The Four Seasons was the scene for a beautiful event on June 7, 2010 — the Wine Media Guild’s annual Hall of Fame dinner. Members and their guests began the evening on the Grill Room’s balcony, with a festive sparkling wine reception after checking in with Ron Kapon to pick up their nametags made by yours truly.

A formal sitdown dinner followed the reception, held in the private room above the Pool Room with over 90 guests in attendance. As usual, attendees were invited to bring a bottle or two of wine from their cellar to share with their table. A wide range of wines were tasted throughout the evening from rare treasures and oddities to more common bottles, but all bringing immense drinking pleasure. We were especially pleased with our Marc Morey Chevalier-Montrachet 2000, which was showing beautifully. Unfortunately, our Bedell Cellars C-Block Merlot in magnum was a bit faded.

Just before dessert was served, the awards were presented to: Dan Berger, Michael Broadbent (accepted by his son, Bartholomew) and Karen MacNeil (accepted by John Gottfried),  inducting them into the Hall of Fame.  André Simon was inducted posthumously. In addition, scholarships were presented to three students at New York City College of Technology, as selected by the WMG Scholarship Committee. The students will be able to use their scholarships to further their knowledge with additional coursework in wine at school. 

The wine continued to flow as guests lingered with friends and had fun tasting leftovers on various tables. Kevin Zraly made a surprise appearance at the end of the evening, arriving just in time to taste a bit before we all headed home, eagerly anticipating next year’s dinner.