This year at the“>Kosherwino” but apparently Jonathan was busy giving someone else a tour, that or I couldn’t find him because this year the event was even bigger than last, and I swear it seemed like there were Jews that flew in from Argentina and China just to come drink wine and eat chow at a premium hundred bucks a head. (Jonathan still thinks I ditched the event, but I got the hangover and the extra poundage this week to prove my presence.)
Last year Jonathan officially graduated me at the top of my class after giving me the 411 on wine decadence, (I even learned how to swish, sniff and spit- not that I actually did the third part) so this year I was excited to put my previous lessons to the test. I sipped a few wines, went French, Spain, Italian, you know did the rounds and then I finally settled on a Cabernet called ““>Tierra Sur restaurant in Oxnard.) The chicken was breaded in a sweet powdered sugar with cinnamon, the lamb bacon was exquisite as usual, (Thank you Chef Todd for saving me some extra) and the pastrami sandwhich was perfectly lean, smoked to perfection. My favorite was the incredible one of a kind Ceviche, truly delicious. The best I’ve ever had. Wish I could have taken a vat of that stuff home. Finally after wandering around searching for my tour guide I fell upon Shlomo Blashka, a wine guide who flew out especially from New York to meet me. Okay he didn’t come specifically for me, but it’s my story, so lets assume he did.
I was feelin pretty confident about my ability to pick out the most expensive wine in the house. Before I could show off my chops, Shlomo lead me to a table serving Gen VIII ToKalon from Herzog, one of Herzog’s single vineyard, which was not only delicious but one of their premiums at a whopping one hundred and eighty bucks. Great, all that sipping last year and I was doomed to never truly learn the art of fine wine tasting. Jonathan clearly didn’t know his stuff. Either that or I was truly the worst student ever. So what if I get drunk during my lessons, so what if I have a hard time remembering details like recognizing basil notes and woody undertones, it is wine. Not like I’m climbing Kilimanjaro or anything. I guess Alexander the Great was just good because it rocked a cool label.
“You know, there is one other wine in the house that is the most expensive wine, it is pretty amazing and it definitely compares to the Gen VIII, would you like to try it,” Shlomo asked me.
Um, hello, does Taco Bell serve burritos? YES I want to try it.
Before I knew it, Shlomo had lead me back to Marc Anthony with the shiny label, and sure enough Alexander the Great had been served at a whopping two hundred twenty dollars a bottle, I had clearly finally attained wine connoisseur status!
To celebrate my new found genius, Shlomo introduced me to the most decadent dessert experience, the Morad Passion Fruit, which we downed while eating lemon sponge cake with mulberries and cream.
Jonathan Tabak, you still rock as the best teacher. Clearly you’ve earned your stripes big guy. Keep whining:)
And yes I had a driver. I might be a slow learner, but I’m not stupid.
