Lewiston, ME charity event

[DavidG]

Posted "elsewhere" ...

Jim, any chance you hears of or attended this event in your hometown? Dan Kravitz is an importer and a no-nonsense good guy.

"A charity event in Lewiston, Maine. This once-prosperous mill town has fallen on hard times but is making a comeback, with old French-owned and new Somali shops taking over much of the vacant space downtown. After a brief and not very rough patch, everybody is getting along and urban pioneers are opening moderately upscale restaurants and food and wine shops.
No great wines but some nice ones tasted during the evening. Brief notes and very approximate scores, I was working.

2010 Domaine Lafage ‘Cote Est’ Blanc – Lovely floral aromas with hints of lime. Surprisingly rich palate blatantly juicy, grapy flavors but plenty of cut and lift. Excellent for current drinking, not profound but rated about 91 for sheer pleasure and exuberance.

2010 Parducci ‘Small Lot’ Chardonnay Mendocino – A real disappointment after the previous as I have fond memories of Parducci. The aromas are faint, the flavors slightly weedy, neither is offensive and the little bit of apple and pear speaks to the varietal, but this is simply dilute, a feeble wine. Rated about 76.

2011 Chateau Pesquie Terrasses Rose – The aromas are the best part of this with peachy notes and herbal hints. On the palate it is surprisingly heavy and dull, with an almost oily texture and muddied flavors. Drinkable, and better with a bite of local feta with balsamic and fresh lemon juice, but well below expectations. Rated about 82.

2010 Domaine d’Andezon Cotes du Rhone – The aromas have black fruit, pepper, spice and garrigue. The palate is big, klutzy and tannic with clean fresh black fruit but everything jumbled and crowded together, compressed and tannic. This is normally excellent. Again, better with a bit of food but not ready to drink. Rated about 85 today, should improve 3 – 4 points with time in bottle.

2008 Penfold’s Shiraz ‘Hyland’ – Black cherry, black pepper and blackberry aromas make a nice trifecta. Rich and balanced on the palate with black fruits, pepper and spice in the background. Not particularly big but lovely balance and a long finish. Probably as good as it will get. Rated about 89.

2008 Parducci Cabernet Sauvignon Mendocino – Red currant aromas with something briary, as if there was a slight Zin incursion. Medium bodied on the palate with good red fruit, cherries under the currants. Slight but pleasantly weedy flavors give some savory vigor. Balanced and long, with some light but vigorous tannins to lose. Rated about 87, this should improve a few points in a few years.

Dan Kravitz

swillmaster"

[JimHow]

Interesting, he's the guy from Boston, isn't he? Must've been at one of the restaurants down here on Lisbon Street. I've been in NYC the past couple days, didn't know anything about the event. There's a restaurant down the street that holds pretty regular wine dinners.

[DavidG]

Dan lives in Maine, and has a place in France where he grows grapes, and maybe one in Virginia. He's an importer - Pegau is the biggest star in his stable. Maybe you're thinking of Ron Kramer in Boston?