Rented an apartment on 40th and 2nd Ave for a family Thanksgiving in Manhattan. Never go to NYC without a trip to CSW and this was no exception. Picked up 2 cases but before getting there on Thursday (yes they were open) I bought several bottles at a really nice wine store across the street from our apartment. Sussex Wine and Spirits was a great store with an excellent knowledgeable staff but about 25% higher than CSW. Our family loves to cook and with good food over four days we had 11 interesting wines between $12 and $22, all but one were French and most were Dressner imports. The focus was fun reasonably priced wines with nothing too serious. Will comment on three of the most interesting and one not so interesting.
’08 JP Brun Brouilly – What a great turkey wine, bright refreshing fruit, ready to drink, everyone enjoyed it, wine geek and casual wine drinker. It may not age as well as some of the other villages but no need to wait. Was probably the best red wine of the group. Buy it by the case and drink it up. $16.99
’08 Cheverny Blanc Villemade – We opened two different Alsace Gwertz but this wine got the nod for the best turkey white. The wine was just clean, refreshing and with a nice citric backbone very easy and enjoyable to drink. Only bought one bottle but may have to have some more shipped. $14.99
’07 GAUDI Sea Horse Winery – This was the only non-French selection. Sussex Wine highly recommended this Israeli wine and since I have never tasted a drinkable wine from Israel I had to pick up a bottle. It is not kosher and far exceeded my expectations. Went back and bought two more bottles to bring home. The wine is 60% Corignan, 20% Syrah and 20% Cabernet. Again the kind of wines we were looking for, easy to drink, ready, nice fruit, little or no oak and overall a fun wine experience. $19.99
’08 Majas “Three Tree” Syrah - We always post on the good wine experiences but why not a comment on at best an average wine. This is from CSW, a Dressner Import, small production so what was not to enjoy; how about the wine! Ended up the least enjoyable of the trip, some fruit, simple and just nothing to talk about. Maybe a few years would help or maybe it was just too young and would blossom into a great Cote Rotie cousin but I would bet against that. $16.99
Fun trip to the big apple
Walt