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How could I omit the two intelligent value Godello picks? I chose these two because they convey distinct interpretations of the variety, in spite of the two D.O.?s not being terribly far apart. Taste them together to see the immense differences evident in each Godello within what would amount to a short bus ride from Bierzo to Valdeorras. It?s quite hard to argue that neighboring wine regions cultivating the same variety aren?t little miracles, with this sentiment growing even more potent for the wine lover within single vineyards with many producers, though that?s another topic altogether.
Enjoy this, one of many examples of all new things Spanish that will slowly become more prevalent in the U.S. market over the coming six months or so?Godello.
Before I forget, speaking of the next wave of imports from Spain, if you haven?t been paying attention to Telmo Rodríguez in the past few years, I would try his Godello and watch this video. Aside from being a fascinating Spanish entrepreneur, he exudes passion for well-crafted, regional wines. The video is eight minutes in length, though for some reason, it winds up being 3 and change. Nevertheless, listen to Mr. Rodríguez introducing his wines on a recent visit to Toronto?s Lifford Wine Agency. In essence, he is responsible for affordable little masterpieces from various Spanish D.O.?s. His progressive outlook in terms of production methods is matched by an ability to reinvigorate production of traditional varieties in the regions where he owns vineyards. This in turn, yields intelligent value wines from various Spanish D.O.?s that much like Susana Balbo?s wines in Argentina, seem to be produced in a manner which never sacrifices regional character for novelty or the wrong type of market's tastes. What with how things are going nowadays in the wine business, what a refreshing point of view!
Los vinos: 2007 Pilgrim Godello Bierzo D.O.
This wine is clean, pale straw and unassuming at first sight. The nose is vibrant, driven by wild flowers, citrus, treefruit and stone minerality. Complex mouthfeel, with a crisp, racy shot of acidity (pink grapefruit), alongside rich treefruit and distinctive mineral notes.
This wine is produced by Viñedos Agribergidum in Bierzo, located at the westernmost outpost of León bordering Galicia. The Godello vines are an average of 40 years old, with the variety purposely farmed to very low yields.
Imported by Beacon Wine Company. 2005 Gaba do Xil Godello Valdeorras D.O.
A really nice pale gold in the glass. The nose is clean and pronounced, with perfumey floral element, lush green pear, peaches, honeydew melon and touch of sweet spice. Complex but never overwhelming medium-bodied white with great balance of ripe fruit flavors and medium citrus acidity. Love the soft spice undertones that follow the lovely fruit into the aftertaste.
It's a great site that lists wine events for just about any state, country or region. Plus, they send out a Weekly Newsletter called The Juicewhich will notify you of upcoming events in your area.
Now that you're wrapping up your Winter holidays, it's the perfect time to plan your Summer ones. In my opinion Summer holidays should be filled with beautiful scenery, great wine, and delicious food. If you agree, then perhaps you'll consider joining me at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic 2009.
I grew up in Aspen, and as a kid, I worked as a catering scamp at the Classic, hauling crates of dishes around, not really knowing what the whole thing was about, other than there was lots of free food. Last year I had the double pleasure of not only returning to my home town for the first time in 14 years, but doing so as a speaker at the Classic.
I believe I was the first blogger to ever present at the Classic, and apparently I didn't screw it up, because they asked me back again this year. Truthfully, I had a blast last year, and so did the folks who attended my seminars. We tasted some great wine together, and I'm super excited to do it again this June.
Tickets have just gone on sale for the 2009 Aspen Food and Wine Classic, and as the event always sells out, now would be the time to start thinking about just how tasty you want your June to be.
I'll be returning to my home town again to presenting two more guided tastings. The first, entitled "Sonoma Superstars" will highlight some of my favorite wines from some of Sonoma County's top producers. The second, entitled "Cabernet: Next From Napa" will highlight fantastic Cabs from several new producers that are just releasing some of their first wines.
When I'm not introducing attendees to some of my favorite wines, I'll be standing in the back watching while the real pros do their thing: Robert Bohr on Champagne; David Lynch on Italy; Michael Bonadies on Washington State; Anthony Giglio on Riesling, etc.
I'll also be poking my head in to see if I can even just get a whiff of some of the amazing VIP reserve tastings, which include a Conterno Barolo tasting, a vertical tasting of Remoissenet Clos Vougeot starting from 1952, and a retrospective on 1989 Bordeaux, among others.
If that sounds like your idea of a good time, you should come join me! Check out the Food & Wine Classic web site where you can download the schedule of events and buy your tickets.
As usual, the event benefits charity -- this year supports the Wholesome Wave Foundation, a national initiative dedicated to supporting local farms and encouraging sustainable agriculture.
This is another amazing wine from Rosenblum. This single vineyard Syrah from Lodi is just plain wonderful!
Deep black cherry hue with a bouquet of pure black cherry, cola, mint, and baker's chocolate with sweet banana chip notes--I kid you not. Wow.
Palate--Elegant tannins with a rich velvety texture bursting with berries, berries and more berries all integrated splendidly. This was GREAT with my venison roast and even at $25, it was a real treat and a value! Raise a glass!
Wine & Spirits Magazine recently announced its Top 100 wineries in the world, and that included the first New York state winery to ever make this prestigious list ? a list that has an amazing 22-year history.
Fox Run Vineyards on Seneca Lake will be featured with the others on the list in the November issue of Wine & Spirits.
Congratulations to Scott Osborn at the entrie crew over at Fox Run on this monumental achievment!
As you may have noticed, Enotheque has been missing some updates for some time now. At the moment, I'm on the road at a very challenging but rewarding consulting job. The days are long and the nights seem all too short, resting only in brief moments before it's time to attend to the task at hand again.
I'll bring back some good posts with recommendations, interesting regions, values and interviews soon enough. For the time being, enjoy the other subscriptions of your Google Reader, since nobody is ever truly caught up with it anyway.
The Pinot Gris harvest in Oregon's Willamette Valley was set back even further by rain, and even some hail last weekend. On Sunday alone, it rained over an inch in parts of the Willamette Valley. It also hailed in various locations. While any widespread damage to the grapes is unknown at this point, the continued cool, soggy weather can't be good for the grape development at this late stage.
Grapes need to attain a certain sugar level (measured in Brix) to achieve proper ripening and balance.
There's still plenty of fire left in the belly of old gnarly Grenache vines in Calatayud, Spain. These old vines manifest their destiny in Garnacha de Fuego 2007, imported by Jorge Ordoñez, and sold here in Tennessee for well under $10, and in some areas of the country nearer to $5.
This is one of those outstanding inexpensive red wines that make you wonder why some wines cost so much. Unencumbered by wood aging, it's so very pure and drinkable, yet unlike similarly priced junk wine, the wine equivalent to junk food, it's genuine. There isn't a hint of manipulation evident.
True to form for a fresh Grenache, you get a plethora of raspberry character, perhaps even some "Now-Or-Later" cherry mixed in. There's also some white pepper spice to be sure, and a mouth full of rocks. The body is light-to-medium, and the combination of youth (wine) and age (vine) come through in the somewhat rustic, lasting finish.
The vines harvested for this wine go back to the days when Franco took power and when Picasso painted Guernica. On a political hiatus for decades, these sage vines are now just coming into their own. Therefore I'm raising a glass, to remember those people who suffered before, and to be enlightened with the wisdom to help alleviate future suffering. The planting of these vines was a bit before my time, but not really that long ago in the evolutionary big picture. History is changing fast, and as was said, "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Garnacha de Fuego kindles the mind, makes you think, doesn't cost a lot, and it even goes great with fried green tomatoes.
Morris Zwick began his winemaking career small, learning the trade as a home winemaker, building his craft slowly through a mix of reading and interaction with other winemakers. With a background in chemical engineering, he improved his craft over twelve years before deciding to open his own winery, Terrapin Station, which is named after Maryland?s state reptile.
Before deciding to open a commercial winery, however, he began as a grape grower, planting his seven acres of vines in 2003. Today he grows several varieties, such as Traminette, Cayuga, Cabernet Franc and Vidal. He enjoys experimenting with new types of grapes such as St. Vincent, of which he is currently the only Maryland grape grower.
The most noticeable thing that sets his winery apart from other state wineries is the containers in which he sells his wine. He decided to try something new to the state of Maryland and began selling the state?s first quality boxed wine.
?They started out as a preventative measure against corked wine, but as I experimented with the design I realized all the advantages of boxed wines,? says Zwick. ?They are much lighter than traditional wine bottles, are easy to pour for a single serving and are much easier to recycle.? In addition to all of these benefits, Terrapin Station Winery donates $1 from each purchase to help the diamondback terrapin, an endangered animal native to the Chesapeake Bay.
His greatest challenge has been overcoming the stereotype that boxed wines are poor quality, but says companies like Black Box Wines and Banrock Station have begun to push the idea of quality boxed wine.
?I think what Morris is doing is innovative and fun and he is really helping to pioneer the way for new winemaking techniques in Maryland?s growing wine industry.? says Mark Emon from St. Michaels Winery.
Go to their website and see it all for yourself: http://www.terrapinstationwinery.com
I wanted to let you all know that my Pinot Gris website (PinotGris.Biz) is up for sale. It is full of great, original wine content written by me. It also currently ranks highly with the major search engines:
#3 overall on Yahoo for Pinot Gris (search) #4 overall on MSN for Pinot Gris (search) Page Rank = 1 (Google)
I am asking $250 for the site, perhaps less to someone who just wanted the domain name. If I don't sell right away, I will continue to promote it.
Enjoy the subtle juiciness of this dry version, with flavors of orange marmalade, chamomile, honey and sea salt. This has good intensity and focus, but also the overall elegance of a well put together wine. Smoky finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,000 cases made.
Since I don’t want to SPAM my friends over e-mail I thought I’d relay this joke on my blog and let people opt-in to reading it… I thought it was funny!
Home Depot Scam
Be Careful - A ‘heads up’ for those men who may be regular Home Depot customers. Over the last month I became a victim of a clever scam while out shopping. Simply going out to get supplies has turned out to be quite traumatic. Don’t be naïve enough to think it couldn’t happen to you or your friends.
Here’s how the scam works:
Two very hot 20-21 year-old girls come over to your car as you are packing your stuff into the trunk. They both start wiping your windshield with a rag and Windex, with their breasts almost falling out of their skimpy T-shirts. It is impossible not to look. When you thank them and offer them a tip, they say ‘No’ and instead they ask you for a ride to Lowes. You agree and they get in the backseat. On the way, they start undressing. Then one of them climbs over into the front seat and starts crawling all over you, while the other one steals your wallet.
I had my wallet stolen March 4th, 9th, 10th, twice on the 15th, 17th, 20th, 24th & 29th. Also April 1st, 4th, twice on the 8th, 16th, 23rd, 26th, 30th, three times last Saturday and very likely again this upcoming weekend.
A16 tops the list of the best wine bars in San Francisco. The owner-sommelier Shelley Lindgren?s wine list is focused on Southern Italian varietals. This wine list is an integral part of the A16 experience and what makes it the best of the wine bars in San Francisco.
Andalu on 16th Street is another one of San Francisco?s finest wine bars. They are awesome because they offer small plates with big flavors. This is one of the San Francisco wine bars that has an approachable wine list and offers 35 wines by the glass. The crowd there is mixed and energetic.
Wine bars don?t usually come as good, or as small, as Bacchus on Hyde Street. Bacchus has knowledgeable bartenders that make innovative saké cocktails and they pour over 50 wines that range in price from under $10 a glass to more than $200 a bottle. The signature drink at Bacchus is their sake-version of the mojito.
Cav is one of the wine bars in San Francisco that takes itself extremely seriously. Cav has a well-chosen wine list of over 300 international wines. Some of the wines on the list are offered by a taste, or the glass. The chef has crafted unique takes on lots of dishes and Cav actually offers a cheese course that is served at the proper temperature and is on par with some of the finer restaurants in San Francisco.
Wine bars like Piccolo on Fillmore street handpick the wines on their wine lists. Piccolo is one of the wine bars that choose limited availability and small production wines. They prefer to concentrate on Italian wines. The owner of Piccolo has wonderful antipasti on his menu. There is fierce competition between wine bars to have the most excellent food to accompany their spirits.
Varnish Fine Art is both an art gallery and one of the top wine bars in San Francisco. The atmosphere at Varnish Fine Art is comfortable and it draws a post-work crowd for beer or wine during happy hour. The wine list at Varnish Fine Art is well chosen and features a number of delicious fine wines, as well as soju and saké cocktails.
Editors note: Starting today, we will be highlighting an Iberian wine, or winery, every Friday. It may cover a single one, a project or a winery. We’ll try, in most cases, to choose wines that are widely distributed, but this will not always be possible. Hope you enjoy.
About a year and half ago, I stumbled across a wine website that had a link to an Iberian winery blog. Clicking the link, I was taken to a page with about three posts and no comments enabled. At the time, there were approximately three other winery blogs out there, and I was excited to see another pop up. However, this “blog” didn’t allow comments. Thus, in my world, it wasn’t a blog. Long story short, earlier this month, I made contact with Andrew McCarthy through a friend, and was able to help him with a little Blogspot coding to remedy this problem. Today Castro Martin sits at the 8th place in our sidebar list of Iberian winery blogs, and I’m glad to have them there. I have loved Castro Martin’s wines for quite some time, and today, both Gabriella and I would like to recommend their great Albarino’s from the popular region of Rias Baixas.
Seriously, these are some nice wines: full of body and pure fruit, they are both complex and easy to understand. The Castro Martin Albarino is straightforward pure flesh fruit with some zesty acidity. It is a 2006, and if you noticed, we’re almost to the end of 2008; meaning that for it to have this kind of zestiness is a credit to the winemaker or the grape. I’ve been lectured by winemakers who work with Albariño that contrary to popular thought, it should be aged. In fact, I have yet to do it, but I have a standing invitation with Lusco to taste through some older vintages just to illustrate this exact point. This wine is still alive, full of vivacity, and I trust will last for another year or two.
The second wine we’re suggesting is the A2O, a wine that unfortunately is spelled with a tilde (~) over the 2; thus making brand awareness an issue since no one I know can type it. But that’s beside the point. This wine is full of stuffing and ready to go for a 5 year stay in my cellar, if we can stop ourselves from drinking it all up. Rich and layered flavors supported on a framework of acidity that is strong and yet supple. I want more, and you should too. Check this wine out!!
This family owned winery itself has a history that stretches back well before DO of Rias Baixas existed, and their website claims that they were the first to use stainless steel tanks for their wines. And current winemaker, Angela Martin is responsible for the production of award winning wines, such as the Acio de Ouro (no info) in 2000, for best Albariño. There’s even rumor that in 2001, Andrew McCarthy attended a wine tasting that appeared to have lasted a bit longer than was to be expected, eventually ending in a marriage!
I don’t need to recap the entire history and wine making, because the site (despite its silly pop-up windows and some distracting flash) provides some good information for your to peruse on your own time. Here’s a direct link to avoid the pop-up window.
Complaints? Well I have to say, I hate fake cork. If your going to opt out of the real cork, then please move to screw caps. Fake cork is annoying, ugly and at times, harder to open than the real stuff. Please just get on with it and move to a screwcap if you don’t want the cork. Otherwise, the wines are great and well worth seeking out. Not to mention, please leave a comment on their newly “open to comments” blog, where you can see what is happening in Galicia, Spain.
Wine started flowing through taps in dozens of homes during an Italian grape festival in Marino, south of Rome.
At the heart of the town's famous Sagra dell'Uva??, or Grape Festival, is the moment when sparkling white wine flows from the fountains in the main square.
But this year locals and tourists had to make do with water, as bad plumbing meant the wine supply was switched by mistake to local homes.
...
"But this year," Mr Palozzi said, "Due to a technical error, instead of connecting wine to the fountains, we accidentally channelled it into some local homes.
"Apparently the people living around the square who got the wine coming out of their taps were very surprised, they thought that it might be some kind of present from the local council! It only lasted three minutes, we corrected it straight away."
Is this an overview report on the export situation of the Argentine vitiviniculture within the First Semester of 2006. This report tracks and reflects the performance of the main variables of Argentine vitiviniculture in foreign markets.
This works is elaborated per Caucacia Wine Thinking a company focused and devoted exclusively to provide information services to the wine industry, mainly in what respects to foreign markets.
At present, the leading wineries in Argentina, as well as the main industry-related organizations (Bodegas de Argentina AC, Wines of Argentina) make use this services.
The best kinds of cheap wines are the kinds that have a rich story behind them. Well, The Tillerman White wine brought to you by the Hook & Ladder Winery certainly fits the bill. At first glance this wine label made no sense to me… Hook & Ladder? The Tillerman? After doing some research, I feel enlightened knowing the origins of this fine cheap wine, so I’ll share:
The owner of the family-run Hook & Ladder, Cecil De Loach used to be a firefighter! “Hook and Ladder” is just another name for a firetruck. And The Tillerman is guy who drives the back end of a firetruck. A firefighter and a wine-maker! What a life!
I sampled several bottles of The Tillerman White, and I am glad I did. Not being a fan of white blends with a lot of oak, I enjoyed everything about this wine. The peach/apricot aroma was the most prominent feature of this wine as it approached my nose. The wine was very dry, tasty, had an awesome finish. Just a perfect all-around table wine. For about 16 bucks or less, this Sonoma County wine is a steal. If you see it in your supermarket, snatch it up! I look forward to trying some of their many other varietals. This same vineyard, the Russian River Valley produces Chardonay, Gewurztraminer, White Zin, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and the “Third Alarm” Reserve Chardonnay. Oh, how I would love to visit the vineyard one day. Rating: 9/10 - Excellent! The only reason I’m not giving it 10 is because I promised my readers “cheap wines less than 15 dollars” and this wine retails for 16. Look around though, I’m sure you can find a good deal! Even if you can’t, it is worth the extra dollar.
Extra Info:Hook & Ladder - Founded in 2004 2027 Olivet Road Santa Rosa, CA 95401 phone: 707-546-5712
Haven?t we all had a shoe or two thrown at us this year? That was my thought this afternoon. I had spent two days preparing a proposal for an Italian-styled restaurant. They needed to replace a whole slew of wines that a distributor had lost. And we got the call. I?m not sure they really needed me. I think they might have been looking for less expertise and a deeper pocket. With a blank check.
So along with two of my colleagues, we headed for a late afternoon appointment. And waited. And waited.
The person with which we had the appointment never showed. Two days I worked on this presentation. For a no show. It happens. You show up and someone throws a shoe at you. Or worse, they just blow you off. After 25+ years, who likes it? But what can you really do about it?
Last week, I did a wine dinner for 30 people. I realized very early in the evening that these folks really didn?t come to hear me talk about Italian wines. They were there for a good meal on a cold night. So I spoke for about 7 minutes and then sat down and talked for the rest of the evening to a couple of people who I really liked talking to. I wasn?t supposed to sit next to them. In fact every time I chose a seat, someone came and took my seat. At first I felt offended. Wasn?t I the person who was here to explain the evening to them? But in reality, that wasn?t the case. The shoe didn?t fit. I was just there along with them. Hey, the owner of the restaurant, who lived on the grounds and whom I have known for 25 years, didn?t even come down to say hello. To his customers! The folks who pay his bills. Forget about being a friend of his for a quarter of a century. Boy, things have gotten really off kilter these days.
Is it really that important? No. It. Isn?t. So why the expectations? I really have no idea. Maybe it is something about the Italian idea of respect for one's trade and the hope that if you ply it long enough and diligently enough someone will respond with the deserved respect. Well that could be a cold day in Dante?s Hell, if you really think folks peer that far out of their own personal box of consequences.
Life or death; now we?re talking consequences and importance. Not whether we can talk a restaurant manager into lowering his wine by-the-glass prices. The free-market forces will take care of that. The consumers are the real experts in that they will reward (or punish) good (or bad) business decisions. Not those journeymen who breathe it, live it, dream it, day and night, year after year. A sobering thought in the abstract. But weighed against life and death decisions, well, let?s just say if the shoe fits?
There are plenty of folks who wish they could get back into their own shoes. But their life took them to a place where they had to answer for the decisions of others. In the last 5+ years, many of these men and women have been lost to the future. Someone dodges a shoe, others can?t dodge a bullet. Random? Some divine plan here? And what does it have to do with the Italian wine trail? Or rather, what does the Italian wine trail have to do with it?
Not much. If anything. Like our little galaxy, just off to the corner from the really important goings on. Except for those of us who are going through it at the time. As it is with each and every one of us. Except perhaps for the most highly enlightened. Like the yogi master on an island somewhere.
Seventh inning stretch.
OK, back to the ballgame.
Where were we?
Oh yes. Yes, the meaning of our place in this daily activity. The wine business. The holiday season. The economic slowdown.
Like I told a colleague today, if you can feed yourself and wipe your own behind, consider yourself one of the lucky ones.
Or would you rather walk a mile in a pair of shoes that the owner got blown out of?
Based on Winewaves' internal analysis of final tracking polls, exit polls and ongoing monitoring of election results, we declare that Barack Obama is the next President of the United States. Let's here it for President Obama: Ale To The Chief. (Posted 7:41 p.m. CST).
While others have a lot to lose on making such a projection, we have nothing to lose. Will anyone stop clicking through from a Google search for an obscure wine because they heard Winewaves goofed on an early election projection? Then, there's the fact that Winewaves' founder Jerry Hall studied statistics in graduate school. Not just a pretty face, but Jerry also knows when the chips are up or down. The chips are not up enough for John McCain to pull out a miracle.
While some may want me to remain unbiased, I'm not. Barack Obama is my choice and I'm glad he won tonight. He ran the better campaign and he is unquestionably the more intelligent and in touch candidate.
So, I suggest you have a glass of Avery Brewing Company's special edition "Ale To The Chief" to celebrate. This is a fantastic brew that combines over the top hops with a fullness of fruit flavors that makes for a big beer, a big noise, but very well balanced between the low and high notes.
The appearance of any brew is important, and this one delivers greatness. The color is beautiful, deep amber, copper-orange, with a slight turbidity that suggests it was just brewed. The nose is hoppy, fruity, along the lines of citrus peel, especially orange, and even tilting towards fruit cake. If you're like me, you think fruit cake smells better than it tastes. On the tongue, you get a nice complex interaction between bitter hops and also fruit and caramel. Fruit flavors carry through with the hops all the way to a crisp dry finish.
One of the events I enjoyed was the vineyard walk on Saturday morning led by Zephyr Adventures. We went to Saralee's Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, where we met up with Rich and Saralee Kunde (who made us a fabulous lunch!), Daniel Moore of Zmor Winery, and Rod and Lynn Swan Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyards. We hiked through the vineyards, learned a lot about the area and its viticultural heritage, and drank some fantastic wines.
I hope this slide show whets your appetite to learn more about the Russian River Valley appellation, and makes you feel that you've been able to enjoy a little bit of this year's fall season here in the California Wine Country.
If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the 2008 Wine Bloggers Conference, head over to my Flickr photostream where I've set up a collection of pictures for you to flip through.
Tecnorati
Haven?t we all had a shoe or two thrown at us this year? That was my thought this afternoon. I had spent two days preparing a proposal for an Italian-styled restaurant. They needed to replace a whole slew of wines that a distributor had lost. And we got the call. I?m not sure they really needed me. I think they might have been looking for less expertise and a deeper pocket. With a blank check.
The person with which we had the appointment never showed. Two days I worked on this presentation. For a no show. It happens. You show up and someone throws a shoe at you. Or worse, they just blow you off. After 25+ years, who likes it? But what can you really do about it?
Last week, I did a wine dinner for 30 people. I realized very early in the evening that these folks really didn?t come to hear me talk about Italian wines. They were there for a good meal on a cold night. So I spoke for about 7 minutes and then sat down and talked for the rest of the evening to a couple of people who I really liked talking to. I wasn?t supposed to sit next to them. In fact every time I chose a seat, someone came and took my seat. At first I felt offended. Wasn?t I the person who was here to explain the evening to them? But in reality, that wasn?t the case. The shoe didn?t fit. I was just there along with them. Hey, the owner of the restaurant, who lived on the grounds and whom I have known for 25 years, didn?t even come down to say hello. To his customers! The folks who pay his bills. Forget about being a friend of his for a quarter of a century. Boy, things have gotten really off kilter these days.
Is it really that important? No. It. Isn?t. So why the expectations? I really have no idea. Maybe it is something about the Italian idea of respect for one's trade and the hope that if you ply it long enough and diligently enough someone will respond with the deserved respect. Well that could be a cold day in Dante?s Hell, if you really think folks peer that far out of their own personal box of consequences.
Life or death; now we?re talking consequences and importance. Not whether we can talk a restaurant manager into lowering his wine by-the-glass prices. The free-market forces will take care of that. The consumers are the real experts in that they will reward (or punish) good (or bad) business decisions. Not those journeymen who breathe it, live it, dream it, day and night, year after year. A sobering thought in the abstract. But weighed against life and death decisions, well, let?s just say if the shoe fits?
There are plenty of folks who wish they could get back into their own shoes. But their life took them to a place where they had to answer for the decisions of others. In the last 5+ years, many of these men and women have been lost to the future. Someone dodges a shoe, others can?t dodge a bullet. Random? Some divine plan here? And what does it have to do with the Italian wine trail? Or rather, what does the Italian wine trail have to do with it?
Not much. If anything. Like our little galaxy, just off to the corner from the really important goings on. Except for those of us who are going through it at the time. As it is with each and every one of us. Except perhaps for the most highly enlightened. Like the yogi master on an island somewhere.
Oh yes. Yes, the meaning of our place in this daily activity. The wine business. The holiday season. The economic slowdown.