For the weeks leading up to the Bordeaux Grande Tasting held at the beautiful Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando last Wednesday in Orlando, I told wine guests and friends that this was an event not to be missed. I said that knowing it would be a very memorable tasting, but I had no idea how memorable. What an incredible evening for anyone that has even the slightest interest in wine. I do not know of any wine event in the state of Florida that would allow you the pleasure of meeting 30 of Bordeaux’s finest winemakers and managers (because there isn’t any)! The opportunity to attend an event such as this is few and far between, so I tried my best to try all these fine Bordelaise wines.

I found two that I could call my favorite, but choosing just two to talk about wasn’t very easy, as all were good and many were very good. The first was the 2010 Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere from world renowned wine icon Count Stephan von Neipperg. This wine was reviewed by the Wine Spectator in April: “Ripe and dense, but very, very sleek, with lovely polish to the texture, which lets the layers of plum sauce, blueberry and boysenberry fruit glide along. Powerful but perfumy. A beauty in the making. 94-97 points.” 

The wine was truly wonderful, but I have had many wonderful wines. What made this memorable was tasting the wine with Count von Neipperg. The chance to listen to the Count speak about the four wines he was sampling was a thrill! 

The second wine I want to mention is the 2010 Leoville Poyferre. As much as I liked many of the wines, this was my favorite of the evening. Presenting this wine was Didier Cuvelier, General Manager and co-owner of Poyferre. This is what Robert Parker thought of the wine when he reviewed it in May of 2011: “…It boasts an opaque purple color in addition to a sweet perfume of spring flowers, black raspberries, crème de cassis and a hint of spicy oak. This seamlessly constructed St. Julien possesses massive concentration, moderately high tannins, abundant glycerin, an unctuous texture, remarkably fresh acids and wonderful precision. 95-98 points.” 

This was a Grande evening of drinking, talking and learning about wine. What a pleasure to be able to talk to these winemakers and proprietors without ever having to step on a plane!

 

Ken Amendola

(Follow me on twitter @abcwinekena)