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March 17, 2012
New York Drinks New York, more New York Gold, rave reviews, and Washington wanderings this week in wine country.
Cheers!
Jim Trezise |
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New York Drinks New York--Big Time! | | |
"This was by far the best New York wine tasting I have ever attended"...Way beyond my expectations"..."Gangbusters, awesome!"..."Too good to be true, this is unbelievable."
Those were typical comments during last Monday's Grand Tasting at Astor Center in lower Manhattan, with the comments coming from winery owners, the trade and media representatives. Expertly orchestrated by our colleagues at First Press Public Relations, the afternoon began with a private seminar on "Aromatic Whites" for 25 media and trade, followed by an afternoon-long tasting for the same audiences, and finally a consumer tasting--with huge crowds all day and evening. One winery owner said he and his winemaker were constantly pouring and didn't even have five minutes for a break the entire day.
The trade and media portion drew 217 sommeliers, wine store buyers, and wine writers, with 260 consumers making total attendance 477. As important as the quantity was the quality of attendees, like sommeliers Aldo Sohm (Le Bernadin), Paul Grieco (Terroir and Hearth), Dustin Wilson (Eleven Madison Park) and Andre Compeyre (Benoit). Top-level retailers included Valerie Corbin (Astor Wines), Ben Wood (67 Wines), and Jesse Salazar (Union Square Wines).
Influential members of the media were also out in force, including Josh Greene (Wine & Spirits), Lettie Teague (The Wall Street Journal), Dana Nigro (Wine Spectator), Howard Goldberg (The New York Times), Mary Mulligan, Anna Lee Iijima (Wine Enthusiast), Betsy Andrews (Saveur), Tyler Colman (Dr.Vino.com), Talia Baiocchi (Eater/San Francisco), and Amy Zavatto (Imbibe, Edible), among many others.
Many of the retailers and restaurateurs were there not just to taste, but also to do business on the spot. One winery owner showed me a bunch of business cards of retailers who actually ordered wine--which very rarely happens at events like this. Meanwhile, outside were taxis with our "NYDrinksNY" ads on their roofs.
This overall program, from the market research to this final event, spanned three months of intense work and was made possible by a grant from the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority. That money is now gone, and whether we're able to find more will determine if this great promotion will have been just a flash in the pan or the beginning of serious New York wine marketing in New York City. |
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More New York Gold From California | | |
New York wines once again pleased predominantly west coast tasters at both the recent Monterey and San Diego wine competitions.
At Monterey, the Swedish Hill 2010 Late Harvest Vignoles took Best of Show Dessert Wine, while Goose Watch 2010 Traminette and Merritt Bella Rosa took Best of Class in their categories. Swedish Hill's Spumante got a Platinum award, while Gold medals went to Anthony Road 2010 Cabernet Franc/Lemberger; Chateau Frank 2006 Blanc de Noirs; Dr. Frank 2010 Muscat Ottonel, 2011 Gruner Veltliner, and 2010 Pinot Gris; Merritt Gewurztraminer; Penguin Bay Tuxedo Red, Percussion, and 2010 Moscato; and Swedish Hill Viking Red.
In San Diego, Casa Larga 2009 Fiori Riesling Ice Wine took Best of Show Dessert Wine; Platinum awards went to Keuka Spring 2010 Vignoles Dessert Wine and Wolffer 2010 Diosa Late Harvest Chardonnay; and Gold medals were awarded to Coyote Moon Vineyards 2011 Brianna, Dr. Frank 2011 Dry Riesling, Keuka Spring Harvest Blush, Lakewood 2010 Riesling, and Sparkling Pointe Cuvee Carnaval.
In addition, Anna Lee Iijima of Wine Enthusiast rated more than 40 Finger Lakes Rieslings, with scores ranging from 85 to 90, with neighboring Seneca Lake wineries Bloomer Creek and Red Newt Cellars doing particularly well. Bloomer Creek 2010 Tanzen Dame Auten Vineyard 1st Harvest Finger Lake Dry Riesling and 2010 Tanzan Dame Morehouse Road Vineyard 2nd Harvest VS Finger Lakes Dry Riesling both received 90, as did Red Newt Cellars 2009 Davis Farms Vineyard Finger Lakes Dry Riesling, along with 89 for some of their other wines.
We're still awaiting the results from the International Eastern Wine Competition. Next weekend I'll be judging at the great Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, so there may not be a Wine Press. |
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Cherry Blossom Time | | |
Washington, DC was beautiful this week, and also relatively quiet since Congress was in recess. The consistently warm weather this year has pushed everything ahead, so the cherry blossoms were on the verge of popping out, which is always a magnificent scene.
Jim Bedient, John Martini and I joined our colleagues from many other states at the annual meetings organized by Winegrape Growers of America and WineAmerica, and to visit the offices of our New York Senators and Representatives. Even when the members are in the Capitol, we frequently meet with their key staff people, and this year it was more leisurely and relaxed, giving us more time to discuss our issues (research funding, export promotion funding, immigration reform, estate taxes, maintaining TTB, unfair Canadian tariffs, opposition to the "CARE" Act, etc.)
It's amazing, and great, how young most of these legislative staff people are--almost all in their 20's or 30's, max. (Jeans were the dress code, though that might not be the case if their bosses were in town.) They're also clearly very bright, knowledgeable, and impassioned by the public policy process. And we in New York are truly fortunate to have many fine elected officials who genuinely look out for our interests.
The annual trip always includes fascinating nuggets of information from longtime Washington veterans from "inside the Beltway". Example: Traditionally, when members were elected to Congress, they moved their families to Washington. So the Congressional families often went to church together, attended their kids' sports games or ballet performances, and socialized in other ways. As a result, the members got to know, and usually like, one another as human beings and, from a political standpoint, could agree to disagree agreeably.
When Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House, he insisted that all members keep their families in their home districts and commute back and forth to DC so they would be in closer touch with their constituents. While this seems logical and laudible in terms of advancing representative democracy, it also vitually eliminated the personal socializing--and much of the civility that previously existed in Washington. Since then, and especially today, politicians typically disagree disagreeably, as we see every day. It's ugly.
It's also interesting, and somewhat troubling, to see how much beer and wine wholesalers spend on Congressional campaigns and lobbying--a total of $4,903,500 in 2011 alone. In fact, the National Beer Wholesalers Association, which initiated the insidious "CARE" Act proposal, is the nation's third largest PAC contributor to candidates, after Honeywell International and the National Association of Realtors.
While the "CARE" Act is currently in limbo, we need to remain vigilant (and fortunately our New York delegation is onto it); and in the meantime a major wholesaler this week proposed equally insidious "at rest" legislation in New York State which, happily, was killed at least for now. But they're always up to something.
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"Wine is not the drink of the dipsomaniac but of the viveur."
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