Dr Vino's wine blog

Wine beats beer
How did wine become more popular than beer in America? It must be because we got klass. Not so, argues Field Maloney on Slate. We’ve got lifestyle. [Slate]

Corked, ’tis (almost)
The wine market for direct shipments in Illinois is about to become corked up. If passed, IL HB 429 will limit Illinois residents to receiving 12 cases of wine a year. You might think that a case a month would be reasonable. But the bill also would strip many out of state wineries and retailers from the right to ship to Illinois wine consumers. That is not reasonable. [SunTimes]

Corked? No ‘taint
Amorim, a cork producer facing a marketplace challenge from screwcap manufacturers, claims to have found a way to treat corks to bring spoilage, known as cork taint, down to below one percent. [IHT]

What’s all white and has a whiff of man?
Why, the editorial dept at Wine Spectator. Dr. Debs explores and admonishes. [GWU $20]

Pairings gone awry
In his office just off the tasting room at Food & Wine Tower, Ray Isle has recently explored disastrous food wine pairings. California chardonnay and smoked sable ended up “the pairing equivalent of hammering yourself on the side of a head with a mallet.” And he finally found a food that does NOT go with champagne: yuzu sorbet sprinkled with espelette chili powder. I’ll have to bear that in mind… [Tasting Room]

Ixnay sake?
Two sushi experts sayonara to the sake and sushi pairing: “it’s a fool’s pairing—the flavor of sake is too similar to rice to enrich the meal. Opt for beer or green tea—their bitterness acts as a palate cleanser.” What about champagne? [TONY]

Back in the 20th century, when we were organizing our wedding, I was making conversation with the New England innkeeper where we had our wedding reception. I was living in Barcelona at the time and we were chatting about Catalan food and wine. Somehow we stumbled onto the topic of cava, the sparkling wine from the region that is dramatically less expensive than Champagne. That really got the innkeeper going. “Cava! I wouldn’t wash the family dog with that!” he flamboyantly declared.

Whatever you might do with bargain bubbly, they have their time and place. I’ve gotten several reader mails recently from people getting married looking for advice on wines for their wedding, particularly when they have the option to source the wines themselves.

The real budget killer can be the Champagne toast. Every guest feels obliged to take a glass, whether they are going to drink it or not. Some just take a sip. Either way, there’s generally a lot bubbly left in the flutes on the tables.

So here’s a short list of bubbly that doesn’t break the bank. Perceptive readers will notice that none of these hail from the region of Champagne. That’s because entry-level Champers starts at $30 these days. I set a maximum of $15 so that we didn’t send the newlyweds (or the parents of the bride) into penury–we’ll let the florist do that.

Bargain bubbly can be a mixed bag with too much residual sugar and too little depth of flavor. If you end up being able to source your own bubbly for the wedding, be sure to taste a bottle before buying in bulk to ensure it is your style. The bubblies here are in my order of preference:

Bisol, “Crede” prosecco (Italy) $14 (find this wine)
My buddy Mark Oldman is a huge fan of prosecco. He shows a flagrant disregard for international law and calls it “Italian champagne” at his parties. Why is it a good party wine? Because it is easy on the wallet and on the palate. Sometimes I find prosecco too sweet but this Bisol is crisp and dry. More importantly, it as a good bead–the wine geek term for them there bubbles that make it so festive. Heck, I wouldn’t just save this one for mass toasts–I’d drink it with plenty of food too ranging from hard cheese to an Asian noodle soup. (Importer: Vias)

Juve y Camps rose cava $14 (find this wine)
I’d be willing to bet that if my innkeeper got poured this cava blind, he do something other than wash the dog with it — he’d no doubt drink it with great enthusiasm. Made from 100 percent pinot noir, this dry pink bubbly has nice red berry notes surprisingly pleasant acidity. Drink pink.

Chandon California brut. $11 (find this wine)
My expectations were low for this one with a generic “California” designation. But in the glass, the wine surprised me pleasant fruit, a good bead, and enough sugar to make it rich but not cloying. I poured it at a tasting event recently and it was well-received. Don’t be surprised if you see Aunt Marnie going around and taking sips out of the half-empty glasses if you pour this one at the wedding.

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Hope to see you there! The essentials:

When: Thursday, June 7, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Where: Il Posto Accanto, 190 E. 2nd St. (near Ave B)
How: F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.; J, M, Z at Essex St.
Who: you – and feel free to bring a friend!

See the original post.

“We have a captive audience as most cruises last at least 11 days,” said Toni Neumeister, vice president of food and beverage at Crystal Cruise Lines was quoted in the current issue of Wine Business Monthly. Mmm, captive audience. Monopoly provider. And a new policy not allowing any alcoholic beverages on board. If you’re thinking what I’m thinking, then your cruise will have a poor selection of wines with high prices.

But the story then proceeds to say that wine on cruise ships has a gentler markup than restaurants with 1.5x cost instead of two or three times. So which is it? Share your experiences in the latest poll!

poll now closed

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It’s a tough week for fashionistas (and it’s only Monday!). Paris Hilton is in jail. And Tyra Banks doesn’t like wine but orders it to look sexy. Roll the tape from her personal website [via M&C]:

I recently went to Napa, California, and I learned how to pair wines with certain tastes, how red wine tastes good with salt and bitter things like lemon. So, every now and then I’ll order some wine at the table. I’ll only take two sips, but I’ll keep holding the glass cause it makes me feel sexy, but I still don’t drink it because it still tastes kind of nasty to me. (emphasis added)

Wow, the classic pairing of red wine and lemon–no wonder the former top model thinks wine’s nasty! Help her out with some newbie wine suggestions in the comments. I’d start her off with a sangria if she wants to give red wine with citrus another try.

What a better way to beat the heat than an offline get together? We’re overdue for a meetup!

So push back from your desks and roll on over to Il Posto Accanto next Thursday as we continue our slow-motion pub wine bar crawl of NYC. Kind of short notice this time around but I hope to see many of you there.

Il Posto Acconto is a charming–dare I say, rustic–wine bar next door to the restaurant Il Baggatto in the East Village. Both are owned by la famiglia of Gabrio Tosti, who in turn owns the excellent boutique wine shop, De Vino. (Since he’ll be there, we’ll have to see if we can get him to to do that thing that he’s doing in the photo on his blog.) Other NYC bloggers, other NYC wine drinkers are all welcome to sample the 30 types of vino available by the glass.

In case it’s your first time to join, 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 NYU. 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: Thursday, June 7, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Where: Il Posto Accanto, 190 E. 2nd St. (near Ave B)
How: F, V at Lower East Side-Second Ave.; J, M, Z at Essex St.
Who: you – and feel free to bring a friend!
Il Posto Accanto, NY Mag

So has he jumped the shark?

“BusinessWeek, US Airways in ad deal: Magazine will put Welch and wine columns in skies” [SF Chron]

Consumers who suspect they may never escape the omnipresence of wine god Robert Parker and management gurus Jack and Suzy Welch will soon have one more reason to think so: Starting next month, columns by Parker and the Welches will be laminated onto airplane pull-down tray tables as part of a deal to sell advertising on US Airways planes.

The hardest thing—but perhaps more sought-after than a Lafite—is a list of good, interesting and affordable wines, for parties or for dinner Sunday to Thursday or even all week long. Here’s my latest list, arranged not by preference, but by style, from lightest to fullest in white and red.

Why is it only a list of nine wines under $10 instead of the usual ten under ten? Because I’m grumpy. It’s increasingly difficult to find good wines with character under ten dollars. Blame part of it on the weak dollar (though my list here is heavy on eurozone wines), blame it on producer greed–they’re all just excuses! Good wines, easy on the palate and on the wallet are what consumers want. Sure, there are lots of great wines for $12-$15 and many more from $15 – 20, but these are out of reach for a lot of people to have with dinner on a given Tuesday. Producers take note of this market opening, ready to be filled! Meanwhile, we can fill up our wine storage areas with this value vino.

Whites
Muscadet Sur Lie, Hautes Noelles. $9.99 (find this wine)
This muscadet is great for oysters. Don’t you get tired of people saying that? I do. I have oysters once every five years and this wine is too good to wait that long between bottles. The “sur lie” aging gives this muscadet a richer mouthfeel but it still has the characteristic crsip acidity, faint melon note, and gentle briney quality. Fire it up with grilled seafood on the deck. (Importer: H2Vino, Michael Skurnik)

Vina Sila, Naia, Verdejo, Rueda (Spain), 2005. $10 (find this wine)
This is a classic summer wine from a grape you may never have heard of: verdejo. Fresh citrus notes, though not as much acidity as a kiwi sauvignon blanc, notes of honeysuckle and white flowers make this wine a great one as a warm-up (with light, salty appetizers) or as a cool down (poolside).

Creta Olympias, Vilana, Crete 2006, $10. (find this wine)
Vilana is usually a ho-hum wine that is churned out from the most recent vintage. However, in a recent tasting of this off-the beaten-path variety, I found a few that were recommendable with this being the most affordable. With delicate white flower aromas, the wine had a certain lush mouthfeel, with pleasant minerally verve. This wine + Greek salad + outside under umbrella on a sunny day = life is good.

Rosé
Domaine Houchart, Cotes de Provence rose, 2006, $9. (find this wine)
This dark, vibrant, and dry rose has notes of strawberry and watermelon. The lively acidity makes it a great food pairing. While I think that rosé should be less than $10 a bottle to be lots of fun I might be tempted to pay $12 for the Domaine Sorin. But this blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mourvèdre gets the job done on the deck in the summer.

Reds
Bodegas las Hormigas, Colonia las Liebres, bonarda, Mendoza (Argentina). 2006. $4.49 (find this wine)
This ridiculously priced bargain is one to buy with both hands. This surprisingly light and lively, unfiltered old-vine bonarda from importer Marco de Grazia’s project in Mendoza. It’s now our house burrito wine.

Terra Rosa, Malbec Mendoza (Argentina), 2004. $10 (find this wine)
This is a fascinating wine of the global era: Patrick Campbell of Sonoma buys the fruit from local growers in Mendoza, makes the wine on location, then ships it back to California for bottling and an admirably reduced carbon footprint. The cost-savings results in a wine of character, with good fruit and a pleasant and unusual level of acidity, at a very reasonable price. It calls out for grilled meat.

Castaño, Hécula, monastrell, Yecla (Spain), 2004 $9. (find this wine)
I poured this wine recently at a tasting and people thought it was a $30 wine. It has the wonderful mourvedre game quality on the nose, and serious but not aggressive tannins on the finish. I actually came across a bottle of the 2001 of this wine in the Dr. Vino Cellar recently (originally purchased for $7—inflation!) and it was among the most rewarding $7 bottles of wine I have ever had. I’ll throw some more of this one in the cellar and check back in a few years. Try it now with game or sausage.

Castillo de Jumilla, monastrell, Yecla (Spain). 2006. $9. (find this wine)
Given what I just wrote about how I feel about young monastrell, I wasn’t planning on being wowed by this freshly squeezed 06. But I was. It’s a gobs-of-fruit, beef-drippings kind of wine but with a pleasing lushness. According to the wine’s importer, there are only a few hundred cases of this excellent BBQ companion wine available.

Trentadue, Old Patch Red, Sonoma, 2004, $8. (find this wine)
California Zinfandel has sadly seen prices escalate: consider this one greed relief. Fans of big reds will find this a gulpable bargain with hints of dark fruits and faint spice. The biggest plus here is that—unlike some of the other wines on this list—the wine has broader availability.