Posts Tagged ‘maslow6’

Composed in the Austrian Tradition

Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Known more for its famous composers, (Mozart, Schubert, and Haydn come to mind) few people know that Austria boasts over 4,000 years of winemaking history and has a rich tradition of delivering complex flavors for even the most discerning palette.

That road, however, is not easily traveled, and Austria nearly fell off the wine producing stage in 1985, when it was discovered it had participated in what is historically known as the “anti-freeze” incident.  That incident, which involved adding diethylene glycol for flavoring purposes, nearly crushed an industry that included some of the finest winemakers in Europe.

Yet the incident, while tragic, has assisted in the re-development of a wine industry with the strictest of standards and additionally facilitated forward thinking winemakers that utilize both organic and biodynamic growing processes.  The modern result is a region producing quality product for all palettes, and doing so in an environmentally conscious way that is beginning to pay dividends in both cost and quality.

It was under this pretext that a diverse group of fifteen wine aficionados braved the sleeting weather to visit Maslow6, Manhattan’s foremost wine destination and purveyor of the world’s finest wines.

The guest of honor was host Monica Caha, Austria’s top wine expert.  Monica imparted her deep knowledge and pride on Austria’s centuries old tradition, featuring not only a taste of it’s famous Gruner Veltliner grape, but a sampling of lesser known full bodied red wines one would not necessarily expect from the region of over 50,000 hectares of vineyard.

The education, tasting, and conversation resulted in a wonderful evening full of surprises and joyful ambiance.  With so many unique perspectives, it certainly set the stage for the many future events Maslow6 has in its cask.

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Zierfandler by Tara Carney

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Stadlmann Zierfandler Mandel-Hoh LabelI read somewhere that there are two regions in the world that describe their wine as, “The Wine of Kings and the King of Wines”, those being the Tokaj region of Hungary, and of course, the Barolo region in Piemonte, Italy. I would like to announce to the world that there is indeed a third wine that must not fall under the radar.

The Zierfandler grape dates back to the Hapsburg Empire in Austria and was the favorite wine of the emperors. A white grape indigenous to the Thermenregion, it turns a light red where the sun hits, causing high sugar content while ripening, and on the shady side develops into a golden yellow, maintaining its crisp acidity. Resulting in an extremely dynamic grape with the ability to age for a long time .

I fell in love at first taste with the Stadlmann ‘Mandel-Hoh’ Zierfandler 2006 during the Austrian seminar here at Maslow6, conducted by Monika Caha, MW. On the nose it is full of exotic fruits, quince, honey, and earthy minerals. On the palate it is rich and full-bodied, with high acidity and a touch of sweetness; full of character and spice. Caha had informed us that this was a ‘wine geek’ wine, which made me hopeful for my future.

The Zierfandler grape is responsible for how California Zinfandel conceived its name. Somewhere along the way in 1820, a shipment was made to Long Island, mistaken identity occurred at a world fair, mix that with the inability of Americans to pronounce it, and the  Zinfandel name was born. However, they are completely unrelated. Austria is making a much deserved comeback after the scare of the 1980’s, when it was discovered that a few producers were adding antifreeze agents to enhance body and sweetness to their wines, wiping them completely off the market for a while.

I asked around searching to find other Zierfandler lovers who would share my crush-worthy feelings for it, but it was a challenge for me to find people who had actually heard of it at all. Here’s to hoping that this wine will be discovered, consumed, and appreciated by more wine lovers everywhere.

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Austrian Wine Personalities

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I traveled with Mollie, wine director of Maslow 6, to Burgenland in Austria, almost two years ago now, but the memories are still vivid.  What stands out about the trip, in addition to the wines, are the personalities.

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We had the privilege of being accompanied by Dr. Josef (aka Pepi) Schuller, who is Austria’s first Master of Wine, and who started the Wein Akademie (Austrian Wine Academy) not in Vienna, but in Rust. He is incredibly knowledgeable about wine in general, passionate about Austrian wine in particular, and a wine educator at heart. He truly loves teaching people about wine and creating an atmosphere where people can learn. Pepi is very serious, and his school in Austria and his contributions to international wine education have earned him global respect. So much so that he became the first non-UK Chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine last year. The philosophy of the academy gives an idea of where Pepi’s thoughts are:

“The more a country develops wine knowledge and culture, the more likely it is that this particular nation will expect and consume high quality wines.”

Pepi is also extraordinarily well-respected, admired, and sincerely liked by the Austrian wine-makers. They have genuine affection for him and respect for the work he does. He not only introduced us to people (for which we immediately received credibility), but spent the entire 3 days with us. He was beyond considerate, organizing a trip of a lifetime and enabling us to spend time with some amazing wine-makers. He was truly interested in what we thought about Burgenland, Austria, and their wines.

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Heidi Schröck, Weinbäuerin in Rust (woman winemaker in Rust) one of my favorite producers,ever, spent hours with us. She was named “Austria’s Wine-Grower of the Year” in 2003 by Falstaff magazine. The winery itself is right in the middle of the town of Rust and connected to their house. Rust is noted for the storks that build nests on top of the houses – they also draw many visitors to the town. Heidi showed us around the vineyards, pointing out which ones were better for which varietal, how the soil and aspect of each contributes so noticeably to the wines, and in general sharing her philosophy, which revolves around the vineyard, with us.

We then had the privilege of tasting through her wines with her; we tasted at least 10 wines – an indulgence of the highest order.  She had an intern who had been working with her for about three months and the glow of being able to work with Heidi was very apparent. I was definitely jealous.

I have been meaning to try to get hold of an Austrian TV series that was produced around the time we were there, loosely based on the lives of some of the citizens of Rust, including Heidi. It would be an interesting challenge to capture her passion and dedication to all that she is.

leoHillingerBlogLeo Hillinger built a winery that is a perfect reflection of his personality: it is modern, new, gleaming, and beautiful, in an anything but-understated fashion.  Pepi, who knows Leo well and Mollie, who has met him before, described him as a wine version of Arnold Schwarenegger. I thought they were exaggerating. They weren’t.  He was wearing one of his newly designed polo shirts, with ‘Hillinger’ displayed prominently across the front, that are worn by his polo team.

The winery is state-of-the-art, designed using gravity-flow and has a huge cellar for ageing in oak barrels. The winery has been published in the book ‘Wine by Design: The Space of Wine’ by Loraine Dearstyne Fowlow and Sean Stanwick with such exclusive company as Quintessa and Leo was justifiably proud.

His wines are not under-stated either. We started with his sparkling rose, which was delightful. His Zweigelt is fresh and energizing with lots of fruit. Both the reds and the whites have a lot of personality. Like Leo. I am definitely seeking out his wines again.

Finally, Gerhard Kracher, son of Alois Kracher who had passed away a few months before our visit at the very young age of 48. Alois was a legendary winemaker, admired throughout the world, and made predominantly sweet wines, incredibly balanced and intense. In Eric Asimov’s article (Alois Kracher) after he died, one gets a sense of just how instrumental Alois Kracher was in the world of Austrian wine.

A mere 26 when his father died, Gerhard had worked closely with his father and had taken over running the winery at the time of our visit. Not an easy task in any circumstances. He still took the time to sit with us, to taste his wines, to chat about who he knew in New York (the common acquaintance was Kurt Gutenbrunner, chef and co/owner of Wallse and Blaue Gans, and Cafe Sabarsky), and to impart his passion and his knowledge of the wines. He has help from his mother, who is still involved in the operation of the winery, and from his grandfather, who started the winery and who has deep knowledge of the vineyards and the terroir.

While it is hard to imagine having a bigger challenge, even with these two still very much present in the workings of the winery, Gerhard struck me as not just intellectually capable but emotionally ready. In fact, he was named “Sweet Winemaker of the Year” at the International Wine Challenge in London last September, a real triumph. We applaud him.

I could go on, but will stop here. (although I might have to talk about Palais Coburg in another posting!) These are just a few of the personalities from this region of the world that is producing world-class wines. It doesn’t garner a lot of attention even in a city that prides itself in being truly global, wine-wise. If you have a chance definitely visit. In the mean time, taste some wine from a region that may surprise you.

Or attend a seminar. Maslow 6 happens to have one scheduled for tomorrow, February 23rd, with Monika Caha guiding us through a tasting of 8 Austrian wines. Adventures in Austria.

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Snakes, Lizards, Bones, and Grapes

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Last night I had the privilege of speaking in front of a group of wine lovers at the Natural History Museum. I was joined by Peter Couins, a grape rootstock breeder and geneticist who works in the Finger Lakes, researching and teaching at Cornell.  Our lecture was about the ancient wines of the Silk Road, how the grapes came to be in this particular part of China and how these have woven their way into the modern world.

The tone for my evening was set by the shipment of live snakes and lizards that was arriving at the same time I was.  Nothing says ‘natural history’ quite like live reptiles!  Yikes.  Luckily, we were headed into the education wing with our wine.

You might be wondering what the Silk Road has to do with wine – well, quite a bit in fact.  It was along this route that grape vines made their way from the middle east to the far east.  The area of Turfan, a desert oasis in northwestern China, near the Mongolian border, had three distinct periods of wine grape cultivation and wine production:  the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty.  Modern day Turfan’s wine industry marks this as the fourth.  Vines were brought to Turfan from Turkey, Pakistan, and India, most likely, and were taken further east into China, and eventually made their way to Japan.  These grapes are very different looking from their cousins from France and Spain and Italy.  Here, the grapes tend to be small, and in smaller clusters than the eastern varieties, which have large berries and large clusters.

Most of the cultivated grapes that found their way to Turfan were used for raisin production, however, many are grown solely for the purpose of making wine.  Today, China is the world’s 6th. largest producer of wine!  It’s not the first thing you think of when you think of China, but it may be in the future.  Wine is becoming popular among the growing middle classes, and is a status symbol for the wealthy.  Since red is the color of happiness and celebration in China, and red wines have been proven to have positive health properties, most of the wine consumed in China is red.  Modern day red wines tend to be made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Gernischt, and Merlot, with other western grape varieties and eastern making their way into the mix.  But back to those ancient varieties that made their way along the silk road.

Pictures of a few varieties in Pakistan and India, Afghanistan and Turkey are below.  These are similar to the grapes that can be found there today, along with the european varieties used for modern wines.  In Turfan, the desert oasis at the foot of the Flaming Mountains, wild grapes were not naturally found.  Wild grapes tend to be found where there are deciduous trees that the vines can climb.  There are no treees in Turfan, or at least not large amounts of deciduous trees, so any grapes there were brought there from somewhere else.  A grape called Mare’s Teat (Maru) and Snake and Dragon Pearl (Cabernet Gernischt) were some of the earliest grapes recorded in the area, during the Han Dynasty.  Rkatsiteli, Muscat Hamburg, and Welschriesling found their way to China through Russia, and modern vines were brought there from Europe.  There is now a grapevine nursery in China, a joint venture with a French nursery, and the beginnings of a new history of grape growing.

As mentioned, China is the world’s 6th largest producer of wine, and the population is huge, so you’d think that they drink all of their own wine, right? Well, they don’t.  Wine consumption per capita in China is about .47 liters per year, while worldwide average wine consumption per capita is about 10 times that, at 4.7 liters per year.  So, the potential for the world’s largest wine industry is there, but most of the population drink locally produced beers and spirits, which are cheaper and more familiar.  If modern trends persist, we may see some exciting developments for wine in China.

Wines tasted at the event:

Strauss Welschriesling 2008, Sudburgenland, Austria

Dr. Konstantin Frank Rkatsiteli 2007, Keuka Lake, New York

Lingenfelder Morio Muscat ‘Bee Series’, Pfalz, Germany

Schneider Cabernet Franc, North Fork of Long Island, New York

Wild Grapes/Cultivated Grapes Slide1

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Chilly nights with Good friends, Cured meats, and Barolo by Tara Carney

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

It is a cold winter throughout most the country and today I am thinking about red wine.

A friend of mine in the Great Pacific Northwest called me the other day to ask advice on
which wine to bring to a gathering. “The man of the house cures his own meats”, she informed me.
These homemade cuts were to be served with an assortment of cheeses and breads, at a fine winter gathering of friends.

I hung up, but I couldn’t shake the scene she had just painted for me. A house with a yard, surrounded by lush redwoods, blanketed with cold foggy clouds, and the earthy scent of things growing year round. A crackling fireplace, a kitchen table with mismatched chairs and friends conversing, playing 45’s: gathering. Because it is winter, and they are cold, and they want to warm their bones and their spirits over a few bottles of red.

I stared out onto the bustling BQE from my kitchen window and let images of cold starry nights in the town of Barolo pour into my head. In the hills, a thick nebbia (Italian for “fog”) starts to roll in on the harvest in the late fall, and the growers are willing to wait until as late as November to harvest their delicate Nebbiolo grapes. Townspeople gather around on the chilly nights to carve into their menu of cheeses and meats, with forestale sides of truffled this and olive oiled that, talking, lighting the fire, filling the glasses. And in the Piedmont region these rich foods are paired best with its very own Barolo.

The price of a good Barolo may not be what my dear friends in the arts can stock up on. But there are many other affordable options from the nearby DOC: wines like Langhe Nebbiolo, Nebbiolo D’Alba, or Dolcetto D’Alba. I would recommend this next time my west coast friend attends a gathering thrown by the meat man and his wife.
A gathering I suggest we all remember to throw or attend at least once this winter, for our soul’s sake.

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Rooting for the Underdog: Confessions of a Riesling Lover by Mollie Battenhouse

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

When people ask me “what’s your favorite wine,” I often check the time and respond; “you mean right now?”  Truth be told, one of my favorite wines of all times is Riesling.  This baffles some people, as the general misconception about Riesling is that it is a guilty pleasure, akin to admitting that you like reading US magazine or lounging around in a Snuggie.   Well, I don’t (and won’t) own a Snuggie ever, but I do own a lot of Riesling and read US Weekly every time I get on a plane!

My hope is that one day, everyone will understand that Riesling is one of the greatest grapes on the earth, capable of incredible stylistic variety and the expression of terroir.  It can also pair with anything at the dinner table, or just about anything – I have yet to meet a food that can’t find a partner in Riesling.  From morning doughnuts to the cheese plate to evening desserts, the only flavor that might give this grape a run for its money is chocolate.  Sommeliers know this, and tend to devote entire sections of their wine lists to the grape.  Check out the list at Gramercy Tavern or Jean-Georges or Tribeca Grill the next time you’re there – you’ll see the slavish devotion to Riesling in black and white.  Just try going to Nobu, Fatty Crab or Momofuku and not seeing Riesling all over the wine list.

Why don’t more people give it a try?  Here are a few reasons why everyone should pick up a bottle or 2 the next time you’re wine shopping (at Maslow 6, naturally):

  1. Riesling has incredible stylistic variety – from crisp and sparkling (Sekt) to tooth-achingly sweet (TBA), this grape covers the gamut.
  2. They are often dry – or tröcken. Tröcken Rieslings can be dry and fruity, like biting into a granny smith apple, or can be dry and very minerally, like licking a bare rock with a squeeze of lime and a kiss of apricot.  Some of my favorite tröcken Rieslings are from the southern parts of Germany (the Pfalz or Nahe), and the regions/countries that begin in “A” – Alsace, Austria, and Australia.  German Rieslings will be labeled as tröcken, while with the “A’s”, dryness is a given.
  3. The sweet ones have incredible balancing acidity!  Ever try a sour patch candy?  A well-made sweet Riesling has the same balance of sweet and sour.  There’s nothing better with foods that have a touch of sweetness and a kick of acid (which, frankly, is most foods – even ketchup).  Try a bottle of off-dry Riesling the next time you order any exotic take out – it’s bound to be a match made in heaven.  It’s also great with ‘special-sauced’ Big Macs and sweet and spicy barbeque. Really!
  4. It only sounds complicated.  What’s hard is the language – German!  What were they thinking?
  5. Weird words you need to know:  Tröcken = dry; Halbtröcken = half-dry (these seem pretty dry on the tongue).
  6. Alcohol levels can also be a clue to dryness, the lower it is, the sweeter the wine.
  7. A few more weird words to look for – Smaragd, Federspeil and Steinfeder.  Gesundheit!  These are ripeness levels in one particular region of Austria, the Wachau.  What do they mean to you?  Smaragd wines are dry, and pretty full-bodied, with a good amount (about 12.5% or more) of alcohol.  Federspiel are dry and lighter in body (11.5-12.5% abv), while Steinfeder is dry, and the lightest of all, clocking in at 11.5% abv max.
  8. Any word that ends in “er” on a German wine label means that it is from that place.   It is usually a town, followed by a vineyard, but it can often be found with the vintage as well. For example, Urziger Wurzgarten.  A wine with this on the label is from the town of Urzig and the Wurzgarten, or spice garden, vineyard.   A vintage may be written as 1999er, meaning it is from the 1999 vintage (a stellar one, by the way).
  9. “Fruity” and “Sweet” are 2 entirely different things.  Sweet means that there’s actually sugar in the wine, while a Fruity wine can be totally dry, but give the impression of sweetness through exotically fruity flavors like mango, pineapple and ripe apples.   Fruity styles are great for pairing with foods that have little to no sweetness, while the sweet styles pair with foods that have a touch of sweetness, like Hawaiian pineapple and pork pizza or sweet ‘n sour chicken. This is making me thirsty!!
  10. Sweet Rieslings are not just for dessert.  The range of sweetness spans from just barely sweet to the toothache variety.  Try a Kabinett or Spatlese (late harvested) Riesling with your Thai take out, Spatlese or Auslese (special harvest) with a plate of cheeses, and Eiswein, Beerenauslese (BA – special berry selection) or Tröckenbeerenauslese (TBA – special dried berry selection) with sweet desserts (and intensely flavored cheeses, too).
  11. You’ll be hard pressed to find a better value for stocking your cellar.  How many bottles of Bordeaux can you stock your cellar with for under $75/bottle?  This price will bring you hundreds of Rieslings worth cellaring.  Most Riesling is drunk while it is young, but with the acidity (and sometimes sugar), it is a prime candidate for lying down and enjoying later.

If I could, I’d have a whole store devoted to Riesling – or at least a wing of a store.  As it is, I stocked Maslow 6 with some favorites; some young, some old, some sweet, some dry, some fruity, some minerally…all of them pleasure providers.  Here are a few to try on your next visit:

The dry: (wines to pair with river fishes, especially trout and catfish, or sausages and pork chops with sauerkraut)

Högl Terrassen Spitzergraben Riesling Federspeil 2008, Wachau, Austria

Donabaum ‘Offenberg’ Riesling Smaragd 2006, Wachau, Austria

Neumayer Riesling ‘Rothenbart’ 2007, Traisental, Austrai

Sybille Kuntz Riesling Tröcken 2007, Mosel, Germany

Robert Weil Estate Troken 2008, Rheingau, Germany

The off-dry: (Barbeque Pork, Duck a l’Orange, and Pad Thai wines)

Chateau Lafayette Reneau Riesling Semi-Dry 2008, Seneca Lake, New York Finger Lakes

Anthony Road Riesling Semi-Sweet 2008, Seneca Lake, New York Finger Lakes

Robert Weil Riesling Kabinett Halbtröcken 2008, Rheingau, Germany

Monchof Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett 2008, Mosel, Germany

Zilliken ‘Saarburger Rausch’ Riesling Kabinett 2000, Mosel, Germany

Becker Riesling ‘Laissez Faire’ 2007, Pfalz, Germany

For the cheese plate:

Shafer-Frohlich ‘Bockenauer Felseneck’ Riesling Spatlese 2008, Nahe, Germany

Zilliken ‘Saarburger Rausch’ Riesling Spatlese 1992, Mosel, Germany

Zilliken ‘Saarburger Rausch’ Riesling Spatlese 1993, Mosel, Germany

Zilliken ‘Saarburger Rausch’ Riesling Spatlese 1989, Mosel, Germany

Robert Weil ‘Kiedricher Grafenberg’ Riesling Spatlese 2008, Rheingau, Germany

Von Buhl ‘Forster Jesuitengarten’ Riesling Spatlese 2008, Pfalz, Germany

Von Hovel ‘Oberemmeler Hutte’ Riesling Auslese 2006, Mosel, Germany

When you’re done trying all these, go out and try a nice Chardonnay with a plate of sauerkraut.  I dare you to!!!  Then comment on how it went.

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A Chat with David Lecomte, winemaker at City Winery in Manhattan by Susannah Gold

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

Thanks to a dinner hosted by Maslow 6, a wine community in New York, I had the occasion to meet David Lecomte, the winemaker at City Winery. The dinner with three French winemakers was a perfect moment to meet Lecomte who also hails from the Rhone Valley in France. It also gave me a chance to appreciate his role at City Winery and his experiences as he and the other winemakers avidly discussed their wine making techniques.

Lecomte has had a varied and complex path to his current position. He has also had tremendous preparation in the different areas of viticulture and vinification, all of which are handy at his new position. At City Winery, Lecomte helps to decide which vineyards to buy fruit from all the way through to helping clients choose which wines they want to make and in what style.

Lecomte began his career in the vineyards near his home in the Crozes-Hermitage area. “In Crozes-Hermitage, there are very few summer jobs. You either work in the vineyards or you pick fruit in the orchards. I started working in the vineyards at a very young age,” Lecomte said in a recent interview. Lecomte studied enology at an undergraduate and graduate level doing both theoretical and practical classes. He also worked in the prestigious wineries Chapoutier, Delas Freres and Cave Cooperative Tain de L’Hermitage for five years. “I was called in from the vineyards and asked if I wanted to work in the cellar. It was fascinating, four or five months in the vineyards and then four or five months in the cellar gave me a good perspective,” he noted. 

For love, Lecomte moved to China for a number of years and worked at Dragon Seal, a relatively large winery in the Hebei province. “We were really left to our own devices so my job was to go out and speak with the growers all the way through to making the wines. We were some of the first Caucasian people that these growers had ever seen. We had four viticultural areas and we were able to set up four labs for analysis of the grapes,” Lecomte noted with pride.  Dragon Seal has been making wines with international varieties for many years. The current winery was founded in 1988. “It was a very interesting experience but I felt after a while that I wanted to have a relationship with a mentor. In China, I was learning on my own with another Frenchmen. We had a lot of freedom and the opportunity to meet with high level officials but I eventually decided to go back and get my masters in France.”

After a period of time in France, Lecomte and his wife moved to the United States but not in the same area. Lecomte took a position at a winery in Virginia where he worked with Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Lecomte was very enthusiastic about this experience in our recent interview and the challenges of working in this new climate. Shinko and Tom Corpora, the owners of Afton Mountain Vineyards were open and welcoming. Additionally, just like Lecomte and his wife, they were an interracial couple, Caucasian/Asian. Lecomte said he found the experience fulfilling both personally and professionally. Some of the challenges that he mentioned about viticulture in Virginia include weather and humidity.

Tired of being separated from his wife, Lecomte began looking for a position in the New York area in order to be closer to her. Lecomte began a new phase of his career and worked at the Premium Wine Group, a custom crush and custom production facility on the North Fork of Long Island. Lecomte did a lot of lab analysis at this point in his career working with over 17 clients of the Wine Group. “This was my first encounter with the Australian style of winemaking. Russell Hearn, the owner and head winemaker, is Australian and his approach is quite different than the French way,” Lecomte noted. “In Virginia, I was using French methods on an American crop. On Long Island, for example, Hearn was not afraid to oxygenate the juice for white wines which is anathema for French winemakers.”  Lecomte explained that in France, you often don’t get a pristine crop and the growing conditions are so much more difficult that you don’t necessarily have the ability to play with different styles. In Australia and California, the vineyards generally have a lot of very healthy fruit.  

After a period of time, Lecomte and his wife decided to see what the California wine industry looked like. They headed west to Herzog Wine Cellars where David was hired as the assistant winemaker. This large winery gave him yet a different view of wine making. This time, David was also introduced to Kosher wine making traditions. “Wine making on a large scale has many of the same issues that it does on a small scale. Of course you can’t do everything personally on a large scale so you need to rely heavily on your team. Also with Kosher winemaking, non observant Jews can’t do a number of things so you really need to learn how to adapt and delegate.” At Herzog, Lecomte was also able to see large scale bottling and complex logistical issues which are useful in his current position at City Winery.

After four years in California, the Lecomte family decided to move back to New York after meeting Michael Dorf, the owner of City Winery. Lecomte’s days are full and varied, he noted. On any given day, Lecomte can be seen speaking with one of City Winery’s members who have their own barrel, on the phone arranging for the logistics of the arrival of grapes from Argentina, or talking to a cooper about the wood for barrels. He also spends a fair amount of time at the numerous wine dinners and events held at City Winery. City Winery also makes Kosher wine, Lecomte said, “We have a specific crew just for that part of our services. They are wonderful.”

City Winery opened earlier this year although the wine making has been going on since construction started. Lecomte didn’t seem at all worried about the noise from the subway running beneath City Winery. “There is no problem for the winemaking phase at all.” Lecomte’s current position puts to work so many of the skills that he has learned during his long carereer. Everything is still somewhat influx as City Winery gets going but David Lecomte is having a great time in his new role. “It’s very challenging for me in certain ways. I know vineyards, winemaking and lab analysis and all of that. Now I am adding the piece that has to do with making wines with many different people as well as understanding their needs and interests. It is still new to me and very stimulating,” he added with a smile.

-Susannah Gold

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