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| | The Complete Grape Growers Guide. |  | | A Complete Guide For Growing Grapes. Converts Very Well At A Reasonable Price! Growing Grapes And Making Wine Is A Very Popular Topic Right Now.
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| | Fool-Proof Wine Values. | | | Learn How To Easily Find Wines Of $50 Quality For $10 Or Less. Impress Friends With Your Expanded Wine Knowledge. Eliminate Your Dependence On Wine Salespeople. And Take The Hassle Out Of Buying Wine.
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| | Making Wine From Home. | | | A Fun And Very Informative Book On Home Wine Making. The De Facto Standard For All Home Wine Enthusiasts With Recipes, Advice And Tricks.
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| [12/31/2007, 03:39] | Happy New Year! | | Happy new year everyone!
Have an amazing evening and above all - drink some great wine and champagne!
2008 promises to be an exciting year for The Cru so stay tuned!
To begin with I will be releasing a new look Cru in the next two weeks - it's going to a lot easy to navigate around and hopefully it will make finding your favourite South African wine that much easier and more enjoyable!
Until then have a great evening and enjoy the chosen Pouza! | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | 20 Not So Penetrating Questions with Sam Spencer | | I am a fan of Spencer-Roloson winery, so I sought out Sam Spencer for our “20 Not So Penetrating Questions for a Wine Craftsman.” Sam and his partner Wendy Roloson produce high-end, affordably priced, small lot Rhone and Spanish style wines, mostly reds and a couple of delightful whites. Simply, these people get it. They sell in Indiana, which always engenders a boutique producer to me, because most others eschew distribution in the state without understanding the opportunity. They sell Direct-to-Trade, a program that I helped initiate with Inertia Beverage Group; they are starting a blog and their positioning to market is, “Provocative Wines Evocative Dirt.” Oh, and this is on top of their wine line-up being fantastic from top to bottom. But, Sam doesn’t stop there, in fact he has side projects, too. His most recent project is the current Cameron Hughes “Hughes-Wellman” Cabernet. As a wine club selection and a slight one-off from the CH model, the $50 Cabernet with just 199 cases produced should go extremely fast. Available now at this link. Fortunately, Sam found a few spare moments to interview with us and our 20 questions … an economy of words and a spareness of detail makes this interview kind of like the subject—smart, to the point and without a lot of artifice. Though, as a child of the 80’s and a viewer of late night Cinemax as a young teen, I do have to chuckle at his favorite movie genre. Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you most guilty of? Sam: Lust mostly, pride in the balance What is your biggest pet peeve? Sam: Poor diction and improperly spoken English. Although I speak Spanish terribly and mangle that language daily. Sam: Failing to keep your area/station clean What is on your nightstand? Sam:
James Salter: Last Night
John Mcphee : the founding Fish
Luca Turin: Perfume: the Guide What is in your refrigerator or pantry that you would not openly admit? Sam: Nothing What do you drink when you are not drinking wine? Sam: Tecate, Campari or Patron silver-rocks and lime What type of music or radio station is played most often in your car? Sam: KQED for news and KCRW via satellite for the best music in CA In what era would you live if you transport yourself? Sam: 100 years in the future What is the best wine-related book you have read? Sam: The Emperor of Scent by Chandler Burr and Assembling California by John Mcphee The former is about the science of olfaction, scent and the perfume industry the latter is about the geology of CA put into lay terms with explanations What is your favorite movie genre? Sam: 1970’s Soft-Porn Is your desk messy or organized? Sam: Both Are you always early or terminally late? Sam: Late Whom would you want to play you in the movie about your life? Sam: Jack Nicholson What super-power would you most like to have, and why? Sam: Super strength and endurance—Get more done with time to spare for hanging out with my family and friends What do you do if you have a spare hour? Sam: Ride my road bike What was the last great restaurant you ate at? Sam: Justus Drugstore in KC, MO and Momofuko-Ko in NYC. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Sam: Coffee What is the best compliment you have ever received? Sam: You are doing good work. For additional reading, check out Alder Yarrow’s post on Spencer-Roloson. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Live chat with Tobacco Road Cellars - 2pm EST today! | | | 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 ... | | | |
| [08/10/2007, 08:02] | Does Might Make Right? | | The wine blogosphere has been awash with news of Randy Dunn?s letter to consumers telling them to essentially stop buying wines they like. At the heart of the matter is once again the controversy over high alcohol wines. If consumers like these wines so much that it has changed the way wines are being made all over the world, what exactly is wrong with them? The short answer is ?nothing.? The longer answer is ?they all taste the same.?
Varietal character, the terroir (where the grapes are grown) and the winemaker all contribute to the wine. These are the factors that determine what makes wine x taste different than wine z. When the alcohol starts to creep up past 15% many of these differences are drowned out by the sweetness of the alcohol.
This is not altogether different than what happens on the other end of a wine scale. By leaving a touch of residual sugar in an inexpensive wine, vintners can make wines labeled with varietal names that while not nasty because the sugar hides the flaws, but they have no actual varietal character.
And so it is with high alcohol wines, it becomes increasingly difficult to tell one from another, much less one variety from another.
These big alcohol wines are fruity, rich, easy drinking, and easy to enjoy. In fact they are all the things I like in my favorite wine, Zinfandel.
Zins are often high in alcohol, and since they are all about fruit, it suits them. Cabs are a different story. They have traditionally been all about structure, the delicate interplay between acidity, fruit and tannin. The market seems to be demonstrating that consumers feel Cabs should taste like Zins (ironically I recently tasted several Zins that were so oaked as to taste like Cabs).
Chardonnay too has not been spared the hike in alcohol content. For over oaked heavily lactic (buttery) Napa Chards this may be a good thing. The same can?t be said for regions such as Santa Barbara where Chardonnay traditionally has developed decent varietal character.
Many bloggers and wine writers are complaining that these wines don?t work well with food. I never thought Cab and Chard went all that well with food anyway, but I do hate to see Pinot Noirs with too little acidity and too much alcohol.
What worries Randy Dunn and so many others is that the consumers have shown a strong preference for these high alcohol styles. They fear that the days of individual expression in wine are waning. They needn?t fear.
Dunn?s wines are expensive, as are so many other really good wines. The cost alone keeps most consumers from every experiencing any wine of this level. Add in scarcity, and there just isn?t enough great wine to go around.
Most of these high alcohol wines are in the middle price range, or the lower end of the middle. Certainly there are some high priced wines that have adopted this fad, but then there have always been wines whose price tags are not borne out by their quality (Opus One is my favorite whipping boy in this category).
For top end producers I have a cliché for you to hold on to: If you make it, they will come. Keep making great wines, and there will always be a market for them. It will never be the mainstream market, but then it never has been.
As for berating consumers, it seems a silly thing for a winemaker to do ? usually that is my job. I have been suggesting for years that you go forth and try something new. Something different. The joy of wine for me is the incredible variety of styles available. High alcohol wines may have shrunk the number of choices, but there are plenty of others to explore. There is an entire world of wine that you may never have experienced, but I won?t lie to you, some of them you will not like, but how will you know until you try?
Looking for a head start? Why not run out and get a Gewurztraminer from Alsace? These nearly bone dry wines have a heady aroma and are outstanding with most foods. Prefer red? I do, so it is quite understandable. When was the last time you drank a Spanish wine? What about something from your own home state?
Do you really love the high alcohol wines? Then drink one, don?t let me, Randy Dunn, or anyone else tell you that your taste is anything other than perfect exactly the way it is. It is your taste after all. | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Slow Spokes | |  Cycling the Tour de France has been likened to running 20 marathons in 20 days. I?m pretty sure I couldn?t run one marathon in 20 days. Yet there I was, under the blistering sun of Provence, slowly pedaling my way up one of the most dreaded, soul-crushing climbs of last year?s Tour: Mont Ventoux. What lured me to that beast of a hill was a longing to do more than just watch the Tour de France. I wanted to experience the Tour de France. I yearned to ride the very roads that, just hours later, would be chewed up by Lance Armstrong, Laurent Jalabert and Joseba Beloki. I wanted to white-knuckle it down the same hairpin turns, and be cheered on by the giddy spectators who?d camped out for days, waiting for that colorful tsunami of Spandex to speed by. Basically, I hungered for a taste of what the world?s most grueling sporting event really felt like. That?s what landed me, my husband and 13 others on a Tour de France cycling trip with Backroads, an adventure travel company. The plan was to follow the last third of the three-week race as the riders whizzed their way past the lavender fields of Provence, up the mythical Alps and down the cobblestoned Champs-Elysées in Paris. Along the way, we?d stay in four-star hotels, consume obscene amounts of French fare and work off those calories by cycling 40 to 60 miles a day (except during the trip?s three rest days). We?d get to bike some of the most memorable segments of Tour de France routes. We?d also tackle short sections of last year?s course, a torturous 2,032-mile journey. ?How hard can this be?? I naively wondered as I sat on my couch, lazily thumbing through a Backroads catalog. ?It?s not like we?re doing the whole Tour. Just part of it.? But that ?part? happened to be the part with the mountains. Big, colossal, mammoth mountains. Even so, I saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If the prognosticators were right, I?d be witnessing Lance Armstrong pedal his way into the history books, becoming the first American ever to win six Tours. I?d be right there, literally, on Armstrong?s road to victory. Mountains, shmountains, I reassured myself. I?m 34 years old; I take spinning classes. I?ll be just as good as anyone else on the Backroads trip. I knew I miscalculated that last part as soon as I got a glimpse of the other Backroads travelers. Most of the men?s legs were shaved closer than mine. This meant there was either a disproportionate number of transvestites on the trip, or these were some serious cyclists. It turned out to be the latter, which meant my husband and I were destined to play the role of lanterne rouge, the red lantern that hangs from the back of a train. It?s Tour-speak for ?the slowpokes.?  But unlike the Tour, this was a vacation, not a competition. At least that?s what I kept telling myself as I crawled up Mont Ventoux, which I think is French for ?makes you curl up in a ball and cry for Mommy.? The 6,273-foot mountain juts out of the Provençal landscape like a giant tumor; and this tumor is anything but benign. Comedian and cycling aficionado Robin Williams summed it up this way: ?Even the mountain goats don?t like it.? Ventoux is a relentlessly steep 13-mile climb to the barren, lunar-like summit, where exhausted British cyclist Tom Simpson keeled over and died during the 1967 Tour. As I started to wonder if the same fate might await me, a burly Frenchman with a moustache as big as my handlebars decided I needed a little pep talk. ?Allez! Allez!? he repeatedly shouted in my ear as I crept up the mountain in granny gear. My French friend was telling me to ?Go! Go!? which was what I wished he would do, since sweat was stinging my eyes, my legs felt like the beleaguered stage during ?Riverdance? and the last thing I wanted was a hairy cheerleader. But his words pushed me on, if only to put a little more distance between me and his Burgundy-infused breath. I?d hear the ?Allez! Allez!? refrain countless more times from the throngs of onlookers who?d staked out their spot on the mountain, waiting for the Tour to wheel by in a few hours. Folks like me were merely the warm-up act. We all know the French are very good at some things (food) and not so good at others (war). But they?re extremely adept at the high art of tailgating. When they weren?t rooting on amateur cyclists like me, they killed time by sipping wine, nibbling on brie and baguettes, playing cards and painting riders? names on the street. At my heady speed of 4 mph, I had ample time to witness all of these pre-race festivities. It became clear that, to the French, the Tour is much more than a sporting event. It, like Jerry Lewis, is a cultural phenomenon. Unlike Jerry, it?s easy to understand the Tour?s appeal. This is a race packed with more drama than a Jerry Springer show, and with at least as much potential for bloodshed. Catastrophic crashes. Drug raids. Cheating. Smack talking. Not to mention jaw-dropping displays of athleticism. It?s hard to imagine just how much pain these guys put themselves through until you?ve sampled some of it firsthand. Mont Ventoux is a kick-in-the-teeth climb, even when you?re cycling it with fresh legs like we were. But the Tour racers had logged 120 miles that day before broaching the base of Ventoux. And they still managed to go up it faster than I went down it. How?s that for an ego-deflater?   It truly is a humbling experience to watch more than 150 Tour riders sail up the very road you just cycled. They make it look so easy. But your burning quads and aching back remind you that it?s not. I thought cycling Ventoux would leave me too exhausted to cheer on the racers. But one glimpse of that Texan wearing the coveted yellow leader?s jersey had the effect of a dozen espressos. There he was. Lance Armstrong ? cancer survivor, cyclist extraordinaire ? about an arm?s length away from me, plowing up the very mountain that made my legs feel like overcooked fettuccine. Despite being chased by a pack of cyclists who wanted nothing more than to strip that golden jersey off his back and feed it to him in tiny pieces, he looked more serene than I do in a bubble bath. Other racers gulped oxygen like frat boys chug beer. But Armstrong seemed to be barely breathing while he pumped his pedals like pistons. I knew I was watching an über-athlete in action. I had a front row seat at the Tour de Lance, and I?d earned it. At the top of my overworked lungs, I shouted the words I?d once heard from a wise, mustachioed Frenchman: ?Allez! Allez!?  |
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| [04/30/2008, 04:38] | Casa LaPastolle "Cuvee Alexandre" Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 wine review by (PB) | | 
This multiply reviewed wine is always a super value and a great quaff. It has an intense deep black cherry color with vegetal aromas with rich dark berries.
Palate is a rich, big, juicy Cab. that is a blockbuster wine with big dark fruit that's bready and delicious finishing with subtle chocolate. What a bargain at $15 | | | |
| [01/01/1970, 02:00] | Vin de Napkin - eHarmony and Wine | | Inspired by a comment I received from Josh at Pinotblogger in response to my review of a BioD wine (found here). He raised the question, a very valid question, about whether I would enjoy the wine as much if I tasted it blind. He’s right. How much is my tasting the “vitality” in a BioD wine related to my own psychosomatic predisposition to being intrigued by BioD wines made with natural yeasts? But, just as soon as you start to go down one path of mental resolution, you open up a $22 bottle of BR Cohn Silver Label Cab and a Trader Joe’s $5 bottle and you realize that the TJ’s wine is better. A normal predisposition would say the more expensive wine is better. It’s all subjective; fortunately I’m a sales and marketing guy with a liberal arts degree so I don’t have to get bound up in quantifying the science in it all. This subjectiveness is illustrated as much by our desire to date to attractiveness (or, in my case, marry) demonstrated by eHarmony (it don’t mean a thing without the picture). Blind tastings and personalities matches are great, but, yeah, I guess the label does matter.  | | | |
| [10/19/2007, 20:23] | Old Wine Bloggers Never Die, They Just Write for the Gazette | | For those who have been around the wine blog-o-sphere for a few years, the Caveman's blog was a gem. Bill Z. offered world class wine knowledge with a down-to-earth attitude. Like many blogs (this one included) the Caveman posted less regularly, and then poof! it became frozen in time (kind of like Han Solo in Empire). Well, my pal Bill, the Caveman, is back and writing for the Montreal Gazette. It's good to see his voice is being appreciated by those lucky folks in Quebec. "It was my first evening back working the floor as a sommelier. I was invigorated after an exceptional week touring and tasting wine in France's Languedoc-Roussillon.
My second table that night was a couple from France, so I started going on and on about the place, even recommending to them one of my favourite wines from the region. They looked at me and said, "Yes, it's beautiful there, but we would never drink their wines."
Read the rest of the column here. Good on ya Bill! 
(Aww Bill you look like Big Parks!)
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| [12/24/2007, 04:00] | Christmas at the BC Wine Appreciation Society | |  The mood was festive, as it always is, at the BCWAS Christmas party and tasting. Plenty of sparkles and bling were in evidence as our usual gang of suspects gathered to check out a selection of Christmas offerings from around the province.
Naturally, there was sparkling wine to start the evening ? Steller?s Jay from Sumac Ridge and as you can see at the right, owner Harry McWatters himself was pouring. Wonderfully yeasty and a perfect complement to the freshly shucked oysters that were part of the smorgasbord of delectable nibbles. And Frank said he was going to be  late? snicker. So of course, I just had to check that particular pairing again on my own.
During the course of the evening the food seemed endless and conversations delightfully varied ? wandering from the newest VQA stores in everyone?s ?hood to the emerging trend of creating strata housing developments amid the vines of established wineries to which grape varietals are best suited to BC and how that varies between the Okanagan and Vancouver Islands. But always, we came back to the main event ? the wines themselves. Picking a favourite was, as expect, a tough call, but by the time Frank got there, it seemed pretty much narrowed down to two.
From one of our favourite Gulf Island Wineries, Morning Bay, Keith (shown below with Francis, BCWAS' financial wizard) and Barbara had brought an unannounced bottle of their new release Bianco. Crisp and clean, with medium plus intensity of citrus with a hint of floral on the nose, Frank?s eyes took on that glint of appreciation when we went back to this one, and he was soon deep in conversation with Keith about the four strains of yeast used ? one for each of the grapes that make up this summer sipper blend: Schonberger, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and a touch of Riesling. All are vinified separately with the Riesling adding just a touch of orchard fruit. Made in a bone dry, Alsace style, Frank?s first thought was oysters or shellfish ? especially  if you can?t find a Muscadet. At that point I didn?t have the heart to tell him about the earlier nibblies he?d missed.
A highlight of the evening, one that had attracted a huge amount of anticipation was the 2004 Nota Bene from Black Hills. Considered something of a cult wine among BC wine fans, this Bordeaux blend (43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc) is filled with black fruit plus a hint of cherry with cedar and pencil shavings. We agreed it was well balanced with fine-grained tannins.
Unfortunately, if you?re thinking of nipping down to the store to grab a bottle or two, think again. This wine sells out year after year ? unless you?re on their list, you likely won?t find any unless you can snag a bottle at a local restaurant or visit their Okanagan winery for yourself. Admittedly it was quite delicious. Still, at $35 seemed a bit pricy and in many ways remains an example of one of the biggest issues many (both of us included) believe the BC wine industry in general needs to consider carefully as it continues its evolution onto the world stage ? how to be competitive in an increasingly savvy, discriminating marketplace.
PS: Happy Birthday to Leah. Thanks for pouring on your special day and you did a great job with the candle on your cupcake. | | | |
| [12/10/2007, 02:03] | A Taste of Argentina: Two Wines from Patagonia | | This was originally going to be one of those quick and dirty reviews. Two Argentinean wines, a snack provided by Chef Tim (that would be Tim Ellison, one of our favourite local sommeliers and co-founder of the BC Wine Appreciation Society), followed by a fast dash through the Cambie Liquor store to stock up on a few winter staples like Cognac and Champagne. Oh well, things change.
 Uncharacteristically for a Saturday, there was plenty of parking ? must be something to do with the snow. Vancouver + Snow = Mass Panic.
Tim and I do our usual three-kiss-on-the-cheek greeting ? that?s right cheek to right cheek, left to left, and right to right in case you?ve ever wondered. The beef he?s carving with Melissa Popp from Hills Foods smells wonderful and the Chimichurri Sauce looks even better. Both wines on offer are from Bodega del Fin del Mundo from Patagonia, Argentinean ? Southern most White and Southern most Red. Hmmm. White and Red. That tells me a lot, but what the heck.
Turns out our white is a 60/40 Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay blend. Surprisingly crisp with a pleasing length to the finish ? not huge but pleasing. Today, however, this wine seemed just a bit too citrus without food ? or maybe I?m just cantankerous from the snow. Still, at the price point of $12.95, this is one worth stocking for when you need a sipper with light nibblies. I?m already thinking summer sailing and it?s only December.
The red is 70/15/15 Merlot, Malbec, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Once again priced at $12.95, this is one good value. A hint of tobacco and a nice, round mouth feel. I was surprised I liked it as much as I did. And it went fabulously well with the beef ? although I had to check that particular pairing twice just to be sure. Tim and  Melissa Popp from Hills Foods were happy to provide a photo op for the results of their combined cooking talents.
Tasting Aftermath at the Computer
Arriving home, I thought it would be fun to find out  more about a winery located ? literally ? at the end of the world. One thing lead to another ? like good surfing usually does. I spent, let?s just say ?a while,? including a browse about through the Hills Foods site (who generously provided today?s beef) ? some great recipes and cool organic meat products. But here?s the summary about the wines.
Bodega del Fin del Mundo was founded in 1999 when the owners planted vines on a deserted plot of land in Patagonia, Argentina. First problem ? no water. From the pictures on the website, there?s not only no water, there isn?t much of anything here ? think bleak, windswept, and desolated. Twenty kilometers of irrigation canal with computerized pumping system later, there was water, but now each plant needed its own windbreak to protect it from the gales that swept across the land on a seemingly daily basis. These folks clearly have plenty of the stubborn gene.
In 2002, their first vinification produced 30,000 bottles and netted a silver medal for Malbec. The owners began constructing a new, contemporary winery so they could move out of the small warehouse they?d been using to date. By 2004 were winning gold and silver medals at the Brussels Wine Expo and the Mondial du Pinot Noir in Switzerland, and their list of medals gets longer every year.
Also interesting, Bodega del Fin del Mundo continues to consider itself an experimental vineyard and is researching the viability of grape varieties seldom associated with Argentina ? Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Aspirant Boushet, and Viognier.
And here?s a bonus, Tim even shared his recipe for his Chimichurri Sauce. Check it out. Thanks Tim!
TIM'S ARGENTINEAN CHIMICHURRI SAUCE
A light oil and vinegar sauce with chopped parsley, cilantro, and garlic. Use as a garnish on your favourite cut of grilled beef. Makes 1 cup and would be wicked with fish and chicken too.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable or olive oil
1/4 cup red wine or sherry vinegar
1 med white onion, minced
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp oregano, fresh, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper, coarse grind
1 tsp lemon juice
salt to taste
Method:
Whisk together oil and vinegar in non-reactive bowl.
Add the rest of the ingredients and combine thoroughly.
Season with salt to taste.
Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to allow flavours to develop.
Serve as a garnish with all types of grilled meats and fish.
Will keep covered in the fridge for 2-3 days. | | | |
| [05/12/2008, 03:24] | Fleur du Cap Chenin Blanc 2005 Wine Review (NW) | | 
Tasting notes: Bright nose of peach and lemon Nicely textured on the palate; fruity and acidic Finish of citrus, melon, and lingering vanilla This South African beauty is a steal at just $6! Well, that was the sale price. Regardless, the regular price is more like $10 which is still a good deal for a fruity, elegant, and nicely textured wine. I could see this pairing well with a variety of dishes, and it also was delicious to drink on its own. I encourage you to seek out South African Chenin Blanc. Some wineries use the grape name Steen, however, it seems more of them are reverting back to the French name for the grape on the label. Either way, it's often great stuff at a modest price. Raise a glass! | | | |
| [03/06/2008, 02:51] | Hardys announces that the race to the bottom is over; now for the hard work ... | |  By Campbell Mattinson
Publisher, The Wine Front
IN A DRAMATIC change of focus the Hardy Wine Company today announced that it was taking a great leap backwards - and changing its name. From the end of this month the Hardy Wine Company will be known as Constellation Wines Australia. This is an attempt to change the perception of the Hardys wine name from that of a corporate giant to, more simply, a regional winery 'known for quality and craftsmanship'
While this change is largely window-dressing, it is important. It marks a significant shift in thinking at Hardys. In recent years its super-premium portfolio has been sadly neglected, to the point where many premium wine drinkers (and wine media) today query whether the Jack Mann, Houghton Gladstones, Hardy's Tintara and Thomas Hardy super-premium labels still exist. The Hardy Wine Company has become known for good quality, cheap, non-region-specific fighting varietals. It has been at the forefront of the much maligned 'race to the bottom'. And for a long time this strategy has been widely perceived as puzzling and myopic - like defecating in your own nest.
Hardy Wine Company President John Grant said today that ‘This is a pivotal time for our company as we embark on a range of activities to move our company to higher ground. From 31 March ... we aim to showcase to the world regional winemaking at its finest. ‘By drawing on Constellation’s global resources and tapping into our generational traditions, we aim to become Australia’s regional wine champion, recognised for our quality brands and winemaking excellence.’ ‘Changing our company name provides greater freedom to shine the spotlight on the real heroes of our business - the outstanding regional wines. In particular, it allows the Hardys brand to return to being a winery, known for quality and
craftsmanship, rather than being known as a corporation.’ ‘We will be adding to our diverse regional offering and continuing our exploration of Australia’s premium wine regions’, he said, ‘as well as strengthening our front line staff, with additional personnel, tools, resources and training’. Constellation Wines Australia brands include:
Amberley, Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley Estate,
Chateau Reynella, Goundrey, Hardys, Houghton, Leasingham, Moondah Brook, Omni, Redman, Renmano,
Stanley Wines, Starvedog Lane, Stonehaven, Tintara, Yarra Burn.
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| [05/13/2008, 20:22] | El Celler de Can Roca | | | El Celler de Can Roca is one of my most memorable dining experiences, up there with Troisgros. At 279? for 2 people with 19 courses and 9 wines by the glass, one could also call it a bargain (the top menu is 100? per person). To read more about this experience, please visit Vinix, the wine social network site run by my friend Filippo Ronco. My complete article is there with some pictures taken on the cell phone. | | | |
| [05/16/2008, 21:50] | Natural Spoofulation | |  The passionate Alice Feiring and her new book, The Battle for Wine and Love, have fanned the flames of the natural winemaking debate. In particular she has bruised the feelings of the California wine industry, to which she has not been very complimentary. This has resulted in some lively back and forth on the side of the Californians in The Los Angeles Times, hardly a surprising forum for the pro-California view. I applaud Alice’s spirited attack on industrial wines and support of wines with personality and a sense of place. Her intensity has helped keep the debate a debate.
Extreme positions help sell books and it looks like Alice has done a good job in riling up the Californians and keeping her book in the headlines. I’m sure if the truth came out Alice, like me, has a long list of California wines she loves. It’s becoming the spoofulators vs. the natural movement and the main spoofulators seem to be in California. Yet this raises the question of what’s really natural or not and at what point the line is crossed from one to the other. It’s not as clear as it may seem. At some point it is just as bad to do too little to the wine as it is to do too much. Bad wine is bad wine, natural or not. Let’s take a look at the revered (I agree) wines of Josko Gravner in northeastern Italy on the border with Slovenia. Gravner ferments and ages his white wines on the skins and seeds for six or seven months in terra cotta amphorae coated with beeswax. This has a somewhat dramatic (to say the least) impact on the flavor and color of his wines. Is this natural winemaking or a kind of natural spoofulation? The wines of Gravner are extreme wines manipulated to that style by the hand of the winemaker. Are the techniques of Clark Smith more intrusive than this? I’m not sure this is a question that has been answered. There are a few buzzwords out there that seem to define the natural wine forces: biodynamic, indigenous yeasts, little or no sulfur and never, never any machines. Yet there are a whole array of interventions other than these that winemakers impose on their wines either because they dream of crafting great art like Gravner or because they are commercial winemakers that must put out a good tasting stable wine year-after-year to keep their jobs. It seems a bit preposterous to return to primitive methods of winemaking that more-often-than-not have the potential to produce faulted wines. Not all progress is inherently bad and any good winemaker will do everything needed to improve their wines. Many winemakers resolve this conflict between their desire to be part of the natural movement and the realities of putting better wine in the bottle by forgetting to talk about certain things when they talk to the press. Great wines are made, they don’t just happen. That’s why they call them winemakers. There is an incredible array of tools and knowledge available to today’s winemakers. To not make use of any of these tools and techniques does not make any sense. However, what you do with these many new tools is all important. You can’t make wine without manipulation, but without a doubt you can’t make great wine with with over-manipulation. I believe in terroir. I have tasted it in wines way to often to have any doubt. As long as a winemakers manipulations are designed to enhance that terroir I don’t have any problems with them. Technorati Tags: wine, Gravner, Feiring | | WorldWine Tags: wine, Gravner, Feiring, | | | |
| [05/16/2008, 01:34] | CORE WINE CONSUMERS INTERESTED IN SUSTAINABLE WINES, BUT FIND THEY ARE NOT ALWAYS CLEARLY MARKED, AVAILABLE | |  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! | | | |
| [07/16/2006, 19:30] | | | 
The good wines of the small big companies.
The Malbec 2004 Marguery Family |
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Anheuser-Busch Inc., the U.S. division of the nation's largest brewer, said Wednesday, May 14, 2008, in a signed a letter of intent that it is terminating its U.S. importing rights to the Grolsch beer brands.
