Six o"clock - wines are set out - food is prepped - tasting books wait to be notated - the sky is clear - temperature cool - drum roll - Red Is Life's first tasting begins -
Four wine tables - set up in VESPA's outdoor garden - Greece - Italy - Spain - America - each manned by a representative of T Edwards Wines - very knowledgeable - able to identify and demystify - no selling - just education - its great to be able to ask and get the answers -
About 60 wines to sample - taste - compare - enjoy - clear favorites were the reds and whites of Santorini - vines that go back 300 years - the 98 and 99 Barolos - Stephen Ross Pinot - Coturri Zin - an eye opener - Coturri East Block Zin - balanced and delicious -
VESPA did an amazing job on the food front - four stations - pasta - a red and white - individual portions - made to order - panini - three variations - grilled in real time - cut to individual portions - you never had to "sit down" - although the option was always available - cheeses of the world - Mediterranean salads - everything except the lettuce -
Balthazar's Bread incorporated throughout - the remark was made that the great panini starts with great bread - these were great !! -
Fab hor'dourves passed by the VESPA staff through out the event -
Special thanks to Chef Kyle - particularly for the crab cake balls -
Over the course of the event - 60 (+/-) serious wine drinkers - everyone liked the format - books were a big hit - though no one shared their comments - we ran out of pens - make a note for the next tasting - more Bics !!! -
Wrapped about 10:00 - packed up the unopened bottles - the few Red Is Life tee shirts not taken home by the tasting's attendees -
Thanks to Leonard - Adam - Patrick - John - Paula - B - John - Vinny - Paul - Tony - Maki & Emma -
HBH
Wish I could have made it...next time you can definitely count me in.
Posted by: Lenn | May 24, 2005 at 01:15 PM