Our National Sales Manager, Brian (”The Harlanator”) Harlan attended the Kapalua Wine & Food Festival on Maui in June. Here’s his report:
The 2010 Kapalua Wine Festival featured a seminar entitled “Wine Idol: The Master Sommelier Challenge”, hosted by Geoff Kruth, MS, of the Farmhouse Inn in Forestville, California. Seven Master Sommeliers each selected a wine for the competition. The wines were poured in the order below and each sommelier had up to five minutes to pitch their choice.
PANEL MEMBERS:
* Fred Dame, MS
* Blakesley Chappellet
* Michael Jordan, MS
THE MASTER SOMMELIERS AND THEIR WINE SELECTIONS:
Shayne Bjornholm, MS, Washington State Wine Director
2007 Simonnet-Febvre Chablis Premier Cru “Vaillons”, France
Brian Cronin, MS
2009 Domaine Sigalas Santorini Assyrtikos, Greece
Michael Jordan, MS, Word Vineyards
2006 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir “Rochioli River Block”, RRV
Greg Harrington, MS, Gramercy Cellars
2007 Gramercy Cellars Syrah “John Lewis”, Walla Walla
Emily Wines, MS, Kimpton Restaurant Group
1998 Robert Mondavi Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
Joe Spellman, MS, Justin Winery
2007 Justin ‘Savant’ (Cabernet/Syrah), Paso Robles
Jay Fletcher, MS, Southern W&S of Colorado
2006 Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat Auslese, Mosel, Germany
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Jay Fletcher told the Prälat Bishop story in glorious detail with Michael Jordan urging him on. Jay said: “You want to know why the priest on the label is so happy? He gets to drink Erdener Prälat each and every vintage!”
Several members of the audience commented the Prälat “is the best wine we’ve tasted all weekend.”
The Dr. Loosen Erdener Prälat was awarded First Place. Second Place was the Williams Selyem Pinot Noir.
If you’re not yet familar with our joint venture with 
Here’s a fun photo of Ernie Loosen with Master Sommelier Andrea Robinson and her husband, John. 
And here is a photo that Kirk Wille took during last week’s customer tour. This is a view from high up in Ürziger Würzgarten, across the river to the Autobahn exit under construction (the big gouge across the hillside). This is the access to the new Autobahn that dumps down into the village Lösnich. They haven’t started the actual bridge construction yet, but connecting roadwork like this is proceeding on both sides of the river.
We have planted the first five acres of new Pinot Noir vines at the Appassionata Vineyard (J. Christopher) property in Newberg, Oregon. This view is toward Hillside Drive, and you can see one of the new blocks, as well as work being done on the driveway. We planted a mix of three Pinot Noir clones: Pommard, Dijon 115 and Wadenswil.
Ellisa and I went to a winemaker dinner at Oba! in Portland, Oregon, with legendary Spanish winemaker Alejandro Fernandez (second from left) last Wednesday. Also in the photo with us (far right) is John Kennedy, owner of 
I arrived in Germany on Monday, which was a holiday here. So I spent a lovely afternoon with Eva Loosen walking their dog, Diana. We only made it to the neighbor village, Graach, where a few wineries had open cellars. Here we’re sitting outside Weingut Kees-Kieren, a very nice producer in this village, and enjoying a glass or two. 
Inspiring a whole spate of Twitter posts from enthusiastic audience members, Ernie gave a presentation on “The Art and Science of Selling Fine Wine” last week at FINE WINE 2010 in Aranda del Duero, Spain. 
