This Weekend Rocked

I spent the past weekend in Manhattan as a guest of Snooth, a wine website that combines information, sales, pairing advice, and networking opportunities. I joined around twenty other wine bloggers for a series of instructional tastings and the big Public Voice Awards, which was open to public ticket buyers and featured some 300 wines. Great food was prepared for us, we got to speak directly to winemakers and industry representatives, and were surrounded by the iconic architecture of the Flatiron District.

So why I am I showing you a pair of rocks? It's not just an easy pun. Those rocks were handed over to us by Aldo Sohm, sommelier of Le Bernardin. Both of those chunks of limestone come from Austria, but one of them comes from the vineyard that makes his own wine. That's how I spent my Sunday morning, sitting three feet away from Aldo while he handed over his personal rock collection and we sipped some amazing Grüner Veltliner.

Not a bad way to spend a quiet SoHo morning. I will apologize in advance for a lot of these photos--I was using my small auxiliary camera, the pocket-sized Canon A480. Not as powerful as my preferred Nikon D40, but much easier to carry around while running around the city. When possible I'll link to some similar posts from my fellow wine bloggers to see the scenes from a different angle.

Having left my house in Memphis at 4:30 a.m. on Friday and returning Sunday night just before the stroke of midnight, I am exhausted. But I have many wonderful stories to share, and eighty-nine wine reviews to transcribe... Stay tuned!