My golf coach recently confirmed what I think I already knew: "Tom, you've got to get out of your head."

Translation: my proclivity to live in my head and to think too much interrupts my need to execute really well a body-driven activity on the golf course.

Thinking about my coach's advice with regard to golfing, I realized that I'm going to have to work very hard to accommodate him, because I've always found much more pleasure in intellectualizing what I do than simply doing.

Wine and drinking is a perfect example. I can't stand the idea of simply drinking a glass of wine and just letting it flow down my throat, letting the droplets fall where they may without thought. I NEED to think about what I'm doing.

Even today as I heard reports about the coming warm weather later this week and into the weekend, I immediately began thinking about drinking Pastis by the pool. But it's not enough that I think about that pleasurable moment in the future, note that I'm looking forward to it and move on until I pour my Pernod on Saturday. No, Tom needs to think about the what this coming Pernod Moment means, what it reminds him of, what it says about the changing seasons, how best to enjoy that coming moment. And I'm not talking practical considerations. I need to think about what it means.

It's a nasty affliction I have, this over thinking things, because it clearly prevents me from becoming a more accomplished Golfer. But I think it's only a case of being a nasty affliction where physical activity is concerned, not where drinking is concerned.

If you don't think about your wine (or drink) when you drink it, then it merely becomes and alcohol delivery vehicle. When you think about the drink, at least you have the opportunity to be a contemplative drunk, if not more.

But it's really the traditions that have grown up around the production of wine and wine's incorporation into local cultures that have made it the heady, intellectual libation it is today for many. Wine can be a cultural translation tool that happens to also make one wobbly. Any Culture, remember, is an entirely mental construct that starts with language, is grounded to territory and is at its best when translated for those who reside outside of it. All this happens in the mind. Wine is a near perfect translation tool.

It seems to me that to simply gulp the stuff is to negate the higher purpose that wine can serve. This notion might appeal to some as placing wine on a pedestal too high. I can see that view. But I can't accept it. The fact that wine provides a marvelous springboard to contemplating people, places, dirt, history and taste makes it particularly worthy of being on a pedestal.

Now, my golf swing is another thing entirely. No pedestal for it. No explaining its often absurd lines either. Perhaps if I can learn to leave my head behind as I swing a club, it will create more room inside there for indulging in the pleasures of the mind where wine is concerned.

GrapeRadio is proud to announce that it has won the award for “Best Wine Podcast and Video Blog” from the American Wine Blog Awards. A panel of wine industry insiders selected the finalist in each category and the winners were then selected by popular vote of the listening public. So thanks again to all of our listeners.

Summary of all Winners:

BEST PODCAST OR VIDEOBLOG
Grape Radio
The crew that produces Grape Radio deliver one of the finest wine radio shows in America. And they have for quite some time. In my mind, what sets them apart from other wine related radio broadcast, be they originating on the Internet or via broadcast, is their willingness to treat their listeners with the respect they deserve, not talking down to them and not assuming they all need remedial education. The American Wine Blog Awards is hardly their first piece of recognition. The Grape Radio crew is now twice honored as a James Beard Award Nominee.

BEST WINE BLOG WRITING
Vinography
www.vinography.com
Last year Alder Yarrow’s Vinography took the prize for Best Wine Review Blog. I consider this award offering even broader recognition to what has become the standard bearer of the wine blogging effort. Alder has not built a substantial readership based on marketing and promotion. He’s earned it through his thoughtful, insightful writing and analysis.

BEST SINGLE SUBJECT BLOG
Good Wine Under $20
www.goodwineunder20.blogspot.com
Deb Harkness, aka Dr. Debs, the LA college professor and wine blogger has probably been the most newly noticed wine blog of the last 12 months or so. This is all due, as far as I can tell, to her enormous passion for both wine and her readers’ passions for wine. Her subject matter has of late broadened beyond recollections of her search for good wines under $20. This is very good news because she is quick witted and has an excellent eye for the curious and newsworthy. Yet her focus on value remains true and will likely be what delivers even more readers to her outstanding blog.

BEST WINE BLOG GRAPHICS
Chateau Petrogasm
www.chateaupetrogasm.com
Benjamin Saltzman and Andrew Stuart have done something remarkable. They created something new and very, very good in the world of wine reviewing. When I first came across Chateau Petrogasm I was knocked by in my chair by their graphic approach to reviewing wines. How simple. A single picture to convey their impressions of a wine. The approach is both highly cerebral as well as arresting due to its implications for how sophisticated and precise the simplest form of communication can be. There is no doubt a coffee table book in the Chateau Petrogasm’s future.

BEST WINERY BLOG
Tablas Creek
www.tablascreek.typepad.com
Tablas Creek has one of the longest running winery blogs. Any really good winery blog must impart the experience of working at a winery and running a winery. The Tablas Creek blog not only does this but is able to do so by also imparting the excitement they possess for being in the business, the seriousness with which they take their efforts and with the occasional self deprecating approach. It is a joy to read that takes one inside the head of someone who thinks clearly and communicates clearly about the business and fun of growing grapes and making wine.

BEST WINE REVIEW BLOG
Good Wine Under $20
www.goodwineunder20.blogspot.com
This was for me by far the most interesting group of nominees in this year’s awards. All four nominees do give their readers an educated and passionate glimpse into their view of the world of wines. Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 did not necessarily win this category running away, but she did win it convincingly, with both the public and the judges. Why? I think it’s because voters and judges see in her reviews exactly what we all want when we encounter a wine we’ve not tasted: an excitement stemming from true discovery. Dr. Debs is clearly becoming an important person in the world of wine blogging and wine reviewing.

BEST BUSINESS BLOG
The Wine Collector
www.vinfolio.com/thewinecollector
The raise to win Best Business Wine Blog was easily the closets of them all. In the end, Steve Bachmann’s The Wine Collector took the prize, actually garnering the most votes from both the public and the judges. The Wine Collector was the winner of last year’s prize for Best Single Subject Wine Blog. This year it was honored for what it does best: deliver exceedingly high level analysis of the wine market and wine selling from the perspective of someone who knows markets and knows about selling wine. Steve’s blog posts, however, are not so far in the air above people’s heads that they won’t appeal to a broad market. What accounts for this is the straightforward nature of his writing. The Wine Collector is a deserving winner.

BEST WINE BLOG
Vinography
www.vinography.com

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Share This

In the long and storied history of Wine Blogging Wednesday, several bloggers have hosted the monthly virtual tasting twice. But only one, founder Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS, has hosted three times. As of today, you can add my name to the WBW three-peat list as I again take up the reins and choose the theme.

The previous two times I’ve hosted, red wines were featured: first lite in alcohol, then full-tilt in the other direction. So this time out, I’ll pick my favorite white variety, Riesling. But not Riesling grown just anywhere, but where the grape first achieved noble status in the Old World: Germany, Austria and France’s Alsace region. In this terroir, the variety produces some of the most interesting and long-lived white wines from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.

Pick any style you like, at any price point, and join me as we explore Old World Riesling on Wednesday, May 7.

To participate, just pick up a wine made from Riesling grown in Germany, Austria or Alsace (OK, Northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are also fine) and blog about it. If you don’t have a blog, sign-up and post at the WBW Community Blog. Once you have posted, send me an email at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com with “WBW 45″ in your subject line. Sometime after May 7th, I’ll post an event round-up here.

I hope you enjoy this theme as much as me and pick up a bottle from somewhere you have not tried yet. I think you will be very pleased with the resulting value.

This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.

The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).

Score: 5/10
Price: 240 RSD (?3)
Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro

Technorati Tags: Montenegro, Montenegrin Wine, Podgorica, Cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon

Share This

Last year I ran a 'subscription and book deal' that a lot of people have been asking me to run again. The book last year was the Wine Hunter - this year it's the Why the French Hate Us: The Real Story of Australian Wine book. Once again I've slashed the price - it wasn't all that long ago that a new subscription to The Wine Front was $55, and the book retails for $28.95. And yet I am offering both a full year's subscription and the book for just $49.95, and that includes delivery of the book.

To take up the offer, click here. Just fill out the order form and get it back to me. If you need a heads up on the book itself, this form also includes some reviews. Or you could take a look here.

This offer will be available for two weeks only.
 

Imagine a corner of Italy where rice is as commonplace as pasta. Where you can visit a university of gastronomy and a university for truffle-hunting dogs all in the same day. Windsurf a secluded lake, mountain bike old Roman trails, hot-air balloon above vineyards, or test the powder on an Olympic-quality ski run. And through it all, taste some of the flat-out finest food and wine anywhere. Welcome to Piemonte. Meaning ?foot of the mountain,? and tucked in between the Italian Riviera and the Alps of France and Switzerland, Piemonte (pyeh-MOHN-teh) has aptly been called Italy?s ?green treasure chest.? Home of Barolo and Barbaresco wine, wild boar and venison, butter and cheese, and the ?Holy Grail of cuisine? ? the white truffle ? this prosperous province offers something for everyone, every month of the year. The Truffle Shuffle They may look like mutant potatoes, but white truffles rank among the priciest and most sought-after foods on the planet. Finding them ? in the woods, underground, in the dead of night ? involves a keen-nosed mongrel dog and arcane lore (including moon phases) passed down from father to son. Every trifolau (truffle hunter, in Piemontese dialect) guards his best spots like secret fishing holes. No wonder ? the prize fungi fetch stratospheric prices (a 1.2-kilo giant recently brought more than $120K at auction, and even ordinary ones can cost hundreds). Every fall, the world celebrates Tuber magnatum pico at the Truffle Market in the historic town of Alba. You enter below a larger-than-life poster of Sophia Loren holding a monster truffle, then thread your way past booth after booth of cheeses, sausages and other local specialties. Sample the truffled wild boar salami, the testun cheese with its crust of grape pressings, the breadstick dipped in chestnut honey, the dense hazelnut cake, and follow the heady aromas to the café bar in back. For 25 euros you can taste what the fuss is all about. While you watch, one stately gentleman shaves tissue-thin truffle slices over a pair of sunny-side-up eggs; another pours you a big glass of Barolo from magnum. (This is Breakfast of Champions Piemonte style!) Around the bend, past fragrant heaps of porcini mushrooms, the trifolai themselves display their finds. If you buy a truffle to bring home, keep it dry and cool (some suggest packing it in dry rice) and use it as soon as you can. (Oh, and it will perfume everything in your suitcase.) Or avoid the hassles by getting bottles of truffle oil instead ? it?s available year-round, it keeps for months, and a few drops go a long way. (Tartufi Morra, in Alba, is a great source for all things truffle.) Drinks Move over Chianti, make way for the world-class reds, whites and sparklers of Piemonte. They?re varied, versatile, and supremely food-friendly, with a history that traces back to Etruscan times (~800 B.C.). From the castle-studded Langhe and Roero regions to the Alpine foothills, here are a few of the best. Arneis: A dry, fragrant, food-friendly white with great acidity and clean flavors from stainless-steel aging. Great with freshwater perch from the lake district or trout from the mountain streams. (Cortese di) Gavi: Dry and crisp; an ancient varietal with DOCG (Italy?s highest) status. Try it with a fritto misto (?mixed fry?) of freshwater fish. Chardonnay: Piemonte?s cool hillsides make for a balanced, fruit-driven chard, usually with little or no oak. A natural with buttered tajerin (fresh, thin-sliced egg noodles) and local game birds such as quail and pheasant. Moscato (muscat): Made dry, sweet or sparkling, the highly fragrant moscato shows ripe, honeyed fruit-and-floral aromas. Great with hard-to-pair foods, and as a lower-alcohol afternoon sipper. Moscato passito, a hyper-sweet version, is made by raisining the grapes, either on the vine or in the winery. And love it or loathe it, the muscat-based Asti Spumante is hard to beat with Piemontese hazelnut cake, or with cheese and cogna? fruit chutney. Alta Langa, a fairly new DOC (regional appellation), produces metodo classico (Champagne-styled) dry sparklers, primarily from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Dolcetto: Medium-bodied and dry despite its name. Soft tannins, forward fruit and reasonable price make it an easy-drinking intro to Piemontese reds. A good partner for a sampler plate of local cheeses. Barbera: Piemonte?s most popular everday red; quality has vastly improved in recent years. Bring it on a vineyard picnic or team it with Piemonte?s garlicky staple, bagna caoda (see recipe). Nebbiolo: When produced without much barrel aging, this varietal is fresh and lively, with medium body and berry-spice flavors. It?s easy-going enough for a rustic lunch of bread, aged sheep cheese and wild boar sausage; heady enough to take on braised veal or wild hare at dinner. Barolo and Barbaresco: Big and burly, both made from the nebbiolo grape, they?re aged for up to three years in oak and can develop in bottle for decades. Locals call them the ?king and queen? of Piemontese reds and serve them with the region?s heartiest fare including venison, risotto with porcini, and anything with white truffles. Barolo Chinato, seasoned with botanicals such as quinine bark, juniper and rosemary, makes a potent after-dinner digestivo. Piemonte Producers Many wineries are open to the public for tours and tasting; others require an appointment. In addition, most restaurants and bottle shops feature a wide range of wines from the entire region. Here?s a sampling: Aldo Conterno Bruno Giacosa Castello Banfi Ceretto Fontanafredda Gaja Gancia Gianni Gagliardo Michele Chiarlo Pio Cesare Prunotto Renato Ratti Sandrone Vietti Eats Fonduta ? Piemonte?s alpine fondue, made with fontina cheese and often stirred into risotto. For a high-ticket version, shave white truffles on top. Agnolotti del plin ? Ravioli stuffed with veal, pork, spinach and nutmeg; often topped with sage butter. Riso (rice) ? Many varieties (look for short-grain ?Vialone Nano? or black ?Venere?). Piemontese risotto recipes vary from the salami-studded Panissa of the northeast to the wine-country mainstay, Risotto al Barolo. Polenta ? The best is stone-ground, from heirloom varieties of corn. Served hot and creamy with butter and/or melted cheese, or poured out, cut into squares, and baked or sautéed. Carne Cruda ? Piemonte-style steak tartare; made with beef or veal and dressed with olive oil and lemon. Bollito misto ? ?Mixed Boil? tastes much better than it sounds. Assorted long-simmered meats (some recipes include a pig?s foot and calf head along with the veal breast, capon and cotechino sausage) and seasonal vegetables. Manzo Stufato ? Braised beef, with varied seasonings such as bay leaf and nutmeg. Tartufo Bianco: The white truffle, ?Jewel of Piemonte,? tastes best as a last-second topping for simple hot foods such as eggs, buttered pasta and risotto. Shave it as thin as possible (a special tool is available locally) to release its musky, earthy aromas. Learn more at a 90-minute class in the sensory analysis of the truffle?s elusive aromas, or join the fourth-generation rector of the University of Truffle Dogs, and his ace sniffer ?Lady,? on a simulated truffle hunt. Cheeses Piemonte produces a huge variety of cheeses. The intense, blue-marbled Castelmagno is often stirred into fresh pasta or gnocchi. Caprino, made from goat?s milk, is tangy and creamy when young; denser and punchier as it ages. Murazzano, a sheep cheese from the Langhe region, has its own festival in August. Bettelmat, from the lake district, gets its distinctive flavor from an aromatic local grass that the cows feed on. Melt some Fontina for a classic après-ski fonduta; slice some firm Toma, creamy Taleggio, or nutty, rich Robiola over hot polenta. Families who make their own cheeses often dry-age them to various stages of hardness and pungency, and also cure them in olive oil with wild or garden herbs. Sweets Bonet: Caramel-cocoa custard, usually served cold. Giandujotti: Mini foil-wrapped chocolate-hazelnut confections, reportedly invented by Napoleon when chocolate supplies were low. Torta di Nocciole (Hazelnut cake): Made with or without cocoa powder, cinnamon and orange peel, it stars Piemonte?s famous and flavorful tonda gentile (round and friendly) variety of hazelnut. Frutta: Piemonte?s fruit ranks among Europe?s finest. Try fresh summer strawberries or peaches soaked in Moscato, with some crunchy brutti ma buoni (ugly but good) mini-biscotti. Ciliege al Barolo (wine-marinated cherries), on menus in season, are also available in jars. Madernassa pears (an ancient local variety, recently saved from extinction) are wonderful as is, stewed with spices, or distilled into grappa. (The agricultural cooperative at Cascina del Cornale sells these and more.) Bicerin: Torino?s hot coffee, chocolate and cream pick-me-up; it originated in an 18th century café? that still features it. Caffe? Corretto: Cuppa joe, wine-country style, served even at breakfast: splash in some red wine to ?correct? the coffee?s bitter edge. Where to Eat Ristorante Elvezia, in the town of Stresa on Lago Maggiore. Try the lake fish ?in cartoccio? (cooked in parchment) Gianni Gagliardo in La Morra. Restaurant features truffle menus in season; adjoining winery. Vintner Gagliardo founded and hosts the annual Barolo Auction. Piola on the town square in Alba. Cozy trattoria owned by the winemaking Ceretto family, featuring their wines. Great house-made ravioli. Belvedere, on the hilltop in La Morra, for agnolotti, wild game and a spectacular view of the Langhe wine country. La Contea, in Neive. Traditional Piemontese specialties, with home-cured meats, fresh-made egg pasta, game birds, and truffles in season. A ?Buon Ricordo? restaurant: you get a hand-painted souvenir plate when you order the specialty of the house. Combal.Zero for cutting-edge food and presentation, next to the ancient Rivoli castle near Torino. Innovative chef-owner Davide Scabin puts ?ingredients together in an unusual way: semi-solid soups, semi-liquid pizzas, cyber-eggs.? (These last come with white helium balloons attached, which make for unique after-dinner conversation?) He numbers each version of a dish ?like a new edition of software? ? Albese 2.4, for example, for his Alba-style veal recipe. Golosi di Salute in Alba. Gorgeous pastries and confections with a health-conscious twist. Just ask, and they?ll steer you toward dairy-free, yeast-free, or sugar-free options. Must-try: the butter-free croissants, enriched with extra-virgin olive oil. Baratti e Milano in Torino. Café? and confectionery shop, dating from 1875, with ultra-luxe inlaid marble floors, carved mahogany and silk-upholstered furnishings. Caffe? Florio, an elegant Torino landmark, since 1780. It?s said that Garibaldi planned the future of Italy here. Renowned for gelato, especially the hazelnut-chocolate gianduiotto. Where to Stay Lake district: Hotel San Rocco in Orta San Giulio ? A former convent, with ancient stonework, beamed ceilings, updated rooms. Lakefront indoor-outdoor dining (chef Paolo Viviani won top prize in the ?06 ?Rice Olympics? chef competition), great lake and mountain views. Hit the nearby shops for picnic supplies or foodie souvenirs: varietal rice, dried porcini mushrooms, multicolored pasta ribbons. Torino: Hotel Santo Stefano ? Sleek and contemporary. Its modern brick façade, with recessed color-changing LEDs, makes a neat old-meets-new contrast with the nearby Roman arches. Wine Country: Foresteria Conti Roero in Monticello d?Alba ? Up a steep, winding mountain road, this remote, country-elegant retreat started life as a hunting lodge for Piemontese nobility. Great wine list geared to regional specialties at its restaurant, Conte Roero. Albergo dell?Agenzia in Pollenzo, a four-star hotel on a Savoy country estate. Each guest room is named for a local wine, and the fitness center features a Turkish bath. The Agenzia also houses the University of Gastronomic Sciences (the first of its kind in the world) and the Wine Bank (a ?bottle library? from producers throughout Italy). You can take the Wine Bank guided tour and taste several bottlings from the cellar. Or book the two-day crash course in Piemontese food and wine, which includes wine-themed dinners and tastings at nearby wineries. Torino ? Museums, Shopping and More Torino, Italy?s capital of contemporary art, offers over 40 museums and outdoor exhibits. Its Egyptian Museum is ranked second in the world, after Cairo, and the Automobile Museum houses a large collection of rare and vintage cars. (If you?re staying for 48 or 72 hours, consider the Torino Card for free public transport, and free or deep-discount tickets to concerts, museums and more. Some hotels even include the Card with a two-night booking.) For movie buffs, the five-story Cinema Museum, in the Mole Antonelliana (?Italy?s Eiffel Tower?), traces Italian film history from its beginnings in Torino. Charlie Chaplin?s bowler hat is here, along with a shark head from Jaws and an archive of some 200,000 films. An interactive tour leads you through the stages of filmmaking, and spotlights typical movie themes in ten different ?chapels.? (In the ?love? chapel, reportedly, you lie on red, heart-shaped cushions to watch flicks; in the ?humor? chapel, you sit on a toilet.) Just outside town, the Castello di Rivoli, built for the Savoy royal dynasty, now houses a knockout modern collection in the Museo di Arte Contemporaneo. Along with an extensive permanent collection of Italian and international modern masters, the museum hosts special exhibits (the current show features Claes Oldenburg) of both established and up-and-coming artists. Throughout Torino?s city center, covered walkways and glassed-in arcades make it easy to shop, snack and people-watch in any weather. The sprawling Porta Palazzo, with over 700 stalls, claims the title of Europe?s largest open-air market, and the former Fiat factory in Lingotto has morphed into a multi-story shopping galleria. (Don?t miss the test track on the roof, overlooking the ?06 Olympic Village.) For nightlife, head to the wine bars, clubs and dusk-to-dawn discos of the Murazzi del Po, Quadrilatero Romano (Roman Quarter), or Docks Dora in the old warehouse district. Craving a martini? Salute ? vermouth was invented here! Recipe adapted from Seafood Pasta and Noodles, The New Classics by Rosina Tinari Wilson (Ten Speed Press) Bagna Caoda Piemontese for ?hot bath,? it?s a fondue-style regional specialty featuring assorted raw and cooked vegetables and a rich garlic-anchovy dipping sauce. Add some baguette slices to round out the meal, and to mop up any extra sauce. Bagna Caoda Sauce 1 cup small whole garlic cloves, peeled 1 cup olive oil 1 cup butter 1 can (2 oz.) anchovies, drained and coarsely chopped 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped Vegetables Arrange your choice of seasonal vegetables on a serving platter ? raw, cooked or some of each. Examples: carrot and zucchini sticks, string beans, cherry tomatoes, broccoli and cauliflower florets, green onions, cabbage wedges, radishes, tiny potatoes. How To Simmer garlic in olive oil and butter over very low heat (an electric fondue pot is ideal) until garlic becomes very soft and golden, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Stir in anchovies and parsley and keep warm while everyone ?bathes? their veggies. For more info http://www.regione.piemonte.it/turismo http://www.torinoturismo.org http://www.turismodoc.it http://www.langheroero.it http://www.agenziadipollenzo.com http://www.bancadelvino.it http://www.tartufimorra.com http://www.gildedfork.com