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Wow, when I thought about this theme for WBW (which I signed up for about 18 months ago, btw) I had no idea how badly I was going to need this or how cathartic the topic would be for me.

I believe in balance in life. Truly. I think you must or you won’t survive. That doesn’t me you’ll never get ahead because you take too many breaks, but there must always be balance. I can work like a maniac for days at a time, but not without something to ground me, my kids, my wife, and of course wine!

So that’s where I derived this theme idea. Wine is part of my life. Even when I ran into health problems with my cholesterol some years back, the doctor said I’ll need medication and probably cut out wine…wrong on both points my drug-company influenced friend. See, wine is part of the Yang to my everyday Yin. I love it and its such a part of my life that I believe that when I have that glass, at the end of the day or sometimes at the end of an intense week, my mind and body just release and relax. I never get hammered on wine and no other spirit signals my body to transition to “relax” so its not the alcohol as some may argue. It is the act of drinking it and the memories and good times the wine brings to mind that just lets me drift away.

I think there are enough people out there who know what I’m talking about which is why I chose this theme. Comfort Wines - choose a wine, any wine, that you love to unwind to and tell us about not only the wine but what makes the experience special and relaxing for you!

For me, I’ve just finished a home improvement project (literally getting sign-off from the city in the next week), launched the OpenWine Consortium social network, got my car repaired after an accident, and my second daughter is due March 4th (with WBW#43 due March 5th!). So I’m pretty sure I’ll have a good experience that I can try to convey for that Wednesday.

Remember, I believe in enjoying the Wine Life so if wine is part of a relaxation routine for you lets hear how you unwind - whether is in front of the TV or on the roof of a villa in Spain in front of a grill. Lets paint some mental pictures of tranquility for everyone to read and enjoy. Maybe some of us will have a couple “oh man, I totally have to try that” moments!

Cheers!

I have been drinking quite a lot of 1996 Penfolds 407 recently and maybe that colours my impression of this wine, but I drank it young and loved it, and now I like it even better. An outstanding wine with plenty of years to go. I don’t taste wines blind generally and I don’t care to. I even read other people’s tasting notes before reviewing but I still manage to form my own opinion. I could give you a dozen reasons for not tasting blind and I am sure advocates of blind tasting could give me a dozen reasons why I should! Be that as it may I’ll stick to my guns for now. ‘That’s me in the corner.That’s me in the spotlight…I thought that I heard you laughing.’ I already know I am out of step with many on this wine but so be it.

Full red purple. Aromas of blackcurrant pastille, licorice, tobacco, dried herbs, mint and delicate spicy cedar vanilla oak. On the palate medium to full bodied with blackcurrant, tobacco, star anise, coffee and some gamey earthy flavours. Tight and compact with firm fine grained tannins and clean fresh acidity. Finishes dry and long with blackcurrant and tobacco flavours. A brilliant wine, one for the long haul, and one I am most certainly going to purchase for the cellar.

Published on May 1st and just delivered to my doorstep via Amazon.com, The Wine Trials by Robin Goldstein enlivened (inflamed?) the wine blogosphere before anybody cracked the cover.

The striker to the matchbook?  Eric Asimov, a seasoned journalist for the New York Times, wrote a post based on reading a Newsweek article about the book.

You would not expect a journalist to comment on another piece of print media, especially without having read the book, but I guess this is the blogosphere and we are all guilty of seeking inspiration outside of traditional journalistic boundaries, but what ensued in the comments section of the post when nobody had read the book was truly sociologically interesting.

After a 65 comment explosion, Asimov wrote a follow-up after receiving a pre-release galley copy of the book and that post incited 31 comments.

Sequentially, the original post can be found here and the follow-up here.

Interestingly, the book is only, initially, available on Amazon.com.  And, yes, you guessed it.  Amazon is currently backordered on the book.

Somebody is interested …

Piqued by all of this, I did what anybody would do with all of that content on Asimov’s blog—I cut and paste into a Word document with .5 margins and 10 pt Trebuchet font.

36 pages and 17,000 words later I am more confused than before I started.  And, with no small amount of irony, the 17,000 words has to exceed the actual content in the book, which is 2/3’s wine listings. 

Here is the net-net version with this book:  the author did a blind tasting of many wines with large number of tasters (some 500 +) and the result was that numerous inexpensive wines (under $15) bested wines that are more expensive ($50 +) based on the panel of judges.

Pragmatically speaking, you do not have a book if people preferred more expensive wines to the less expensive wines so there is some room for question because the study, presumably, was set-up with an end conclusion in mind and not a hypothesis, but just the same it’s a fascinating book that makes for good arm chair reading over the course of a couple of hours.  With 58 introductory pages and the balance of the book being wine listings of the 100 wines under $15 that bested the $50 - $150 wines, it’s a light read.

The majority of the blog comments about Asimov’ posts on the book were centered on the division of small expensive wines and large grocery store wines.  This is an old ideological argument and more analogies were employed to explain the difference in art versus culture.  Variants cropped up about wine appreciation versus simpleton quaffers, etc.

Ugh, wake me when this tired old song is over with.  We get it.  Get over it.  Yes, there is a cultural difference between NASCAR fans and those that attend the symphony.  By God, both of these groups of people enjoy wine, too.

Nested within all of this debate is the essential truth by Asimov.

He states:

I am not saying wine is the equivalent of art. I do say that wine can be appreciated on many different levels, but that nobody should ever feel obliged to appreciate wine on any level. In the end, the book seems to divide wine consumers into the casual buyers who are pushed this way and that by forces they don’t understand, and the wealthy conspicuous status seekers who also are not quite aware of capitalism and marketing. Unacknowledged are the serious wine lovers who are knowledgeable, experimental and passionate, and who, yes, are in control of their own destinies. The book may speak to the first two groups, but not to the third.

As a member of the third group, the “serious wine lover” I can say unequivocally that I occasionally drink inexpensive wine and, natch, this book is an interesting take and a welcome addition to the pantheon of wine studies and a nice guidebook to the maze of choices at your grocery store for a through the week glass.

For additional reading at the source research study that led to the book, see this white paper.

Based in Kavadarci, Macedonia, Tikve? is the largest winery not only in Macedonia but also in the whole of south-eastern Europe.

The Tikve? region is a part of Macedonia abounding in natural beauty, with a distinctive habitat and climate, important cultural and historical sites, and a very long tradition of grape growing and wine making.

The Tikve? region occupies the central part of the Republic of Macedonia; it is situated about a hundred kilometres south of Skopje, around the middle section of the River Vardar. The sub-Mediterranean climate is prevalent here, characterized by long, hot summers and mild and rainy winters. Spring is shorter and fresher here, and autumn is longer and warmer.

The ratio between produced red and white wines is 50:50. The most widely grown grape varieties are Smederevka (white) and Krato?ija (red).

The range of produced wines depends on the vintage, but the list of wines they produce as quality wines (a step above table wines) could be wrapped up as:

Reds: Krato?ija, T?ga za Jug, Teran, Alexandria, Merlot, Burgundec, Kavadarka, Cabernet Sauvignon, Vranec and Rose

Whites: Belan, Riesling, Traminec, Smederevka, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Temjanika and Alexandria.

For the ?Special Selection? wines Tikve? has chosen the highest quality grapes and turned them into their best wines. In the red wine range these are Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot and Vranec, while in the white wine range these are Chardonnay, Riesling, Temjanika and Traminec. The Special Selection wines come with a distinctive label.

Technorati Tags: Macedonia Wines, Macedonia, Tikves

If you are into Spanish wine, it is likely you are aware of the oldest Bodega in the Rioja. Founded in 1852, Marqués de Murrieta concentrates on making Reserva and Gran Reserva, each spending multiple years in large oak barrels. The Castillo de Ygay is their Gran Reserva, and is produced only in exceptional years. Incredibly, the current release of this wine is 30 years old! The 1978 vintage was not bottled until 1998, after spending 212 months in oak!

Join us as we sit with Vicente Dalmau, President of Marqués de Murrieta winery. Vicente (who is also the Conde de Creixell) discusses Tempranillo, La Rioja, and an exciting new property in the Rias Baixas area of Galicia, where they are producing Alberiño.

Sponsor: Pinpoint Tech, Your Mailing List Source: www.pinpoint-tech.com

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I wrote this post in advance, knowing that I'd probably have to throw it up here at the last minute and sprint. Things might be a little erratic around here for the next couple of weeks, thanks to a new addition to the Vinography family.

See what happens when you drink wine? Let this be a lesson to you. A few good nights with a few good bottles, and nine months later? Pop. Just like a cork.

So we're off to the hospital with a bottle of Krug, and you probably won't see a post here for a few days while we get to know our daughter, Sparrow Lieu. I know it will be tough, but you'll just have to hang in there without your daily dose. Perhaps you can wait in anticipation that my tasting notes will go off the deep end as I'm making them in a state of complete sleep deprivation when I resurface. Lord knows I'll need a good glass of wine.

Cheers!

Alder

With two proud wine writers taking a recent beating from the eRobert Parker board, I think it’s high time they call the mob mentality jackals off ...

See here and here.

In honor of Jancis Robinson’s recent “parasitical” wine comments and the receipt of my copy of Alice Feiring’s new book, hot off the press:

Dulka is one of the most famous wine producing families in the town of Sremski Karlovci, near Novi Sad in Vojvodina. They produce wine since 1920 and have won a handful of awards at the Novi Sad agricultural fair throughout the years. Apart from producing wine, this familiy also produces bermet and brandies of highest qualities.

They have just recently started growing Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2005 is their second vintage. However, this wine is quite rich in both aroma and taste, much richer and deeper than other pure Cabernets around. The color is dark ruby red, the nose rich, so reminiscent of forests and the flavours are those of forest fruit and chocolate. It’s a good wine, can be enjoyed on it’s own.

Score: 8/10
Price: 540 RSD (?6.5)
Retailer: Rodi? MB, Airport City, Belgrade

Technorati Tags: Wine, Serbian Wine, Vojvodina, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad, Bermet