You can feel safer in your bed tonight knowing that the United States government is protecting you from another danger. That new evil is, of course, Brunello di Montalcino that might have a bit of cabernet or merlot adulterating the sangiovese grosso. These are the same consumer protectors that brought you the 75% rule for American varietal wines, which requires that the stated variety make up at least three quarters of the named wine. So while it’s fine for an American producer of pinot noir to blend in 25% syrah or anything else the missteps of a few producers in Brunello will bring down the wrath of the TTB on all producers.

It’s great to know that our government is always on the watch.

US threatens to block all Brunello imports - decanter.com

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It wasn?t until the early nineties that Familia Zuccardi managed to become the first Argentine producer to export wines made from this variety. Although demand for fruit-forward Malbec cuvées and Cabernet have always outpaced that of Tempranillo wines?, Zuccardi did something quite praiseworthy?not allow foreign demand to solely dictate their wine styles and choice of projects. Case in point, I?ve happily recommended reviews of their Torrontés and other red wines, however, their Tempranillo went on to hold its own against similarly priced Rioja wines at UK-based blind tastings.

It is no surprise though, that I have always looked toward Zuccardi for innovation in Argentina?the kind that doesn?t involve foreign tasting panels, glossy-rag journalists and marketing gurus. Zuccardi has proven itself unorthodox and highly idiosyncratic concerning many aspects of its operations. Their ?new varieties program? consists of expanding their already exciting selection of rare varieties through vine nurseries; some of the exciting prospects include finding sophisticated Andean expressions of Barbera, Marsanne, Aglianico, Tannat and Mourvèdre, among other favorites of mine. In addition to this, they are obsessed with the importance of utilizing yeasts indigenous to their vineyards, rather than the standard strains. Other exciting offerings I would love to get my hands on would be their Malbec-based fortified wine and Torrontés-based dessert wine.

Don?t get me wrong. While I consider myself a bit more obsessed about rarer varieties than most, I have reverence and much appreciation for the way in which Tempranillo shows its pedigree in good examples of Valdepeñas, Rioja, Ribera del Duero and several other styles. Given this, it takes quite a bit for me to take the plunge and gush about a New World interpretation that does the variety any justice. Why do I appreciate Zuccardi? Because they haven?t simply produced an above-par Argentine Tempranillo, but because they have produced Tempranillo wines in Mendoza with an unmistakable personality of their own. While I recognized the variety?s general characteristics when tasting Zuccardi?s, I simply could not accuse Zuccardi of copying the style of any particular Spanish region?s Tempranillo expression, although I honestly tried.

Even if the variety came along with Spanish settlers centuries ago, it wasn?t until recently that Tempranillo in Mendoza achieved its very own stylistic idiosyncrasy. I especially recommend trying the Zuccardi Q Tempranillo to those who enjoy the prestige Spanish regions? Tempranillo-based wines, particularly if making comparisons to similarly priced $15-$20 range Rioja.

Visual/Aromatic Profile: Deep ruby and garnet in the glass. I would decant this one to let the gorgeous nose unfold for a nice couple of hours at least. It features very pronounced dark cherry, blackberry, currant and sweet orange peel. The oak is not an overbearing presence, with aromas of toast, vanilla, chocolate and soft leather.

Texture and Finish: Knockout balance and complexity. The wine was matured in medium toasted American oak barrels (new), and never clarified in any way. The style is dry, with medium acidity and high tannin structure holding up the full body. Flavors are nicely concentrated, with dark cherry, blackberry, toast, chocolate and smoky leather. Some of these more robust elements power on through to the lengthy finish, with dark chocolate, toast and soft leather.

Core wine consumers are interested in purchasing sustainable wines because they want to support producers of sustainable products and because they believe it to be better for the environment, according to a recent study conducted by Full Glass Research in partnership with the Oregon Wine Board. However, many remain confused about exact definitions and certifications; and accessibility is a key barrier to purchase.

Educational campaign will help consumers easily identify certified sustainable wines

Full Glass Research conducted surveys with 954 core involved wine consumers from the Wine Opinions panel and 731 less frequent wine consumers in late 2007 to better understand perceptions of sustainability and purchase motivations among these two consumer sets.

There?s a lot of information here folks!

By Campbell Mattinson
Publisher, The Wine Front

Torbreck’s top shiraz – the Run Rig Shiraz, priced at well over $200 per bottle – is probably Australia ’s most hedonistic wine. It leaps out of the bottle like a rattlesnake, all fanfare and bite. It is, always, dangerously drinkable. It is thick with flavour and accented by sweetness, its spicy, gravelly, smoky complexity ramping its class through the roof. There’s always been a question mark though: this tastes so bloody good the day it is released – what happens if you stick it in the cellar? Is it Australia ’s best early-drinking wine, or will it develop and evolve if given time? A tasting in the Barossa Valley recently of every vintage yet made of Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz (including the just-released 2005) threw a crust of clear answers.

The full article is available to subscribers only. Click here for the full article. 

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The Award-Winning Wine:

McManis Family Vineyards 2006 Petite Sirah

Reason for Reviewing:

McManis Family Vineyards 2006 Petite...

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)