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Another long-weekend - shame it’s almost the last of the year (with public holidays) despite us being only in May. Not much wine drinking, more chauffering but I’m looking forward to this week and 10 scheduled visits in the Côtes Thursday to Saturday… 2000 Nicolas Potel, Savigny 1er Les Peuillets The colour is becoming quite [...]
Once a dusty formality that lived on in the form of radish roses in out-of-the-way hotels, the art of fruit and vegetable carving is enjoying a new vogue.
I just received an email from RadCru announcing a live chat (text, audio, video) with the winemaker and owner of Tobacco Road Road Cellars. The chat takes place today, March 26th, from 2:00 - 3:00pm EST. If you're interested in getting in on the chat, go to www.tobaccoroadshow.tv. It looks ...
CityWire, one of the UK's 'leading personal finance and investment websites', is offering a weekly prize of an annual subscription (worth £70) to Jancis Robinson's award-winning website, www.jancisrobinson.com.
Here's how to enter:
1. Visit CityWire and view Jancis's latest Wine Of The Week
2. Read the clue at the end. You'll find the answer on Jancis's own website.
3. Send the answer to wine@citywire.co.uk and you may win the prize.
Do any of you folks have any advice for finding a specific type of wine that my local wine shop no longer carries? I've googled, I've ordered two bottles from an importer/reseller in Chicago, and I've not really had any luck finding any others (said store in Chicago has sold all of their other bottles of the stuff). Apparently my Google-Fu isn't strong enough to find anything else, much to my chagrin.
What I'm looking for is a rioja that I had last year. Muga produces an occasional Seleccion Especial. The 2001 vintage is what I'm looking for (though I suspect that I may invest in the 2004 as well, which I can actually find online), and like I said, short of the two bottles that I ordered from the folks in Chicago (I ordered it in October, and it's supposed to sail from Spain this weekend, finally), I haven't been able to find it anywhere else.
I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to find it again, to be perfectly honest, but I figured that I'd mention it here in the hopes that someone might have some sort of hints or information about hunting down somewhat rare wines. Thanks in advance!
Wed Feb 23rd, 2005, Los Angeles Cooking With Friends - SINGLE MEN NEEDED TO COOK Contact Robyn at http://www.dinnerwithfriends.la Wednesday–2/23/05 7:00pm-10:00pm $80.00 Cooking With Friends is back by popular demand and limited to just 12 lucky participants.
In 2006, while I was teaching Spanish bankers how to chat up a beautiful woman in English (hey, how else do you get students interested in learning a second language?), Ryan was slaving away at the computer, inventing new and creative ways to involve wine lovers from around the world in Spanish and Portuguese wine. After many creative attempts, he stumbled upon a zany idea he called, the 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey. Sent to a handful of bloggers and wine geeks, the survey asked them to answer 2 questions about Iberian wine, and in return, they could ask 1 of us.
However, at the time, we weren’t entirely confident the idea would work. Having only been in the wine blogging scene a year, we didn’t know if our readers would be interested in hearing about a wine blogger’s selection of Spanish wine in Canada, or whether a blogger based in the UK enjoyed the unique and diverse wines coming out of Portugal. It was a crap shoot, but indeed, it worked! Why we didn’t continue the idea? I don’t have a clue, but we are now!
We’re bringing back the 2+1 Iberian Wine Survey, and over the next few weeks, you’ll be hearing not only what other bloggers are experiencing with Iberian wine, but also some of the pressing questions they’ve had about Spanish and Portuguese wine mulling around in their heads. Let’s cross our fingers that we can make up a convincing answer
In addition, we’d like to include everyday folk who are simply interested in wine, like you! So if you’re simply a wine lover, or an uber geek interested in chiming in your ideas on our blog, let us know so that we can get a survey out to you asap. All the collected surveys will be posted on Catavino beginning on June 1st.
And to get you in the mood, I’ve included a series of questions asked of Catavino way back in 2006 when we were all still green to wine blogging!
Andrew Barrow of Spitton “Is sherry destined to go the way of Marsala and be relegated to cooking use only?” We sure don’t think so!
Erin and Michelle of Grape Juice “We?re very curious about Basque wines. Are the wines as unique as the language and culture, and if so, what sets them apart from the typical Spanish wines we?re likely to encounter? Do you yourself enjoy them? Are there any that you would recommend us trying for an introduction? I realize that?s actually about four questions, but we?re very nosy people, so I hope that?s okay.” Txakolis are typically misunderstood and under appreciated.
Tim Elliot of Winecast “I’m reading quite a bit about how good Portuguese red wines are and would like to explore this region for one of my podcasts. What 3 wines, $25 USD or less, would you choose for a tasting that would give me an idea of the quality of these wines?” Here are our suggestions!
I had a wine that came from a nest today. The vineyard manager would probably call it basket or even ampelies. But to me it looked like a nest. Granted, I was only looking at a photo–if only I could have arranged a field trip to the vineyard.
Blown to bits by a volcano in 1640 BC, the sliver of a Greek isle that is today Santorini has many old vines. They struggle. They cling to the earth. And the vineyard workers prune them into these next/baskets intentionally to help them against the elements, notably the near-constant wind blowing over the treeless slopes. The other element is water. The vines survive the scorching summer days by collecting moisture in the nests at night when the fog rolls in. Sounds quite dramatic and I’ll have to check it out with Mrs. Vino one day. And the sunsets. And the food. But back to the wine!
Domaine Sigalas, Assyritiko-Athiri 2007, $16 (find this wine) This dry wine has a nice creaminess on top of good acidity that makes it extremely user friendly. The importer, Ted Diamantis, told me that it’s the Athiri grape that gives it that richness. The Domaine farms organically.
For wine geeks, the other wine, a straight assyritiko varietal wine (find this wine), has some off-the-charts briney qualities with a faint smokiness and minerality–the gout de terroir of Santorini, no doubt. Ted suggested pairing it with shellfish with high iodine-levels, like oysters. Sounds like a plan.
In lieu of their own winery website, here’s a link to Domaine Sigalas on the useful site All About Greek Wine. Check out a nice pic of a Santorini vineyard over here.
I find myself about to debunk a product who?s claim I do not altogether doubt. The Eisch Glaskultur company of Germany has released a line of stemmed crystal that they claim ?aerates beverages within minutes.? Their packaging states ?A wine poured into a Breathable Glass for just 2 to 4 minutes will show signs of aeration equivalent to the same wine that has been decanted and aerated for 1 to 2 hours.?
Since I am on the record for saying that ?breathing? is a wine myth, I can hardly fault a product that claims to do nothing, and succeeds. Of course the implication that they are using to sell glassware is that this stem will improve your wine tasting experience. This is what I set out to test.
Let me start by clarifying my positing on wine breathing. I have conducted various experiments over the years and the results have not done much to make me a believer. I am not saying that there is no difference from a wine that is decanted for an hour or two from a recently opened bottle, I am just not sure the difference is either significant, or difficult to reproduce with a few good swirls in a glass.
The premise is that allowing a wine to breath opens it up. It has a very poetic sound to it, except that wine does not respire so much as exhale. Wine vents volatile compounds into the air. The whole glass swirling thing is about releasing these compounds to make them easier to detect.
To say that a sitting wine improves is to say that these volatile compounds were in present in too great a number to begin with. This is certainly true with some wines that have off odors or excessive volatility, and in those rare cases I highly recommend a forceable decanting (so the wine literally chugs out of the bottle and splashes violently into the decanter).
If the wine was sound to begin with, it by definition was not excessively volatile. Vinegar is wine with way too much volatility, as an extreme example. Few modern wines you open will be vinegar-like. Some other off odors, such as the wet rotten leaf smell of a wine that has undergone malo-lactic fermentation in a bottle, may be reduced by decanting. A wine that went through MLF in a bottle will usually be slightly sparkling as well.
The experiments I have conducted include opening a bottle and tasting it blind against another bottle of the same wine which had been opened and or decanted some time before. The decanted wine may well have a different aroma and taste, but after a few minutes of swirling either wine, the differences balance out.
For the Breathable Glass (BG) I created a simple experiment. So simple that I concede that I do not have definitive proof of my hypothesis. On the other hand, it is simple enough that anyone can try it.
I put the same wine in the BG and another tall, well shaped glass and let them sit for four minutes without touching them. I then poured both wines into identical tasting glasses and tasted them blind. I did the same test again, only this time I swirled each of the wines reasonably evenly for 2 minutes before switching glasses and tasting.
In neither case did the wine from the BG exhibit any significant aromas or flavors that varied from the wine which had been poured into the regular glass. Therefore I can state unequivocally that I did not find anything remarkable or impressive.
My wording here is deliberate since Ronn Weigand who is one of the few combination Master Sommeliers and Masters of Wine is quoted right on the packaging as saying ?I was especially impressed - Remarkable!?
The test I conducted were designed to be easily verified by my peers, and as always I urge them to do so. What I didn?t do is almost as important as what I did.
I did not test a wine that had been in the BG for 4 minutes against the same wine that had been in a decanter for two hours, as per the claim on the package. I did not run a spectroscopic analysis to determine if the crystal makeup of the glasses was richer in oxygen, the mechanism cited for the claim. I didn?t do many things, but I did what I did, and I didn?t find a difference.
The Breathable Glass line is fine crystal with a good feel to it, and at $20 a stem it is not outrageously priced. I got mine at Bed Bath & Beyond, and it is because it is being marketed to the main stream instead of to wine geeks that I felt compelled to try it.
My advice is to save your money and buy one of the $4 stems right next to it on the shelf, unless you like the feel of the glass and it is in your budget. Just don?t expect miracles.
Oh, and the title of the blog is indeed a nod to Robert Lynn Asprin?s entertaining Myth-Adventures series. I know a few of you were dying to ask.
It is harvest time in the Northern Hemisphere. I always liked the colloquial term ?crush.? I suppose the association with the grape flavored beverage is part of the reason. The soda may even be responsible for the popularity of the phrase for everyone else. Whatever you call it, it is underway.
This is a delicate time for the grapes. Too much sun, too little sun, rain, frost, birds, these are all part of the litany of things that can effect the outcome of the vintage. It has been a wacky year for weather with much of the World getting soaked only to end up with earlier than usual picking times. Earlier than usual may be the one common thread.
It was warm all over. It is tempting to wag a finger at the omnipresent global warming specter, but weather trends are not the same as climate change. I read that a lot this year. Still, it was a warm year.
Wet, it was wet, with many parts of Europe plagued by rain. Wet means mildew, and mildew is an ancient nemesis of the vine. Chemicals help, as do thinning leaves and increasing air flow. It is not unheard of for higher end vineyards to hire helicopters to dry out the vineyards. Wet, especially combined with warm also means disease.
Without enough sun the grapes will not end up with enough sugar to make decent wine. With trends towards higher alcohol style wines, the grapes need that much more sugar. This means hang time, and hang time means gambling against the calendar.
Many great vintages have been concluded well into October. October can also see the first frosts, or the beginning of long rainy periods. Either of these conditions can ruin a crop that was waiting for the perfect degree of ripeness.
Ripeness doesn?t just mean sugar. It also means the development of flavors. Sugars increase during warm days, but flavors improve with cool nights. If there is not enough difference between the day time and evening temperatures, flavors will suffer.
Grapes evolved as a way for the plant to distribute seeds with the help of birds. Birds are quite willing to do their part, but most vineyard owners have other plans for the fruit. The scarecrow may have been replaced by ever escalating technology, but the birds haven?t given up yet.
Frost and mold have their places too. It is the mold botrytis that is responsible for many of the world?s greatest dessert wines. So we do want wet conditions, in the right place at the right time. Frost, or at least freezing rain is responsible for ice wines, another group of dessert wines I am fond of.
Crush then is a time to wish for sun, but not too much. Rain, but not too late or too early or too much. Cool nights, but warm days. Vineyard owners are also wishing for more help, more grapes, more certainty. Winemakers want more sugar, more flavor, more even ripening.
Wishes are not in my power to grant. If they were this would be a much different blog, and chances are I would not be writing it. I can offer a guarantee, with a modicum of solace. There will always be next year. Until there?s not.
A wonderful surprise. Light golden colour. Lovely nose of honey, toast and citrus. Silky palate with depth and richness. Long, every element in balance. At its peak now, this is a world-class wine. Cork. 11.5% - 92/100
From left, Li Edelkoort (trend forecaster) one of the top 25 most influential people in fashion according to Time Magazine, and Editor of VISI, Sumien Brink.
Karen ter Morshuizen, fashion designer who heads up Lunar.
Guests enjoying the party with Melgab's Prosecco.
The VISI team, from left is Etienne Hanekom (Art Director) next to him, Heidi Finestone (Business Manager), Sumien Brink (Editor) Tina-Marie Malherbe (Décor Editor) with friend, and on the far right is Alwyn from Okasie.
I just finished reading a very interesting book. Sensi DiVini is a tiny 80 page treatise on how our brain deals with tasting wine. It is a collection of short essays written by various experts in their fields. It is quite technical, and while I love all things techie, there can be no doubt that some of it was completely over my head.
Even while plowing through descriptions of the various parts of the brain I could immediately understand the relationship of the material to my experiences with tasting wine. The book even gave some scientific insight into why we enjoy elaborate feasts such as my famed seven course dinners.
It has been explained many times in the past, even by me, that taste is nothing without smell. We can only taste 5 things (it used to be 4, but there is a new one now). Sweet, sour, bitter, salty and the newly recognized sensation, umami. Umami has been described as our ability to taste ?savory? but the scientific description is more to the point, it is the taste of proteins.
It is the first three taste sensations; sweet, sour and bitter; that come into play in wine. The other ?tastes? in wine are due to aromas. We may only be able to taste 5 sensations, but our ability to ascertain individual aromas is seemingly endless.
From a mere 300 aroma sensors (mice have 1000) we can distinguish grapefruit from lemon, bing cherries from maraschinos, and pleasant aromas from nasty ones.
It was the need to distinguish edible from less edible foods that helped us evolve this complex interplay of flavors and aromas with recognition and selection or rejection. If it tastes good we enjoy it, and we eat it. If it tastes nasty, we spit it out, sometimes even involuntarily as with a gag reflex.
The sense of aroma is almost directly tied into the brain, making smells one of most primal senses. It is for this reason that a smell can so easily conjure a memory. We also use visual and gustatory senses when tasting, and even the sense of somatosensory (touch). These other senses combine with aroma to form recognition and pleasure through a process referred to as binding.
Binding is taking the information from several parts of the brain and creating a single unifying experience. A great example from the book is when we watch tennis. We recognize the ball as a shape, we recognize the yellow of the ball as a color, and we recognize the movement to allow us to follow its trajectory.
I have long known that I taste more effectively when I am a little hungry. This follows the research that shows that our impression of flavor (which for this discussion is a combination of taste and aroma) is highly regulated by our current level of satiety for that flavor or even nutritional value.
We are not really good at craving specific nutrients, so instead our mind equates textures, shapes and colors along with flavor, as broader nutritional needs. This is why some foods sound more appealing to us at any given time than other foods.
Once you have been eating a specific food your ability to derive pleasure from it is reduced, as is your ability to recognize the intensity of the flavor or aroma. You may be satiated from one flavor, but a new different one has all the intensity and pleasure potential you got from the first item at the start. This is the scientific reasoning behind courses or even having more than one food on your plate.
I have long held that education of any subject increases your enjoyment of it. This is especially true of wine, and the entire rationale behind my given vocation. It turns out there is some empirical evidence to support this.
Sesi DiVini recounts a study wherein wine experts and wine novices where each placed in an MRI and given tastes of wine, and of course a control solution of glucose. The wine experts had much more activity in the brain, especially in the pleasure centers. Because the experts were analyzing the wine and the novices were not, the experts ?got more out of tasting wine.?
I am not exactly a book reviewer, and this is not exactly a book review, but it is a look at a subject that I have never seen handled so scientifically. I had to write away to Italy to get the book, but they are looking into why it isn?t on Amazon any more. If you are intrigued and want a copy of your own, you can get it here.
Eating and drinking are rewarding in of themselves. Knowing how the brain reacts to flavors will probably not bring you more joy when you eat and drink, but knowing more about what you are eating and drinking will. As always I challenge you to get more out of your life by experimenting with food and wine at every opportunity. Taste something new today, it turns out the experience may even help you enjoy your old favorites all that much more.
Tasted by glymps. Strong black berry on the nose with a slight hint of pepper. And not to be too sound too sound (VAY NER CHUK)-ish, I am tasting blackberry cereal bar with a hint of ground black pepper. Medium body and a short finish. Not too bad. 87 (87 pts.) - Tasted 5/16/2008. [FIND IT!]
For some people, the storage and acquisition of wine is more than just a hobby, it is an art.
Wine connoisseurs all know that the proper storage of wine is important to its final flavor. Once it is already bottled, wine will still mature and gain body and flavor. Proper care should be taken when handling wine, or else its potential for greatness will go to waste. To keep their wine well preserved, the discriminating connoisseur will choose a proper wine rack.
How to Buy a Wine Rack
The Build Wine racks can be made of so many different materials and styles. You should consider which material and style fits your need and preference. You could have wood, glass, alloy, or metal racks. Some people try to choose materials that match their living rooms. There are a variety of styles of wine racks, find one that if convenient for you. The popular styles include counter top racks, diamond bins, cabinets and others.
The Essential Elements A good wine rack will ensure that the following elements are strictly controlled. Light, humidity, temperature, stability. If you want to keep your wine well preserved and ready for ambush party, you need to make sure they are not exposed to light, moisture, extreme temperatures and shaking or vibration.
Cabinet wine racks are good at keeping wine bottles safe. They can emulate the conditions at a wine cellar best. These condition include moderate humidity, cool temperatures, and little light
We try to control the humidity so we can avoid getting the wine cork from accumulating moisture. This will lessen the chances that the wine will get contaminated or oxidized. Keeping the correct humidity or appropriately moist environment will keep the wine cork damp, reducing the chances of contamination and/or oxidization. Warm conditions will accelerate wine aging. You have to keep this in mind when you consider which wine rack to choose.
Things to Remember Don’t place wine cellars above or near refrigerators. Refrigerators generate heat and this heat could ruin you wine collection. Buying and installing a good wine rack would be useless if that happened.
Your rack has to be smooth enough that when the wine bottles are put and taken, they will not get scratched and damaged. Bottles and labels are also important parts of the overall value of wine.
A wine cellar is great but not necessary to store your wine in the correct environment. But since not everyone can afford a wine cellar or has space enough for one, you could opt for a wine rack instead. Wine racks function a lot like wine cellars, but they are smaller and are more accessible. They are also a lot cheaper and easier to install.
Believe it or not, ultraviolet light can affect and ruin wine. That’s the reason wine cellars are so dark and that’s why you have to keep your wine in a dark safe place. When you store your wine bottles, make sure they are stored sideways; this ensures that the wine is always in contact with the cork to keep it moist.
Once again we cannot express how important it is to maintain the right conditions for your wine to mature nicely. Your wine rack system has to maintain the right amount of humidity and temperature to keep your collection going. Bear in mind that wine is something you keep for a long time. Keep your wine racks pumping a temperature range of 55-60° F. Also make sure the humidity is in the 50% to 75% range. Adjust these settings according to the needs of your wine.
Start Planning for Your Wine Rack Now! Well, now you have pretty much gotten everything in order. When a party comes crashing through, you can whip out the grade A wine and celebrate to your hearts content. Pour out the good times to the tune of the compliments and admiration your friends will throw your way all because of your fine wine rack.
About the author: For more great wine rack info and advice check out: http://www.rack-hq.com
That's the combination Sweet WillYum's owner and baker Sue Kershner suggests for a quiet evening. Personally, I think Uncle Eric's Granola Biscotti would go just as well with a mellow wine. What would you pair with Will's Chocolate Chip Cookies? Or Chocolate Peppermint Dr. Patti's? Visit www.SweetWillYums.com today to order your ...
It’s almost time for the next round of the Wine Book Club which I am also hosting. Even if you haven’t started reading my pick, William Echikson?s Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution, you can start this weekend and probably have it read by Monday. Or you could read it the next weekend.
Just pick it up soon, read and post your review by April 29th.
"In most films, the cast is comprised of seasoned actors who possess a vibrant screen presence and innate ability to charm the audience. But for a handful of movies in which wine itself plays a major role, we might as well add "mouthwatering" to the list of qualities a cast may claim. Encompassing major motion pictures, documentaries and even a mockumentary, our list of top films for wine lovers covers lots of territory - affording viewers plenty to digest when it comes to wine and the silver screen..."
List includes
Sideways * Mondovino * From Ground to Glass * French Kiss * A Good Year * Corked * A Walk In the Clouds * Bottle Shock * The First Emporer * The Jefferson Bottles
I don't heart gimmicks (and neither does the Chef), which is why we let the Il Cuore 2000 Rosso Classico (about $11) sit in our cellar for the last year without a second thought.
You see, there's a big heart on the label and a quote to go with it: "A heart can only be held by a heart the fairest setting of the loveliest jewel." Yeck.
The bottle was a present from a friend about the time of our wedding and it came with a disclaimer: "It was a cheapie; I got it for the heart." In other words, appreciate it for the sentiment, not the quality. And we intended to.
In fact, I'm not sure we ever planned to open it, but I'm glad we did. The blend of carignane, zinfandel, grenache, sangiovese and charbono from Mendocino County has an Old World sensibility, plum and cherry fruit, and a well-integrated (13.6 percent) alcohol.
'An onsite accident occurred at Wirra Wirra yesterday following the collapse of a fermenting tower at our winery in McLaren Vale. A number of fermenters, tanks and a presses have been damaged, resulting in some loss to our 2008 vintage.
'We are currently working closely with the authorities and SafeWork SA to assess the full extent of the damage.
'We’d like to extend our thanks to all the emergency services whose quick action and professionalism were outstanding. Our thoughts are with our young cellar hand who is currently in a serious, yet stable condition at Flinders Medical Centre. We are pleased to hear that he is making positive progress.
'While it is difficult to determine at this time the full extent of wine lost, it is significantly less than has been reported. Some of the wine in tank may still be salvageable, while offers of fruit from growers to offset the loss have been coming in thick and fast. Whilst the loss of wine is important to our business, clearly the safety and welfare of our staff is of greatest priority at this time.
'Workplace safety for all our staff is of paramount importance at Wirra Wirra, and we are thankful no more serious injuries were sustained.
'We’d also like to extend our thanks to the winemaking community of McLaren Vale and our neighbouring districts who have rallied round with offers of help and well wishes; we have been extremely touched by their support and generosity.
Trott produced the first vintage of Church Block back in 1972 “with a little help from his friends”. It looks like history will repeat itself in 2008.'
BREAKING NEWS: 3.13PM AEST March 6 2008
McLaren Vale winery, Wirra Wirra, earlier today suffered considerable damage to its winery when a number of 45,000 litre fermenters collapsed, causing damage to some tanks and presses, and a significant loss of vintage 2008 must and wine.
One cellar hand sustained minor injuries, however no serious injuries have been reported.
The winery has temporarily been shut down, and staff are working with officials to ascertain the full extent of the damage.
Wirra Wirra is unable to determine when the winery will be up and running again.
A magnificent Malbec! It picked up a trophy at the inaugural Wines of Argentina Awards held in Mendoza in 2007, having wowed the international panel of judges - i
Tecnorati
I had a wine that came from a nest today. The vineyard manager would probably call it basket or even ampelies. But to me it looked like a nest. Granted, I was only looking at a photo–if only I could have arranged a field trip to the vineyard.
The San Francisco Chronicle has 
"In most films, the cast is comprised of seasoned actors who possess a vibrant screen presence and innate ability to charm the audience. But for a handful of movies in which wine itself plays a major role, we might as well add "mouthwatering" to the list of qualities a cast may claim. Encompassing major motion pictures, documentaries and even a mockumentary, our list of top films for wine lovers covers lots of territory - affording viewers plenty to digest when it comes to wine and the silver screen..."