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He sold wine like none other before his time - Minneapolis Star Tribune He sold wine like none other before his time Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 19 minutes ago Robert Mondavi, the pioneering vintner who revolutionized the way the world thought about California wine, died Friday at his Napa Valley home. He was 94. ?
Red Wine is Good for You. Apparently! It?s been claimed that drinking red wine, apparently, has its health benefits. Now, this sweet revelation is by no way an excuse for us to go out there and drink as many bottles of Italian red wine as we can get our hands on!; but it?s good to know that, when taken in moderation, it can actually be good for our health. Doesn?t that just fill your heart with joy? You knew there was a reason why red wine was your favourite wine of choice. And now you?re about to find out exactly why! It?s bee
Robert Mondavi: California Wine Visionary San Francisco, May 16 (Reuters) - Winemaker Robert Mondavi, the man most credited for turning California into a world-class wine producer and millions of Americans for wine lovers, died Friday at his Napa Valley home at age 94 years. Mondavi California winemakers measure resulted in a low-cost wines and fine wines, which ultimately compete with the quality of some of the best in Europe. ?The targeted before anything specific quality, and at any given time, merged quality and Napa in a unique
California wine visionary Robert Mondavi dead at 94 - guardian.co.uk CBC.ca California wine visionary Robert Mondavi dead at 94 guardian.co.uk, UK - 1 hour ago By Jim Christie SAN FRANCISCO, May 16 (Reuters) - Winemaker Robert Mondavi, the man most credited for turning California into a world-class wine producer ? California wine pioneer Robert Mondavi dies at 94 AFP Wine pioneer Robert Mondavi dies at 94 MarketWatch Robert Mondavi, California Wine Pioneer, Dies at 94 (Update1) Bloomberg San Jose Mercury News - The Associated Press all 589 news articles
Robert Mondavi Dead BREAKING: From the AP Newswire, Napa legend Robert Mondavi has passed away, aged 94. Mondavi died peacefully at his home [Friday] in Yountville, Robert Mondavi Winery spokeswoman Mia Malm said. He was 52 and a winemaking veteran in 1966, when he opened the winery that would help turn the Napa Valley into a world center of the industry. Clashes with a brother that included a fistfight led him to break from the family business to carry out his ambitious plans with borrowed money. At the time
California wine pioneer Robert Mondavi dies at 94 - AFP AFP California wine pioneer Robert Mondavi dies at 94 AFP - 26 minutes ago LOS ANGELES (AFP) ? Robert Mondavi, a legendary Napa Valley vintner who helped bring California wine worldwide acclaim, died Friday at his northern ?
High dollar punishing wine sales dollar punishing wine sales Wine, Beer & Spirits, Hospitality News No Comments » The soaring Australian dollar is costing major wine exporters millions of dollars and has caused a slowdown in bottled sales. While exports reached a record $3.02bn last year, experts say a combination of drought, the high dollar and foreign competition means the industry now faces significant challenges. Bottled wine exports are still growing but at a declining rate and experts believe the growth may s
Dry red: wine?s withering future red: wine?s withering future Wine, Beer & Spirits, Hospitality News No Comments » Drought and higher temperatures mean some wine-growing areas will be less productive. Climate change could wipe out up to 80 per cent of Australia?s wine production as large parts of inland irrigation zones become too hot and dry to support grapevines, a US academic has warned. Visiting Australia on a fellowship with Melbourne University, environmental scientist Dr Greg Jones said winemakers in the US an
Making Wine with Fruit or Juice Cocentrates Check it out. How to Make Homemade Wine: Concentrated Juice verse Grapes This article allows people who are learning to make homemade wines know the distinct differences and similarities between concentrates and grapes. How to Make Homemade Wines: Concentrates versus Grapes When you are learning?
Wine: The light stuff - Independent Wine: The light stuff Independent, UK - 1 hour ago The wine merchant Bibendum has come up with a white, red and rosé French vins de pays at 10.5 per cent called Altege, which I find bland, lean and, ?
Calif. wine patriarch Robert Mondavi dead at 94 - The Associated Press The Associated Press Calif. wine patriarch Robert Mondavi dead at 94 The Associated Press - 1 hour ago (AP) ? Robert Mondavi, the pioneering vintner who helped put California wine country on the map, died at his Napa Valley home Friday. He was 94. ?
The Importance in Aging Wine The key to understanding how to make homemade wine that will age well is that all wine, regardless of whether you made it at home or bought it from a vintner or store, will eventually spoil if left unconsumed. Learning How Wine Storage Aids You in the How to Make Homemade Wine Process The how to?
California wine legend Robert Mondavi dead at 94 - guardian.co.uk California wine legend Robert Mondavi dead at 94 guardian.co.uk, UK - 23 minutes ago Without his tireless promotion of California wines, the state's wine industry would never have become the force it is, wine industry insiders say. ?
ROBERT MONDAVI 1913-2008 want to make wines that harmonize with food - wines that almost hug your tongue with gentleness.~~ Robert Mondavi The AP has reported the death of Robert Mondavi. According to Robert Mondavi Winery spokeswoman Mia Malm, Mondavi died peacefully at his home in Yountville. He was 94. Mondavi has been credited with being instrumental in making California a big player in the global world of wine. The Mondavi empire has seen decades of innovation, frustrations and success. And the Mondavi fa
Robert Mondavi, California Wine Pioneer, Dies at 94 (Update1) - Bloomberg The Southern Ledger Robert Mondavi, California Wine Pioneer, Dies at 94 (Update1) Bloomberg - 49 minutes ago By James Greiff May 16 (Bloomberg) ? Robert Mondavi, namesake and founder of a northern California winery that helped establish the Napa Valley as a wine ? California winemaking patriarch Robert Mondavi dead at 94 San Jose Mercury News Calif. winemaking patriarch Robert Mondavi dies The Associated Press From the Los Angeles Times Chicago Tribune New York Times Blogs - The Stew - Chi
Robert Mondavi, 1913-2008 Robert Mondavi, 1913-2008 Hard to know what to say about this, but Robert Mondavi died this morning, age 94. It's essentially impossible to sum up in a short space his contributions to California wine; safe to say he was one of the instrumental forces in bringing Napa Valley to the world stage in terms of its visibility and the quality of its wines; that his own wines, particularly his Reserve Cabernet, have been benchmarks of California Cabernet Sauvignon; and that he created one of the worl
Daily Tragedy Round-Up was reading the headlines this morning, and (as usual) felt like ending it all in a bucket of Edy's Thin Mint Ice Cream. A couple of highlights of the nastiness: A couple in India is killed because they fell in love with each other, and happened to be from the same village. Call me culturally insensitive, but that's total bullshit. Oh, and the best part? The dad confessed, and everyone in town rejoiced. Someone hand me a bottle of wine. My personal choice for Parent of the Year, Lori Drew,
How to Make Homemade Wine Using Fruits Other than Grapes Though majority of the wine recipes available today, even those for homebrew wines, are dependent on use of grapes as the fruit juice source, it is actually very possible to learn how to make homemade wine by using fruits aside from just grapes all the time. Quality Fruit-Based Wines You might be?
Robert Mondavi, 1913 ? 2008 Robert Mondavi, winemaking legend and Napa Valley pioneer, passed away this morning at the age of 94. Mondavi played an integral role in putting United States wine on the map worldwide. We are very grateful for all he did for the wine industry. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. May he rest in peace.
The F word The F word May 16th, 2008 | Category: Wine News Just watching the first of the new series of The F Word. On one level, I should hate that: Gordon Ramsay?s vulgar, celebrity-obsessed approach combines with a slice of The Generation Game (watching members of the public embarass themselves) to compose entertainment that?s perfect for for the ADHD ge?
The passionate Alice Feiring and her new book, The Battle for Wine and Love, have fanned the flames of the natural winemaking debate. In particular she has bruised the feelings of the California wine industry, to which she has not been very complimentary. This has resulted in some lively back and forth on the side of the Californians in The Los Angeles Times, hardly a surprising forum for the pro-California view. I applaud Alice’s spirited attack on industrial wines and support of wines with personality and a sense of place. Her intensity has helped keep the debate a debate.
Extreme positions help sell books and it looks like Alice has done a good job in riling up the Californians and keeping her book in the headlines. I’m sure if the truth came out Alice, like me, has a long list of California wines she loves.
It’s becoming the spoofulators vs. the natural movement and the main spoofulators seem to be in California. Yet this raises the question of what’s really natural or not and at what point the line is crossed from one to the other. It’s not as clear as it may seem. At some point it is just as bad to do too little to the wine as it is to do too much. Bad wine is bad wine, natural or not.
Let’s take a look at the revered (I agree) wines of Josko Gravner in northeastern Italy on the border with Slovenia. Gravner ferments and ages his white wines on the skins and seeds for six or seven months in terra cotta amphorae coated with beeswax. This has a somewhat dramatic (to say the least) impact on the flavor and color of his wines. Is this natural winemaking or a kind of natural spoofulation? The wines of Gravner are extreme wines manipulated to that style by the hand of the winemaker. Are the techniques of Clark Smith more intrusive than this? I’m not sure this is a question that has been answered.
There are a few buzzwords out there that seem to define the natural wine forces: biodynamic, indigenous yeasts, little or no sulfur and never, never any machines. Yet there are a whole array of interventions other than these that winemakers impose on their wines either because they dream of crafting great art like Gravner or because they are commercial winemakers that must put out a good tasting stable wine year-after-year to keep their jobs. It seems a bit preposterous to return to primitive methods of winemaking that more-often-than-not have the potential to produce faulted wines. Not all progress is inherently bad and any good winemaker will do everything needed to improve their wines. Many winemakers resolve this conflict between their desire to be part of the natural movement and the realities of putting better wine in the bottle by forgetting to talk about certain things when they talk to the press.
Great wines are made, they don’t just happen. That’s why they call them winemakers. There is an incredible array of tools and knowledge available to today’s winemakers. To not make use of any of these tools and techniques does not make any sense. However, what you do with these many new tools is all important. You can’t make wine without manipulation, but without a doubt you can’t make great wine with with over-manipulation. I believe in terroir. I have tasted it in wines way to often to have any doubt. As long as a winemakers manipulations are designed to enhance that terroir I don’t have any problems with them.
I think it's great that the San Francisco Chronicle and the LA Times would give Alice a fairly large stage to bitch and moan about California wine not being to her tastes and the contention that a single, Maryland-based Palate is the reason for her California Discontent.
Alice is in the midst of promoting her new book that takes the art of bitching and moaning into a book length format. Feiring's "The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization" has a whimsical looking cover design that might just as easily be translated to a publishing effort on how pandas and tulips can save the world. But it seems behind the happy cover lies another approach:
"Join her as she sets off on her one-woman crusade against the tyranny of homogenization, wine consultants, and, of course, the 100-point scoring system of a certain all-powerful wine writer."
Just for the record there is no tyranny of Homogenization in the world of CA wine. There is only disappointment that most wines don't appeal to one's palate. It's also true that Alice's call for more "natural" winemaking and "natural" wines is really just a a reflection of her philosophy of life and not a critique of winemaking. It's highly doubtful she or most others could consistently identify wines that are made with and without "natural" winemaking techniques.
Still, I love to see Alice, this artful writer, make a full frontal assault on those wineries and critics who like to drink and make wines that don't appeal to her. There is a passion here that transcends and makes secondary work of the disappointment that is at the heart of her recent screeds and editorials. It's good writing, it's controversial, it engages the reader and it demonstrates that the politics of preference is alive and well in the world of wine.
As I read the good news today that the California Supreme Court overturned the law prohibiting same-sex marriage, I saw similarities between Feiring's position that California wine should be more subdued and natural and the opponents of the California Supreme Court ruling who believed marriage should be what it always was, between a man and a woman. Both Alice and the conservative, anti-gay camp believe there has been some brainwashing going on. But in the long run, both the opponents of same sex marriage and Alice will lose their battles. America is not, and never was, a place where traditions were forceful enough to squash the aspirations of those who choose to simply do what they want as long as it's not hurting anyone.
The big, bold wines that Alice believes are imitations of what real wine should be will be with us forever and will continue to be made because California's climate allows this as does technology, and because other people like them. But she should take take heart. There will always be Cathy Corisons, Steve Edmunds, Stony Hills and many, many others who, if Alice wants to seek them out, will demonstrate that there is no winemaking region in the world more diverse in the style of wines it produces than California.
Last January, the UK based wine writer and Committee Member of the Circle of Wine Writers, Christine Austin, suggested that we apply to the organization housed in England. Having had several people offer a similar suggestion for over a year, it seemed ridiculous for us not to get off our hides and do something about it. So, we figured we’d experiment a bit, where I would apply and test the waters, followed by Ryan’s application soon thereafter.
As taken directly from their website:
The Circle of Wine Writers is an association of authors, broadcasters, journalists, photographers and lecturers who are professionally engaged in communicating about wines and spirits. It was founded in 1960 by the late Cyril Ray and now has more than 280 members and, although most of the membership is based in England, the Circle has members in countries around the world.
The objectives of the Circle of Wine Writers are:
* to improve the standard of communication about wines, spirits and beers * to contribute to the growing knowledge and interest in wine * to promote wines and spirits of quality and to comment adversely on faulty products and dubious practices * to establish and maintain good relations with the news media and the wine trade * to provide members with a strong voice with which to express their views * to provide a forum for the exchange of information * to provide a programme of workshops, meetings, talks and tastings
A month has now passed, as seen by the lush green blanket of leaves hanging right outside my office window, and I have just received my very first packet of information including not only a description of the Circle’s turbulent and exciting past, but also their February and March newsletter chalk full of tasting notes, wine trips and commentaries. To be honest, it was a little strange to receive a newsletter consisting of approximately 27 pages of double-sided text stapled together. Repeat: a stapled newsletter. If I didn’t know better, I could have easily mistaken it for one of a dozen reports I handed in during my high school years, complete with a yellow cover printed with their grape and feather quill pen logo.
Funny newsletter aside, I’m truly honored to be apart of this very prestigious organization. While looking down the list of their 280+ members from all over the world, I think I’m one of only a handful of bloggers, while the rest have enough print publications under their belt to fill my office library. It’s a bit daunting to see my name next to, or even near, those of Jancis Robinson, Hugh Jackson and John Radford, but then again, it gives me a goal to work towards I’m sure over years, they’ll teach me a thing or two, or twelve, about wine.
My only other hope is that the Circle will incorporate more social networking tools into their website. With such a vast amount of wine knowledge, I think it would be worth their while to make the members more easily accessible to one another.
SIPPED: Sauternes Chicago’s foie gras ban has been repealed in a 37 - 6 vote by the City Council, overturning the 48 - 1 vote that put the ban into effect two years ago. The prices of Sauternes, the unctuous sweet wine often served as an accompaniment, just went up an additional ten percent. [Sun Times, thanks Stephen!]
SIPPED: Cork back for an encork When a member of the Culinary Institute of American saw my cork iPhone case in February, she exclaimed that it would be the perfect product for recycling their corks! But apparently someone had other plans as the 900 corks pulled there a day will now be recycled in a new program called ReCORK America, sponsored by a cork producer to underscore the “natural” qualities of cork. But what is the carbon footprint of sending all that cork into be recycled into floor tile (and sidebars for wine blogs). Wouldn’t the CIA be better reusing them as festive holiday wreaths–or those iPhone covers?!?
SPIT: Critter labels On the heels of our worst wine label contest comes more advice, this time from Wines & Vines. One item: a label designer Down Under has a “no critters” policy after seeing the kangaroo reinvented some “50,000 times.” [Wines & Vines] Related: ”
SPIT: Brunello di Montalcino Not content with the FAA’s Global War On Toiletries, US federal authorities are now turning their eyes on another liquid: Brunello di Montalcino! A recent scandal has revealed blending of grapes other than sangiovese, the only one permissible under the local DOC rules in the wine. Now, as a result, the feds are threatening to block US imports of the pricey Italian wine as of June 9. ?Part of our mandate is to make sure all labels are truthful, accurate and not misleading to the American consumer,?? Mr. Resnick of the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau told Eric Asimov. Um, OK, how about starting with Korbel “California Champagne”? [NYT]
SPIT: asparagus in December In a piece that, oddly, has not received much attention here in the US of A, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay–known for his high-end restaurants in several countries as well as cursing like, well, a chef–lays into out-of season like nobody’s bidness calling for it to be outlawed in the UK. While absolutely laudable in principal, the legislative angle may be the wrong way to achieve this policy goal. And let’s hope eating local in his case doesn’t mean eating any more horse! [BBC]
I took a walk in a quiet place. In it, there were many souls from ancient times. They were from Greece and Italy, Sumeria and Egypt, Persia and Etruria. The voices were silent but the souls were coming through loud and clear, on a Friday afternoon on the eastern edge of Central Park.
I had just interviewed a gentleman about his life, his book and things Italian. But we didn?t quite make a connection. How could you do anything in 15 minutes, except perhaps to size each other up like two bulls in a ring? Not that it was that kind of encounter. I left feeling the need to reconnect with my roots, so I hopped on a subway and headed back a couple of thousand years, to interview the ancient ones.
Q. What were the wines like when you were living?
A. They were dark and musky, and warm. They tasted a little like sour water sometimes and at other times sweet like rose petals.
Q. Who made the wine in your community?
A. We had families who passed the trade down from generation to generation. There were families, like in Chaldea, who had been working with the grape for hundreds of years.
Q. Who among you were the first to taste wine?
The fellow in profile speaks
A. When we first tasted it, it came about by accident. One of the servants had left a vase of grapes lying around in a cool dark place and forgot about it. Several weeks later one of the porters was walking around and smelled this sweet odor. He had it brought up to the dining area and we all took bites out of this fruit we knew, but it tasted very different this time. And the juice in the bottom of the vase we all took sips of. This was something we had never experienced before. So we instructed the porters to pick more grapes and let them sit in the basement in the same manner. That was the first time we had seen it.
Q. How did the news of this travel?
A. Slowly at first, but after 400-500 years pretty much everybody in the known world had an idea of the transformative powers of the grape.
Q. And the merchants, how did they fit in?
A. At first, it was seen as a religious ritual, so the merchants stayed away. A tribe of women eventually wound their way through the empire, setting up trade with the Egyptians.
Q. Many times we hear that the Greeks brought wine culture to Italy. Who knows about that in this room?
An Etruscan princess answers
A. We had already started with the grape before the Greeks arrived. We had been going on for several hundred years. What the Greeks did was to bring some new grape types with them, but not superior to the ones we had been cultivating for 500 years.
Q. It seems Ancient Romans loved wine. Poems were written about it, buildings and temples were erected in honor of the god of the grapes.
A. That all is true, but keep in mind we had very little to eat and drink. We were often sick and food went bad quickly. Wine kept, and it kept us well and our bellies full. And it made us happy.
Q. Did the grape have anything to do with the expansion of the Empire(s)?
A. Other than it went where man went? Of course when we conquered Gaul or the Huns or the Britons, we would plant vines and keep the local people collected and subdued. Wine had a part to play in the civilizing factor of the wild tribes.
Q. Last Question. If you were around today, what kind of wine would you like to see? What would you make?
An older Roman answers
A. Listen, I would round up some of my soldiers and head to Toscanium and set that land straight. I?d bring them back to the Jovian roots and light a bloody fire under their feet. And by all the power of Jupiter, we?d bring them back to the flame of truth and all that is holy about the miracle the gods have sent down from the heavens in giving us grape with which to make this precious wine. Anyone caught disrespecting the gift of the gods would be crucified and struck down, their family sent into exile. To go against the Divine Immortals is the worst sin one could commit against the pantheon that rules our ancient souls.
How does the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America tell American wine consumers to F*ck Off? Like this:
"The American consumer who?s complaining that he can?t get some obscure frou-frou wine produced and bottled by Croatian virgins is missing the point. The reason he even WANTS that bottle of wine is because of the incredible variety that is already on the shelves! And how did it get there? WE put it there!" Jack Goldenberg, Chairman of WSWA at their annual convention in Las Vegas
It's a pretty simple and straight forward attitude that these wholesalers bring to the table: You want a wine we don't feel you should have? States need more tax revenue that can come from direct shipping? Fuggetaboudit! Take your "frou frou" wine and keep whining. This is OUR monopoly and we'll run it the way we want it run!
The very notion that wine lovers want access to the thousands upon thousands of wine wholesalers don't carry only because wholesalers have provided access to a slim variety of wines turns the idea of reality on its head.
Mr. Jack Goldenberg is now the chairman of an Association who has as one of their primary goals to keep wine out of the hands of legal adults. They literally believe they can convince consumers that the wines they want, but can't get because of wholesalers' efforts to block access to them, amounts to a service they are providing to th public. I have no doubt that Alice from the land of Wonderland is on the payroll at WSWA. Nothing else can explain this absurd line of reasoning.
But here's the real crack up. At the same convention where Chairman Goldenberg literally told wine lovers across the country to F*ck Off, the WSWA CEO, Craig Wolf, attempted to justify a monopoly system that serves mainly to benefit wholesalers as the only line of defense against people dying from tainted alcohol:
"Look around the world. People are dying from drinking tainted alcohol. Just read the news: deaths in India, Nepal, Paraguay, Nicaragua and elsewhere. And get this ? In 2006, Russia ?celebrated? the fact that there were ONLY 26,000 deaths from alcohol poisoning. A one year drop of almost 30%. What an achievement...You just don?t see that here in the United States, because wholesalers deal exclusively with reputable, licensed suppliers and there is never any question of the integrity of the product that my members distribute."
Did you catch that? According to the CEO of the WSWA, people will die if wholesalers don't control all access to alcohol. LAST CALL FOR THE TRAIN TO WONDERLAND. ALL ABOARD!
You are going to be seeing the wholesalers talk a lot about the dangers of any wine arriving in consumers' hands that did not first get sticky in their hands. If you are in favor of better access to wine and in favor of a rational system of wine distribution that accounts for the realities the new market and new consumer attitudes, then PRAY the wholesalers base their case for keeping total control in their own hands on the idea that people will die without without the wholesaler. If they do indeed take this route, they will be laughed out of the room and change will come even faster.
You can feel safer in your bed tonight knowing that the United States government is protecting you from another danger. That new evil is, of course, Brunello di Montalcino that might have a bit of cabernet or merlot adulterating the sangiovese grosso. These are the same consumer protectors that brought you the 75% rule for American varietal wines, which requires that the stated variety make up at least three quarters of the named wine. So while it’s fine for an American producer of pinot noir to blend in 25% syrah or anything else the missteps of a few producers in Brunello will bring down the wrath of the TTB on all producers.
It’s great to know that our government is always on the watch.
Rob Rosania, a 38 year-old collector aka “Big Boy,” sold off around $5 million of his champagne and still wines at auction a couple of weeks ago. And yet he still remains one of the biggest collectors of champagne around.
This factoid from a recent Bloomberg article piqued my interest: Rosania owns 400 cases of the excellent champagne Salon 1996 (minus the five he sold at auction) out of a total of 5,000 produced. Poking around on the web revealed other sources saying that there were 8,000 cases produced. And these are six-bottle cases that we’re talking about. The champagne retails for $250 - $300 (search for the Salon 1996).
It’s a fascinating strategy for investing in wine. Rosania has somewhere between five and eight percent of this blue chip wine outstanding–and that percentage rises every time a cork of it is popped elsewhere. That’s probably a good percentage of the production to have to really benefit from a future price move yet not control the market entirely. It would be hard to take an equivalent percentage of a first growth Bordeaux wine since the production volumes are higher. All it takes is a big cellar and a cool $700k or so.
Even if the economy stagnates, wine such as this will probably always have buyers. Could it double in value in ten years? Even if it doesn’t Rosania can always have fun popping open the bottles of this fine wine with his saber.
I’ve tried a tasting-sized-pour of the 96 Salon and it is a brilliant champagne. In a wine investing video game, I might be tempted to adopt a similar strategy. If, in some fantasy world, you were going to take ten percent of a wine, which would it be?
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?
Winslow welcomes winery By BILL DUHART ? Courier-Post Staff ? April 29, 2008
Larry Sharrott III, left, and Larry Sharrott Jr. pose for a portrait in the tasting room of Sharrott Winery, Tuesday, April 15, 2008 in Winslow. (Douglas M. Bovitt/Courier-Post)
WINSLOW ? For Pam Merkey, another wine-maker in the neighborhood was nothing to raise an eyebrow about.
"We all make wine around here," said Merkey, who lives on South Egg Harbor Road here in the Blue Anchor section of the township. "This is a very strong Italian community. We all visit each other's houses on Sundays to taste each other's wine."
But when the chance came for a relative to sell 34 acres of land that had been in her husband's family for generations to an upstart commercial wine operation, the family jumped at it.
"They could have sold that . . . and split it up but they didn't," said Merkey, 47, a residential development banker. "It got to stay what it is and that's a lot better than five houses out there."
Tecnorati
Alice Feiring....You GO!
to drink and make wines that don't appeal to her. There is a passion here that transcends and makes secondary work of the disappointment that is at the heart of her recent screeds and editorials. It's good writing, it's controversial, it engages the reader and it demonstrates that the politics of preference is alive and well in the world of wine.
I’m sure over years, they’ll teach me a thing or two, or twelve, about wine. 
SIPPED: Sauternes 
Q. What were the wines like when you were living?
The fellow in profile speaks
An Etruscan princess answers
An older Roman answers
How does the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America tell American wine consumers to F*ck Off? Like this:
