Archive for December, 2009

Where in the wine world are we? Getting plowed edition

While some of you might take the post title to have other meanings since it is new year’s eve, we are being quite literal. Check out this photo…where in the world are we?

Hit the comments with your thoughts. The big reveal will follow soon!

Champagne grapes don’t make Champagne [reader mail]

Dear Dr. Vino,

I just discovered that champagne grapes are really tasty. I bet they would pair well with champagne…

Do they make Champagne or is that a marketing thing?

Paul

It’s a marketing thing. Those sweet, pea-sized grapes that usually appear as a garnish (or in soft focus on greeting cards next to cheese and a glass of wine) are actually black Corinth grapes. When dried, they produce something confusingly called Zante currants.

Champagne almost always comes from Chardonnay and/or Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes. And it comes from the Champagne region, which, as far as Dr. Vino operatives have ascertained, has zero acres of black Corinth grapes.

Champagne, Champagne values, Bordeaux, solitude – sipped and spit

SIPPED: upgrading label info?
No disgorgement date, no review: Antonio Galloni, who reviews Champagnes for The Wine Advocate, announced in issue 186 that if nonvintage Champagne doesn’t come with a disgorgement date, then it will not be reviewed. (Discussion ensued over at wineberserkers whether there was a loophole in the statement.) With this information, consumers can have a better handle on the freshness of such wines.

SPIT: bling champagne
The economic downturn has started a bull market in columns about the bear market in Champagne! Alice Feiring got a jump on the competition with her WSJ. magazine piece from September (“Bubbles takes a bath”), a WSJ Europe reporter followed up with another piece this month (“All That Fizzes Is Gold“), and the wine columnists at the NYT and the more spendy Slate.com join the fray with recommendations, with nonvintage bargains under $40 and overall bargains under $100 respectively.

SIPPED: solitude
Ray Isle of F&W escapes the holiday madness of midtown at the Garden Wine Bar at the Four Seasons hotel. There he finds solitude and some more-intriguing-than-usual hotel bar selections. [Tasting Room]

SPIT: business as usual
Eric Asimov serves up a meaty post on the shuffling of the Bordeaux wine trade. [The Pour]

SIPPED: Bordeaux
Driven by sales of red Bordeaux, which country saw a fifteen-fold increase in imports from France during 2002 – 2008? Okay, it’s China. But you’ll need to click through for the importer stock pick in the story! [WSJ]

SIPPED: looking back
Good Grape and La Otra Botella review memorable moments in wine blogging from the past year.

John and Dottie bid farewell to the WSJ Tastings column

“This is our 579th—and last—”Tastings” column. The past 12 years—a full case!—have been a joy, not because of the wine but because we had an opportunity to meet so many of you, both in person and virtually. Thank you.”

That was how John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter concluded their column in today’s WSJ. They don’t elaborate on their future plans; No editor’s note appears to indicate what will happen with wine coverage at country’s highest circulation newspaper.

When John and Dottie, as they were known to their readers, started writing the column, both came from news sections of the paper as opposed to wine, food or criticism. They asserted their independence from the trade, purchasing wines for review at retail and tasting them blind at home, with dinner over several nights. They rated wines on a scale of “Yech”, “OK”, “Good”, “Very Good”, “Delicious” to “Delicious!” Their column was often very personal, touching on wine in their family experiences, such as vacations on cruise ships or at Disney World. Indeed, their final column is a clarion call for how context influences the wines we drink.

But their signal contribution to wine writing was Open That Bottle Night, encouraging readers to pull a symbolically significant bottle from their cellar and open it just for the heck of it on the last Saturday in February. Readers then sent in letters with their experiences that John & Dottie rounded up in a subsequent column. It was inspired and interactive. And it won them legions of fans.

Best of luck to them in their future endeavors.

Christmas fruitcake: impossible food-wine pairing?!?

christmas_fruitcakeWriting on Slate.com, Sara Dickerman wonders why fruitcake remains so unpopular. She points out that it’s rare among cakes to be aged (intentionally), aided by boozy fortification. And then she throws down the oven mitt with this challenge:

They are heavy, indeed, but that is OK: Fruitcake looks best in thinly sliced cross sections. [See image at right from Slate.com–ed.] Studded with fruit and nuts, it reminds me of salami’s piebald patterns of fat and peppercorns. Like salami, too, I think fruitcake tastes swell alongside slivers of nice old cheddar or parmesan. In, fact, I’d argue that fruitcake, with its aging and its complexity, is essentially the charcuterie of the baking world. If that’s not a way to get some traction among today’s foodies, I don’t know what is.

Oooh, charcuterie! Well, we should be able to pair that with wine–except for the rum, apricots, golden raisins, kalamata figs, coconut, and dates. So which wine with you pair with fruitcake? Or is it impossible?!?

Related: Goodbye Wassail, Hello Christmas Smoking Bishop

Video wine reviews from Sadat X

Sadat X, a niche hip hop artist, has taken up wine reviewing. The segments are concise and involve neither a dump bucket nor stemware. For more videos in the Sadat X oeuvre, head on over to Rockss and Fruit for a compendium.

Vote now! Wine Person of the Decade [the Naughties]

wine_person_decadeThanks to everyone for the fascinating discussion suggesting nominees for the Wine Person of the Decade. Now it’s voting time! To make the voting somewhat more manageable, a select committee (that may or may not have included more people than just me) has now chosen a list of finalists.

John Casella: CEO of Casella Wines, which launched the now ubiquitous [yellow tail] in June 2001.
Fred Franzia: The California-based creator of Two Buck Chuck, which debuted in 2002, believes that no wine should sell for more than $10 a bottle.
Paul Giamatti: played role of Miles in Sideways (2004); crushed the fortunes of Merlot with a single line while the film boosted interest in Pinot Noir
Shin & Yoko Kobayshi: authors of “The Drops of the Gods,” a Japanese comic started in 2004 that is, according to the NYT, “the most influential voice in Asia’s wine markets.”
Eric LeVine: Formerly of Microsoft, LeVine opened CellarTracker.com to the public in April 2004; now, it is the dominant site for user-generated tasting notes with over one million wine reviews.
Robert Parker: Critic who popularized the 100-point scoring system; as winemaker Randall Grahm put it in the comments: “His influence on winemaking styles world-over is massive, a bit like the light-bending properties of a ginormous black hole on nearby astral bodies.”
Terry Theise: wine importer who has championed “grower” champagnes, ones from those who grow the grapes as opposed to large houses
Gary Vaynerchuk: dynamic wine retailer; host of almost 800 episodes of Wine Library TV; internet phenom who is, in his words, changing the wine world.

naughties

[poll id=”9″]

If you’d like to elaborate why you voted the way you did, hit the comments. Nominees appear alphabetically and from left to right in the images. You can only vote for one person. Voting ends with the decade on 12/31.

Nominations now open for Wine Person of the Decade! [the Naughties]

wine_person_decadeYesterday on Twitter, we opened a lively discussion about who should be the Wine Person of the Decade (follow along). That’s right, who in the wine world most epitomizes the decade that may one day be called the Naughties? Here’s a summary of the leading nominees thus far–feel free to hit the comments to add others, especially if you have a reason of why they embody the Naughties. Voting starts next week on selected finalists.

@pmabray: two people come to mind Gary Vaynerchuk and Jonathan Newman (formerly head buyer of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board)
@1WineDude: @drvino you’re kidding, right? just give it to Gary V now and get it over with already 🙂
James Molesworth: Michel Chapoutier brought Biodynamics to mainstream…Nicolas Catena, driving force behind resurgence of Argentina….I’d consider both of those categories (which are consumed by the way) way more important than any retailer, ever…
@candidwines: Has anyone had a greater impact on a grape, a region, or a nation’s awareness of both than Sideways writer/director Alexander Payne?
@evandawson: I’d go with someone who took wine away from the pull of sweet, massive, high ABV bombs. I’m sure there’s someone. (Not Nossiter!) I’d say Alice F
@makerstable: Randall Grahm, master of vinous self-reinvention, champion of terroir. Swimming upstream, a little ahead of the rest of the school.
twitter-logo2@RichardPF: For an offbeat pick, Shin & Yoko Kibayashi, the writers of “The Drops of the Gods,” a very influential Japanese wine comic …
@alpanasingh: It would have to be someone who has impacted the value wine market which has improved significantly over the last 10 yrs. Jorge Ordonez?
@dalecruse: @drvino Wine person of the decade is the consumer! Buying more, wider varieties, no longer just listening to what establishment tells them.
@RobertDwyer: Chuck Wagner: Caymus was the most consistent producer in America’s favorite category in the decade.
James Molesworth: Manfred Prum – he’s probably the ultimate low-alcohol producer…so out of date, he’s back in style…
RandallGrahm: Consider Nicolas Joly. Obviously doesn’t make a lot of wine himself, but his impact is far and wide.
@WineExpo: Terry Theise! Reason–> 5000% increase in the market for Grower Champagne
@cathycorison: Jancis Robinson
Alice Feiring: Naughties award? Clark Smith.
@candidwines: I suppose if total influence is my grounds for nominations, I have to consider (thru a clenched jaw) whoever created yellow tail.
Gary Vaynerchuk: hnmmmm people behind sideways or two buck chuck
@sdelong: @drvino wait, it’s all so clear now: Fred Franzia. Clearer than crossflow filtration. Clearer than vigorous enzyme treatments…


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