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Wine
Spectator Grand Tour 2006
Writing about wine can often be
glamorous and loads of fun. It can also be tedious, mind-numbingly
boring, and downright unpleasant when one has to taste wines that
are poorly conceived, terribly executed, and ridiculously over-hyped.
That’s why it’s such a treat to go to the Wine Spectator’s
Grand Tour event each year. Imagine 200 top scoring wines from around
the world, all in one location, at the Grand Ballroom of the Venetian
Hotel. One evening, from 7-10 PM. So much tasting to do, and so
little time!
But fellow wine enthusiasts Carol
and Art San Miguel and my wife and I took the Grand Tour head on
several weeks ago. With glasses in hand, we sipped and supped (gorgeous
appetizers and desserts courtesy of the Venetian) and got, shall
we say, more than our money’s worth.
We began our tasting by going to the summit, the Mt Olympus of wines
if you will. I am referring of course to Caymus and their Special
Selection Cabernet Sauvignon. Damn it, this is a fine tasting wine.
The wine was rich, full-bodied, and with an exceptional balance.
Caymus is to Cabs what Mercedes is to authomobiles. And the good
news is that five to ten years from now, this will be even better.
We then journeyed over to the Rosenblum
Cellars table. Kent Rosenblum is somewhat of a legend in the Zinfandel
circles. The 2004 Paso Robles was delightful. It had a surprisingly
light character given its ruby-red robustness and at $15.99 is as
drinkable at Paso Robles as one will find well north of that price
range. Kudos to Kent and his wife Kathy.
Part of the fun of the Grand Tour
is to experience wines with which you may be unfamiliar. Such was
the case with our next tasting, the Ernie Els Stellenbosch 2003
which is a classic Bordeaux made of five varietals: Cabernet Sauvignon
(50%) and Merlot (25%), and with Caberbet Franc, Petit Verdot and
Malbec winding things out. Co-Owner Jean Englebrecht looks like
a rugby player. A personable, square-shouldered chap, who claims
to be only a social golfer, he is a boyhood chum of Els. But this
is no Greg Norman-send-me-the-royalty check type of involvement.
Englebrecht is one of South Africa’s premier winemakers and
Els has also done much more than lend his name. Together, they’ve
scored a double eagle.The 2003 is the best South African wine I
have tasted, flat out. It is young, but still very drinkable, with
the tannins barely noticeable. And watch out in five years!
Another fun find was the 2001 Cabernet
Sauvignon from Wynns Coonawarra Estate in the very south of Australia.
You might say that Wynns is down under the down under! Grapes were
first cultivated in this area in 1891 by the legendary John Roddich
and the 2001 is a fine example of the quality. A delightful aroma
of plums and black currants with really nice depth. This wine will
only get better with time. And at $17 a bottle, this is a steal.
Buy a case and set it aside until 2010, if you can, and then go
nuts!
And it was with much anticipation
that we headed over to Francis Ford Coppola’s Rubicon Estate
Rutherford 2002. Rubicon, the flagship wine of the Niebaum Coppola
empire, was inspired by Julius Caesar’s conquest of Gaul and
the fabled Rubicon River. It’s a shame old JC couldn’t
have hung around to taste this wine. The 2002 Cabernet marks the
completion of Coppola’s new winemaking facilities inside the
famed Inglenook Chateau and is the first wine to be made there in
36 years.
We had to stand in line for this one and it was worth it. While
the 2001 is already considered a classic, the 2002 has a taste and
aroma worthy of every accolade heaped on its predecessor. $110 a
bottle and worth it.
I also had been meaning to taste
the Chateau Pontet-Canet and their Pauillac 2000. Alfred Tesseron
is gentile man and a maker of a fine wine. He has rejuvenated this
history winery in Pauillac and created, especially over the past
decades, wines of extraordinary depth and complexity. I was most
impressed with the 2000 and found it to be a bit on the sweet side,
but delightfully so. If you see Chateau Pontet-Canet at your local
wine store, make a point to try the 2000 or the 1999.
And of course we had to try some
bubbly. Champagne fans that we are we headed over to Piper-Heidsieck
for their 1998 Brut. Dating back to 1785 in Reims, not far from
Epernay and Dom Perignon, this lovely champagne has been a personal
favorite of mine for years. The ’98 did not disappoint. The
finish is spectacular for a brut and the effervescence and the commingled
sublte flavors of fruit make this damn near perfect.
In fact, I wandered away, and then came back for a second glass.
They were hesitant at first but then I told them I was a food critic.
There are some rewards to this job.
Overall Impressions:
Much better than the 2005 event.
No one ran out of wine as had happened the year before. Yes, they
probably sold a few hundred tickets more than they should have,
but it was manageable. Still no chairs in the ball room and that’s
a problem. We revelers get tired after marching from booth to booth.
But the food was spectacular, the mood cordial (wine folks are flat
out fun people) and it’s a great evening, any way you slice
it. There are two events left in the year, in New York and Los Angeles.
Go to www.winespectator.com and check it out.
Most pleasant surprise: The Ernie
Els Stellenbosch 2003. Ernie moves to the top of the heap of wine-making
golfers and actually way past that.
Biggest disspointment: The
Chateau Palmer Margaux 1995. I was looking forward to what should
have been a stellar pour. But the nose was distractingly unpleasant.
Not corked, which I first suspected, but not up to form at all.
05/19/2006
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