Wood on Wine

Wine South 2001!
© by Linwood Slayton
I am "wined out". I had the distinct pleasure of attending Wine South 2001 recently. I, along with, about 5,000 other wine lovers, ate, tasted and ate and tasted again at the Villa Cristina restaurant in Atlanta from Friday, Sept. 28 through Sunday, Sept. 30.

Let me set the stage for you. The Villa Cristina sits on acreage that is serene and placid. There is a stream running behind the restaurant and the grounds contain well groomed foliage and, yes, a superbly manicured putting green that had my senses wishing that I had my trusty putter in hand so that I could drop a few long ones in the hole..

I digress - this three-day affair was wonderfully organized and replete with pleasant and knowledgeable vendors of wine from all over the world. There were about 200 wine vendors on two levels of the Villa Cristina building interspersed with about another 75 of the top Atlanta restaurants also serving up their special treats for the festival attendees.

The weather was outstanding - sunny but not too hot - just right for a weekend of wine, food, arts and song. As you entered the venue, you were given a cute food platter with a notch for your wine glass to sit in a stable position. This enabled you to move from food station to food station and from wine station to wine station.

I will not attempt to highlight any particular wine if only because there were so many wines - so little time - such small pourings.

I will say that the marketing of wine is a highly specialized undertaking. One thing I did observe was that certain wineries and representatives made more of an impact than others - not necessarily because they had better wine but because they were better marketers.

Morandé USA made their American debut at this festival. Morandé is a Chilean wine company and they occupied prime space and offered at least 15 or so different varieties of their wines that were being introduced to American markets. I was genuinely impressed with all of their wines and the prices were right - from $8 to $25. They offered a very informative seminar on Chilean wines in general and their wines in particular. Pablo Morande is the vintner and his wines are from grapes grown in Casablanca valley in Chile, a new area in that country. Their web site is worth reviewing at http://www.morandeusa.com.

I found the Bonterra wines sampled to be particularly pleasant - these are made from organically grown grapes and I thoroughly enjoyed the Viognier and Chardonnay. I also liked the Omrah Chardonnay and Shiraz - both of these wines are from Western Australia.

I was also impressed with the wines featured by International Gourmet. They are a French wine company and their presentation was memorable in that as you tasted their offerings, you were shown information about the region of France where each wine was produced. I especially liked their Cotes Du Rhone Village Rasteau Red. This is a family owned and operated company and The Garnier family got my attention. Check out their web site at http://www.internationalgourmet.net.

Equally noteworthy were the wine-accessory exhibits. I purchased two sets of wine glasses from the Riedel vendor at the festival. If you have never tasted wine from a Reidel glass, you should, and when you do, you will be able to understand the distinction.

And yes, the food ... I was particularly impressed with the food and presentations of Nikolai's Roof, the Imperial Fez, Maggiano's, Capital Grill, Canoe and the Village Tavern.

Above all, however, the special aspect of the weekend was the opportunity to meet and socialize with people of like minds and tastes. I know that when a group of attorneys get together, the common denominator is law and the business of law. That's to be expected and I would think that a non-lawyer would find the group boring after a short while. Here, we had people who came together with a common passion: wine and food. Oenophiles fit no particular profile- there were black people, white people, Asians, yuppies, seniors, hippies, blue jean wearers, divas, aristocrats (or so they thought), writers, art lovers, elegantly attired men and women and just plain ole' folks who appreciate wine and relished the chance to learn more about fine wine.

In all, it was a fun-filled experience and I will certainly attend next year's festival. So should you!!

wood

Oct. 3, 2001