Dr Vino's wine blog

The other day we talked about “embarrassing moments in bottle opening.” Be sure to check out the stories for some good laughs.

But one commenter who wasn’t laughing was Paul Gregutt, wine columnist for the Seattle Times. He had this to say:

there’s little doubt that the most difficult cork pulling experiences in my life come when someone has slathered their weapon-grade wine bottle with a pound or two of faux wax. You need a chainsaw to drill through some of these things. It is not helpful to embark on what is supposed to be a thoughtful review of someone’s wine with blood all over the corkscrew, the bottle, the glass and the writer. Perhaps you will join me in an effort to dissuade wineries from using this stuff?

I’ve enjoyed quite a few wines–from Lapierre, Foillard, Vatan, and Lopez de Heredia to name a few–sealed with a wax layer on top of the cork. While they are annoying since they require an additional sweep of the counter, I’ve never shed blood as Paul apparently has. And I think they do add a nice aesthetic touch.

But what say you? Should wineries no longer use them as Paul suggests?

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The whole concept of Pinot under $20 is enough to make some Burghounds shudder. But it is a topic of recurring interest to everyone at the Dr. Vino World Headquarters with its high concentration of frugal pinotphiles.

I recently had the $19 Nicolas Potel 2006 Bourgogne rouge and found it a great value, lean, old world pinot. In previous vintages, I’ve enjoyed value Pinots from Austria (e.g. Stadlmann) and Italy’s alto Alto Adige region (e.g. Hofstatter) as well. And I’ve had some good new world Pinot under $20, such as the “H” Pinot Noir from Hamacher in Oregon. (search for these wines)

What about you? Have your say in our latest poll!

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An op-ed in the Times yesterday puzzled over why beer sales are down while the economy is also in the dumps; there’s a perception out there that people drink more alcoholic beverages during a recession but a slump in beer sales defies that logic. The author pays a passing mention to wine, indicating that Constellation, the world’s largest publicly traded wine producer, has said they will have to “recalibrate” sales expectations.

But have Americans gotten so into wine that even a recession can’t take wine off the table? It appears that wine sales sales for 2008 may be up fractionally by volume but the value is likely to be down since many consumers are “trading down,” or reaching for less expensive wines.

We last checked in with you about your buying habits on September 29. Lots has happened in the economy since then. Tell us how your wine buying and consumption is now! And with the new polling software, you can now select two answers!

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The other day I gave a friend a bottle of red wine as a gift, complete with a Santa wine bag that I got on sale after last Christmas. As I was slipping it in the bag, I saw that the wine was closed wit a screwcap, not a cork. Suddenly, I thought that it diminished my gift. But it was too late to give it a second thought as we were already out the door.

What do you say? Even if you like screwcaps for your own wine, have screwcaps gone mainstream enough that they’re not a stigma for gift wine? Let us know using the snazzy new poll software!

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America will soon be the biggest wine country in the world and we need a motto! Thanks to the 30 commenters who often had multiple suggestions–browse them all for a good laugh.

Ray Isle, Deputy Wine Editor at Food & Wine magazine, the frequent face of wine on the Today Show, a wine blogger in his own right and all around good guy joined me in narrowing the field of suggestions. So here they are, the finalists, for your voting. Decide America’s new wine motto here and now!

The one with the most votes as of Friday will be crowned the winner and will receive a signed copy of Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink. That’s right, the book that tells the story of wine in France and America through the lens of industry politics will be on of theirs in time for the Fourth of July. Congratulations to site readers Mark Ashley, Patrick Henry (who knew?), and Katie for making it into the finals!

The groan committee has met! Thanks for your suggestions of the most groan-inducing wine name. There are many bad wine names out there but it was interesting that no fewer than three people observed that once they pulled the cork on the wine, it wasn’t half bad. Producers take note.

Here are the four “groan cru” (sorry, had to do it) wine names. Vote now for the worst offender! And remember, this isn’t for the worst label design, just the name, hence no finalist labels are shown to distract us.

The response was great to the last “spot the spoof.” So we bring it back! Which one of these items that appeared since the last edition is not true?

* A commentator on the Today show declared the wines of Napa “out” and those of North Carolina in. “This is what’s going to be hot this year.”

* Michael Scott on “The Office” had wine at a dinner party and described it as having “an oaky afterbirth.”

* An anonymous Chinese collector purchased 27 bottles of Domaine Romanee Conti at auction for record-breaking $5 million.

* Restaurateur Joe Bastianich picks the wines to serve Pope Benedict XVI at two dinners in NYC and has the moxie to pour four of his own wines.

* Slate.com opines “kosher wines don’t suck anymore.”

Wine Madness continues to the Final Four! Thanks to your comments, we now have the finalists! Vote here and now to decide the winner! (We are dispensing with the semifinals and the final four will be ranked in their vote order here.)

UPDATE: The wine with the most votes as of Monday April 7, 11:59 PM will be declared the winner!

See previous rounds

Food & Wine dishes up a particularly meaty issue for wine lovers this month. One feature that caught my eye is a wine cellar design guru who says he likes to divide wine cellars by region, sometimes even one room for each region (wowza).

Is that how you organize your surplus wine inventory? Have your say in the latest poll!

image by Eole