Tuesday, 31 January 2012
Mike Chelini ? Longest tenured winemaker in the Napa Valley ? Stony Hill Vineyard
In 1972, young Mike Chelini began his stint as winemaker at Stony Hill and he continues in that position to this day. He loves his work, the land, and the owners. As he says ?Life is good here at Stony Hill Vineyard.? When we asked Mike if he is the Valley?s longest-running winemaker, he says: ?I think I am tied with Bill Sorenson over at Burgess.? Continue reading
Florida Jim Cowan?s 2012 Tasting Notes Archive
The 2012 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year?s tasting notes may be found here. January 16, Winter Whites, etc Florida ?winters,? warm as they are, often suggest white/pink wine and lighter meals. For those rare days when we hit the 40?s, we break out the reds. By the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/nUQeMMr7YtY/jim-cowan%e2%80%99s-2012-tasting-notes
Wine Ratings and the Nature of 1+1=2
I rarely take room on this blog to correct wine writers or to respond to them. But let's file this under, "I can't resist". In a recent article on the Huffington Post, importer, distributor and writer David Duman attempted to...
Monday, 30 January 2012
Luxury Gift Baskets
Every year with Uncorked Ventures Matt and I want to make improvements in both the way we handle our business (the processes involved) as well as the offerings we have. On the wine, simply continuing to grow our customer base as well as continuing to build relationships with wineries and vineyard owners will do the [...]
A Napa Valley wine trip down memory lane
Why not take a trip down memory lane by visiting one or more of the handful of wineries that have been in existence in the Napa Valley for 100 years or more? Most of these wineries have tours and memorabilia that will give you a glimpse of what life in the Napa Valley was like way back when. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/a-napa-valley-wine-trip-down-memory-lane/
Stags\\\' Leap Santa Barbara Shafer Shafer Firebreak Sinskey
Wine Blogging Wednesday #70: 2009 Bodega Bernabeleva Camino de Navaherreros Garnacha
Gabriella and Ryan’s post inspiring wine bloggers to get creative and seek out a unique Spanish wine or one from an unheard of region for the comeback edition of New York Cork Report Executive Editor Lenn Thompson’s Wine Blogging Wednesday, fueled my determination to get my hands on a bottle or two that would expand [...]
Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2011/02/16/wine-blogging-wednesday-70/
Wine Tasting Dinner: Washington Rhone-Style Red Blends
The Rhone Valley in France is divided into two parts, appropriately referred to as the northern Rhone and the southern Rhone. While the northern Rhone produces mostly single varietal wines, the southern Rhone is known for producing blends. The most famous AOC in the southern Rhone is Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which is well known for its Grenache-based [...]
Wine Tasting Dinner: Washington Rhone-Style Red Blends 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/vPh2XwTEPZw/
75 carat diamond studded iPod Touch 24ct Gold Supreme Fire Edition priced at $330,000
Stuart Hughes in Liverpool gives a magical treatment to simple items to make them exclusive and unique. In the same way, this luxury house has sprinkled its magical effect on a costly Apple iPod, turning it into the most expensive luxury iPod on earth, priced at a modest $330,000. This iPod Tough 4G has now [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/yi9Sc8HFXL0/
The Worst Wine Gifts
Few other consumer products, and particularly consumable consumer products, have spawned as many "accessories" as wine. If you have a wine lover on your gift list this holiday season, it's pretty easy to satisfy them without ever digging into your...
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog/~3/evUogEstsNM/the-worst-wine-gifts.html
Sunday, 29 January 2012
Nichelini Winery ? 121 Consecutive Harvests
This little hidden winery in the Napa Valley may perhaps be best described as the ?The Little Winery That Could.? Through the prohibition this winery kept chugging and chugging making wines. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/nichelini-winery-%e2%80%93-121-consecutive-harvests/
Social Media Quick Tip: Tag Your Favorite Wine Brands on Facebook
This is old news for some, but if you haven’t explored the status tagging feature (similar to photo tagging) on Facebook, take a few minutes and check it out. Status tagging can help your winery’s Facebook fan page to become more engaging and vibrant.� Facebook users can type the “@” symbol before a Facebook fan [...]
Stags\\\' Leap Santa Barbara Shafer Shafer Firebreak Sinskey
Just 2 Weeks Until WBW 73
Just a friendly reminder that Wine Blogging Wednesday 73 is just two weeks away. Our host, The Corkdork, has asked us to revisit the wine that first got your attention to learn more about wine. This could be a carafe of�ros� in Paris, Sassicaia 1988, a random bottle of Cahors or Inglenook Cask 1958. Or [...]
Just 2 Weeks Until WBW 73 originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/J8P_cO3_R3I/
Saturday, 28 January 2012
Escaping the Napa Valley Crowds
Another frequently received email to WineCountryGetaways.com asks: ?How can I avoid the crowds when we visit the Napa Valley?? Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/escaping-the-napa-valley-crowds/
Stags\\\' Leap Santa Barbara Shafer Shafer Firebreak Sinskey
A community of wine lovers and friends at the EWBC
“My nerves were getting to me. After all, I had no formal wine training, no valuable old bottles to bring, and was just wearing jeans in this incredibly chic venue! … Equipped with spit buckets galore, people start rushing around like some sort of speed dating game with bottles in hand. I realized I had [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/CCtwqGNe_L8/
Florida Jim Cowan?s 2012 Tasting Notes Archive
The 2012 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year?s tasting notes may be found here. January 16, Winter Whites, etc Florida ?winters,? warm as they are, often suggest white/pink wine and lighter meals. For those rare days when we hit the 40?s, we break out the reds. By the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/nUQeMMr7YtY/jim-cowan%e2%80%99s-2012-tasting-notes
Phelps Pastiche Ritchie Creek Rochioli Rosenblum St. Clement
Friday, 27 January 2012
Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Story Edition
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
Words aren’t enough
I give to thee…the worst wine ad of all-time and that’s without delving into the ponderous name of the wine or, why, inexplicably, the back of the laptop in the photo has a big sticker for Ass Kisser ales…
…In the main visual, three people are huddled around the boss giving him “Ass Kisser” wine…Isn’t the point of being a brown-noser to do it subtly? Who randomly gifts their boss right before their employee review?
Even if you view this ad as schlocky hipster irony, it’s still bad and makes you wonder if the advertising sales guy at Wine Enthusiast couldn’t do a solid for his client and suggest creative that, well, actually makes sense.
Or, maybe being horrible was the plan – like a movie that becomes a cult hit a decade hence…so bad that it becomes a lofty ideal for bad, enjoying a following because of its campy nature.
Bad Week for Eric Asimov?
On both Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Eric Asimov, the New York Times chief wine critic was taken to task for different reasons by Matt Kramer at Winespectator.com and Steve Heimoff at his blog of the same name.
This is interesting because wine writers of a certain stature very carefully call their shots amongst their peers.
Normally the shots are fired up (Parker) or down (bloggers), but usually never sideways amongst writers in the same strata.
To watch Asimov, as seemingly decent of a guy as you’ll find, called onto the rug by two notable wine writers, to me, speaks to something much bigger.
With Parker stepping aside and Antonio Galloni receiving glancing admiration for hitting a stand-up triple by dint of his current position at the Wine Advocate, at the same time that the wheat and chaff are separating with wine bloggers, somebody has to step into the fray as a public foil for other wine writers to target.
Unwittingly, it might be Asimov for reasons entirely opposite of Parker’s hegemony. Asimov’s palate for wine seems food-friendly and balanced; he takes an egalitarian approach to wine for the people without pretense and he doesn’t score wines.
In other words, Asimov is bizarro Superman to Parker’s swashbuckling empiricism and, perhaps, even a greater danger to the Ivory Tower of legacy wine media than the mere jealousy that passed for poking at Parker.
Just a thought…
It’s all about the story
The wine business has always been excellent at storytelling. Virtually every winery has their origin story and that of their dirt down pat, even if not very compelling.
So, it is with interest that I’ve been watching Facebook’s recent changes keeping in mind that founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized emotional resonance, narrative and storytelling – factors that extend well beyond consumers using Facebook to “Tell the story of their life,” as Zuckerberg noted. This will be inclusive of the brands that use Facebook for engagement, as well.
I was further intrigued after reading parallel news reports that Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), is singing the same song.
He notes in an article in Advertising Age, “Technology innovations are irrelevant to the future of advertising and marketing unless a more fundamental activity is understood, honored and advanced: the craft of storytelling.”
A quick Google search for “Mark Zuckerberg F8 Keynote” and “Randall Rothenberg MIXX Keynote” will yield a number of stories all occurring in September. There’s no question about Facebook’s influence and the IAB is the thought-leader for digital advertising. Between the two of them, they present an imposing shadow of influence on digital marketing.
If I were a winery with an understanding that digital marketing is a tsunami of change that is important, I might start revisiting my winery story for some fine-tuning…
Two books that I recommend to bone-up on the elements of good business storytelling are: The Story Factor and Made to Stick.
On Sweet Wines
In an article this week from the San Francisco Chronicle called “Beginner drinkers get a crush on sweet red wines,” E.&J. Gallo VP of Marketing, Stephanie Gallo, noted: “There is a major shift going on in the U.S. wine drinking culture. First, we noticed that regional sweet red blends were doing particularly well in Indiana, Texas and North Carolina. Second, our consumers were asking if we produced a sweet red wine after tasting our Moscato at events.”
Good Grape readers had the scoop on this months ago when I wrote:
How Sweet it is – The Growing Sweet Wine Trend in early October, 2010
And
Move over Moscato and Make Way for Sweet Reds in February of this year
Just saying…
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_story_edition/
Scoop the Spectator and Win a Kindle Fire
This year we're playing for a Kindle Fire ($199 value!) sponsored by New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Company.
Here are the Rules:
- Submit your guess as a comment on this blog post.
- One guess per person.
- The first person to guess a specific wine "owns" that wine as their entry. Subsequent guesses of the same wine aren't useful so look at the previous comments before submitting your entry.
- If nobody guesses the 2011 Wine Spectator Wine of Year, the guess with the highest position on the list will win the prize.
- Not that they'd try, but Wine Spectator editors aren't allowed to enter. And if you have inside information please don't spoil the fun for others by entering. But if you do know please E-mail me and let me know. ;)
- Since the Kindle Fire is US-only at this point, a winning entry from outside the U.S. will receive a $199 Amazon.com gift card.
- Quality (represented by score)
- Value (reflected by release price)
- Availability (measured by cases made or imported)
- An X-factor we call excitement.
But no equation determines the final selections: These choices reflect our editors? judgment and passion about the wines we tasted.
The year before, the 95WS/$27 2005 Columbia Crest Cabernet Sauvignon Columbia Valley Reserve was more in line with what I think makes Spectator's Wine of the Year interesting. The wine was widely available at warehouse clubs in the high $20s prior to the announcement and now sells for over $100 at auction.
To be successful, I think you need to have a sense for what category the publication would like to make a statement about. After the Saxum announcement heavy coverage came out about Paso Robles, and Saxum seemed to capture the essence of what's going on in the region. With the Columbia Crest Reserve the sentiment seemed to be value.
What will they choose this year? 2009 California Pinot Noir? (best vintage evar!) 2006 Brunello? Bordeaux (2005) and Chateauneuf (2007) seem to be in a lull until 2009/2010. Napa Cab hit a peak in 2007 and didn't make the cut last year. Is there a new region they might like to highlight?
The thing is - and sometimes this is forgotten when crunching the numbers - the wine needs to stand up to the scrutiny of all the Spectator editors. Not just the person covering the region. That's where I think there's some merit in tracking down wines in the Spectator Top 10. They tend to be pretty darn good wines if you can get your hands on them.
Interesting side note: Last year's winner went on to do some freelance writing for Wine Spectator. Demonstrate your savvy here and you could work your way into a wine writing job in the big leagues!
Ready, set, GO! Leave your entry below as a comment.
Drop me an email (wellesleywinepress@gmail.com) or hit me up on Twitter (@RobertDwyer) if you have any questions.
And let's let Grapes the Wine Company's Daniel Posner know we appreciate his making this contest more interesting by signing up for his mailing list (he offers some amazing deals) and/or giving him a shout-out on Twitter (@grapestwc).
Contest closes Friday, November 11th at 11:59 pm Eastern.
Thursday, 26 January 2012
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 [...]
Find The Best Wine With Oink
At today’s Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, Digg founder and serial entrepreneur Kevin Rose announced a new iPhone app called Oink that looks like a mash-up of Foursquare and Digg. The premise is simple; check in things you like and then the community on Oink will vote your item up or down. All of [...]
Find The Best Wine With Oink originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/2YXSNcJoT8E/
Points for all? Recent evidence of wine score inflation
Is inflation crippling wine scores? In the near future, will it take a wheelbarrow of points to sell a Moscato? Let’s hope Ben Bernanke–or, eegad, Paul Volcker!–doesn’t read this post or he might take the punch bowl away. To the recent evidence: First, the Wine Advocate’s recent reviews of 1,061 “new releases from Napa Valley” [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/c_vGziWdEnY/
Closures again
I?m very old fashioned when it comes to wine closures. Most of my 40-year career of wine drinking has involved opening wines with a real cork. I get a thrill each time I use my waiter?s corkscrew to open my wine. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/closures-again/
Tasting Report: 2009 Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Lot 271
Cameron Hughes is the original American re-labeler who pioneered the art of bringing outstanding wines to consumers at a fraction of their original cost by working with wineries looking to shed excess finished wine inventory without tarnishing their brand. Over the past ten years they've expanded their endeavors into other labels and have become more involved with the winemaking progress. But the flagship "Lot Series" is where the majority of the action is and it's the wine we see around stores most frequently.
California's Russian River Valley in Sonoma County is one of the most prestigious appellations for Pinot Noir in America, so it's worth taking note of this bottling from Cameron Hughes. It is not necessarily the most consistent however, so as you're considering bottlings across appellations from a given producer be sure to sample wines from other areas. There's fantastic Pinot Noir being made in the Sonoma Coast, Anderson Valley, Carneros, Santa Lucia Highlands, and the Santa Rita Hills in southern California to name a few.
2009 Cameron Hughes Russian River Valley Pinot Noir Lot 271
14.4% Alcohol
7,205 Cases Produced
$15 Release Price ($11.99 at Costco)
Medium bodied visually, the wine seemed impaired aromatically when I first opened it. However, after about 4 hours of breathing in the bottle it came around nicely. Varietally correct aromas and flavors for the appellation (the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County in California) - strawberries, black cherry, florals and a touch of cola. I'd like it more if it had more depth and intensity. It kind of hints in the right direction but fails to make a confident statement. That said - I like it a lot at the price point.
86/100 WWP: Very Good
Buy it directly from the Cameron Hughes website
Get other opinions on CellarTracker
Find it for sale on Wine-Searcher
Lots of reviews coming up in the next couple weeks here - I'd love it if you subscribed to the site to get regular updates!
Question of the Day: Have you tried this wine? If so - what did you think?
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
Announcing WBW 74: Value Sparkling Wine
One of the wine trends from 2011 is the rise of Champagne with American consumers up over 20% from� 2010. Another trend was Moscato coming out of nowhere to become nearly an overnight success. This could be in part due to the charms of the lightly sparkling frizzante made from this grape in Italy. Sparkling [...]
Announcing WBW 74: Value Sparkling Wine originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/x3ts1NV4BNw/
Wine Word of the Week: Finish
This week?s Wine Word of the Week is finish. Official definition from Jancis Robinson?s The Oxford Companion to Wine: Since this is an oft used wine tasting term, I was surprised to find that there was no entry for ?finish? is The Oxford Companion to Wine. However, I did locate entries for ?long? and ?short? [...]
Wine Word of the Week: Finish 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/iWbpcNNra9E/
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
2009 Cuvee des 3 Messes Basses Ventoux
From the Quick-but-by-no-means-Dirty Dept.: 2009 Cuvee des 3 Messes Basses Ventoux, 60% Grenache, 20% Cinsault, 20% Syrah, 14.5% alc., 1.5 L, $16.99: This hearty red from our good friends at J et R Selections/Wines of Distinction in Bloomfield Hills, MI is an out-and-out QPR All Star, delivering more pleasure than it seems one has the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/x-8zVA-Cv7A/2009-cuvee-des-3-messes-basses-ventoux
Diamond Flower Mouse priced at $23,250
$23,250 for a single mouse for a computer! How many can think about this? But if anybody is rich enough to lead a lavish lifestyle, this is the perfect peripheral device to decorate their computer desk. This expensive mouse, named the Diamond Flower Mouse has been designed by the Swiss company, Pat SaysNow. This wireless [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/EQ1huYXxKEY/
Coming Soon: Scoop the Spectator 2011
The Spectator unveiling begins Monday November 14th so we'll run our contest starting Friday, November 4th 2011 at 9:00 am Eastern.
To help in your research before Friday morning, and to understand why it's important to get your guess in early, here are the rules we'll be playing by:
- Guesses are submitted as comments on a follow-on blog post that will be published Friday morning. Don't leave your guesses here - wait until Friday morning and leave it as a comment on this blog post.
- One guess per person.
- The first person to guess a specific wine "owns" that wine as their entry. Subsequent guesses of the same wine aren't useful so look at the previous comments before submitting your entry.
- If nobody guesses the Wine of Year, the guess with the highest position on the list will win the prize.
- Not that they'd try, but Wine Spectator editors aren't allowed to enter. And if you have inside information please don't spoil the fun for others by entering. But if you do know please E-mail me and let me know. ;)
- Since the Kindle Fire is US-only at this point, a winning entry from outside the U.S. will receive a $199 Amazon.com gift card.
Until then, hop on over to Grapes the Wine Company's website and sign up for their newsletter. If you like wine deals like I do you won't be disappointed. My thanks to Daniel Posner for this sponsorship.
See you back here Friday morning!
(click here to subscribe if you'd like an email notification after the contest is live)
Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Media Edition
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…
Rex Pickett
If you’re not reading Rex Pickett’s (author of Sideways and Vertical) blog, you are officially remiss.
Pickett is a gifted writer who cranks out perfectly incubated long-form posts with turns of phrase that are both wry and rich, offering insight into the machinations of publishing, film and stage that few culture vultures grasp.
Pickett recently wrote an extensive (3900 word) post on the reasons why a film sequel to Sideways (directed by Alexander Payne) would not be made from Vertical, Pickett’s book sequel. In doing so, Pickett offered a discursive meditation on Payne’s artistic pathos and the factors that may be playing into Vertical’s stall on the way to celluloid.
Unfortunately, Pickett removed the post after re-publishing a second version that deleted much of the armchair psychologist rumination he originally channeled from Payne’s psyche. An email inquiry to Pickett on why he removed the post (in either iteration) has gone unanswered.
If I were a muckraker, I would publish the post because Pickett’s deletion of the post from his site did not delete the post from RSS feed readers like Bloglines or Google Reader. But, I’m not a muckraker…
Hopefully, Pickett will revisit the topic in a manner that is less confessional and more elucidation because it was worth the extended read time. Until then you can read the other posts on his site and gain tremendous insight into the vicissitudes of the publishing process, what the afterglow is like after capturing the cultural zeitgeist and how he’s helping bring Sideways to the theatre with a stage version.
It’s definitely recommended reading.
A Discovery of Witches
While we’re on the topic of books and authors (and with Halloween around the corner), a reinforcing mention goes to Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20. Earlier this year a little book she wrote called, “A Discovery of Witches” was published and immediately shot up the best sellers lists. The movie rights were acquired this summer by Warner Bros, likely securing Harkness’ financial future in the process.
While I read fiction infrequently (the last fiction book being Vertical by Rex Pickett), those that I know who can tell the difference between kindling and a classic call A Discovery of Witches “mad genius.”
Any conversation about a wine blogger doing good should begin with Deb Harkness who is now dabbling in rarified air. Pick up her book if you haven’t yet.
Bargain Wine Books
There’s little doubt, in the prolonged US economic malaise we’re experiencing, that “value wine” and “bargain wine” are hot topics. Heck, an entire channel of business has been defined with “Flash” wine sale sites. Given that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a couple of wine books would be published with this specific focus.
What is a surprise is that the books are authored by wine writers with real chops engaged in offering a deeper narrative than the slapdash compendiums of wine lists that has passed muster in years gone by.
Just in time for the holidays, Natalie MacLean has Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World’s Best Bargain Wines publishing on November 1st and George Taber, a wine writer on a tear with his fourth book in six years, has A Toast to Bargain Wines: How Innovators, Iconoclasts, and Winemaking Revolutionaries Are Changing the Way the World Drinks publishing on November 15th.
An Idea worth Duplicating?
Celebrity deaths come in threes and new wine ideas come in twos.
We’ve seen this duplicative market entry in recent years with winery reservation systems CellarPass and VinoVisit and now we’re seeing it with quasi-wine search engines.
WineMatch and VinoMatch are both in the early stages of launch purporting to help a consumer match their likes with wines they might enjoy.
Meh. The problem with these sites isn’t that consumers don’t need help finding a wine they like, the problem is that most wine consumers don’t understand what kind of wine they like. Yes, it’s the tannins that dry the back of the mouth and its residual sugar that makes that K-J so delectable…
By the time consumers figure out their likes and dislikes graduating beyond the “go-to,” they don’t care about having somebody help them “match” their wines to their tastes because they’re on their own adventure.
It’s just my opinion, but these sites face looooong odds of finding consumer success and short of the slick willy seduction that happens with some wineries who haven’t been bitten and as such aren’t twice shy, they won’t find *any* success. But, I’ve been wrong before, at least once.
Pictures and Pithiness
While we’re on the topic of online wine services, I’m not sure whether I should be happy or aghast that I’ve been a habitué of the online wine scene for long enough to see a derivative – it’s like watching a remake of the movie Footloose when I was saw the original in the theatre.
There’s a new wine site called TasteJive that takes the concept of a wine blog called Chateau Petrogasm, popular in 2007 and 2008, to new heights.
Around the premise that a picture is worth a thousand words even if that picture has nothing to do with wine, they have created a site that provides nothing but visual metaphors with a 140 character description for finding wines you might like.
I loved the idea of Chateau Petrogasm, I like the idea of a perfectly crafted 140 character slug, but I’m very uncertain about the community aspect of TasteJive—the users who control the uploading of pictures and descriptions.
As noted mid-20th century photographer Diane Arbus said, “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.”
Not exactly a recipe for success in bumping into a wine.
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_media_edition/
Monday, 23 January 2012
An Unlikely Boutique: Sagemoor Vineyards
Kori S. Voorhees, our Wine Peeps Editor-in-Chief, has been a contributor to Washington Tasting Room Magazine, a quarterly magazine that focuses on Washington State wine with articles about wineries, vineyards, travel, and lifestyle. The following article, written by Kori, appeared in the Summer 2011 issue. Northwest wineries have been banking on grapes from Sagemoor Vineyards [...]
An Unlikely Boutique: Sagemoor Vineyards 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/~3/0bc_lY3j4KE/
Chinese wine smuggler sentenced to life in prison
Sun Xitai, a 62-year-old businessman in China has been sentenced to life in prison. His crime? Bringing about $7 million worth of wine, mostly Bordeaux, from Hong Kong to mainland China and failing to pay sufficient duty. You can get the whole story in an interesting post on Bordeaux Undiscovered. The post cites China’s Legal [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/3qDlzr3_D1U/
A community of wine lovers and friends at the EWBC
“My nerves were getting to me. After all, I had no formal wine training, no valuable old bottles to bring, and was just wearing jeans in this incredibly chic venue! … Equipped with spit buckets galore, people start rushing around like some sort of speed dating game with bottles in hand. I realized I had [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/CCtwqGNe_L8/
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Think Fast: 10 Questions with Dr Vino
Last year I read Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink by Tyler Colman. I really enjoyed it. It helps explain why interstate wine shipping laws are so fouled up.
Tyler is known as Dr Vino on his wine blog where he usually writes in short form - but sometimes goes more in depth as he did with this piece exploring ethical standards at The Wine Advocate way back in 2009.
One thing I appreciate about his writing is that it's always mindful of the acquisition process. He was in the Boston area for a visit recently so we were comparing notes on wine retailers. It was a good time to reach out to him for this 10 question interview.
If you have a chance before you read this, get a better feel for his personality from his appearance on Wine Library TV.
Q1: Dr Vino ? what kind of PhD do you carry?
Dr Vino: I got into wine writing the way so many people do, by doing a Ph.D. in Political Science.
Q2: Wine that got you into wine?
Dr Vino: There wasn't any one wine, just a lot of wines from different places--in an age of globalization and standardization around big brands, wine represents something distinctive, from a certain bend in a river, bottled at the source. It's so intellectually interesting, not to mention tasty, that it didn't take much to pique my interest.
Q3: What kind of stemware do you use?
Dr Vino: Good stemware makes a difference--I have several kinds but probably the Schott Zwiesel has survived the longest because of the titanium-infused crystal. (Schott Zwiesel on Amazon)
Q4: If you could only buy wine from one retailer in the US for the rest of your life, who would it be and why?
Dr Vino: Chambers Street Wines. They have a terrific selection, reasonable prices, and exert a tremendous influence on wine in America, one that belies their one small shop.
Q5: Best current release red wine value under $25?
Dr Vino: Jean-Paul Brun "L'Ancien" 2009 ($15) from Beaujolais is amazing if you can still find it. CellarTracker
Q6: Best white value?
Dr Vino: Domaine de la Pepiere, Clos des Briords, 2010 ($16). The 2010 has crackling acidity; fantastic wine under $20 with any food from the sea. CellarTracker
Q7: What grape variety is going to break through in the next 5 years?
Dr Vino: Romorantin! This white grape grown almost in the tiny Cour-Cheverny appellation in the Loire has got breakout written all over it! ;-)
Q8: Instantaneous wine aerators: Fad or legitimate handy accessory?
Dr Vino: I haven't tried one but I did just see the results of a recent blind tasting of NYC sommeliers -- they gave them the thumbs down. If I think a wine needs some air, I usually have time for a traditional decanter, which also showcase the wine beautifully on the table.
Q9: If you could only drink one wine every night for the rest of your life, price a consideration, what would it be?
Dr Vino: I couldn't do it! Part of the appeal of wine is that there are so many different wines out there and the seasons are always changing.
Q10: Best tip for someone that?s just starting to go wine berserkers?
Dr Vino: Try something new. Many states offer free tastings at shops--go and taste through everything. Have a wine themed party and challenge friends to bring different wines.
My thanks to Tyler for answering these questions!
What to do next:
- Check out and subscribe to Dr Vino's Wine Blog
- Follow Tyler on Twitter
- Buy His Books on Amazon
New Jersey and the State of Direct Shipping
With New Jersey passing direct shipping legislation on Monday and the governor only needing to sign it, really one more significant state exists where the wineries and significant numbers of wine consumers need to get direct shipping: Pennsylvania. Yet the...
Isabella?s Islay sold at an eye-blogging amount of $6.2 million
Isabella?s Islay is now the most luxurious and exclusive whiskey on earth from the United Kingdom, made by Luxury Beverage Company which is already famous for producing the non-alcoholic beverage Ruwa. Isabella?s Islay is a perfect creation with a combination of British artistry and the expert touch of a jeweler. This decanter is made from [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/N0DtkVauvUM/
Saturday, 21 January 2012
SWAT For Wine Disasters
Most of the time wine lovers take corkscrews for granted. We regularly take them out and open bottles without incident. But there are times when special weapons and tactics are needed to prevent wine disasters. Such an event occurred here this evening when I was opening a double magnum. Large format bottles are always a [...]
SWAT For Wine Disasters originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
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2012 Boston Wine Expo: More Affordable if You Buy Early
I've gotten a few emails from people asking about discount codes so I asked the folks who run the Expo if I could have some to share. They said they've lowered prices for the Expo this year - especially for early purchases. Here's the pricing for the 2012 Expo:
- Nightly Vintner Dinners
- Three Days of Seminars (as opposed to just Saturday and Sunday)
- NECN TV Diner Platinum Plate Gala Friday Evening
- Chefs' Grand Benefit Dinner Saturday Evening
- Barrel Sampling Room for the Trade Saturday and Sunday
Check out these options if you're in the trade, a potential exhibitor, or the media.
Further Reading:
- Winemakers Impress at the 2011 Boston Wine Expo
- Inside the Grand Cru Lounge at the 2011 Boston Wine Expo
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