May, 2008 | Wine Tasting Guy

Archive for May, 2008

The Patch – the Resveratrol patch that is

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

I brought up the red wine compound resveratrol in a post early last week. Discussing yet another article I found (thanks to Wine Spectator online emails) that brought up studies regarding the health benefits of resveratrol.

Well, I got another email today, this time discussing researchers in Taiwan who believe that the benefits of resveratrol are most effective not when taken orally, rather when received through the skin, as is possible through a patch.

Click here for the complete article.

Who would’ve thunk it, a patch to get your red wine fix 😉

Happy….red wine…..wearing?????….creative consuming……ahhh, I don’t know. Drink up!

WTG

Tags: Resveratrol
Posted in wine health | 2 Comments »

Wine scores – what to make of them

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Several months ago I wrote a post that touched on the issue of wine critics, the scores they give wines, and some other related issues (that can be found here) . I’m not sure that I came to any concrete conclusions, but the subject briefly came up again yesterday so I thought I’d revisit.

A good friend called me & suggested I turn on my radio to listen to an interview with Neal I. Rosenthal, wine importer & now published author (“Reflections of a Wine Merchant”). While Rosenthal had many interesting things to say during the interview, the interviewer mentioned the concept of score cards on retail shelves for wines, to which Rosenthal responded something not too subtle along the lines of loathing/abhorring/despising such score cards.

(more…)

Tags: Neal I. Rosenthal, Reflections of a Wine Merchant, score cards, wine critics
Posted in Wine critiquing | 2 Comments »

Wine club BBQ

Tuesday, May 27th, 2008

In previous posts I’ve mentioned a wine club I have joined. I joined upon returning to NYC from Napa in search of other wine-curious individuals. In the year plus since the formation of our “club”, I have become close with some of the core participants. Five of them joined me on my small NYC porch yesterday for an intimate BBQ & wine Memorial Day get together.

Four of the six participants have some affiliation with the wine industry. Two work for a wine distributor, one works part time for a retailer and I have my many wine industry related activities. Everyone brought some wine, some food & great anticipation. (more…)

Tags: Memorial day wine tasting
Posted in wine tasting | 2 Comments »

Sticky: Peanut butter without the jelly???

Monday, May 26th, 2008

OK, a strange title considering where I am going with this brief post. I attended a wedding last night. The bride is a girl I have known virtually my whole life as our mothers have been close since their high school days. The bride was beautiful, the guests were all jolly, enjoying the holiday weekend & the fabulous weather we’ve suddenly been hit with here in the NY Metro area. The Long Island country club that hosted the event was marvelous, with lush greenery & abundant flowers in bloom. (more…)

Tags: kosher, mevushal, wine
Posted in wine - kosher, Wine STUFF | 6 Comments »

Monterey Wine Country

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

About an hour to an hour and a half South of San Francisco lay beautiful Monterey County. Famous for its coastline, golf courses & amazing aquarium, Monterey County is also home to a budding wine country, with 40,000 acres of vines planted.

Last week I attended a press event put together by the Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association. (more…)

Tags: chardonnay, Monterey county, Pinot Noir
Posted in wine tasting | Comments Off on Monterey Wine Country

NYC residents – YOU ARE INVITED!

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

Hey NYC wine lovers. I met a great guy at the Rioja tasting I wrote about two weeks ago. He organizes wine events in NYC and has asked me to extend an invitation to YOU to an upcoming event. Here are the details. I expect to be there one of the days so if you plan on attending and would like to say hi drop me a note and we’ll try to coordinate a meet & greet. Hope you are able to attend…

Be sure to join us at Astor Center again on Tuesday and Wednesday June 3 & 4, 4pm – 8.30pm for more tastings in the Study, 70 wines from Murcia to sample in the Gallery and tapas. Invite your friends, put it on your blog if you would be so kind, we welcome all wine lovers to join us. Here’s the info –

Free Tapas Party and Wine Tastings from Murcia, Spain (more…)

Tags: Astor Center, Murcia, wine tasting
Posted in wine tasting | 1 Comment »

Toast of the Town – NYC

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Wine Enthusiast magazine put on their “Toast of the Town” wine & food event yesterday in NYC at Lincoln Center. A very large event that took place on two levels & a large balcony & included some of NYC’s finest dining establishments. There was lots of good food, good wine & happy people.

But it wasn’t all perfect. (more…)

Tags: Lincoln Center, Toast of the Town, Wine Enthusiast, wine tasting
Posted in wine tasting | 3 Comments »

Resveratrol – Scientists Move to Harness Red Wine Compound’s Power

Monday, May 19th, 2008

I’ll be attending the Wine Enthusiast “Toast of the Town” tasting later today and will have a full report posted by tomorrow. In the meantime I want to write a quick post about a compound found in red wine that is frequently mentioned as its health benefits have been cited in multiple studies.

Resveratrol is the antioxidant compound found in the skins & seeds of grapes. Since red wine is made by extracting color and flavors from the skins (and generally has the seeds in place during fermentation) Resveratrol is found (in low levels) in red wine.

I bring this up today simply as Wine Spectator online has an article in its Wine & Health section that cites two studies taking place where researchers are examining the benefits of harnessing Resveratrol & using it to treat cells associated with diseases. The article can be found here.

It should be noted however that studies surrounding Resveratrol in red wine have shown that one needs to consume a massive amount of red wine to realize the benefits Resveratrol has to offer. And while many still believe that regularly drinking (moderate amounts) of red wine is healthy, they are unsure if one reaps any of the health benefits Resveratrol has to offer from normal wine consumption. That said there is extensive research being done to find ways to administer Resveratrol in methods other than red wine consumption and the article mentions an R & D company researching Resveratrol that was recently purchased for $172M…so there must be something to this…

Happy HEALTHY COMPOUND wine tasting…& Happy Monday!

WTG

Tags: Resveratrol
Posted in wine health | 5 Comments »

Riesling & Co. World Tour 2008

Friday, May 16th, 2008

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I went to the NYC Riesling tasting at the Tribecca rooftop. A beautiful venue right off Hudson Street near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel, the Tribecca Rooftop provides a great escape from the hectic nature of NYC. The tasting had 39 official tables, in addition to an Austrian table, a French table and my favorite, the “1990’s: a decade of German Riesling” table. (more…)

Tags: , Riesling, Tribecca rooftop
Posted in wine tasting | 2 Comments »

NYT Soave piece with great side message

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

I’m running late for a German Reisling tasting event down in Tribeca but I just read an article in the NY Times Dining Out Section, the Wines of the Times column by Eric Asimov titled “Soave Challenges its easy image“.

While the article has opened my mind to Soave whereas I previously have thought of Soave as Asimov puts it as a “crisp, cold, characterless quaffing wine”, that is not what struck me most about the piece. I was excited to have a close friend, Fred Plotkin involved in the tasting, and it was Fred’s lack of excitement as opposed to Asimov’s enthusiasm that hit home with me.

Says Asimov “These sorts of disagreements are an important reminder of how subjective the perception of wine can be”.

A small point made that carries SO MUCH WEIGHT. People need to feel more comfortable with the idea that it is OK to like a wine that somebody else dislikes. Even if that somebody esle is a so-called “expert”.

Happy INDIVIDUALISTIC wine tasting!!!

WTG

Tags: Dining & Wine, Eric Asimov, Fred Plotkin, Soave, Wines of the times
Posted in Wine STUFF, wine tasting | Comments Off on NYT Soave piece with great side message