This Friday in Manhattan and Saturday in Brooklyn, the wine stores are holding vertical tastings. No, a vertical tasting is not just tasting wine while you are still standing up. A vertical tasting is where the same wine from different vintages is tasted.
You may never have paid much attention to vintages, but it is very interesting to see how a wine differs from year to year, and also how it evolves with age. Join us as we find out if the older wine is showing well or should have been consumed at an earlier date, look at what time does to wine, and talk about what the weather conditions were like for each vintage. Unfortunately only the most recent vintages are for sale – if you end up preferring the wine with a little age on it, you’re going to have to buy and hold!
Manhattan will hold its tasting Friday, March 13, from 4:30 – 7:00 featuring an Italian red wine from the Marche region – a blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese – that’s been carried in the store for years: Velenosi Rosso Piceno “Il Brecciarolo”. Vintages to be tasted are 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.
In Brooklyn, on Saturday, March 14 from 5-7 pm, we’ll be comparing two different vintages of two different wines. From Australia, the Hacket Gatekeeper Shiraz 2005 will show itself against the current vintage, the 2006. We’ll go back in time a little further for our entry from Spain — the 2001 Santamaria Rondan Crianza will be compared to the 2004.