Benvenuto Brunello NYC 2023

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On November 28th I attended the Consorzio del Vino Brunello di Montalcino Benvento Brunello New York City stop of their world tour.

This was to showcase to members of the Restaurant trade and Media, the upcoming release of the current vintage of Brunello. Since according to the DOCG regulations, the regular Brunello have to wait 5 years to be released and 6 years for the Riservas, this was the 2019 vintage for the regular Brunello and 2018 vintage for the Riservas.

The event was held at the Public Hotel on 215 Chrystie Street in the lower east side of Manhattan.

The set up was similar to what they had during Covid era and was a sit-down tasting. You would download an app with the wines that were available, and you would order up to five wines at a time to sample and they would bring the wines to your table.

Since they wines that were served were the new releases, I thought that they were still very young and could have used some more time in the bottle to smooth out the rough edges. On the 2019’s for the most part I was getting a lot of bright red fruit with very crisp acids. The 2018 Riservas were more appreciable with more dark fruit and earth notes.

Some highlights:

2019 Argiano: Clear light brick, smoky tar on the nose with nice red fruit, good balance.

2019 Carpineto: Clear medium red, earthy nose, juicy fruit with tar notes with a nice balance of moderate tannin and acid.

2019 Casisano: Clear light red with a brick rim, tar and barnyard on the nose, juicy red fruit with moderate acids and a dusty finish.

2019 Donatella Cinelli Colombini: Clear light brick, tar and leather on the nose, with firm, dusty red fruit.

2019 La Fornace: Clear light brick, sweet tar on the nose, red fruit with firm acids and earth notes on the finish.

2019 Nardi: Clear medium to dark red, tarry nose, juicy, earthy full red fruit, firm finish.

2019 Pacenti “Rosaldo”: Clear medium red, tar, anise and earth on the nose, chewy black fruit, nice and balanced, drinkable.

2018 Caprilli “AdAlberto” Riserva: Opaque medium red with a brick rim, tar and dark chocolate on the nose, red fruit with gritty tannins, anise notes, nice balance.

2018 Corte Pavone Riserva: Clear medium red with an amber rim with juicy black fruit and slate notes on the firm but balanced finish.

2018 Donatella Cinelli Colombini “Vento” Riserva: Opaque dark red, dusty tar and anise on the nose, chewy fruit with tree bark notes ending with big tannins.

2018 La Serena “Gemini” Riserva: Clear medium brick, sweet perfume of tar and smoke, tarry fruit with firm acids.

Other producers I sampled:

ArmillaCapanna
BanfiCol D’Orcia
La FioritaRuffino
Val Di SugaFanti
UccellieraSanpolo
TalentiIl Poggione
CortonesiElia Palazzesi

Italian Varietals On Long Island

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The Long Island wine industry celebrates its 50th anniversary this year from when the first winery was established at Hargrave Vineyards in 1973.

Not surprisingly French varietals have dominated the industry with some forays into other grape varieties. The workhorse grape varietals out East have been Merlot and Chardonnay and at one time they had high expectations for Cabernet Franc.

Italian grape varieties don’t have a big presence in Long Island wine country with some white grapes grown, there’s a good amount of Pinot Grigio produced but few if any red grape varietals grown.

Surprisingly since there are many Italian varietals that grow well in cooler weather, and I think would grow well in the cool, maritime climate in the East End of Long lsland.

I suppose that has to do more with marketing than anything else since even novice wine drinkers are familiar with Merlot and Cabernet but not many are familiar with Toreldego or Lagrein to name a coupe of the many indigenous Italian grapes.

On a Sunday afternoon drive out East I was able to find three bottlings of Italian red grapes.

Suhru Wines 28735 Main Road, Cutchogue

The tasting house is in downtown Cutchogue, they have no vineyards, but use purchased grapes.

2021 Toreldago

Opaque black with a purple rim, dark chocolate and slate on the nose, tight fruit with crisp acids, slate notes and dark fruit on the finish.

Pugliese Vineyards 34515 Main Road, Cutchogue

Family owned and established in 1980, they are one of the vanguard wineries out East and the only one that I am aware of that grows Sangiovese.

2022 Sangiovese

Clear medium red, closed nose of red berry fruit and some stinky earth, juicy red fruit with some smoke and graphite notes on the finish. Moderate acids.

Lieb Cellars 13050 Oregon Road, Cutchogue

Established in 1992, they share the same winemaker as Suhru, their tasting room is off the main road.

2020 Toreldago/Lagrein

Opaque black with a purple rim, roasted meat and sweet black fruit on the nose, juicy black fruit with smoke, bitter almonds and wood on the finish, juicy tannins.

Raw Wine Festival NYC 2023

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The Raw Wine Festival was held in New York City on November 12 & 13. It was one stop on an international tour this year that took them to Los Angeles, Toronto, Paris and Copenhagen.

The festival was held at 99 Scott Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn which is a repurposed brick commercial building now used as an event space.

Raw Wine is a “collection of natural, organic and biodynamic wine artisans” that have come together to showcase their products which are “pure, kind to the planet and possibly better for your health without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides”.

This event has been running for several years and always get a good, youthful crowd sampling wines from unconventional wine makers. Both the crowd and the winemakers were more Birkenstock and flannel shirts than suit and tie.

All the major wine producing countries as well as the smaller ones were represented at the tasting. This niche wine style has grown in the past few years and have toned down the earthy and pungent aromas that were a hallmark of these wines.

Some interesting producers:

Sequerciani, from Tuscany, besides having a pretty label, bottled wines made with obscure grape varieties such as Pugnitello, Fogia Tonda, Ciliegiolo and Aleatico.

Agri Segretum from Umbria poured an interesting trio of Sangiovese based reds labeled Freghino, Pottarello and Marocchio.

Cort Sant ‘Alda from Vento poured a trio of Valpolicella including an Amarone.

Chateau Guadel poured a couple of vintages of their Grand Cru Classe Bordeaux.

Domaine Amirault showed some Cabernet Franc based reds from the Loire Valley.

Pray Tell Winery poured wines from the Willamette Vally, Oregon.

Orange Glou Wine Festival 2023

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On November 5th I attended the Orange Glou orange wine festival. The event was held at the Wythe Hotel at 80 Wythe Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

It featured 50+ wineries pouring over 100 renditions of orange wines from California, Italy, France, Austria, Hungary, Greece, Czech Republic, Georgia and Australia. It seems to have become a specially in the Balkan states which are always well represented at these type of wine tastings.

Orange wines are an unconventional niche in the wine industry, made by unconventional wine makers using such things like star charts, phases of the moon, etc., in their grape growing and wine making.

Normally white wine is made with the pulp of the fruit minus the skins, so you can make a white wine using red grapes. Red wine is red because the skins are macerated with the juice and the color is extracted from the skin contact. With respect to orange wines, a white grape varietal is used and the skin in allowed to macerate with the juice. which somehow turns the color of the wine into an orange hue.

The event was open to the consumer for two sessions. I attended the evening session, and it was a comparatively young crowd in attendance with more flannel shirts than suits and ties.

Donkey & Goat winery from California poured a nice selection of their orange wines with a couple of Pinot Gris and a couple of wines made with the Rhone varietals of Marsanne and Roussanne.

Some interesting wines from Klansjec Winery from the Friuli-Venezia-Guilia region of Italy pouring oranges wines made from Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling and Ribolla Gialla.

Cruise Ship Tasting 2023

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I recently went on a vacation. I wanted to check off another item on my bucket list one of which was to take a ship across the ocean.

I took a 13-day repositing cruise which is where the cruise ships touring European ports head to the Caribbean and South America for the Winter season.

The ship I booked on was the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Getaway” and we shipped off from Southhampton, England stopping at ports in France, Spain and Portugal before heading due West to our final destination, New York City.

If you’ve ever taken a cruise before then you know that there are several restaurants on board and that there are professional Sommelier on hand to help guests with their wine orders.

On this cruise, those Somms held wine tasting classes and I attended a few of them.

This was one of those classes and at this class and they poured three French wines paired with cheese.

2021 LaDoucette Pouilly-Fume

Medium gold with a greenish tint, green herbs and honey notes on the nose, medium bodied with balanced acidity ending with some asparagus notes on the finish. Paired with goat cheese.

2022 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages

Clear dark purple, crushed rock. crushed raspberry and some leather on the nose, fruity, dry and chalky with nice acidity. Paired with Brie.

2022 Cellier des Princes Chateauneuf du Pape

Clear medium red with an amber rim, cooked vegetable on the nose, tight, dry with licorice notes ending with firm, toasty tannins. Paired with Camembert.

Brooklyn Whiskey Fest 2023

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On October 7th, I attended the Brooklyn Whiskey Festival which was held in the Brooklyn Navy Yard at 141 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn.

It was a consumer event with an afternoon and an evening session, I attended the evening session.

It was mostly Whiskey from the United States but there were a few from Ireland and India as well as some vodka, gin and tequila.

As far as whiskey events go, this event wasn’t very comprehensive in the selection that was available. Many of the well-known whiskey producers that usually go to these events were not on hand, I’m not sure if they were around during the afternoon session or just didn’t attend.

I had some nice whiskey from Yellowstone, Remus, Boondocks and Hudson Whiskey. Barrel Smith poured a trio of premixed cocktails, Manhattan, Boulevardier and Negroni. Mendel poured a vodka made from garden peas.

Japanese Food & Restaurant Expo NYC

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On September 13th I attended the Japanese Food & Restaurant Expo. It was sponsored by the New York Mutual Trading Company which has been providing Japanese restaurant supplies since 1926.

It was a huge event since it was held at both the Metropolitan Pavilion and the next-door Altman Building which are a much-used event spaces on West 18th Street in Manhattan.

The Metropolitan Pavillion was dedicated to food products used in Japanese cooking and the second floor held scores of Japanese knives for sale.

The Altman Pavillion part of the expo was where the spirits were poured. Those included Sake, Shochu, Japanese beer and Japanese whisky.

I have to admit that Sake and Shochu aren’t my go-to spirit when I want an alcoholic beverage, but I will drink them on occasion.

Sake is fermented beverage made with rice and koji (which is a beneficial fungus). It’s classified under four categories, Junmai, Ginjo, Tokubetsu and Daiginjo that depend on what percent of the rice grain is polished. Alcohol levels come in at about the same levels as a beer.

Shochu is a distilled spirit made from grains and the koji fungus which breaks down the starches to sugar. Alcohol levels are a bit higher than Sake, coming in at around the levels of a sherry.

The only producer at the tasting I was familiar with was Asahi beer, other than that I had no clue who was what, so I sampled from what I thought was an interesting bottle.

On of those interesting bottles was a couple of sake from Niwa Nouguisu which was a white one and a pink one. The sake was thick and cloudy, and I was told because that’s how unfiltered sake look like. They tasted chewy and chalky.

Another interesting and beautiful bottle was from Hiryujouun. The sake was bottled in a clear, handcrafted bottle with a representation of Mount Fuji in the bottle with edible gold powder floating around that represented snow falling on the mountain.

And another interesting bottle was shochu from Dotton which was aged for 20 years.

Wine On Wheels Fundraiser 2023

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On September 10th, Wine on Wheels which was established in 2012 by Somm Yannick Benjamin, held a fundraiser with the proceeds to benefit the Axis Project.

The Axis Project is a non-profit organization created by people living with physical disabilities. Their mission is to “motivate people with physical disabilities and seniors to pursue a healthy, active lifestyle”.

The fundraiser was held at City Winery located at Pier 57 on 25 11th Avenue in far west Manhattan.

It was a big event with a huge selection of wines which were donated by various spirit and wine vendors and were served by a crew of dozens of local Somms who volunteered their time.

I would have to say that the majority of the wines that were poured at the event were small, off the radar labels from producers I wasn’t familiar with.

There were some interesting wines at the Vins de Bourdeaux table which poured from four Magnums of wine which included the 2022 Chateau Le Rey “Argileuses”, 2018 Chateau de Parenchere “Raphael”, 2016 Chateau des Laurents and the 2016 Chateau Clarke.

I enjoy pet-nat wines and there were a few poured at the tasting including a 2022 Living Roots Finger Lakes Rosé.

To help raise money they held a silent and a not silent auction.

New York Cocktail Expo 2023

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The New York Cocktail Expo was held on Sunday, September 20th.

It was advertised as a cocktail competition and awards event with various craft spirit brands and local bartenders serving a signature cocktail.

The event was first held on April 2019 in Rockville Center Long Island for spirit and cocktail enthusiasts and for bartenders, restaurants and bar owner to get some inspiration for their cocktail program.

The last time I attended this event, and actually the last time they held the event was pre lockdown in 2019. That event had three floors filled with spirit vendors and a live cocktail competition.

When I arrived for the evening session and I walked into the room, I was very surprised to see how Spartan the room was and how few vendors there were. I took a quick check of the rest of the venue and found the second floor empty of vendors and the third floor “Rum Room” was as Spartan as the main floor. I don’t think they even had a cocktail competition, surprisingly considering all of the bars and the bartenders who staff them in this city.

A couple of standout sprits was tequila from Esperanto which had a nice selection of artisanal tequila and the rums from Dos Maderas which are rum distilled in the Caribbean and then aged in Spain.

Brooklyn Rum Fest 2023

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The fourth annual Brooklyn Rum Festival was held on August 12 and was held at the event space “The Monarch” located at 23 Meadow Street in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The event brought together rums from around the world to sample with the opportunity to ask questions from the brand ambassadors on hand.

Rum is a liquor made from distilled sugar cane molasses or sugar cane juice and comes in light, dark, aged and flavored versions. It made around the world but mostly concentrated in the Caribbean where the sugar cane was grown and processed.

It seemed like there were fewer vendors on hand this year than last, but they still had a nice selection of rums from big producers as well as from small, artisanal brands.

Bacardi had an interesting trio of 8yr rums aged in various types of barrels, Rolling Fork Single Cask had a rum from Barbados aged in four different barrels which made for an interesting side by side tasting. Appleton had a trio of 8, 12 and 15yr old rums, Barbancourt was well represented with its 8 and 15yr rums as well as another rum from Hati with a very artistic label. Plantation Rum poured their line of rums from various countries.

Other producers that I sampled from during the event included Rhum JM, Charman’s Reserve, Worthy Park, Myrtle Bank, Pere Labat, Dumas, Rum-Bar and Striped Lion.