Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/237615
NEW YORK CITY SIPS Year-End Adventures THE CLOSE OF 2013 BROUGHT TASTINGS BOTH HIGH AND LOW by Lana Bortolot The Hendrick's Gin "Voyages into the Unusual" event in (where else?) Brooklyn. Back row (left to right): Julien Brechet of Domaine des Bosquets, Louis Barruol of Château de Saint Cosme, Frédéric Lavau of Lavau, Deborah Perrin of Appellation Gigondas, Henri-Claude Amadieu of Pierre Amadieu, Anthony Taylor of Maison Gabriel Meffre, Christophe Tassan of The Battery. Front row (left to right): Pascaline Lepeltier of Rouge Tomate, Florence Cartier of Domaine Les Goubert, Cécile Varenne of Domaine du Grand Bourjassot. PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT C M Y CM MY CY CMY K PHOTO: LANA BORTOLOT PHOTO: JESSE WINTER S ince we didn't do anything ghoulish for Halloween, we accepted an invitation to celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, the Mexican Day of the Dead (which some say is that country's version of Halloween). Happily, we had an expert host in Chef Abraham Salum of Dallas restaurant Komali, who prepared the dinner at the James Beard House for press and other gastronomes. A native of Mexico City, chef Salum prepared a five-course meal, pairing hometown specialties such as black bean–chorizo sopes and black cod in papillote with cocktails and Mexican wines (spoiler alert: these wines will be up-and-coming). He was assisted by mixologist Leann Berry—winner of the Best Margarita in Dallas—who served up her signature tamarind and prickly pear Margaritas. Talk about knocking 'em dead! And because we were in a steampunk kind of mood, we popped in on the Mixologist Leann Berry and Chef Hendrick's Gin "Voyages into the Abraham Salum at the James Beard Unusual" road show in downtown House Day of the Dead dinner. Brooklyn. Hendrick's turned a landmark cathedral of commerce into a phantasmagorical gin joint with an assortment of vaudeville characters, jugglers, musicians and an array of "delightfully peculiar cocktails." And the requisite furry-faced, suspender-wearing hipsters who tossed their artisanal IPAs aside for a night of civilized sipping. A little-person guard with an exotic bird head wouldn't let us under the billowing skirt of the Hendrick's belle of the ball, but we were consoled by sampling the 11 botanicals at various stations around the space. So, there . . . take that, little man! On a somewhat more dignified note, we attended a vertical wine-tasting dinner hosted by the Gigondas Winemakers Union at Rouge Tomate, where producers poured Rhône Valley vintages from 1972–2005, showing the Grenachebased wines' ability to age with depth and grace (many can stand up to a fine Châteauneuf du Pape). During the day, the producers held a walk-around tasting of young vintages, to show their right-now drinkability. It was the first trip to the U.S. for such a tasting. 28 / the tasting panel / january 2014 TP0114_001-33.indd 28 12/23/13 5:32 PM