Cheval des Andes

On Tuesday I attended a couple of trade events. The Estates & Wine 2012 Winemaker Tour and the Italian Wine Masters 2012 Tour. My first stop was the Estates & Wine tasting which was held in the penthouse of the Gansevoort Park Ave. hotel on Park Ave. South and 29th. street. I wasn’t familiar with this distributer, they have a small but interesting portfolio. Since I planned on attending the Italian event later in the afternoon I made the decision not to spend too much time at this event so I cherry-picked what I wanted to try. My first stop was at the 2007 Cheval des Andes. This Argentinian wine is a joint venture between Terrazas de los Andes and Chateau Cheval Blanc in Bordeaux. Bordeaux style with new world fruit, plummy nose, dusty fruit, a little raw oak on the finish but a couple of more  years in the bottle would take care of that. A nice wine.  Next stop was Newton Vineyards Napa Valley.                                                                  They poured the 07 Napa

Newton Vineyards

Merlot and the 07 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon, both unfiltered. Both nice wines, I thought the Cab was plusher than the Merlot but with a drop on the finish, the Merlot tight but concentrated. They also poured the 2008 “The Puzzle” which is a Bordeaux blend. I though the wine was fruit forward and a little jammy on the finish. I would say that the Merlot was my favorite on the table. I stopped by Numanthia Estate which is from the Toro region of Spain. I tried a couple of old vine wines, the 08 Numathia and the 08 Termanthia. Both wines are big, with a black cherry nose, dusty, chewy fruit and a nice finish, very tasty. On a side note, what this distributor lacked in the  size of its portfolio it made up with the absolutely beautiful women working at the event.

I made my way downtown to the Italian Masters event held at the Metropolitan Pavilion. A much larger tasting, they poured wines from Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Vino Noblile di Montepulciano, and Valdobbiadene Procecco (How they got in this group I don’t know how) I started my tasting with the Brunellos. Overall I, as well as my colleagues, were a bit disappointed with the tastings. It seemed the best part of the wines were the aromas coming from the glass with gorgeous perfume of roses, tar and leather. I would say my favorite was the Uccelliera 07 Brunello and the 06 Brunello Reserva. I enjoyed the 07 more so than the Reserva, big aromatic nose, great structure, long finish. I also enjoyed the Pian delle Vigne 07 Brunello and the 06 Brunello Reserva. I got a perfumed nose with earthy undertones. Barbi poured the 07 Brunello, the 07 Brunello Vigna Fiore and the 06 Brunello Reserva. Again with the great nose on all three with firm tannins on the finish.

I’m not a big fan of Prosseco so I didn’t try any. I enjoyed the Castello di Ama 08 Chianti Classico, earthy nose, good fruit, tight tannins and a long finish.