From the Website....
Wednesdays 5:30-8:30 PM
"Try something new every Wednesday night at CLEAR, located inside InterContinental Milwaukee. Wrap your taste buds around some of the most exclusive selections in our wine rack with specially priced $5 pours. Explore the peaks of wine tasting at a reasonable price. Come once and you'll come again."
Where do I start with this?
The Good-
You do get to try some expensive wine at this event for a reasonable price. That is all I have.
The Not So Good-
I have attended this event twice. Each time the staff was not prepared for the event, knowing little or nothing about the wines being served. On each occasion the wines were not opened prior to the tasting to let the wine open up as any full bodied red needs.
On the second visit, they ran out of the 2007 Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy….yes, they ran out at around 7:00pm. Now I can understand that in this economic time that we are in not stocking great amounts of expensive wine, but you are advertising this for weeks and you run out after two bottles. REALLY? You are a bar in an expensive downtown hotel.
The Wines.
September 1st, 2010.
Cosentino M Coz
Red Bordeaux Blend. Napa, 2002. High End.
"M.Coz" is Mitch Cosentino's Signature Wine. A champion of California wine, "M.Coz" is fashioned in the classic style of the greatest Bordeaux blends throughout history, while simultaneously exemplifying the very best of the Napa Valley.
I really enjoyed this wine after it had been opened an hour or so, ripe fruit, enjoyable. I really wished I could have tried it after being decanted for about two hours.
XYZIN 50 YR Vine
Zinfandel. Sonoma, 2007. Mid Tier.
XYZin 50 comes from vines that were at last 50 years of age at the time of harvest, meaning that they were planted before the mid-1950's. Wine spectator 89 points
Just OK, better wines available in this price range.
September 22nd, 2010
2005 Cote Rotie, Rostaing, La Landonne
Rhone Varietal. France, 2005. High End.
Big and intense, the 2005 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne is bigger and more concentrated then either the '06 Côte Blonde or '06 La Landonne and offers up gorgeous notes of smoked meat, violets, pepper and copious amounts of mineral and iron to go along with its medium to full bodied palate. Concentrated and rich, this has vibrant acidity, beautiful purity and a long, finish where the quality of the wine really shows. (94+ pts.)
This is a collectable wine. It is too bad that it was not treated that way by Clear. Just pop n pour….anyone want ketchup on their prime rib?
2007 Mollydooker Blue Eyed Boy
Shiraz. McLaren Vale, 2007 Mid Tier.
95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: "The opaque purple-colored 2007 B lue-Eyed Boy Shiraz spent 12 months in 80% new American oak. It offers up an enticing nose of cedar, tobacco, mineral, blueberry, and black raspberry. 92 points Wine Spectator: "Smooth and generous, with a hot black pepper streak running through the meaty cherry, dense plum and spice flavors, persisting on the round, supple finish.
Having opened a 2006 Blue Eyed Boy just a few days earlier to celebrate a birthday in the family, I knew what to expect from this wine. Big and bold with a nose that will let you know who is in charge. Full bodied with great structure, and a lasting finish of about 30 seconds. It is great wine if you like this style, which I do.
I hope that Clear can get their act together, this is a great way to experience wine that may be out of your budget.
Just because the price is cheap, it does not mean the experience should be.
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