James Suckling is a journalist and wine critic that regularly organizes and hosts wine events in Miami, San Francisco and New York City.
On June 11 & 12 he hosted the Great Wine World New York City wine event, which was held at The Glasshouse, a venue located on the far west side of midtown Manhattan at 660 12th Avenue.
There are mega tastings and there was this. Two days of a 3 hour walk around tasting each day featuring 800 wines of the world rated 90+ points from Suckling from 380 producers from 55 wine producing countries, with different wines on each day.
This year they had 6,000 attendees with consumers and members of the trade about evenly split between them. 100% of the proceeds from the cost of the trade ticket went to the California Fire Foundation.
There was plenty of excellent juice to sample those two days. It was a little hectic and confusing because the wine booths were in alphabetical order instead of bunched up by country, so you basically spent the time wandering around cavernous venue looking for the wines you were interested in sampling. But I suppose that way most of the people in attendance didn’t congregate at the most popular tables.
It was a very nice tasting.
As usual for me at these big tastings, I focused my energies on Bordeaux and Napa Valley.
Some of what I sampled:
Old World
2015 Chateau Pontet Canet (Pauillac): Opaque dark brick, tar, graphite and dark chocolate on the nose, tight red fruit with crushed rock notes on the firm finish.
2015 Chateau Gloria (St. Julien): Opaque dark red, perfume of milk chocolate and barnyard, tight black fruit ending with crisp acids.
2016 Chateau Malartic Lagraviere (Pessac Leognan): Opaque dark purple, crushed sweet red fruit on the nose, juicy black fruit ending with a nice balance.
2017 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (Pauillac): Opaque medium red, sweet tree bark on the nose, tight with barnyard notes and a firm finish.
2018 Chateau Sociando Mallet (Haut Medoc): Opaque dark red, perfume of violets and plums, chewy, minty fruit with firm tannin.
2018 Chateau des Laurets Baron (St. Emillion): Opaque dark red, purple rim, barnyard on the nose, tight and concentrated with oaky tannin on the firm finish.
2019 Chateau Giscours (Margeaux): Opaque dark purple, crushed stone on the nose, tight, dusty fruit with green stem notes, silky tannin.
2020 Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse (Pauillac): Opaque dark red, black fruit and graphite on the nose, chewy, dusty fruit with slate and black olive notes on the finish, good grip.
New World
2019 Heitz Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Opaque medium purple, black pepper on the nose, concentrated and juicy black fruit with stone and crushed nut notes on the finish, good grip.
2019 St. Supery Cabernet Sauvignon “Dollarhide” (Napa Valley): Opaque black, nose of petroleum and crushed dark berries, juicy and chewy black fruit with mint notes, firm finish.
2021 Cakebread Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon “Benchland Select” (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, black olives and dark chocolate on the nose, chewy with slate notes and graphite on the finish.
2021 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon “The Gryphon” (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, crushed blueberry on the nose, concentrated spicy red fruit, with peppery notes ending with dusty, silky tannin.
2021 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon “Fay” (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, purple rim, graphite, toast, smoke and crushed strawberry on the nose, tight and concentrated black fruit with gun metal notes on the firm finish.
2021 Pahlmeyer Proprietary Red (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, crushed blueberry and roast meat on the nose, chewy, concentrated red fruit with graphite and slate notes on the finish, good grip.
2021 Favia Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, crushed blueberry and fresh rosemary on the nose, concentrated chunky black fruit, crushed stone notes and silky tannin. Firm tannin and acids on the young wine.
2021 Merus Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Opaque black, crushed blueberry and milk chocolate on the nose, chunky and chewy black fruit with slate notes on the firm finish.
2022 Quintessa Red Blend (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, sweet blueberry on the nose, juicy blueberry fruit with dark chocolate notes on the nicely balanced finish.
2022 Amici Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard (Napa Valley): Opaque dark red, purple rim, dark chocolate on the nose, chunky and chewy with dusty, lip-smacking fruit.
2022 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir “MacGregor Estate” (Sonoma): Opaque dark brick, blueberries and forest floor on the nose, silky red fruit with dark chocolate notes.
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