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Pressoir.wine is run by the team behind La Paulée and La Fête Du Champagne. In addition to running those events they also host (very expensive) Burgundy dinners and about once a month a Burgundy “happy hour”. At the happy hour they pick a village in Burgundy and showcase about a dozen, mostly premier cru wines from that village.

On February 10th it was the appellation of Puligny-Montrachet which has 17 premier crus of mostly white wines made from Chardonnay.

The tasting was open to the consumer and was a casual, walk around tasting held at their tasting room and clubhouse located at 285 West Broadway in lower Manhattan. Most of the wines were from the 2017 vintage which is considered a good vintage. I found a lot of lemon, tart notes on the finish. There were also a sprinkling of other vintages as well.

As usual, knowledgeable staff were on hand with information on what they poured and to answer any Burgundy related questions.

White wines I sampled:

2018 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot “Les Folatieres”: Light gold, toasty nose, nice fruit with firm acids.

2017 Domaine Genot-Boulanger “Les Folatieres”: Light gold, closed nose, tight with some oak notes on the back end, firm acids.

2017 Domaine de Montille “Les Folatieres”: Light gold, dried herbs and white flower on the nose, middle fruit with lemon tart on the finish.

2017 Domaine Leflaive “Les Folatieres”: Light gold, honey, ripe kumquat and toast on the nose, tight with citrus notes on the finish.

2018 Jean-Luc & Paul “Champ Gain”: Medium gold, oily, toasty nose, light lemon fruit.

2017 Domaine Faiveley “La Garenne”: Very light in color, ripe fruit on the nose, moderate fruit followed by crisp acids on the finish.

2017 Etienne Sauzet “Les Perrieres”: Medium gold with a floral nose, tight fruit with tongue coating acidity.

2015 Domaine Bachelet-Monnot “Les Referts”: Light gold, honey on the nose, nice balance of tropical fruit notes with good acidity.

2017 Etienne Sauzet “Les Combettes”: Medium gold, toasty nose, juicy with dried herbs on the finish with good acidity.

2015 Etienne Sauzet “Les Combettes”: Medium gold, closed nose, light with moderate acidity.

2015 Etienne Sauzet “Champ Canet”: Medium gold, honeyed nose ending with some tart notes.

Gewürztraminer is an exotic grape varietal with an equally exotic aroma with the distinctive smells of grapefruit, lychee, peaches, and ginger rising up from the glass.

The grape makes a big presence in the Alsatian wine region of France but it’s grown throughout the wine producing world including the North Fork of Long Island wine region.

One afternoon I took a drive to the North Fork wine country and revisited a couple of the wineries where I had sampled Gewürztraminer before.

I stopped by One Women Winery, a small winery producing estate bottled wines, and Lenz Winery, one of the oldest wineries on the North Fork.

One Women Winery 5195 Old North Road, Southold

2018 Gewürztraminer

Dark gold in color with an oily nose of ripe peaches and lychee, dry with melon notes on the finish, moderate to low acids.

Lenz Winery 38355 Route 25, Peconic

2016 Gewürztraminer

Dark gold in color, closed nose of toasty ripe peaches, tight with moderate apple fruit notes and firm tannins.

Bice is a family run restaurant group that began with the first restaurant in Milan, Italy in 1926. They are now a worldwide business with restaurants in several countries.

They have a restaurant in New York City, Bice Cucina at 62 West 55th Street in midtown Manhattan. They decided to open another branch at 15 Watts Street in the trendy Soho district of lower Manhattan.

On July 7th they held a preopening party at their new Soho restaurant, Bice Cucina.

Coming off of over a year of lockdowns and restrictions, people are hungry for a good time and for the people who were lucky enough to get an invite to the opening, they were treated to a party with flowing spirits, food, and a few model types strolling around the venue.

I wish them luck at their new venue.

 

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On Saturday March 2nd, City Farm, an entertainment production and marketing agency held its 2nd annual Brooklyn Reserve, a wine, beer & larder festival. The event “celebrates the passionate makers of the culinary world by connecting audiences to local and international producers”.

It was an opportunity to sample 30+ local and international wines, beer and a trio of Russian vodka with artisan bites from local restaurants.

The event was held at The Bell House located at 149 7th Street in the Gowanus neighborhood in Brooklyn. It’s an event space in an old warehouse in the middle of nowhere just off of the Gowanus Canal.

The closest subway station, the Smith-9th Street station G and F train stop has the distinction of, at 87.5 feet high, of being the highest rapid mass transit station in the New York City subway system, and indeed in the world. It was built that high to accommodate the tall-masted that used the Gowanus Canal below it. It does have a spectacular view of the surrounding area at the top of the station.

The wines were from small, off the radar producers but very drinkable and music by the Jerome Sabbagh Trio. It was an enjoyable afternoon.

Some of what I sampled:

 

Maria Rigol Ordi Brut Nature Reserva Cava

2018 Caractere Unique Saint Chinian Blance

2017 Colombier Muscadet

2015 Chateau La Fleur Grand Landes Montagne St. Emillion

2016 Chateau Manos Cadillac

2015 Chateau de Peyguerol Costieres de Nimes

2016 Li’Infi Cahors

2017 San Marcello Lacrima di Morro D’Alba

2016 Barking Dog Old Vine Zinfandel