The DC Wine and Food Festival is over and my review is mixed. First, anyone who went and assumed that the word "Food" implied there would be plenty of food to sample was severely disappointed. There were crackers and bread, though the tables that had them were often empty, and there was not even a cheese table. Fortunately, Cabot iGourmet were both there with some really good cheeses.
I was also dissapointed that the Champagne table ran out about halfway through the first day and did not appear at all during the second.
I went with the wine club the first day, and it was definately more packed than Sunday. It was difficult to move around in some areas, though I am finding that is par for the course at most large wine festivals. Too many people just love wine :).
Cotes du Rhone was out in force, they had an excellent selection of Rhone wines, and they had three, for lack of a better term, Jagermeister girls, on the floor passing out pins and encouraging people to visit their booth.
There was an interesting wine from South Korea called Pomegranate Wine, made from Pomegranates and Apples. It was very sweet and an interesting combination -- I could not find a website for them, but it is distributed by IN Trading Inc.
Robert Wale had some great wines from Austrailia and New Zealand including their Hell Raiser Cabernet Merlot blend, which had a lot of taste for a $10 bottle of wine.
Bully Hill, a New York winery, had a good Cabernet Franc, it was dry without being too tannic.
Hunt Cellars had a good California Meritage, it was smoot and had aged very well.
Craftsman Wine, from Hungary had a very good selection, including a 2003 Cabernet Franc. The Cab Franc was a little bland, but still enough peppery taste to tell that it is a Cabernet Franc.
From Argentina, mil piedras had a variety of reds, but their Sangiovese and Tempranillo were excellent.
Back to California, the Jan Kris Winery had some unique blends, including Picaro which is a blend of 50% Zinfandel, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and their Crossfire which is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Merlot.
After the show on Saturday, I went to Matchbox with some people from the wine club including Leah and TravelGirl. The pizza and the burgers were excellent! A great place to go to fill up after a day spent drinking.
More on Sunday's visit later.
I was also dissapointed that the Champagne table ran out about halfway through the first day and did not appear at all during the second.
I went with the wine club the first day, and it was definately more packed than Sunday. It was difficult to move around in some areas, though I am finding that is par for the course at most large wine festivals. Too many people just love wine :).
Cotes du Rhone was out in force, they had an excellent selection of Rhone wines, and they had three, for lack of a better term, Jagermeister girls, on the floor passing out pins and encouraging people to visit their booth.
There was an interesting wine from South Korea called Pomegranate Wine, made from Pomegranates and Apples. It was very sweet and an interesting combination -- I could not find a website for them, but it is distributed by IN Trading Inc.
Robert Wale had some great wines from Austrailia and New Zealand including their Hell Raiser Cabernet Merlot blend, which had a lot of taste for a $10 bottle of wine.
Bully Hill, a New York winery, had a good Cabernet Franc, it was dry without being too tannic.
Hunt Cellars had a good California Meritage, it was smoot and had aged very well.
Craftsman Wine, from Hungary had a very good selection, including a 2003 Cabernet Franc. The Cab Franc was a little bland, but still enough peppery taste to tell that it is a Cabernet Franc.
From Argentina, mil piedras had a variety of reds, but their Sangiovese and Tempranillo were excellent.
Back to California, the Jan Kris Winery had some unique blends, including Picaro which is a blend of 50% Zinfandel, 25% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Sauvignon and their Crossfire which is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Syrah and 25% Merlot.
After the show on Saturday, I went to Matchbox with some people from the wine club including Leah and TravelGirl. The pizza and the burgers were excellent! A great place to go to fill up after a day spent drinking.
More on Sunday's visit later.
Labels: Bully Hill, Cotes du Rhone, Hunt Cellars, Jan Kris, Matchbox, Pomegranate wine, wine club, wine festivals
posted by allan at 7:51 AM
3 Comments:
The lack of food was a major problem, and the igourmet.com people did a fantastic job coping with the demand for their tasty cheeses. There was no air conditioning on and both of the smaller halls were simply sweltering.
But the biggest problem was the sheer number of people, especially on the saturday. Because of this the wine people poured smaller servings than usual or simply ran out in the middle of the afternoon. Many of the booths were 5 people deep, and it was frustrating to wait in line for a small serving of what was the most part fairly average wine.
The best wines we tried were from Hunt Cellars; there were some lively wines from Portugal and South Africa, and the German Pinot Noirs were very interesting, if a little over-priced.
I won't be returning to this show unless they either put it in a bigger venue with more wine and food, or reduce the number of tickets they sell.
The sheer number of people at this event was overwhelming. They definitely need a bigger venue next year. The tables were way too close together. I usually enjoy listening to the discussion about a wine but it seemed like each pourer was screaming over the next since they were right on top of the next table.
Mr. Allan,
We, Aden and Young, appricate the comment and having to sample our Pomegranate Wine, known as Seokryuju. Please feel free to visit our corporate website and our IN Trading website, which is under construction, below.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us anytime, as we are delighted to hear any comments.
(Corporate)
http://applewine.koreasme.com/kr/
(IN Trading, INC)
http://pomeverything.com/
P.S.
We shall hold wine testing in the VA/DC area; for more information, please e-mail us, from the pomeverything.com contact information, and details will be provided.
Sincerely,
IN Trading, INC.
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