Days of wine, and..well..more wine

In September and October, when wineries celebrate the harvest and introduce their new wines, the number of events one gets invited to can attend can weigh down an engagement book. The ones I can't pass up? Events where it's highly unlikely I'll have the opportunity to taste a lot of wines from one producer, side by side. (I'm still beating myself up over missing the Amarone seminar)

Monday, October 25th was such a day, the day Italy came to Manhattan! An early 11:00am  start with a seminar at The New York Public library, and extraordinary space to hold events. A Grandi Marchi event, organized by this prestigious Italian association of wine producers that includes a range of producers from Tuscany based Antinori to Sicily's Donnafugata.

Piero Antinori, President of The Grandi Marchi Association gave the opening statements, with a brief overview of the enormous range of wines in different terroirs from the foothills of the Swiss Alps, Piedmonte area, to  Sicily. The speakers who followed included Augosto Buffo, representing the Pio Estate as well as the very dynamic Jose Rallo, daughter of the family who owns Donnafugata of Sicily.

Later at The Simply Italy trade/media wine tasting downstairs, I tried several new introductions including this exceptional Amarone from Masi. This producer, Masi, is from the Veneto region (north-west Italy) just south-west of Venice. Amarone is a style of winemaking that is in use in other areas (even Long Island!) This Amarone was very full bodied, a rich, dense wine with strong stone fruit (cherry and plum) as well as cocoa flavours and aroma. The vines that face Lake Garda reap the benefits of the reflected sun's light, not to mention its mild climate. The Amarone production method involves the vinification of grapes that have been semi-dried for 3-4 months. This Costasera Amarone 2006 expresses a particular complexity and makes it a great match for mature cheeses.

Another outstanding wine, I tasted at the Simply Italy event was Ben Rye from Donnafugata. This sweet dessert or "meditation" wine as the Italians charmingly describe wines to enjoy on their own, has a bright amber yellow color. Intense notes include apricots, peaches, dried figs, honey, herbs and mineral notes. To pair with blue-veined or ripe cheeses or desserts.

Ran into a friend Frank DeFalco (left), who was pouring a delightful blend of Sangiovese and Canaiolo varietals: Rubesco Riserva Monticchio 2005 from the Umbria region.

Events today, overlapped and I had to exit early to get to the recently opened 42,000 square foot Italian Market, Eataly for the Vinitaly wine tasting event. I'm certain on paper this must have seemed like a natural match up of event and location, and a fabulous way of promoting wines, side by side with Italian food, but the reality was chaotic. Getting jostled by shoppers (who all seemed confused by the tasting tables that they were not welcome to stop at) as you're trying to focus on tasting was distracting and difficult. The acoustics are...well, like a marketplace ie: LOUD and shouting questions at wine sales reps, half of whom had a glancing familiarity with English,  (winemakers seemed scarce here) was un-fun. I tasted some nice Sicilian wines from the producer Tema and ran into Lidia Bastianich, who runs the cooking school there. I had the company of my friend Sarah, a fan of wine who lived in Italy for many years and picked up some minuscule cheese raviolis for my sons dinner.


Capped off the day by zipping across town to the Gramercy Hotel to a dinner at Danny Meyer's Maialino (famous for their all Italian wine list) hosted by the Consorzio for Chianti Wines. There was a tasting of seven Chiantis set up from the lightest bodied wine from producer Badia di Morrona a 2009 Sodi del Paretaio (left) to the fullest, a Chianti Superiore 2008 from Ruffino. My second visit to Maialino, the pork dish, which had been delicious the first time there, was overcooked and sat on people's dishes as guests raised their hands requested more of the juicy roasted chicken from the servers circling the table with platters of meat. Couldn't help thinking my friend Les makes a better pork dish. Altho the cracklin' still rocked.

--Monica Forrestall

Persistence Pays Off: Or if you hang out at a table long enough, they bring out the really good stuff

Case in point, this Imperial Riserva 2004, being poured at the Rioja table at the 17th annual Great Match Spanish wine tasting event in New York on October 7th. This is an annual event that features 130 wines being poured for tasting from many of Spain's 74 denominations of origin.

The eloquent ladies at the Rioja tables had this rare bottle of Imperial Reserva 2004 squirreled away, and brought it out to pour after tasters had diligently worked their way up through the newer introductions. This medium bodied wine shows plum, blackberry and spices on the palate. Made using 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo grape varieties, this velvety-textured wine was aged in new French and American oak for 24 months.

---Monica Forrestall

Tastings and Pairings: The Best of the Best of the height of wine tasting season.

This time of year the invitations for wine tastings are coming fast and furious. This week I had four on my calendar (I made it to three).

As incredibly useful as the huge tastings that I go to are, in terms of tasting a lot of different styles and quality from dozens of producers, I honestly prefer the more intimate invites I get. Here hosts organize a very thorough, guided tasting with the winemaker. And there is nothing more engrossing (or enchanting) than listening to a winemaker passionately describe how the wines you drank came to be. Details like what the weather was like that year in the vineyards make for a riveting seminar.
Yesterday I was invited by the owner of the Chilean winery Montes Premium wines, Aurelio Montes, to taste through their new introductions, which included their Kaiken Mai 2007.

Along with the information on aging techniques, and descriptions of the terroir where the grapes were picked, Mr. Montes offered food pairing tips with the wines we were tasting (with the exception of his Montes Alpha M 2007---which he said he would take to his room and drink alone.)

When the tasting was complete, we were invited to stay and have lunch with Mr. Montes in a private room of Aureole. After hearing about how well Kaiken Mai's would pair well with big meat dish, I couldn't pass up the chance to have that experience (especially since in our highly vegetarian home---deer, venison and wild boar have never been on the menu.)

The first course was a Montes Alpha Chardonnay 2008, which they nicely paired with sweet, moist Nova Scotia lobster.  This soft gold colored wine showed banana and tropical fruits on the palate and nicely balanced the rich, sweet lobster meat.

The next course, Pork Belly Pastrami, served with a Raclette cheese and cole slaw and the powerful 100% Malbec, Kiaken Mai 2007 was a good pairing, but I liked the combination of the Star Angel "Aurelio's Selection" 2007 even more. The Star Angel's smoky spiciness was a great combination with the smoky pastrami.

The third course, a Flat iron Steak in a sauce Au Poivre dotted with floating English peas and delicately sliced smoked fingerling potatoes went well with the Kaiken Mai 2007, a bold wine, with plenty of structure and tannins to stand up to this hearty meat dish.

Although their premium wines that I tasted fall into the $60 to $90 category,  Montes also produces a lot of wines in the under $20 price point.

---Monica Forrestall

Sentimental Journey visiting wineries in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

I wrote a piece for Brix magazine on wineries and travel for their summer issue.

The wines are getting better and better, and this summer's hot sunny days in July and August are adding up to one of their best seasons in years.

http://brixmag.com/?p=467

---Monica Forrestall