May 14 2010
Wine Spectator’s 2010 Grand Tour
On May 6th 2010, more than 200 wineries pour their best for three nights in Las Vegas, New York and Washington, D.C. The event as every year boasted the pouring and tasting of over 200 top-scoring Spectator wines from top domestic and international wineries.
Entry fees were $200 per head. Many known faces attended the grand event for the three nights. Tickets were available online also.
This year’s event lived up to last year’s reputation when Wine Spectator’s Grand Tour was a big hit as always. Within 25 minutes the whole place was jam packed. The large ballroom was set up with booths made up of very long tables. Wines were organized in the order in which people should be trying them, with whites on the far left of the ballroom and port on the far right, with everything else in between. Wines were arranged by region as well, with the Italian, Spanish, French, etc. in the same general area. At the end of each tasting row was glass washing stations and baskets of water crackers for palate cleansing.
It was the first night of Wine Spectator’s 2010 Grand Tour. Wine lovers had a chance to taste more than 200 of the world’s best wines. Everyone had their favorites. On the 4th of May, in New York, many of the wine lovers targeted Lafite’s first-growth rival, Château Haut-Brion, which was pouring its 1999.
In Washington, D.C., it was the Château Margaux 2001 which came out to be the people’s favourite after that the people were once again when Mouton-Rothschild 2003, offered yet another vintage for comparison.
Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Annata 2004 had a surprise for its guests:-Cigar wrapper left burnt out in an ashtray filled with cherry pits; coffee, sandalwood and toffee. It was a hot favourite that evening.
Other guests attended the Grand Tour, an evening of exploration. At New York’s Marriott Marquis, some compiled an impromptu flight of Champagne, which had samplings from Louis Roederer, Pommery and Henriot.
Four computer engineers from Manhattan were browsing through Sonoma producers. One of them said that his best was the Kosta Browne’s and Siduri’s wines. Bob Caruana Sr. and his son had a more focused mission that was to taste Concha y Toro’s Puente Alto Don Melchor 2006. They have all collected the Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon since the 1999 vintage. They wanted to check out the new samples and add them to their list too.
Halfway between the White House and Capitol Hill, politicians, lobbyists and other wine fans gathered at the Ronald Reagan Building on April 30th for the Grand Tour’s first visit to Washington D.C.
Bill Paxon and Susan Molinari, married former members of Congress, met up with Kathryn Hall, who once served as U.S. ambassador to Austria and owns Hall Wines in Napa Valley. They tried several of the many Italian reds represented, including Aldo Conterno, Damilano and Pio Cesare from Barolo, Barone Ricasoli and La Massa from Chianti, Masi and Allegrini from Valpolicella, Ornellaia from Bolgheri and Punica Barrua from Sardinia. Even William W. McIlhenny was there, who was U.S. consul in Florence from 2001 to 2005 and is now a director at the State Department.
One wine seemed on everyone’s favourite list in all three cities, which was Dow’s 2007 Vintage Port 2007, which earned a perfect 100-point score from Wine Spectator. For all the people who enjoyed the tastings, it was a perfect wine to end a perfect evening of good wine and complete entertainment altogether.
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