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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

NOVEMBER 1 HALPERN WINE AGENCY TASTING, TORONTO

The Time and Date: Thursday, November 1, 2007, 1 PM to 5 PM.

The Event: VIP Reserve Wine Tasting of Halpern agency wines from 80 global
vintners. The event is part of Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation's
Grand Cru fundraiser, helmed as always by Todd Helpern.

The Venue: Muzik, 15 Saskatchewan Road, Exhibition Place.

The Target Audience: private clients, sommeliers, news media.

The Availability/Catalogue: there was a catalogue labeled "Portfolio Wine
Tasting" which listed all the wines available for tasting, along with
extensive provenance notes for each bottle. CSPC numbers and prices were
missing; there was a separate sheet for those.

The Quote: "Everybody is here: where do I start? Antinori? Biondi Santi?
Burge? Ceretto? Chapoutier? O'Brien? Badia a Coltibuono? Firestone? Hugel?
Gosset? Isole e Olena? Jaboulet? Jordan? Maculan? Nonino? Planeta? Prunotto?
Remoissenet? Silver Oak? Let's play spin the wheel..."

The Wines: I did not taste every wine, just some that I felt I could handle
in a two hour period. I did a lot of walking around, back and forth, here
and there, hither and yon, etc. Here's my list, with some modified "Parker
numbers".

**** Four Stars (90 - 93 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

- Jordan Chardonnay Sonoma 2004 Russian River ($42.90 Lic)

- Chapoutier Hermitage Monier de la Sizeranne 2004 ($134.64 Lic)

- Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino Villa Poggio Salvi 2001 ($66 Lic)

- Chateau Haut-Brion 2001,

- Domaine de Montille Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles 2004 ($115.56 Lic)

- Domaine de Montille Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet 2003 ($81.29 Lic)

- Maison Deux Montilles Soeur et Frere Meursault Les Casse Tetes 2005
($75.08 Lic)

- Rolf Binder Heysen Shiraz 2005 ($61.71 Lic)

- Hugel Gewurztraminer Selection Grains Nobles 1999 375mL ($65.84 Lic)

- Isole e Olena Cepparello 2004 ($73.81 Lic)

- L'Aventure Syrah 2004 Paso Robles ($59.68 Lic)

- Maculan Fratta 2003 ($74.80 Lic)

- Burge Family Olive Hill GSM Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre 2005 ($56.93 Lic)

- Ceretto Bricco Rocche Brunate Barolo 2003 ($90.48 Lic)

- Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Napa ($127.60 Lic)

- Russiz Surperior Colio Sauvignon 2006 ($34.87 Lic)

- Conakilla Shiraz/Viognier 2006 ($84.32 Lic)

- Conakilla Viognier 2006 ($61.66 Lic)

*** Three Stars (86 - 89 in Quality/Price Rating terms):

- Antinori Tignanello 2004 IGT Tuscany

- Backsberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Paarl South Africa ($18.37 Lic)

- Chain of Ponds Amadeus Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 ($32.12 Lic)

- Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 Napa ($96.58 Lic)

- Clark-Claudon Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Napa ($104.56 Lic)

- Faiveley Corton Clos des Cortons 2001 ($130.08 Lic)

- Gravitas Pinot Noir 2006 Marlborough ($41.36 Lic)

- Hugel Muscat Tradition 2006 Alsace ($24.26 Lic)

- Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 2004 ($168.19 Lic)

- Jaboulet Hermitage "La Petite" Chapelle 2004 ($79.15 Lic) - second wine

- Maculan Torcolato 2004 Veneto 375 mL ($36.63 Lic)

- Massolino Barolo Vigna Rionda Riserva 2000 ($105.22 Lic)

- Remoissenet Puligny Montrachet 2005 ($65.01 Lic)

- Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 Alexander Valley ($78.54 Lic)

The Food: for the trade, from Pusateri -- cold cuts, cheeses, breads, nuts,
dried fruit, etc.

The Downside: some of the cold cuts were too spicy for this tasting.

The Upside: a chance to meet and greet Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The Contact Person: Todd Halpern sales@halpernwine.com

The Effectiveness (numerical grade): 94.


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