This past Thursday, the second Twitter Taste Live event, hosted by Bin Ends, took place and it was even a bigger success than the first one. The special guest was Etienne Hugel of Hugel et Fils in Alsace. Etienne was up quite late to participate in this tasting as it must have been at least six hours later in Alsace. For more info about Hugel, you can listen to a podcast with Tim Elliott, Etienne Hugel and Craig Drollett.There were many wine bloggers, including myself, and many others as well who participated this time. The participants were also from all over the world, including France, Germany, Poland, Puerto Rico, Spain, Australia, and Canada. There may have even been people from a few other countries as well. Such a great showing for a very fun event.
One of the most fascinating elements of this tasting is that you get to hear so many different descriptions of the same wine, showing how people clearly smell and taste wines differently. Where one person smells apricot another might smell banana or another cardamon. Wine truly is an individualized beverage which can affect people in a myriad of ways. This tasting also gave shape to the passion that so many feel for wine, their love for the grape evidence in all they said. It also showed such a commonality of wine lovers all over the world.
Practically, the event ran very smoothly. There were a couple minor blips with Twitter due to overload, but they were very short lived as well as expected on Twitter. We really must thank Etienne for devoting so much time to the tasting and answering all of our questions. These tastings are a great opportunity for a wine maker to get much feedback about their wines, to interact with bloggers who talk about wine all the time. Bin Ends certainly deserves much thanks as well for hosting these events and providing samples of the wines for the tasting.
The wines that were tasted included, with a few of my notes, the following:
2006 Gentil : An intriguing blend, which follows an ancient Alsace tradition, of about five white grapes. Very aromatic on the nose, almost a perfume smell but with some citrus notes. On the palate, it is a crisp wine with flavors of grapefruit, lemon, mineral, and even a touch of spice. At $10.40, this wine is an excellent value providing far more dimension than many similarly priced white wines.
2006 Pinot Blanc: I really loved this wine and it reminded me of a Spanish Albarino. Crisp, refreshing with plenty of delicious citrus flavors. A perfect wine for seafood. Plus, at $13.60, it is another excellent value. We finished this wine on the evening of the tasting.
2006 Gewurztraminer: This wine had a more floral nose combined with spice notes. That spice came out in the taste and the wine had a rich flavor with a touch of sweetness. A perfect wine for spicy foods, from Thai to Indian. Maybe even for a spicy chili.
2004 Riesling Jubilee "Grand Cru": I did not get to taste this wine but those who did loved it. The wine is a bit pricier, at $49 (a discount though from the usual $62), but as so many people raved about its smell and taste, it might very well be worth it.
2001 Gewurztraminer VT: This reminded me of a dessert wine. It had a spicy nose witha touch of apricot. On the palate, it had a rich, thick taste with flavors of apricots, orange and some floral notes. It had some sweetness to it. For those who enjoy Gewurz, this is probably your idea of bliss.
There were plenty of very positive comments about these wines from the other participants. I don't recall anyone having any significant issue with these wines, beyond any personal preference matters. These are well made wines that are likely to please.
You can read some other reviews of the tasting at Smells Like Grape and The Wine Conversation. I may add links to other reviews in the near future.
Stay tuned as the next edition of Twitter Taste Live will be in September. I will post the details once they become available. I strongly urge you to get involved. Sign up now for Twitter (it's free) and get ready for the next Tasting.
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