Plus, wine and food pros enter the scrum in Central Park and Israeli archaeologists find a Byzantine era wine press
Posted: February 25, 2010
• There may not be an abundance of food at New York Fashion Week, but there is plenty of bubbly, wine and cocktails. This year, New York retailer Sherry-Lehmann sponsored the Bryant Park festivities, offering Veuve Clicquot Rosé NV in the backstage W Hotel Lounge, hosting backstage bars with Dom Pérignon for designers and pouring Cloudy Bay and Numanthia for the fashion elite in the lobby. Unfiltered caught Brooke Shields at the J. Mendel presentation, where splits of Moët & Chandon were handed out. Moët & Chandon also made an appearance backstage with Rosario Dawson and Tommy Hilfiger posing for photographs with the Champagne before his runway show. Model-turned-designer Erin Wasson held a show off-site at ABC Carpet & Home, and to keep with the casual vibe, served Pink Frog rosé sparkling wine with pink straws to actor Jared Leto, among others.
• D’Artagnan, one of the largest suppliers of fresh foie gras and duck breasts to restaurants across the country, is celebrating its 25th anniversary in New York with the help of South West Wines of France. And it turns out the sud ouest is not only home to red, white and Gascony, it’s also a rugby mecca, which means that they’ve got more than their share of retired rugby champions who now make wine. As part of the many fêtes, the boys from Gascony challenged the New York rugby clubs (which include several New York chefs) to a duel. And, of course, d’Artagnan imported the Cahors Malbec Band to play, too. Check out the rugby-playing winemakers and chefs in this video.
• Israeli archaeologists announced Monday that they had discovered an unusually-shaped 1,400-year-old wine press, measuring a whopping 21 feet by 54 feet, extremely large for its time. The octagonal wine press dates to the Byzantine era, when this area located 25 miles south of both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was governed by the Roman Empire. Uzi Ad, excavation director of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, noted that the “size attests to the fact that the quantity of wine that was produced in it was exceptionally large and not meant for local consumption,” but he also points out the shape was “impractical.” Regardless, the giant wine press reflects a high level of technology for this period, and means the area most likely sent plenty of wine to Constantinople. Unfiltered thinks the purported Thomas Jefferson bottles are quite impressive, but we’re saving our gold coins for a no doubt soon-to-be discovered Justinian-engraved amphora.
• Want to get married like royalty? Follow in the footsteps of Lady Diana and Prince Charles with a custom-engraved Dom Pérignon silver label with the new Dom Pérignon Wedding, unveiled last week. The special bottlings of Dom Pérignon Brut 2000 were inspired by the Dom Pérignon 1960 that Princess Di served on her big day in 1981. Unfiltered can’t think of a better accompaniment to wedding bells than popping corks.
