Page 40 - Staff Tastings

I want to introduce a new solid red Burgundy for under $30.  This price may surprise some Burgundy enthusiasts, but this high value 2010 Henri Boillot Bourgogne Rouge (91 Points Sokolin Tasting Panel) was quite pleasing.  It was paired with a medium cut pork chop and warmed apple sauce.  I wanted to squeeze in one last (what I consider to be) winter comfort meal even if it is almost May.  After all, the temperature in the northeast dipped into the high 40s at one point over the weekend!

The first thing I knew I wanted to do is decant since this wine is on the young side of life.  To compare though, I had a taste before decanting.  This taste confirmed that decanting would be the way to go.  90 minutes later, this wine had its delicious appeal. 

With a light bouquet, the 2010 Henri Boillot Bourgogne Rouge was

I don't think I've ever attended a tasting with as much positive energy as last Thursday's Bellissimo Brunello event, though it's easy to understand why.  The 2007 and 2006 vintages for Brunello truly are amazing and showed extremely well that night.  When I mentioned to James Suckling how I felt a handful of the wines possibly deserved a point or two more, he explained how he reviewed these wines during the cold and dampness of the winter.  So perhaps it was the spring warmth or the extra few months in bottle, but he agreed the wines performed up to, and possibly beyond their expectations Thursday night creating a wonderful and electric experience.      

It was fun hearing participants discuss whether they preferred the juicy and fruity forwardness of the opulent 2007s, or the structure and subtle complexity of the regal 2006s.  The wines of Altesino,

It's always exciting as the seasons start to change and the weather changes, your wine consumption usually changes along with them. With spring in full force and the temperatures rising, I always look forward to the new whites that come into stock. I'm a Burgundy lover first and foremost, so that's usually the region where I focus my attention. As I was combing our inventory looking at what I should add to my wine fridge for the season, I stumbled upon one of my favorite producers in Chablis - Jean Paul Droin. Jean Paul's son, Benoit, is actually the chief winemaker now, as this amazing Domaine has been passed down through fourteen generations! The Domaine owns thirteen hectares of vineyards and produces fourteen different wines, including Petit Chablis, Chablis, seven Premier Crus and five Grand Crus. As with all Burgundies, production is very low, so I was excited that we were lucky enough to have two of his Premier Crus in stock - the Montmain and Vaillons - both from the 2010 vintage.

Back by popular demand, we invite you to view the Wine Challenge Video Series with leading wine critic, James Suckling. James recently visited our premises, and like last year, he challenged Dave Sokolin to show him three wines priced under $30 that we thought were 90 points or more. Dave did even better than that. He showed James three wines priced under $15 that were 90 points or better!

Here at Sokolin, we pride ourselves not only on our vast inventory of fine back-vintage wines from top global regions, but also on our selection of wines that are inexpensive but still super-high quality. So we welcomed James' challenge.

"This video is courtesy of

Back by popular demand, we invite you to view Part II of the Wine Challenge Video Series with our own Dave Sokolin and leading wine critic, James Suckling. James recently visited our premises and challenged Dave to show him three red wines priced under $30 that we thought were deserving of 90 points or more. Dave actually threw James a curveball in Part II of the wine series. He showed James a wine that is priced at $19.95! Watch the video to view the wines.

Here at Sokolin, we pride ourselves not only on our vast inventory of fine back-vintage wines from top global regions, but also on our selection of wines that are inexpensive but still super-high quality. So we welcomed James' challenge.

Back by popular demand, we invite you to view Part III of the Wine Challenge Video Series with our own Dave Sokolin and leading wine critic, James Suckling. James recently visited our premises and challenged Dave to show him three white wines priced under $40 that we thought were deserving of 90 points or more. Just like Part I and II of the Wine Challenge, Dave impressed James with three outstanding wines!

Here at Sokolin, we pride ourselves not only on our vast inventory of fine back-vintage wines from top global regions, but also on our selection of wines that are inexpensive but still super-high quality. So we welcomed James' challenge.

"This video is courtesy of

The Wine Challenge Series with Dave Sokolin and leading wine critic James Suckling is back! This time around, for the summer wine series, the tasting is appropriately filmed at Dave Sokolin's beach house where he and James taste a few summer whites. In this segment, the rules remain the same as before. James challenges Dave to show him 3 whites, $20 dollars or less that Dave believes are 90 points or more. Once again, Dave pulls it off. Watch the video to find out which white wines are part of the challenge. You can purchase any of these wines by clicking on the links below.

Stay tuned for more episodes with Dave and James as the summer days continue!

Here at Sokolin, we pride ourselves not only on our vast inventory of fine back-vintage wines from top global regions, but also on our selection of wines that are inexpensive but still super-high quality. So we welcomed James' challenge.

Back by popular demand, we invite you to view Part IV, the final part, of the Wine Challenge Video Series with our own Dave Sokolin and leading wine critic, James Suckling. James recently visited our premises, and in this video, he challenges Dave to show him three red wines under $40 that are 91 points or more.

Here at Sokolin, we pride ourselves not only on our vast inventory of fine back-vintage wines from top global regions, but also on our selection of wines that are inexpensive but still super-high quality. So we welcomed James' challenge.

"This video is courtesy of www.JamesSuckling.com."

This past weekend I decided to do a trial run for Thanksgiving since I've never actually had to cook the turkey and all of the trimmings. I bought a beautiful 12 pound fresh turkey and followed a recipe by Alton Brown in which you brine the turkey for up to 24 hours. It was excellent by the way, if anyone would like to give it a try, just Google 'Alton Brown Turkey,' and it'll come up instantly. For the sides, we decided on a sausage and sage stuffing, Brussels sprouts with pancetta, green beans with hollandaise sauce and bacon and creamy garlic mashed potatoes. I think that covers it, and needless to say, I'm glad we did the trial run because this was no easy feat!

Now, onto the easy part AND the most important part, of course...choosing the wines! For the white drinkers, I knew I wanted something in the Riesling or Gewurztraminer family and for the red wine drinkers, I was thinking Pinot Noir or Bordeaux.  After combing our inventory, I settled on the 2010 Tramin Gewurztraminer

The 2009  Domaine de St. Pierre (95 points, Robert Parker) is going to please you. It's a bit young now, but I went ahead and tasted this now so you'll know when to drink it later. There are just 500 cases produced so don't wait until later to try to buy it...only wait to drink it. 

The color is very deep red, and I could detect smoke and leather scent. Everyone will consider this to be a big and bold bottle of wine, and it certainly is. There is dark fruit and anise on the palate with big tannins and pepper for the long finish.

You can drink this as early as 2014, but it's going to be most enjoyed if you can allow it about 10 years of bottle age. It should age very well for 25-30 years.

This 100% Syrah wine comes from a south facing plateau