Saturday evening I attended a food and wine fest fundraiser for Giants of Generosity, a non-profit organization that is about “encouraging altruism in local communities”. It was a consumer event and was held at the Clinton Inn Hotel in Tenafly New Jersey. There were a couple of celebrity chefs in attendance, Maneet Chauhan and the White House Chef, Guy Mitchell who ran cooking seminars that night. Tid-bits of food were provided by local vendors and quite a few wines were poured. Like many consumer events it was more quantity than quality when it came to the wines but this was a fundraiser, and any night there are wines to sample is a good night. I took a bus from the Port Authority and an hour later pulled up in front of the hotel which was very quaint.
Whites
2012 Champalou Vouvrey (Loire). Light yellow with a greenish tint with a nose of sweet peaches and peach fruit with some nice acid at the end.
2012 Villa Rosa Gavi di Gavi (Piedmont). Medium gold with some forest floor on the nose, medium bodied with peach flavors and lime notes at the end.
2012 Dinastia Vivanco Blanco (Rioja). A blend of three white grapes including 60% of the obscure Viura variety, it was light yellow with earthy notes on the nose and was medium bodied and crisp with some of those earth notes on the finish.
Reds
2012 Kriss Pinot Noir (Pavia). Medium red with smoky black cherry notes on the fruit.
2011 Maculan “Brentino”(Breganze). About an equal blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot from a producer that does a good job, dark red with bell pepper, smoke and tobacco on the nose with chewy fruit and dried herbs and mint on the balanced finish.
2011 Terra di Vulcano Aglianico del Vulture (Basilicata). From 100% Aglianico, medium red with a big perfume of black cherry and was tight with firm tannin.
2009 Vina Bujanda Crianza (Rioja). Dark red with sweet leather on the nose with velvety fruit followed by firm tannin.
2007 Marquis de Grinon Cabernet Sauvignon (Valdepusa). Black in color with a nose of dried herbs with black cherry and licorice on the dark, dusty and concentrated fruit with good grip at the end. Nice wine.
2011 Pine Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley). Dark red to black with cooked fruit notes on the nose with a tight and smoky finish.
2011 Bogle Merlot (California). A good budget producer, this was dark red to black in color with stewed fruits and vegetables on the nose and was chewy and chunky with black licorice on the finish, good balance.
SocialVino 