Totul pentru gust – Constanta 27 Iunie

Pentru cei care ajung in weekend-ul care vine la mare in Constanta este o ocazie foarte buna sa petreaca cateva ore in compania unor vine bune servite impreuna cu preparate special pregatite in cadrul zonei Wine Boutique din Real Constanta. Evenimentul ‘Totul pentru gust‘ va incepe sambata 27 Iunie de la ora 12:00, participarea este gratuita in limita a 20 de locuri, doar cu inscriere prealabila pe Facebook sau la biroul Info Clienti.

Meniul servit in cadrul ‘Totul pentru gust’ va incepe cu Prosecco Villa Sandi Il Fresco servit ca aperitiv, Alamos Torrontes 2012 din Argentina alaturi de Creveti cu sos de lime, Catena Zapata Chardonnay 2013 din Argentina alaturi de Foie gras, Casa del Bosque Pinot noir 2013 din Chile alaturi de branza de capra Camembert, Alamos Malbec 2013 din Argentina alaturi de Muschi de porc la cuptor, Klein Constantia Mr.Marlbrook 2009 (cupaj de Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet franc, Petit verdot, Shiraz ) din Africa de Sud alaturi de Filet de vita cu piure de păstârnac.

Pentru cunoscatori si cei din Horeca, vineri 26 Iunie incepand de la ora 18:00 va avea loc evenimentul ‘Wine Club‘ in cadrul caruia vor putea fi degustate urmatoarele vinuri: spumant Franciacorta Contadi Castaldi Brut ca aperitiv, Mastroberardino  Fiano di Avelino 2012 alaturi de Paste cu fructe de mare, Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Blanc 2013 alaturi de Filet de dorada la cuptor cu sos de lime si ulei de masline, Paul Jaboulet Aine Les Cedres Rouge Chateuneuf du Pape 2007 alaturi de Black Angus steak si Mastroberardino Radici Taurasi 2007 alaturi de Cotlete de miel. Participarea la ‘Wine Club’ se face doar pe baza de invitatie nominala.

Vinuri bune si o introducere foarte buna pentru cei care nu le cunosc. Reprezentante ale importatorului vor dezvalui povestea fiecarui vin  si a cramelor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

French themed dinner June 2015

There are dinners and there are exceptional dinners. Sometimes life can play tricks on you. It happened to me this week when it seemed I was the victim of my own luck. I had two wine dinners that I attended in two consecutive days and that seemed to be a bit too much. First one was a Romanian wines themed dinner that ended too late in the night and as a result the next morning was very slow, during the day it was more of a gradual recovery and by the time dinner was getting ready to start it finally felt more normal, but not fully recovered.

This was a very intimate dinner for 4 people where I acted as an organizer and tasting and enjoying the wines was one of the perks of the job. Absolutely outstanding experience, where some of the biggest and most interesting wines from France were served.

Champagne Krug Grande Cuvee NV has a golden color with rich and tiny bubbles. A very expressive nose with flint, citrus peel, saline sea shell, it opens up with sweet caramel and lactic notes. Very tight on the palate, focused, with citrus and white peach fruit, it is a Champagne that needs at least 45 minutes to breath to open. Long finish with rich citrus fruit freshness. (94/100)

There was a great match with the oysters as both shared the saline and sea shell aromas.

2011 Domaine de Chevalier Blanc is one of the grandest dry whites from Bordeaux I tasted. Before this, Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Blanc 2009 was my favorite, but that is history now. Medium yellow color. This has an intense and impressive nose, but simply put is Wow. There is a rich yellow melon aroma that gradually leaves room to tropical fruits: tangerine, mango, papaya, very exotic and exuberant nose all sustained by very smart oak, some flint and smoke but always the exuberant sweet fresh tropical fruit holds the center stage. Lots of vibrant yellow fruit, ‎tropical fruits, very fresh palate with almonds, still tight but very promising. Long, long finish. What strikes the most in this wine is that in spite of its rich extract and abundance of fruit, the wine has an almost weightless texture that I find it as a common denominator in some of the grandest wines. I could drink this everyday. (96/100)

It was a great match with Sea Bass and Tuna Tartar but again this wine is good with anything.

1993 Chateau d’Yquem comes from a difficult vintage for all of Bordeaux wines. However tasting this wine you can understand why this is a Premier Grand Cru Classe. It has a light amber color. Very expressive and sweet nose of orange marmalade, saffron, peach, ginger and honey comb. This is certainly not the richest or the most opulent Yquem, but it is a very elegant wine that delivers a lot of pleasure today. There is still some richness on the palate, with vibrant orange marmalade, ginger spice and honey, unctuous and lovely. Long finish. (93-94/100)

2005 Vosne Romanee 1er Cru ‘Les Suchots’ Bouchard P&F needs about 4 h to breath in order to start to open up. It has a medium ruby red color. The nose is all about fresh pine needles, sweet red berry fruit, coffee bean and sous bois, a nose of profound subtleties. Medium to full body, there is texture and layers of vibrant sweet fresh red fruits, aromatic tea leaves, sappy tannins. It still feels tight and points to a good development in the next few years. Medium to long finish, red currant and black tea flavors. (93/100)

2003 Chateau Leoville Poyferre is a wine I tasted several times in the last 4 years and it was always a great wine. The color is red garnet almost opaque. The aromatic profile feels to be the best of two worlds: the ripe and sunny fruit you can find in the finest Super Tuscan’s and the freshness and complexity from the best red Bordeaux. Complex and intense aromas of cassis, blackberry, red paprika, coffee bean, mineral pencil shavings, all make a very expressive nose today. Rich and opulent on the palate, it has ripe and velvety sweet tannins that give balance and freshness to all this dense texture and abundance of flavors. Long finish, sweet lingering fruit. An impressive wine for the vintage. (97/100)

An absolutely outstanding wine dinner experience.

Wine-Wine cu un Master of Wine

Wine-Wine a fost primul eveniment de networking din Bucuresti care a dorit sa aduca impreuna crame recunoscute din Romania cu oameni din domeniul de busines, si nu neaparat cei din domeniul vinului.

Organizat de Wine in Business in 29 Mai 2015 la Crowne Plaza, evenimentul a reusit in ciuda timing-ului usor nepotrivit (chiar inainte de  weekend-ul prelungit care a prins ziua libera de 1 Iunie) sa stranga o audienta buna. Participarea unui Master of Wine este o initiativa mai mult decat binevenita fiind al doilea astfel de invitat venit in Romania dupa Salonul Rovinhud la care a participat Jancis Robinson MW.

In decursul serii au fost sustinute prezentari in timpul carora s-au putut degusta patru vinuri, doua dintre ele fiind introduse chiar de catre Dr Josef Schuller MW: Weingut Turk Gruner Veltliner Vom Urgestein 2104 si Esterhazy Leithaberg DAC Blaufrankisch 2012.

Printre sponorii principali ai evenimentului s-a numarat si Real Hyper Magazine, noua societate care a preluat si care se ocupa de cele patru magazine Real,- din Oradea, Arad, Constanta si Suceava si care a dezvoltat in cadrul acestor lor conceptul de Real,-wine boutique, un loc special dedicat vinului care concureaza in sortimentatie cu cele mai bune magazine specializate de vin din Romania.

Cramele partenere care au sustinut acest eveniment: Nachbil, Vinca, Prince Stirbey, Crama Bauer, Corcova, Crama Girboiu, Avincis, Lacerta si Tokaji au avut organizate standuri si au oferit spre degustare vinurile proprii in cadrul sesiunii de networking de la finalul prezentarilor.

Italy’s finest

I had the privilege to attend an exclusive lunch where the theme was as you will read below Italy’s grandest Grand Cru wines. It was more of a Gaja themed line-up of wines completed with some of the most famous and cult like Super Tuscan’s.

All Gaja’s reds from Piedmont region are high priced wines of considerable force and character. Out of their portfolio, 3 wines stand aside even more as they are produced only from 3 separate single vineyards, all being made of 94-95% Nebbiolo with a small touch of Barberba d’Alba that gives them a higher complexity, but on the same time forbids them to carry the Barolo DOCG appellation. These 3 single Cru wines are the highest expression of Gaja’s know how and Nebbiolo’s interpretation coming from this top producer. They also give life to 3 different expressions of terroir diversity that make wine such an interesting beverage.

The red wines line up started with an older mature wine that today at 25 years old is singing, while the rest were very young (2006), powerful and not overly expressive in comparison. As a conclusion these wines need at least 15 years of bottle age to start to open up.

We started with a Champagne Jacquesson Cuvee no 737 made of 70% wines from the 2009 vintage the rest older wines, from Premier and Grand Cru vines from Grande Vallee de la Marne and Cotes des Blancs. It is maturated sur lies in big oak barrels. It is 43% Chardonnay, 27% Pinot Noir and 30% Pinot Meunier, disgorged in November 2013. Color is medium gold with intense mousse. Initially very citrus like fruit, fresh dough and biscuit with a razor sharp palate, but after 30-45 minutes it gets softer with complex aromas of caramel, milk and pear, with a rounder and softer palate. Medium finish. (91/100)

Gaja Sori Tildin 1990

Ruby red with brick light rim. Pure fresh cedar and mint nose. Extremely expressive. Also black currant buds.
Deep nose, ethereal, rich red fruit, cherries, smoke, game, dry rose petals, balsamic as it aerates. Mineral tones refresh the nose. Rich palate and such a silky smooth mouth feel, lots of red fruits and spices, tar. Very long finish with lingering aftertaste that comes back over and over . Plenty of life ahead, the amplitude of fruit is unbelievable. Very Burgundian like character. 96/100

 Gaja Sori Tildin 2006

 Deep dark red color. This seems more closed both on the nose and the palate, very tight actually, red fruits, raspberry, cherry, roses, tar, Asian spices. A warm nose. Fresh cedar. Tight palate, assertive and high tannins, ‎youthful, rich legs on the glass, a fat and heady wine, aromas of red cherry, spices, very powerful, lots of structure. Very unforgiving in its youth. ‎Long finish, assertive tannins. 94/100

Gaja Costa Russi 2006

Deep ruby red. Lots of strawberries and raspberries. Spices. Warm nose. Balsamic, a bit ripe. Warm palate. Kind of angular in the mouth and quite unsatisfying for the price. 91-92/100

Gaja San Lorenzo 2006

Deep red almost opaque. Very deep nose, lost of fruit, more black fruit than red, blackcurrant, spices. Very concentrated, lush texture, lots of grainy tannins, plenty of sour cherries, plums, very youthful, toasty and tobacco. It is more international and comes along as a modern Barolo. Long finish. A very powerful wine with a mountain of tannins that needs plenty of time to get soft but it does have a certain weightless feeling in the mouth that makes it even more appealing. Real potential here. (95/100)

There was also a 1974 Castello di Neive Barbaresco Riserva Santo Stefano that was cloudy in the glass and unfortunately completely dead.

There were not just any Super Tuscan’s that followed, we are talking about the most sought after investment wines from Italy: Masseto and Sassicaia.

2009 was a warmer vintage so Sassicaia is a bit different than the regular style. There is a riper and more ample fruit both on the nose and palate, with softer tannins and richly textured. Plenty of black fruits, spices, charcoal and leather. Velvety tannins, lingering sweet black berry fruit, spices and a spicy paprika touch. Long finish. (93-94/100)

Today 2009 Sassicaia comes along more as the poor relative of the noble family consisting of this famous wines from Gaja.

Masseto 2008

Leaving the crazy price aside, Masseto is a wine with its own category. 2008 Masseto has a very dark and opaque red garnet color. Deep and profound nose, very complex and constantly evolving in the glass. There is ripe and sweet black fruit, but there is freshness with cedar and pine needles. Very rich on the palate, dense and concentrated texture, but it has acidity and refreshing velvety tannins that create an amazing balance. Very long and complex wine. The 15.5% alc is just a number here. (97-98/100)

Crazy line up of wines for a regular weekday lunch.

Evenimentele Real,- wine boutique din Suceava 4-5 Iunie 2015

Noi evenimente semnate Real,- wine boutique la Suceava in zilele de 4 si 5 iunie au reprezentat o intalnire cu unele dintre cele mai apreciate vinuri din Italia, Franta, Chile, Argentina si Africa de Sud. Au fost structurate ca si pana acum in 2 zile consecutive. ‘Totul pentru gust’ s-a bucurat de o participare record pana in acest moment cu 33 de participanti care si-au incantat papilele gustative cu preparate de mancare special pregatite live de bucatari specializati fiind servite urmatoarele vinuri:

– Villa sandi Millesimato 2014 (Italia)

– Casa del Bosque  Sauvignon Blanc 2013 (Chile)

– Catena Zapata Chardonnay  2012 (Argentina)

– Casa del Bosque Pinot Noir 2013 (Chile)

– Le Difese 2010 Tenuta San Guido (Vinul 3 de la Sassicaia – Italia)

– Anwilka 2008 (Africa de Sud)

A doua zi in cadrul evenimentului ‘Wine Club’ dedicat celor din Horeca si cunoscatorilor, seria vinurilor degustate a adus vinuri si mai interesante. Aceste vinuri au fost desfacute si aerate corespunzator din timp astfel incat cei 20 de participanti la eveniment s-au putut bucura pe deplin de expresivitatea si caracterul vinurilor.

Vinurile servite pe 5 Iunie 2015 in cadrul evenimentului ‘Wine Club’ au fost:

– Franciacorta Contadi Castaldi Brut: este un vin spumant realizat dupa metoda traditionala a sampaniei, Franciacorta fiind considerata pe buna dreptate echivalentul Champagne-iei in Italia.

– Capichera Lintori 2012 este un vin realizat din 100% Vermentino provenind din Sardinia, foarte intens si aromat, bine pus in evidenta de File de dorada la grătar cu sos pesto.

– Chablis Grand Cru ‘Les Clos’ Domaine Christian Moreau 2010 este un monument de forta si eleganta pentru un Chardonnay. O alaturare indrazneata cu piept de rata la grătar cu piure cu unt si aroma de trufe, dar bine pus in evidenta forta si intensitatea vinului.

– Warwick Trilogy 2011 este un cupaj interesant din Africa de Sud.

– Brunello di Montalcino Gaja 2008 devine din ce in ce mai interesant pe masura ce se invecheste la sticla.

– Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape 2010 este un vin cu un punctaj foarte mare ce realizat de unul dintre cei mai buni si apreciati producatori din Chateauneuf du pape dintr-un an de recolta exceptional. Este un vin care azi are nevoie de multe ore de aerare in decantor, potentialul de pastrare si invechire fiind de minim 15-20 de ani. A incantat participantii pe deplin multi considerandu-l vinul degustarii.

– Casa del Bosque Riesling este un vin de desert ce provine din Chile bine pus in evidenta alaturi de creme brulee.

Promovarea evenimentului  “Totul pentru gust” s-a realizeat local prin intermediul posturilor de radio Viva FM si Impact FM, prin postul de televiziune Bucovina TV si in cadrul emisiunii TV ,,Viata bate filmul”, a emisiunii radio ,,Cheia succesului”, pe Facebook si in magazin.

Noi evenimente marca ‘Totul pentru gust’ si ‘Wine Club’ vor avea loc in magazinele Real,- din Oradea, Arad, Constanta si Suceava. Mai multe detalii vor fi publicate in media si pe pagina de Facebook a magazinelor.