Chuck Does Wine Spectator!

I’d like to thank everyone for the enthusiastic response for guest authors! The very first guest is Charles Moncrieff III, owner of Vegas Wine News (http://www.vegaswinenews.com). This is Chuck pictured in front an Italian villa taken during one of his many travels. Yes, that’s said with a great deal of envy!

First, a little bio info about Chuck. He grew up in Southern California and graduated from UCLA, receiving both a Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate. For whatever reason :-), he remains a loyal Bruin and returns to SoCal regularly to attend UCLA athletic events.

He maintained his law practice in Orange County for more than 20 years, specializing in civil litigation. In September 2006, he finally decided the time had come for a change of lifestyle, and so moved to the Las Vegas area with the idea that he would try to transform his wine avocation into a vocation.

During the past 10 years he developed an acute interest in wine; not just in consuming it, which was enjoyable enough, but in all the things that went with it: the history, the countries, the terroir and the people that combined to evolve wine into its final form.

He has always enjoyed travel, photography, and writing. Combining those subjects along with a newly developed interest in wine seemed a good idea. Being new to the Las Vegas area, he decided to start the website for the purpose of sharing information about wine related subjects, and to provide opportunities for people who have that common interest to meet and hopefully enjoy some wine and fun. The two, wine and fun, just seem to go together.

And now, here’s Chuck’s Review of the Wine Spectator Grand Tasting which took place on May 3.

This must qualify as the most compelling wine tasting in Las Vegas, or anywhere else for that matter…!!! Every serious wine lover should make an effort to attend this unique event. The renowned Wine Spectator magazine hosts this annual tasting at the Venetian Hotel and Casino in early May. This year, it took place on Saturday evening, May 3, between 7:00-10:00 p.m. Wine Spectator repeats the identical tasting in New York City within a few days of the Las Vegas promotion. These represent the only two annual opportunities to take in this celebration of wine.

Attendance allows the guest to sample over 200 of the finest wines in the world. Participating wineries include a very representative group from all over the world, with a plethora of winemakers from France, Italy, Australia, Spain, New Zealand, Slovenia, Hungary, South America and the United States.

Producers who attended this past Saturday included all five of the “First Growth” winemakers from Bordeaux: Chateaux Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Haut Brion, Margaux and Latour. Other renowned French winemakers present included Chateaux Pape Clement, Palmer, Lynch-Bages, Pichon-Baron, Canon, Mission Haut Brion, D’Issan, Guigal, Louis Latour, Chapoutier and Bouchard Pere et Fils.

Some of Italy’s best producers opened fine wines for tasting, including Fontodi, Bruno Giacosa, Castello, Banfi, Ornellaia, La Spinetta, Casanova de Neri, Pio Cesare, and Sassicaia.

A few of the more notable American producers in attendance included Joseph Phelps, Etude, Robert Mondavi, Diamond Mountain, Cliffe Lede, Mer Soleil, Beringer, Rubicon Estate Siduri, Sterling and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.

The champagne crowd had a lot to celebrate too, with producers such as Piper Heidsieck, Louis Roederer, Henriot, and Mumm pouring the bubbly.

In most cases, the estates opened wine from their best bottles for the guests. For example, the French First Growths all had bottles of their premier first quality wines, not just the second label of the chateau. Beringer brought their 2004 Private Reserve, Joseph Phelps opened their 2004 Insignia and Chateau St. Jean poured their 2004 Cinq Cepages. Muga from Spain brought one of its finest wines, the highly acclaimed 2004 Reserva, and the Chilean icon Concha y Tora featured the 2005 Don Melchor.

The above covers just a few of the quality wines available. Simply put, I know of no other wine tasting event where one can sample so many excellent wines in a single evening. And that fact alone makes the hefty entrance fee $225.00 ($200.00 if you pre-order) worth the cost. Moreover, attendance includes more than tasting exquisite wines.

The Venetian had a grand buffet to offer some sustenance to the guests. The pre-event press labeled the food as appetizers, but this is really an understatement. It can easily serve as a full meal. Available treats included chicken, pasta, various meats and cheeses, and a full array of delectable desserts. Not quite so much food as in previous years, but still a very nice complement to the evening.

Price of admission also includes your Reidel tasting glass with the Wine Spectator logo. A word of caution here; keep a close eye on your glass. Towards the end of the evening souvenir hunters search for any stray glasses to take home. I set my glass down for thirty seconds to take some photos and someone snatched it!!!

Don’t let the long line that forms before they open the event put you off. Once the gates open the line moves very swiftly. And the facility has ample room to accommodate all the patrons. For most wineries, you can just walk up to their booth without any waiting. The longest lines form for the best wines, but even the lines for the French First Growths usually involve only about a five minute wait. Go to the better wines first, as a few of the most sought after tend to run dry about halfway through the evening.

The only problem I have with the entire production is that it lasts a very short three hours. For someone interested in wines and planning on visiting a certain number of producers during the course of the evening, this three-hour period goes by in a blink of an eye. You can get a list of participating wineries online prior to the tasting by visiting the Wine Spectator website (winespectator.com). I strongly suggest doing this, so one can have some idea of the “must visit” producers. But planning and doing become two very different things once inside. I have never been able to visit more than 30 vintners during the course of the night. Perhaps, next year, if I skipped the food…??? No, I don’t want to miss that either…

******
Thanks so much, Chuck, for giving us your take on the Grand Tasting. I was concurrently at the Wine Walk at The District in Henderson which I will discuss a little later. Don’t forget to let Chuck know how much you appreciated his review, and be sure to leave comments here and at his website.

Thanks for stopping by!

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