One Bottle Post: 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello Di Montalcino

January 29, 2021 by evebushman

In keeping with my “Rona” series, aka more one-bottle blog posts because I can’t go out for wine, this week I give you the 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello Di Montalcino, a remarkable Brunello made from Sangiovese grapes. (In my experience a Brunello take less time to aerate than their equally famous cousin, the Barolo made from Nebbiolo grapes. And I’m talking 90 minutes in a decanter for a Brunello compared to about seven or more hours for a Barolo – give or take an hour. This matters to me most as I don’t always know by 11 am what I’ll want to drink at 6pm, or worse: I do know what wine I want with dinner but the wine wasn’t ready to drink by dinner time. Back up bottles have become more important to me for this situation.)

Now back to this wine! This is the social media post I shared last month on this Brunello, with tasting notes and scores:

What great wine have you found in your glass lately? I found this in our cellar, hoping Eddie has another bottle: 2004 Poggio Il Castellare Brunello Di Montalcino, 14% alcohol, decanted for 90 minutes and oh, so good. On the nose this Sangiovese delivered dark cherry, toasted oak, black peppercorn, sweet char off a good filet, espresso, sandalwood and a sweet bread note reminiscent of a waffle cone. The taste had the same notes, very peppery, tannic with all dark fruit and dark chocolate. The finish had a nice sweet note to it as well. Did a little Googling and found that K and L has it on their wait list and sells for $46.95, which I think is a good price, Wine Spectator gave it 96 points in 2009 and awarded it the #11 spot for the Top 100 wines of the year. Cellar Tracker gave it 92, Wine Enthusiast 91. Some recommended to drink by 2013 but I thought it was great now in 2021.

After the tasting I did a little more research on this particular vintage and the winery. I learned from looking at images of the winery that it would be spectacular to visit. From their Instagram I learned that they also have an incredible restaurant on their Montalcino property. On their website there are tabs for Private Dinners, their Tavern, and more.

Also, since I brought it up in my opening paragraph, in regards to length of time to decant a Barolo I searched the internet and learned that anywhere between one and two hours seemed to be the sweet spot for most vinophiles. Looking further I found that Wine Folly says two for a Brunello and three for a Barolo. So this is just an FYI for you when you want to try these varietals.

From the winery website:

In Tuscany there are places that can tell ancient stories and characters. The Baroncini family already started producing wine in 1489. So from father to son, 500 years have passed, and still today in Montalcino, Bruna and Samuele, produce wine as if to testify how time cannot scratch the traditions.

The high quality of the wines produced in the Montalcino area was already known at the time of the Etruscans, who had developed active settlements on these hills. The name “Tenuta Poggio Il Castellare” given to the company brings us back to the historical roots of the place: to the finds of an ancient settlement with the remains of houses and towers on the top of the hill of the same name.

For those that like to geek out from tech sheets, this is also from their website:

Production Area: Montalcino
Mixed Grapes: 100% Sangiovese Grosso
Terrain: Pliocene origins lands of predominantly clayey marl. They tend to reach considerable depth, offering great minerality
Growing System: Spurred cordon with dug soil
Density: 3500 vines/hectare
Average output per hectare: 45 hectolitres
Altitude: 500 metres
Microclimate: The climate is typically Mediterranean, with showers concentrated in autumn and spring. The middle hill area is frequently windy, which is ideal to keep the vines healthy. The climate is generally mild, with a high rate of sunny days during the whole vegetative phase: these conditions guarantee a gradual and complete ripening of the grapes.
Production Process: Manual harvest when the grapes are perfectly ripe. Alcoholic fermentation with controlled temperature (26°C) for about 10-12 days on the skins. Malolactic fermentation in steel vats. Refining in 2500lt Slavonian oak barrels for 30 months and in 225 lt French oak barrels for 20 months. Further refining in bottles for 4 months before the sale
Organoleptic Properties:
Colour – ruby red verging to garnet-red;
Bouquet – very intense, lingering, with hints of cherry fruit and spices;
Taste –well-balanced, with velvety tannins and a long aromatic grip on the palate
Alcoholic Gradation: 14,5% VOL
Serving Temperature: 22,0°C
Pairings: seasoned cheese, red meat, roasts, braised meat, game

Instagram: @PoggioIlCastellare

https://www.facebook.com/poggioilcastellare/

http://www.tenutetoscane.com/castellare/english/cellar-castellare.html

https://poggioilcastellare.com/

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.

Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Releases from Castello di Fonterutoli with Giovanni Mazzei and Eve!

December 11, 2020 by evebushman

Another week, and another great opportunity for a Zoom meeting, this time with a winery in Italy, Chianti Classico to be exact:

…Giovanni Mazzei debuts three new Chianti Classico Gran Selezione releases from Castello di Fonterutoli, the historic Tuscan estate where his family has been making wine for 24 generations. Castello di Fonterutoli’s vineyards are situated within the territory of three adjoining Chianti Classico municipalities: Castellina in Chianti, Castelnuovo Berardenga and Radda in Chianti. Beginning with the 2017 harvest, the Mazzei family launched a new approach to its Sangiovese-based range of wines, aimed at highlighting the biodiversity of these three terroirs in three Chianti Classico Gran Selezione wines, each with its own inimitable character.

What We Learned from Mazzei

The wines we would taste were from different vineyards and varied terroirs. These were to highlight a new approach to Sangiovese winemaking. In over two dozen generations of making wine – back then it was talked about in barrel now it’s talked about in bottle – there has been an evolution to the winemaking.

The different vineyards, see the photo of the map, cover three districts and include seven vineyard zones. Each give different “aromatics, elegance and power.” There will be discernable little differences between the different districts. We were one of the first to sample these wines. Mazzei then invited us to visit, said he would love to take us through all of the vineyards in his Land Rover to see it for ourselves. Who doesn’t want to do that?

The Wines and Tasting Notes (Some of the notes are ones I agreed with but made by Mazzei or another participant in the Zoom.)

Badiola Gran Selezione 2017 – from the estate’s highest altitude vineyards, below the 12^th century church of La Badiola. SRP $99 From the tech sheet: Aged 16 months in French oak barrels (500L, 30% new), then finessed for five months in concrete tanks before bottling. JAMES SUCKLING, 96 points, July 2020. 94 PTS WINE ADVOCATE 8/20 .92 PTS VINOUS 9/20. 91 PTS DECANTER 2/20. Our notes: Red cherries, red currant, spice, toasted oak, earth; same tart cherries, brambly.

Castelllo di Fonterutoli Gran Selezione 2017 – made from a selection of the best vineyard plots surrounding the hamlet of Fonterutoli. SRP $74. From the tech sheet: Aged 18 months in French oak barrels (500L, 50% new), then finessed for four months in concrete tanks before bottling. JAMES SUCKLING, 96 points, July 2020. 93 PTS WINE ADVOCATE 8/20. 92 PTS VINOUS 9/20. Our notes: Robust red fruit, black cherry, more brambly than the Badiola, lavender, peppery; full bodied, dry red fruit with silky tannins.

Vicoregio 36 Gran Selezione 2017 – a blend of 36 different Sangiovese biotypes (aka clones) deriving from 50 years of research, from the single Vicoregio vineyard. SRP $99. From the tech sheet: Aged 18 months in French oak barrels (500L, 50% new), then finessed for four months in concrete tanks before bottling. 95 points WINE ADVOCATE, August 2020. 95 PTS JAMES SUCKLING 7/20. 94 PTS VINOUS 9/20. Our notes: Thick, rich, raisins, prunes and other dark fruit; tannic, dry, “grip” and velvety.

Giovanni then shared the soon-to-be-released Siepi 2018 Toscana IGT, a 50/50 blend of Sangiovese and Merlot that was first produced in 1992. SRP $130. From the tech sheet: 70% of the wines are aged in new French barriques (Merlot: 18 months; Sangiovese: 16 months), then blended and aged an additional 4 months in concrete tanks. The wine is bottle aged for 4 months before release. 94-96 POINTS, WINE ADVOCATE, August 2020. Our notes: Really pretty nose, red to blue fruit, earth, smoky; complex, balanced (probably due to Merlot influence), silky, black fruit, chocolate, very drinkable now.

About Castello di Fonterutoli

In the Mazzei family since 1435, Castello di Fonterutoli stretches across 1,600 acres of rolling Tuscan countryside in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone, taking in 7 areas under vine that cover a total of 290 acres. The seven vineyard zones are themselves broken down into no less than 120 plots which lie at an altitude of between 230 and 570 metres above sea level. Vineyard cultivation is entirely manual, up to and including the grape harvest, with vine care solutions tailored to each plot. Our centuries-old acquaintance with this territory, combined with more than half a century of research, has allowed us to base our range on36 biotypes of Sangiovese, 18 of which are mass selections exclusive to Castello di Fonterutoli. No other Chianti Classico winery can boast this level of biotype diversity.

The 2017 Vintage

It’s hard to remember such a remarkable season as 2017, when a succession of challenging weather events demanded all our instinct and expertise. A frost around 20 April was followed by a spring and summer when it hardly rained at all, with summer temperatures hitting the high notes and inducing a water stress that limited grape growth and reduced bunch weight. Towards the end of the season we took a gamble, waiting for September rains, and were rewarded with 130mm of rainfall in twenty days, which together with an abrupt fall in temperatures (with lows reaching 5 °C) gave the grapes new vigour. Grape quality was therefore good overall with peaks of excellence, far exceeding our pre-rainfall expectations, though yields were down 35% on the yearly average.2017 turned out to be of those ‘textbook’ years when great experience and a careful monitoring of every single vineyard, on a tailored, plot-by-plot basis, were essential to winemaking success.

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Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.

Oregon’s Domaine Serene Becomes the World’s Most Awarded Winery at Decanter’s 2020 World Wine Awards

November 7, 2020 by evebushman

DAYTON, Ore., /PRNewswire/ — Domaine Serene is far and away the most awarded winery in the world at the prestigious Decanter 2020 World Wine Awards. This year, the Dundee Hills winery took home 23 medals including ‘Best in Show’ for their 2016 Domaine Serene Mark Bradford Vineyard Pinot Noir, earning 97 points. The winery also brought home four Gold medals, 17 Silver medals, and one Bronze medal, with five wines earning a remarkable 95 points or more. Domaine Serene was not alone in its success with additional rave reviews coming for Château de la Crée and Maison Evenstad, also owned by proprietors Grace and Ken Evenstad. Their two Burgundian wineries were bestowed with an additional nine medals including seven Silvers. Standing at the top, their 2017 Maison Evenstad, Premier Cru Beaurepaire Santenay, earned 95 points, besting several Grand Cru Burgundies in the tasting.

Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) is widely considered to be the world’s most important international wine competition, making this recognition yet another big win for Oregon’s burgeoning luxury wine industry. With an elite international panel of judges, the DWWA began the painstaking task of evaluating over 16,500 wines from 56 countries in August. Over the course of 28 consecutive days, 118 expert wine judges, including 37 Masters of Wine and nine Master Sommeliers, bestowed the honor of most awarded winery to Domaine Serene.

“Ken and I are thrilled that Domaine Serene has received such incredible recognition across the board. To be the most awarded winery in the world at the DWWA is a testament to the quality of our vineyards and to the talent, hard work and dedication of our team,” said Grace Evenstad, Co-Founder and Owner of Domaine Serene. “To receive ‘Best in Show’ for our Mark Bradford Vineyard Pinot Noir is especially gratifying. We named the vineyard after our son, Mark Bradford Evenstad, and it was the first vineyard that we ever planted at Domaine Serene almost thirty years ago. Planting its high elevation slopes and west facing aspect went against advice from the local vintners, yet we knew it had the potential to make world-class wine and so we planted it anyway. It has always been one of my favorite wines and I have long appreciated the power, structure, and longevity of our Mark Bradford Pinot Noirs. We are thrilled that it has received such critical acclaim at such an important competition.”

“In its 17^th year, the DWWA is the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. Judged by the top wine experts from around the globe, the DWWA is trusted internationally for its rigorous blind judging process and regional experts,” said Bree Stock, Master of Wine and Education Manager of the Oregon Wine Board. “It’s an enormous feat for a region like Oregon, that represents a fraction of US global exports, to receive ‘Best in Show’ along with the breadth of medals in such a prestigious competition. This award raises the profile and awareness of our region’s wines not only to Decanters’ highly informed consumer audience, but also to the global wine experts on the judging panel. Congratulations Domaine Serene.”

Domaine Serene took home a total of 23 medals from the elite London-based contest. In addition to being awarded ‘Best in Show’, the winery earned four Gold Medals for the 2016 ‘Aspect’ Pinot Noir, 2017 Clos de Lune Vineyard Chardonnay, and 2016 Etoile Vineyard Chardonnay, each earning 96 points, with its 2016 Two Barns Vineyard Pinot Noir, earning 95 points. The Dundee Hills winery also brought home 17 Silver medals and one Bronze medal, more details can be found here. Domaine Serene wines have now earned 95 points and above by major critics an astounding 115 times! This is in addition to being awarded #1 Ranked Pinot Noir in the World by Wine Spectator in 2013 and in 2016 #1 Pinot Noir in the World by Decanter and #1 White Wine in the World by Wine Spectator, for its ‘Evenstad Reserve’ Chardonnay. This universal acclaim from an array of critics solidifies Domaine Serene as America’s Most Acclaimed Winery.

“We are humbled by this great honor and thank our members, distributors and customers supporting our pursuit of quality over the years. To celebrate these awards, we are making some of the medalists available for tasting at our winery Clubhouse in the Dundee Hills and at the Domaine Serene Wine Lounge in Lake Oswego. We are also opening up our wine library to new and existing wine club members so that they can share in the enjoyment of these cherished wines in their homes.” said Ryan Harris, Domaine Serene President.

For more information, to visit our locations or to join the wine club or mailing list, please visit www.DomaineSerene.com or call 503-864-4600 and follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

About Domaine Serene
The Evenstads settled in the Northern Willamette Valley in 1989. Their spirit and passion to produce wines that rival the great wines of Burgundy led them to purchase and plant a hilltop estate that had just been logged in the now famous Dundee Hills.

Today, Domaine Serene produces wines from six individual vineyard estates, planted exclusively to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In Oregon, the Evenstads own nearly 1,000 total acres of land in the hills of Yamhill County, with 275 acres planted to vine.

Working every job in the winery for many years, Grace and Ken Evenstad built Domaine Serene from the ground up with a focus on producing high quality wines through innovation and a focus on excellence. The Evenstads have gained a true appreciation for the attention to detail required to make exceptional wines.

In 2015, Ken and Grace Evenstad fulfilled a lifelong dream of producing wine in Burgundy, France by acquiring Château de la Crée, the respected wine estate located in the birthplace of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay: the renowned Côte d’Or. They own 25 acres of prime vineyards in Pommard, Volnay, Meursault, Puligny-Montrachet, Chassagne-Montrachet, Santenay and Maranges. This made them the first Oregon-based vintners to own land and produce wines in Burgundy.

In just under three decades, the Evenstads have propelled Domaine Serene onto the global stage as one of the world’s most acclaimed and respected wineries. Domaine Serene’s wines represent the achievement that is possible in Oregon, one of the finest regions in the world for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Fun and Informative Virtual Tasting with Bodegas Caro!

September 25, 2020 by evebushman

I’m a fan of Malbec wines, and because of that I’m definitely a fan of Argentinian Malbecs. Either a 100% Malbec or a Bordeaux blend – the addition of Cabernet Sauvignon – are among my favorites. In the tasting below I enjoyed Malbec and Malbec Cab blends that ranged in price from $15 to $65, and liked them all. And, for Bodegas Caro, they will soon have another Bordeaux grape that may enter the mix in the future, and that is my current favorite varietal: Cabernet Franc. Color me happy. Let me share the details with you, from the invitation, the tasting and what we learned:

Invitation and Tasting (my notes are in italics below each wine listed)

Please join us for a special virtual tasting led by Philippe Rolet, Estate Manager of Bodegas Caro…in 2019 Philippe Rolet became Estate Manager for CARO, a partnership between Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) and the Catena family dating from 1999. Situated in the heart of the Mendoza region in Argentina, Bodegas CARO’s ambition has been to produce a unique range of wines that would combine two cultures, French and Argentine, two grape varieties, Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, and the expertise of both families. Together, we will taste the following:

Aruma 2018 $15 – A pure Malbec made from a blend of grapes from the best terroirs in the Mendoza region. “ARUMA” means “night” in the language of the Quechua, the native Indian population of the Mendoza region. The name suggests the deep darkness of the nights in the Andes and the very pure mountain air: the wines have the same rich, authentic character as their terroir. (EB: 91 points on the 2017 from James Suckling and 90 on the same vintage from Decanter. This $16 sipper was my favorite in the tasting. The nose was rich and velvety smooth with dark ripe plums. On the palate I also got a LOT of spice that was balanced with blue to black fruit. I thought it tasted much older than a 2018. Rolet suggested serving it slightly chilled, with or without food.)

Amancaya 2017 $20 – Amancaya, like its older brother, presents a harmonious balance between the Argentine and Bordeaux styles. The wine is more fruity due to the higher percentage of Malbec and shorter ageing. The word AMANCAYA is the native Indian name of a flower found at high altitudes in the Andes in the Mendoza area. (EB: Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, Reserve Red Blend. This 2017 vintage was awarded 93 points from James Suckling. Lots of barnyard when I first opened the wine, which most quickly blew off, made it interesting. Lots of earthiness, brambly, grilled mushroom and oak all on the nose. Tasting the wine I found it a little brighter than the Aruma 100% Malbec, very clean and not as spicy. Rolet said this one came from a cold and dry vintage, pair with rack of lamb and to stay tuned for a new label. The name Amancaya refers to a flower grown in the region, that is also known as the “engagement flower” a young man would present to his intended during a proposal.)

CARO 2017 $65 – CARO, from Catena and Rothschild, has a strong Argentine identity, characterized by the Malbec grape, which is given further elegance and complexity through blending with Cabernet Sauvignon. The combination produces a voluptuous, refined wine with a harmonious balance between the wine’s Argentinian identity and its Bordeaux style. (EB: The 2015 was awarded 92 points from Wine Spectator and the 2014 got 95 points from James Suckling. Rolet said this was a limited production wine, comes from “specific sub divisions of terroir”, and since they don’t make it every year it’s scarce. I found a beautiful nose filled with lots of dark fruit, spice, tobacco and dark chocolate. Drawn in for a taste I got a rich spicy mouthfeel and that same luscious dark fruit. Rolet said it was also from a cold and dry vintage. The wine is known in the market as very elegant. This vintage spent 14 months in oak barrels, Rolet commented that it was very layered; he recommended that it be decanted – I didn’t decant. 2000 was the last vintage they made and he said the wine could age 20 years.)

My Takeaways from Estate Manager Philippe Rolet

Rolet, with decades of wine experience under his belt – that took him from Switzerland to Chablis to Chile – we learned that he now has 25 years of experience in Argentina alone. He explained that the winery was built in 1884, has underground cellars and, due to Covid-19 is not yet open to the public. During our Zoom session Rolet let the camera roam around in the winery’s “Cultural Center” that was home to many Mendoza-based painters and sculptors. (This is definitely a winery to visit as soon as it’s safe to do so. We are currently missing their snowfall and world renowned skiing.)

Most of their wine is sold between September and December, they have no plans to make a white wine as the terroir isn’t there for it. As far as the Cab Franc I mentioned in my intro, Rolet said that they have been interested in cultivating it for a long time in Argentina – ten years. They only have about two acres and plan to add two to four percent Cab Franc in a future vintage of their Amancaya.

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Wines are distributed by Southern Wine and Spirits in Southern California.

The Lodge at Torrey Pines to Debut Beyond the Cellar: A Spring Collectors Tasting

April 2, 2020 by evebushman

LA JOLLA, CALIF. (PRWEB) – Winemakers and owners from some of the most exclusive California wineries will travel down the coast to The Lodge at Torrey Pines for its inaugural Beyond the Cellar: A Spring Collectors Tasting. The AAA Five Diamond La Jolla resort will host the wine tasting and purchasing event Friday, May 8, 2020 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m. There are a limited number of tickets available for this exclusive event. Tickets are priced at $150 per person and can be purchased online at lodgetorreypines.com/beyond-the-cellar.

Riding off the success and model of The Lodge’s annual culinary festival, Celebrate the Craft, Beyond the Cellar is an event geared toward wine aficionados and collectors. Winemakers and winery owners will have the opportunity to showcase some of their rare and high-end vintages that are not readily available to the general public. Wholesale pricing of featured wines will range from $100 to over $1,000 per bottle and attendees will have the opportunity to purchase wine through the attending wineries, at retail value. The majority of the bottles available for purchase cannot be found in stores or ordered online.

Curated by The Lodge’s Advanced Sommelier Paul Krikorian, Beyond the Cellar will feature highly coveted wines and experts from Napa Valley wineries including Nickel & Nickel and Far Niente, Continuum Estate, Pulido-Walker, Spottswoode, Ramey Wine Cellars, Paul Hobbs, Flora Springs, Ovid, Lewis Cellars, Morlet Family Vineyards, Staglin Family Vineyard, Hundred Acre, Mirror, and Abacus by ZD Wines. Each featured wine will be poured by either the winemaker, owner or spokesperson, providing guests with an exclusive one-on-one guided tasting. Krikorian, along with other sommeliers, will be available throughout the event to provide expert insight and advice to attendees.

Wine tastings will be accompanied by artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, handcrafted chocolates, passed hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment by a jazz guitarist and a champagne greeting. Along with bottles and barrels from the wineries, guests will also have the chance to purchase fine glassware from Riedel, the premier wineglass and decanter manufacturer. Additionally, Riedel will provide guests with a surprise takeaway gift.

Guests interested in extending their Beyond the Cellar experience can also reserve a room package starting at $719 per night, which includes two tickets to the event.

About The Lodge at Torrey Pines:
The Lodge at Torrey Pines is an AAA Five Diamond award-winning property offering views of the world renowned Torrey Pines Golf Course and the Pacific Ocean. Guests of The Lodge can take advantage of the near perfect weather while hiking the Torrey Pines State Reserve, golfing on Torrey Pines Golf Course or relaxing at the spa. The Lodge pays tribute to the California Craftsman Movement and is modeled after Greene and Greene’s famed Gamble and Blacker houses in Pasadena, California, two of the finest examples of early 1900s Craftsman-style architecture. The Lodge features 170 spacious guest rooms and suites, a 9,500 square-foot full-service spa and two restaurants serving contemporary California cuisine. The Lodge is owned and operated by Evans Hotels and is in proximity to the San Diego International Airport, downtown San Diego and downtown La Jolla. The Lodge is located 11480 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. For reservations, call (858) 453-4420 or visit http://www.lodgetorreypines.com.

The Art of Toasting Moutai From China

October 11, 2019 by evebushman

Camus is delighted to invite you to a dynamic culture event to learn and experience the Chinese way of toasting and fine dining, with the iconic spirit Moutai and one of its kind Baccarat crystal drink set. Dress code: Elegant with a touch of red.

Well this was a new one for me. Never heard of the Chinese spirit Moutai or used the Baccarat crystal drink set. Intrigued by the idea of learning how to properly toast with a Chinese spirit, I was ready to learn. But first what is Moutai? From Wikipedia: Maotai or Moutai is a brand of baijiu, a distilled Chinese liquor, made in the town of Maotai in China’s Guizhou province. Produced by the state-owned Kweichow Moutai Company, the beverage is distilled from fermented sorghum and now comes in several different varieties. From the box: Made “only in small quantities” yearly, this “small batch blend” is “available only in the finest duty-free shops around the world.” 53% alcohol.

In the course of the evening (photos here) we tasted the spirit in two cocktails and on its own, both the Moutai Small Batch Blend ($275) and the Moutai Legendary China Collection Edition Li Bai ($375). This second edition “honors Li Bai (701-762) regarded as one of the greatest and most prolific poets of the Tang dynasty.”

But, before I get too ahead of myself, before the first cocktail we were entertained by a Chinese calligraphy artist, then before the first sip of Moutai on its own, we were told and shown the proper way to toast with Moutai and told that “in China we greet with spirits, with meaning and with gravity – to the future…Moutai is always considered the national symbol of China” and all Chinese enjoy toasting special occasions with Moutai.

To toast the spirit is poured at room temperature into a tiny glass “invented by Moutai” and then some simple rules are to be followed: Always fill to the rim, hold with both hands to toast each other, the person who wants to show respect to the host, for seniority or to ladies is to bring their glass lower than the person extending the toast. This last part can be quite fun as people will go down to the ground to get their glass lower than their esteemed friend. Then, more rules included “never leave a comrade’s glass empty” so you must help them to fill it. Never drink alone at dinner. If you are toasted then you must toast in return. Don’t toast before the host toasts – who may toast to each table in the room. Then, and only then, it’s fair game to toast more people. The Li Bai edition was served with small Baccarat red crystal decanters into small round matching crystal glasses.

For me, always the student, after noting all of the rules in toasting I settled in to smell and taste both levels of Moutai. I got strong umami notes, soy sauce, salinity, grilled mushroom and maybe a hint of the terracotta vats the spirit had rested in before bottling.

After that first sip we enjoyed a multi-course Chinese influenced dinner, while listening to different musicians and watching a cultural dance. By the end of the evening, and several more toasts of Moutai – for those that had drivers – I believe everyone attending walked away with not only more knowledge about the Chinese spirit, but an appreciation for Moutai and what China brings to the proverbial global table.

Robert Parker Wine Advocate Announces New Reviewers and Increased Coverage for 2018

December 4, 2017 by evebushman

Napa, California – Robert Parker Wine Advocate and RobertParker.com, the world’s most widely read independent consumers’ guide to fine wine, announces the appointment of William Kelley, who will join the reviewer team on January 1, covering the regions of Burgundy, Chablis, Beaujolais, California Central Coast and Washington State.

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Castiglione Falletto, as photographed by Monica Larner.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate Castiglione Falletto, as photographed by our own Monica Larner.

During his time at Oxford University, studying history at St. John’s College, Kelley served for four years as the president of the Oxford University Wine Circle, the world’s oldest tasting group of its kind. In addition to tastings with the Old World’s greatest producers, he brought many of California’s most celebrated and exciting wineries to Oxford for the first time. Kelley cut his teeth as a taster on many of the great wines of Burgundy of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, providing him with a grounding in the classics. Having worked harvests in California and Burgundy, Kelley noted, “I feel my first-hand experiences further inform my writing and criticism with a deeper understanding of viticulture and winemaking.” A former correspondent for the wines of Burgundy for the UK’s Decanter magazine and a contributor for The Robb Report and Noble Rot, William was short-listed for the Louis Roederer Emerging Wine Writer of the Year Award. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be assuming this position as a critic for the world’s foremost fine wine guide,” commented Kelley. “To stand alongside the world’s greatest wine critics, led by Robert Parker, is truly an honor and a milestone for me.”

Robert Parker Wine Advocate is equally excited to announce that the coverage of Bordeaux for The Wine Advocate will be assumed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW. A Master of Wine with more than 25 years’ experience working in the UK, Japan, Singapore and USA wine industries, Perrotti-Brown brings incredible experience, knowledge and expertise to The Wine Advocate’s reviews of the wines of Bordeaux. “Both as a longstanding lover of the wines of Bordeaux and as a professional who spent the first half of my career devoted to professionally selling, marketing and purchasing Bordeaux wines, taking on the coverage of this incredible region is without doubt the most exciting moment of my wine journey.”

Robert Parker Wine Advocate’s Editor-in-Chief Perrotti-Brown went on to comment, “In 2018, Robert Parker Wine Advocate will be dedicating even more energy and resources to increasing our coverage of wines from throughout the world. Not only will we be producing more tasting notes and articles than ever before, we will be producing them with even greater frequency and timeliness.”

Robert Parker Wine Advocate is currently the most comprehensive wine review publication in the world, with more than 350,000 tasting notes in its database, housed by their seminal wine reviews website, RobertParker.com. “We are in discussions now with hand-selected wine experts from across the globe to add to our current team of nine reviewers next year, expanding upon what is already the largest team of full-time reviewers of any of the major wine criticism publications,” said Perrotti-Brown. Currently producing over 30,000 reviews per year, Robert Parker’s reviewer team aims to produce more than 50,000 reviews per year by 2020. News about the other new reviewers to join the Robert Parker Wine Advocate team will be released in early 2018.

“As our coverage and reviewer team expand, it is increasingly our duty to our readers to make certain that we offer consistent ratings across the many voices and perspectives offered by our team of experts,” Perrotti-Brown added. “With the appointment of Joe Czerwinski as our Managing Editor earlier this year, together we will be implementing a rigorous editorial oversight system to ensure scoring consistency across our team.”

While remaining the foremost “Independent Consumer’s Guide to Fine Wine” is the core of Robert Parker Wine Advocate, the publication and team of experts will also look to step up wine consumer engagement by staging more wine events in the year to come. Highlights in the first quarter of 2018 will include iconic Burgundy dinners in Hong Kong and Rio di Janeiro, featuring rare gems such as Domaines Coche-Dury, Dujac, Raveneau and Ramonet, and another blockbuster two-day event in Zurich. Full details will soon be available on the Matter of Taste website, www.a-matter-of-taste.com.

About Robert Parker Wine Advocate

For more than 39 years, The Wine Advocate, and later RobertParker.com, have been the global leader and independent consumer’s guide to fine wine. The brand was established by the internationally recognized Robert M. Parker, Jr., the only critic in any field to receive the highest Presidential honor from three countries – France, Italy and Spain. Robert Parker Wine Advocate provides a wealth of information to its subscribers, including a searchable database of more than 300,000 professional wine ratings and reviews, in addition to articles, videos, daily news content, online retail availability and pricing, an active, professionally moderated bulletin board, a mobile app for easy access to the comprehensive online database of reviews, and much more. For more information, visit www.RobertParker.com.