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!

Anybody have any good advice on a good pinot noir? Most I've had sucked big time.....especially for the price. In fact, I've only found 3 liked, but onlu ONE that I just love.

The last 2 months I experimented and bought 1 bottle a week. Most were either tart and weak, or light with not much taste. I even poured out a bottle of a cheaper B.V. brand. Anyway, I figured out my very favorite which was a 2001 reserve Eryie Vinyards....this was/is the best I've tasted....period......maybe better than any wine I've ever tasted. It's hard to describe, but when I had it the first time for Christmas, it has been on my mind eveyday until I could locate some. It's from a small Oregon winery. It's $50 on their website....if you can find more, or $26 at Costco.

The 2nd favorite was another I found at Costco. Its one of their own KirklandSignature wines that they export from New Zealand. It's very full, tasty, and surprisingly yummy.....plan on going thru the whole bottle when you open it, cause you won't stop drinking it. The price is between $16-$17 and well worth it. It's from one of the best growing areas of New Zealand many Americans don't know about.

The 3rd one is Chateua St. Jean in California. Their Pinot Noir is very, very, very bold, deep, smoky, and WOW!!! Was this a pinot noir, or did it have some merlot in it. It was beautiful, romantic, and imaginative. This one may actually be my second favorite, but it's close.

Fourth and not least is another winery from California. Its winery is Kendall Jackson. Their pinot noir is good and very respectable, and holds it's on with the others mentioned above. The 2005 won all kinds of double-gold medals and many other accolades. It's actually sold out at the winery, but you can still find it in stores. It sells for about $15-$16. I'd suspect that the 2006 is good too, because they're already racking up awards......oh yea...and try their zinfindel....it's the best you find in any price range in the $12-$30 range.

Still yet, I'd like to add 2-3 more good pinot noirs to my regiment......any hints or clues out there.

The Boscaini family have been the owners of the Masi Winery in the Veneto region of Italy for six generations, and specialize in the production of Amarones and Reciotos. In 1964, Masi rediscovered and refined the technique of double fermentation using semi-dried grapes, essentially updating the style of Amarone by using new vinification techniques. Their Amarones are now considered ‘new world’ in style, and indeed, Masi has even established vineyards in Argentina, using the same vinification processes with the Malbec grape.

Join us as we talk with Sandro about the unique method of apassimento, a process of drying the grapes for over 3-months, and hear why Masi isn’t making your father’s Amarone any more.

For more info on Masi Winery: www.masi.it

Sponsor: The Beaches of South Walton: www.beachesofsouthwalton.com

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At a recent tasting of South African Great Whites I was really excited by the wines I tried.

In the past I have sometimes been disappointed that in general the wines could seem out of balance, either too acidic or flabby, the fruit almost a cariacature of itself and even in the worst cases just dirty.

These wines however showed exuberant fruit, great balance of refreshing acidity with richness and depth and really distinctive character. I thought they showed very well and certainly will lead me to the South African shelves when I want good value white.

My favourites from each section as follows, full tasting notes seem to a bit of a dream at the moment but one day I hope to get them all up!

Jan Daneel Chenin Blanc 2005 Napier: Very simple but stylish label would have great shelf presence. Pretty, sunny apricot nose. The broad oak at the front palate is a touch too heavy but underneath is gorgeous fruit. Well-rounded, almost heavy, weight in the middle with enough crisp acidity to take you back for another sip. The fruit pushes right through to the end and lingers for ages. Lovely. 17  Stockist -Jeroboams £15

Tokara Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Stellenbosch: Fresh, flower petals delicacy on nose followed by vibrant, exciting fruit on the palate. Well-handled oak comes pouring through on its tail but is integrated and adds complexity. Balanced and fine with a crisp, juicy finish. 18 Stockist - Wimbledon Wine Cellars £17.99

Other very good Sauvignon Blancs - Quoin Rock 2005 Stellenbosch £9.49 Andrew Chapman Wines; Cape Point Vineyards 2005 Cape Point £14 Jeroboams; Neil Ellis Groenekloof 2005 Stellenbosch £9.99 Christopher Piper Wines,  Villeneuve Wines, SA Wines Online

Jordan Nine Yards Chardonnay 2005 Stellenbosch: Up front fruit balanced with a sure and light touch. Fine and nutty with integrated oak tannins backing it up. Silky mouth feel kept frech with tangy acidity. 17 Stockist Laytons; SA Wines Online £17.25

Other recommended chardonnays - Glen Carlou Quartz Stone Chardonnay 2005 Paarl £11.99-12.49 Oddbins, Christopher Piper, SA Wines Online, Genesis Wines; Quoin Rock Chardonnay 2002 sent by mistake but very high scoring, see previous info for stockist leads.

Fairview Viognier 2006 Paarl :Very aromatic nose but avoids parody. Crystallised fruit, nice levels of acidity. Not just floral but lively and fresh. 17 Stockists Harrods; Noel Young Wines; Valvona & Crolla £9.95

Also very good was the Bellingham Maverick Viognier 2005 Wellington £8.49 Majestic, SA Wines Online.

I recommend the Villiera Inspiration 2006 Stellenbosch £9.99 Tesco This desert wine has an unctuous, lovely texture, a nose of marmalade ice cream, very fresh and fine. Rich and great value.

Despite the kazillion posts of tastings these days, it's not something I get to do nearly as often as I like. Sure, I do a lot of in-store tastings where I pour a couple of my wines to innocent by-standers, but a full-on tasting with some sort of reason to it is somewhat rare. It's for that reason that I get so! stoked! when one comes along.

Betty's, one of my favorite restaurants in Buffalo, is looking to expand their wine program. I spoke with Carroll, the owner, a few weeks ago about a staff training to go through their entire list and explain the differences between grapes and styles and what foods to pair them with. This was a pretty monumental task; everything they have is by-the-glass, and they have about 20 or so wines to get through. This may not sound like a lot, but since the staff was bent on not spitting, you can see the potential for mayhem. Anyway, I was over there last night and the chef prepared nibbles to go with the tasting. Predictably, the room got exponentially louder as we made our way through, but hopefully it was a good exercise to taste them all side-by-side, if for no other reason than to taste how awesome Sauvignon Blanc and goat cheese are together.

Oh, and I got a free t-shirt. I'm easily bought.

The wines of France’s Bordeaux region have long been a benchmark for quality due to a combination of tradition, terroir and mystique. William Echikson’s “Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution” attempts to lift the veil and show the inside of the Bordeaux wine trade which makes for some fascinating reading.

Mr. Echikson is the Brussels bureau chief for Dow Jones Newswires and a wine columnist for the Wall Street Journal Europe but his narrative here stays closer to the business side of things in his account of the 2001 growing season. Along the way, we are introduced to the movers and shakers of the Bordeaux wine scene, including critic Robert Parker, consulting winemaker Michel Rolland and garagiste Michel Gracia, but the central story is of the Lur-Saluces family of Chateau d’Yquem.

The wines of Chateau d’Yquem are well known to wine lovers as the standard-bearer of Sauternes, the late harvest desert wine made in Bordeaux. The fungus on the grapes, known as “noble rot”, concentrates the juice making the resulting wine lusciously concentrated and sweet but still has plenty of acidity to make you come back for more. My own experience with d’Yquem is nothing short of phenomenal; this is one of those wines you want to just keep your nose in the glass for hours at a time.

As it turns out the Lur-Saluces family is as complex as their wines and much of Noble Rot is devoted to telling their somewhat tragic story. While interesting, I found this part of the book a bit gossipy and liked the vignettes of other characters in Bordeaux better. But at just under 300 pages, Noble Rot makes for a quick weekend read and one I hope more wine lovers will check out.

That’s why I chose this book for the second installment of the Wine Book Club created by Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20. In Deb’s review of this book, she focuses on the Bordelaise wine culture and the historical aspects of the story, not surprising for an esteemed history professor from USC.

Richard, The Passionate Foodie, commented on how winemakers need to adapt to change or face the consequences in his review. Good insight into the tradition-laden culture of Bordeaux.

The Dude checked in with his thoughts on Noble Rot and gave it a thumbs up for, “…a) You love you some Bordeaux wine, b) You prefer your history shaken, & with a twist of gossip, c) You are in the wine industry.” Well played, Dude.

Farley came out from Behind The Vines to post her review and highlight the educational aspects of Noble Rot. I, too, learned a lot about what makes Bordeaux tick and why they are able to command such prices in the international marketplace.

Kori from The Wine Peeps gave a rundown of several juicy quotes from the book in her review but concluded that, “…If you are interested in learning more about Bordeaux, the people, places, and history, this could be a book for you, and you can head over to Amazon or your book retailer of choice to pick up a copy. However, if you are looking for a wine guide or basic wine information, I would suggest that you look elsewhere.”

Colin from the Grapefan’s Wine Adventures blog in the UK posted a mixed review of Noble Rot commenting, “…I’m still not sure what to make of it.” He thought the book might be best suited to Americans but ended up giving the work an 84 on the 100 point scale.

I know other bloggers started the book and hope they finish and post their reviews. As they do, I will update this post. Please send me your link if I missed your review or if you post a bit later than my tardy effort.

Thanks again to Dr. Debs for letting me host Wine Book Club on it’s sophomore edition. I’m hoping to see a better turnout on the 3rd outing to be announced next week.

Just read an very interesting essay that makes parallels between blogging and the open source movement in software.  There was a discussion about a year ago in the wine blogosphere regarding professional versus amateur and what the distinction is.  This essay points out some really interesting ideas relating to this topic is worth a read.  In particular, I enjoy these passages:

First this on that actually relates open-source to blogging

Like open source, blogging is something people do themselves, for free, because they enjoy it. Like open source hackers, bloggers compete with people working for money, and often win. The method of ensuring quality is also the same: Darwinian. Companies ensure quality through rules to prevent employees from screwing up. But you don’t need that when the audience can communicate with one another. People just produce whatever they want; the good stuff spreads, and the bad gets ignored. And in both cases, feedback from the audience improves the best work.

Then there is the comments on amateurs versus professionals…

There’s a name for people who work for the love of it: amateurs. The word now has such bad connotations that we forget its etymology, though it’s staring us in the face. "Amateur" was originally rather a complimentary word. But the thing to be in the twentieth century was professional, which amateurs, by definition, are not.
That’s why the business world was so surprised by one lesson from open source: that people working for love often surpass those working for money. Users don’t switch from Explorer to Firefox because they want to hack the source. They switch because it’s a better browser.

More great insights here…

Actually, the fad is the word "blog," at least the way the print media now use it. What they mean by "blogger" is not someone who publishes in a weblog format, but anyone who publishes online. That’s going to become a problem as the Web becomes the default medium for publication. So I’d like to suggest an alternative word for someone who publishes online. How about "writer?"
Those in the print media who dismiss the writing online because of its low average quality are missing an important point: no one reads the average blog. In the old world of channels, it meant something to talk about average quality, because that’s what you were getting whether you liked it or not. But now you can read any writer you want. So the average quality of writing online isn’t what the print media are competing against. They’re competing against the best writing online. And, like Microsoft, they’re losing.

And finally, this passage is probably my favorite…

The third big lesson we can learn from open source and blogging is that ideas can bubble up from the bottom, instead of flowing down from the top. Open source and blogging both work bottom-up: people make what they want, and the best stuff prevails.
Does this sound familiar? It’s the principle of a market economy. Ironically, though open source and blogs are done for free, those worlds resemble market economies, while most companies, for all their talk about the value of free markets, are run internally like communist states.

This essay really is worth a read.  Its a couple years old by Paul Graham, an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer.  Wine bloggers are a very powerful force especially when you consider that its driven pretty much by love of the community’s past time rather than money.  And like open source, the job of following and documenting wine requires more than a single entity with several dozen people.  Its going to take a cast of thousands with a shared passion and the best will naturally rise to the top.

Enjoy the Wine Life!

Of course, it would be no surprise to assert that Argentina has come a considerably long way over the last decade in terms of the depth that its wine producers are capable of achieving. The manner in which this process has and continues to take place, however, has less to do with the factors that used to be paramount (foreign buyouts) and more with the industry exporting a different image of itself altogether. This phenomenon alongside other compelling developments in recent times have precipitated what I believe to be a pivotal changing of the guard when it comes to the style of Argentine wines that American consumers are welcoming more and more.

Artisan-made Argentine wine producers are no longer lost in the wilderness, playing second fiddle in terms of international exports, to say, the larger, industrial-style producers or Mendoza wine operations funded with foreign money. Argentina?s bout with hyperinflation in the early 1980?s, the kind that made my family sell their business and book it towards the United States, as well as the government?s mismanagement of the World Bank and IMF-instigated crises of the 1990?s were devastating for the export aspirations of Argentine families with a winemaking tradition. Like many American fruit farmers getting undercut and essentially obliterated by Dole, Sunkist and the like, the nature of wine production during times of turbulence in Argentina has made it difficult for these producers to stay afloat; and so, like vultures, the 1980?s and 1990?s saw foreign capital descend upon Mendoza in the form of large multinational drinks corporations and others who scooped up the winemaking patrimony of many financially pressed families.

For quite some time now, these types of wine operations have made drinking the wine of my native country while abroad in the US a sadly confusing affair to say the least. Here I was, drinking these wines which had labels reading ?Mendoza? or ?Cuyo,? so they were certifiably real, but made in styles which weren?t even in the ballpark as far as what I knew I liked to drink. Did Argentine wines change, and thus, Argentine tastes, or was something being kept from those of us who live in North America? Some very successful investors and qualified winemakers from highly prestigious European wineries became involved with their pet projects in Mendoza, but to me, something just did not sit right. I felt a bit heartbroken that as a wine lover, the wines of my native country available for export reflected something I didn?t like?far from it in fact, something I couldn?t even relate to in any meaningful way.

Those darker days, however, seem to be coming to an end as the tide of taste gradually begins to favor Argentine winemakers that provide innovation, quality, exceptional value, and at last, the types of wines that bring a little piece of home back to my dinner table. I feel that a newly found sense of openness and curiosity in the American wine consumer is taking hold. From the wider availability of all sorts of Argentine wines I?ve noticed to the stimulating conversations I?ve had with people here about Argentina?s winemaking heritage and how it is increasingly reflected?things are moving in a direction I am liking more and more. Someone, however, from the point of view of imports to the US, has to be at the forefront of this revolution. For my next post, I?ll be presenting my interview with a major player in building long-term relationships with artisan Mendoza producers and in turn, striving to make authentically Argentine wines more of a staple than an oddity in the US market.

How many times have you bought a wine based on a promotional price?  Or bought multiple wines you didn’t really want because of a three for two type offer?  We may be all falling for “artificial promotions” that are anything but a good deal. 

According to a fascinating article in The Guardian, brought to our attention by regular Bottletalker Wine-Scribbler, up to 80% of sales of some wine brands are generated through “half price” offers that are anything but genuine.

There are some good quotes in the article from wine industry insiders confirming that what have long been speculated to be dubious “offers” are exactly that and give no real value to the wine drinker at all.

 Read more for the full story.

I would like to thank Earl, who posted comments and the following question on my recent Tempranillo in the Americas post: ?Why was there such a long interval between introduction of the vine into Argentina and exportation of varietal labeled wine??

Here are some important factors to consider:

It?s important to recognize the fact that culturally, there is a stark contrast between the way in which wine has been regarded in Argentina versus our very international, varietal-minded, label-aware atmosphere where getting to know the world?s wines is something many people have expressed interest in doing. Fine wine production for the gentry, in terms of seeing wine as a prestige cultural/material good simply wasn?t priority for Argentines until fairly recently. While it is true that many progressive vintners have been dabbling in exciting varieties in the past few decades (after the familiar 19^th century French varieties arrived), the very first vines in the 16th century were planted by monks and priests near their newly built monasteries and church compounds in order to provide wine for masses and other celebrations. In some of the official correspondence that Spanish monks had to regularly exchange with royal authorities in the 1550?s to justify expenditures and building projects, the planting of vines was mentioned briefly and only in passing?the degree of pomp we would show in describing how we installed a light bulb today. Certainly, my modern concerns would be: Which varieties were planted? Surely this mattered to the priests, right? Not really, since in the letters they mention the generic Latin term for all wine-producing grape varieties, ?vitis vinifera.?

Records of colonial correspondence available at the Archivo General de Indias (Seville) indicate that a certain priest named Juan Cedrón (late 1550?s) first wrote of planting various types of Spanish vitis vitifera needed to carry on with life in the Argentine Northwest. The correspondence indicates that Cedrón was in charge of settling to the south of Santiago del Estero, Spanish settlers? first outpost after leaving their stronghold at Cuzco. As settlers made their way in a southwesterly direction, they encountered the dry, elevated Andean foothills of today?s provinces, the first of which is interestingly named La Rioja, then San Juan, and then Mendoza.

In terms of answering the above question about which varieties were planted, there are some interesting parallels we can draw between Northern and Southern hemisphere Spanish colonization patterns and viticultural practices. Since Valdepeñas from La Mancha was considered to be one of the finest expressions of Tempranillo by 16^th century Spaniards, this is precisely the name used in correspondence to introduce the variety into Nuevo León (México) and the area that encompasses California and parts of the American southwest. In the 16^th century, Spaniards didn?t refer to prestige wines by variety but as Italians did at the time, according to their region or commune of origin. On a whole and as is evidenced in classics such as Don Quixote (1605), Spaniards enjoyed drinking ?Valdepeñas? and not ?a really nice Tempranillo,? as we would say in the U.S. today.

If we take these considerations into account, it is a very well-sustained assumption that Tempranillo made its way across the Americas alongside Spanish settlers given that it was the red variety of choice. Other varieties planted for other styles of wines (acidic and sweet whites, etc.) in colonial times were Criolla Chica (also known as Criolla Sanjuanina) , Pedro Ximénez, Cereza, Muscat, Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano) and ?mónica? as it was known in Sardinia, Sicily and Spain (the famous ?Mission? grape introduced by Spanish Jesuits in 16^th century California).

Tempranillo (then referred to as ?Valdepeñas?), alongside the abovementioned varieties was cultivated at the Andean foothills for home consumption since the 16^th century. Much trial and error ensued, and areas with relatively higher elevation and dry weather (La Rioja, San Juan, Mendoza) and select areas in Mexico (including present-day California) became prime for producing these wines for settlers? purposes.

Here are a couple of additional ideas to support the hypothesis that Tempranillo was one of the original vines planted in the Americas. Ethnographically speaking, a great deal of Spanish settlers in the early conquest of the Americas included an overwhelmingly large number of natives of the following Spanish regions where Tempranillo was the most important red variety?the provinces encompassing Castille and La Mancha such as Avila, Ciudad Real, Albacete, Badajoz, Guadalajara, Cuenca, Toledo, Salamanca and Madrid. It?s also important to keep in mind that in terms of actual planting area, Tempranillo vines are of relatively low incidence on a worldwide scale, with Argentina being second only after Spain, of course.

Earl, I?m afraid that your question still hasn?t been fully answered: Why is it that Tempranillo has been around in Argentina since the 16^th century yet the world hasn?t seen any exports of ?fine wine? versions until the early 1990?s?

Wine globalization and the consumer trends that underlie it have shown the potential to create some sink-or-swim imperatives for wine producers to expand production of different varieties and innovate in the vineyard. In fact, given many recent trends, it is likely that this projected consumer has developed tastes and accumulated enough disposable income to not want to consume the kinds of table wines that Argentines don?t mind. How does the Argentine producer see this consumer, who needs an ?international? style of their table wines? Well, the customer is someone who most likely lives abroad, and because he does not likely come from a culture were wine is a major part of his cultural identity, he is perhaps well educated and would like to learn more about wines and adopt other interests that can be considered, pardon the term, a bit bourgeois. While I don?t entirely see it the way Argentines see it because I grew up between both cultures and thus, can see each point of view, this is more or less the situation.

To answer your question, let?s think of timing and marketing. Who do many Argentine and Chilean producers wish to please? Why do the ?Wines of Argentina Awards? even exist? Spanish wines in the U.S. market at least, have really become fashionable in the past four or five years. Americans have been very receptive to various styles of Tempranillo-based Spanish reds and South American producers have realized that for the first time, the North American market is genuinely thirsty for different expressions of Tempranillo (this relic left by Spanish settlers, as far as Argentines are concerned).

What do I make of this all? The ambiguity created by the correspondence of priests such as Juan Cedrón in the 1550?s regarding vitis vinifera has unfortunately opened the gates to opportunists. One such example of opportunism can easily be seen by an article I came across in a major Spanish daily?s wine section (El Mundo Vino). In the article titled ?Argentine Wine is Not Only Malbec,? by Harold Heckle, Juan Carlos Rodriguez Villa of the venerable Finca Flichman in Barrancas (Mendoza), claims that Tempranillo vines are a relatively new phenomenon in Argentina and that it was precisely his grandfather who visited Spain and subsequently introduced the variety to the Argentine wine industry in 1940. Although the Familia Zuccardi website does not make claims this sensational, they still care very much that today?s North American grape-variety-hopping, cosmopolitan Gen. Y-wine consumer regard them as pioneers in the Argentine industry when it comes to traditionally European varieties that exclude the Bordeaux and northern Italian varieties that pan-European immigration brought to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

And so, I walk down the aisles of many American retailers and see bottles of Argentine Tempranillo from producers I?ve never heard of, from the conventional Mendoza winery all the way through La Rioja, San Juan and down into Neuquén and even a general Patagonia appellation. The same question comes the mind for a native Argentine like myself?under which rock have all of these wines/producers been and why are they suddenly available now on shelves dominated by oaked Catena Chardonnays and endless rows of Malbec? Makes one think?