Wining by Proxy...Champagne

When the Goddess of Wine has too many events on her calendar, she enlists the aid of good friend and wineaux, Marya Glur. In this case, Marya was able to both help me and indulge in her favorite beverage.

Wally's Grande Marque Champagne Tasting by Marya Glur

As a Champagne aficionado, I have yearned for a long time to attend the Grande Marque Champagne Tasting organized by Wally's Wines every June. With the help of my dear friend, the Champagne Whoar, LeeAundra Temescu Keany, and her husband, Paul Keany, I was finally able to attend the event this year at the JW Marriott Le Merigot Hotel in Santa Monica on Sunday, June 3. 

Wining by proxy...staff writer Marya Glur fills us in on the Union des Grand Crus...

Sometimes the Goddess doesn't get to attend wine events. Sob! Luckily, she has a band of merry and hearty wineaux who provide eyewitness accounts for her. Today, a special post by Staff Writer, Marya Glur, about an extraordinary annual event. Read on, and thanks, Marya!

Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux
January 21, 2012
Fairmont Hotel, Santa Monica, CA
By Marya J. Glur


The first time I attended the Union de Grand Crus des Bordeaux wine tasting a few years ago in an event space at Hollywood and Highland, I thought it was the single MOST important educational experience of my career as a wine aficionado. With over 100 château representatives, many of them winemakers and/or château owners, pouring over 150 Bordeaux wines, the event planners placed all the producers from each AOC area together making this event the perfect chance to taste through 5-10 wines from each viticultural area to really understand what makes Pauillac wine a Pauillac and how that's different from a Saint-Julien -- areas on the map that are directly adjacent. For that tasting, the Goddess and her merry band of wineaux decided the best strategy was to go for the most expensive, most prestigious wines of Bordeaux first while our palates were fresh. So, while everyone else was starting at the beginning by tasting through the whites, we headed directly to Margaux. The beauty of this strategy was that we were alone with the Margaux producers and then, Pauillac and Saint-Julien for an hour before anyone really caught up to us. We got to leisurely chat with each chateau representative about their wines before, during, and after each tasting. It was truly brilliant.

Random wining...

Every time I complain that I don't have enough time to write about all my wine adventures, it just sounds like bragging...but JD and I have been all over the place!

8/20 - Showed some support for SSH at a small tasting of mostly local wines at J. Hamilton Wines (actually at The Plug Nickel) in Westlake Village, about whom there will be a separate post. Got to spend a bit of quality time chatting with noted winemaker, Norm Stafford, whose 2006 Humaliwo Ventureno blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc was full of chocolate and spice. Norm was the winemaker/consultant for several of the wineries there that day, and it was interesting to see how he dealt with different grapes and styles of wine.

Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux...

Well, it seemed as if it were going to be a nice event - that turned out to be somewhat of an understatement.


Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, presented by Wally's Wine, with some coordination and staffing by LearnAboutWine, at the Annex at Wolfgang Puck at Hollywood and Highland.  OMG.  This was an extraordinary opportunity to taste the 2007 Bordeaux from almost every region.