The ‘Matter of Taste’ series is run by Wine Advocate, the journal which was managed by Robert Parker until his retirement and has just been bought by the Michelin group. Last week, iDealwine got to take part in this exciting salon. Here’s what we got up to during our first visit to the US.
After visits to France, Europe and Asia, iDealwine set its sights on the United States! That’s why two members of the iDealwine team jetted off to New York last week to gauge the status of this important market. After a week of meetings with professionals in the sector, iDealwine took part in the Matter of Taste salon on Saturday.
Having already taken part in the Zurich edition of the Matter of Taste series, we were well aware of the high standards expected of us. Indeed, only the wines marked 93+ by Wine Advocate’s tasting team could be exhibited…not a problem for iDealwine!
We chose four wines that would be sure to delight salon-goers, starting with Gérard Boulay’s 2014 Sancerre Les Monts Damné, one of the appellation’s finest references. A frank wine with a pleasant acidity and salty notes, it was the perfect starting point for the tasting. We next turned to Alsace with Domaine Zind-Humbrecht’s 2001 Pinot Gris Grand Cru Clos Saint-Urbain Rangen-de-Thann. A masterpiece of complexity, delivering notes of flint, ripe fruits and bitter orange, with a perfect balance of sweetness and freshness, as well as a pleasantly bitter finish.
Now let’s look at the red wines we had on offer. The 1998 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chauvin from Domaine de la Janasse was coveted by the wine enthusiasts we met, in part thanks to the reputation of Châteuneuf-du-Pape in the US. Our visitors were blown away by this beautiful expression of matured Grenache (100%) with its well-rounded tannins. The true star of the tasting, however, was the 2005 Château-Smith-Haut-Lafitte. A fine Bordeaux in a mature vintage is always a big hit at wine salons, but this time the interest shown was phenomenal, demonstrating that, contrary to popular belief, wine enthusiasts from New York also have a taste for the classics, despite the number of natural wine bars popping up all over the city in recent years.
The popularity of our stand meant that, half an hour before the end of the salon, not a single drop of wine was left…a good sign! This edition of Matter of Taste was a rare opportunity to get to know American wine lovers, to better understand their wine consumption and their tastes, as well as to spread the message that iDealwine is where you can find the unfindable! We hope to be back in the Big Apple before too long, until next time!
See the Wine Advocate’s 100-point wines
