Chono, Syrah Reserva 2008 originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/HsVdxhGlz5M/
Saturday 30 April 2011
Chono, Syrah Reserva 2008
There are a ton of great wine values out in the market today but I’m always pleased to find wines that considerably outperform their price. And tonight I have such an example. As I’ve blogged recently, Syrah has been a tough sale here in the U.S. I think it’s due to a few factors that’s [...]
Inside Scoop: Top Picks at Sunday's Bin Ends Fine Wine Flea Market
Here's a sampling of notable wines being poured at the event:
- Wine/Retail/Sale Price/Savings
- Burge Family D & OH $49.00 $24.50 50%
- Artessa Reserve Cabernet 05 $43.00 $21.50 50%
- Colonial Estates Chardonnay 05 $40.00 $20.00 50%
- R Wines First Class Shiraz 07 $40.00 $20.00 50%
- Conn Valley Chardonay 06 $36.00 $18.00 50%
- Monastero Chianti Classico Reserva 03 $30.00 $15.00 50%
- Cosentino Napa Cabernet 03 $25.00 $12.50 50%
- B Cellars Blend 24 05 $40.00 $24.00 40%
- Brothers in Arms Shiraz 01 $40.00 $24.00 40%
- Tolaini Valdisanti IGT 06 $39.00 $23.35 40%
- Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 05 $33.00 $19.80 40%
- Pra Soave Montegrande 07 $30.00 $20.00 33%
- Herve Azo Sauvignon St Bris 09- Organic $18.00 $12.00 33%
Check 'em out:
Bin Ends Wine
236 Wood Road, Braintree, MA
(781)817-1212
Tasting notes - Berlin Tasting
Here follows my tasting notes from The Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen.
No. 1 - 2005 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Bordeaux)
Dark colour with intense smell of pencil, cigar, currant and spicy wood. It’s full-bodied, rich and concentrated but also with an upfront softness. 96/100.
No. 2 - 2004 Sassicaia (Tuscany)
Not so intense in the nose - a little cherry. The [...]
No. 1 - 2005 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild (Bordeaux)
Dark colour with intense smell of pencil, cigar, currant and spicy wood. It’s full-bodied, rich and concentrated but also with an upfront softness. 96/100.
No. 2 - 2004 Sassicaia (Tuscany)
Not so intense in the nose - a little cherry. The [...]
Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/40/tasting-notes-berlin-tasting/
Glen Ellen, Petite Sirah 2007
Wines in the “fighting varietal” section of the wine store don’t get a lot of wine blog love. Nor do they get reviewed very much in the mainstream wine press leaving the inquiring consumer to consult Google for information. And I get a lot of incoming search traffic every time I review such a wine. [...]
Glen Ellen, Petite Sirah 2007 originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/bmDbiM7S5nI/
A Wine for Tonight: 2009 O*S Winery Riesling
Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won?t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week?s selection, the 2009 O*S Winery Riesling from the Horse Heaven Hills of Washington [...]
A Wine for Tonight: 2009 O*S Winery Riesling was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/FkeJQ2fYXqU/
Fielding Hills Merlot Vertical Tasting
For those of you who are not familiar with a vertical tasting, it is a tasting in which you taste different vintages of the same wine from the same winery. We were first ?wow?-ed by Fielding Hills in the summer of 2008. Since then, we have visited the winery, tasted all of their new releases, [...]
Fielding Hills Merlot Vertical Tasting was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/0wlhYoVWyys/
A Visit with Winemaker Vince Tofanelli
It is such a wonderful change of pace to visit a winemaker like Vince Tofanelli. Too often when we visit the Napa Valley we get caught upby the big and the fancy wineries and tasting rooms and tend to overlook the smaller names of the Napa Valley. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/a-visit-with-winemaker-vince-tofanelli/
Wednesday March 23rd: Spring Grand Tasting at Blanchard's West Roxbury
Blanchards Wine & Spirits in West Roxbury, MA is having their spring grand tasting this coming Wednesday March 23rd, 2010 from 6pm-9pm. Wines poured at the event are discounted and light appetizers are served. The event is free.
Click here for more information
Further Reading: Here are my notes from a similar event at Blanchards
Check 'em out:
Blanchards Wine & Spirits
418 Lagrange St.
West Roxbury, MA 02132
617-327-1400
TasteCamp East:Bloggers Arrive in the Finger Lakes
This is one of my favorite times of the year.� I’m fortunate enough to be included on the list of wine bloggers and writers who get asked to attend TasteCamp East, organized by Lenn Thompson and Evan Dawson at The New York Cork Report. Last year, Long Island Wine Country hosted our group and although [...]
Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/05/06/tastecamp-eastbloggers-arrive-in-the-finger-lakes/
World of Wine Tasting at Wine Nation: Start Building the Perfect Case
World of Wine Tasting Event
March 26, Saturday | 1-5pm
March 26, Saturday | 1-5pm
Join us for this free tasting event.
Taste more than 100 wines from around the world including Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Chile, Argentina,
Hungary and California.
Hungary and California.
Beer and food will also be available for tasting. Special in-store pricing on the day of the event.
They're doing 15% off a mixed case of wines being sampled. They passed me a list of wines they'd be pouring at the tasting - here are some that caught my eye (prices quoted are after 15% mixed case discount):
- Olson Ogden Persuasion ($16.99)
- Londer Pinot Noir ($16.14)
- Beckstoffer The Sum ($16.99)
- Red Door Oregon Pinot Noir ($11.04)
- Waterbrook Reserve Merlot ($18.69)
- Di Majo Norante Sangiovese ($8.49)
- Mer Soleil Silver Chardonnay Unoaked ($18.69)
- Foppiano Petite Sirah ($15.29)
- King Estate Pinot Gris ($12.74)
- King Estate Pinot Noir ($22.94)
- Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier ($9.34)
- Crios Torrontes ($11.04)
Store Review: Wine Nation in Millbury, MA
Bonus Content:
First Look: Old School Pizza in Wellesley, MA
Check 'em out:
Wine Nation
The Shoppes at Blackstone Valley
70 Worcester-Providence Turnpike
Millbury, MA 01527
508-917-0400
info@winenation.com
Friday 29 April 2011
Review of the 3Divas White Wine Blend from Montemaggiore winery
3Divas, Montemaggiore Appellation: Russian River Valley Price: $25 Haydn gives it: 92pts You can buy this wine: at montemaggiore.com Montemaggiore continues to defy conventional varietals when it comes to its location in Dry Creek. Their red wine portfolio is missing a Zinfandel, but instead showcases what Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignons can do in the valley. [...]
Source: http://www.beyondnapavalley.com/blog/review-of-the-3divas-white-blend-from-montemaggiore-winery/
A ?Zinful? Experience
Last Saturday I was lucky to be able to attend the Zinfandel Festival at Fort Mason in San Francisco. ZAP, The Association of Zinfandel Advocates & Producers celebrates Zinfandel America?s Heritage Grape and is dedicated to preserving the history of Zinfandel through the Heritage Vineyard at UC Davis. It is the largest single varietal tasting [...]
Glen Ellen, Petite Sirah 2007
Wines in the “fighting varietal” section of the wine store don’t get a lot of wine blog love. Nor do they get reviewed very much in the mainstream wine press leaving the inquiring consumer to consult Google for information. And I get a lot of incoming search traffic every time I review such a wine. [...]
Glen Ellen, Petite Sirah 2007 originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/bmDbiM7S5nI/
Pinot Blanc Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Pinot Noir Syrah or Shiraz
Silver Oak Winery in the Napa Valley ? For Cabernet Sauvignon Fans
I loved listening to the offbeat and jovial winemaker, Daniel Barons, who tells it like it is with a no-holds-barred approach to winemaking. He has been making wine for 41 years so he says he has seen it all. Continue reading
Social Media Quick Tip: Introduce Your Twitter Team
As you know, social media engagement is all about personal touches.� Remember this when thinking through your social media presence, including Twitter.� As much as possible, introduce and humanize your Twitter team.� Here are a couple of great examples of� brands who have added special touches to their Twitter strategies, going beyond a standard Twitter [...]
Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/social-media-quick-tip-introduce-your-twitter-team/
Reminder: WBW 71 Is This Week!
It seems like is was just a few days ago that I announced the next edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday but it has been nearly 3 weeks. So just a friendly reminder that WBW 71, “Rhones Not From The Rh�ne,” is in just two days. And it’s easy to participate; just pick up a wine [...]
Reminder: WBW 71 Is This Week! originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/P5Lljfs40TQ/
Thursday 28 April 2011
Jacobs Creek champions wine regions
“Jacobs Creek has almost got a responsibility, as one of the major brands out of Australia, to teach the consumer about some of the great regions within Australia” – Bernard Hickin A refreshing point of view by Bernard Hickin, Chief Winemaker at Jacobs Creek. [apologies for the background noise, but it was busy] I was [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/4LI3hzWYVAg/
Enjoy water sports as you have never enjoyed before!
If you are looking forward to a long vacation with your family members, then the villas of Grand Wailea Resort in Maui are the ideal destination for you. These villas are like comprehensive residences full of modern amenities and plush decorations. Take your children along with you and they will have a gala time. It [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/WNoiKE8FAK0/
WBW 71: Rhones Not From The Rh�ne
When Wine Blogging Wednesday founder Lenn Thompson asked me to host this months’ tasting I was both honored and nervous. What theme would spark new participants to join the monthly virtual tasting? How could I come up with something original after 70 tastings? But after sharing three ideas on Twitter direct messages, we were set [...]
WBW 71: Rhones Not From The Rh�ne originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/4_t2_VZ5Kcs/
Book Review: Summer in a Glass by Evan Dawson
You know a book is good when you're bummed to be deplaning a cross-country flight before you've finished reading. But that's what happened to me with Evan Dawson's Summer in a Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes recently.
The book tells the stories of 13 winemakers in the New York State wine region, each extensively researched and told in a narrative non-fiction format. I found the approach particularly effective in conveying each winemaker's story and raising their wines to a higher level of understanding and potential enjoyment. On several occasions I found myself wanting to seek out specific wines described in the book.
If the idea of reading winemaker stories leaves you uninspired I think I might know how you feel. For me, most winery stories sound similar: Guy makes boatloads of money in a non-related industry, dumps it into the sexier wine trade and is now producing wine made with unparalleled standards at unbelievably high prices. That said Summer in a Glass succeeds by relating stories in a way the winemakers themselves might have trouble conveying with a similar level of intrigue.
Perhaps that's because the author is a storyteller by trade anchoring the news desk at Rochester's ABC affiliate. He's also a wine writer who contributes regularly to online wine publications - primarily the highly regarded New York Cork Report. Dawson is the kind of writer I find interesting regardless of the subject he's writing about -- whether it's migraines, Barbaresco or Finger Lakes Riesling.
Impressive On a Number of Levels
First and foremost there's the undeniable charm of being transported to a region like the Finger Lakes. Given its duration and intensity, winter in the Finger Lakes makes summer all the more appreciated and Dawson captures the essence of each season beautifully. It's never in your face with metaphors but the notion of how special warm summer nights are comes through brilliantly.
At its best Summer in a Glass weaves chapters together in near-cliff hanger style showing the interconnectedness of winemakers in the region leaving the reader wondering how each winery will fare.
The work Dawson put into researching the stories relayed is evident and pays dividends. Dawson's wide-open, inclusive personality comes through brilliantly as he embeds just enough of himself in the story to draw the reader in.
One of the most difficult things to do as a narrative story teller, I think, is convey a story about the less-likeable character. It's relatively easy to tell the story of a gregarious German like Anthony Road's Johannes Reinhardt but revealing the essence of a highly regarded but not-so-collaborative winemaker like Hermann Wiemer is a different challenge. As an author you know the subject will read what you've written - and might not be happy with it - but Dawson finds a way to find the best lighting for each personality while painting an accurate picture.
Conclusion and Recommendations
After reading Summer in a Glass in some ways I regret not visiting the region already. But at the same time I feel I now have a reliable guide pointing me some of the best producers in the region and an interest in tasting the wines to compare notes with what's described in the book.
If you're a content creator you might find yourself wondering as you read the book: Could I write something on par with this about another wine region? Regardless of the answer the fact the book has you asking that question is, I think, an inspiring achievement in itself.
I highly recommend Summer in a Glass for anyone interested in good stories about wine, especially in the Finger Lakes, and especially if you're headed there for a visit any time soon.
More info here: http://evandawsonwrites.com
4.5/5 Stars WWP: Highly Recommended
Ice Wine
Ice Wine Yesterday I saw a picture of snow on the ground in Bordeaux and added it to the Uncorked Ventures Facebook Page, we received a few comments about the post which is customary now, but one of those comments came from the Great White North and one of our favorite SEO experts, Jim Rudnick. [...]
You don?t ?need? an app for your wine business
Recently I was talking to a friend who was doing project management on a mobile phone app for a department within the Catalan government. Voicing his many general frustrations with working for the government, there was one particular issue that caught my ear. He stated that all they seemed to know about the project when [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/4IKKMGHSokU/
Wednesday 27 April 2011
Good News Spreads Fast
Word on the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition is spreading like wild fire! A preview tasting for the media last week in Beverly Hills has generated a lot of buzz that we are really excited about! Take a look at some more posts: http://gastronomy-101.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-la-wine-competition-preview-and.html http://thirstyinla.com/2009/06/19/2009-la-wine-spirits-competition/ http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/los_angeles_international_wine_and_spirits_2009/ http://www.womenwine.com/posts/journals/18487-winners-of-the-2009-la-international-wine-competition
Do-Follow Ends
Over the past couple of months I’ve enjoyed the birth of my son and the advancement of my business, Uncorked Ventures. Since we started an official company blog I haven’t written here and frankly, I haven’t really decided on what to do with this blog. When I logged in today, I found another 857 comments [...]
Grape Radio Interviews Author Rex Pickett
My friends at Grape Radio have posted a great interview with Rex Pickett, the author of ‘Sideways’ and its sequel ‘Vertical.’ Although the guys spend much of the podcast talking about ‘Sideways’ Pickett does work in plenty of details about his latest novel. Between this and the written interview posted recently by Blake Gray, I [...]
Grape Radio Interviews Author Rex Pickett originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/sjlaqqM3PSg/
Ice Wine
Ice Wine Yesterday I saw a picture of snow on the ground in Bordeaux and added it to the Uncorked Ventures Facebook Page, we received a few comments about the post which is customary now, but one of those comments came from the Great White North and one of our favorite SEO experts, Jim Rudnick. [...]
Stop and Smell the Wine
With the New Year and winter’s recalcitrance toward resolutions now giving way to spring and new life, I’ve been contemplating a wine-related information makeover.
Perhaps not so much, “Out with the old, in with the new” as simply an editing of the wine-related information I consume, which is to say: There’s a lot of it and I need less of it. It’s a diet, perhaps.
Hastened by the online wine world where over the last five years wine content has become free, easy and inexhaustible, a wine enthusiast can get sucked into a vortex of infinite information that is unwittingly counter to their ethos.
Simply, one morning, under the glare of ashen bathroom lighting, the wine boor that we all hate so much might be staring back at us in the mirror.
This past week, I knew I might be in too deep, stuck in the trees and not able to see the forest, when I traded emails with some fellow wine writer’s. The initial query obtusely referenced Antonio Galloni and his new for-profit venture into conducting events as an adjunct to his wine criticism at the Wine Advocate.
“Huh?” You might say with this tidbit entirely missing your radar. And, that’s exactly my point.
Less than two months ago a mention of Antonio Galloni would have registered little more than a furtive calculation against the mental file. “Innocuous” would have been an apropos adjective for Galloni. Now, weeks later, Galloni, Robert Parker, Jr.’s successor, is the subject of top-of-mind conversation based on an interview with wine writer Mike Steinberger at his Wine Diarist blog, which itself is barely two months old. The reason? Galloni has set-up a company called All Grapes Media, LLC that is facilitating winemaker dinners with readers of the Wine Advocate (WA) and select wineries that have been reviewed by Galloni and WA.
This has raised questions anew about ethics …
While not the subject of this post per se, what struck me about my email exchange was that all parties on the email knew about this VERY minor revelation.
Regrettably, this smallest of details, which has zero implication on the enjoyment of wine, any wine, is something that people pay attention to, and even postulate about as a frame of reference.
I’m as guilty as anybody.
Yet, we all control our decisions. Just as Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin famously said, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” the information we consume says just as much about who we are.
In the meantime, as we wax to drama, and let wine wane, we are living in a Golden Age of the drop – wine that is universally lauded and accessibly priced. On the market today a wine enthusiast can access a nearly unlimited supply of not just information, but wine, glorious wine. The ’07 Cabernet vintage from Napa is an all-time great. The ’09 Rieslings from Germany are stellar. The ’08 Pinots from Oregon are of incredible quality.
These are all available to the wine lover who wants to do a bit of research and seek them out.
So, instead of getting into the proverbial weeds of very small wine-related detail, I’m taking just a small step back to enjoy this moment in time to use my information consumption habits to research and seek out wines, allocating some tax refund money to buying up a parcel of Napa Cabs, Oregon Pinot’s and German Rieslings for my cellar.
10-years hence, I won’t remember a small peccadillo about Antonio Galloni and some wine events, but I surely will remember when I had the foresight to buy up some wines that will pay me great dividends in enjoyment in the future.
You should consider doing the same.
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/stop_and_smell_the_wine/
Death to the ?Cult? and Birth of the Domestic First Growth
One of the more interesting aspects of the domestic wine world over the last fifteen years has been the phenomenon of the “cult” winery.
You can count the true “cult” wineries on two hands. Denoted by critical success, reputation, limited volume, inelastic demand with wait lists, and profitable aftermarket value, you can almost name them off the top of your head – Harlan, Screaming Eagle, Scarecrow, Colgin, Bryant, Dalla Valle, Hundred Acre, Araujo … The rest of the hundreds of wineries that suggest they are of “cult” status are a mix of allocated wineries trying to up the ante and some wannabes that want to be allocated. Some have the pedigree to emerge into this classification. Most do not.
The net outcome based on those that wear the crown and those that desire to ascend to the throne is a real dilution in the meaning of “cult” wine. This meaning has been further diluted by the lingering economic malaise that has also metaphorically centrifuged the contenders from the pretenders.
This brief reflection would be apropos to nothing were it not for a couple of emails I received from a flash wine site recently that described an unknown Paso wine with its “cult-like” following. This did nothing but reinforce the “contender from the pretender” notion in my mind. Just as the denizens of a Phish concert gives off a wafting hint of b.o. intermingled with da kine, a flash wine sale for a wine with a “cult-like” following at 60% off of list price gives off a hint of b.s. intermingled with desperation.
The reality is that the word, “cult” like “boutique” before it, and “artisan” in the near future has become meaningless: An unoriginal euphemistic phrase no more convincing than calling a used car a “pre-owned” vehicle.
We’re not fooled by the phrasing.
In the wake of the co-opting of a phrase that has been stripped of meaning coupled with an economic environment that has re-calibrated most wine price points and demand to rational levels, I think what we’re subtly seeing is the very early emergence of a New World Order in the domestic wine world, at least as far as the inelastic upper echelon of wine is concerned.
Borne out of necessity, true “cult” wines are morphing into a new category: a Premier Cru class; – a Domestic First Growth equivalent – both in perception and reality.
While this isn’t the time nor place to discuss the differences in between a French classification system that is based on tradition and history and a U.S. based system that rewards vision and moxie, I will note that any winery in this lofty position has to carefully navigate the gauche indelicacy of outright calling themselves a Domestic First Growth wine. That designation has to be anointed just as they were anointed as a so-called cult wine(ry).
However, wineries can and do politely suggest, via their vision, that this is the case, as Tim Mondavi has done when he says at the Continuum web site, “Our goal at Continuum Estate is to produce a single wine to be recognized among the finest in the world.” Continuum is one of a select few wineries that aren’t yet mentioned in the same breath as Harlan, but for whom their potential will surely place them in this category in the next couple of vintages.
Combining premium location, a singular focus, a ‘spare no expense’ meticulousness to detail that would make an OCD man anxious, we’re starting to see the germinating market elements with these wineries who are not only emboldened coming out of the recession, but also the beneficiary of some wind at their back by virtue of the French first growth wine sales in Asia.
Call it an educated hunch: Humans love mental order and things that fit into a realm of understanding. With a re-balanced demand curve, a very muddled “cult” meaning, and upper-tier wineries that have effectively shaken the ankle-biters that are other would-be elite wines, we’re going to see the emergence of a new classification of Napa wine – they’ll be geographically clustered (Pritchard Hill, for example), they’ll be expensive, they’ll be scarce and they’ll be the future darling of the insatiable luxury wine market in Asia in the not too distant future.
Call these wines the scourge of the everyman, call them Domestic First Growths (DFG), just don’t call them, “cults” a phraseology that has lost its relevance in the wine world.
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/death_to_the_cult_and_birth_of_the_domestic_first_growth/
Uncover the beauty of New York from the Presidential Suite of the Mandarin Oriental
The beauty of New York could never be realized as much as it can be when seen from the window panes of the Presidential Suite at the Mandarin Oriental, a luxurious hotel in New York. Panoramic views of City skyline and Central Park are perfectly soothing for guests? eyes. This suite spreads [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/fJN2VfT_vsc/
Tuesday 26 April 2011
New Years Eve 2011 @ CrossRoads Winery Frisco Texas
Counting down the hours till the new year. Next year will be great. I will be doing more with my blog on Texas wine and I hope to visit more and different Texas winery’s this new year. To start off the year what better way to check out and revisit a local winery here [...]
Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2010/12/29/new-years-eve-2011-crossroads-winery-frisco-texas/
A Spitacular Competition!
For three days, our judges swirled, sniffed and spit their way through more than 3,500 wines from around the globe. Today they wrapped up by choosing the best of the best in each category. Results will be available next month, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy this compilation of expert spitters:
Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=74
Tablas Creek Talley Whitehall Lane Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc
Writing under the influence of twitter
I’m currently working on a project looking at the measurement of online influence. Or is it influence online? Or is that influence of online measurement?�The whole concept is hard to grasp. What value do these values and lists have? First question, what do you measure and what does it mean or imply? Image by bubbo-tubbo [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/cgxwcpSFAmo/
Scarecrow Second Label Unboxing Photos
Flying high off a 100 point Wine Advocate rating for their 2007 Scarecrow, check out these shots for the packaging of Scarecrow's second label wine - the 2008 M. Etain:
Pretty impressive - I wonder what kind of treatment the flagship wine receives?
With a $225/btl release price and current auction prices of the '07 Scarecrow approaching $600/btl it's intriguing to seek a taste of their wines. One way to taste the greatness is with this second label Monsieur Etain that goes for $125/btl.
Another is to seek out Scarecrow winemaker Celia Welch's Corra where she's the winemaker and owner: http://corrawines.com
Or you could just live vicariously through RJ's Wine Blog. His notes on the '06 Scarecrow and the '08 M. Etain.
Question of the Day: Have you ever tasted a wine rated 100 points by Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate? If so was it a disappointment? Or could you see where their perfect rating was coming from?
With a $225/btl release price and current auction prices of the '07 Scarecrow approaching $600/btl it's intriguing to seek a taste of their wines. One way to taste the greatness is with this second label Monsieur Etain that goes for $125/btl.
Another is to seek out Scarecrow winemaker Celia Welch's Corra where she's the winemaker and owner: http://corrawines.com
Or you could just live vicariously through RJ's Wine Blog. His notes on the '06 Scarecrow and the '08 M. Etain.
Question of the Day: Have you ever tasted a wine rated 100 points by Wine Spectator or Wine Advocate? If so was it a disappointment? Or could you see where their perfect rating was coming from?
How Wine Became Modern: Design + Wine 1976 to Now; an SF MOMA Exhibit
The wine world can basically be compartmentalized into two worlds: The New World & The Old World. The Old World is France, and basically any other country within a trebuchet’s throw of France. Wines have been ratified by treaties, classified by region and not varietal, and are poured in chatea�s beckoning you with long dusty [...]
Wine research through a distorted lens
Last week, an organisation called Wine Intelligence put out a press release concerning the apparent lack of trust consumers had in wine bloggers.�I can only imagine it was intended to bait bloggers and commentators into some sort of argument to create headlines. Ryan Opaz and I talked about it and found there were simply too [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/2TGAFBxD3H4/
Riesling Chenin Blanc Pinot Grigio Sémillon Gewürztraminer
Monday 25 April 2011
Academy of Wine Communications:Twitter Basics Immersion for Wineries
Our next meeting of the Academy of Wine Communications here in the Finger Lakes will be followed by an interactive Twitter Basics Immersion for Wineries for AWC members.� The meeting and seminar will be held at Ravines Wine Cellars on Keuka Lake thanks to their offer to host us and let us utilize their wireless [...]
Sexy wine writing, green wine, wine century, Rhys ? sipped & spit
SIPPED: the life of a wine writer! Ray Isle, the brightest star of wine TV, writes a terrific “week in the life…” essay for NY mag. Oh, man, do I want to be a wine writer when I grow up! GUSHED: American pinot Mike Steinberger rhapsodizes over the pinot noir from Rhys Vineyards, calling them [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/sxormLwJwJA/
Changes??..Coming
I haven’t been around here to write in some time, but things are going to be changing a bit on this blog. To start, at Uncorked Ventures we are launching our own official company blog which should allow me to use this space to talk in depth about other factors in both my personal and [...]
Petite Sirah Celebrates 50 Years As A Varietal
I have been on this planet for a shade longer than a half century since my birthday this past November. But there is a wine variety that I think is underrated that has also just turned the big 5-0 as a varietal, Petite Sirah. I even included this grape in a rough draft of my [...]
Petite Sirah Celebrates 50 Years As A Varietal originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/HZJtR-3PI_M/
How To Pronounce Willamette
One of the dangers of being a wine podcaster is you have to say wine terms and regions out loud. It’s hard enough to keep everything spelled correctly and often over the years I’ve made some embarrassing mistakes on the podcast. But the one that is probably most distressing for me was my butchering of [...]
How To Pronounce Willamette originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/_0EmuKW5OiA/
White Wine Champagne Sparkling White Wine Rose Alex. Vall. Vyds
Changes??..Coming
I haven’t been around here to write in some time, but things are going to be changing a bit on this blog. To start, at Uncorked Ventures we are launching our own official company blog which should allow me to use this space to talk in depth about other factors in both my personal and [...]
Great advertising is about message, not product
Many of my readers are not from the the USA, so may not have seen this advert (unless they happen to love American Football) but take 2 minutes and 3 seconds to watch this Superbowl advert: Now, think back about how often the logo, the car itself or anything recognisable as “the product” were shown. [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/NhZTCI9AzCA/
Tablas Creek Talley Whitehall Lane Chardonnay Sauvignon Blanc
Last Chance for the Murder at Mardi Gras ? March 5 at Cross Roads Winery in Frisco, Tx
Tickets are selling fast so get yours today. Each person gets their own bottle of wine for the event. Do not be left out. I will be attending????.. The honor of your presence is requested at the annual Krewe of Midas Masquerade Ball. Our King, Pierre DuPre, and his Queen, Melissa F. DuPre look forward [...]
Pinot Blanc Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot Pinot Noir Syrah or Shiraz
Sunday 24 April 2011
Really Super Fun Wine Quiz of the Day
Do you like a good quiz? I like a good quiz. Who doesn't like a fun quiz? Exactly. Everyone likes a fun quiz. So, sit back and enjoy this really fun wine quiz of the day!! What Do All These...
Reminder: WBW 71 Is This Week!
It seems like is was just a few days ago that I announced the next edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday but it has been nearly 3 weeks. So just a friendly reminder that WBW 71, “Rhones Not From The Rh�ne,” is in just two days. And it’s easy to participate; just pick up a wine [...]
Reminder: WBW 71 Is This Week! originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/P5Lljfs40TQ/
HR 1161--Watching Wine Distributors Eat Their Own
"No legitimate player in the industry feels litigation is an appropriate method for establishing or altering alcohol policy." Craig Wolf, President, Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association The above quote comes from a press release issued by WSWA applauding the introduction...
Napa Valley Golf Courses ? Any Good?
Every now and then we receive an email request asking that we recommend a good place to play golf while visiting the Napa Valley. I guess people do like to do other activities besides taste delicious wines and enjoy gourmet meals when in the Napa Valley. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/napa-valley-golf-courses-any-good/
Phelps Pastiche Ritchie Creek Rochioli Rosenblum St. Clement
Authority, Influence and Popularity in Wine Writing
Last week one of America's senior wine writers made the point that experience lends more credibility to opinion where wine writing is concerned. Steve Heimoff, long time West Coast editor of Wine Enthusiast who also writes about wine on his...
Sparkling White Wine Rose Alex. Vall. Vyds Andrew Murray Arrowood
Did social media save a winery from bankruptcy?
Facebook and Twitter may contribute to toppling regimes these days. But can social media save a winery from falling into the abyss? A case study is unfolding in France. On January 1, a small wine producer going by the name of “Olivier B.” announced on his web site that he was hanging it up. He [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/_Ck41OeDXN0/
Saturday 23 April 2011
Stop and Smell the Wine
With the New Year and winter’s recalcitrance toward resolutions now giving way to spring and new life, I’ve been contemplating a wine-related information makeover.
Perhaps not so much, “Out with the old, in with the new” as simply an editing of the wine-related information I consume, which is to say: There’s a lot of it and I need less of it. It’s a diet, perhaps.
Hastened by the online wine world where over the last five years wine content has become free, easy and inexhaustible, a wine enthusiast can get sucked into a vortex of infinite information that is unwittingly counter to their ethos.
Simply, one morning, under the glare of ashen bathroom lighting, the wine boor that we all hate so much might be staring back at us in the mirror.
This past week, I knew I might be in too deep, stuck in the trees and not able to see the forest, when I traded emails with some fellow wine writer’s. The initial query obtusely referenced Antonio Galloni and his new for-profit venture into conducting events as an adjunct to his wine criticism at the Wine Advocate.
“Huh?” You might say with this tidbit entirely missing your radar. And, that’s exactly my point.
Less than two months ago a mention of Antonio Galloni would have registered little more than a furtive calculation against the mental file. “Innocuous” would have been an apropos adjective for Galloni. Now, weeks later, Galloni, Robert Parker, Jr.’s successor, is the subject of top-of-mind conversation based on an interview with wine writer Mike Steinberger at his Wine Diarist blog, which itself is barely two months old. The reason? Galloni has set-up a company called All Grapes Media, LLC that is facilitating winemaker dinners with readers of the Wine Advocate (WA) and select wineries that have been reviewed by Galloni and WA.
This has raised questions anew about ethics …
While not the subject of this post per se, what struck me about my email exchange was that all parties on the email knew about this VERY minor revelation.
Regrettably, this smallest of details, which has zero implication on the enjoyment of wine, any wine, is something that people pay attention to, and even postulate about as a frame of reference.
I’m as guilty as anybody.
Yet, we all control our decisions. Just as Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin famously said, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” the information we consume says just as much about who we are.
In the meantime, as we wax to drama, and let wine wane, we are living in a Golden Age of the drop – wine that is universally lauded and accessibly priced. On the market today a wine enthusiast can access a nearly unlimited supply of not just information, but wine, glorious wine. The ’07 Cabernet vintage from Napa is an all-time great. The ’09 Rieslings from Germany are stellar. The ’08 Pinots from Oregon are of incredible quality.
These are all available to the wine lover who wants to do a bit of research and seek them out.
So, instead of getting into the proverbial weeds of very small wine-related detail, I’m taking just a small step back to enjoy this moment in time to use my information consumption habits to research and seek out wines, allocating some tax refund money to buying up a parcel of Napa Cabs, Oregon Pinot’s and German Rieslings for my cellar.
10-years hence, I won’t remember a small peccadillo about Antonio Galloni and some wine events, but I surely will remember when I had the foresight to buy up some wines that will pay me great dividends in enjoyment in the future.
You should consider doing the same.
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/stop_and_smell_the_wine/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)