As many of you already know, I got my start in wine when I went to Israel during the 2006 harvest and worked at a winery & in this winery’s vineyards.  From there I went to Napa and worked at a large custom crush facility.  Before returning to NYC I asked the winemaker whom I most respected and admired how I could speed up the training of my palate.  Feeling a well rounded and critical palate was essential for me to succeed in the wine industry, yet recognizing that I was an inexperienced taster, I was seeking the secret to palate training.  What I learned was that sadly there is no shortcut to palate training.  With a shrug of the shoulder this world class winemaker told me “I’m sorry, there are no shortcuts, you must taste, taste, taste”.  And with that, I embarked on a mission to taste as much wine as humanly (and financially) possible.

Which led me to “Meetup”.  Meetup is a website that “makes it easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face”.  And through Meetup I became a member of a wine tasting group. It has now been a year and a half, and the core of the group is going strong.  We have all learned A LOT together, and several of us have since transitioned into the wine industry.

I bring this all up as I recently attended the first of a series of Burgundy tastings.  These tastings are with several of the original members of the wine tasting “meetup” club, and have become good friends.

On this night, we tasted Burgundy from Gevrey-Chambertin, a classified Burgundy region.  We tasted 7 wines, although 1 of the 7 seemed to have been “off”.  They ranged in price from about $50-$350 (although given our industry connections we did not pay full price).  The $350 wine was a 1990 Domaine Jean-Claude Fourrier Griotte-Chambertin Grand Cru.

Amazingly, this 18 year old wine had a firm acidity, indicating many more years of life.  It was a clear lite orange color, becoming almost peachy-pink at the rim.  It had aromas of tart raspberry and mint and tasted of earth, mineral and berry. This gem had a nice long finish.

But my favorite of the night was the 1999 Dominique Laurent Mazis-Chambertin.  This clear garnet wine with a slightly brick colored rim was fabulous.  A very pretty nose of berries, perfume, flowers and limestoney minerals led to elegant berry and earth flavors on a beautifully round and subtle palate with a very long finish.

Happy Burgundy tasting palate training!

WTG

Not much time to write today, but I have gone to many wine tastings throughout NYC the past few years.  Very often these tasting are Spanish wine tastings, or Italian wine tastings, or Chilean wine tastings - tastings that are specific to one country.  I think this is a great way to promote the wines from that country, or even region as the case may be.

HOWEVER, most of these tastings tend to include wineries who are seeking representation in this country.  And sadly most of the wines are pretty nondescript.  Rarely have I had a truly BAD wine, but it is even less rare that I find a wine that really excites me.  SO, are these tastings worthwhile?  Is it worth my time?  Does it help the wineries who pay a lot of money to attend, stay in hotels, pour their wine?  I wonder…

Also of note lately is the recognition Israeli wines truly seem to be getting.  At the aforementioned wine tasting I met a guy while tasting.  He asked what I did and I told him that I work with and specialize in Israeli wines.  He told me that he has been hearing good things about Israeli wines and proceeded to tell me about an Israeli Sauvignon Blanc he and others tried at a blind tasting that was the hit of a tasting.

Then, just yesterday I was in a coffee shop on the phone with someone discussing Israeli wines.  When I hung up a woman who had obviously overheard parts of my conversation asked if I work with Israeli wines.  When I told her that I did she told me that she had recently read an article about Israeli wines and that she has been hearing good things about them.

Pretty cool stuff kids.  The gospel is spreading.  Israeli wines are on their way into the mainstream.  It may take a while longer, but it is starting…

Happy weekend wine tasting!!!

WTG

Back from the holyland, hence the UN-holy title.  Fear not, Wine Tasting Guy’s mind is not in the gutter.  I’m speaking of wine glasses.

While tasting wine at several wineries (and in some people’s homes) in Israel I noticed people serving wines in small glasses.  Size is relative, but I’m a believer (though not all would agree) that bigger is better.  More room to swirl, more room for the aromas to linger and easier to tilt the wine so that you can observe and appreciate the color.

In addition to size, good wine should be drunk out of out quality glasses.  There are tons of quality glasses out there nowadays.  No, they don’t have to be hand blown glass.  No, they don’t have to cost $50/glass.  But they should be thin glass bowls (I prefer tulip shaped) and they should not have a rounded lip.  The lip of the glass should be straight so that the wine runs directly down into your mouth.

Although the power of suggestion is one I fervently try to avoid I have heard MANY people say that wine simply tastes BETTER out of better glasses.  And you know what… I agree.

SO, you can imagine my disappointment when I tasted wines at some of the Israel wineries out of cheapo glasses.  If an artist was to display their art don’t you think they would use the best frames, light & background possible?  Then why wouldn’t the wineries want their wines shown in the best glasses.

I know, good glasses can be expensive.   And the good glasses break VERY EASILY.  And there were many wineries that DID serve their wines in good glasses.  But given how strongly I feel about Israeli wines I would like to see ALL wineries pouring their wines out of the best (and most cost effective) glasses.

Happy quality wine glass wine tasting!

WTG

I went away (within Israel) for the sabbath to a friend of the family.  A wonderful woman and great cook it is always a nice shabbat when spent with her and her family.  But it doesn’t hurt that she lives next door to a fabulous winemaker, who is also a brilliant & warm man and whom I am fortunate to call a good friend.  After attending early services (started at 6:20AM - YIKES) we had a “kiddush” in the sukkah of the winemaker friend.  For those of you familiar with the word kiddush when referring to the blessing over wine, I’m using the word here to refer to “a ceremonial meal served … following the recitation of kiddush at the conclusion of services, in which refreshments are served. Traditionally, this often includes cake, crackers, and fish.”  BUT, this was no ordinary kiddush…and not just because we started drinking at 9AM…

This was a wine tasting kiddush, and the winemaker friend and his amazingly hospitable wife prepared all kinds of salads (made from home grown tomatoes, lettuce, eggplant and herbs), quiches, cheeses, cakes, etc to go along with the truly FABULOUS wines we were about to taste.  There were 7 of us around the table and we were in for quite a treat.  Since it was Sabbath I did not take tasting notes, but it is a day and wines I will not soon forget.

The first wine we opened was a 2006 Chateau Lafont Menaut Pessac-Leognan Bordeaux Blanc.  Crisp, minerally, refreshing…great start!

Normally we might save special wines for the end, but we were about to open some elegant aged Bordeaux.  And while they were the “stars” of the night, they are also wines that are not nearly as robust as they were in their youth, leaving them susceptible to being overpowered by younger, more tannic (and robust) wines - which is why we tasted them first.

So following the Bordeaux Blanc we opened a 1998 Chateau Monbousquet St. Emillion Grand Cru.  WOW.  At 10 years old, this Bordeaux tasted young!  Excellent fruit and plenty of tannins.  Some plums, great earthiness and a hint of mocha. 

Up next was a legend.  Maybe not from a legendary vintage, but…a Chateau Latour.  The 1981…yes, I said 1981 Pauillac Grand Vin de Chateau Latour - what a treat!  We were concerned that the wine might not be alive and drinkable, but fortunately we underestimated the staying power of good Bordeaux.  Very much alive, this wine started off tight, showing nice prune & leather characteristics, eventually opening up to show fruit - all packaged nicely, silky soft and round.  Its tannins and acid had dropped out over time, and this wine was quite soft.  Maybe not everyone’s preferred style, but undoubtedly a special wine.

Our third red of the morning was a negociant wine. The 1996 Tardieu - Laurent Hermitage made mostly (or entirely?) of Syrah was very interesting.  A 12 year old wine, I found it to be high in acidity.  The acid will usually drop in a wine as it ages, so this surprised me.  But I was told that 12 years is not old for Hermitage, and that it would soften with further aging.  It did have a nice minerality and some subtle mocha aromas.  A wine (Hermitage) I will definitely be re-visiting…

At this point it was getting a bit late (11AM and apparently people had lives to get to - you believe that?!) and with 3 wines left we opened up the 2 baby reds of the bunch.  A 2003 Artadi Pagos Viejos Rioja and the 2001 Grant Burge “Meshach” Shiraz.  These were fruit forward style wines.  I don’t remember much about the Rioja aside from its up front fuit and nice earthiness.  While the Meshach Shiraz was HUGE.  It actually reminded me a bit of a California Zinfandel.  It had BIG fruit and an almost sweet taste.  But this was not a one-dimensional wine.  It showed pencil shaving & cigar box aromas.  Was well structured (especially for such a big wine) and went quite well with the cakes which by this time had been served.

A final treat was a dessert wine from Alsace.  The Domaine Bott-Geyl Sonnenglanz Grand Cru Alsace dessert wine, made of Pinot Gris (and apparently given a 98 by Robert Parker) was a deliciously sweet treat.  Its acid was present, which prevented any cloying sweetness, but it was so well integrated it was almost as if it wasn’t there.  Very tasty and a special wine to finish things off with.

Assuming I haven’t lost you yet, there was another tasting.  This one at a more normal hour (7PM).  After the Sabbath I drove into Tel Aviv to meet up with a friend who I may work with on my Israel Wine Project.  He has a beautiful apartment in a hopping part of the city and he had about 8 people over for some Israeli wines.  I brought some bottles of local Israeli boutique wine and we had a lovely time.  I talked a bit about each of the wineries, told them about the wine makers, and we then tasted the wines together.  A lite Carignan based wine was casually enjoyed.  A Sangiovese/Syrah/Cab Franc blend was intriguing and determined to be a great food wine.  While the king, a Cab based wine (with 10% Merlot) was thoroughly enjoyed and drunk to the last drop. 

Happy TWICE A DAY Wine Tasting!

WTG

I (briefly) attended a “Wines from Spain” wine tasting today.  I enjoy these tastings as they provide me with the opportunity to continue my palate training.  But given how busy I have been lately I went today primarily to see a friend I have not had the chance to see for a few months.

Shortly after arriving my friend lamented that he did not care for any of the wines he had tasted thus far.  Too big, fruit forward and in his opinion lacking structure.  Having not yet tasted any of the wines I agreed with him that I had seen a trend of younger winemakers making wine in a more fruit-forward & extracted style.

To take one step back I must admit here, as I admitted to my friend, that I once very much enjoyed these BIG, fruit forward wines.  At the time I very much liked the way the big fruit gave the perception of sweetness, almost as if I were taking a big bite out of a handful of blackberries.  However, as my palate has evolved, I am presently a bit more into restrained wines whose fruit are (in my opinion) in better balance in the wine.

SO, we went to a few tables and tasted some wines.  I did come across an old style Rioja - an earthy wine wine with some age and restraint - one that is definitely not fruit forward.  In general, good interesting wines, but maybe too little fruit???  I also came across some of the aforementioned fruit bombs - big heavily extracted, almost Australian Shiraz style wines - not my thing these days.  BUT, I also did find some wines that possessed fruit, but the fruit seemed well integrated.  No, these are not the wines people often think of when thinking of classic Spanish wines, but it is a style that has become popular and that sells.  And these wineries do need to consider the bottom line.

So, whether you like earthy, subtle Spanish Rioja’s, big fruit forward new world style wines, or some combination of the two, taste wines when possible and you will find a wine from Spain that will suit your unique taste preference.

Happy (whatever style you like) Spanish wine tasting!

WTG

I poured wine at a retailer tonight.  I generally try to stop from voicing my opinion about any wines I am pouring, but I often do find myself say things such as “its a real nice wine”.  Having done as many of these tasting as I have I find the two opposite effects this leads to as quite interesting.

Often, the power of suggestion is apparently quite powerful and people agree that the wine is one way or another, depending upon what I imply.

BUT, almost as often I get people telling me that they do not agree with my take and tell me how they feel differently about the same wine.

I must admit that it is validating to have people agree with one’s opinion.  Yet I am a big believer that we all have a unique palate, and I TRULY do welcome people disagreeing with my assessment.

What I have trouble understanding are either those who refuse to taste, feeling they are being “sold” or “coerced”.  Or those who seem to disagree & demean a wine simply as a means of expressing their contrarian view or individuality.

If I have learned anything in the wine industry it is that we must possess a thick skin.  Not everyone is going to agree & some might not even disagree politely.  But it ain’t personal!

On a completely separate note, it appears more and more likely that Amazon.com is entering the online wine sales world.  I keep seeing comments about the impending entree of Amazon into the wine business, but I’m not sure I know what the impact will be.  Will they have low prices?  Will they do things legally (and more expensively) like wine.com?  Is it their infrastructure (shipping centers) that is going to allow them to ship wine to most of the 50 states and keep costs down?  Will this perpetuate the debate over wine shipping and its surrounding issues?  Will the supreme court be involved??  More to come on this topic I’m sure…

Happy wine tasting!

WTG

I spent my day today at an amazing event.  Eric Trump (yes, The Donald’s son) has a wonderful charitable organization that throws an event at the Westchester, NY based Trump International Golf Course to raise money for St Jude’s Childrens Charity.  I was invited several weeks ago to sponsor a hole & pour wine at the event.

(pic to come)

I’m very proud to say that Hole # 10 was sponsored by the Wine Tasting Guy.  Not only that, but they set up a wine tasting table for me (and a fabulous industry collegue from “Bacchus - Wine Made Simple”) right on the 10th hole.  We poured some amazing wines from Israel and California and the guests LOVED THE WINES.  The golf tournament went well for the golfers and there was a reception that followed where we poured more wine.  It was a successful event and I was very excited to hear the positive feedback and be invited back next year.  Among the many highlights of the day was when Ivanka Trump came by, tried, and LOVED an Israeli Syrah we were pouring.  Sadly I missed her at the end of the event but I sent Eric with a bottle of the Syrah for her.

On a sadder note I am about to bring up a political issue.  I try very hard to stay away from said issues on this site for a multitude of reasons.  But this one is important enough for me to briefly mention.  This coming Monday Iran’s President Ahmadinejad is coming to the U.N. and there is a “Rally to Stop Iran.  The information can be found in the following flyer.  I will be there and hope that anyone within driving distance of NYC understands how serious this evil man is about his intentions to “wipe Israel from the map” and will put the effort in to attend the rally.

rally flier

Happy PEACEful rally golf tournament wine tasting!

WTG

It has been a while, but it is fall portfolio tasting season.  Which means WTG gets to put the ole palate back to work and taste lots of new wines.  It is an exciting time, but I wont be attending as many tastings as in years past.  TOO MUCH WORK.  I’m not complaining, but the life of an unemployed, aspiring wine professional affords for much more time to attend wine tastings than that of a wine salesperson/ entrepreneur.

The tasting was great.  I traveled the wine world.  I tasted France, Italy, Chile, New Zealand, Australia and some California wines.  I sadly did not have enough time to get to Germany, Austria, Argentina, South Africa, Spain or parts of the US such as NY State, Oregon, Washington State or the Sake selection from Japan.

I tasted many of the wines with a friend and we focused on old world regions such as France and Italy. Given the slow evolution of my palate preferences, I was very excited to have the opportunity to taste some special wines presumably made in an old world style.  When i speak of an old world style, I am referring to wines that are not as fruit forward or extracted as those from new world regions such as Australia or California.  These wines may have more earthy or minerally nuances rather than fresh fruit & berry ones.

In all I tasted close to 70 wines - not bad for an out of practice taster.  We started in the Bordeaux section.  And while Bordeaux style blends are (had been?) some of my favorite wines, the ones I tasted today were not special to me.  Yes these wines do show better with food (although theoretically so do many wines), but I found the Bordeaux that I tried today to be lacking in fruit or other complexities - simply being wines that were overly tannic, acidic and unripe.

From Bordeaux we settled down in the Burgundy section.  WOW.  There was a very sweet and warm woman telling me about her move to Burgundy, prompted following a “visit” there.  She encouraged me to visit and I told her that based on the wines I was tasting I would never leave either.  I tasted a good deal of both red (Pinot Noir) and white (Chardonnay) burgundy. These wines were really good.  I must admit that I still prefer a good Cab to many of these wines, but I am really starting to understand why so many people consider good Burgundy to be the best wines in the world.

As to a specific standout, now that is tough.  I still have lots to learn about Pinot Noir and Burgundies in particular.  There were clearly some made in a more masculine style - bigger, less subtle & more aggressive, while others were more elegant, soft & subtle (those considered to be more feminine in style).  I don’t particularly care for the big California Pinots and as such I was not in love with the bigger burgundies.  Similar to how Cali Pinot often turns me off with its BIG artificial cherry flavor, some of the burgundies had strong cola aromas that did not bother me as much as Cali Pinot, but lacked the elegance that I am gaining an appreciation for with Burgundies.  I actually remarked at one point that some of these Burgundies reminded me of some Chateaunuef du Pape.  But these over-the-top Burgundies were far a few between.  For the most part they were a pleasure to taste and I really do feel privileged.

As to Chardonnay, or white burgundies, I enjoy a good chardonnay, but don’t seek them out.  I find that too many are either over-oaked (from new barrels) or overly buttery (from malolactic/secondary fermentation) or both.  And they lack the crisp acidity I seek in a nice white.  WELL, many of these white burgundies had amazing acidity to go along with their fruit and very well integrated oak.  Really great!

In addition to the Burgundies I had a very nice Chat du Pape, an excellent Super Tuscan, and what may have been my favorite of the tasting,  a Cote Rotie.  I’ve only tried 1 or 2 other Cote Roties in my short wine life, and the others were quite tannic.  I’m told that these long lived wines really need time to soften.  Well of the two I had tonight, the second one was soft, complex & LOOOONG.

The Domaine Jean - Michel Stephan 2005 Cote - Rotie “Coteaux de Tupin” was special.  Its complex aromas included white pepper, cola, coffee and what I decided was a forest pine perfume aroma.  WOW!  The wine was also so soft (not tannic) it was almost sweet - but not of course.  The taste lingered on my palate with its long finish and left me envious of those with extensive Cote Rotie collections.

In all it was a really fabulous tasting.  I hope you were able to enjoy just a little bit of it vicariously through me.

Happy spectacularly special wine tasting!

WTG

As part of my work for the Israeli wine distributor I am presently working for, I went into a wine shop on Friday afternoon to “hand sell” some of their wines.  The wine shop manager set me up next to the shelf displaying the producer’s wines.  I opened up 3 bottles to pour for customers as they came in, and said customers were offered discounts if they purchased any of the wines (in 3, 6 or 12 bottle increments) I was pouring - as well as others made by the producer.

I must say, things went brilliantly.  OK, it could have been better.  There was not as much traffic as I may have liked.  A few people did come in just to try some free wine.  Yes, there were one or two people who I suppose felt a “hard sell”, and ending up opting for other wines.  BUT for the most part people tried the wines, engaged in conversation about the wines, asked lots of good questions and then bought at least one if not 3 bottles of wine (to take advantage of the discount).

I have heard this from others but I am now fully convinced that this method of “hand selling” is truly the best way to sell wines.  It may seem obvious, but you have people entering a wine shop/liquor store with the intent to purchase a bottle (or more) of wine.  Yet they are suddenly faced with the daunting array of wines set before them.

And standing right there to help is Mr./Ms. NON-PRETENTIOUS wine expert happy to provide a quick taste of wine for said customer and answer any questions they may have.  Two very important elements.  I always recommend that people taste a wine before buying a bottle of it (when possible of course).  And having someone there who may know a bit more about wine than the ordinary average Jane is also helpful and generally appreciated.

It was a great few hours and I really hope everyone who purchased some of the wines I recommended were happy with their selections.

Now if only I can figure out a way to be in 200 stores selling wine at the same time…

ASIDE: All NYC (and vicinity) residents are invited to an Israeli wine tasting this Thursday night.  I’ll be at the Le Rendezvous wine bar at 80th St. & 2nd Ave pouring FREE wine from 7-9PM.  There will be bubbly (show up early for this) as well as some whites, a rose’ and of course some fabulous reds.  Come say hi and introduce yourself!

Happy wine tasting & buying!

WTG

Happy B-day to WTG. Happy B-day to WTG, Happy B-day to WTG, Happy B-day to YOU!

OK, that is out of the way. I tend to I shy away from b-day attention, but hey, a Wine Tasting Guy only turns 21 (yeah, right) once right?!?!?

Anyway, I attended a wine tasting tonight, and it was my favorite kind. It was an ISRAELI WINE tasting. Actually, I poured wine at the event. And it was FABULOUS! People at the event were “WINE CURIOUS”. I did get some requests for “white wine” or “red wine” or “the best wine”, but for the most part, people were engaging me in conversation about the wine. Where did it come from (Israel), what region (most from Galille, but some from Golan), what grapes were used (Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Viognier, etc.)… YES, there were some people who just wanted to drink, but that is OK. I busted balls - made all the people who asked for white pronounce “VIO-GN-IER” before I poured them anything (actually pronounced VEE-OAN-YAY).

But seriously, it was a very productive tasting. Many of the people were sincerely curious as to the varietal, origin, winery, etc. They also wanted to know where they could find the wine. Some were truly upset that they could NOT buy some of the wine poured at the event on the spot. I had to explain to them that it was illegal to sell to them and they would have to buy it at their favorite wine shop. But overall, people were happy to engage the WTG in conversation about GOOD, ISRAELI wine. And I was thrilled to be able to oblige.

Happy Israeli Wine Tasting!

WTG