This past Saturday I attended the NYC Autumn Wine Festival. It was a huge consumer event which was held at the Conrad Hotel located at 102 North End Avenue at Battery Park. The Conrad is a new hotel and one that I haven’t been to before and was a gorgeous space to have a large consumer event such as this one and certainly a much nicer venue than the Best Buy Theater in Times Square where the Winter Wine Fest was held last February. In fact not only was the venue and the food superior this time around but the wines served were definitely a step up in quality, some nice juice was to be had and they were served in a proper Reidel glass as well! There were two sessions, one in the afternoon and another later that evening. I attended the afternoon session which I think make for a more civilized drinking experience since I didn’t have to elbow my way through a mob of people every time I wanted a glass of wine.
There was certainly enough wine to go around, 47 tables pouring over 200 wines. With some live music in the background there was a lot of tasting to be had. Some of the wines I enjoyed:
2007 Hine Bonfils “Domaine Du Gour De Chaule Cuvee Tradition” Gigondas (Rhone). Medium red with a nose of crushed red berries with dusty, minty fruit.
2010 Chateau La Croix Romane Lalande de Pomeral (Bordeaux). Dark red to black with a nose of toasted cherry and black licorice with silky dusty fruit and good balance
2009 La Grand Enclos du Chateau De Cerons Graves (Bordeaux). Dark red to black with notes of toasted black fruit, mint and was concentrated and chewy with a firm, balanced finish.
2010 Domaine Jean-Michel Guillon Et Fils “Clos Des Portes” Marsannay (Burgundy). Dark red with notes of red cherry and earth on the nose with black licorice on the finish.
2009 Domaine Du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf Du Pape “La Crau” (Rhone). Medium red with notes of cooked fruit and black licorice and was chewy and smoky on the balanced finish.
2010 Chateau Maucoil Chateauneuf Du Pape (Rhone). Inky black with a nose of toasty barnyard and was rustic and chewy with silky tannins.
2002 Chateau Musar (Bekaa Valley, Lebanon). Very unique wine, they always release older vintages, this one was medium red with a big nose of mint and plums and moderate fruit.
2011 Cos Pithos Rosso (Sicily). Medium red with a very stinky nose with dusty, bright fruit with that stinkines coming through on the finish.
2009 Fontodi Chianti Classico (Tuscany). Medium red in color with notes of red roses and mint on the nose with full, chewy and velvety fruit.
2011 Valdicava Rosso di Montalcino (Tuscany). Bright red in color with a nose of pencil shavings and mint with silky fruit on the great balance.
2007 Josetta Saffirio Barolo (Piedmont). Dark amber with a nose of toasty oak, red cigar-box with red licorice notes on the silky, balanced finish. Some heat at the end.
2011 Mount Eden Chardonnay “Wolff Vineyard” (Santa Cruz). Dark yellow with a nose of toasted oak and tropical fruit.
2011 Talbott Chardonnay “Sleepy Hollow” (Monterey). Light yellow with a floral nose of canned peaches with good fruit and acidity
2009 Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon Estate (Santa Cruz). Dark red with a nose of bell pepper and dried leaf with good fruit and crisp acids on the finish.
2009 Wolf Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon “Phaedrus” (Napa Valley). Dark red to black with hints of dried mushroom and barnyard on the nose with mouth coating tannin on the finish.
2009 Demuth-Kemos Cabernet Sauvignon “Bei Ranch” (Sonoma). Dark red with a nose of cigar-box and red flowers with dusty fruit and a firm balance.
2010 Midsummer Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon “Haystack Peak Vineyards”. (Napa Valley). Dark red in color with toasty notes on the nose and was tight and silky with great balance.
2010 Wind Gap Syrah (Sonoma). Dark red with notes of black olive on the nose and was tight and tart.
2011 Ponzi Pinot Noir (Oregon). Medium light red with cola and wild flower notes on the nose with silky fruit
2011 Bergstrom Pinot Noir “Cumberland Reserve” (Oregon). Medium red with notes of cola and dusty earth on the nose, starts out light on the palate but turns chewy and nicely balanced.
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