Wine Bar George, the estimable venue at Disney Springs owned by the estimabler master sommelier George Miliotes, was recognized by “The World of Fine Wine” publication, winning the Best Wine Bar List designation. Also named were: Marion Wine, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia; VIN Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway; and Brut, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel.
The World’s Best Wine Lists awards were announced at a ceremony in London Sept. 11.
Miliotes, along with Victor Fernandes de Manzanos, CEO of Manzanos Enterprises, also participated in a short panel discussion led by Evan Goldstein, the well-known master sommelier and wine writer, at a wine seminar and grand tasting hosted by Rioja.
The event took place at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, with the seminar, billed as a Rioja master class, set up on the third level lobby and the grand tasting in the DeVos Family Room event space.
During the master class, Goldstein took the tasters through eight selections representing the three Rioja growing regions – Rioja Alta, Alavesa, and Rioja Oriental – and the four aging classifications – generico, crianza, reserva and gran reserva.
Goldstein moved at a breakneck pace, tossing out pertinent pearls about the wines, the grapes, the soil, the fermentation methods; all very educational.
The favorite among the attendees – judging from those who chose not to use their spit cups – was the 2015 Bodegas Manzanos Gran Reserva, from Rioja Oriental. It was comprised of 50 percent tempranillo and 30 percent garnacha with the remainder divided equally between mazuelo and graciano. It was a bold, tannic wine with notes of plum and blackberries plus red cherries.
During the brief discussion, Goldstein asked Miliotes and Manzanos about Rioja wines, of course, but during the talk Miliotes took credit, rightfully, for championing the concept of wines by the glass for allowing people to taste more varied wines and expand their knowledge and appreciation. It’s true – I almost always choose a wine to go with my dinner from the list of wines by the glass rather than selecting a whole bottle. With easy access to devices like Coravin, which allows one to extract a couple of ounces from a bottle of wine without removing the cork, there’s no reason that more restaurants don’t expand their single-serving options. (And make more profit, too.)
The grand tasting that followed had dozens of wineries and representatives lined up in the DeVos Family Room for even more tastings (with fewer spit cups in use).
I learned two major things: 1) Rioja wines are even more complex and high quality than I had thought; and 2) the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center is a great location for all kinds of events. Terrific use of one of Orlando’s finest spaces.
