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Don Ziraldo is the founder of Inniskillin Winery in Canada and is credited with bringing ice wine to the forefront. If you?ve never had it, you should try it. It?s expensive ($100 for a half bottle) but OMG it is divine. I had the Cab Franc Icewine and it tasted like a liquid strawberry shortcake. Anywho, Ziraldo got married this past week to Anna Netter. But here?s the good part. The couple did a press release and here are just a few snipits from their article. The 58-year-old Mr. Ziraldo met his bride on the ski slopes of Whistler, but they lived apart for some time, "each continuing to travel and learn from other cultures. Gradually, thanks to their mutual interest in Buddhism, both learned that "there is no fear, only love." At the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece the couple exchanged eternity rings. Remember that kids ?there is no fear, only love?. WTF? I love it, they exchanged ?eternity rings?. Is that just basically what millionaires call a wedding band? And OMG, that hat and those shoes do not scream millionaire. I do like her dress though.
More details on the wedding: It took place at the jet-set Hotel Traube-Tonbach (Traube means grape in German), which "prides itself on its strictly enforced peace and quiet, and the glamour of its very upscale clientele." The wines were Inniskillin -- natch -- and the dinner menu featured venison and pike. The couple is honeymooning in the Bahamas with friends.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that they took ?friends? on their honeymoon?
Fact #1 JD Wetherspoon?s is a chain of pubs in England. There are 650 in operation.
Fact #2 Constellation Brands is a wine GIANT. They sell more than 80 million cases a year. They own Alice White, Almaden, Arbor Mist, Cook's, Covey Run, Inglenook, Vendange, Dunnewood, Farallon, Great Western, J. Roget, Marcus James, Paul Masson table wines, Taylor California Cellars, Viña Santa Carolina, Banrock Station, Hardys, Leasingham, Barossa Valley Estate, Chateau Reynella, and Nobilo just to name a few. Seriously, they own hundreds of wineries.
Fact #3 Constellation often does ?private labels?. This means that they take one of their wines, let?s say Alice White for example, and they put it in a bottle with a different label on it. So, if you were a mega retail store *cough Total Wine cough* you could take that Alice White and call it Blue Flame *cough ass in a glass cough* and when people want more, they can only get it at your store b/c the consumer doesn?t know it?s Alice White?.for example.
Fact #4 JD Wetherspoon?s let several different companies compete for their house wine. Whatever wine was the most popular for the trial period would win an exclusive with all of the pubs for a contract valued at nearly 150 million dollars.
Okay, now that we know the facts, let?s look at what really happened. It seems that an email was leaked from the Boss of Matthew Clarks Brands (a division of Constellation Brands) to all of their employees (around 300 people).
Wine distributor Matthew Clark emailed staff asking them to buy up to eight bottles of wine each at JD Wetherspoon's pubs in Bristol - and then claim it back on expenses. Employees were told to buy Nottage Hill Chardonnay and Shiraz, and Echo Falls - all of which are produced by Matthew Clark parent company Constellation Europe. If each of the firm's 300 employees had "done their bit" and splashed out on eight bottles of wine, it would have increased sales by 2,400 bottles in the city's pubs - potentially tipping the balance in its favour. The plan to artificially enhance the wine's popularity was devised as Constellation battled with rival firms for the exclusive rights to supply wine to JD Wetherspoon's 650 pubs.
Nice. I?d love to buy wine and expense it back to my boss. Somehow I don?t think he?d go for it. I have to say though, this doesn?t shock me so much. I wouldn?t put anything past Constellation Brands. So I guess my point here is know your brands, and know what you are buying. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1200200.ece
When pigs fly?I mean drink beer
So, in Tasmania (off of the coast of Australia) there is a local tourist attraction that has been getting a lot of flack lately. If you go to the ?Pub in the Paddock? you will find Prescilla and PB and they chug beers. But get this, Prescilla and PB are pigs. Yep, people can pay to ? and I quote ? ?pour bottles of beer down the willing throats of resident pigs?.
Dude, I would totally pay to see that. But PETA would like to go on the record and state that they are not down with it and they want to have the pigs rescued.
"Whilst it is a difficult pill to swallow ... it's certainly not cruelty, unfortunately," RSPCA state chief executive Rick Butler told PETA.
Pub owner Anne Free said Wednesday she was outraged that the tourist attraction had been attacked as cruel in the latest edition of a magazine published by animal welfare group Choose Cruelty Free. "When it's very, very quiet, I often actually have to go over and give them a couple of drinks because, yeah, they do look forward to it," Free told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. Note to self: If you ever go to Tasmania, you must go see the beer swilling pigs! http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14035561/
Boozehounds
Heartland Brewery has just begun marketing their new beer called Slobber Lager. This non-alcoholic beef flavored beer is made specifically for dogs.
"It's damn good," said Jon Bloostein, owner of Heartland Brewery, after taking a sip. Polo, a Bichon Frise, took a sniff and slurped down the whole bowl in a few seconds. Simba, a Shih Tzu, was more hesitant. After several whiffs and plenty of encouragement, he took a few gulps. But Diva, a Rottweiler, couldn't get enough. She finished one bowl and moved on to the next. Still thirsty, she sipped from a pint glass, then drank straight from the tap. "She's a beer drinker!" said Allison Cardona of the ASPCA, who helped bring the dogs, all available for adoption, to the tavern for the taste test.
Um, I am sure the dogs love it but why is the brewer drinking it? Ew! Beef flavored beer? Count me out. My dog is fat enough as it is so he?s definitely not getting any.
Schramsberg has just come out with a new sparkling wine meant to compete with the likes of Krug, Dom P., and Cristal. It is called J. Schram Rose 1988 and there were only 800 cases produced. Rarely will you ever see an American Sparkler go for more than $75 but this one??$120. "It appears in a world where Dom Pérignon Rosé is $200, and Cristal is probably $350. The Krug Rosé is certainly in that range as well," said Shramsberg head winemaker Hugh Davies. "This wine competes with those in terms of flavor, finesse and character.
Yeah, but it?s still Schramsberg and I doubt it competes with Krug. Strike that ? There is NO WAY it competes with Krug. If anybody out there can get a hold of some, I wanna know what it?s like. Ooooh I would love to have it in a blind tasting. http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,3361,00.html
Last night was our anniversary so Kipp and I got a babysitter and hit the town. First we went to Milner's in Winston Salem and I had a glass of Renard Rose. It was just kinda meh... From there we proceeded to go to several different bars and I actually ran into an old sorority sister at Foothills. Anyway we came home at 8:30 (I know, were wild right?) and I fixed Steak with a mushroom and Humboldt Fog (bleu cheese) sauce. We had an '01 Spotteswoode with it. That review will come tomorrow. But for now read my review of Martinelli Pinot that I had at an impromptu wine dinner with Jon and Sam at my house on Sunday.
Martinelli '02 Moonshine Ranch Pinot Noir The nose was earthy and powdery all at the same time. It also had a lot of blackberry with some hints of white pepper. The palate was all cherry cola and sweet black cherries. There was some hidden acidity on the mid-palate with a very sweet, very lush blackberry jam finish. Yeah, it was over extracted but damn, it was GOOD. I have one more bottle and I think I'll let that one sit for about 3 more years.
I’m in the process of closing down Wine Life Today the social bookmarking service and making it into my personal blog so that I can dedicate my time to creating real change and real value for the entire wine industry.
WLT is a two year old project that had a decent amount of success and even generated some advertising revenue which is cool. But I never intended it to be a revenue source as much as it was a learning experience. I LOVE the wine community and I spend tremendous amounts of time creating and learning from my creations/experiences. So I always thought that creating things for the wine world would be the best of all worlds - I could meet more and more people in the wine world all while having my creative outlet.
Recently, OpenWine Consortium, a brainchild of mine that was inspired by the need of some industry friends I met through my other creations (this blog and WLT), has emerged as an unmitigated success. With really no marketing whatsoever, it has garnered attention across all corners of the world, been written up in Wines & Vines magazine, signed up nearly 1000 members in less than three months, and really become something I can spend GOBS of time working on. Its special, it fills a need that the industry has, and most of all, its something I’m very proud of but believe it can be so much more.
I believe OpenWine Consortium is 10 times more useful at 1000 then it was at 100 in terms of affecting change in the industry. Real business connections are being made, value is being created through the exchange of expertise and advice, and new ideas are being spawned just through the interaction.
Guess what…I also believe that is OWC were 10,000 people is would be 100 times more useful and would create 100 time the value it does today. So I’m setting a goal for myself and the OWC community. The industry needs this site to be at 10,000 members from every corner of the globe to make it an invaluable place to be on the Internet if you are in the wine trade. This goal is SOOOO doable its rediculous. There are tens of thousand of wine brands and just an un-Godly number of service businesses that work with those brands and ALL the employees/owners/proprietors of all these businesses can benefit from the OWC community - the interaction, the community, the technology exchange.
So that is my goal today. I’m very proud that we’ve gained 1000 members. But I’m going to dedicate the time and effort needed to really move the needle in the industry and I hope others in the community who see the value will do the same.
I’ll start with something simple - a Logo that others can get behind. Some good friends have put time into creating a logo and I"ll get it out there soon. Look for the preview here.
What are some other things I can do? Partnerships with others in the trade, training to properly use OWC as a tool for trade associations, implementing the changes that the membership wants to see on the network.
Me and about 1000 of my industry friends should be able to make a difference so lets see where this takes us!
Cheers!
(almost makes me want to say "To infinity and beyond!"…but I’ll refrain)
If you ever wanted an object lesson in the "Blinders On" mentality that results when a state controls and restricts consumers' access to wine, all you have to do is read THIS STORY in the Salt Lake City Tribune on ordering wine direct through the state run system that turned into a 5 month odyssey of frustration and surrealism.
The report begins by noting that Utahans often order one of the tens of thousands of wines the Utah state system doesn't list in inventory from on-line sources then have it shipped to Wyoming, where they go pick it up and drive it back home. Yes, this is illegal, but it turns out it's really the Utahans only choice is they want to access wine that the good Utah government regulators don't choose to bring into the state.
But no worries. This illegal activity isn't necessary: "Under Utah law, consumers may special order wine, liquor or heavy beer that isn't one of the 4,000-plus offerings on the state's listing, says John Freeman, DABC operations director."
The reporter did just this. He wanted to get his hands on two bottles of Quivera Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley.
He ordered it through the state in November 2007. He got it in May 2008. You've got to read this story.
The really ugly part is that were rational wine shipping laws in place in Utah, the reporter could have ordered his wine from any of more than 20 different on-line wine merchants and had it shipped to him within 3 or 4 days of ordering it.
I'm not one of those Small Government, Conservative kind a guys. But when you read this sort of thing you really start to understand where those folks are coming from when they claim that if you want something screwed up and as inefficient as possible, just give it over to the government to do.
BearBoat 2005 Pinot NoirSebeka Cabernet Pinotage 2006 $15.99 - BearBoat Pinot Noir $6.99 - Sebeka Cabernet Pinotage WebWino says: Even though I’ve been slacking off with my Vino Keeno site, I most certainly have not been slacking off in the drinking department. However I haven’t been taking notes, so these two get lumped together because they both deserve mention, [...]
99-100 Parker: "Domaine de Pegau?s magical 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is a magnificent offering. Tipping the scales at 16.1% alcohol, it boasts a blockbuster nose of dry vintage port intermixed with pepper, herbes de Provence, and roasted meats. Frightfully concentrated with layers of glycerin and fruit, it should prove to be one of the appellation?s greatest classics. More backward than either the 1998 or 2000 Capos, it is an enormously endowed, hugely concentrated, exhilarating effort that will last for three decades or more. It is a strong candidate for the ?wine of the vintage.? Anticipated maturity: 2010-2035+. When I asked Laurence how she would describe this beauty, she said, ?It consists of 80% of a great vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape, 20% a vintage port, and the rest some Syrah and other things we throw in for complexity.?
The adjective 'big' as it relates to wine often carries a slightly negative connotation. Well, if not a overtly negative, then at least, fairly rough. A big red wine is more often lauded for its power than its beauty. Perhaps those big wines that also maintain an air of nuance should be referred to as 'large' or 'grand'.
When it comes to large, grand wines, one of the world's up and coming regions is Canada's Okanagan Valley in BC. In fact, one of Canada's biggest wine-glomerates, VinCor, has partnered with a band in Bordeaux (Groupe Taillan) to develop grand Bordeaux-style winery. Osoyoos Larose produces complex, character-full grand/large wine. The 2004 Petales d'Osoyoos (~$27) may be a 2nd label wine, but it's also lovely and grand. Petales is largely blackberry, earthy spice and plum preserves. If you happen to live near the 49th Parallel, matriculate over the border and grab this wine for turkey day. At a minimum, try it before the Loonie laps the Greenback on the exchange front and the wine costs you as much as a 'first label' vino.
If you're still having difficulty wrapping your brain around the whole Big v. Large concept, let Lyle teach you. His band is most definitely large rather than big. Listen here.
So, when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split, he had to sell his Frank-Gehry designed wine cellar. But, he?s not moping around.
It's rumored that the movie star, who was adept at stomping people in Fight Club and Troy, could soon be stomping grapes, thereby putting him among the ranks of celebrities with their names on wine labels.
Pitt stayed in a village in the Piedmont (Italy that is) and visited 2 different wineries that were for sale.
Monica Tavella, spokeswoman for the Fontanafredda estate in Piedmont, told the newspaper that Pitt stayed there after the Winter Olympics and expressed interest in the art of winemaking and viticulture.
Holy Jesus. Brad Pitt and super exclusive cult Barolos?? Shhhh?. I need a moment to myself.
Okay, let's move on............
A Votre Sante
In France when you want to ?cheers? you say A Votre Sante which translates ?to your health.? Over the past 5 years we have heard a lot about compounds in red wine which are beneficial to your health, specifically resveratrol. Studies have shown that moderate consumption of red wine can reduce the likelihood of a heart attack. But check out the other things they are testing it for look at how good it actually is. Also, in the quote below MDWD refers to a moderate daily wine drinker. While our doctors and government don't recommend wine, British health officials routinely do. A growing mound of studies, reflecting sources such as the American Heart Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, confirms wine to be precisely the potent and nutritious medicine our ancestors assumed it was. Besides the magic in polyphenols, which you could get from grape juice, and in alcohol, which you could get from gin, wine adds up to more than the sum of its parts. In contrast with bingers and abstainers, as well as beer and spirits drinkers, moderate daily wine drinkers (MDWDs) are better-educated and earn more. Their higher cognitive skills propel them through the Alzheimer's years with a 50 percent lower risk of dementia, one reason they're half as likely to end up in nursing homes even though they live longer, succumbing to cardiovascular diseases at half the rate of abstainers and heavy drinkers. Since moderate daily wine raises "good" cholesterol and reduces inflammation and clotting, MDWDs recover better from heart attacks and surgery and have a lower risk of stroke. They also have a 30 percent lower rate of Type 2 diabetes. Both red and white wine pack powerful, cancer-fighting antioxidants. Incidence of endometrial cancer is 83 percent lower in female MDWDs. Wine with meals halves your risk of colorectal cancer. Wine even eases blood-vessel constriction in smokers, while its polyphenols alleviate certain lung diseases. MDWDs get fewer colds with lighter symptoms. Their bones are denser, and they have nicer teeth, due to wine compounds that zap gum-disease bacteria. But wouldn't all that alcohol play havoc with your liver and kidneys? Nope. In fact, MDWDs have 30 percent lower risk of kidney dysfunction, and liver disease decreases as wine consumption rises. MDWDs have narrower waists and half the obesity rate of bingers and abstainers. Mysteriously, adding wine to a diet appears to melt pounds. It could be antioxidants and flavanoids speeding the breakdown of fat. It couldn't hurt that red wine, at 1.37 grams per liter, provides 8.5 percent of recommended daily fiber. It might have to do with metabolism or pleasure centers, which might explain why wine also helps with anorexia.
Craziness. Not only are wine drinkers cooler, more educated, and more successful, we?re also tons healthier. Now, drink up!
English Lit, Geometry, and Vinology?
How cool is this? In Australia high school students can actually take a class to teach them how to make wine. The rules are that they cannot taste or drink wine at any point in time during the class, nor can they attend events where their wines are tasted out (bummer). But they actually get to go through the process from start to finish of making their own wine. Even cooler is that the school has now gotten their proper licenses so that they can sell and market the wine to the public. At my school the electives were art, French, and agriculture class.
Viticulture started at the school in 2000 with the planting of 450 vines on four old sand tennis courts, comprising 215 durif vines, 175 shiraz vines and 70 viognier vines. The course, designed for year 11 and 12 students, was developed by the Wine Industrial National Education Training and Advisory Council and is competency skills-based with students achieving an Australian Qualification Framework Certificate I in Food Processing (wine). Mr Adamson said students worked in the school vineyard and then did placements at local vineyards. Wine is stored in barrels at the school and bottled at Cofield?s. Mr Adamson said the proceeds from the sale of the wine would be used for further equipment for the course.
He said the course had plenty of success stories to day with graduates doing well in the field. One is former student, David Whyte, now assistant winemaker at Cofield?s. ?David is our technical adviser and I take samples to him for advice when we make our wine,? Mr Adamson said. ?Now he?s the teacher and I?m the student.?
Um, is it just me or do they look like something more than just "student and teacher"? Cool concept, gay picture.
I, for one, think that it is incredibly important and hip as hell to be teaching these kids a craft that they can take into the real world and be successful with. I wish they would do that more in American school systems. If there was such thing as a mini-homebrew kit for toddlers I know that my husband would have already bought one for my son. Hmmm? maybe we can just send him to school in Australia. Ha!
Anheuser Busch? new seasonal beers? The latest trend in beer drinking in America has been that drinkers are opting for hand crafted, more flavorful beers from micro-breweries. With that, Anheuser-Busch? market share has decreased so we knew it wouldn?t be long before they tried to up the ante.
Budweiser. Michelob. Natural Ice. Busch.
What do these beers all have in common? They are all brewed by Anheuser-Busch and are beers most craft beer drinkers would not think of imbibing unless there was absolutely nothing else available.
I?d go for water first. But Anheuser-Busch, at least on a small scale, is trying to change the minds of craft beer drinkers.
They have released Demon?s Hop Yard IPA, brewed in the company?s Portsmouth, N.H., brewery and only sold in New England on tap.
McGualey said, "These are just a fun way to let people take a peek inside what our company is doing. It?s all about consumers today. I think consumers are looking for products like these."
I don?t know about you guys but the tap handle alone is frightening. I can?t imagine what the beer is like. I mean on one hand I?m glad that they are paying attention enough to know they need to step up their game, but on the other hand, my opinion of their company is so innately flawed that I probably won?t even try their new seasonals. Oh, BTW the new seasonals are the Jack?s Pumpkin Spice Ale, the Winter?s Bourbon Cask Ale, the Spring Heat Spiced Wheat and the Beach Bum Blonde Ale. If any of you get to try them email me with info. I am super curious about them.
Today is hump day and I am on coast until I get outta here. My last day is tomorrow so as soon as I finish some filing I'm done!! I've got some web surfing to do do I'm out! Cheers!
Many people would be able to identify a bottle of wine that was truly faulty and, in a restaurant, ask for a replacement. But would you be able to tell what the fault was or what to blame for it? It is all to do with perception threshold. Different faults require different parts per thousand or even million to be perceived.
Some people are more sensitive to certain faults than others so while the host, who may taste the wine as it is brought to the table, is happily quaffing, one or more guests could be secretively retching into their napkins. Depending on how well you know your host and judging, diplomatically, how much of an ego dent your comments could produce, it might be worth discreetly asking people to have another careful sniff.
At a wine faults workshop this week, it was made clear that a fault is only a fault if the people drinking the wine consider it to be. For example the "fault" brett - produced from brettanomyces yeast acting on the phenolic acids of the grape - is a characteristic that some tasters love and some winemakers deliberately introduce. It can produce strong animal characteristics that enhance a wine's complexity and increases some people's pleasure.
Of course it is very important to get the balance right because the smallest increase tips a wine over from animal (yum) to bretty (yuck). And even in the lower doses some people adore the fragrant pong while others will recoil in horror at the filthy stench. Perception is all.
Then there is actual corkiness. Produced by TCA, TBA and TeCA it has various origins like the high levels of chlorine used to clean the winery and equipment, the breakdown of other cleaning agents by funghi in the winery - low ventilation and high humidity contibuting to high levels in the atmosphere.
The cork industry is keen to point out that it is not something inherently present in the corks more of a contamination at the winery. The plastic in alternative closure linings etc are equally susceptible to this contamination. With increased awareness, far higher standards of hygiene than ever before and alternative cleaning solutions available the problem should be getting better. However despite some high profile cases in California back in 2004, there are still many wineries taking the easy option and continuing bad practices.
At the other end is a sulfide problem that produces a tomato, truffle, cabbage, rubber character. This is reduction, the opposite of oxidation and the result of a complete seal which prevents any movement of oxygen into the wine. Unlike oxidation though, this can be corrected sometimes as simply as swirling the wine in the glass or decanting the bottle thereby allowing some air contact and dissipating the bad aromas.
This problem has been most associated with screwcaps which provide such an affective seal that all the positive benefits of cork permeability have been lost alongside the problems that can occur for freshness through excessive permeability.
New Zealand wineries have famously chosen to address this by slightly oxidising the wine before bottling in order to achieve balance once the wine is in bottle. As is often the case with the New World, they are quick to respond to problems and criticism.
However this is a dangerous and nervy solution and not always successful. Pascal Chatonnet, leading faults scientist, oenologist and consultant to wineries all over the world, argues that some of the essential character and originality is lost through this process and the overall quality and elegance is compromised, though this is not necessarily understood by the consumer as the original wine is not available to compare.
What is important to the cork industry is that while a consumer might recognise the wine is faulty, the only real language employed to describe or attribute the fault invokes cork. This is of major concern and is where the charm offensive needs to conentrate, for cork may not have played any part whatsoever.
For consumers the challenge to the industry as a whole is to find a closure with the correct level of permeability and which is kept free of contamination. It is in everybody's interests and with a more frank discussion opening up we can only hope that solutions won't be too far away.
I spent three years in Humboldt County, that (way) Northern California county best know for its world class dope. (I have a good story about Humboldt dope that comes toward the end of this post). I was there in the mid 1980s studying History at Humboldt State University. It was where I lived when I discovered my passion for wine. Yet the entire time I never once tasted a wine from Humboldt County. Now, it seems, there are enough local wineries for it to declare itself an "Emerging Wine Region". Dude! That is so awesome!
The only winery I was even aware of when I was studying at Humboldt State was Fieldbrook Winery. It's still there and producing some beautiful wines. But I hope I'm forgiven for not thinking much about Humboldt County-made wine as I began my initial serious study of wine in between hacky sack and History. I was more interested in discovering just what all this talk about BV Special Reserve, Beringer Private Reserve, Ridge Monte Bello, Chalone Pinot Noir and Matanzas Creek Merlot was all about.
Humboldt is a fairly remote region of California, even compared with places like Anderson Valley, Potter Valley and other far flung, but now fairly well known, growing regions. The County is large and offers a very diverse set of climates where grapes might grow. Closer to the coast, where I spent all my time, it's much cooler, while inland it can become very warm...too warm. But more than anything that makes me believe that Humbolt could indeed be an up and coming region for wine is the the price of land. It's far less expensive than anything Mendocino and southward. FAR less expensive.
As with every region, it seems one would have to carefully choose where they want to grow grapes, but as as the growing number of wineries in the County demonstrate, the diversity allows for a variety of grapes to be cultivated.
The first story linked above seems to hint at the idea that the region is quite suited for organic grape growing and hence organic wines, a winemaking trend I believe is going to explode:
"The natural environment lends itself to the emergence of organic wine making, as well, Lorenzo said ? which several vintners have already implemented in their wine-making process.
?They?re really committed to the fully organic wines and process in addition to growing organic grapes,? she said of such wineries as Coates Vineyards and Old Growth Cellars."
Unless you've got some severely crappy soil, I can't see why nearly any region isn't suited for cultivating grapes organically. That is to say, the above statement doesn't make a lot sense. However, it's the CULTURAL environment in Humboldt County that truly lends itself to organic grape growing and winemaking. I have never lived in a place where so many of the inhabitants were committed, at such an early point, to "green living", conservation, off-the-grid lifestyles and tie die apparel. I'll admit that the constant exposure to what I affectionately came to call Hippydom often gave me the Heebie Jeebies, a condition that is alternatively known as tydyphobia: a fear of waking up with tie die patterns tattooed on one's chest.
Be my fears as they may, it appears that in short order Humboldt wineries will have their own website, promotional materials and a set of wine tastings to kick off their attempt at being discovered. But...what if this area's winemakers all made a commitment to doing things the organic way?
Is there another region anywhere in the world that is know as the "Organic Wine Region"? I don't think so. Would it be of tremendous benefit to cultivate this image? I know so! It is exceedingly difficult for any wine region to create or develop for itself anything like a well defined image, be it for a particular variety of wine, style of wine or anything else. The Organic Image is wide open and Humboldt wineries should grab it. It will take a concerted effort for Humboldt County to replace its image as the source of California's best dope with an image for making great organic wine. But I think the effort is worth it.
I left Humboldt County the day after I graduated. They only reason I stayed for the Graduation Ceremony was because my mother wanted to come up for the ceremony, presumably to confirm that the occasional checks in the envelope that helped sustain me were in fact spent on an education. I'm not an anti-environmentalist or anything, but one has to be of a very specific mindset to live amongst the crunchy set. I wasn't of that mindset. San Francisco was much more my speed, a continuation of my study of History awaited at SF State University and there was also much more opportunity to find new wines to try in The City. So I left....very, very quickly, partly out of fear that I would wake up and find myself wearing Tie Die?which, by the way, I can proudly say I never wore on my body in the three years I lived there.
But I'm ready to revisit Humboldt, or more specifically, its wines. I've decided to make a special effort to find a number of them and see what they have beneath the cork. If I can somehow turn my current somewhat negative feelings toward Humboldt County into something positive due to their wines, then I'll be able to check off one of the items on my "things to fix" list.
Oh, and about Humboldt County dope. The first time "The Guy" made his regular rounds of the dorms with baggies of pot to sell (he'd return regularly on a weekly basis), I knew nothing about Humboldt grown pot. I asked, "how good is it?" The Guy took a big old bud the size of my palm out of his baggy, looked at me with his sunken eyes and then threw the bud at the ceiling of the my dorm room....It stuck. It stuck for a good ten seconds. The stuff became known as HSB--Humboldt Sticky Bud.
The winery of Luigi Reale was a real discovery. It raised my expectations of wine made in a world-famous beauty spot, in this case the Amalfi Coast of Campania. All of the essential components of interesting wine are present: good land, indigenous grapes of singular character and the informed intuition of the winemaker. Located in the village of Gete in the larger commune of Tramonti a few winding miles from the sea, Azienda Agricola Reale Andrea, is situated on a very steep 2.5 hectares on two small plots. The elevation...
The "good for you" snacks he manufactures are maybe not so healthful. Parents have sued. Products have been recalled. Yet the shaman of snacks survives.
I know Lincoln has a bottle of this wine and we are both interested to see what the other thinks. Calibration and all that. I was supposed to wait but I can’t. I never could. I always used to search the house for my Christmas presents as a kiddy too. Anyway, on the basis of this tasting I am pretty keen to see what the 2005 shiraz looks like. It must be pretty sharp. Sorry about the photo…our camera is on holiday in San Diego at the moment.
Aroams of cherry, raspberry, earth, empty dark chocolate box, licorice, eucalypt and some vanilla cedar oak. On the palate medium bodied with flavours of sweet cherry, blackberry, raspberry, earth, licorice and minty cedar oak. The tannins are fine, dry and refreshing. Finishes dry and savoury with raspberry and dark chocolate flavours. It looks much better and more together on the second day of tasting. Enjoyed this greatly.
94 points Parker: "A sensational effort, and undeniably the finest wine to ever emerge from this estate, the opaque purple-colored 2000 offers scents of tobacco, camphor, graphite, creme de cassis, and licorice. This full-bodied, concentrated effort possesses low acidity, a multi-layered texture, tremendous intensity of flavor, and a persistent finish with considerable ripe, well-integrated tannin. This is a brilliant example of equilibrium and finesse allied to considerable power and flavor. Kudos to the Cathiards. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025."
Yesterday when I got into the car, after a day of work, the temperature read 98°F. Today when I went into work everything seemed like it had all gone South, like I?d landed smack dab in a bowl of idiot soup. Some days, in this business, you don?t know if you?re a Seer or a Sucker. So, let?s celebrate our blissful ignorance on this Wednesday in May.
A few weeks ago I was walking around the Tompkins Square Park area in NY with a few friends and noticed one of them was wearing a seersucker blazer. We proceeded to taunt him (and to subsequently cyber-bully him), but there was a prophetic air to his apparel of choice. Now it is hotter than blazes and I gots to get me one of them seersucker blazers.
In the meantime, a little pre-summer exercise on wines that match with seersucker. Not just any seersucker, but special selections of seersucker, some designer, some just out-and-out ridiculous. But not every wine is for everyone, isn?t that right my dear friends in the Bowery?
Lyric header host for this heedless post is Steve Miller, a good ?ol Dallas boy.
Puttin' her rouge on, Slippin' her shoes on, My baby's gettin' ready to dance Speaking of blissful ignorance, the first is a light-hearted trio of Bubbly?s fromBarefoot: a Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio and a White Zinfandel. Marks off for calling them Champagne (not a Growers one, I snarkfully presume). But major kudos for supporting a cause that is near and dear to me, the Pacific Coast chapter of the National MS Society. (And no, I am not talking about sommeliers here. Those who know me, know what I?m talking about).
Coming to you baby on a midnight train It goes with alligator and polo; it walks the walk and talks the talk. The wine is light but it isn?t simple. It?s a Matrot Meursault with a Stelvin instead of a cork. So it says cool and groovy at the same time as it says refined and sophisticated. Great for hanging around Tompkins Square Park in a brown bag till all hours of the night while waiting for the bars to open up in the morning, so you can order a Harvey Wallbanger or Ramos Gin Fizz.
I?m a joker, I?m a smoker, I?m a midnight toker This begs to be Bio-dynamite from Berkeley, a home made garage wine from a former SDS activist in a seersucker suit. That would count out Kermit and Neal, but there?s got to be another Big Boy out there still in hiding. Actually, we found him west of the East Bay, hiding in the hills on the Ridge estate, where a Chardonnay can be found in small amounts. From their Santa Cruz Mountain vineyards, first planted to Chardonnay in the 1940?s. Our lyric host, Steve Miller said it best when he sang:
You're the cutest thing That I ever did see I really love your peaches Want to shake your tree Lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey, lovey-dovey all the time Ooo-eee baby, I'll sure show you a good time
Ooe-ee Baby!
I?m a picker, I?m a grinner, I?m a lover and I?m a sinner Like it cool and dry, but need something ripe and ready? A little tango teaser from Argentina might be the perfect match with this swatch of seersucker. We
Tecnorati
I spent three years in Humboldt County, that (way) Northern California county best know for its world class dope. (I have a good story about Humboldt dope that comes toward the end of this post). I was there in the mid 1980s studying History at Humboldt State University. It was where I lived when I discovered my passion for wine. Yet the entire time I never once tasted a wine from Humboldt County. Now, it seems, there are enough local wineries
Valley and other far flung, but now fairly well known, growing regions. The County is large and offers a very diverse set of climates where grapes might grow. Closer to the coast, where I spent all my time, it's much cooler, while inland it can become very warm...too warm. But more than anything that makes me believe that Humbolt could indeed be an up and coming region for wine is the the price of land. It's far less expensive than anything Mendocino and southward. FAR less expensive.
I know Lincoln has a bottle of this wine and we are both interested to see what the other thinks. Calibration and all that. I was supposed to wait but I can’t. I never could. I always used to search the house for my Christmas presents as a kiddy too. Anyway, on the basis of this tasting I am pretty keen to see what the 2005 shiraz looks like. It must be pretty sharp. Sorry about the photo…our camera is on holiday in San Diego at the moment.
Puttin' her rouge on, Slippin' her shoes on, My baby's gettin' ready to dance
Coming to you baby on a midnight train
I?m a joker, I?m a smoker, I?m a midnight toker
