The Quarterly Review of Wines
Summer 1998
GOLD COAST WINE CLASSIC

"The rich are different from you and me," said F. Scott Fitzgerald. And, yes, because they have more money. Which is certainly the case in the fabled Gold Coast in Long Island's North Shore, where the idle rich and the Gatsby rich were once at play–poloing, partying, drinking. Today, it's still the wealthiest suburban area in the country. Now, however, the land is inhabited by the wealthy who work for a living, but who still know how to party.

David Reynolds, auctioneer at Gold Coast Wine Classic

Bon vivants from here and Manhattan had no trouble finding their way to the smart, stylish, well-organized Gold Coast Wine Classic, a four-day happening of very serious dining, wining, and auctioning, which netted over $100,000. How serious? Try a $750 per person "Benefactors' Ultra Dinner and Tasting" at Drew Nieporent's Restaurant Montrachet for thirty, with five decades of Le Montrachet! The restaurant's wine director, Daniel Johnnes, said, with not a little understatement, he was "anxious to taste the wines." By the way, if you had some spare cash, British auctioneer David Reynolds was selling an 1864 Montrachet from Bouchard Pere et Fils (donated by Clicquot Inc.), which sold for $9,500 to a Long Island resident. How about dinner at the New York Times Corporate Dining Room? Anyone for a Great Gatsby Dinner at the Banfi's splendid Old Brookville Estate? There was dinner for eight with Robert Parker, with the wines that came from his private cellar. All this and considerably more (educational seminars, travel packages, auctions–a weekend in New York with dinner for four at Le Cirque...) was for The New York Institute of Technology in Long Island, with proceeds going to fund scholarships and programs at the college.

The catalyst for much of this, no doubt, was Professor of English literature Edward Guiliano, now Academic Vice-President, and writer (with wife Mireille, president of Clicquot) of this magazine's "Wining and Dining" feature. The NewYork Institute of Technology campus sits on a pristine 500-acre estate in Old Westbury. All that glittered there indeed was gold.