Wine and Water Actually Do Mix

If there’s schools of fish, whales and sharks in that water, that is.  The Georgia Aquarium hosted their 4th annual Aqua Vino event that brings over 200 wines and 30 restaurants together for over 1,000 guests for an evening of fun and charity.  This event was really like a distributor tasting with many groups represented pimping their juice to passersby.  Also, the restaurants were a nice complement and very necessary to balance with all the wine that was consumed throughout the evening.  I wonder of the fish eye-ing us from behind the glass were concerned as we threw back some great sushi and scallops?

Unfortunately, on the wine side, there was much to be desired.  Most of the wine was just OK, but I won’t harp too much on that.  Sometimes, great food, atmosphere and meeting new people takes the edge off of feeling like you have to critique every taste.  The standouts included the 2006 Goldeneye Pinot Noir and the 2005 Caravan Cabernet Sauvignon (by Darioush) and I liked the fact they had several sparklers and “starters” at the entrance… I had a nice Cava, but neglected to notice what it was as I rushed in to plan my attack of the vino battlefield.  This is how I came across the Goldeneye deep in the bowels of the building and was able to get a few tastes before the rest of the crowd found out and cleaned them out.  There must be a science to plotting your route in and around a tasting of this size… maybe a topic for another time.  It was good to see the locals represented like Blackstock Vineyards, Habersham and Wolf Mountain, however, their tables were back beyond the bowels of the building, which was unfortunate.

One of the disappointments was Silver Oak, which used to be an old fav of mine, though I see more clearly now and certainly agree they are heavily overvalued.  Alas, either they are slipping in their ways, or my palate is maturing for I did not like their Napa Cabernet this go around.  However, their cool, pimped out piano that was customized into an all-in-one wine traveller and cigar humidor was pretty nice… somehow lost the picture of that.  Neuman!  A picture I did get, though, was of a cake that looks like an octopus (check out the video below).  It was on part with some of the cool cakes my man Duff on Ace of Cakes throw together… didn’t stay around long enough to get a bite.  Neuman!

Shout out again to the Atlanta Wine School for the invitation!