tasting

First Taste: Scion Pre-Phylloxera Port

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

As the room of tasters, a veritable varsity squad of New York wine writers, took their respective places, the publicist for Portuguese port house, Taylor Fladgate, announced that this was a first: not a single invitation offered to the morning's event had been declined. It wasn't out of courtesy. The 17th-century port purveyor was here at Manhattan's Eleven Madison Park to taste through its line-up of vintage and tawny ports, culminating in a rare treat, an 1855 pre-Phylloxera port called Scion.

Christie's Head of Wine-Asia, Charles Curtis MW, made some opening remarks about Taylor Fladgate, port wine and the auction market before handing the host duties over to Adrian Bridge. The CEO of Taylor Fladgate, Bridge cut an English gentleman's mien as he guided the assembled group through such bottlings as a vintage 1992 (sweet and earthy with slightly tannic finish), vintage 2003 (like a big Cabernet, with dark fruit and a huge nose) and a 30-year-old tawny (fig cookie, bitter orange and lightly floral).

Tags: christies+auction, christiesauction, Eleven Madison Park, first+taste:+scion+pre-phylloxera+port, firsttaste:scionpre-phylloxeraport, http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/18/first-taste-scion-pre-phylloxer, New York, Port Wine, Scion, scion+pre-phylloxera+port, scionpre-phylloxeraport, Tasting, Taylor Fladgate, taylor+fladgate+scion+port, taylorfladgatescionport, Wine

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First Taste: Highland Park 50 Year Old Single Malt

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

With gale-force winds that would make Mount Washington shiver, and scant winter sunlight, the northern Scottish islands of Orkney provide little reason to spend much time outside, unless it's for the annual game/riot of Ba'. But while not ideal for sunbathing, those conditions do lend themselves to other pursuits, namely, distilling whisky-which is what Highland Park has been doing since 1798. As we told you last October, Highland Park announced the release of the oldest island region single-malt yet, a 50 years old bottling housed in five kilos of hand-made silver designed by fellow Scot, Maeve Gillies.

Gillies, along with Highland Park's Martin Daraz and Gerry Tosh, were in town recently to share a dram of the precious release, which the US will only see five of this year, currently priced at $17,500.

Having spent a half-century in Sherry oak casks, the nose and palate evidenced the pleasantly expected notes of almond, clove, and candied orange. And while mellowed by age, I nonetheless picked up a healthy amount of vanilla and wood, which Daraz pointed out was most likely due to the fact that after 50 years in cask, the liquid moves beyond the portion seasoned by the Sherry and deeper into the wood staves. At just 2% peat concentration-which Highland Park still cuts by hand-the smokiness hovered at the periphery of the tongue, never feeling intrusive.

While obviously meant for the collector, both in terms of aesthetics and content, Gillies pointed out that her bottle design holds a reward for increasing the ullage: When viewed from behind, a rose window design becomes visible on the reverse of the Highland Park sandstone emblem as the level drops. "So you can pray to God for more," quipped Tosh.

Tags: Highland Park, scotch, scotland, single malt, tasting, whisky

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Dalmore - A Colorful Tasting Led by Richard Paterson

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

I recently had the pleasure of attending a Dalmore tasting with the United States Bartender's Guild led by the eccentric and hilarious Richard Paterson, author of "Goodness Nose" and third generation master blender, in full Scottish regalia (right).

Oh my, where do I start? You may remember Dalmore from our past articles about the Dalmore 50 and the $58,000 Dalmore 62 -- and no, I didn't get to taste it -- but this tasting was more about history, and less about money. Paterson led us through the story of scotch, which somehow included:

Beetles
China
Catherine of Aragon
Christian missionaries
Christopher Columbus
"oops-a-daisy"
Scandinavia
Femininity
and Mary Queen of Scots

It was a tale peppered with digs at England, facts about marmalade (Mary-maligned?) and a lot of laughter from the USBG crowd. Then, we proceeded to learn an awful lot about Dalmore.

Some things: Dalmore, which means "big field" was founded in 1839 by Sir Alexander Matheson. It is made in copper pot stills (see gallery) which they like to call "the big bastards," just beyond Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The scotch whisky is aged in American white oak for a minimum of ten years. Dalmore is currently releasing new bottles with metal detailing, and will be 100 percent converted to the new bottles by October.

"Love makes the world go 'round?" posits Paterson, rhetorically. "Total rubbish. Whiskey makes the world go 'round."

Check out the gallery for more about the tasting itself, and see the video below for a little lesson on glassware.

Gallery: The Dalmore Tasting

Tags: dalmore, richard paterson, tasting, whiskey

Glassware. You're Doing It Wrong.

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Maximilian Riedel of the famous Austrian Riedel wine glass family hosted a tasting this week which taught me more about wine than any wine tasting I've been to in years. How? Because it wasn't a wine tasting. It was a glassware tasting.

I knew the basics. I knew you're not supposed to drink white out of red glasses or red out of champagne flutes (or coffee mugs, but hey, we all went to college), but there was a lot I didn't know I didn't know about how much the shape of a glass can affect the taste and experience of a wine.

For example -- did you know that the basic near-spherical globe glass was designed for white? Chardonnay, to be specific. Also, according to Riedel, you should be drinking most champagnes out of the same glasses from which you should be drinking pinot noir. And wait till you see them.

Riedel Glas Austria's basic cabernet glass is the most highly produced and best selling wine glass in the world -- but, in fact, they recommend a much larger glass for cabernet, one they began making when they finally purchased their own machinery in 2004.

The big lesson I learned today? Grape specific glasses -- and they're not the ones you think they are. Click here to visit the Riedel website and shop by grape (even esoterics), but not before you click through the gallery below for more information and specifics.

Gallery: Riedel Glassware Tasting

Tags: glassware, riedel, tasting, wine glasses, wine tasting, WineGlasses, WineTasting

Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier is a chocolate company with some really inventive stuff. Yes, they have the standards like bear claws and cherry cordials, but have you ever tried a chocolate sprinkled with flakes of sea salt? Or a porcini mushroom truffle? Or an actual sugarplum?

Bissinger's began over 350 years ago in 17th Century France, and was even enjoyed by King Louis XIV. They moved their headquarters to St. Louis, Missouri in 1927, and four years ago were joined by their Chief Chocolatier -- the friendly and talented Terry Wakefield (pictured). Wakefield was actually a nuclear engineer before he got into the chocolate business (I'm serious), but he now has 40 years of experience in the food industry. He even once ran a 6.5 acre chocolate manufacturing plant -- experience which provided him with an intimate and supremely technical knowledge about creating chocolates. He even knows how to make chocolate good for you!

"Chocolate is a great way to help people lose weight," says Wakefield. "Seriously! Dark chocolate has a high satiety factor if you don't eat it too fast."

He also knows more about the effects of dark chocolate's antioxidants than anyone I've ever heard speak on the topic: "You want antioxidants to eliminate free radicals, but you make free radicals when you eat. The break even point for dark chocolate is 50 or 60 percent."

Got that? If your dark chocolate is less than 50 percent cocoa, you aren't getting antioxidant benefits (but at least you're lessening the free radical damage -- a fine excuse to continue eating more chocolate).

All right, onto the good stuff. Pictures of the tasting (held at The Audrey Lounge in NY's W Tuscany Hotel) are below, and if you live in St. Louis or near Edina, Minnesota (a suburb of Minneapolis where, coincidentally, I happened to live for 14 years), you can visit an actual Bissinger's boutique or the Chocolate Experience Lounge in the Central West End. The rest of us will have to stick to ordering online, or finding the chocolates at retailers like Bloomingdale's.

If you haven't tried Bissinger's chocolates before, you're going to want to after you see this gallery!

Gallery: Bissinger's Chocolate Tasting

Tags: bissingers, chocolate, chocolatier, tasting

Obika gets into the cigar event game

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

To look at this small Manhattan eatery, you'd never make the connection. Tucked in the atrium of the IBM building on the corner of Madison Avenue and E 56th Street, Obika seems like just another dine-and-dash joint to service the suited masses within a three-block radius. To judge this shop on a glance alone, however, would be a grievous error. In reality, its clientele consists of a mix of ardent regulars and tourists (mostly from Europe) who are committed to the magic made at this mozzarella bar. The customers' zeal was evident by their presence alone on May 21, 2009, when Obika catered the latest De La Concha cigar dinner.

Anthony Fauci, a partner in the restaurant, represented Obika at the cigar event, held in the store where he and his brother, James, have been regulars for as long as anyone can remember. In a new twist on what has become a regular occurrence for the Manhattan tobacconist, Obika provided a mozzarella and pasta tasting menu designed to complement the Camacho cigars featured.

The event was standing room only, as Obika took over the shop – lining the counters for food preparation and consumption. Instead of opting for traditional sit-down meals, store general manager Ron Melendi opted for a more fluid approach, in which guests could stand, sit at a boardroom style table at the front of the store or eat on available counters.

Gallery: Obika, Camacho and De La Concha

Ron Melendi, De La Concha and Anthony Fauchi, Obika

Front seating at De La Concha, Obika, Camacho event

Tags: camacho, camachoselect, cigar, cigars, cigarshop, davidoff, event, events, manhattan, mozzarella, newyork, smoking, tasting, tasting menu, TastingMenu, tobacco

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The Alessi Alberto's Vineyard Glass, One Glass To Taste Them All

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor

The Alessi Alberto's Vineyard tasting glass does away with the need to have a different glasses for different wines. The glass's asymmetrical shape serves an important purpose. The side that bends out is meant for tasting white wine, exposing it to the air and opening up the fragrance. The side that curves inward is for red wine, trapping and concentrating the aromas. Does it work? The folks at Unica Home say they noticed a difference but then again they're the ones selling the glasses for $97 a pair.

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Tags: alessi, glass, tasting, wine, wine tasting, WineTasting

The Ultimate Glenrothes Experience

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits

This time of year is usually when London's bankers start dreaming of what to spend their bonuses on. Were there still any bankers possessing the wherewithal to spend $25,000 in a single evening, our friends at Spungle have sourced quite the splurge. The Ultimate Glenrothes Experience is a one-of-a-kind experience for 10 people to indulge in Glenrothes vintage single malts. The tasting takes place in the well-appointed cellars of Berry Brothers & Rudd's St. James Street location and is led by Ronnie Cox, recently-named Whiskey Ambassador for Scotland for 2008 and Master of the Keepers of the Quaich. The vintages will be paired with dishes prepared by Berry Brothers & Rudd Head Chef, Stewart Turner. Vintages included are a trip through time in distilled form including The Glenrothes 1966 Single Cask #1438, The Glenrothes 1979 Vintage (Bottled 1994) and The Glenrothes 1985 Vintage (Bottled 1997). With dinner, guests will also enjoy some exceptional wines from the Berry family reserves held under lock and key in their private cellars. The Ultimate Glenrothes Experience is limited to 10 individuals and the inclusive cost is $25,000. Booking can require as much as a year's notice, so book now and who knows, you might have the money by then. Those interested can contact Bridget DiMartino at 212-477-8090 or e-mail her at bridget (at) tbtpr.com.

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Tags: glenrothes, london, tasting, whisky

Robert Parker's $2,000 Wine Tasting

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Oenophiles mark your calendars for October 23: wine mystic Robert Parker will host an exclusive tasting featuring

Bordeaux wines from 2005, what Parker says is "the greatest vintage produced during my thirty year career." For $2,000 per person ($1,000 of which is a charitable donation toward Culinary Institute scholarships), tasters will sample 18 wines, including all five of the Premiers Grand Crus from the Left Bank, which are currently priced at $75,000 a case.

Check out Robert Parker's website to learn more about the wines he favors and to search over 100,000 tasting notes from Parker's extensive database.

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Tags: bordeaux, bordeaux wine, BordeauxWine, culinary institute, CulinaryInstitute, robert parker, RobertParker, tasting, wine, wine tasting, WineTasting

Vosges Sensory Collection

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Instead of providing your beloved with a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day you can provide them with a whole taste experience and an education in understanding chocolate. The Sensory Collection includes 28 dark, 6 milk and 6 white single origin chocolate bars from Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad, Java, Ghana, Madagascar, Venezuela, Grenada, Bolivia, Tanzania, Peru, Costa Rica & Santo Domingo, 42 aroma essences including tobacco, charcoal and asparagus, a chocolate guide book, a flavor wheel, a notebook and a blindfold to help you concentrate on the flavors. It sells for $375.

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Tags: chocolate, tasting, valentine, vosges

The World's Most Expensive Tasting Menus

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Tasting menu's don't come cheap, but the range of flavors and the chance to experience more of the chef's repertoire is worth it for many. Some of the best restaurants in the world have gone to serving nothing but tasting menus, Charlie Trotter's in Chicago for example, and others simply offer them as a luxury for those who can afford it and want something a little different. So where to go if you're really looking to drop some cash and enjoy the great tastes of the best tasting menus? Well the single most expensive tasting menu in the world belongs to L'Arpege in Paris and runs $466, with the second and third most expensive also going to restaurants in Paris: Alain Ducasse Plaza Athenee ($437), and Guy Savoy ($402). Masa, in NYC, comes in at 4th with their tasting menu priced at $400 for 25 courses.

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Tags: Alain Ducasse, AlainDucasse, Charlie Trotters, CharlieTrotters, chef, dine, dining, food, gourmet, Guy Savoy, GuySavoy, l'arpege, masa, menu, menus, most expensive, MostExpensive, paris, Plaza Athenee, PlazaAthenee, restaurant, restaurants, tasting, tasting menu, tasting menus, TastingMenu, TastingMenus

Wine Tasting Party Kit

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Hosting a wine tasting is a great idea for a party, but it is even more fun if people aren't sure what it is that they're tasting so each wine gets a fair chance and no one is biased by the brand, the origin or the year of the wine in question. This Wine Tasting Party Kit comes with numbered faux suede wine bags to conceal the bottle of each wine in your tasting, leveling the playing field. A wine-tasting guide is included and your guests can score each bottle on one of the included scorecards. The wines are, unfortunately, not included. Price: $75.

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Tags: tasting, wine, wine tasting, wine tasting kit, wines, WineTastingKit

Zafferano Esperienze Wine Glasses

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Zafferano Esperienze glasses might redefine how wine is tasted. The glasses are designed with concentric ripples at their base, which increase the surface contact with the wine. When the wine is swirled in the glass, more aroma and flavor will be released than in an ordinary glass. Esperienze glasses come in different shapes for different types of wine, from dessert wines to aged reds, so a wine connoisseur could customize his collection based upon his or her favorites. According to the Rosengarten report, they can be ordered from Luigi Bormioli for $29.99 for four glasses, though they are not listed on the Bormioli website.