite Lombardy
winery- Cantrina. I especially enjoyed
tasting my favorite Garda Classico Groppello 2010, Lovely. February
2, 2012 Walla Walla L’Ecole No 412009 EsePerigeeWalla WallaValley
$50 PepperBridge Winery Merlot $50 and
their Cabernet Sauvignon $55 Most unusual Value Find was the Seven Hills Winery and its
surprising 2010 Riesling Columbia Valle, which at $15 is a great bargain and
quite lovely to taste. March 8 Le
Cercle Rive Droite from Barrel to Bottle The venue, the French consulate on Fifth avenue, was first class. Thistasting was notable in two respects. I. Almost every winery presented a
2009 and 2011 version for comparison. II. They offered a blind tasting
of 6 wines to be scored separately by press, trade and the public. This is a
fun practice that I would like to see at many more ethnic tastings. However I am still waiting for the results to be
published.Another minor complaint: The
scoring was 1-10 rather than a scale of 100 or even 1-20.To my mind, there is a BIG difference between
80 and 85 and 88. 2011 was a tough vintage. I revisited a favorite
Saint-Emilion Grand Cru Classe Chateau
Le Prieure but found the 2011 immature. More experienced wine drinkers
assured me it will be quite good in a few years; I will wait until 2013 or 2014
to give my judgment. Second, they have begun to add Malbec to some of their
blends; I think this was a positive addition. Of possible future interest were several offerings from
Fronsac, the best being Chateau La Vielle Cure, a Parker favorite. FOOD NOTE: Of
course the wine appropriate hors d'oeuvres were
tasty but the French pastries by Celine
were truly delicious and memorable. These authentic Bordeaux caneles cannot be too highly
recommended.Afterwards, I learned that
thePatissiere Céline Legros
was recently described as the "new sweet addiction” by Bon Appetit - D’Accord! TastersGuildNY events benefit from the charming elegance of the beautiful Estonia House. Everyone
was interested in learning the story of each wine and several were serious
collectors. At
their WineSellers Tour of Germany
March 10, I found one stand
out value Bollig Lehnert Trittenheimer
Apotheke Riesling Kabinett 2009 $15 (WS: 90). For fans of Riesling I would suggest the upcoming May 10th 360 Tribeca event. Here you will know why pre-20th
century, serious wine was France
AND Germany. March 12DRINK RIBERA, DRINK SPAIN With the greatest of anticipation, I looked forward to the
Wines of Vega Sicilia seminar.We tasted
their latest releases of two exquisitely produced Vega Sicilia wines: I.Valbuena 2006 a
blend of Tempranillo and Merlot & II.The iconic Unico Gran Reserva 2000 Tempranillo (approximately 80% depending on vintage) and
Cabernet Sauvignon. This was my second tasting of Unico 2000. Again, I felt it
was too young and demanded serious cellaring/aging.According to Pablo Alvarez it would peak in
20 years time, but while it would be delicious then, I suspect adding even a
decade or two more would add more complexity and awe. Factoid: The main grape variety of the Ribera region is
Tempranillo, an early-ripening variety (from “Temprano” meaning “early”) is
ideally suited to Ribera’s short growing season and extreme conditions. There were so many delicious wines here; I felt I could
easily have spent many more hours enjoying myself than time allowed. Wines from
this region are excellent food wines. A few favorites: I.The powerhouse Bodega Matarromera, and their flagship
Matarromera Reserva always demonstrates depth $50, II.My new find:Hacienda Solano 2088 Hacienda Ernestina Solano Finca Cascorrales $70. With
190 years vines you can taste the age! Only 1154 bottles produced. Both intense
and complex, decanting is recommended at least 30 minutes before drinking. In
comparison, their baby 2009 Solano Seleccion Vinas Viejas $30, with only 70-80
year vines, seems a baby by comparison III.Seleccion de Torres 2008 Celeste Crianza $19.95 I
wrote it up before as a find and I find it still a great find. Other wineries worthy of mention: Altos de Ontanon, Bodegas
Pinord and Bodegas y Vinedos Ortega Fournier S.L. March 12 New York Drinks New
York Grand Tasting March 12 Unfortunately after Ribera I had mild palette fatigue, but I
didn’t want to miss the opportunity to support local New York wineries. I encourage all wine
lovers to do this whether living in New York, California or Virginia,
or Ohio, Missouri or almost anywhere wine is
grown.A few well known wineries were
unremarkable here, i.e. did not provide their top releases.Four notables: I.Paumanok Vineyards: Chenin Blanc 2011 $25 was up to
snuff. It is the best (only) Chenin Blanc in New York
but even if it weren’t the sole one, it would do well in a blind tasting with
its LoireValley cousins. II.Bedell Cellars: Musee 2008 87% Merlot, 7% Cab, 6%
Petit Verdot $75 was as expected “A” quality, although I believe somewhat overpriced
(a “Long Island curse”}. III.Millbrook Vineyards & Winery: Chardonnay,
Proprietor’s special Reserve 2010 $22 was also “A” quality but reasonably
priced. IV.Red Newt Cellars: Riesling Sawmill Creek Vineyards
2010 $20. Very good and deserves mentioning/drinking. I will be
watching/tasting them along with upstaters Anthony Road and Dr Frank. . 6. BOOK REVIEW:
2012 Ultimate Rogov’s Guide to Israeli Wines Want to learn what to drink for Passover? Consult this
detailed ranking by the late Daniel Rogov, Israel’s preeminent wine critic, of
over 2000 wines and 150 wineries is essential for anyone with a serious
interest in this storied wine region. Also worth perusing is the Rogov’s Guide
to World Kosher Wines which describes and ranks more than 500 kosher wines.I agreed 100% with his ranking of the barely
20 or so wineries listed that I am familiar with. I hope Toby Press continues
this essential guide with future editions. 7.Barflies: Sex-deprived male flies go for the booze 12 Creative Ways to Recycle Wine Bottles 8. READER: Indonesian
Millionaire Arrested for Massive Wine Fraud in US A step up from Indonesian money changing --- reportedly done while
avoiding deportation order: "Investigators said in court papers that Kurniawan made some
simple mistakes that led to his discovery. One of those bottles of Domaine
Ponsot he tried to sell at auction in 2008 was passed off as having been made
in 1929, even though the winemaker didn’t begin estate bottling until
1934." HW: There is always a risk when one strays from the “tried and
true”- counterfeiting Chateau Lafite 1982J
READER: Doubts
Grew Slowly Over a Palate Above Suspicion “Mr.
Kurniawan was suspected of consigning, through a proxy, auction lots of
counterfeit Romanée-Conti wines to be sold in London. Those wines were withdrawn from the
auction.” HW:
GMTA J Please feel
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for My Blog on LocalWineEvents.com! Cheers Henry Weingarten WEINGARTEN http://www.afund.com/wine wine@afund.com Voted in the top 20 blogs (16 out of
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