Anguilla

 We went to Anguilla in the second week of December. We had a great time staying at the Aurora Resort https://www.auroraanguilla.com/. They had a great deal at then end of the low season. In season the price to stay at this property is quite high. They have 2 hotels( one of Merrywing Beach and the other on Rendezvous Beach), villas and a golf course. Also have a number restaurants and they just opened a large water park. The property is on 2 beaches with Rendezvous Bay being the nicer beach. We had a package that gave us $250 per day to use at the hotel so we basically ate the hotel restaurants. The Merrywing Beach hotel is newer and more modern but we like the Rendzvous Beach  Hotel. It has a nicer beach.

Anguilla is a long island with beaches and fancy resorts. The beaches are incredible. the hotels are beautiful but crazy expensive. There is a Four Seasons, Cap Juluca, Aurora, Malihouhani  and a few others. Look for off season deals.

Restaurants at Aurora include the Chef's Table, Tokyo Bay, D Richards - a steakhouse on the golf course, Oliva- Italian and each hotel has a lunch spot on the beach. There is a shuttle to take you around the property which is pretty big.

Food can be expensive in Anguilla. The restaurants at the hotel were actually reasonably priced and the wine list was reasonable as well. They have an amazing cellar of old Burgundys and Bordeaux. If there is a wine you want , negotiate.

Prices on the island can be in local currency -Eastern Caribbean dollars. They are valued higher than the US dollar so beware of prices. The hotel is priced in US Dollars which made things easy.

They upgraded our room and gave us a beautiful oceanfront room that was very large with a balcony overlooking the ocean. The service at the hotel was great. We had a personal concierge who was very nice and helped with reservations and such.

Getting to Anguilla was quite easy. We took a nonstop flight from Newark to St Maarten.  I made reservation with a ferry company to take their ferry from Juliana Airport in St Maarten to Blowing Point terminal in Anguilla which the main port to arrive in Anguilla. There are a few ferry companies that have gotten together and support a small ferry terminal 3 minutes from the airport. When you clear customs in St Maarten they meet you and escort you to a van for the very short drive to the ferry terminal. We used Calypso Charters Anguilla and the cost was $75 pre person each way.

I like to have a car on Anguilla and we rented from Bryans Car Rentals https://bryanscarrentals.com/. We did everything on line and they were exceptionally efficient. They left the car for us at the ferry terminal and we returned it to the same parking lot. It was a small car that ran well and it was reasonbly priced. They supplied the Anguilla drivers license. They drive on the other side of the road(like England) but our car was an American drive car. I know Anguilla pretty well so it was easy to navigate the island. The hotel will arrange transfers if that is your preference.

The weather was sunny but we had strong winds for 3 days. The hotel did not allow umbrellas to be open  on the beach during the high wind time which was a major inconvenience. Lounges and umbrellas are  free for guests and service at the beach is good.

They opened a large water park at the Merrywing hotel on the day we left so we did not get to try it out. There is a river pool, water slides, tennis courts and other facilities.

The golf driving range is free to guests including a full set of clubs. I did not play a round of golf this time but I have in the past. It is a very scenic course. I can't comment on it difficulty or interest for a good golfer. They also have a 9 hole par 3 course.

Beach restaurant at Rendezvous Bay.

Chefs Table restaurant at Rendezvous Beach. The food was quite good but one time it was not as good-- chef's night off.

A good rose that they were featuring. It is made by the owners daughter. They gave us a great price -$9 per glass or $45 per bottle. There was also a white wine and and a red wine. The white- a Chenin Blanc was good as was the rose. The red was not a fav.

View from our room.

 

View of Bankie Banx's bar. https://www.bankiebanx.net/ Bankie may be the most famous Anguillan. He is a reggae singer. He runs a a bar/music venue. It can get pricey if you are not careful. It is on the beach next to the Rendezvous Beach hotel.

A good barbecue place in The Valley- the main town of Anguilla. There is no reason to go to The Valley.

We had a special dinner at D Richards and it was great. Bon bons for dessert.

Gnocci.

Lamb, steak, turkey and sausage.

Restaurant at Merrywing Beach. 

Rendezvous Beach during windy day.

Merrywing Beach Hotel

Food at Tokyo Bay, the Asian fusion restaurant.

A reasonably priced white Burgundy that tasted good.

Tuna roll.

Sunset.

Our room on the top floor.

We had lunch at a restaurant outside the hotel. It was good and a had a great view. Tasty's POV(Point of View)

Dinner at Chef's Table.

Sunshine Shack on Rendezvous Bay. Music, ambiance and the food looked good. Relaxed with beach lounges. 

Bankie's place.

Barbecue takeout from another place on the island.

Entrance to our room.

The Four Seasons lobby.

 

Another White Burgundy at the Chef's table that was reasonable and good. $49.

We  had a fun 5 night  adventure on Anguilla. Hope to go again soon. 

Union Des Grand Crus De Bordeaux Wine Tasting NYC

 I went to a wine tasting in NYC on January 22 sponsored by Sotheby's and organized by the Union Des Grand Crus D Bordeaux.https://www.ugcb.net/en/home  The Union does a North American tasting tour every year for a week. The tasting was for 2021 Bordeaux wines. About 90 Chateaus were represented. I tasted about 40 wines. The Union represents most of the major Bordeaux wineries. While they represent most of the first growths there were no first growths in the tasting.

The event was in Cipriani's event space on 42nd street across from Grand Central. It was well organized and entry was easy, I had purchased a ticket in advance at the last minute price of  $125. Prices had started at $85. The tasting was open for 2.5 hours,  plenty of time to taste whatever you wanted. There was easy coat checking and a small area for some cheese and crackers  and Champagne by Ayala. There was also a blind tasting table to try to identify a red and white wine.

The main room was nicely laid out by appellation. You took a glass upon entry to the room and went up to the winery reps to have a taste. Everyone was very polite. There were tables with water and 2 buckets for spitting or dumping wine.

2021 was not a great vintage in Bordeaux but many wines have been well rated by the critics. Bordeaux wines are some of the most rated wines in the world. Every top critic rates them so information on the wines is abundant. The critics I trust the most are Neal Martin and Antonio Galloni at Vinous, Jeb Dunnuck at his own site, and the Wine Spectator. Neal Martin is my favorite and probably the toughest scorer.

The room was daunting with so many choices but I jumped right in. You could go back as many times as you wanted to so I checked some of my early tasted later in the night. The 2021 wine are on the light side and have some of the lowest ABV levels for Bordeaux in a number of years. The significance of abv levels in wine are a bit controversial -some people just rate the wine- but I find a big difference between a 12% abv Champagne and a 15.5% abv CDP. Do the math -one wine has 25% more alcohol than the other. 

The 2021 wines that I tasted were between 13% and 14% abv. They were earthy and the better ones had smooth tannins, good fruit and complex flavors. Thinking about the wines I was really impressed by the drinkability of the wines and my palate did not get fatigued during the night, just overwhelmed. Obviously my tastings were not blind as I knew the wine that I was drinking.

My favorite wines by appellation were:

Pessac-Leognan

• Chateau Pape Clement
• Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte
• Domaine De Chevalier

St Emilion Grand Cru

• Chateau Canon La Gaffeliere
• Chateau La Dominique
• Chateau Valandraud - my favorite

Pomerol

• Chateau Clinet
• Chateau Bon Pasteur

Margaux

• Chateau Kirwan
• Chateau Lascombes
• Chateau Malescot St Exubery
• Chateau Marquis De Termes
• Chateau Rauzan Segla

Saint Julien

• Chateau Beychelle
• Chateau Gloria
• Chateau La Grange
• Chateau Leoville Barton
• Chateau Leoville Poyferre
• Chateau Talbot

Pauillac

• Chateau Grand Puy Ducasse
• Chateau Lynch Bages

St Estephe

• Chateau Ormes De Pez - A really good value
• Chateau Phelan Segur - My other favorite and a good value

The wines will be generally available later in the year. I am looking into the availability of specific wines now. I am very enthusiastic about the 2021 wines as I think that they will be wines that are very food friendly and that have lots of character. The trend towards bigger fruitier wines does not thrill me. For example the Valandraud has been up to 15.5% abv in recent years but in 2021 it is 14%. All in all it was a fun and instructive night.

Kauai Update; Wine Updates

Kauai

We went to Kauai in October. We stayed in Poipu at Koloa Landing Resort at Poipu and Autograph Collection Marriott Condo hotel. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotels/lihak-koloa-landing-resort-at-poipu-autograph-collection/overview/?scid=f2ae0541-1279-4f24-b197-a979c79310b0 We love this place. It was the second time we have stayed there.

We were upgraded to a 3 bedroom condo which was a palace. The service at the hotel is great. They have several pools - an infinity pool, one  with water slides and several other pools. Parking is free. It is on the coast but it is a  10 minute walk to a very nice beach. The hotel has a restaurant, Holoholo grill, https://holohologrill.com/ which is very good. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It is very casual. Great salads, fish and they a very good poke bowl. Prices are reasonable and you can take out and eat in your condo unit. We bought some great wines in Costco and had some great meals. Desserts from Orly. 

There is a very good French bakery  in Lihue. It is a shopping enter near Safeway. Orly Patisserie  https://orlypatisseriekauai.com/ The pastries tasted as good as they look.

We had great weather in October. Clear and mid 80's during the day. No rain of consequence. 

Also keep in mind that Kauai has traffic especially since it has one major road. Rush hours can be bad and going to Princeville through Kapaa is daunting.

Poipu Beach. Hawaii is very protective  of sea lions napping.

We ate at a Roy Yamaguchi restaurant in Poipu, Eating House 1849. https://www.royyamaguchi.com/eating-house-koloa. The food was very good and the wine list had reasonable prices for decent wines.

Deep fried red snapper.

A fish stew.

Wine we drank. Light and tart. No overly fruity.

We took a catamaran tour of the Napili Coast from Holo Holo Charter tours. https://www.holoholokauaiboattours.com/ They are in Port Allen which is where most boat tours leave from. It is about a 25 minute drive from Poipu.

The Napili Coast is spectacular. The water is not rough in October. winter sails are quite rough with large swells. See my prior trip to Kauai.

My favorite breakfast, just need passionfruit.

There is a farmers market in  a botanical garden and estate, Allerton Garden. https://ntbg.org/gardens/allerton/ The market is on  Thursday and is not bad. Has some craft vendors, food vendors,  a hula show that is not flashy, and a small stand where 2  young men are selling Neapolitan style pizza. The pizza was good. Probably one of the best on the island. They are still working on the cheese and sauce. They hope to get to NJ soon to refine their pizza. No admission to go to the market.

Holoholo restaurant at the hotel.

Our unit.

Local turtle.

Poke bowl.

Our lanai was treetop.

Another great place for food is Kiawe Roots. https://www.eatatkiawe.com/ On the main road about 15 minutes from Poipu. A small restaurant without much ambiance. However the food is great and reasonably priced.. Barbecue and assorted items. Takeout is packed precisely.

 

Recent wine vintages

Vintages do matter for wines from a number of areas around the world.

It looks like 2021 is a great year for Tuscany (Chianti etc.)

Bordeaux has had a number  of good vintages lately 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. 2022 has been getting raves but wines will not be available until late 2024. Only 2021 was not that good. This string of good vintages translates into many buying opportunities. I am seeing top Bordeaux's for prices much less than anything comparable from California or Burgundy.

New Jersey had a very good 2022 vintage

The Willamette Valley in Oregon had a great 2021 vintage. 2020 was smoke filled and many wineries did not produce any red wines. Be wary of any that you buy. Smoke can become problematical as a wine a ages.

Wine prices are edging up but you can find a very good bottle for under $30. Once  again I will remind you that if you buy wine by price, where you buy the wine becomes incredibly important. Make sure that when you buy, the per bottle price is the case price. I do not like stores where you need to buy 6 or 12 bottles to obtain a discount.

Some wine critics are starting to pay attention to the alcohol content of wines as hotter weather has been increasing the sugar in grapes. I am not so sure the average person notices but there is a big difference between 12% abv wine and a 15% abv wine. Just saw a Napa Cab the other day over 16% abv.