Bond Estates Portfolio Tasting

On Thursday March 4th, Stacole Fine Wines, one of the most respected distributors in the metro-Orlando area, presented a tasting of the Bond Estates portfolio (Melbury, Quella, St. Eden, Vecina, and Pluribus) at the Country Club of Orlando. It was an exquisite affair. One of the finest pure wine tastings that I have experienced in the Orlando area and truly befitting the wines on offer, the venue, and the presenting organization. If you are a wine-tasting process person (as I am) this was all-galaxy.

The event was held in one of the larger halls of the Country Club of Orlando. The room was outfitted with circular tables arrayed around a centrally positioned lecturer's table and each of these tables had settings for four attendees in order to ensure that each attendee would have an unobstructed view of the lecturer. Each attendee position had a total of 9 Reidel glasses, each holding a pre-poured sample of the current-year offering of each of the Bond wines plus prior-year vintages of all except for the Quella whose 2006 vintage is its market introduction.

The tasting was led by Paul Roberts (below left), Estate Director and a Master Sommelier. He spent approximately 15 minutes providing extensive background on the winery, winery owner, winery philosophy and practices, and the wines. After this introduction he led us on a wine-by-wine tasting of the Bond portfolio.

The attendee list included: owners and representatives of Wine on the Way, The Wine Barn, Tim's Wine Market, Sanford Wine Company, Luma, The Elusive Grape, The Vineyard, The Wine Room and Orsay; contributors from Metro-Orlando Wine Scene and Events; representatives from The Country Club of Orlando; and some of the more important wine collectors in the area. There were about 50 attendees.

The material covered over the course of the two-hour tasting cannot be effectively covered in a single post. Over the next several posts we will examine why this was such a heralded event; provide details about the winery, the wine owner, and the wines; and provide our impression of the wines based on the tasting and other independent perspectives.