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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