WineLife365

Were my wife and I the only ones that missed the episode of Sex and the City where Carrie and the girls strolled the winter NYC streets wearing Spiderman rubber boots?  This past weekend, my wife and I took a road trip into the Big Apple to attend the New York Wine Expo and we were asking ourselves that very question after stepping down into that first slushy puddle!

Note to all you newbies that ever plan to visit New York City just after a snowstorm:  Keep your Manolo Blahniks high heels and whatever other form of footwear that you deem as being “cute” at home, because they don’t look particularly fabulous when they’re filled up with seven inches of wet sloppy gray slush.  Trust me when I tell you, even Spiderman looks great with Chanel!  To the guys - your Gore-Tex hunting boots are highly recommended in this particular situation!

With this new life lesson under our belts, we weren’t about to let some soggy socks and water-soaked shoes stand in our way of drinking some great wine – heck no!

Upon entering the Expo, my wife and I immediately took notice of one important element that had been missing from all of the other wine expos and events that we’ve attended in the past – Crowd Control.  The organizers and security company for this particular event did a terrific job of not allowing this party to get too big; which gave attendees the opportunity to make their way around to all the wonderful exhibitors’ tables.

A couple of the exhibitors that stood out at this event were Wines of Argentina and get this – Wines from Brazil.  Yup, that’s right, Brazil!  I was quite surprised to learn that over the past fifteen years the Brazilian wine industry has been investing a tremendous amount of money into equipment and vineyard management in order to one day become a player in the global wine market.  Although I tasted several outstanding Brazilian wines, the most notable were from Patricia Carraro’s family run vineyard called, Lidio Carraro.  I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Ms. Carraro about her wines.  The thing I found most interesting and appealing about her and her family’s winemaking philosophy is that they’re extremely passionate about allowing the wines to express their true “terroir” (sense of home).  They do not believe in masking their wines’ natural flavors with unnecessary additives.  In addition to the wonderful tasting wines from Lidio Carraro, I was also impressed by a refreshing, inexpensive sparkling wine comprised of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from the Miolo Wine Group.  Taking into consideration the quality level along with the price level of these wines from Brazil, they seem to be forming a perfect storm that is headed straight from the importers, to the distributors and onto wine retailers’ shelves.  So, if you start to see Brazilian wines showing up on the store shelf, don’t be surprised.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

Another great stop at this year’s expo was Argentina.  Argentina is making some of the most beautifully aromatic wines in the world today, and this tasting really showed off that characteristic in a big way!  We were graciously taken through several fine examples of Torrontes (white) and Malbec (red) by Ms. Nora Favelukes, President of QW Wine Experts.  Similar to our experience with the Wines from Brazil, Wines of Argentina was also very well represented by several great whites and reds that displayed unique and distinctive characteristics.  Overall, it was an outstanding showing from the Wines of Argentina, and I can’t say enough kind words about the energy, insight, and passion that Ms. Favelukes and her team shared with us and other attendees at the show.

There were a lot more great peeps and vino at the NY Wine Expo, but here’s a short list of some of the stand-outs at the show:

Lyrarakis Heraklion Cuvee Grande Colline from the Greek island of Crete.

Fulcrum Wines from California.

No pic from NY Wine Expo - this is from AC Food and Wine Festival

Brianne Fisher, Testa Wines of the World - featuring Nemea Agiorgitiko Red.

Manuel Moreno,  Vinicola de Villarrobledo - featuring a killer Syrah.

Richard Morgenstern, Creative Wines International  – featuring Mettler Wines.

All in all, the New York Wine Expo was a well organized event with a diverse representation of wines.  If you didn’t make it this year, I highly recommend marking your calendar for next year…just don’t forget to bring your boots!

To see more pictures, visit the WineLife365 Fan Page.