Has anyone attended previous events? How was it? Worth my time? Any tips?
Great event. 2016 is a great vintage, the line up is amazing. Go.
Feel bad for missing out this year.
How early should I wait in line? Does it matter if I’m late about 30 mins or is that not a good idea?
The evening event is 2.5 hours and there are around 100 wines to sample, give or take. I would tell you that it would be in your best interest to try and be there for the full allotted time so that you can in turn sample as many wines as possible.
I have only gone to the San Francisco tastings, and I would highly recommend. The biggest risk of arriving late is missing out on some wine. We have been to several in San Francisco and have enjoyed them all.
Ed
Its fine, but make sure you hit your top priorities first. d’Yquem, Cheval Blanc, Mouton will be gone before the event ends.
Do they provide a floor plan so I can find certain wines?
Last I attended was 2005 vintage. Palate fatique. I’m not used to drinking/tasting 40+ wines in one event, so try to be prepared with specific producers you’d want to try and plan your tasting strategy accordingly.
Not sure about floor plan. But its classified by regions. All the Pomerol is in one place, the Margaux in another etc.
I have only been once, and I’d go again, but I did not trust my own notes coming out of the event, as the scene is chaotic, and the wines (obviously) extremely young. And without the ability to go back and forth between samples, I found it almost impossible to discern qualitative differences between the wine I had a 7 and the wine I had at 9:00. My notes read “this might be good” and “gee, this is young.”
I would never make buying decisions based on the event, but YMMV
Also, I don’t think Mouton or Cheval show at the event.
I’ve been to them in NY, SF, and LA and they usually organize them by region. You can taste all or most of the wines if you’re interested, if not, just go to those you want to try. You will be tasting young tannic wines, so don’t try to write detailed tasting notes, just note a few characteristics. Every one of the will have elements of oak and black currants, so note the differences, rather than the obvious, otherwise, as Neal said, your notes will be pretty much useless. If you’ve tasted a lot of these over your life, it’s easier to note for yourself whether there seems to be a big change from prior years or it’s likely to be similar.
I’m in the same camp, fun to go once, but not for me. It’s not possible for me to make real qualititative decisions with meaning, the observations are quite generalized. I’ve not been to a mass-tasting even in like 12+ years, and have no desire to go back.
Neal, Mouton and Cheval are showing in NYC this year. Well at least according to the list.
Mouton and Cheval Blanc will be attending to this one.
Edit: Looks like Subu already replied.
Are the tables arranged by commune?
They tend to be, at least the Toronto event has been for the two I’ve attended. I may go this year, depending on the date and if they’re back here. One of the things I do enjoy is talking to the managers/owners/reps. I ended up being able to plan a lot of my week in Bordeaux in 2014 based on discussions I had at the UGC.
My own modus operandi is to do most of the whites first, run some reds, intermezzo with the Sauternes and then finish with remaining reds. I’ve tended to get through 40-50 tastes within the timeline. And I agree with those who note the youth of the wines—I approach it almost as I would a barrel sampling exercise.
Mike
Interesting. Neither is listed on the UGC website: http://www.ugcb.net/sites/default/files/chateaux_canada_us_tour_2019.pdf
My 2 cents- If you LOVE Bordeaux, and are seriously considering buying- GO. If you aren’t buying, but could be swayed, GO. If you have no interest in Bordeaux, and have no intentions of buying, it’s a probably not the best use of your time.
Hmmm… not cool.
Daniel yes. Yong call up Zachys and confirm. Yquem is also missing from the UGCB pdf.