NEW YORK, NY: Holiday Spirits: My Evening at Wine Down (12/2/09)

The holidays are a time of celebration. Some festivities are somber, others silly. The most appropriate festivities, however, honor the common thread of many traditions: wine.

Last Wednesday night, Caroline and I donned our most festive Wednesday attire (somehow this included a beret) and trekked down to the Wine Down Holiday Party at BLVD on the Lower East Side (miraculously, we did not get lost). Wine Down is an event that allows you unlimited tastings of select wines for a cover charge. The wines were chosen by Gourmet Magazine's wine dude: Michael Green. To our benefit, Michael landed on his feet following the closure of Gourmet (RIP).

With the exception of the champagne that greeted us at the door (what a lovely welcome!), we stuck to the red wines. After all, sticking with one color of wine is a virtual vaccination against the Irish Flu. Before we got down to business, however, we took a "before" picture- as in, before our teeth turned purple from wine. Surprisingly, this was not much of an issue- as the wines were so good. (See the "after" picture at the bottom of this post).

Given that all the wines were affordable, there was a surprisingly delicious selection. My favorites were:

Henriot Champagne Brut Souverain NV, France. Veuve Cliquot Brut is my all time favorite champagne. You can have the Dom Perignon and Santana DVX- when I think of a champagne that I want to drink every day- I reach for the yellow label. I love the consistency of the bubbles that aren't quite as small and sharp as, say, a Taittinger. I also like that the taste is a little fuller with a bit more citrus than a Moet Chandon. However, this Henriot is definitely going on my short list. It's not as mood-changing as the V.C.B., but it's lovely and light. There are delicate notes of citrus and white flower, and it finishes very clean and balanced. This Henriot is a special occasion champagne, and retails for about $95.

2007 CS Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. This Cab is very smooth, and very drinkable. It's not overly complex, but the layers of flavor are lovely and delicate. Green described this pick as "Aromas of raspberry, redcurrant, tobacco and licorice. Broad and sweet, with pliant, harmonious flavors of plum, raspberry, currant, leather and mocha." I didn't taste the leather, but it definitely had the feeling of a cozy Cab to drink in a room that has many leather bound books. This is a good wine to keep in the house, and retails for about $20.

Caroline liked the 2008 Orin Swift Prisoner from Napa. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Charbono, Grenache and Zinfandel, this was definitely a more complex wine. The Syrah and the Zinfandel were strongest for me, and were layered upon by hints of fresh sage and wild berry. If you'd like to pick up a bottle for Caro, you will need about $35.

With wines like these, we had a glorious evening! The staff was friendly and gracious, and paired beautifully with the selections by Mr. Green.

For information on Wine Down, please visit: http://www.winedownevents.com