Frederick Wildman & Sons

I’m still going with the trade/industry tastings. On March 26th I attended the Frederick Wildman & Son New York Grand Portfolio Tasting.

Frederick Wildman is a long time, established distributor celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. They have a large portfolio of worldwide wines and spirit.

With such a large portfolio they needed a lot of space to hold the tasting. The tasting was held at the Guastavino’s event space located at 212 East 59th Street on the East side of Manhattan at the foot of the Queensborough (59th St) bridge.

This space is an architectural landmark with soaring Guastavino vaulted tiled ceilings rising two stories.

Guastavino tiles are an arched, vaulted type of construction introduced into the United States in 1885 by Rafael Guastavino. In addition to this event space, examples of these tiled archways can be found around New York City including the Grand Central Oyster Bar and the City Hall subway station. It’s hard to believe that at one time, the city of New York used this space to store garbage trucks.

Wildman’s portfolio is strong with Burgundy and high end California red wines which is where I focused my time.

Some highlights:

2009 Chateau de Camensac (Haut-Medoc): Clear medium purple, ripe red fruit with earth notes on the nose, silky red fruit, dusty, long finish, nice balance.

2016 Chateau Cantenac Brown (Margaux): Clear medium brick, tar and leather on the nose, juicy with crushed stone and green herbs notes nice balance.

2022 Olivier Leflaive Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru du Domaine (Burgundy): Light gold in color, toasty tropical fruit notes on the nose, juicy, toasty fruit finishing with good acidity and lime notes.

2022 Lignier Michelot Morey-St. Denis 1er Cru Les Faconnieres (Burgundy): Clear light purple, crushed red fruit on the nose, juicy red fruit with slate notes, good balance.

2022 Domaine Antonin Guyon Chambolle-Musigny Les Cras (Burgundy): Clear light purple, spicy red fruit on the nose, juicy with leather and stone notes, good grip.

2019 Arkenstone Estate Cabernet Sauvignon NVD (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, graphite and stone notes on the nose, chewy and chunky sweet red fruit, silky tannins. good grip.

2019 David Arthur Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Three Acre Ranch Pritchard Hill (Napa Valley): Clear medium red, tar, crushed black fruit an roast nuts on the nose, juicy ripe fruit with silky tannins.

2020 Bond Vecina Vineyard (Napa Valley): Clear dark red, sweet tar and roast nuts on the nose, silky red fruit, dusty tannins, good grip.

2020 Harlan Estate Red (Napa Valley): Clear dark red, closed nose of crushed raspberry, silky red fruit ending with dusty tannins.

2020 Arkenstone Estate Red Blend Howell Mt. (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, toasty crushed stone on the nose, dense and chewy with roast meat notes, silky tannins, great balance.

2021 Persus Alessio (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, overripe fruit and mint on the nose, juicy, silky black fruit with a good grip and nice balance.

2021 Lithology Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, dusty, crushed black fruit on the nose, dense, chewy black fruit with graphite notes, good grip and balanced.

2021 Knights Bridge Red Blend Haggerty Road (Sonoma): Opaque black, purple rim, violets and milk chocolate on the nose, tight, dense and concentrated silky red fruit, balanced.

2021 Larkmead Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Solari (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, coffee and roast nuts on the nose with dense red cherry fruit.

2022 Persus Bryn (Napa Valley): Opaque black, purple rim, crushed red fruit and graphite on the nose, juicy and chunky fruit with silky tannin and moderate acidity.

On April 5th I was invited to attend a barrel tasting of 2020 Burgundy. Specifically, the 2020 Burgundy in the portfolio of Fredrick Wildman & Sons distributor.

The tasting was for members of the trade and was a great opportunity to get some sort of idea how the 2020 vintage turned out as well as the opportunity to sample some of the finest wines in the world.

The whites are already bottled while the reds were just out of the barrel. My impression of the vintage was that the whites were drinking beautifully now, just enough fruit with balanced acidity. The reds were fruit forward, some were drinking nicely right out of the barrel, but lacked the structure for long term aging. The reds are definitely wines to be enjoyed sooner than later.

The tasting was held at Quality Bistro restaurant at 120 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

White

2020 Chateau Fuisse Pouilly Fuiseé “Tete de Cuvee”: Medium gold, closed nose of honey, medium fruit with a nice balance.

2020 Famille Vincent Bourgogne Blanc: Light gold, floral nose, medium body with tropical fruit notes, nice balance.

2019 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay Blanc “Source des Roches”: Light gold, green herbs on the nose, juicy, melon notes, good grip.

2020 Domaine Faiveley 1er Cru Puligny Montrachet “Champs Gains”: Medium gold, honey and tropical fruit on the nose, medium fruit with melon notes and honey with lemon curd notes on the finish

Red

2020 Domaine Jean-Luc Burguet Bourgogne Rouge: Clear light purple, green herbs on the nose, chewy young fruit with a nice grip.

2019 Domaine Bruno Clair Marsannay “Les Grasses Tetes”: Clear medium purple, green herbs and crushed red fruit on the nose, chewy, smoky, silky red tannins, long finish.

2020 Domaine Humbert Freres Fixin Vieilles Vignes: Clear medium purple, cigar box on the nose, chewy, silky red fruit, nice grip.

2020 Domaine Humbert Freres Gevrey Chambertin: Clear light purple, tobacco smoke on the nose, silky, dusty red fruit and balanced. Nice wine.

2020 Domaine Meo Camuzet Nuits St George: Opaque medium purple, crushed blueberry and tree bark on the nose, chunky black fruit with slate notes, nice acidity.

2020 Domaine Meo Camuzet Vosne Romanee 1er Cru “Les Chaumes”: Opaque dark purple, roast meat notes on the nose, silky red fruit, slate notes, good grip.

2020 Domaine Virgile Lignier-Michelot Morey St Denis 1er Cru “Faconnieres”: Opaque dark purple, green herbs on the nose, chewy with tobacco and slate notes on the fruit, firm, silky tannins.

2020 Domaine Virgile Lignier-Michelot Clos de al Roche Grand Cru: Opaque dark purple to black in color, silky, chewy red fruit ending with slate and silky tannins.

2020 Domaine Faiveley Gevrey Chambertin 1er Cru “Les Cazetiers”: Opaque medium purple, tar and crushed red fruit on the nose, chewy and dense, black licorice, silky tannin with bitter almonds notes on the finish.

2020 Domaine Faiveley Corton Grand Cru “Clos des Cortons”: Opaque dark purple, barnyard and crushed black fruit on the nose, silky and dense with a hit of tannin and some heat at the end.

2020 Olivier Leflaive Volnay 1er Cru “Clos de Angles”: Opaque medium purple, crushed rock notes on the nose, chewy fruit with slate and firm tannins.

2020 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru “Clos des Epeneaux”: Opaque dark purple, silky red fruit, moderate tannins and acids.

2020 Domaine Michel LaFarge Volnay 1er Cru “Clos du Chene”: Clear light purple, a perfume of violets and tobacco, juicy and smoky with moderate tannins and acid.

2020 Domaine Dominique Gallois Gevrey Chambertin “En Justice”: Opaque dark purple to black in color, slate and roast meat on the nose, juicy red fruit.

2020 Domaine Labruyere Moulin a Vent “Le Clos Monopole”: Opaque dark purple, green herbs on the nose, silky dusty fruit, good balance.

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