Category: Wine Events

Charity Wine: Discovering New-to-Me Finds at The d’Vine Affair

I had the opportunity to participate in the largest charity wine tasting I’ve ever attended on Sunday. The 12th annual d’Vine Affair, hosted by Catholic Charities of Chicago, helped raise funds for the organization’s Self-Sufficiency Programs. More than 250 wines from nearly 50 vintners were featured on two floors of the Union League Club. Two weeks out from our next Napa trip, I couldn’t help but make a beeline for the domestic wine tables to tide me over until our visit.

One of my first stops was to Elizabeth Spencer, where president and proprietor, Elizabeth Pressler (pictured above), was pouring. Her husband, Elizabeth SpencerSpencer, is the other half of their winery’s namesake. We tasted our way through their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir, 2008 Sonoma Coast Syrah and 2009 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. (For those who haven’t been, Elizabeth Spencer is a great place to stop in Rutherford. Aside from offering terrific wines, their outdoor tasting area is really beautiful.) I am also spoiled to be able to find Elizabeth Spencer wines at my local shop in Andersonville.

Breggo, Cliff Lede Vineyards, Spring Mountain, Steltzner and Keenan were just some of the other Napa wineries represented.

New Wines at The d’Vine Affair

After experiencing the wines we know, we were excited to try some of these new (to me) offerings:

  • Detert Family Vineyards – Though Sunday was the first I’d learned of Detert, it turns out I’m quite familiar with the work of their winemaker, Tom Garrett, who also makes wine for Revana Family Vineyards. Tom’s family has been growing Cabernet Sauvignon and LailCabernet Franc since 1953 (just behind the To Kalon vineyard in Oakville). We sampled the 2007 Oakville Cabernet Franc and loved the complexity of this wine. This vintage is comprised of 98% Cab Franc and 2% of their Cab Sauvignon and production is around 334 cases.
  • Lail Vineyards – At this table, we were presented with the refreshing Blueprint 2011 Sauvignon Blanc and Blueprint 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. Both are priced around $40 – while that’s along the higher-end for a Sauvignon Blanc it certainly met, if not exceeded, the benchmark set by its peers at the same price point. Continue reading Charity Wine: Discovering New-to-Me Finds at The d’Vine Affair

Does the Shape of Your Wine Glass Really Affect the Taste?

A Lesson in Varietal-Specific Glassware from Maximilian Riedel

Until tonight, I considered my stemware to be little more than a beautiful vessel to hold my favorite wines. In just three sips, Maximilian Riedel (ree-del) has made me a believer in the ability of glassware to completely frame and alter the wine-drinking experience. I could guestimate that I have at least a dozen different styles of glasses in my home, ranging from the tiny, free models earned during my winery tasting sessions to the $100-a-piece Master Sommelier monstrosities I was generously given as a wedding gift. While I knew all of these must have some sort of impact, I generally adopted a mentality of “the bigger the glass, the better.” Or, I just reached for the first one in the cabinet…

The 11th generation Austrian glassmaker – and current CEO of Riedel Crystal of North America – led me and several dozen other wine enthusiasts through a tasting seminar at City Winery in Chicago and turned us all into bona-fide stemware snobs. Continue reading Does the Shape of Your Wine Glass Really Affect the Taste?

Now This is How You Host a Home Wine Tasting Party!

Inspiration and Tips for a Memorable Event

A colleague and fellow Napa wine enthusiast kindly invited us to participate in his annual home tasting party over the weekend. I knew we’d be in for a treat, but this event rivaled something you’d read about in Martha Stewart Living. As we entered, guests were asked to pick up one numbered wine glass that had been adorned with a homemade cork charm. (To create these, the hostess cut corks into thin, circular slices with a sharp knife, inserted a small jewelry hook into the top and tied them to each stem. I found a similar DIY charm tutorial at Naturally Savvy.) Next, we were provided with scoring sheets that asked raters to evaluate samples on their appearance, aroma, body, taste and finish at up to five points per category for a total of 25 points each. Then, we were free to begin tasting.

Continue reading Now This is How You Host a Home Wine Tasting Party!

A Glass of Wine with Eric Asimov

New York Times Wine Critic Previews New Book

By following chief wine critic of the New York Times, Eric Asimov, on Twitter, I knew he recently launched a new book, “How to Love Wine: A Memoir and Manifesto.” Through the same means, I also was thrilled to learn he’d be conducting a #WineWednesday reading and wine tasting event at a local Chicago shop, The Book Cellar. As a burgeoning wine blogger and taster, I was eager to hear this longtime professionals’ perspective on honing one’s palate, as well as his candid personal accounts of sampling wines from around the world. He recalled a trip to Paris at age 14 that initiated his interest in food and led him to become a restaurant critic. He followed with wine in his late teens/early 20’s.

Continue reading A Glass of Wine with Eric Asimov