Cellarette in New York Times

I was in the middle of my favorite Saturday morning activity — watching the dogs play and reading the paper — when I scanned Howard G. Goldberg’s column, Long Island Vines, and saw my name. Goldberg, who also writes for Decanter magazine, has been covering Long Island wine for the Times for decades. His column [...]

Delicious

I tasted a bottle of the 2005 Clos des Blanchais Menetou-Salon from Domaine Henry Pellé, and I loved it.
It’s pale lemon with a white rim; clean medium+ intense developing aromas of white grapefruit, mineral and white peach. It’s dry with medium+ acid, medium alcohol (a refreshing 12.5 percent) and a lovely creamy body with the [...]

More Italian DOCs

I took a sip of this, knowing nothing about — except it’s Italian — and I immediately thought it was from the northeast and had refosco in it. Wrong.
The Val di Cornia DOC is in Tuscany and this wine is 80 percent sangiovese and 20 percent canaiolo nero.
I’ve opened the 2007 Gualdo del Re Eliseo [...]

An Invitation

I got this in the mail, and by e-mail: an invitation to the WSET graduation ceremony in London. I wonder if anyone from the states is going. It’d be a good excuse to go to London, which I haven’t visited since 1986, but I don’t know anyone there.
A presentation starts at 6:30 p.m. and is [...]

Good, but …

I’m conflicted about this wine, everytime I take a sip I think “It’s not that good,” but then I want another. It’s not complex but earthy enough to be pleasing. The tannins are light but rough, which makes me think it could benefit from some time in the cellar, but then the acid is creeps [...]

Nothing to do with wine

In honor of Veterans Day — my father, a USNA grad, fought in Vietnam — here’s a picture and a story from The New York Times that made me cry.

Double whammy

This wine hits both of the honig nails on the head. It tastes great after one night open on the counter (see 2daysperbottle), and it’s rated 89 points in the Wine Advocate (see the 89project).
It’s the 2007 Sportoletti Assisi Rosso, wherein Assisi Rosso is a DOC. One that does not appear in the Oxford Companion [...]

What I missed today

Big tasting at Tribeca Grill today, and I missed it because of a stomach ailment. Latest news is that I have a virus, like the one that’s making everyone in New York throw up.
Quite a line up. Here’s the link. But still, after reading the website, I can’t quite grasp the idea.

Aussies in town

On Monday was the Grateful Palate tasting held by Martin Scott at a room upstairs at Carnegie Hall. Under the watchful eyes of large portraits of Leonard Bernstein, winemakers and salesmen poured samples accompanied by print material that contained quotes like “Shut the fuck up and drink it.” That was part of the promo material [...]

Icon wines five through eight

5. Muga Aro 2005. From the venerable producer in Rioja this wine is their top of the top. Produce of what their website calls the Aro project, the wine is all-the-way modern. Made from 70 percent tempranillo and 30 percent graciano, only 200 cases of three-packs were made. The grapes are all from vines on [...]