When : Monday, November 30th, 5:30pm. I’ll get there just after 5pm to help organize and if you can’t get there until 5:45pm or so, that’s fine–there will be plenty of wine.
Requirements : For this dinner you will bring two bottles of wine, of the same region/style (Barolo/Barbaresco are ok, as are Knights Valley/Oakville Cabernet, but Paso Cab vs Napa Cab would not be, nor would Oregon Pinot vs Sonoma Coast Pinot). All your wines MUST be part of the Advanced Sommelier Core Wines of grape variety, region and typicity. Here is the grid: https://www.mastersommeliers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/CMS-A-Advanced-Sommelier-Level-Wine.pdf Both wines need to be typical (ie: Albarino needs to be unoaked, nothing natty at all, California Cabs should have French oak not American oak, etc). One of the wines needs to be high end (over $200). The other needs to be under $100. Bring your bottles already opened (decanted if needed), at the proper temperature and fully concealed. The goal is not to try to trick people, but rather show wines that are great examples of typicity and are also very tasty.
Where : Back Room @ Bobby Van’s on 131 e 54th street (between Park and Lex)
How : When you arrive, please ensure the wine bottles are concealed (in a bag or aluminum foil or something to cover them) and at the proper cellar temperature. Also, given the amount of wine, please open your bottles ahead of time. The target amount of people for this dinner will be 15 people. Each person will pass their bottles around and the group will taste them and attempt to determine what they are. Once everyone has tried them we will guess the region, variety and price. The wines will be revealed each time after the round of guessing. How formal or casual your guesses are will totally be up to you; WSET, CMS, or just winging it are all fine… It is critical that your wines are testable wines according to the grid. Lots of amazing options out there.
Cost : Expected to cost around $150.
Why : Because I failed the Advanced Sommelier tasting exam this year and I’m not going to fail next year.
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