NYC – June 23rd Blind Wine Dinner -- Corkbuzz Union Square Closing -- Final WineBeserkers Dinner – Going out with a Bang!

If you have something really epic, we’ll make a spot for you :slight_smile:

is that 5:15, 5;45 or 6:15?

6:15. Trains aren’t ideal at that time from my store.

understood, we’ll save the good stuff until your arrival… and we’ll save the seat next to Jay for you

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As long as the bottles aren’t finished, I can play catch up.

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I’ve always brought epic wines! (Sometimes epically disappointing ones)

So he doesn’t have to go far to find the good stuff. I may bring three bottles. I have to see if I have a bottle in one additional price range that satisfies the theme requirements with the other two.

AND be safe out there. STAY VERY Hydrated to avoid hangovers and death from heat. It’s a bit warm.

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Does champagne and white wine count as hydration?

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Yes

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Curious to see the lineup picture!
And didn’t know it was so hot in NYC. Stay hydrated. Have fun!

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Who is that handsome fella in the background??

When I said we were going out with a bang, you guys all delivered. Every single person came to play, and this was the best blind tasting dinner we’ve done at Corkbuzz. Thank you all.

To the best of my memory, which at this point after 3 ibuprofen, 2 sugarfree redbulls, a couple pints of water, eggs, bacon, sausage and maybe 5 hours of very low quality sleep, I will do my best to share my highlights:

2004 Lopez de Heredia Gran Reserva Blanco… this was awesome… after going back and forth for a few minutes, two of us made the call for white Rioja… the oodles of oak, coconut, vanilla steered us away from Chardonnay, acid was medium. I kept this in my glass the whole night and it continued to evolve. Always a special treat.

2004? Bionic Frog… the moment I spelled this it had that Cayuse funk. This is clearly a special bottle, but just not my jam–but it’s good to know what you like or don’t like, and at least I’m consistent.

1982 and 2014 Mouton… '82 was not showing it’s best and the '14 was the last wine of the night, so we we’re showing our best. Very cool wines though. The '14 was paired with 2014 Pontet-Canet, also lovely.

1994 Dominus was AWESOME, I called it Super Tuscan–it was in a blind flight of 2 Bordeaux ('98 La Mission and the '82 Bordeaux), and was clearly different, warmer climate, more fruit.

There were 2 Barolos, the Mascarello I thought had a interesting overripe melon rind, overripe banana skin thing going. The other one, which I forget, was really awesome. Both were either 2013 or 2014 but tasted older. I called Nebbiolo, but thought it was Barbaresco. The second one was clearly the superior wine in every way.

2007 Scarecrow vs 2013 Maybach. I’m embarrassed on this one. I called 2007 Scarecrow AND 2013 Maybach (because I was playing the man), but I mixed up the wines :frowning: Both were excellent, and like always, both should have been opened earlier. I’m constantly impressed with Maybach wines, they always outperform.

I knew everyone though I’d bring Napa, but in my top wines of all time is Grange. So I brought a 2015 Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz vs 1993 Penfolds Grange. St. Henri is almost the same quality of grapes as Grange, but it sees no new oak. Very interesting juxtaposition. I really liked my Grange.

My flight of the night, brought by our good Aussie friend, was 1996 Hill of Grace / 1996 Grange / Sami-Odi… this was my first Hill of Grace, and it did not disappoint. I was shocked by the freshness. I’ve never had it and the oak treatment is clearly very different. I actually called them mid tier Henschke, Hill of Grace, and them because of the bottle shape Sami-Odi. Was an awesome flight.

2018 Mascot (Harlan) vs 2016 Colgin IX Estate… Mascot generally outperforms at the price point and Colgin was amazing, deep, complex. This was later in the night, but continued to evolve.

Two pairs of Northern Rhones… now this is where my memory starts to fade. There was a 2004 Chave, which to me was epic, and a 2020 Jamais? One whiff and I was brought to Cote-Rotie–helps knowing who brought them. We also had a La La and a Chateau d’Ampuis in another round. I forget how that one went–given I forgot, I probably whiffed.

We had a pair of Bertani Amarones, one was ~20 years old and the other was from 1967, sadly the 1967 was slightly corked. But you could tell the structure was there and goes to show these wines can age for many decades. Lot of fun, hard to call Amarone in a blind.

Last but not least, probably my favorite overall bottle was the Vega Sicilia flight. 2006? Unico vs aged Valdebueno. Unico is a wine that needs hours and hours and by the end was giving generously. It’s also a wine that sees a ton of oak.

Aged Unico (to be honest, you can’t acquire non-aged Unico, they told them for like 10+years) and Grange are two of my favorite wines. I do like the oak treatment on them, but certainly this is a style choice and not for everyone. But we had so many amazing wines, it was an embarrassment of riches.

(Cue the Semi-Sonic song)… so we did go out with a bang, but never fear, the show will go on, just at another venue. Stay tuned.

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Brian :wink:

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image

I’m not sure who I should be tagging myself as in this photo.

Yea it’s a little dark. Sry. #cameraskills

@AaronR is the fellow with the tan. You’re in the back left @Tom_Simons





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Excellent evening. I agree this was the best corkbuzz event ever. Pretty much everyone was great.

The 2020 Jamet was my WOTN. I love Nrhone and this was firing on all cylinders for me. I have had a few 82 first growths but never the mouton. I was excited to try it and glad Will brought it because he and I discussed that wine in the past and I remember he owned it. Sadly it was not showing as well as we had hoped. Either way I am happy to say I have tried it. I will note the 2014 Mouton was excellent.

The 2007 Scarecrow was good, but a disappointment after hearing about how legendary it was. Having heard Jay rave about the 2007 Scarecrow and always flirting with bringing it to a dinner, I was happy that Tom brought it, but it didn’t live up to the hype. IDK if it is just the bottle or if the 2007 is really just overhyped.