Crap wine, comic critics, Poland, NJ – sipped and spit
SIPPED: ironic labels
In 2003, a French publication was fined for calling Beaujolais “vin de merde,” or, “crap wine.” Although the fine was eventually overturned, what critics can say about wines is still a touchy subject. But producers themselves can say what they want and a producer in the downtrodden Languedoc region has now rolled out a wine labeled “vin de merde.” According to this BBC video, the seven euro wine has now sold out. Goodbye critter labels, hello irony?
SPIT: anonymity
A few weeks ago we noted the power of the Japanese wine-imbued comic “The Drops of the Gods” and called for the unveiling of the brother-sister duo who actually make the picks. Today, the NYT does our bidding! Learn more about the power of Shizuku, a quirk in their 3,000 bottle cellar, and why the comic has been translated into French before English.
SPIT: vodka?!?
Poland appears to be the latest beneficiary of global warming in the wine world. [BBC]
SIPPED: Terroir de New Jersey
The latest New Jersey winery, Laurita, opened to the public on last month. Will it rise above the inevitable Jersey jokes from New Yorkers? [NYT]
On October 22nd, 2008 at 12:14 pm ,WineWench wrote:
As a fan of comic books, I’ve been DYING to see a version translated to English!!!
As a Jersey girl, I’ve yet to have any jersey juice worth mentioning, but i’m ever hopeful!
Crap Wine: funny, I just wrote a piece about this the other day!
http://tinyurl.com/4vfast
On October 22nd, 2008 at 3:09 pm ,Weston wrote:
Those Crazy French
I think Wine can almost be grown everywhere. Sure it taste better for certain areas and of course having a good winemaker helps
On October 22nd, 2008 at 5:13 pm ,Arthur, winesooth.com wrote:
Poland has had a wine movement for some time and the project mentioned in the article you cite is one of the most recently added vineyards. I have not yet had a chance to taste these new Polish wines, but as long as they don’t do something stupid like make vodka out of the grapes, it should all be good.
On October 23rd, 2008 at 3:00 pm ,Joseph wrote:
Sacrebleu! Vin de merde! You’ve got to love the French for their quirkiness. I wonder what ‘vin de merde’ tastes like…maybe some minerality perhaps.
On October 23rd, 2008 at 6:54 pm ,Dr. Vino wrote:
ha, yes, Joseph, good point; I’d go with barnyard.
On October 30th, 2008 at 7:15 am ,Sofanes wrote:
One thing is for sure – in every article about making wine in Poland two things will be mentioned: vodka and global warming. Vodka – because it is so funny that all these guys from this cold country sure have vodka with their caprese salad, and the global warming because there is no other explanation to the news that there are rising number of new vineyards in Poland. In fact, history of the polish vintners and polish wine is longer and more complicated that many people think. Some parts of Poland were (and are) very promising for the cultivation of vines, and some (especially in XVI-XVII century) were even locally famous. The point is, that southern part of Poland, together with our neighbors (Slovakia and Czech Republic) are fully suitable for growing V. vinifera (not mentioning the hybrids). The climate there is more-less similar to, I’d say, northern Indiana or southern Michigan. There are not many vineyards, and (especially) skilled wine-makers, but this is because of the 50 years of communist rule (the same reason for vodka popularity, by the way).
There is no doubt that polish wine will be produced in minuscule amounts during next few years, but I’m sure that many of the readers of this blog would be surprised by quality of the first – still quite experimental – batches of polish wine. I mean, it is not the Rutherford’s Cabernet level, but simply good starting point.
On the other hand, it would be great to see one day sth like Western – Eastern duel (Judgement of…and idea?)– blind tasting of Czech’s, Slovakian, Hungarian and Polish wines vs. Austrian, German and some northern Italy representatives. Results could be surprising. There are more Gruners and Pinot Noirs in heaven and earth, Horatio…
On November 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm ,Mary wrote:
Polish isn’t only flourishing in wine! Have you ever tried the imported Polish vodka Orzel? It’s become my favorite vodka. They chill filter it over QUARTZ! So good, you have to try it and now it’s available all over the U.S.
On November 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm ,Arthur wrote:
Never heard of this brand. If it has been around since 1906, it was never a major brand. But I doubt its provenance. The distillery may go back to 1906, but everything about the brand, the production style, the label and packaging sounds like its a gimmick brand created for the US market.
On January 28th, 2009 at 9:35 am ,sam3182 wrote:
I actually went to an Orzel event a couple weeks ago. It was in Ft. Lauderdale, and there were many good looking girls in swimsuit.. oh yeah the vodka was surprisingly good too.