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I’m in the process of closing down Wine Life Today the social bookmarking service and making it into my personal blog so that I can dedicate my time to creating real change and real value for the entire wine industry.
WLT is a two year old project that had a decent amount of success and even generated some advertising revenue which is cool. But I never intended it to be a revenue source as much as it was a learning experience. I LOVE the wine community and I spend tremendous amounts of time creating and learning from my creations/experiences. So I always thought that creating things for the wine world would be the best of all worlds - I could meet more and more people in the wine world all while having my creative outlet.
Recently, OpenWine Consortium, a brainchild of mine that was inspired by the need of some industry friends I met through my other creations (this blog and WLT), has emerged as an unmitigated success. With really no marketing whatsoever, it has garnered attention across all corners of the world, been written up in Wines & Vines magazine, signed up nearly 1000 members in less than three months, and really become something I can spend GOBS of time working on. Its special, it fills a need that the industry has, and most of all, its something I’m very proud of but believe it can be so much more.
I believe OpenWine Consortium is 10 times more useful at 1000 then it was at 100 in terms of affecting change in the industry. Real business connections are being made, value is being created through the exchange of expertise and advice, and new ideas are being spawned just through the interaction.
Guess what…I also believe that is OWC were 10,000 people is would be 100 times more useful and would create 100 time the value it does today. So I’m setting a goal for myself and the OWC community. The industry needs this site to be at 10,000 members from every corner of the globe to make it an invaluable place to be on the Internet if you are in the wine trade. This goal is SOOOO doable its rediculous. There are tens of thousand of wine brands and just an un-Godly number of service businesses that work with those brands and ALL the employees/owners/proprietors of all these businesses can benefit from the OWC community - the interaction, the community, the technology exchange.
So that is my goal today. I’m very proud that we’ve gained 1000 members. But I’m going to dedicate the time and effort needed to really move the needle in the industry and I hope others in the community who see the value will do the same.
I’ll start with something simple - a Logo that others can get behind. Some good friends have put time into creating a logo and I"ll get it out there soon. Look for the preview here.
What are some other things I can do? Partnerships with others in the trade, training to properly use OWC as a tool for trade associations, implementing the changes that the membership wants to see on the network.
Me and about 1000 of my industry friends should be able to make a difference so lets see where this takes us!
Cheers!
(almost makes me want to say "To infinity and beyond!"…but I’ll refrain)
Barry Callebaut has linked its origin chocolates with different wine varieties, in an effort to tap into a growing premium chocolate market by highlighting the 'sophisticated' connection. via FoodNavigator
*What an unusual mix in terms of the international producers you represent?why Argentina, New Zealand and Japan?
- Not really if you consider that Argentina and Japan (Ginjo sake), and to some extent New Zealand, share the same common elements?there are great wines and sake being produced by highly talented winemakers and tojis (master brewers), and they are not getting recognized yet. The quality is already in the bottle?so why should these sell less or get less respect than wine from more obvious regions? We always say that we are really a ?national education company? since we usually explain more than we sell. Our job is to get people to taste these wines and premium sake, and the stuff inside the bottles takes care of the rest. At the heart of this idea is also the notion that in the end, it?s the people you work with who make the difference between mediocre and ?wow!?. We have been lucky, fortunate, and smart (maybe a little of each) to meet and represent some of the top talent in these regions:
Susana Balbo?Crios de Susana Balbo, Susana Balbo signature wines, Nosotros (with Pedro below)
Pedro Marchevsky ? BenMarco
Pepe Galante & Mariano di Paola ? mapema
Luis Reginato ? Luca, Tikal, La Posta
Roberto de la Mota - Mendel
Jose & Pepe Reginato ? Reginato sparkling wines
Guy Davis ? Davis Family Vineyards (Russian River, CA) and Gusto (NZ SB)
13 Master Brewers from all over Japan?each as talented as anyone we have met.
*As someone who deals so closely with Argentine producers, what types of obstacles, limitations and concerns have any of them expressed to you in terms of being able to export and promote their products abroad?
- Well, I want to stay out of trouble here since I travel to Argentina a lot, but let me just say that the Argentine government has historically been more of a hindrance than a help for wine exports. As an example, and hard to believe, they actually tax EXPORTS! Perhaps the bigger obstacle for Argentine wineries is that the economic and political situation is relatively unstable, and when you are in an industry that measures commitment and success over a decade or longer due to capital investment requirements, it is hard to deal with a system that usually looks out only 2-3 years at a time.
*In your eyes, what sets apart these Argentine producers you represent? What do their wines bring to the table of American wine consumers that large-yield, often conglomerate-backed wines simply cannot?
- I alluded to this a bit above when talking about who we represent and why. I think there are three main things that set our producers apart:
1) Our wineries are owned by and have Argentine winemakers who have lived in this unique climate and region for their entire lives. For us, that means that the wines that they make TASTE like Argentine wines, not like some random wine from somewhere in the world. And as talented as some of the flying/foreign winemakers are who are working in Mendoza, I have yet to taste a wine from them that thrills me the way our producers? wines do at the dinner table. And I taste everything from down there.
2) As good as they already are, they are still always trying to learn how to improve their wines, and in today?s wine world, that?s the only way you stay on top. It shows.
3) Obsessive attention to detail seems like an abused phrase, but in winemaking it is crucial and not as common as you would think. Our winemakers are also our close friends and in Argentina that is taken pretty seriously. They make sure that every step is done with the utmost care because they would never want to look their friends in the eye and say, ?uhh..I?m sorry but this wine is just ok because we weren?t really paying close attention when we made it.? Large wineries may be able to solve #1 above, but #2 and #3 are far harder to come by, and that?s probably as true in the US as it is in Argentina.
*Looking ahead?are there any regions Vine Connections is looking to expand its portfolio toward, and why?
- We made a strategic decision a few years ago that we would remain specialists in Argentine wine and Japanese sake. Some importers have gone in the opposite direction and are happy to sell one of everything from anywhere, but we?re just not built that way as people. We started as leaders in both of these categories and we feel the only way to stay out in front is to specialize. That?s why we spend almost a month per year in Mendoza and visit Japan for at least 2 weeks every year. It?s our own ?attention to detail? mantra, and we try to stick to it so that we can look our customers in they eye and say every time, ?This is really great Argentine wine and Ginjo sake?. Every time.
- Fortunately, we won?t be bored since there still plenty of regions and microclimates still left to discover in Argentina.
*Given the nature of the market here in the United States, what advice would you give to consumers who would like be aware of, as well as actually see, a dramatic increase in availability of premium Argentine wines such as those crafted by your producers?
- American consumers have helped their own cause a lot already by being very open to trying wines like Malbec, Bonarda, and Torrontes. I think they will help themselves even further by continuing to experiment with wines at many different prices, not just the ?great values? under $15. Nick and I firmly believe that well-made Argentine wines offer incredible value and over-deliver at all price points. A $12 wine is worth more like $16, and a $30 wine is worth more like $40 when compared to other wine regions of the world. And, of course, you can support quality-focused companies like Vine Connections by paying attention to the importer name or logo (like our compass) that appear on every bottle. As with other wine regions, a good wine importer can be your best friend when you haven?t tried a particular wine yet and would like some assurance that you are going to enjoy it?especially when spending more than $15 or so.
*What an unusual mix in terms of the international producers you represent?why Argentina, New Zealand and Japan?
- Not really if you consider that Argentina and Japan (Ginjo sake), and to some extent New Zealand, share the same common elements?there are great wines and sake being produced by highly talented winemakers and tojis (master brewers), and they are not getting recognized yet. The quality is already in the bottle?so why should these sell less or get less respect than wine from more obvious regions? We always say that we are really a ?national education company? since we usually explain more than we sell. Our job is to get people to taste these wines and premium sake, and the stuff inside the bottles takes care of the rest. At the heart of this idea is also the notion that in the end, it?s the people you work with who make the difference between mediocre and ?wow!?. We have been lucky, fortunate, and smart (maybe a little of each) to meet and represent some of the top talent in these regions:
Susana Balbo?Crios de Susana Balbo, Susana Balbo signature wines, Nosotros (with Pedro below)
Pedro Marchevsky ? BenMarco
Pepe Galante & Mariano di Paola ? mapema
Luis Reginato ? Luca, Tikal, La Posta
Roberto de la Mota - Mendel
Jose & Pepe Reginato ? Reginato sparkling wines
Guy Davis ? Davis Family Vineyards (Russian River, CA) and Gusto (NZ SB)
13 Master Brewers from all over Japan?each as talented as anyone we have met.
*As someone who deals so closely with Argentine producers, what types of obstacles, limitations and concerns have any of them expressed to you in terms of being able to export and promote their products abroad?
- Well, I want to stay out of trouble here since I travel to Argentina a lot, but let me just say that the Argentine government has historically been more of a hindrance than a help for wine exports. As an example, and hard to believe, they actually tax EXPORTS! Perhaps the bigger obstacle for Argentine wineries is that the economic and political situation is relatively unstable, and when you are in an industry that measures commitment and success over a decade or longer due to capital investment requirements, it is hard to deal with a system that usually looks out only 2-3 years at a time.
*In your eyes, what sets apart these Argentine producers you represent? What do their wines bring to the table of American wine consumers that large-yield, often conglomerate-backed wines simply cannot?
- I alluded to this a bit above when talking about who we represent and why. I think there are three main things that set our producers apart:
1) Our wineries are owned by and have Argentine winemakers who have lived in this unique climate and region for their entire lives. For us, that means that the wines that they make TASTE like Argentine wines, not like some random wine from somewhere in the world. And as talented as some of the flying/foreign winemakers are who are working in Mendoza, I have yet to taste a wine from them that thrills me the way our producers? wines do at the dinner table. And I taste everything from down there.
2) As good as they already are, they are still always trying to learn how to improve their wines, and in today?s wine world, that?s the only way you stay on top. It shows.
3) Obsessive attention to detail seems like an abused phrase, but in winemaking it is crucial and not as common as you would think. Our winemakers are also our close friends and in Argentina that is taken pretty seriously. They make sure that every step is done with the utmost care because they would never want to look their friends in the eye and say, ?uhh..I?m sorry but this wine is just ok because we weren?t really paying close attention when we made it.? Large wineries may be able to solve #1 above, but #2 and #3 are far harder to come by, and that?s probably as true in the US as it is in Argentina.
*Looking ahead?are there any regions Vine Connections is looking to expand its portfolio toward, and why?
- We made a strategic decision a few years ago that we would remain specialists in Argentine wine and Japanese sake. Some importers have gone in the opposite direction and are happy to sell one of everything from anywhere, but we?re just not built that way as people. We started as leaders in both of these categories and we feel the only way to stay out in front is to specialize. That?s why we spend almost a month per year in Mendoza and visit Japan for at least 2 weeks every year. It?s our own ?attention to detail? mantra, and we try to stick to it so that we can look our customers in they eye and say every time, ?This is really great Argentine wine and Ginjo sake?. Every time.
- Fortunately, we won?t be bored since there still plenty of regions and microclimates still left to discover in Argentina.
*Given the nature of the market here in the United States, what advice would you give to consumers who would like be aware of, as well as actually see, a dramatic increase in availability of premium Argentine wines such as those crafted by your producers?
- American consumers have helped their own cause a lot already by being very open to trying wines like Malbec, Bonarda, and Torrontes. I think they will help themselves even further by continuing to experiment with wines at many different prices, not just the ?great values? under $15. Nick and I firmly believe that well-made Argentine wines offer incredible value and over-deliver at all price points. A $12 wine is worth more like $16, and a $30 wine is worth more like $40 when compared to other wine regions of the world. And, of course, you can support quality-focused companies like Vine Connections by paying attention to the importer name or logo (like our compass) that appear on every bottle. As with other wine regions, a good wine importer can be your best friend when you haven?t tried a particular wine yet and would like some assurance that you are going to enjoy it?especially when spending more than $15 or so.
Peter Liem is the second Wine & Spirits Magazine writer to take up blogging, beating his colleague Wolfgang Weber to the punch by a couple months. Peter's personal blog, Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel, has a certain derogatory ring to it, but please don't let this fool you. Peter is W&S's Senior Correspondent based in Champagne, giving him a unique and insider perspective particularly on the European wine scene. I learned about Peter's Blog from Brooklyn Wine Guy who highly recommended it and I was not disappointed. Peter's Besotted Ramblings are likely the best source of information on the Champagne wine region and Champagne the product on the net. It's an education in the waiting. Peter was kind enough to agree to be Bloggerviewed.
1. When did you begin blogging and why? I started my blog in November of 2007, mostly because I was living halfway around the world from the majority of my friends, and it was an easy way to stay connected. It?s since grown into something beyond what I anticipated, and I find that I enjoy writing it.
2 In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog. I?m fortunate in that I?m based in one of the most dynamic and intriguing wine regions in the world, constantly surrounded by wine, vineyards and winemakers, and my blog allows me to develop ideas about issues and random bits of information that I encounter from day to day. My goal is to keep it mostly about champagne, but as I travel fairly regularly, I also end up writing about other things that I happen to be drinking or eating at the time.
3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack? You mean other than its babbling incoherence and child-like grasp of HTML? Seriously, I suppose that one unique element of my blog is that among people blogging in English about champagne, I?m one of the very few who actually live in the region, and among those I?m the only journalist, as far as I know (the rest are winemakers or connected with wineries). Both of these things shape my perspective in particular ways.
4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog? It?s been shocking, really. Each week surpasses the previous one. I don?t look at my stats a lot, mostly because I use Blogger, which doesn?t have an internal stat counter. But whenever I do, I think, ?Damn, where did all these people come from? And don?t they have anything else better to do?? 5. Do you accept sample for review? Well, most of my tasting is done at wineries, so I suppose that tasting wine "sur place" constitutes accepting samples in some way. I don?t feel any sort of conflict of interest, since I?m not actually reviewing wine, nor do I feel compelled to write about something just because someone opened a fantastically expensive or rare bottle for me. The whole point of having a personal blog is so that I can write about whatever I want to write about.
6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why? I don?t. At my day job I?m required to use the 100-point scale, which I like to think that I can wield competently as a professional. Personally, however, I don?t believe in numeric scoring, although I recognize the need for a system to communicate a concept of quality, if you?re going to be in the business of reviewing wine. Fortunately, my blog isn?t about reviewing wine, and it certainly isn?t about rating wine. It?s more about establishing a context in which to place the wines that I write about, creating a backdrop so that the reader is better empowered to assess these wines for himself or herself.
7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule? It?s a sort of mental exercise, usually in the morning. I don?t like spending much more than fifteen minutes on a post ? I?ll pick a sufficiently narrow topic and try to make myself write whatever I have to say within the allotted time. As I often spend much of my day writing other things, it?s a nice change of pace to write a short, focused post on something that I?m interested in.
8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog? I?ve done absolutely nothing to market my blog. In fact, I think the only thing I?ve ever done that could remotely be considered marketing is registering on Technorati. I must be the worst self-promoter in the entire world.
9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print? As others have said, a blog connects you with your readers in a much more immediate way than print journalism. For one thing, you can write much more frequently, and your writing is delivered instantaneously to your audience, which offers huge advantages. When I write for print, sometimes it won?t be read until several months later, which has an impact on both how you write and what you can write about. Also, one of the most valuable things about blogging is a direct interaction with your audience, via comments, e-mails and the like, and it?s very rewarding to exchange ideas in this manner.
10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly? I browse whenever I can, generally around the blogs that I?ve linked to on my site. I like Brooklynguy?s well-written and down-to-earth Wine & Food Blog. Dr. Vino is always a fantastic source of information, and generally a hoot to read. Wolfgang Weber?s Spume is intelligent and entertaining, not always about wine but that?s a good thing. I also like Ray Isle?s blog at Food & Wine ? he?s the best writer I?ve ever worked with, as well as an all-around great guy.
11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture? I can?t say that I see a big impact on the industry. On wine culture, I suppose that it gets more people engaged in a dialogue about wine, whether they?re reading or writing. I think that blogs still occupy a fringe element rather than the mainstream, but their presence and influence is only going to grow.
12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean? I would say Paris, except that I live close by and am there quite regularly, so it doesn?t feel like much of a vacation to me! I do love the city, though. For a proper vacation, I try to remove myself completely from Europe and North America, with Asia being a preferred continent to wander in.
13. Pet: Dog or Cat? Cats, unquestionably. They are by far the more civilized of the two. I?ve been in too many places in the world where I?ve had to carry a pocketful of rocks to fend off canine marauders. In Vietnam, however, I exacted my revenge upon the canine race when I ate dog prepared three different ways, including a boiled paw floating in soup, nails and all. It was a very Lance Henriksen in "Dead Man"sort of moment. 14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People? The New Yorker. In fact, it?s become something of a ritual for me ? when I fly I almost always have both the New Yorker and Wired in my bag. One of the things I love most about flying is that it frees me of all duties and obligations, and I have absolutely nothing to do but sit there and read a magazine.
15. Car: Prius or BMW? A Prius would be a blessing, with gas prices the way they are here in Europe. Although as my current vehicle is a Peugeot 206, I would be thrilled to drive either a Prius or a BMW. The French make many wonderful things, but automobiles are not exactly their strong suit.
16. Chablis or California Chardonnay? Chablis, without a doubt. I?m an old-world, old-school, cool-climate, rocks-and-minerals sort of guy. I guess I sort of have to be ? I live two hours <I>north</I> of Chablis. 17. Describe what you would have at your last meal? I would have Kouei Furukawa, the kaiseki-trained chef of Shokkan in Tokyo?s Shibuya district, make me a multi-course extravaganza from whatever he found at the market that morning. I?d bring a ton of champagne, of course, as well as an ample supply of sake, and try out all sorts of combinations with Furukawa-san?s exquisitely elegant and refined cuisine.
18. What is Heaven Like? Of course the champagne flows freely, and by some miracle it's all organically grown. The views are spectacular, rather like sitting out on the patio at the Ventana Inn in Big Sur. The chefs are Japanese, and the sommeliers probably are, too. And on the television, Arsenal is perpetually thrashing Manchester United, over and over again for the rest of eternity.
19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine? There are many famous people living and deceased whom I might choose, but I?d have to say that my group of friends in Portland, Oregon, who all have fabulous cellars and are all complete wine dorks, will always be my favorite dining companions. Unfortunately we hardly ever get to see each other these days. There are more than four of them, but so be it.
20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog? Don?t use Blogger! Just kidding. I think it?s important to remember that while writing on the web allows you to be more casual and relaxed than writing in print, the rules of good writing still apply. Write with a purpose and keep your audience in mind. It doesn?t have to be Pulitzer Prize-worthy, but it ought to have a point ? writing ?I drank this last night and it was yummy? is not very useful to anybody, plus it?s boring.
There was a time, when as a teen, I listened to music for hours each day. Then came children whose sleep took precedence. Music became something peripheral and half volume. The quieter it became, the less I listened.
For years I begrudgingly consumed commercial radio (on my way to and from work). It made music even less enjoyable. Predictable and bland. A filler and a distraction rather than anything substantive or enjoyable.
I've grown more particular with age, harder to please and less tolerant of formula and packaging. Despite this, I find that again I'm listening to and enjoying music, mesmerised by the beauty, frailty and power of some songs.
I imagine it's the same with wine. I have friends who once had a passion, but for whatever reason (health, children, money, spouse) they have lost interest. If they do drink it's the routine and mundane that passes their lips. A sure way to extinguish any remaining spark. Soon all wine becomes the same, an agreeable liquid that no longer excites. . .
Rob Rosania, a 38 year-old collector aka “Big Boy,” sold off around $5 million of his champagne and still wines at auction a couple of weeks ago. And yet he still remains one of the biggest collectors of champagne around.
This factoid from a recent Bloomberg article piqued my interest: Rosania owns 400 cases of the excellent champagne Salon 1996 (minus the five he sold at auction) out of a total of 5,000 produced. Poking around on the web revealed other sources saying that there were 8,000 cases produced. And these are six-bottle cases that we’re talking about. The champagne retails for $250 - $300 (search for the Salon 1996).
It’s a fascinating strategy for investing in wine. Rosania has somewhere between five and eight percent of this blue chip wine outstanding–and that percentage rises every time a cork of it is popped elsewhere. That’s probably a good percentage of the production to have to really benefit from a future price move yet not control the market entirely. It would be hard to take an equivalent percentage of a first growth Bordeaux wine since the production volumes are higher. All it takes is a big cellar and a cool $700k or so.
Even if the economy stagnates, wine such as this will probably always have buyers. Could it double in value in ten years? Even if it doesn’t Rosania can always have fun popping open the bottles of this fine wine with his saber.
I’ve tried a tasting-sized-pour of the 96 Salon and it is a brilliant champagne. In a wine investing video game, I might be tempted to adopt a similar strategy. If, in some fantasy world, you were going to take ten percent of a wine, which would it be?
It seems to be cold and rainy more often than not these days, even though the calendar says it's spring. Luckily we were given a true spring-like day this weekend, which allowed us to have our first alfresco lunch of the season. As Nancy and I sat on the back deck with some grilled jalapeño shrimp on a bed of arugula, the meal and setting called for one thing: rosé.
For those who like to cellar wines instead of drinking them right away, 1 is just the thing. In some ways it's the polar opposite of Penfolds Grange, Australia's most famous (and extremely ageable) Shiraz. But while Grange tastes amazingly good upon release and continues to develop extra nuances in the bottle, St.
Napa Valley is the most famous appellation for wine in the United States, producing some of the most popular chardonnays and cabernet sauvignons sold in this country. via Lansing State Journal
This week I'm focusing on a pair of organic wines to highlight the increasingly wide range of options consumers have if they want to drink wine that has been made with organic grapes.
There was a time when wines made with organic grapes were difficult to find, but that is certainly not true any more. In fact, you are probably drinking wine made with organic grapes and not even realizing it. One of the things that has struck me is that some wines don't identify themselves as using organic grapes on their labels.
One of the reasons for this may be that current regulations require that a wine labeled "Organic" must not only be made with organic grapes, there must be no added sulfites. Sulfites are added to wines to help stabilize them for shipping and storage, so it's pretty hard to find a wine that is "Organic." It's far more common to find a wine that is made "with organic grapes." If you look at the tiny type at the bottom of the Jeriko label, you will see that it indicates that organic grapes were used. Wines labeled in this fashion have been made with certified organic fruit, but do have sulfites added for stability. If you want to find out more about organic wine, visit the Organic Wine Company and read up on their notes regarding how wines are classified.
My latest recommendation for a white wine made with certified organic grapes is the 2005 Jeriko Estate Chardonnay. ($19.99, WineQ) Jeriko Estate now uses only certified, organically grown grapes in their wines, all of which are grown in vineyards in Mendocino County. This was a creamy chardonnay that gets its body from partial malolactic fermentation in oak, and its crispness from a majority of fermentation time spent in stainless steel tanks. It was a pleasant bright straw in color, and had aromas of summer orchard fruits like pear and apple, and some late summer hay. The flavors you will find in this wine are of apples and cream, with a faintly buttery aftertaste. All in all, I found this a nicely made example of a creamy, California Chardonnay with good QPR. It will appeal to anyone who likes a richer style of chardonnay, but one that is still fresh and crisp.
With a wine like this, there is nothing better (in my opinion) than oven-fried chicken and slaw. I like the recipe for buttermilk-dipped, pan-browned, and oven-fried chicken from Cooking Light which tastes every bit as decadent as the real thing but leads to only a fraction of the guilt afterwards. The creamy, tangy buttermilk and caramelized flour coating is a perfect pairing for a creamy Chardonnay like this one. And for the slaw, do yourself a favor and try this one with dried cherries, sweetly spicy pecans, apples, cabbage, and a vinegar-based dressing. I cheated and picked up a package of already sweet and spicy pecans from Trader Joe's, and only used green cabbage, by the way, and it was fine. The apples in the slaw really pick up the apple notes in the Chardonnay.
As I get older I'm finding I care more and more about the environment. I stopped drinking bottled water, I'm buying a hybrid car, and I'm eating more organic, locally produced food. It's a good thing to be able to extend this philosophy into my wine drinking, with such tasty results.
Image by jezkerwin via FlickrSorry to our readers of Iberian wine news, because today, is a blogger show. I listen to TWIT religiously. If you are even tangentially interested in the online tech world, I highly suggest it. Each week, they talk about gadgets, websites and online issues, and occasionally, it directly applies to my life.
A few weeks ago, TWIT featured an episode on “The Death of Journalism”, asking the following guest speakers to chime in with their educated thoughts and opinions: Leo Laporte, Steve Gillmor, Mark Frauenfelder, and Molly Wood. Now, although I’ve heard this argument several times before, I usually consider it “the sky is falling” rhetoric, where we all complain about how everything is changing and nothing is good in the world. But during this episode, I actually let down my guard and heard a suprisingly compelling argument.
If big media fails, specifically newspapers, and replaced by online streams, such as blogs and distribution devices such as Twitter, will investigative journalism suffer? In the past, a newspaper could hire a reporter to spend a week on one story, digging deep and looking for the meat, bolstered by their impressive budget. While today, TWIT presented the argument that people with blogs tend to react without reflection, riff on a news story for a few lines, smear a little gossip around, and then try to call it journalism.
Generally, I agree with this argument, or at the very least, that it could lead to a problem if we are not careful. If we never look any deeper than what we think of a particular wine, or rehash the wine encyclopedia’s definition of a region, what are we accomplishing? Some may debate that the role of a wine writer is only to educate and expand knowledge, but shouldn’t we also help create change? Should wine writers/bloggers take and expose issues, challenge ideas and report on news? Or are we only here to taste a new vintage and report only on its positive/negative elements?
Currently we play the editorial section of the wine worlds newspaper. Off the cuff responses to the latest news and events, regurgitating. But can we be more? Catavino is as guilty as the next person when it comes to spewing something out without fully digging into it. Reacting off the cuff without fully analyzing. Granted, we’ve been fighting this issue ourselves over the past year, and for example, I know that Gabriella dug deep into the history of Patxaran to get the full story, and I commend her for it. Dr.Vino is another blogger that comes to mind in conducting investigative reporting with his look at wine’s carbon footprint. Granted, he’s really an exception, considering that his research resulted in a book. What I want to know is whether Wine Bloggers can make a difference, showing that we can professionally fill in the gap when the major wine rags finally collapse (though I would say that many wine rags wouldn’t know good fact checking journalism if it bit them on the nose).
I’m sure these pieces already exist out there, and if so, please link to them in the comment’s section. And while Gabriella’s Pataxaran article was investigative, it is not exactly what I’m talking about. What are the topics that need investigating and can a blogger that doesn’t blog for a living really afford the time to dig deep. What are the questions that we should be asking? What are the stories that still need to be told? Or is wine journalism only about vintages, tasting notes and historic profiles?
When I taste young Bordeaux from top estates such as 1, I often wonder which could be the next 1, 1 or 1. The later three vintages at Latour are some of the greatest red wines ever produced, and they certainly are reference points for the château itself.
Although the Philipponnat family history in the Champagne region dates back to 1522, the recent history really began when Auguste and Pierre Philipponnat settled in the Mareuil-sur-Aÿ region of Champagne in 1910. When Pierre acquired the steep Clos des Goisses vineyard on the southern flank of the Gruguet hill in 1935, he broke with the tradition of blending Champagne vineyards, creating a single-vineyard wine (a monopole) from a rather remarkable site that overlooks the Marne River. Charles Philipponnat, grandson of Auguste, is now President of the Maison and has overseen the creation of new wine making facilities and barrel storage.
Join us as Charles takes us on a walk (make that climb) of the five and a half hectare Clos des Goisses - which stood witness to the WWI battles of nearly 100 years ago. Afterward, Charles shows us the new
Like the Eighty Years' War (1568 - 1648), this post involves the Dutch, Spanish, and English. If I'd been particularly creative I could have recreated certain key battles using cubes of the cheese and historical dioramas. I hope that a few standard photos of wedges will suffice.
Naked Goat is, as you might imagine, a goat cheese. It hails from Spain where it goes by the local name queso de Murcia curado. Purchasing this was one of those slightly anxious moments in the grocery store when I sincerely hoped that a price check was not needed. I could just imagine the following blared over the intercom: "PRICE CHECK ON NAKED GOAT... WE GOT A GUY WITH NAKED GOAT HERE..." This is a firm goat cheese, close in texture to a standard Swiss cheese. In addition to the texture and a slight nutty characteristic, you get classic goat cheese flavors, if not as sharp as fresh chevre.
Cablanca is a Dutch Gouda variant made with goat's milk. Firm but not crumbly or hard with a nice tangy quality. A refreshing change of pace on the cheese plate, and if you're interested in all the many goat versions of your favorite cheeses, just Google "goat _____" and somebody out there makes it. In general I don't eat a lot of Dutch cheese. I respect the love of Edam and Gouda, but the aromas of each draw me back to a trip to Amsterdam. I had a great time there (museums and art galleries rather than hookers and pot), but I vividly recall walking past a cheese shop and being overwhelmed by a blast of warm, funky air. Think back to high school and the bag of gym clothes you accidentally left in the back of your locker for a month.
The British Cheese Board tells us that Red Leicester is "a good partner for beer". Not "enjoy this with a pint o' your best bitter and a heap of bangers and mash" nor "works well with a firm stout and a bit of toad in the hole", merely chow down on this while drinking beer. I had entirely different motivations. After the crazy, surrealist dreams induced by English Stilton, I figured I would attempt to induce dreams of my past with this product. I had a chunk of Red Leicester each night for four consecutive nights and didn't manage to produce a nostalgic dream. Maybe it only works if you ate it in the past? Flavor-wise, Red Leicester is virtually indistinguishable from a sharp cheddar. It was good, but if I want a great cheddar experience I'll get something aged from Vermont or Wisconsin.
Spain's most popular cheese, Manchego, is made from sheep's milk, and I've covered many goat cheeses from the country as well. But the second most popular cheese is a cow's milk queso called Mahón. It's produced on Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands off the east coast of Spain. My particular sample was fairly young, meaning that it was still a little soft, creamy, and nutty. Kind of like a cross between mild white cheddar and brie. Excellent with fresh fruit and a sparkling white like Cava. Maybe some olives and anchovies, and prosciutto and assorted tapas fare.
Hey, let's finish things off with a pink cheese. No, it didn't come with a Hello Kitty label as part of a tea party kit aimed at five year old girls. Rather it's the stodgy-sounding Windsor Red from the Long Clawson Dairy in Bottesford, England. It's based off a sharp pale cheddar that is flavored with a little Port and brandy. But the color doesn't come from the Port: rather it is produced by cochineal, a vibrant red pigment made from pulverized bugs native to Mexico. For anyone repulsed by eating dried cactus parasites, relax. Cochineal is used in all sorts of things, including cosmetics. When a woman reapplies her lipstick after dinner and, perhaps, leaves a red smudge on your cheek at the end of the evening, Miss Manners suggests that you do not describe the biological origin of that coloring if you wish to enjoy repeat performances.
Marlborough, New Zealand. 13.6%. Screwcap. Source: restaurant wine list.
My mild aversion to Sauvignon blanc, was easily overcome by the words Clos Henri. I've read much, but till today tried none of the wine. It's a lovely story and a compelling marketing tag. A Frenchman from Sancerre, and a well regarded line of wine makers, in New Zealand making Sauvignon.
The wine itself is very interesting and quite apart from what you would normally associate with Marlborough. Whilst clearly pungent, wild and varietal, it has a different accent, with pear to complement the grass and gooseberry. Textured and ever so slightly oily, this is satisfying, brisk and full of nuance.
Peter Liem is the second 
