Autumn Spirits: 5 Wineries To Visit

Harry DalianAs the season of apple and pumpkin picking is upon us, the smell of fall is in the air, and it’s the perfect weather for wine tasting too. Head to Virginia and Maryland for some of the best wines for autumn this year. According to The Washington Post, here are 5 wineries you can’t miss:

Old Westminster Winery
The past five years, Old Westminster Winery has impressed with its hand-crafted wines. This season (starting Nov. 7th), they will be opening a new tasting room to add to the experience. Recommendations include: any of the 2014 whites, but especially, the Greenstone (a blend of sauvignon and viognier) or the albariño. Keep a lookout for co-owners and siblings Drew Baker and Ashli Baker Johnson, who manage the vineyards and tasting room, respectively.
Paradise Springs Winery
Located in the corner of the southwestern region of Fairfax County, Paradise Spring keeps gaining in popularity. October 3rd, co-founder Kirk Wiles and his winemaker partner Rob Cox are releasing their 50/50 blend of petit verdot and tannat. The grapes are homegrown from the Williams Gap VIneyard in Fauquier County. Continuing to grow his business, Wiles has been traveling out to Santa Barbara, CA, creating yet another wine.
Casanel Vineyards & Winery
Family-owned and run, Casanel Vineyards & Winery was created by Casey Nelson and her husband Nelson in 2006. Two years ago, they decided to change directions and hired two winemaker consultants: Katell Griaud and Lucie Morton. Morton is the product of famed winemaker Michel Rolland. Together with the Nelson’s daughter Katie, they have released new reds including petit verdot, cabernet, and sauvignon. New whites include: a pinot gris and a chardonnay.
Big Cork Vineyards
Situated on rolling hills in Maryland, Big Cork Vineyards is picturesque and serene. The decor is quirky with cork-themed bar stools and a motif of Big Cork’s new labels throughout. Their food from their kitchen is also delicious so plan to stay for a late lunch.
Granite Heights Winery
Being right off of U.S. Route 29, Granite Heights Winery provides easy access to its perfected red wines. The 2011 reds are certainly something to try, but the soon to be released 2012’s and 2013’s are the real showstoppers. There are other goodies to find here too including homemade jams and homegrown fruits.

White & Red Wine Chiller

Perfect for those nearly Summer, not yet Fall days. Enjoy responsibly!

 

3 Great Wines to Ring in Fall 2015

Harry Dalian

The goal when it comes to wine is to find distinctive and interesting bottles from places you’ve never heard of before. Having a diverse approach to wine drinking will help expand your wine knowledge, and help evolve your taste. Being able to serve wine from around the world is a great pleasure – and sharing it during New York’s beautiful fall season is something to be excited about as the warmer days cool off into the digress of winter.

Fall in the city is a great time to be outside. No one gets more excited about sweater-weather more than New Yorkers, as we can finally enjoy each other in the sun after a scorching hot, humid, and sticky summer. This fall, make it a point to enjoy the company of others and explore new parks and neighborhoods – as well as new wines everywhere you go!

Here are my top three wines to sip on this fall:

Fattoria di Fubbiano Rosso delle Colline Lucchesi. A beautiful Chianti with old-fashioned charm.

Casa Santos Lima Quinta das Amoras Vinho Regional Lisboa Tinto. Portuguese wine!

Le Fraghe Bardolino. The perfect Italian red with rosy undertones.

The Expert Way to Host a Summer Party

Harry Dalian Wine

Martha’s Vineyard is a place that many think of fondly in terms of summer and vacations. It’s a beautiful place that offers great wine from gorgeous vineyards, and is where many people go to get away from the bustle of every day life in primarily New York or Boston.

Summer is synonymous with Martha’s Vineyard. If you haven’t ventured out there, it is definitely worth the trip. It’s surprising how such a beautiful place with great positivity can be so close to the place you live and work in every day. The Vineyard at Martha’s Vineyard is a great place to host parties, events, or even weddings.

Creating, curating, and cultivating a beautiful summer event means understanding and imagining the scene, the vibe, and the people. Most importantly, we want to create an environment that is comfortable, memorable, and stunning. However, invoking the feeling of summer can be tough if some people are especially bogged down by this past years’ brutal winter, or by crazy work schedules. To get your guests to feel this feeling, It’s important to think of details; little things for people to focus on – such as candles, pillows, table settings, really immerse the summer culture into your environment.

A great idea that never fails: Make the best lemonade anyone has ever tried. Try sprucing it u p with fresh strawberries and high quality, chilled vodka. Have this on tap for guests to help themselves. Most importantly, it is important to have a great selection of different types of wine within each color, but make sure to have plenty of Rosé! Summer is almost over, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t time to throw a great summer-themed party. It’s important to try to create these moments that later become good memories!

Newton Vineyard

Great Cocktail Recipe

The Grade Cellars – Journey Through Wine Country

How to Taste Test Wine Like a Sommelier

Harry Dalian

The ability to recognize a wine by a blind taste is an extremely coveted practice and one of the most satisfying achievements of any oenophile.

Blind-Tasting is the elusive grail of the professional wine-tasting world, consisting of equal parts talent, training and luck for success.

This practice evolved from a professional need to identify fake wines as bottles did not come with a label in the old days. this type of tasting is considered to still be the best way to measure the true quality of a specific wine. The idea is that when a wine’s identity is unknown, a taster can reach an objective conclusion to the actual worth of the wine. The other type of blind-tasting is practiced by both professionals and amateurs, which is more of a social game rather than serious business.

Daniel Posner, owner of Grapes the Wine Company in White Plains, NY, says “One can follow specific steps to improve the odds of a correct guess,” in regards to blind taste-testing.

However, Sommeliers must be proficient in this skill. A variation of this theme is an important part of the exam that is administered by the Court of master Sommeliers, which is an accredited professional organization. Candidates of the Sommelier program just correctly identify at least four to six grape varieties to pass the rigorous test. The statistics of this test may be shocking, as something fewer than 10% of the candidates actually manage to pass the exam.

Raj Vaidya, head sommelier at Daniel restaurant in new York says, “You can expect certain things in a wine like Chablis—mineralogy, high acidity.” He says, if a wine seems oaky one might mistakingly think it is flawed.

Although sampling wines may seem like the best ways to become better at blind-tasting, one can follow a specific guideline f=of steps to improve the odds of a correct guess. The first step is a visual examination of the wine, something casual amateurs forget to do, as certain wines ar much lighter than others.

The second step involves tilting the glass to check the wines viscosity. A viscous wine means higher in alcohol and higher-alcohol content wines usually come from warmer climates.

Smelling and of course tasting are the third and fourth steps. The aromas will reveal almost everything you need to know to identify the wine.

Blind tasting prove that the professional version can definitely deliver an unbiased opinion as well as aid in the discovery of some very good deals. Casual blind tasting can help you remember and recognize wine sin the future, as well as potentially adding to your connoisseurship. Accurately indentifying wines in a blind tasting isn’t fully about knowledge, but a bit of beginner’s luck, too.

Best Wine Under $15

Separating the Secrets from the Swill

Varieties of Wine, Harry DalianIn a world where wine at a low price is ever more available (not a bad thing), what can we do to distinguish between the multitude of options? In this blog, I will discuss the best options under $15, and help you separate the secrets from the swill. 

You walk into your local wine or liquor store and, as if stumbling into a guerrilla encampment, you find yourself surrounded by bottles beckoning you to take a taste via chic labeling, clever design, and well written copy. What do you do? Well, in all honesty, what I would suggest you throw a Wine tasting.

Bad Wine Tasting Party

Invite a few friends, couples, or co-workers. Ask that each party bring three bottles of wine, within a budget of $30. Make sure there is an even amount of Red and White, or rather, that reserve each tasting for one variety entirely. If there only a few people there, $30 is good mark to bring you all enough variety. If there are more, perhaps each party only need to bring one or two. You’ll actually want to have six different wines to try. But* remember you’ll need a glass for each person, so, depending on the number of people attending, you may need more than one bottle of each selection. (I would suggest this too, in case you all find one that you like!).

Secret Tip: Personally provide a bottle of more expensive wine, a selection that has been verified by some kind of connoisseur, or something simply nice, and “in a class above” the wines you are selecting now.

Wine Tasting: Finding the Best Bad Wine

red wine woman - harry dalianWhen your friends arrive, display all the bottles on a table for people to see, each person should give them each an introduction so everyone knows what they are drinking. Don’t just go ahead and pour them, though, you’ll want to make sure you keep which wine it actually is a secret. Have the bottles brought back into the kitchen, and bring them out in waves so people can taste them. Alternatives, depending on how fancy you want to get: pour one or two glasses at a time, and pass them between you. You may want to number the glasses and keep a cheat sheet in the kitchen so you know what you’re working with.

People should rate the different wines, ranking them according to their favorites, and also venture a guess which they think is which. You should compare at the end to see which sample got the most votes, and when all the info is collected, at this point you can reveal which wine was which, and also, whether or not the more expensive wine was outranked… (often, you may be surprised, it is).

Best Wine Under $15

Now, not only have you had a great time, you will also be able to make an educated selection next time you’re looking for a cheap bottle of wine. …if you’re not too tempted to try another tasting.