Tag: Fundraiser

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Saturday afternoon I attended a fundraiser sponsored by Chambers Street Wines and Louis Dressner importers for Partners in Health. It’s been an annual event for a while and the past few years has been held at City Hall Restaurant on 131 Duane Street. The event was open to the consumer and ran from 1-5 and over 100 wines were poured, mostly French with some Italian. I have to admit I had a head cold and congestion which made picking up the aromas from the wines difficult so most of them came across as closed on the nose.

Whites

I tried a few Muscadet from a couple of producers, I usually think of Muscadet as light and crisp, something to drink young with oysters. I tried a few with some bottle age to them and was impressed with the results. The wines gained a creaminess and complexity as they aged.

Domaine de la Pepiere                                                                                                                             2012 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie (Loire). Their basic wine, light yellow and easy to drink.

2012 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie “Les Gras Mouton” (Loire). Single vineyard, light yellow with tight fruit, tart with lemon notes on the finish.

2010 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie “Chateau-Thebaud Clos des Morines” (Loire). More body than the Mouton with good acidity.

2009 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie “3” (Loire). Nice minerality with a mouth-watering finish.

Domaine Luneau-Papin,                                                                                                                2009 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie “Le L d’Or” (Loire). Light peaches on the fruit with nice acidity on the long finish.

2005 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie “Le L d’Or” (Loire). Great body followed by firm acidity with citrus and peaches on the finish.

Nusserhof 2010 Vino Bianco Blaterle. (Trentino Alto-Adige). An unusual wine, Blaterle is the grape varietal, yellow with some earth notes on the nose.

Maison Brulee Vin de France 2012 “Poussiere de Lune”. (Loire). Another unusual wine,  an orange wine made with Sauvignon Blanc and was pale red with moderate body.

Reds

Alain Coudet 2012 “Clos de la Roillette” Fleurie (Burgundy). Cru Beaujolais, dark purple with a nose of warm, cooked fruit and crushed black berries and was tight with bitter red licorice on the finish.

Georges Descombes 2012 Brouilly (Burgundy). Cru Beaujolais, dark purple with dried mushroom and forest floor on the nose with crushed red fruit and a nice grip.

Cascina Tavijin 2012 Grignolino D’Asti (Piedmont). Very light red in color with a closed nose, more fruit than the color would suggest with good balance with notes of dark flowers on the finish.

Monte dall” Ora 2009 Valpolicella Classico Ripasso “Sausto” (Veneto). Medium red with silky medium fruit with bitter cherry notes on the balanced finish.

Poderi Sanguineto 2011 Rosso di Montalcino (Tuscany). Medium red with dusty, silky fruit with tart cherry notes on the nice balance.

Domaine Bernard Baudry 2011 Chinon “Les Clos Guillot”. (Loire). Dark red in color with dusty fruit and silky tannin with a firm grip.

Domaine Bernard Baudry 2011 Chinon “Domaine” (Loire). Dark red with notes of slate and crushed rocks on the fruit with velvet tannin at the end.

 

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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.