NYC Tastes

I love the month of October for so many reasons.  There's a nice brisk chill in the air, Sundays are consumed with football and fantastic wine events start popping up all over the city.  Here are two great picks for the month ahead: James Suckling Great Wines of the Andes Experience the incredible wine regions of Chili and Argentina right here in New York City at Great Wines of the Andes.  Over 140 wines hand picked by James Suckling with a score of 90 points or higher (two which have the perfect score of 100 points) will be on hand with delicious grape varieties like Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Malbec.  This is the perfect opportunity to take Andes exploration to a whole new level.  Tickets Spain's Great Match Spain's Great Match returns to New York for it's 25th year to celebrate the food and wine of this fantastic country.  Explore their award winning interior design program while some of NYC's top Spanish restaurants pair deligh...

Spain's Great Match celebrated its 23rd year of wine and food design at the IAC building last week. Over 300 incredible wines were poured during the press tasting and even more at that evening's public event.   I began my day with an incredible seminar The Sommelier's Guide to Spain with moderator Steve Olson, whose stunning resume includes Gramercy Tavern's first sommelier when they opened the doors 22 years ago.  He choose selections according to "a wine of place" wines so unlike any other they could only be created in a specific region, this region of course being Spain. I really loved each selection from this seminar but highlights included the light and lively Pares Balta Blanca Cava that seemed to just dance across my taste buds, the always elegant 2009 Muga Prada Enea Gran Riserva and the 2014 Volover Triga that had such a well structured body and long lingering finish it was truly close to perfection. The walk around tasting paired re...

It was all about Wine and Food design at Spain's Great Match last week. Located inside the Frank Gehry building on the west side it really couldn't be a more perfect location. There were some great eateries in attendance, my favorite of which was  My Moon  restaurant from Brooklyn.  They showcased an array of tapas like juicy Watermelon Gazpacho with fresh goat cheese, Iberico ham and basil oil alongside Fried Plantains and with anchovy and bell pepper. The Txoriburger, a spicy chorizo and beef slider loaded with blue cheese and crispy yucca.... ...and a creamy Duck Croquette with membrillo marmalade and orange aioli. But the main event here was the wine of which there was plenty to enjoy like the Gastiago a big, silky Garnacha with a dark cherry finish... ......the spicy elegant Lealtanza made from 100% Tempranillo then aged in French Oak... ...and finally an Albarino I actually enjoyed!  I swear ...