a guest exclaims, entering the ground floor reception area of the famous Clos de Vougeot and seeing handsomely uniformed waiters pouring tastes of the region's finest red and white wines. The clever thing is that ALL the wines are tasted blind. "This is absolutely fantastic!"

It’s the time of year when distributors and/or importers have annual (or semi-annual) portfolio tastings. Yesterday was the Polaner Selections tasting and I dropped by for a while in the second half. The Crichet Paje on the table from 2002, a poor vintage but a great wine. Below are a few impressions and photos. Quite fun.

And the berries looked delicious – I could not wait to see how they would taste! Gravity: The Taste Test. Christian Seely led a very interesting test, in which we tasted two groups of base wine: Group 1 was 2008 Merlot, and Group 2 was Cabernet Franc. One simply used personal taste as a guide. The Tasting.

And that’s what Dave Erickson, a site reader in North Carolina who blogs at the Wine Mule , has been doing and he sent in this question about them: We had a tasting of orange wines the other night , and the question came up: How do sommeliers deal with these wines, when they all seem to need anywhere from 4 to 24 hours to become presentable?

Some of the wines tasted: Chateau Clerc-Milon: 1994, 2004, 2005, 2006. Chateau Pontet-Canet: 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006 and Les Hauts de Pontet 2005. Chateau Mouton Rothschild: 1995 and Petit-Mouton 2005. Pauillac is a small region, only about 5,000 people, and had very humble beginnings.

Today the Wine Media Guild had the rare and very special opportunity to taste test 'cork vs. screwcap' for the second time. Those of us lucky enough to be present in 2007 (myself included) tasted the 2002 vintage of various cru wines from Domaine LaRoche in both cork and screwcap. Michel Laroche of Domaine LaRoche. RED WINES.

Owner/winemaker Nicolas Heeter-Tari first got the idea for Esquisse in the great vintage of 2002, when he saw the quality of the wine was so superior it would be a shame to negotiants as generic wine in bulk. Nicolas offered me a private tasting of the last several vintages of the great wine. Adele. Now let me set the seen.

It’s not every evening I get to taste ten white Burgundies with a decade or so of age. So I delighted to have the chance to taste through several bottles at a collector’s house recently to assess the risk and reward of white Burgundy. Ballot-Millot, Meursault Perrieres, 2002 : oxidized. For one, they’re often expensive.

The seminar and tasting for New York journalists was held March 8 and included a larger representation of cool climate VQA Chardonnays featuring 54 wines from 31 Canadian wineries located in British Columbia and Ontario. Burrowing Owl Estate Winery 2005. Closson Chase Vineyards Beamsville Bench 2005. Exultet Estates 2009.

think about vintage now when I buy a special bottle of wine, but I think about them according to my own taste and experience. 2005, on the other hand - a vintage of the decade. We also drank the 2002, although it was released as Limpido!, Everything, in fact, with the exception of 2002, is supposed to be very good.

And the berries looked delicious – I could not wait to see how they would taste! Gravity: The Taste Test. Christian Seely led a very interesting test, in which we tasted two groups of base wine: Group 1 was 2008 Merlot, and Group 2 was Cabernet Franc. One simply used personal taste as a guide. The Tasting.

few other journalists and I gathered together to taste her wines and hear her story at Dan Meyers new Maialino restaurant in Gramercy Park. The most interesting aspect of the tasting was experiencing the 2005 and 2009 Foja Tonda grape, an indigenous grape to Vallagarina in Italy’s Adige Valley. Incredible!

Fresh and bright with fruit, and it really showed what to my taste is typical of Meunier - a round and fleshy, very broad character with something sweet and nutty like marzipan or cashew under the fruit. 2002) Larmandier-Bernier Vieille Vignes de Crama nt Extra Brut Blanc de Blancs , $70, Louis/Dressner Selections. loved this rosé.

We then enjoyed two wines from the 2005 vintage with my fish soup. 2005 is thought to be a great vintage because, as in most of France, conditions were essentially perfect. I'm not sure yet where I stand on 2005, as I've had some wines that are more about ripeness and grape character than they are about terroir. But close.

But I kid you not, the calendar has been so reliable that I'm starting to plan dinners and tastings around it. But when was the last time you drank (not tasted) 7 bottles of wine in an evening and every one of them was showed beautifully? I'm starting to believe in the influence of lunar cycles on wine. And there have been exceptions.

Opening this 2005 Monte Bello with the affluent aromas of only Monte Bello mountain surfacing, the only thought I had was life seemed a little back to normal, at least somewhat, and if only for a moment. Let this 2005 Monte Bello develop in the decanter for a good three hours before trying it -- secondary notes will emerge.

I've still not had a bottle of 91 Rousseau Chambertin with dinner (or any vintage of any Chambertin with dinner, for that matter), I've never tasted DRC, I've never had anyone's Montrachet with dinner. Here's what we had: (2005) Cédric Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Les Ursules Brut Blanc de Noirs - solo. am not in the wine business.

Jenny & François import these wines for the east coast, and they organized a tasting in a small and very comfortable setting that actually encouraged conversation, instead of merely offering a glass and a spit bucket. And converse we did - I spoke with Emmanuel for about an hour while tasting, and I learned a great deal about his wines.

No, but that's because my tastes have changed, not because they are bad wines. Here is what I found, in the approximate order of my preference: 2002 Panther Creek Pinot Noir White Rose Vineyard , $35. 2002 St. 2005 Adelsheim Pinot Noir Ribbon Springs Vineyard , $44. 2005 Adelsheim Pinot Noir Elizabeth's Reserve , $44.

Peter and I drank the 2005 Saignée de Sorbée merely days before this Seattle dinner, and it was also a great, but an entirely different wine. The 2005 was not as much about fruit, it was completely saline and pungently rocky and earthy, and it was great with our roast bonito. These things come in waves, I guess. Such a joy to drink.

The youngest Riesling I’ve tasted was a tank sample of the 2009 Jacob’s Creek Steingarten Riesling. The 2005, by contrast, was in a very nice spot, exhibiting more muted lime and floral character. The 1998 was oddly phenolic and, while quite solid, not as rewarding today as the 2005. Quite delicious.

Not that it matters in order to appreciate the wines - they taste and feel good, and they makes great company for fresh seafood, cheeses, and other foods. recently went to Vins du Jura , a tasting featuring 20 producers from the Jura region of France. In the hands of a good producer, sous-voile wines are completely delicious.

At least one was resolved peacefully last week in a historic vertical tasting of the wines of the two Pichons. The managing directors of both properties convened on New York for a tasting at the Wine Media Guild on April 27. First up was a walk around tasting of both the wines from 2000-2006. Sign up for one if you can.

2002 Domaine René Engel Vosne-Romanée , $28. 2002 is supposed to be such a great year, and this is a good producer (although that reputation grew under a different wine maker). 2005 Lafouge Auxey-Duresses 1er Cru Les Duresses , $27. 2005 Domaine des Croix Bourgogne , $25. 2005 René LeClerc Bourgogne , $25.

Some said that biodynamic, organic, and otherwise natural growers would have a particularly tough time in 2007 because of their reluctance to treat their vines against rot, but this seems not to be true, from what I've tasted so far. In contrast to the 2005 or 2002, it is not an exuberant wine, even after 3 days open.

To the tape: Mr. Staples pointed to the example of Château-Lafite Rothschild, a first-growth Bordeaux, which soared from £675, or $955, for a 12-bottle case in the 2002 futures to £4,000 a case for 2005 — which he called “the best vintage I’ve ever tasted.” Wow, talk about return on investment!

He brought a few truly special bottles of wine from France for this dinner, one of which was the 2002 Benoît Lahaye Brut Champagne Millésime. I've never had a Paul Bara wine, and I haven't tasted the entire lineup of wines from Saves or Clouet, but I've drank some of their wines, and I think that Lahaye's NV Brut is just better.

Winemaking and operations continue out of the Carneros plant, while the tasting room is located at 6795 Washington Street in Yountville. As previously reported, the 2002 Girard Caberent Franc Napa Valley displays bright and luscious strawberry notes on opening. History, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder. Elegance.

Ridge Vineyards' first Advanced Tasting Program release of 2009 , from 48 barrels of 100% zinfandel planted in 1923 on the Dusi Ranch one mile east of Highway 101 in Paso Robles, this big, mouth coating zinfandel is loaded with ripe red fruit. The wine is concentrated, ruby red, and has mild smoke and bacon notes underneath.

numbered them and we did a blind tasting, pitting Girard's 2002 Cabernet Franc against a 2000 Ch. Charmail **, a 2005 Mondavi Napa Valley Merlot, 2000 Ch. Haut Gravet ** and the fifth wheel 2005 La Crema Pinot Noir Russian River Valley * It was interesting to note how these wines had evolved over the past 3-6 days.

thought it was sweeter than most Nero D’Avolas that I’ve tasted, but in a good way… reflecting the perfectly timed ripeness of the fruit. First vintage bottled in 2002, 150,000 bottles produced annually. Along with a delicious dinner, we had this wine as our second bottle at Il Poeta this weekend. No wine purchased ?No tons per acre.

The word that comes to mind as you sip Antonin Guyon's 2002 Gevrey-Chambertin ** is searing. found this bottle in the basement refrigerator recently, shortly after I had purchased its younger sibling, the 2005 *, for which there are no words to adequately describe, but I digress.

And because our wine tastes are quite diverse. It's also an egalitarian system - the host who feels flush can select 2002 Vosne-Roman é e 1er Cru wines as the theme. The exceptions for me were the Pinon wines - the Brut was fine but the 2002 Vouvray Tradition was just no good. All the wine, all of the food, everything.

We like to end the class in style: a giant edition of show and tell and taste. Each participant brings in a wine to present to the class, which means we get to taste about 25 wines that evening. Sadly, Tibor Gal died too young in a car accident in 2005. For some odd reason, Mrs. Vino always refers to this as the party, but no!

So after the hard and wonderful work of the Terry Theise Portfolio tasting, we rushed over to the east side for Louis/Dressner tasting. There was simply no way to taste everything, even if this were the only tasting of the day. The Italian wines - I didn't taste 'em. Wines of the Savoie - didn't taste 'em.

routinely disagree with their wine scores (they gave Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 2005 only 85 points - WTF are they thinking?!) Araujo Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley "Eisele Vineyard" 2005 * Smoky garnet color. wine of great depth and class, and my favorite 2005 Napa cabernet of the night. Tasted thrice and consistent notes.

Would you like to taste and try to identify them.blind? But a few of us blind tasted five red wines and tried to name them. It turned out to be a 2002 Domaine Virely-Rougeot Pommard 1er Cru, Les Chanlins (I think). He guessed a 2005 Burgundy, young and tightly closed. swear to you, it didn't taste like Syrah.

We began with the 2002 Champagne Raymond Boulard Extra Brut Les Rachais. We then opened the 2002 Benoît Lahaye Champagne Millésime (another bottle checked in his suitcase). The wine was showing "far more evolved than previous bottles I've tasted," according to Peter. reminder not to touch my 2005's for a long time.

It's always fun to taste different wines and to try to find out for yourself what you personally like and dislike. After they met in November 2002, they created an escape in their home by hosting frequent dinners to celebrate friendships and family, food and wine. What was the first wine that made you realize you loved wine?

tasted so many wines that are new to me. 2002 Domaine du Closel Savenniè res Clos de Papillon. Several tastes commented on the change in style at Closel. Champagne was my immediate thought, but in the end I went with wine that I assumed would be unique at the tasting, and that might even be new to a few people. Who knew.

I don't want to write about wine today, no tasting notes. He brought a lovely gift of a bottle of 2005 Bouzeron crafted by the master M. We enjoyed the remaining half of a bottle of 2005 Desvignes Morgon Javerni è res, 2nd Upper Terrace Bottling , on its second day open. Aubert de Villaine. We'll see.

Here's what I love about these wines: they taste honest, like real representations of the grapes and soil from that place. 2002 Puzelat Touraine Pinot Noir La Tesni è res $18 I stumbled on this bottle, the last in the store, at Astor the other day. 2005 Puzelat Touraine La Tesni è res , $19. You love good wine, right? Pickles!

Overall, I was astounded at the consistency and quality of the wines we tasted, which were those of The Lenz, Paumanok, Pellegrini, Peconic Bay and Borghese. The low point, such as it was, was probably the wine tasting on Saturday evening at the Harvest Inn. Dee and P were happily surprised at how much they liked the wines.

But now, my long overdue summary of the wines I was able to try at the Polaner tasting. Maybe given my "neophyte" status, I try to taste as many wines as possible and miss the point. Either way, while it was overwhelming, I tasted some very fine wines and met some very personable and charming winemakers (or winery proprietors).

There are also loads of tasting notes and scores, but it's up to you to determine whether or not his 93 point score translates to your personal 93, whatever that may be. don't get to do that kind of extensive tasting, but I got a good start at the Polaner tasting a few weeks ago. In a normal year good wine makers make good wine.

Overall, I think that right now, at six years of age, the 2002 is in between its fruity, sweet beginnings and a sophisticated adolescene just around the corner. The 2002 was the sixth Monte Bello I tasted this year. It's a combination of 2007's gorgeous and pure fruits and 2005's depth and class. 2005 Very sophisticated.

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to taste a mature wine at a tasting, which can be a special experience also, especially if the wine is very expensive or difficult to find at stores. But they are different from the same wine in 2002, for example, in that they might mature more quickly. Not that they're sub-par, they are not.

always meant to taste the wines, but never did. But then Peter Liem in his truly excellent blog Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel wrote about Damien Laureau's Savennières in his February 9, 2008 post (to which I cannot seem to create a link), calling it the finest example of Savennières from 2005. Maybe it's just me. Probably is.

In the past month or so I've tasted a few 2005's, some old familiar faces and some from producers that are pretty much new to me. Although there are problems with the wines in general (too sweet to my palate), on the whole I much prefer them to the 2004's we tasted during our recent Five Nights of Oregon Pinot festivities.

The first I will start with is one that helped a financially challenged Wine Tasting Guy get through many a Jewish holiday. You will find both 2005 & 2006 vintages in stock. The 2005 is selling for $12.50 have found 2003 -2005 in stores ranging in price from about $ 13.50 Buy it up, drink it and be proud. category.

Chambers Street Wines held a Jura tasting in the beginning of March. My past includes exactly one Jura red ( 2002 Pierre Overnoy Arbois Pupillin - my notes say that I didn't like it) and a couple of Crémants - love 'em. Reds 2005 Puffeney Arbois Trousseau , $30. 2005 Ganevat Pinot Noir , $30. Not even a little bit.

So it's not like I can place what I tasted amidst my many other tasting experiences and say something meaningful. And I've never even heard of most of the producers I tasted. That said, I know my palate well enough to be confident when I smell and taste wine, to be able to say whether or not I like it. unrelenting.

Here are a few things that struck me during the tasting: If I had tasted blind, I would have guessed wrong on the grape varieties in many of these wines. But I liked these wines at this tasting. Of those, some tasted good, others did not. I would love to taste this in 5 years. Maybe it's just odd wine making.

2005 Burgundy! Like most wine lovers I've been awaiting the arrival of the 2005 vintage of Burgundy with baited breath. So I made my first foray north to pick out a case of 2005 Burgundy at Garnet on the Upper East Side, and to get my feet wet in this venerable (or venerably hyped) vintage. To the prices? How much should I buy?

All of the wines have starring (Lopez de Heredia, Clos Roche Blanche, Dard & Ribo) or supporting (all the others) roles in my book, were tasted blind. The line up was: Welcome White: 2005 Cascina degli Ulivi Filagnotti (Gavi, Piemonte)--comments? It tastes so much better than it smells. 2005 Herv Souhaut St. Many thanks!

Some people can taste a wine blind, knowing nothing about it at all, and are able to identify it. decided about 6 months ago that I wanted to out-do these people, the folks who taste blind and confidently declare "this is definitely an Opus One, and the slightly lower concentration makes me think it's an 02. Felt like a white.

Following is a list of Brooklynguy's splurge wines from the past two years or so, some in the cellar, some just a memory, in order of price: 2002 Dominique Gallois Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers , $50, 2 bottles. 2005 Domaine Lignier-Michelot Morey St Denis 1er Cru Les Faconnieres , $50, 3 bottles. Why $50? Good buy. Oiy vey.

BrooklynLady and I went to France together for the first time in October of 2005. have never tasted this wine - it retails at over $70 and I just haven't gone there yet on a Chenin. Had I used this kind of thinking a few years ago I would have purchased and cellared some of the 2002 Le Bourg. This retails for approximately $35.

told them about trying the NV Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs , and that it tasted like sweat. And I'm also excited to taste this Champagne again. Speaking of Champagne, I tasted a few interesting wines this holiday season. I've never tasted Bollinger wines before until recently. She was wonderful, actually. That's my.02

take it to mean that you can't ever really be certain of how good a wine is until you open and taste it yourself, and usually over a few hours with a meal. opened a bottle of 2002 Meursault en la Barre, a wine that retailed for about $50 back then, and man, did I feel unsyatisfied, as John Malkovich said in Rounders. Uh uh, not likely.

Not everyone loved wine they tasted, but on the whole the experience was clearly a positive one. Before getting into the specifics, here are a few things that jump out at me when looking at our notes as a whole: 9 out of the 14 reds tasted were from the 2005 vintage, a ripe and glorious year. Joe really liked the wine, a 2005.

bet this would have done well in our recent blind tasting. This is a challenging wine - I tasted it once before and thought it needed food. 2005 Chidaine Montlouis-sur-Loire Les Tuffeaux (about $23, Dressner stuff again, might be sold out at this point but there are other Chidaine wines on the shelf - try one). Beaujolais.

2005 Francois Cazin Cour-Cheverny Vendanges Manuelles , $13.50 (Chambers Street Wines). 2005 Champalou Vouvray , $16 ( Big Nose Full Body ). very much enjoyed the crystalline and incredibly drinkable 2004 Vouvray, so how would the "vintage to end all vintages" 2005 be? I'm not taking sides in the rose debate. prefer the 04.

The thing that kills me is that the last St Innocent wine dinner in NYC was also at the Tasting Room and cost about $275 before gratuity. There is another dinner in NYC, again at the tasting room, but I bet the price will be more than double what it is in Portland. Voillot 2005 Meursault Chevalieres / St. Hello Portland!

I kept meaning to write posts about some of the interesting wine I tasted in June, but I kept getting derailed. Here are some notes on wines that did not get their own post: Burgundy 2005 Jean Manciat Macon Charnay Vieille Vignes , $21 (Chambers Street Wines). loved this wine back in March at the real Wine Attack Tasting.

Multiple mini-tastings at Vintage NY , a bottle here and there at home, and a visit to the North Fork last summer convinced me of the high quality of many Long Island wines, and of the potential of the region in general. great opportunity for me to taste a load of Long Island wine in one sitting (standing, and walking actually). Yummy.

I've tasted a few wines that have been on my "wish list" for a while, others that I've been meaning to try and finally found a good excuse to open, and new releases of yet other wines that I taste each year. 2002 Sylvan Cathiard Vosne Romanee , $25 (secondary market). 2005 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Pinot Gris , $17.

I bet all of you read Eric Asimov's column on Wednesday where he talks about learning about wine at home by having your local wine salesperson pick out a case, taste through it, etc. That means you should go get yours now if you're interested in tasting. Most are from 2005, a wonderful vintage. That's pretty intense. Enjoy

The folks over at the Wine Cask Blog are hosting this month's edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the online tasting event created by Lenn at Lenndevours. have enjoyed this wine very much in recent years, although the 2005, supposedly a great year in the Loire Valley, is not yet drinking well in my opinion. What happened here?

handful of parsley stems salt to taste Don't be intimidated by making fish stock. We enjoyed this soup tremendously with a hunk of bread and a glass of Muscadet, specifically the 2005 Domaine de la Pepiere Muscadet Clos des Briords Vieille Vignes, $14. Their fish is always delicious, the freshest and must flavorful I can get.

on Saturday, thinking I would be the first guy at Chambers Street Wines for the tasting. And as a reader named Andrew pointed out in his comments on Spring Tastings in NYC , many of the people in the store seemed to have no idea what was going on, they were there simply because they walked by and smelled the wine in the air.

I, however, collected the following bottles, most of which I have not yet touched, and for which I am supplying whatever tasting notes I can find, if any (e.g. JS Score: 93, Oct 2005, Release Price: $78 Piero Busso Barbaresco Borgese 1999 x 3 WS: Refined red. JS , Score: 90, Nov 2002, Release Price: $52 Guido Porro Barolo Vigna S.

But here they are, the wines that we should be able to find right now on retail shelves (and I will indicate where I bought mine), my absolute favorite under $25 Pinots: 2005 Paul Pernot Beaune Clos du Dessus des Marconnets , $22 ( Garnet , Chambers Street says they will carry it soon). Why not? So that's it?" You ask, "only those two wines?

We continue our foray into blind tasting Thursday night, and the theme is young Loire red wine. We decided to open these particular wines before our blind tasting because: 1) The Raffault wine is from the 2002 vintage, and is not as young as the other wines in the tasting. And really cheap too. Such honest wine.

Recently I talked about buying wine produced in an "off" vintage, wine that in great vintages might be too expensive for me to taste. have been sampling some older experiments using this strategy, a few 2001 Pinots from Oregon and Burgundy, 2002 was considered the star vintage in both regions. So beautiful.

For example, 2002 was considered to be a great year in Burgundy and in Oregon, and the wines tend to be priced accordingly. Wines are generally priced accordingly - in other words - people like you and me might be able to afford wines that are out of range in 2002. actually first tasted the same wine in December, and mentioned it here.

But there are some wines I tasted during the past two months that I think are of some interest, and I want to share some notes. first tasted this wine, a blend of 55% Tempranillo and 45% Grenache , at Rosewater Restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn. 2005 Catherine and Pierre Breton Bourgueil Trinch ! , $17. Remondo , $24.

am not usually drawn to large negociant houses, but I read through Nikolai Vogel & Kilian Fitzpatrick's lovingly written descriptions of their Burgundy tasting trips. They recommend Moillard Grivot as a great place to taste wines from various villages and to compare, to learn something about the terroir. Well balanced, young.

The Wine Doctor posted a bunch of tasting notes and plenty of interesting information about Domaine Huet as part of his Loire Profiles series. 2005 Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu , $26. Again, The Wine Doctor has an informative profile and tasting notes on Chevalier. And the home made spaetzle.a

2002 Pian del Ciampolo was in stores until a few months ago and it was graceful, light bodied, but pretty intense wine. 2003 is supposed to be far superior to 2002 in Tuscany and I was excited to try the new vintage. Fuller bodied than the 2002, intense smokey cherry and leather flavors, very earthy. Now, the weekend's wines.

In August my wife and I took a short trip to the North Fork of Long Island to explore and to taste some wine. Their unoaked 2005 Estate Sauvignon Blanc was fresh and lively. I've tasted maybe 10 in my life. 2005 Lamoreaux Landing $18 - light golden hue, very reserved nose. 2005 Hermann J. violets?