Rockville recieves Gary

I finally got the opportunity to meet Mr. Gary Vaynerchuk a few weeks ago, before heading off to the Mojave Desert! Gary was doing a book signing at the Rockville Barnes and Noble, and when I heard I had to get something to go down! I immediately contacted Matt Sitomer, a very great guy who was very patient and cooperative with me. He made sure that Gary knew where the party was at after the tasting, with US!

After many hours calling, searching and visiting possible restuarant locations, and discovering that Rockville sucks and that corkage here does not exist (most owners don't know what the phrase means) I was stuck. I had a cult-celebrity coming to visit, I had promised him a gathering and I got all the Vayniacs excited as well, and I couldn't get a freakin' restuarant! But then Big Brad swept in and saved us and offered his pad.

Gary being the honorary "G" for TBAG 2.0

The night couldn't have gone smoother (other than me almost losing Gary in the convoy to Brad's pad...) It was a great, informal, relaxed atmosphere. I suppose Gary liked it because he wasn't the center of focus- people were getting to know each other, we got personal autographs, everyone got to one-on-one with Gary; we could have not asked for a better outing. Thank you Gary for keeping us inspired and for being personable. Thank you to all the Vayniacs who came out and showed Gary that he has a following in D.C. and that it doesn't completely suck, even if it sucks quite a bit...

Until next time, cheers!
-Tatum Read More!

The Path to Passions

Please excuse me for my hiatus in updating Deranter. School has been getting to me, and I’ve been busy running back between Baltimore and D.C., doing projects, writings essays… Finally, let me take a break from all my responsibilities and derant for a bit…

April 20th was a special day for me. It was the first wine event I’ve ever went to since I turned 21 not more than six days earlier. The gathering was at the Sonoma Wine Bar in D.C. with a bunch of Vayniacs from WLTV. Brad accompanied me to the BYOB; I brought a 2001 Chateau Larrivet- Haut Brion, which was the first legal wine purchase of mine on my birthday. Along with Brad’s 2005 Educated Guess, a Napa Cabernet I believe, there were 11 other bottles! The wine list went:

2001 Chateau Larrivet-Haut-Brion

2004 Justin Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve

2006 Saint Cosme Cotes du Rhone

2007 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc

2005 Monchhof Riesling

2004 Olek Mery Chinon

2004 Alois Lageder Lagrein

2004 Zantho St. Laurent

2006 El Nino Loco Rhone Red

2003 Adelaida Rhone Style Red

2005 Querciabella Chianti Classico

2004 Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon

2005 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon

Again, without making this too much of a tasting note, I’d like to point out some wines I enjoyed throughout the night. One of the tasters, Patrick, commented that the Bordeaux I brought was the wine of the night. I loved it as well, as it had a bit of age to it that gave it a nice old-world but still fruit-forward, solid structure. The Elizabeth Spencer Cabernet Sauvignon was amazing as well. The fruit was the star in that wine, and it was a very classic example of winemakers letting the fruit serve its purpose and not manipulating it. The Alois Lageder Legrein was the most interesting of the night; it had a very barnyard nose but a very fruit-forward taste.
The Kim Crawford SB tasted like Welchs’ Grape Juice to me… Very sweet and not very enjoyable. The Justin Cabernet also seemed a bit of a fruit-nuke. One taster pointed out that the Saint Cosme Cote du Rhone had a “orange peanut circus candy” to the nose- that was the call of the night!

The experience was fun and amazing. Two full boards of cheese and charcuterie were ordered to accompany the wine. I got a good look at very different styles that night, something that is invaluable to the palate. I got to chat with very wine-knowledgeable people and experience something I know I want to keep experiencing. At 21 years of age, my passionate journey into the wine world has just begun! Cheers!

-Tatum

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Why Not Us?

Those of you who are personally connected with me might have already heard me say I was trying to bring a wine club to Towson University. But, as I would do with any young wine, let me pour this rant into the DeRanter to let it open up a bit...

Many universities across the nation, and probably internationally as well, have their own wine club. They have school funding to sanction wine events and spread wine knowledge. So I ask, "Why can't we?" What makes us different than Princeton, Duke, Cornell, Davidson, UCLA, Berkeley, or any other school in terms of wine? Someone from the WLTV forum, Rajiv, showed me the way. He is the founder of the wine tasting group at Princeton. You can look at his WLOG here. He's a chemical engineer at Princeton, so be warned, this guy will probably go over your head! But he has been very supportive of me in my endeavors, and all I can do is thank him. Rajiv, I hope to share a glass of wine with you someday!

I have already got the ball rolling to start a wine club here at Towson. It will be called the Wine Enthusiast of Towson University, abbreviated WETU. I've made a proposal/mission statement, and got myself connected with a fellow named Matthew, who is a TU alumni who has signed on to be an alumni advisor. My next step is to get a staff advisor, turn 21, and then propose this to the boards. If things go as planned, maybe we can have a WETU next semester, and by the end of the year, we can look into getting funded. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one. I hope to have an argument if they blindly deny my right to start this club, due to it being involved with alcohol.

I will have the proposal up shortly for anyone interested to read. Let's all hope this university realizes that to become better, we need to keep an open mind, even if it is about alcohol. Cheers!

-Tatum Read More!

TBAG Wine Event

A few weeks ago, while doing my daily stalking on Facebook, I saw my friend’s photo album called "Wine and Cheese Tasting." It thrilled me, so I clicked on the link to look at photographs. I didn't prepare myself to be so under whelmed; picture after picture of teenagers pouring bag wine into red, plastic cups; Boys and girls partying and dancing, all dressed up in their "tasting attire" playing slap-the-bag. Now, I know I'm sounding like a wine snob, but I truly am not. If kids want to get together and drink bag wine and play slap-the-bag that is fine, but I was a little discouraged to think they would call that a wine tasting... Perhaps a better title for the photo album would have been "Wine and Cheese Dance Party Bash."

Anyway, I bring this up only because I finally posted pictures of a wine tasting a few friends and I did a not too long ago on Facebook. It was a bit more serious, and involving wine, and less about inebriation. We had a great time, meeting a few new people, discussing the wine at hand, and “spreading the thunder” of WLTV to our loved ones. Everyone who didn’t supply the wine brought a little appetizer, so we had some cheeses, fruits, crackers and even a bread-bowl spinach dip! Everyone loved the WLTV, but because of a dinner reservation, we probably should have cut it off a bit sooner. Nonetheless, we made it to the dinner fine, and it was very yummy!

The wines tasted were:
2006 Chateau de Callac Graves Blanc2005 Chateau de Lavagnac Rouge2005 Chateau Moulin de Lavaud2005 Chateau de Callac Prestige Rouge2006 Le-Tendance Rose2006 Chateau Dereszla Tokaji Dry2003 Mas de la Barben la Danseuse2004 Marguante Garnacha Seleccion

Without becoming too much of a giant tasting note, I’ll discuss a few notable wines. The Le-Tendance Rosé was very peculiar. It looked sweet and watery, but when it touched your tongue it was very heavy and dry. It was sort of like eating green ketchup, where you mind sees one thing, and your tongue tastes something unexpected! Chateau de Lavagnac Rouge astounded everyone, with its $9 price tag, and its full-bodied, rich, complexity. It was real wine for an amazing price! The wine of the night, and my personal favorite, was the Tokaji Dry. Noble rot has done its job, as you sensed noticeable fungi-like nose, with pineapples, honey, and lime. It splashed down my palate with a myriad of fruit and floral components as well.

The experience was enjoyed by all, and I think we had a general consensus that something like this should be done again. We met nice people, we got to know each other and share a great, lasting memory. It was all due to the spirit of wine, and the magic it brings to us every time we pop open a bottle. So I urge you to gather up your friends and family and do the same; great wine was meant to be shared with great people. Cheers!

-Tatum

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Underage Worst Than Over Oaked!

Being underage and an oenophile, a lover of wine, is tough work! But I thought, since the main purpose of this blog is to be a start for an official wine blog someday, I would do an introduction to wine and me.

I got into wine when I was in Iraq. All of a sudden, this drink really intrigued me. No, I didn't jump on the Sideways bandwagon, and no, I didn't grow up in the industry. I just got passionate about it. I wanted to learn, to taste, to sniff and to experience wine. After many Google searches on wine, I found a little site called Wine Library TV. With the front man of Gary Vaynerchuk and his video wine blog, I started to learn about wine and get even more enthusiastic about it. Gary quickly became a cult-celebrity, so I shyed away from the videos, but the forum kept me coming back, even to this day.

My birthday is quickly approaching, and with it comes the official beginning of my passionate journey into the world of wine. Oh, how I would LOVE to work in the field someday... Hopefully this summer I can land my job at a little wine store called Finewines.com near my house. That would be a great professional start to my career in the field. It's not too often an outsider gets into "the industry," but I am still determined to try.

With the support of a few friends, my wine knowledge quickly evolved, yet I am still learning, and this is why this blog exist. Let me take you, from the perspective of a young, Thai male not working in the industry, through my passion and love of wine. I've got big plans with collecting, tasting and even making wine.

Please check back often for updates on my progress as I am planning to start an official wine club here at Towson, make wine in my garage this summer with a few friends, and become an all-around, friendly wine guy. Cheers!

-Tatum Read More!