SPIT: reporting on Champagne
An article on JancisRobinson.com criticizes recent coverage of Champagne’s 2009 harvest. Main quibble: “After the harvest there will not be masses of grapes left to rot on the vine.”

SIPPED: changes in Chicago
Sam’s Wine & Spirits closed their South Loop location last month and now will close their Highland Park store. Meanwhile, Illinois now has an increased tax on wine, rising $0.13 per bottle to $0.28. As a result, distributor Rocky Wirtz has sued the state. Five other states recently raised taxes on wine.

SIPPED: Binge shopping
Annual wine sales at big box stores in France bring out “legions” of consumers. Carrefour sold six million bottles during its sale last year. [AP]

On September 12, join me at the University of Chicago’s Graham School for a Saturday seminar entitled: “Red, white and “green” wines: can you taste the difference?” We will discuss issues relating to organic and biodynamic wines, talk about some leading wines and wine makers, and see if we can taste the difference between some conventional wines and their eco-wine counterparts in a blind tasting. No previous wine experience is necessary. Hope to see you there!

Registration and details

On another book related note, in case you are puzzling what to get for Father’s Day, I’m happy to reinstate my offer of signed gift copies. Send me via PayPal the amazon price, tax, and shipping (say, $25) of either Wine Politics or the practical guide, A Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip for Each Season (which actually has more wine-related Father’s Day gift ideas in it), and I’ll send a copy of either book inscribed as you please to whatever domestic address you like. So much more interesting than a tie! Don’t delay since Father’s Day is rapidly approaching! There’s also a Kindle edition of A Year of Wine but I can’t sign that one for you without smudging your screen.

SPIT: freedom in France
Liberté takes a back seat in France too where wine ads are strictly controlled in France and Microsoft has taken the unusually cautious step of removing wine ads from their ad service (Google ads still include wine on the internets in France). If anyone is looking at this site in France, remember, ceci n’est pas une pub! [thepost.ie]

SIPPED: wine education
An inside look at wine education at the Sommelier Society of America. [NYT]

SPIT: jugs!
Almaden and Inglenook, two wines known for their big jugs, will now come in the lightweight bag-in-box format. It sounds like old wine in new wineskins but because of the volume involved it will contribute to reducing wine’s carbon footprint. [Bizjournals]

SIPPED: corks in space
Schramsberg winery reports that Navy Commander Kenneth Ham is flying with bottles of the bubbly on board the space shuttle Discovery! If only. But he is taking some corks and labels from the Napa sparkling wine producer on the flight with him.

SIPPED: Wine books
A review of three wine books today in the NYT Book Review section follows one by Eric Aismov from ten days ago to review the spring crop of wine books. And, yes, my reviews will follow soon before you head to the beach this summer!

RIP: Robert Mondavi, the American wine colossus, who died at 94. [SF Chron, NYT]

(image)

Both of the trips will be anchored by classes at the University of Chicago’s Graham School, which are open to everyone who chooses to register. On September 20, I’ll lead a Saturday afternoon seminar called “France and America: Wine Politics and a Tasting Showdown.” We will talk about themes from my upcoming book, Wine Politics, and then have a wildly fun, blind and competitive tasting of wines from the two countries. The wine budget for these events is good and in the past we have had some excellent mature wines in a variety of sizes. All participants will receive a signed copy of the book as part of the enrollment. Details and registration.

On December 6, we’ll be talking and tasting holiday wines in another Saturday seminar. This time the discussion will be centered around my second wine book, “A Year of Wine,” which will be published in November by Simon & Schuster. As with the September event, the wines will be fun and participants will receive a signed copy of this book too. Details and registration.

Although this may seem like eons from now, apparently we get a nicer room if signups are strong early. So sign up! See you there!

(image of the bean)

We’ll do one marathon session at the University of Chicago on Sep 29. (details and registration)

Starting on September 25, we’ll spread it out over three Tuesday evenings at New York University’s Torch Club. (details and registration)

Only five spots are left in Chicago and a few more in NY so sign up now or never! Hope to see you there.

* New York University: Buying and Cellaring, three sessions starting on September 25. Register here
* University of Chicago: Buying and cellaring liquid assets: one monster session, September 29. Register here
In both of these new classes, we will examine the red hot wine market. We will discuss where to buy wines, where to sell, how to store, and when to consume wines. In the longer, NYU course, we will devise a buying strategy for your budget and storage conditions and I hope we’ll be able to do the same in Chicago, even though the time is more limited. Both NY and Chicago will have tastings of collectible wines so be sure to sign up–especially, since the people enroll, the bigger the tasting budget is!

* New York Unversity: Becoming a Wine Expert. Six Wednesday evenings, starting October 17. Register here
This spring, one participant in the course said that he had waited two years to get into the class — I hope it was worth it! This, my core class, has the enrollment limited to 25 because of space limitations at the Torch Club.

* The Gourmet Institute: New York City, October 19-21. Register here
I’ll be participating on the panel “Eat the Web: Blogging’s Effect on the Food World,” moderated by Ruth Reichl. It’s very expensive (think two iPhones) but there are all those celebrity chefs whose food you can eat!

And I’m trying to coordinate an offline meetup, hopefully for next week…More on that very soon.

Juicy offers a compact but cool environment that even made this New Yorker jealous. Why? The wine bar/wine shop is not legally an option in New York thanks to silly laws prohibit wine consumers from buying a bottle to go or to stay. Juicy charges a $15 corkage, or in their parlance, “chill out” fee over the retail prices, which makes it the cheapest place to sit down and enjoy a bottle of Krug in the city.

I stuck with the wines by the glass enjoying a Kerner from Alto-Adige and a plate of American artisanal cheeses. Charcuterie is also available but no hot food. The wine list is not enormous but the selections are well-chosen with many selections I wanted to try. Oddly, for being a wine destination, the wine list has no vintages.

We were served by the wildly knowledgeable and personable Linda Violago who has served many a fine wine at Charlie Trotter’s, her main gig, for the past few years. She is leaving Chicago in ten days to assume the chief wine duties at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain. If readers of this blog go to that restaurant in the near future (and I am envious, yes), then give her a shout!

Juicy Wine Company
694 N. Milwaukee Ave.
(312) 492-6620

He said that he and the woman to his right had taken my class there on October 1, 2005 on the politics of wine in Chile, Argentina, and Spain. He remembered the date because it was his birthday. But he also remembered it because he and the woman met that day and they had been “drinking wine together ever since.”

Food and wine pairing? Forget it! They got a life pairing!

Fun vino-philes, local bloggers of note, and many others that I haven’t met before have let me know they’re coming. Get your weekend started on a good note–hope you can make it!

When: Friday, May 11, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Where: Juicy Wine Company, 694 N. Milwaukee Ave. (bet Chicago and Erie)
Who: you – and feel free to bring a friend!

See the original posting.

I’ll be in town and look forward to meeting anybody who can make it. We can try wines by the glass (or any bottle from the shop with a $15 corkage fee–or “chill out” fee as they call it) together at the newish and hipster Juicy Wine Co. They have charcuterie and cheeses available.

The meetup is simply a chance to meet in the real world, off the internet, with wine enthusiasts, in particular, readers of this site and people who’ve taken my wine classes at the U of C. There’s no charge other than what you order at the bar. Consider it a happy hour. Or two.

So get your weekend started with fellow vino-philes! Post a comment or drop me a line at tyler [at] drvino [dot] com if you can make it. I look forward to seeing you there!

When: Friday, May 11, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Where: Juicy Wine Company, 694 N. Milwaukee Ave. (bet Chicago and Erie)
Who: you – and feel free to bring a friend!

The wines were from a range of styles and included bubbly, red and white. Some of the faves were:

* Bisol prosecco, NV (about $13; find this wine). Controversy came with this wine with high praise from Wine & Spirits (93 points) and faint praise wine Wine Spec (86 points). The yummy sparkler got a thumbs up from the group.

* William Fevre, Vaudesir, Grand Cru Chablis, 2004 (about $45; find this wine). I didn’t even realize that Rovani/Parker tasted Chablis but Rovani slapped a 93 on this one. ‘Tis good. Wonderful minerality with delicate acidity, which makes for a very nice mouthfeel and it has an excellent finish. No unanimity on this wine to be sure, with others preferring the American chardonnay, but I thought it was excellent, if pricey.

* Deisen, shiraz, Barossa, 2002 (about $50; find this wine). A brawny shiraz from down under with 15% alcohol. Parker 94. The class loved it with no dissenters. While the wine is very user friendly as far as shiraz-ma-taz is concerned, I found the alcohol to be somewhat off-putting.

* Castano, Hecula, monastrell, 2004. (about $10; find this wine). This is a darned good value vino since many participants thought it was at least $30. It’s got hints of that mourvedre gamey-ness and I think it could do with a few years in the cellar to tame it a bit. But still, it’s vigor would be great with game or grilled meats.

* Dominus, Napa, 2003 (about $100; find this wine) This was the most critically contested wine of the day with a huge spread between Parker’s 95 and the Wine Spec’s Jim Laube zinging it with an 81 (a score so low that the Wine Advocate would not even publish it). Laube didn’t even grumble about TCA, the usual cause of his zingers, simply going with the “disappointingly dry and austere.” I poured it blind and there were lots of pros and only two cons before I revealed the “controversy.”

It was a hedonistic afternoon. If you’re interested, there may be a couple of spaces left for my next class in May. Hope to see you there!

In his column yesterday (which is currently the #3 most emailed on the site), the NYT chief wine critic and chief wine blogger says that the best thing for wine newbies to do is find a trusted wine shop and put $250 of your wine budget in their hands and walk out with a case of wine. It’s better than even taking a class he argues.

As a wine educator (with three classes this week), I have to object! But he does make a good point–two good points, actually.

First, my objection. In my classes, I select wines, organize them thematically or stylistically, pair them with food (granted, just cheese, bread, and occasionally olives not a full meal), show maps, images, and talk about the politics, people and history of a wine. We also talk about how to find the best wine buys locally, wine-friendly restaurants, where to taste wines for free, how to serve, and much more. The two hours fly by. And all participants get to talk, sip, and discuss, so there is a social aspect as well. So don’t write off classes too quickly, even for newbies! They can have much to offer.

But Asimov still has a fundamentally good point: there’s no substitute for learning through tasting. Not everyone will have wine classes available near them or perhaps the time to take a class so then I absolutely agree that you should put your money where your mouth is via a local retailer. This lowers the barriers of entry so that anybody can do it, regardless of level of wine geekdom.

The second good point that Asimov makes is to trust a local retailer, hopefully two retailers. Why? Well, for one, they have the wines available to sell you. Many times you can read about great sounding wines on the web or in print but then you can’t find them near you. Trusting the retailer doesn’t lead to that frustration.

Moreover, you can have feedback. Unlike a critic whom you may never meet, you might visit your retailer once a week or once a month. So there’s accountability. They want to make you happy and keep you coming back, not sell you wine a hedonistic fruit bomb if your preferences run more toward the earthy and the minerally.

But one subtle distinction: the custom case is the way to go over the pre-fab case. Many wine shops put together cases at various price points or for different flavor preferences. While these sometimes can be good, I’m always leery that they are putting wines that need to “move” in such cases. When you choose a staffer to put together your case for you, not only is it more customized, but it’s more likely to be wines chosen simply on their merits, rather than economic reasons.

So, why are you still in front of your computer? Get thee to a shop!

Related:
“Add some juice to your wine dollar: buying tips” [Dr. V]
“Making a case: 12 gift wines” [Dr. V]

Critiquing the critics, University of Chicago, 4/14, 2:30 – 6:30
We review different styles of wine evaluation culminating with YOU being the critic in our tasting. Details and registration

Red, white, and green wine, University of Chicago, 5/12, 2:30 – 6:30
While organic food is all the rage, organic wine has arguably lagged behind. We assess the various shades of “green” wine and then put our knowledge to the test and see if we can taste the difference. Details and registration

Wine emergency! How to navigate a wine list, NYU, 3/22 6:30 – 8:30
The business dinner. The big date. Avoid making them a wine emergency as we navigate wine lists–and taste!–with confidence. Details and registration

I hope to see you at one of these one-day sessions! News of a Chicago meetup forthcoming…

tags: wine | wine classes

Betting and sports have a long (March Madness) but limited (Nevada) tradition in the US. But it is only thanks to Las Vegas we have an indication of what the odds are of one team winning over another. The most common indicator is the “spread” or number of point margin of victory of one team over another. In this year’s Super Bowl XLI the Indianapolis Colts are the favorite by seven points over the Chicago Bears.

Thus a fan of the Bears could take seven points, see her team lose 21-17 but still win on the bet. You win while the team loses. This suboptimal outcome means that your bet is not aligned with your enthusiasm for the team.

I put this puzzle to my friend who writes about sports on Gothamist and he advised me of the “moneyline,” which awards different values to bets while not offering any point spread. Thus if your team wins, you win the wager. The moneyline for the Superbowl is Indianapolis -240 and Chicago +200. That means that to place a $240 wager on the Colts in Las Vegas would win back your original wager plus $100. A $100 bet on the Bears would yield the original wager plus $200.

Thus wine geeks who are fans of the Bears could bet a $10 wine with a friend and Indianapolis supporter who would put up a $22 bottle of wine. Say, a Texier Cotes du Rhone 2004 (find this wine) for a Heinrich Mayr-Nusser 02 Lagrein Riserva (find this wine)? Or raise the stakes to double those price points if you are so inclined. But at the end of the day–or football season–the best way to celebrate friendship might just be if you had to drink the bottle together.

Assuming, of course, that you both are over 21 and live in Nevada.

The original version of this post appeared on January 27, 2006.

tags: wine | superbowl | Chicago Bears | indianapolis colts