Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/142283
PHOTOS: LANA BORTOLOT nEW yORK CITy SIpS Left to right: Nikky and Emmanuelle Paterianaki of Domaine Paterianakis, the largest women-owned winery in Crete; Cathleen Burke-Visscher of Wine Works & Co.; Terry Seal of Golden Ram Imports. The Wine World Comes to the Big Apple by lana Bortolot W Enologist Patricia Lozano Cortés and Andalusian rock star chef Dani García at Manzanilla. Left to right: Marco De Martino and winemaker Marcelo Retamal of Chile's De Martino. e were fairly consumed by cocktail culture this month— whether it was the Manhattan Cocktail Classic (see story, p. 46 —Ed.) or the rounds of Great Gatsby–inspired tastings . . . but happily, we found time to turn our attention to a few events spanning the wine globe. Wines of Crete is coming into its own, infused by both European Union money and the ongoing interest in emerging regions. Now an official collective, 14 producers traveled to New York recently for a trade tasting, pouring wines from 20 producers. "Everyone else in Greece has an identity, but Crete has not had its own wholesale promotion. The feeling now is that they're ready to join the international stage," said Melanie Young, of The Connected Table, the event organizer. Tasters found a number of surprises: an array of wines made from pronounceable grapes such as Vilana, Vidiano and Dafni; a number of winning international wines; and a proliferation of women winemakers. Bonus trivia: Crete is home of the southernmost European winery. Girl power also reigns at Spanish Bodegas Zagarrón, where winemaker Patricia Lozano Cortés is overturning assumptions of La Mancha as the land of Don Quixote. At newly opened Spanish restaurant Manzanilla, Cortés presented a portfolio made from Tempranillo and international styles (a mineral, lean Sauvignon Blanc and a rose petal–soft Grenache). A leading producer of quality bulk wine, the winery relaunched in 2005 and has since focused on fine-wine bottled projects. Wines from Spain Wine have long equated with value, and this portfolio, priced between $12 and $18, is no exception. Thin Lizzy's 1976 hit, "The Boys are Back in Town," came to mind as we headed over to Ai Fiori for a De Martino tasting with Marco De Martino and winemaker Marcelo Retamal, here from Santiago to launch the Viejas Tinajas range. The wines are made in ancient terracotta amphorae gathered from all over Chile and produced in Tata Valley D.O., Chile's oldest (and least known) wine region. "We are trying to rescue the identity of the wine and region," says De Martino. Retamal says the wines have less power and "are more gastronomic." What we loved: the small-production Orange wine made from a cool-climate Muscat with six months of skin contact. 28 / the tasting panel / july 2013 TP0713_001-33.indd 28 6/24/13 5:35 PM