Showing posts with label Balzac Communications. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Balzac Communications. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

UGCB 2017 Release Tour Chicago

UGCB North American 2017 Vintage Release Tour Chicago

The UGC Bordeaux (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)), annual release tour visited Chicago this week unveiling/showcasing their 2017 vintage release wines. The Union is the association of 134 of the top premier estates from the most prestigious Bordeaux appellations. This year's North American tour visited Toronto, New York, Washington DC, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.

Pour Boys, Ernie, Lyle, Dan, Rick
Sans Bill
As in previous years, our 'Pour Boys' wine group (left) helped conduct the event in Chicago. 

Once again it was held at the Drake Hotel in the magnificent grand ballroom (shown below). 

We work with the UGCB Events Manager, Olivier Crombez, host Mike Wangbickler and his Balzac Communications team preparing the room and the wines, checking in trade registrants, and standing in for producers who faced travel or other disruptions, presenting and pouring their wines. 

Several times over the years, several producers or their representatives were delayed in travel or had other disruptions and we were called in to service to pour their wines, hence we earned our moniker, the 'Pour Boys'.


Close to a hundred producers were represented at the event that was attended by over five hundred members of the trade, media and industry.





Francois-Xavier-Maroteaux
Owner Château Branaire-Ducru
As is their custom in the third week of January, this annual roadshow is a marathon trek across North America by the producers and their representatives offering wine professionals and eonphiles the chance to meet the Bordeaux principles, winemakers and commercial directors.

As I've written in previous years, we appreciate the investment in time and effort expended by the producers and and their brand ambassadors to visit Chicago. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet them firsthand and discuss their perspectives on their brand, approach to crafting their style, their history, businesses, and their vintages including, of course, the current release.


As a collector and holder of a significant collection of Bordeaux wines dating back four decades, I hold as many as a dozen or more vintages of some of these labels. Meeting the owners, family members, producer / winemaker / representative is a great privilege and offers a collector the chance to learn more about their  investment and wines. As such, I tend to focus on and taste those wines that I know well and hold verticals (multiple vintages of the same label), of which my wine buddies and I have holdings.


Lilian Barton-Sartorius - Châteaux
Leoville and Langoa Barton
This was the tenth Bordeaux release event that I and my 'Pour Boy' wine buddies assisted the team at Balzac Communications to work the event, helping with set up, logistics, checking in the attendees, and standing in to pour wine for any featured producers that were not able to attend in person. 

Earlier UGCB and related events are featured in earlier unwindwine blogposts.

This year was especially exciting since we visited Bordeaux this past year and we got to visit with several of the producers' and brand ambassadors whose Chateau's or vineyards we visited on our trip. 


As usual, we focused on the Left Bank producers that we own and collect, but this year particularly, we focused on  those that we visited this year, as well as those we are targeting for our next visit to the Medoc.

Karine Barbier - Château Lascombes
The 2017 vintage was a bit challenging interrupting the streak of great harvests 2015 through 2019, primarily due to a frost that hit the region early in the season. 

The wine team of K&L Wines in the San Francisco Bay Area, Clyde Beffa and Ralph Sands, issued their 2017 Bordeaux vintage report following their tour to the region. 
2017 Bordeaux will be remembered as the year of the great frost that struck just after the tastings, April 27 and 28, with temperatures as low as -4 Celsius on both nights. But due to climate changes and increased knowledge on how to combat impending frost, the vintage is not the disaster that estates withstood in 1991.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-report/
2017 Bordeaux will be remembered as the year of the great frost that struck just after the tastings, April 27 and 28, with temperatures as low as -4 Celsius on both nights. But due to climate changes and increased knowledge on how to combat impending frost, the vintage is not the disaster that estates withstood in 1991.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-report/

The 2017 vintage year will be remembered as the year of the frost, but it’s also a vintage in which many of the top châteaux produced some very good wines. It was a year when location really mattered, the terroir really made a difference as those vineyards with proximity to the moderating effects of the Gironde estuary were less affected by the frost. And those with the rocky well drained soils recovered from the rains.

2017 was atypical with its early growing season, with early and successful flowering in late May, sunshine, then heavy rain in June, followed by a dry and cool summer, then late August heat, and many damp days just before the red harvest in September.

The quality of 2017 is much better than most people might expect. While it’s not in the same league as the outstanding 2016 and 2015 vintages, it not near the largely disappointing 2013.

The challenging year all round still produced some well proportioned red Bordeaux – and some excellent whites too, both dry and sweet. While not big, full and structured, many of the 2017 reds are approachable upon release and should provide early gratification in their youth.

Anne-Francoise Quie
Château Rauzan-Gassies

The whites showed especially well and the top Sauternes and a number of dry whites could definitely be on par with the efforts in 2015 and 2016.

2017 Bordeaux is a stylistic choice, you are going to like the character, which can be bright, focusing on red fruits or not. Generally, the wines are; medium bodied, fresh, aromatic and lighter in alcohol than sunnier vintages. The tannins are soft. The fruits are sweet and the majority of the wines will be enjoyable early in life.
Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/2018/04/2017-bordeaux-vintage-and-harvest-repor
Marie Helene-Dussech
Château Brane-Cantenac
 
The challenging vintages such as 2017, following some outstanding years, often offer opportunities for collectors to find some values to stock their cellars with wines that should provide enjoyable drinking soon, not requiring several years of cellaring to mature and reach their optimal drinking window.


Lise Latrille - Château Prieure Lichine
The event is sponsored by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, (UGCB) and is hosted and orchestrated by Balzac Communications, boutique wine marketing and communications consultancy firm in Napa, under the leadership of Mike Wangbickler, President. 

Attending again this year too was Paul Wagner, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Balzac. Paul is a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications and a leading member of the American Wine Society. As with last year, again, it was great to see Paul enjoying his passion and remaining engaged whilst in retirement.

The afternoon session is for the benefit of the press and trade and wine professionals. Again this year, the evening session in Chicago was hosted trade merchant partner Binny's Beverage Depot, the Chicagoland wine superstore, offering tickets to the evening session to their valued customers and the public. This year, over four hundred collectors and vinophiles registered for the even. 


Setting up in the venue with care.





Thursday, January 24, 2019

UGCB 2016 Release Tour Chicago

UGCB North American 2016 Vintage Release Tour Chicago

The UGC Bordeaux' (Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (UGCB)), annual release tour visited Chicago this week unveiling/showcasing their 2016 vintage release wines. The Union is the association of 134 of the top premier estates from the most prestigious Bordeaux appellations. This year's North American tour visited New York, Toronto, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.
 
As in previous years, our 'Pour Boys' wine group helped host the event in Chicago at the Drake Hotel in the elegant grand ballroom (shown below). We work with the Balzac team preparing the room, checking in trade registrants, and standing in for producers pouring their wines. As has happened several times in recent years, several producer's were delayed in travel and we were called in to service to pour wines, hence our moniker, 'Pour Boys'.


Close to a hundred producers were represented at the event that was attended by over five hundred members of the trade, media and industry.

This annual roadshow is a marathon trek across North America by the producers and their representatives offering wine professionals and eonphiles the chance to meet the Bordeaux principles, winemakers and commercial directors. 


As I've written in previous years, we appreciate the investment in time and effort expended by the producers and winemakers to visit Chicago. It provides a wonderful opportunity to meet them firsthand and discuss their perspectives on their brand, approach to crafting their style, their history, businesses, and their vintages including, of course, the current release.


Céline Villars-FOUBET, Owner, 

( Moulis-en-Médoc )
As a collector and holder of a significant collection of Bordeaux wines dating back four decades, I hold as many as a dozen vintages or more of some of these labels. Meeting the owners, family members, producer / winemaker / representative is a great privilege and offers a collector the chance to learn more about their investment and wines. As such, I tend to focus on and taste those wines that I know well and of which my wine buddies and I have holdings.

This was the ninth Bordeaux release event that I and my wine buddies assisted the team at Balzac Communications to work the event, helping with set up, logistics, and standing in to pour wine for any featured producers that were not able to attend in person. Earlier UGCB and related events are featured in earlier unwindwine blogposts


Again this year as in several earlier years, winter storms delayed or disrupted travel prohibiting some of the ambassadors to get to Chicago for the event, calling us to duty standing in, performing our duties as 'pour' boys.

This year's 2016 vintage was spectacular with several of the producer's having been awarded 100 points by the critics. I stood in for the Pauillac producers whose arrival was delayed by flight disruptions coming in from Toronto. It was a great honor to pour some of my absolute favorite wines: Chateau Lynch Bages, Chateau Longueville Baron, Chateau Pichon Comtesse de Lalande, Grand Puy Lacoste and Grand Puy Ducasse. I also served Chateau Les Ormes de Pez. 

The Pichon Lalande and Lynch Bages were spectacular, both standouts of the tasting. There were so many great wines in this vintage release. As is the case in a great vintage, all boats rise with the tide. Great wines are tremendous, but in a great vintage, the lesser second and even third labels are also wonderful. These often provide substantial QPR - quality price ratio, especially when the premier first labels often escalate in price due to demand for such a vintage. 

These vintages offer great opportunities for folks to stock their cellars in super wines at great values since they can fill in with the second and third labels at substantial discounts to the first premier flagship label of the brand.  

Coralie Bernard,
Domaine De Chevalier
The event is sponsored by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, (UGCB) under the leadership of President Olivier Bernard. It is hosted and orchestrated by Balzac Communications, boutique wine marketing and communications consultancy firm in Napa, under the leadership of Mike Wangbickler, President. Attending this year too was Paul Wagner, founder and President Emeritus of Balzac. Paul is a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications and a leading member of the American Wine Society. It was great to see Paul enjoying his passion and remaining engaged whilst in retirement. 

The afternoon session is for the benefit of the press and trade and wine professionals. As is customary in Chicago, Binny's Beverage Depot, the wine superstore offers tickets to the evening session, open to their valued customers and the public. This year, over four hundred collectors and vinophiles registered for the event.

Scene's from this years' vintage release tasting.  

David Launay, Sales Director,
Château Grand-Puy Ducasse

Céline Villars-FOUBET, Owner, 
Céline Villars-FOUBET, Owner, 

( Moulis-en-Médoc )
Chateau Chasse-Spleen has been managed by women for the past thirty years: Jacques Merlaut’s daughter, Bernadette Villars, starting in 1976, followed by her daughter, Claire, beginning in 1992, and now her sister, Céline, shown above.

Fellow 'Pour Boy' Ernie Summers

Christine Lurton-de Caix, Marketing
Manager for Château La Louvière
( Pessac-Léognan )
The always dapper Count Stephan von Neipperg,
Château Canon-La-Gaffelière, sans his signature scarf.
Representing eight centuries of family winegrowing tradition, Count Stephan von Neipperg (above) has succeeded in promoting Château Canon-La-Gaffelière to Premier Grand Cru Classé de Saint-Émilion status.

Dany Rolland, wife of legendary winemaker Michel Rolland, co-founder of Rolland Collection family business, including Bordeaux laboratory specializing in wine analysis in the Right Bank town of Libourne.
Lise Latrille, Sales and Marketing Director,
  Château Prieuré-Lichine

 Ronan Laborde, Owner,


( Pomerol )
Loic Chanfreau, Chateau Fonreaud,
Sophie Solnicki-Thierry, Chateau Forcas-Hosten

Anne-Francoise Quié, family owner of
Châteaux Rauzan-Gassie
David Suire, Commercial Director
Rick serving Pichon Longueville Baron


Monday, October 15, 2018

Pour Boys Serve Volpolicella Lugana MasterClass and Industry Tasting

Pour Boys Serve Volpolicella Lugana MasterClass and Industry Tasting

For the Valpolicella and Lugana Wines Trade & Media Tasting Event in Chicago, the 'Pour Boys' were called in to service to assist in setup and serving. This was extra special as the Consorzios of Valpolicella and Lugana also conducted a Masterclass seminar and tasting in addition to the exclusive trade tasting of these regions’ most exceptional recent vintages. 

The event was orchestrated and hosted by Balzac Communications from Napa, CA, who arrange and manage many industry events. It was held in the magnificent Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hall, Rotunda, and Annex in the Chicago Cultural Center overlooking Michigan Avenue across from adjacent Grant Park. 

This was a smaller event than the gala Bordeaux events we've served in the past, most notably, the annual UGCB annual release tour (2018). (UGCB 2017), and the Grands Cru Classe St Emilion Producer's Chicago tasting event (2015). Those events featured 130+ and 28 producers respectively. 


While the Volpolicella Lugana tasting only featured 15 producers and a major distributor, it offered a Sommelier Master Class seminar that was oversubscribed to a full house with a waiting list and was very well received and highly regarded. Almost 300 members of the trade and press were pre-registered for the event.

Valpolicella is the viticultural area or appellation in the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. It ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine production. It is known for red wines typically produced from three grape varieties: Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara.

The Valpolicella region is colloquially called the "pearl of Verona". It is a popular rural vacation destination with its classic villas surrounded by estates with historic vineyards and wineries.

Valpolicella is best known for its premium wine, Amarone, a strong wine made from dried grapes.

Another most notable wine from the region is Valpolicella Ripasso, a form of Valpolicella Superiore made with partially dried grape skins that have been left over from the Amarone.

The Lugana region is the area to the east around Lake  Garda  and  its  surrounding  area. The “Lugana” Controlled Denomination of Origin (DOC) was established in 1967. Lugana DOC  wines are white wines made from the Trebbiana and Turbiana grapes. The Lugana was the first DOC in Lombardy and is one of the oldest in Italy.

The Lugana tasting was hosted by the Consorzio Tutela Lugana. The Consortium is the Lugana trade association that was established for the Safeguarding of Lugana  to supervise, protect and promote the qualities of the denomination and its wine.

The area is also known for Franciacorta, a sparkling wine from the Province of Brescia (Lombardy) with DOCG status produced from grapes grown within the boundaries of the territory of Franciacorta, on the hills located between the southern shore of Lake Iseo and the city of Brescia.

Wine producers represented serving/tasting wines:
  • CA Mailol
  • Cantina Bulgarini
  • Cantine Riondo
  • Domenico Fraccaroli
  • Le Morette
  • Malavasi Daniele
  • Monte Cicogna
  • Pilandro
  • Sartori Di Verona
  • Sgreva
  • Villa San Carlo
  • Zeni 1870


Volpolicella Wine Tasting:
  • Ilatium
  • Novaia
  • Rino Sartori
  • Sanit
  • Vigneti Di Ettore
 Lugana Wine Tasting:
  • Avanzi
  • Borgo La Caccia
  • Ca' Lojera
  • Cadore Patrizia
  • Cantina Di Castelnuovo
  • Cascina Maddelena
  • Casello Bondini
  • Loda Umberto
  • Marangona
  • Montolonale
  • Oselara 
  • Ottella
  • Pasini San Giovanni
  • Perla Del Garda
  • Pratello
  • Rizzi
  • Selva Capuzza
  • Silenzi Di Terra
  • Tenuta Roveglia
  • Turina

www.consorziolugana.it

https://www.consorziolugana.it/lugana-home

Pour Boys - Ernie, Lyle, Rick