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Normally when a person passes away, our memories of him fade over time. I don't think that this will apply to Robert Mondavi. Much has been written about him, his life and his many contributions, to wine and beyond. He was a singular man, as focused on one great objective as anyone I have ever known.
by Martin Field Spirit House A group of us dined at the Spirit House in Yandina, a short drive south of Noosa. A spectacular setting, just like walking into a tropical restaurant in Bali or Thailand; complete with exotic flowers, bamboo, palms, and a central lake dotted with lotus leaves. Standout entrée ($19.50) was the ?Buddha?s Delight? a trio of beautifully presented savoury dishes, described accurately on the menu as ?Potato, pea and spinach samosa with coriander yoghurt; eggplant and banana chili salad with cassava chips; and Son-in-law Egg with sweet, salt and sour sauce. Address: 20 Ninderry Rd, Yandina, Queensland. Phone (07) 5446 8994.
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.
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.
I found a really great site for custom wine racks. I found wineracks.com and I absolutely cannot decide which design I like best. They have a selection of smaller capacity wine racks that can store three to forty eight bottles of wine.
Wineracks.com has wine racks in both wood and metal. I?ve found several that suit my current needs and several that I wish my needs would suit! Some of the different styles are just simple stackable racks that assemble without tools. There are other wine racks that are elegant, solid oak racks with tabletop and stemware storage.
The twelve bottle modular wine racks are made of pine and can be configured in many different ways. There are kits available to add and expand these wine racks. Wineracks.com has this item listed for $22.50.
The Cha Cha Wine Racks sold by wineracks.com are made of colored plastic. They snap together with clips and come in four colors. The colors that the components for these wine racks come in are orange, light blue, green and white. Each color is sold separately for $22.50.
I was particularly taken with the Lisbon wall wine racks. They are black wooden wine racks that hold both bottles and stemware. Wineracks.com has the Lisbon wall wine racks listed for $69.00.
I am pretty sure that I do not want the Accordia wine racks that wineracks.com have for sale. My mother had one that looked like this when I was growing up and I always thought that it was ugly. I much prefer any other style.
The Bali fifteen bottle wine racks were inspired by contemporary Indonesian style. I like the wavy look of these wine racks. The price for the Bali wine racks is $96.00. These come in a natural color. There are also twelve bottle Bali wine racks that are $72.00 in either crimson color or black.
I do believe that my favorite wine racks have to be the cellar cubes. Wineracks.com has the cellar cubes in both unfinished Pine and Mahogany. The Mahogany cellar cubes sell for $59.95 and the Pine cellar cubes sell for $34.95. These wine racks require simple assembly and the holes are pre-drilled and the hardware is provided.
2002 Grosset Watervale Riesling ? A little bit shy on the nose, but some citrus and floral characters can be noted. Palate has racy acid but is beautifully balanced. Full and long. Lovely wine, drinking well now. 91/100
1989 Jeffrey Grosset Polish Hill Riesling ? Honey, toast and ginger on the nose. Palate is tired, with some prickly acid and rapidly fading intensity. 81/100
1995 Penfolds Yattarna Chradonnay ? Honey, butter, some caramel and pine aromas. Nice richness to the palate with good carry across the palate. 88/100
2003 Te Kairanga Reserve Pinot Noir ? Stalk, liquorice, raspberry and sour cherry. Interesting texture, with lots of rich fruit leading into a dry finish. Not really my preferred style. 86/100
1968 Lindemans Reserve Bin 3820 Auburn Burgundy Hunter Coonawarra Clare ? Sweet perfume, leather, earth and raspberry. Soft, delicate palate. A lovely, fully mature wine. 89/100
1996 Henschke Lenswood Abbotts Prayer Merlot ? Briary, ash, graphite and chocolate. Medium bodied, with medium length but some alcohol sticks out and disrupts the line of the wine. 85/100
2001 Domaine Bruno Clavelier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru La Combe d’Orveaux Vieilles Vignes ? Lovely perfumed nose, black fruits, some earth, cherry and floral notes. The acid on the palate stands out a bit, although the structure seems good otherwise. Short to medium length, probably just struggled among the bigger wines surrounding it tonight. 87/100
2001 Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz ? Sultana, smoke and earth. Palate is dry and spicy, with the acid sticking out over the fruit somewhat. Disappointing. 85/100
1996 Leasingham Cabernet Sauvignon Classic Clare - Mint, blackberry, vanilla and blackcurrant. Rich fruit to the palate, long and bright. Very young still. 88/100
2004 Henry of Pelham Riesling Icewine ? Nice nose of peach, apricot, citrus peel and mandarin. Palate is rich and very sweet. Quite simple, but enjoyable as long as the massive sweetness isn’t an issue for you. 89/100
NV Buller?s Rare Muscat ? Raisin, spice, tea leaves and some alcohol showing. Softly sweet on the palate, not as complex as previous bottles but still very nice. 90/100
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!
I scraped myself up and out of Hong Kong to go grab the ferry to Macau. I later found out that helicopters are also available and a lot faster, although the boat trip wasn?t that bad, lasting only an hour. The ferries leave from Hong Kong every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, and [...]
What we commonly refer to as sulfites (actually sulfur dioxide) is natural by-product of the wine fermentation process. It's also an antioxident and antimicrobiodal. Some wineries add extra sulfur dioxide to their wines to help preserve them and many wineries use this compound in lieu of harsh chemical like bleach to clean their vats, lines, and other wine-making apperatus.
Sulfites have gotten a rather bad reputation because a small percentage of the population-around one percent-is allergic to this compound. For this reason, any US-produced wine with more than 10ppm must include the phrase "contains sulfites" on the label. This includes virtually all wines as the naturally-occuring amount of sulfites is around 10-20ppm. (The maximum allowable amount of sulfites in wine is 350ppm.)
Wines with the lowest about of sulfites are organic wines, followed by dry red and white wines. Dessert wines and wines with a high sugar content are higher on the sulfite spectrum.
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Mussels on the half shell are as exotic and flavorful as they are inexpensive.
(serves 6)
6 basil leaves 2 T fresh thyme, remove and discard stems before measuring 2 T fresh tarragon, remove and discard stems before measuring 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 shallot(s), minced 3 lemons, 1 * zested, 1 /2*juiced, 1 - 1/2* cut into wedges and reserved for garnish 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley sprigs, remove and discard stems before measuring 1/2 t celery salt 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 3 T butter at room temperature 1 lb. cultured blue mussels, rinsed, and debearded with a quick tug
1. . Mix all ingredients except the butter and mussels in a small food processor or blender or dice finely and mix by hand in a small bowl.
2. . If using a processor or blender add the butter. Otherwise, add the butter to the mixture in the bowl and blend thoroughly with a spoon.
3. . Place a vegetable steamer in a large pot and add 1 inch of water Bring water to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and steam for approximately 40 to 60 seconds, or just long enough for the shells to open (this is the sole object of the exercise). Remove opened shells and continue steaming any closed shells for I minute. Discard any mussels that have not opened by this time.
4. . Allow the mussels to cool. Remove the top shell.
5. . Set the mussels on a baking sheet (facing up) and spoon 1/4 teaspoon of the butter/herb mixture over each.
6. . Place the pan under the broiler on the level closest to the element or flame. Broil for about 2-1/2 minutes, or until butter is melted and the mussels just begin to brown.
7. . Serve on the half shell.
le secret. .Do not oversteam or overbroil mussels.
the adventure club . .Add a few droplets of Pernod (a licorice-flavored liqueur) to each mussel just before cooking.
garnish . .Lemon wedges.
suggested accompaniment . .A martini.
alternatives . .i) Butter may be replaced with an equal amount of olive oil. ii) This recipe also works with oysters, but you will have to pray for a pearl in order to finance the difference in price.
notes . .Buy the mussels from a reputable fishmonger on the day of the dinner. Select only mussels that are closed. ii) Keep mussels refrigerated. iii) Mussels are best washed and cleaned just before using. They begin to dry out once the beard is removed. iv) Don't worry if you are missing any one of the herbs. v) If you open a mussel and it looks questionable, give it the smell test.
guest assignment . .Mussel debearder.
hints for advance prep . .The butter mixture may be prepared days in advance and refrigerated or frozen.
cooking apparatus . .A baking sheet, a large pot, and a vegetable steamer.
serving apparatus . .A large serving plate, a plate for the empty shells and cocktail napkins.
2004 Bass Phillip “Estate” Chardonnay: Cloudy light golden colour. Oatmeal, nutty characters, soap and citrus peel on the nose. Rich and round palate with acidity that seems a little bit prickly. I think it was better than I’ve made it sound, but I can’t muster a whole lot of enthusiasm for it. 87/100
2007 Primo Estate “d’Elena” Pinot Grigio: Very pale colour. Banana and tropical fruits (mostly pineapple) aromas. Texturally interesting, but there is also a bit of alcohol heat on the palate that I found distracting. 85/100
1997 Paringa “Estate” Pinot Noir: Dark ruby colour, a little bit murky as well I thought. Cherry, raspberry, stalks and damp soil. The acid is sticking out, but I thought the rest of the flavour on the palate carried well. May have looked a bit better a couple of years ago. 87/100
1986 Domaine Jacques-Frederic Mugnier Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Amoureuses: Light red, with some orange tints around the rim. Yeasty and baked aromas on opening, we feared that it may be dead. We moved on to another wine to give this some time to see what happened and the recovery was pleasing. After around 60 minutes there were some earthy, dusty aromas coming through. Then another look after 90 minutes showed some spice, cherry and perfume like aromas. Palate never shed its dominant tannin, but it was quite drinkable anyway. It didn’t hit any great heights, but the recovery was remarkable and it ended up a nice drink. 87/100
1996 Domaine Bart Bonnes Mares Grand Cru: Medium purple coloured. Nose was very shy throughout the time we spent with it - there were fleeting scents of dark cherry, mocha, rose petal and some other floral notes. The palate is lovely though, it is quite youthful but layered, balanced and very long. Plenty of potential in this wine over the next 10 years. 91/100
1977 Graham Vintage Port: (375ml) Light crimson colour. Earth, spice, roast nuts and mint on the nose. There is a pleasing brown sugar style flavour to the palate, but it is noticeably lacking in depth. Not really what I expected in terms of richness and complexity, would like to know how it looked on following nights. 88/100
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.
Interesting commentary on the concept and tradition of terroir.
“The problem is that not enough tasters, whether professional or amateur, are equipped to recognize distinction of character. One of the difficulties is that it’s far easier to identify technical quality than quality of character, and often I feel that many people are too easily satisfied with the former. Even the way that we taste is oriented largely towards the identification of technical quality: blind comparisons, sterile conditions, numerical scoring. On the other hand,we have not yet developed a system for identifying character, which is far more difficult. One could even say that the idea of character,while ultimately identifiable, defies the whole concept of systemization.”
This is a snack we enjoyed when my son Chris was visiting last week. He worked hard on editing a photo for me for the LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow round up. I was really pleased with the final result and felt he deserved to be rewarded with some of his favourite foods. Visit on the 13th May to see how clever he is.
Recently, at a dinner with friends, one man's date turned to me and complained, "He's so boring. All he ever talks about is wine. All day long he talks about wine." I probably looked hurt, because I was just as engrossed in our discussion of Syrah as he was. Lorraine leaned toward me and whispered, "She's right, you know. We're all hopeless wine geeks. Look at us from an outsider's point of view."
When I first saw this link, I didn?t quite understand what they were talking about. But, never fear my friends, I did the research and am now perfectly prepared to tell you about the Dutty Wine Dance.
There is a Jamaican rapper who wrote a song entitled ?Dutty Wine?. To the best that I can decipher dutty should translate to dirty. The basis of the song is that he is poor and can only afford dutty wine that gets him very?.um?inebriated. Apparently it also gets the women he is with very drunk as well and this is the dance they do for him while drinking it.
The middle class is in an uproar. All their little girls are doing the 'Dutty Wine'. From left, right and centre, even disabled children, everybody is doing the 'Dutty Wine'.
Disabled children? Did they really go there?
Not wishing in any way to detract from the suggestive nature of the dance, I must point out that it is impossible to do it without long tresses. If you can't get your hair to swing round and round your head while you get down on all fours on the ground, you're not doing the 'Dutty Wine'. It requires supreme flexibility. Consequently, there's not a child who hasn't been stopped from doing it by a parent in the last few months
OK, why are CHILDREN in Jamaica doing this dance. I mean, it sure doesn?t sound like the hokey pokey to me.
The ones I feel sorry for are the disabled children. They don't have legs, so it's perfect for them. They can wine their little hearts out. But even when they do it, it's suggestive if not more so. All the adults hurriedly put a stop to it. Poor little children.
LOL! OMG, did I read that right? Why do they keep picking on the disabled kids? Are there just tons of disabled kids sitting around in Jamaica waiting to do a dance?
What?s worse is that I went on You Tube to see what it was all about and when I searched Dutty Wine I got like 50 million results. Here is one of the first ones I found but the most important question is ?How in the hell could a disabled child do this?
Fewer sales reps are more paranoid these days than cork salespeople. They barrage you with emails damning all other types of closures. At trade shows they meet winemakers with frigid stares that have changed over from cork to something else.
The battle is fully engaged on what is the best closure for a wine bottle and as always, in the heat of battle there is often more confusion than fact. Much as a war correspondent sees through the smoke of conflict, writer George Taber has cut through all the brouhaha to offer us a clear look at the cork conflict in his book, To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science and The Battle for the Wine Bottle. Taber is also the author of Judgment of Paris, which is bound for the big Hollywood screen. The journalistic temperament that Taber brings to his book, a rarity in wine writing, should be no surprise as he is a twenty-one year veteran of Time Magazine.
The combat is about the dreaded TCA (2,4,6 trichloroanisole) that destroys anywhere (depending on whose giving the stats) from 3% to 15% or so of every bottle of wine sealed with a cork in the world. These are the so called “corked” bottles as wines spoiled by TCA have a distinct musty character that can range from the wine seeming just not quite right, to bottles that almost make you gag. What makes TCA the nightmare of winemakers it that most affected bottles are consumed by unsuspecting consumers that are unaware the the wines are actually spoiled, instead thinking that whatever the winery is just doesn’t make very good wine. This dramatic rate of failure combined with disastrous PR has turned many wineries away from natural cork to closures like screwcaps, crown caps and glass stoppers.
To Cork or Not to Cork is a must read for wine professionals and aficionados alike. Don’t expect to have the best closure revealed in the last chapter as Taber presents the whole story without judgment as you would expect from someone with his journalistic credentials.
As Taber points out, all closures currently in use have potential issues so the jury is still out and the closure of the future probably is not invented yet. My major issue with many cork fundamentalists is the constant reference to the tradition of cork and the romance of the ritual and sound of pulling a cork. Screw tradition, the argument should always be about wine quality not superficial issues like romance. What’s romantic about a corked bottle of $50 wine?
Perhaps in the end the solution will be different closures for different wines. After all, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir age very differently and what is good for one may not be good for the other. Put a cork in it? The answer seems to be sometimes yes and sometimes no. Whatever happens in the future, the century old monopoly of the cork is over. Technorati Tags: TCA, wine, corked wine
Image by jezkerwin via FlickrSorry to our readers of Iberian wine news, because today, is a blogger show. I listen to TWIT religiously. If you are even tangentially interested in the online tech world, I highly suggest it. Each week, they talk about gadgets, websites and online issues, and occasionally, it directly applies to my life.
A few weeks ago, TWIT featured an episode on “The Death of Journalism”, asking the following guest speakers to chime in with their educated thoughts and opinions: Leo Laporte, Steve Gillmor, Mark Frauenfelder, and Molly Wood. Now, although I’ve heard this argument several times before, I usually consider it “the sky is falling” rhetoric, where we all complain about how everything is changing and nothing is good in the world. But during this episode, I actually let down my guard and heard a suprisingly compelling argument.
If big media fails, specifically newspapers, and replaced by online streams, such as blogs and distribution devices such as Twitter, will investigative journalism suffer? In the past, a newspaper could hire a reporter to spend a week on one story, digging deep and looking for the meat, bolstered by their impressive budget. While today, TWIT presented the argument that people with blogs tend to react without reflection, riff on a news story for a few lines, smear a little gossip around, and then try to call it journalism.
Generally, I agree with this argument, or at the very least, that it could lead to a problem if we are not careful. If we never look any deeper than what we think of a particular wine, or rehash the wine encyclopedia’s definition of a region, what are we accomplishing? Some may debate that the role of a wine writer is only to educate and expand knowledge, but shouldn’t we also help create change? Should wine writers/bloggers take and expose issues, challenge ideas and report on news? Or are we only here to taste a new vintage and report only on its positive/negative elements?
Currently we play the editorial section of the wine worlds newspaper. Off the cuff responses to the latest news and events, regurgitating. But can we be more? Catavino is as guilty as the next person when it comes to spewing something out without fully digging into it. Reacting off the cuff without fully analyzing. Granted, we’ve been fighting this issue ourselves over the past year, and for example, I know that Gabriella dug deep into the history of Patxaran to get the full story, and I commend her for it. Dr.Vino is another blogger that comes to mind in conducting investigative reporting with his look at wine’s carbon footprint. Granted, he’s really an exception, considering that his research resulted in a book. What I want to know is whether Wine Bloggers can make a difference, showing that we can professionally fill in the gap when the major wine rags finally collapse (though I would say that many wine rags wouldn’t know good fact checking journalism if it bit them on the nose).
I’m sure these pieces already exist out there, and if so, please link to them in the comment’s section. And while Gabriella’s Pataxaran article was investigative, it is not exactly what I’m talking about. What are the topics that need investigating and can a blogger that doesn’t blog for a living really afford the time to dig deep. What are the questions that we should be asking? What are the stories that still need to be told? Or is wine journalism only about vintages, tasting notes and historic profiles?
The James Beard Foundation Awards are the nation?s preeminent honors for culinary professionals. More than 60 awards are given out each year in the categories of cookbooks, restaurants and chefs, design and graphics, broadcast media, journalism, and achievement. Nominees and award winners are selected by their industry peers, with more than 600 culinary professionals involved in the voting process.
Thank you to all of our fans who have given us such great support over the years.
The best kinds of cheap wines are the kinds that have a rich story behind them. Well, The Tillerman White wine brought to you by the Hook & Ladder Winery certainly fits the bill. At first glance this wine label made no sense to me… Hook & Ladder? The Tillerman? After doing some research, I feel enlightened knowing the origins of this fine cheap wine, so I’ll share:
The owner of the family-run Hook & Ladder, Cecil De Loach used to be a firefighter! “Hook and Ladder” is just another name for a firetruck. And The Tillerman is guy who drives the back end of a firetruck. A firefighter and a wine-maker! What a life!
I sampled several bottles of The Tillerman White, and I am glad I did. Not being a fan of white blends with a lot of oak, I enjoyed everything about this wine. The peach/apricot aroma was the most prominent feature of this wine as it approached my nose. The wine was very dry, tasty, had an awesome finish. Just a perfect all-around table wine. For about 16 bucks or less, this Sonoma County wine is a steal. If you see it in your supermarket, snatch it up! I look forward to trying some of their many other varietals. This same vineyard, the Russian River Valley produces Chardonay, Gewurztraminer, White Zin, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and the “Third Alarm” Reserve Chardonnay. Oh, how I would love to visit the vineyard one day. Rating: 9/10 - Excellent! The only reason I’m not giving it 10 is because I promised my readers “cheap wines less than 15 dollars” and this wine retails for 16. Look around though, I’m sure you can find a good deal! Even if you can’t, it is worth the extra dollar.
Extra Info:Hook & Ladder - Founded in 2004 2027 Olivet Road Santa Rosa, CA 95401 phone: 707-546-5712
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 - included among them wine expert Jancis Robinson, who gave it an impressive 17 out of 20. This mulberry and spice-flavoured red wine was made by Herve Fabre, who was originally involved in the Bordeaux wine trade, before he and his wife fell in love with Argentina and moved there to establish a boutique winery. Herve's experience in producing top quality wines shines through in this tremendously rich, silky-smooth wine. Ripe blackberry and bramble aromas merge seamlessly with spicy oak and vanilla flavours. Full bodied, yet seriously smooth and warming. This 89 Parker point wine is sure to survive for many years to come. Definitely a wine to enjoy with fine food ... try it with rare roast beef or a juicy steak.
"Wonderfully succulent, rich berry fruit with hints of spice box." (Parker). A must-have wine from this superb estate, once provider of the second wine of Cos d'Estournel. "Blackberries ... herbs ... hints of spices." (Wine Spectator)
Tecnorati
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.
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 
Fewer sales reps are more paranoid these days than cork salespeople. They barrage you with emails damning all other types of closures. At trade shows they meet winemakers with frigid stares that have changed over from cork to something else.
