Page 44 - Blog

I recently poured wines for my client, Joe and his wife at their private wine dinner.  While Joe and I planned the dinner and discussed the wines, the food and who would be attending, I wasn't sure what to expect.  But when Joe exclaimed, "I have an outdoor wood-fired pizza oven, we will do it at my house!" I knew this was going to be the experience of a lifetime. 

I arrived at Joe's house nestled in the mountains of PA, with my dog and seven amazing wines carefully selected to accompany what was about to be one of the most delicious backyard BBQs I'd ever experienced. 

Immediately, I put all of the reds into decanters to let them open up and show their full potential.  And then I popped 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal which Joe's wife paired with a beautiful spread of cheeses - a perfect entre into the

The 2007 vintage in California has been receiving rave reviews everywhere.  Wine Spectator's November 15th issue has posted its comprehensive list for California Cabs and scored the 2007 Napa vintage a chart topping 99pts.  Parker has been applauding the '07 North Coast Cabernet for almost 2 years now, stating "this has turned out to be the greatest vintage since 2001 or 2002 for the Bordeaux varietals in Napa."

With that in mind, we decided to search for a stash of great juice from one of the latter two vintages.  Of the choices we found, it was no surprise the 2002 Etude Cabernet Sauvignon Napa was a clear takedown.  As a winery, many of our clients that collected through the '90s equate Etude with Caymus, Dominus, Insignia and Silver Oak.  As a vintage, 2002 again and again has been coined rich, dense, powerful, complex and forward.  Our recent tasting of the '02 Etude confirmed this.

Aromas of black currant and flowers were accompanied by

Wine: 2003 Lynsolence
Region: Bordeaux
Sokolin Price: $49.99/btl
Rating: 92 RP

Fall is now in full swing, and we are back to drinking full-bodied reds again.  It's one of the great things that the season brings.  So the search began in the cellar for that interesting and seductive red.  Finally, we came across a bottle from the right bank of Bordeaux, which was 2003 Chateau Lynsolence.    

This wine even seems to have caught Robert Parker's eye.  "A tiny 6.5-acre vineyard planted in light gravel/sandy soils not far from Monbousquet and Valandraud, Lynsolence's proprietor, Denis Baraud, is an up-and-coming star of St.-Emilion... "Sadly, there are only 525 cases of this gorgeous offering." - Robert Parker 

Only 525 Cases?  WOW!  I guess we got extremely lucky, as we have 20 cases.  That leaves 505 for the rest of the world.  We

With my wife out of town it was up to me to get the kids fed.  And as much as I hate to admit it I went to the safest and easiest bet for kid cuisine ever - that's right, HOT DOGS!!  And like they have since (at least) 1867, the dogs saved my hide.
 
After their dinner and some TV viewing it was bed-time for them and wine time for me

With my wife due home in time for a late dinner I knew hot dogs wouldn't work for her.  So we shared a nice little Eye of Round fillet and a bottle of 2008 Eugenio Bocchino Roccabella Langhe Nebbiolo DOC - another amazing wine discovered by our Italian wine guru Summer. 

Check this out: "From a single vineyard, the cru 'Roccabella' (which means pretty rock), is right outside the Barolo DOCG in the commune of Roddi.  Aged for 16 months in large oak, 8 months in bottle. 2008 is the first vintage this cru is being vinified and bottled on its own. Extremely bright, yet not over ripe, red fruit and wild flowers

You may or may not know Cheval Blanc is a Premier Grand Cru and is one of Bordeaux's most respected wines. In great vintages it trades for well over a $1000 a bottle and due to world-wide demand can be hard to obtain. Eleven years ago Pierre Lurton, then the director of Cheval Blanc became intrigued with Malbec in Argentina.  He wanted to blend new-world with old-world and produce greater quantities of quality wine at affordable prices. In 1999 he tasted 1970s Malbec wine from the Las Computeras vineyard (the finest parcel of Terrazas de los Andes) and was blown away, thus paving the way for the birth of Cheval des Andes.
 
Today, Pierre Lurton acts as managing director of Cheval des Andes and Nicholas Audebert is the wine maker.  Recently we had the pleasure of tasting their latest release, the 2006 vintage.
 
It has received rave reviews from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (96 points) and it's their highest scoring vintage to date! The wine

Wine: 2007 Philip Togni Cabernet Sauvignon
Region: California
Sokolin Price: $99.95
Rating: 95 RP / 96+ Our Table to Yours

The quality of California Cabernet Sauvignons has been compared to the great wines of Bordeaux's finest Chateaux for at least the last 5 decades.  It reminds us of the 1976 Paris wine tasting that was a true testament to the quality of California wines.  It was very well portrayed in the recent movie "Bottle Shock."

Right now in the wine industry, a lot of eyes are on the seemingly magical 2007 California, Napa Valley, Cabernets.  The best critics, wine makers, and of course, consumers are raving about them. 

Could the 2007 vintage be the greatest one ever produced in the Napa Valley?  Will it elevate the standard and become the benchmark for all vintages to follow?  This was the subject of an article by James Laube in the most recent issue

Sounds like a quote from the heady days of 2006, but it's a reality once again in 2010.
 
Despite the global meltdown of the past few years, Asia, particularly Hong Kong, has become the place where most of the world's finest and rarest wines are sold. Asia is seeing record setting prices at auction and retail. Prices for Latour, Mouton, Margaux, Haut Brion and especially Lafite Rothschild are rising at a pace that is hard to keep up with, even for professionals like myself.
 
Last week three bottles of 1869 Lafite Rothschild (Chateau Stock) sold at Sothbys HK for over $700,000 US dollars. There seemed to be an extreme premium for the Chateau Stock wines that went up for sale, sometimes fetching up to three times the price of retail. Can you believe that 1982 Lafite Rothschild, a wine that we sold as futures for $40 per bottle, is now trading for over $50,000 per case? The Chateau Stock case at the HK auction last week sold for $136,000 US, which probably

Thanksgiving is my holiday. This is the one I enjoy the most. I host Thanksgiving every year at my house and try to put my own twist on it to make it memorable. This year the twist will be the wine I serve. I usually give in and offer an array of whites to please the masses, but this year everyone will have a glass of red waiting for them at their place setting to start the meal.

What red you ask? Well 2008 Brewer - Clifton Pinot Noir is my answer. I popped a bottle of this magnificent red last night with dinner and it was a winner. The fruit of raspberries and blueberries were incredible on the nose, with spice and some autumn underbrush, this wine created a real warm homey feeling for dinner.

Steve Clifton and Greg Brewer produce this wine in the cool climate of Santa Rita Hills and use neutral oak to show off the wine's natural characteristics.   My wife and I shared this bottle accompanied by a pork loin with some fall vegetables and we were blown away by how

Wine: 1996 Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil
Region: Champagne, France
Sokolin Price: $359/btl
Rating: 97+ RP

Wine: 2001 d'Yquem
Region: France
Sokolin Price: $349/half bottle
Rating: 100 RP

This past weekend we were invited to a friend's house for the most special, much anticipated dinner and wine tasting.  To put it simply, the night was perfect.  From the incredible spread of cuisine prepared for us, to the legendary wines poured, to being embraced in a wonderful atmosphere by a genuine group of friends, it just doesn't get any better.  That night, we felt like some of the luckiest people in the world. 

The evening started off early with a 1996 Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil - definitely, one of the best Champagne houses in the world.  It was appropriately paired with an array of appetizers

Before I entered the wine business, if you were to ask me what Sauternes is, I would have laughed and said I have no idea.  I feel this may be the case for a lot of consumers out there or they are just intimidated by the stigma this region has. 

I have heard everything from; it tastes like gasoline to it will give you the worst hang over you have ever had.  Let me be the first to discredit all of these claims and tell you that if you haven't had an opportunity to try a glass there is no better time than the present.  Think about warming up to a fire after a long day at the office or even better a fabulous meal and experiencing a white wine that will overload your senses with joy and affection.  Affection you may ask?  The reason I say affection is because once this glorious liquid enters your system you will fall madly in love and yearn for more. 

Just the other night we cracked a bottle of 2001 Lafaurie-Peyraguey.  For the price this