Figeac and Aubert de Villaine in December
I have to say that my first week using the dictaphone has been a resounding success. Expect a flurry of notes from me this summer, as I have a lot of catching up to do, and the following notes are Part III of my trip to Bordeaux…last December.
My third day in Bordeaux last December was [...]
La Paulee 2006
Ok, I know, I know. I am a bit backed up with my notes in 2006. I know it doesn’t do anyone any good for me to tell you how many notes I have taken, how many wines I have tasted in the first five months of this year, etc. Sorry, but I keep getting [...]
State of Bordeaux, Day Two
As I sit on a plane headed for Bordeaux via Paris, I figure it is a good time to release the second day of my Bordeaux trip last December! Sorry, I have been a bit backed up this year. I will be tasting a wide assortment of 2005s this week, so before that report comes [...]
The Lugano Collection
Last month, I took a weekend trip to Europe to inspect a major European collection. I was able to negotiate to be able to offer wines from this extensive collection through our retail operation, offerings that will start this week and continue over the next month as organized by era. The cellar is that vast [...]
State of Bordeaux 2006
This past December, I took my first trip to ‘wine country’ in a long time, but not the Napa Valley with which so many associate the term, but rather to the shores of Bordeaux, my first trip there as an adult. Could I have possibly been in the wine business for over ten years and [...]
Notes from THE CELLAR
I am currently in the middle of my ‘State of Bordeaux’ article that describes my trip to Bordeaux this past December, but it seems like it will be one of those articles that ends up being 30-40 pages! It was indeed an amazing journey, but I am about ten pages into it after day one [...]
Tasting notes from the cellar
For the past two weeks, I have spent almost every day in a professional warehouse inspecting thousands of bottles from what I am now convinced is the greatest cellar in America. Having had the privilege of being in hundreds of great cellars in the United States, I can diligently say this cellar is beyond compare. [...]
Big Boy’s Holiday Party
Half of last week saw me out at the warehouse for various reasons, and Big Boy happened to be there as well inspecting his most recent acquisitions. Some Christmas cheer was in the air, and Big Boy threw his own impromptu holiday party for the gang. Having just returned from a week in Bordeaux and [...]
Petrus and La Tâche
It was a good week.
This past Thursday, Nashville’s premier collector flew into the Big Apple and took a bite at his favorite chef’s new restaurant, Alto. Scott Conant is the chef, by the way, and his first restaurant is the critically acclaimed L’Impero. Alto is sure to follow in its footsteps, and we had [...]
Top 100 Weekend, Year II, 2005
About a month ago over forty people gathered in New York City for a spectacular celebration of the finest wine and food that the world has to offer. Many of this year’s attendees were satisfied customers from year one, but we also had a few new guests to spice up the festivities.
We changed a [...]
Top 100 Weekend Teaser
From October 21st through October 23rd, approximately 45 people (though only 35 pours) gathered in New York City for a celebration of the finest wine and food that the world has to offer, our second annual ‘Top 100′ weekend. The weekend was spectacular, of course, and I figure it will make excellent reading over Thanksgiving [...]
Clos Ste. Hune Vertical at Tse Yang, Dinner in Vegas and a 2002 Blind Aussie Recap
This past week, 20 of us gathered at Tse Yang, one of new York’s finest Chinese restaurants, for a comprehensive vertical of the Montrachet of Alsace, Clos Ste. Hune. Clos Ste. Hune actually comes from the Rosacker Grand Cru vineyard in Alsace, but Trimbach, who makes the wine, does not want to put Roascker on [...]
Los Angeles Quarterly
For whatever reason, the notes from my trips to LA these past 3-4 months have been buried in my files, so I decided to finally catch up on them as I headed out this past Columbus Day weekend to inspect a couple important cellars.
Chapter I - The Colonel’s Nuts, Uncle Matty, Mount Eden [...]
The New York Tasting of 2005
That’s what it was, in effect. Months of planning had culminated this past Thursday in our modern-day recreation of the 1976 Paris Tasting, the tasting heard ’round the world that forever changed the global perception of California wine. Close to sixty people, including four panelists, gathered together to see if all the gains made in [...]
Paris à la Mode with Dr. Desai
Warning: This is very long, but if you like French wines, it is well worth reading.
This past week brought me to Paris for my yearly pilgrimage. It is a trip sparked by the passion of Dr. Bipin Desai for the best that the food and wine world has to offer, and there is no [...]