Steve Morey of Vin Sauvage presented “What’s New in Vin’s Bin for 2008,” a wine tasting event that was held at Louis’s Osteen’s new restaurant, Fish Camp, in Town Square. Approximately 30 different vineyards from various countries (e.g. Germany, Italy, France, Chile, Argentina, and the US) were represented. The atmosphere was great, and most of the city’s sommeliers were present at the tasting.
Gator Meat in a Wine Tasting; No Kidding!
One of Vin Sauvage’s sales representatives asked me if there was anything I found really intriguing in the tasting. Well, I had to be honest. The wines were really great – no surprise there – but it was the alligator meat that truly stood out.
As soon as I arrived for the wine tasting, I was served alligator meat. They did warn me that it was gator meat, but I did not take the warning seriously. I thought it was just a joke, you know? As I munched on, however, I realized that it was no chicken I was eating.
I don’t think I have ever had gator meat before this event. In truth, gator meat was not so different from chicken meat, but it was fattier and seemed almost like a hybrid of chicken and fish.
Now back to the really important stuff – wines.
Wine Reviews and Wine Tasting Notes
There were a lot of fine wines featured at this tasting, so I couldn’t possibly write wine reviews on all of them. As I usually do, I will discuss only a few of the wines I really liked. This time, moreover, I’ve decided to organize my favorite wines’ list by country of origin.
Wines from Italy
Italy was represented by no less than 16 different properties.
Fortediga Sodamagri
Wine tasting notes: Carlo Lavuri came all the way from Tuscany to present Fortediga wines, made by no other than Carlo Antonini’s son, Alberto. Fortediga Sodamagri, a 2005 Syrah from Maremma, Tuscany was the highlight of the Fortediga selection. Even though this wine is still young, it shows great structure, hence, great potential.
Selvapiana Vin Santo
Wine tasting notes: This dessert wine was a true delight. This wine, a 1999 blend of Trebbiano/Malvasia of Chianti Rufina, Tuscany, has golden amber tones and the aromas of dried apricot, roasted almonds, honey, and caramel. The Vin Santo is incredibly rich and complex but well-balanced with a lingering finish. It is very well-priced, too, considering the amount of work that goes into making this wine.
Wine from France
France was represented by an American. Yes, that’s right! His name is Bob, and his wine is called Vin de Bob, which obviously means Bob’s wine. Bob is a banker-turned-winemaker. This just proves that anything is truly possible these days. Bob makes a solid wine from Bergerac (Cabernet Franc), but only time will tell how Bob’s conversion to winemaker works out.
Wine from the US
2006 Cote de Crows
Wine tasting notes: Among the wines from the US, Morgan’s 2006 Cote de Crows caught my interest. This Syrah has a beautiful nose and is well-balanced. In the quality-to-price category, 2006 Cote de Crows is a great deal for all.
That’s all for this wine tasting. Cheers!
Tags: California wine, French wine, italienischer Wein, Weinverkostung, wine reviews, wine tasting notes
This entry was posted Sébastien Gavillet on February 05th, 2008 at 02:48AM and is filed under Wine Tastings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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