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?You haven?t posted much recently?? Really, no way?I could only wish the reason behind this was holiday-making. Life is currently beyond hectic, recently going from consulting job back to teaching and onwards with a complicated move. Sometimes, I find that life (as in working, family events, consulting travel, etc.) can get in the way of reading an overpopulated Google Reader inbox and commenting on every blog and forum across e-creation. In fact and admittedly, I must say that I sort of prefer real life to this whole thing, though at any rate, I love to write, and I?m sort of pining for more precious time to write, whether on wine or a multitude of other subjects.
Pleasure aside, ?you know what time it is, it?s business time.? Who could possibly wait until early 2009 for more FOTC? At any rate, the intention of this post? I would like to see more artisan Godello imported and available in the North American market. This brilliant viño galego white, while being delicious and predominantly planted in the Valdeorras and Bierzo (yes, León) D.O.?s, is capable of conveying that the cool breezes, seascapes and gorgeous greenery of the region are all tangible in more ways than just through Albariño. I truly adore Rias Baixas Albariños, but I feel that little brother Godello needs some love too; and what better a time than now to try it out, since more regional producers than ever are beginning to invest serious attention in crafting these wines, with sights on the export markets in addition to the domestic one. I sort of find the idea of trying them side by side to be fun. Maybe find a nice Albariño (say a solid bottle of Códax or perhaps Pazo) to enjoy and compare alongside a crisp, complex Godello?goes without saying that some fresh seafood is in order here. Recommendations and notes upcoming?
I was just talking with a friend from Chicago about Alpana Singh.
At 26, she was named the youngest female master sommelier. Now, at 29, she's director of wine and spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. Smart girl. And she champions the women-and-wine cause. I like that.
And there she is in today's Chicago Sun Times offering us a little taste of her wine savvy. I'm fond of this one in particular: Many good wines are meant to be drunk young. "Otherwise, while you're patiently waiting for 'Mr. Right,' you may inadvertently be letting 'Mr. Right Now' get away."
I'll throw in my own girly wisdom: Wine and shoes have a lot in common. You have the $300 Stuart Weitzmans stashed away in a cloth bag in an air-tight box in the back of your closet. And then there's the everyday, comfy-as-hell boots you throw on without a second thought, but can't imagine living without. Those dress-up wines you've got buried in your cellar, they're nice, but it's the week-night, lasagna-and-garlic-bread bottle that gets you through the week.
Pam Anderson and Kid Rock (aka Bob Ritchie) were engaged last week in St Tropez and decided to also marry there this past weekend in a yacht off of the coast of France. And boy does it only get better. Here are some pictures of Pammy pie a few days before her wedding looking rough and making *ahem* remarks about the upcoming nuptials.
Okey Dokey then Pam. I sincerely hope you were kidding, otherwise you are an absolute idiot. Note to self - Veils purchased from Prescilla's look HIDEOUS!!
Unfortunately, it just keeps getting better. Here are pictures of the bride and groom just after saying their vows. Wanna know what millionaires in the entertainment industry drink after getting married in St. Tropez on a million dollar yacht? Well, tried and true - American all the way through - Kid Rock drinks Corona. Wait..Corona??? I guess when you are in France you don't have to honor your exclusive contract with Coors. At least he represents with a stunning (or stunningly retarded) American flag belt buckle made from rare blue diamonds along with red rubies on a titanium buckle. (The gift is rumored to be from Pam as his wedding present). Our precious Pammie pie is slugging....er...drinking Veuve Cliquot. In fact, they drank during the entire ceremony. I really think that the captains hat just makes the bridal bikini don't you??
In case you were wondering what to do for a gift for the couple....
Kid Rock instructed his fans to purchase their gifts at one of his favorite chain stores. "Yes, I'm marrying the girl of my dreams," he wrote on his Web site. "We are registered at Wal-Mart. Thanks for the support!" It's true too. I actually searched for the link today and found it. Here it is...
Adding things to beer is the new hype these days. Sparks, for example, is adding a caffeine type mixture to their beer so why not add green tea to a beer? Wha?? Yep, it seems that the folks at BluCreek Brewery are launching their newest beer called Zen IPA.
BluCreek describes its Zen IPA as an "English-style India Pale Ale created with a mouth-watering blend of fresh Chinook, Cascade and Centennial hops infused carefully with an invigorating all-natural Green Tea." BluCreek has also made beers produced from blueberries and ginseng in the past. I'm not so sure about a green tea beer but hey, to each his own.
A positive spin on Global Warming
The icecaps around the Arctic Circle are melting partly because of global warming. So in the philosophy of "when life hands you lemons, make lemonade" the brewers at Inuit Microbrewery are making a new beer produced from glacial arctic water called Icecap Pale Ale and Brown Ale.
A brewery in Greenland is producing beer using water melted from the ice cap of the vast Arctic island. The brewers claim that the water is at least 2,000 years old and free of minerals and pollutants. It is claimed that the Greenland beer, officially launched in Copenhagen on Monday, has a softer, cleaner taste than other beers, because of the ice cap water.
Alternative closures (screw caps and synthetic corks) are on a lot of bottles these days. The one complaint that I hear from customers though, is that they miss the romance of hearing the cork come out of the bottle. It's that little "pop" that I miss is what they often say. Well, an ingeniuos company in Australia has come up with "Zorks". It's an alternative closure that actually produces that "pop" sound when it comes out of the bottle. It is even designed to act as a stopper when you put it back in the bottle. As far as I am concerened, this is one cool closure.
ZORK - the revolutionary wine closure that seals like a screw cap and pops like a cork.
But the best part is the " How to Zork movie". Check out the dudes unbuttoned shirt and cuffs and listen to the sweet B rate porn music in the background. LOL! You must check it out. Great product....horrible advertising.
Thanks Laurie for sending me the link on this one.
1999 Harlan Estates The Maiden
I pulled this wine out for Andi as a going away present (although she's not really going away) and when we first opened it we were underwhelmed. I gotta tell you...when you spend well over $100 for a wine, the last word you want to consider is underwhelming. So, we saved it and I tasted it again in little sips Saturday and Sunday. By Saturday it was a lot better and by Sunday it was extraordinary. It was ripe and lush with heavy cedar notes. The palate was all blackberry and mulberry with a tinge of medicinal floating around. The finish was long and exposed its oak aging but not in an unpleasant way. I let several people try this wine and the adjective that I heard multiple times was "explosive". I must agree. When you get this wine in your mouth you have to seriously try to concentrate to get all of the little flavors that keep gliding across your taste buds.
Would I pay that much again for it? Probably - but only if it was a good vintage and only if I promise myself not to open it before it's ready. I mean...it's Harlan for goodness sakes. Everybody probably wants to drive a Lamborghini - Is the price worth the car - probably not... but at least you can say you drove one right?
You may have noticed the posts on weird days and I am really trying to get a handle on things. I may not even have access to a computer next week so please hang in there. Once things are settled in the new jobby-job I'll be back to my regular self. Cheers!
So here we are again, the harvest is completed and the new wine is in the barrel. Once more the cycle begins anew, a sequence which we in the wine business live to develop and enjoy. Already we are hearing talk about the miraculous victory of the return, the gathering of the century, the harvest of hope. The bringing in of a new dawn, the hope of a new age.
And during the daytime I am like a priest in a confessional listening to folks in the wine business go over all the sins, not of their own, but of the others.
Today in a little trattoria; a rather immense man, with an even larger ego, walks in and proceeds to sit in the table next to me and my lunch companion, an old pro who has seen it all. This large man is a small distributor and he knows not of the code of professional regard. All the wine in his beat up 30' by 70' stockroom is a small insignificant corner of a warehouse somewhere in the Midwest, forgotten by time or care. But as he has not trodden the path of the ancients, his malfeasance is to ignore the history of his trade and mock those who have paved the Via Appia so that he may pretend to be in the company of those who really give a crap.
But then again, he doesn?t dine regularly with Cicero and Seneca, so what can he know about where he is going? Like so many who think they must abjure their competition, I just laughed at his folly on my way out the door. I could pretend to be a bigger man than the whale. After all, what runs through my veins flowed through the Tiber, then and now. As we all have.
Today I saw a group of college students as they were being taken on a tour of one of the big warehouses, in for a little recruitment into our multi-thousand year old trade. How I?d love to have five minutes with them. But since I haven?t been asked, wait, this is my wine blog, I can take five minutes. Or ten.
Dear new generation looking to come into our tiny little global wine village,
If you are looking to join up to make a lot of money, think again. If you are looking for a career, well maybe you could call it that. If you don?t know what to do with your life, but if you don?t do anything you?ll end up like a character in a Camus novel. And that would be distressing to a generation that has had so much landed right in front of you.
If you are looking for a place to get a free drink on a Friday morning, you?ve come to the right place. But if you have alcoholic tendencies, this place could be worse than Gitmo for you.
If you want to travel all over the world, you missed that boat by about 20 years. Can't even make it up in coach.
So what is it that would draw you to this wine business? Not money, nor travel, nor an escape from some kind of existential ennui.
Well, let me tell you. Because I was once there on the outside-looking in. I really didn?t know what to do with my life. I had graduated from a private university and the economy was in the tank. Gas prices were high, home values were crashing, the stock market was a mess and American cars were the pits. But I remember the times I?d drive up Highway 29 in Napa and think what a wonderful little place that was. Or I?d think about the grapes I had picked in Calabria and thought how special it was to sit in a cellar at night with a bunch of cousins who I didn?t understand and they surely didn?t understand me. But after a bottle or two of wine in that musty, balmy old place, a miracle occurred. We started understanding each other. Our global village was born there and to this day I have been under the influence of a power greater than anything I could ever imagine or take credit for creating. In a phrase, I found my place. I belonged. And that gave my life meaning. Greater than the $100 million bucks one of my sad relatives probably just lost. Greater than the fame my college friend Tony once had, a friend who can no longer find it in him to return a phone call from one of his friends before he became famous ( him, not his friend). I am having a Lou Gehrig moment, and I have it often in this crazy old wine business.
Oh, one other thing ? find a specialty, be it Port or Bordeaux or naturally made wine or the wines of Campania, just find a way to be seen as having a special niche. And don?t forget to love all the other wines too, for they are all part of the same energy and deserve your respect and honor.
Do that and your ?career? will take you anywhere you want to go. And before you know it, you will have been in it for some time and you?ll be walking down a corridor and pass by a group of young folks on the outside looking to get in. And then the large cycle will have made its rounds and you?ll be part of the elite group of folks, from Chaldea in 1000 B.C to Suvereto in 2008.
To answer the question which started this post ? Yes, we are drawn onward.
There?s something about all these old and familiar worn out faces.
The latest edition of Decanter (March) came out this week, and several articles caught my eye. The first was entitled Start Your Own Wine Cellar. As I’m often torn between buying bottles to drink and those I think I may like to keep for a special occasion, I was drawn to the profiles of the 3 different types of people for whom Decanter made recommendations. There was the couple who did not know much about wine, but wanted to learn and had £500 to get them going. At the other extreme was the couple who already drank a lot of good Bordeaux and had £5000 to spend. I found myself drawn to the example in the middle, someone who knows her grape varieties, but would not describe herself as a connoisseur. Decanter put together an interesting cellar at a cost of £1000 for her.
The one question I was left pondering with the suggestions was the distinction between wines for drinking 2008-2010+ and for 2010-2018. Why do a couple of decent Italian reds from 2004 fit in the first category, but a Portuguese 2005 and a Spanish 2003 fit in the second? I know it’s down to how it is made and matured, but how are you expected to know that for the slightly more unusual wines? Labels don’t always given enough information and certainly very few give how long to keep the wine for.
I always peruse the Wines of the Month to see what recommendations I can pick up. These wines are available from stockists in the UK so I feel sorry for foreign readers who may be unable to source them. However I’m always a bit frustrated to read other reviews elsewhere in the magazine and see the dreaded ?N/A? next to them. Although I figure what’s the point in reviewing them if they aren’t available in the UK I have to keep reminding myself how international Decanter is. In this month’s issue 4 of the 9 letters are from non UK readers. I am sure this helps the editorial team keep an international focus which is good for all us readers.
The panel tastings this month are both French, 2005 St Emilions and 2005 cru bourgeois. I was stunned to see a great value 2005 cru bourgeois at £7.35. I must seek it out.
Next month’s edition features Italy and is out, according to the ad in the magazine, on February 6. Oops ? I think they forgot to change the date from last month’s edition as I’m sure they mean March 6th!
This merry band of merchants, flying the flag for small, artisanal wineries with distinctive, regional wines came to Fulham last week to give both press and public a chance to see what they have to offer.
The lower and upper ends of the wine market are well served by supermarkets and the "establishment" but there is increasing demand for wine between these extremes. The best value for quality of wines with integrity and interest. These merchants are really passionate about their lists and usually have personal relationships built up with the producers so they have fairly extensive knowledge of the vineyards, wineries and vintages.
Some of the listings are inevitably idiosyncratic and not all the wines will be to everyone's taste but these are dedicated people who will help you find treasures you will come back for again and again.
Jim Monks from Decanter Wines is a private collector who started by bringing in pallets for his own cellar, his approach is unashamedly personal (all the wines are aged in his cellar until he feels they are ready to drink and only then offered to the public) and any commercial success is second to his goal of providing himself with the kind of wine he wants to drink. Luckily, his taste seems to be shared and his wines show very well.
Also showing was Nick Dobson a self-proclaimed "niche player" with some outstanding and unusual wines from Switzerland, Austria and Germany. With these countries slowly garnering a following for their wines it is worth knowing where to track down some great examples.
Also well-represented were Amordivino, Italian importers; The Big Red Wine Company showing mainly the Southern Rhone on this occasion; Abbe Arrous whose "Cyrcée, Collioure 2002" was the outstanding wine of the day for me; and Leon Stolarski with a wonderfully diverse selection of regional French wine.
The full list of tasting notes will be put up on this site but have a look at their website and sign up to their free monthly newsletter asdw.org.uk it is always going to be worth finding something a little bit different and a little bit special.
According to the company, the ‘podcasks’ provide the latest updates on wine news, en primeur releases and wine events as well as featuring exclusive interviews with some of the biggest names in the world of fine wine.
Welcome to the 5th Edition of the Wine Book Club, the online book club for wine lovers who also like to read. I'm the host for this month's event, and for my theme I was inspired by the season. What better way to celebrate September and October than to read a book written by a genuine PhD (September is back to school month) about wine and politics (we are in the midst of an election)? This idea was even more appealing given that the author may be better known to those of you who read wine blogs as Dr. Vino, the award-winning wine blogger.
Colman's book compares the way that politics has shaped wine culture in France and America. One of the most striking things about the story he tells here is that, along with politics, there are two other "P"s that have played an equally active a role in determining what you drink: phylloxera, the louse that destroyed grape vines all over the world in the 1870s; and Robert Parker, the critic who began telling us what we should drink in the 1970s. Phylloxera, it turns out, led to such a collapse in the worldwide wine business that it opened the door to greater governmental control and intervention as people sought to limit fraud, graft, corruption, and lost income. And Parker helped people to wade through seas of indifferent wine with misleading labels at a time when Americans were still drinking like it was Prohibition and they'd rather mainline the hard stuff than drink a glass of wine with dinner. The ripples he sent out from his one-man business in Monkton, Maryland in the 1970s now threaten to engulf us in wave after wave of homogeneous wine made to please Parker's influential palate.
I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about wine history, but I was surprised again and again by the nuggets of historical lore and sharp analysis that Colman includes here. Lately, I've been wondering why we don't buy wine in bulk here in the US like they do virtually everywhere else in the world. Turns out it's due to a combination of Prohibiton (and the resulting patchwork of legislation) and something called the Office of Price Administration that was established in World War II. Until then, wine was shipped in tanker trucks and on the rails to 1500 bottling facilities studded all over the country. And thus the enormous carbon footprint of wine began!
Colman's message is sobering, even though his book is a delight to read with its clear prose and fluid style. The bottom line is this: when money, egos, and bureaucracy collide--as they do in the wine business--it becomes almost impossible to do what is best for consumers, the environment, and the winemakers themselves. With everybody taking a cut in wine sales, from the bottle makers to the distributors to the retailers to the government, it really is astonishing that anyone bothers to make wine at all. And in case you're thinking the situation is better in France, let me assure you it isn't--it's just different.
If you enjoy Colman's blog, you are in for a treat since this book is written in the same direct, engaging style as his blog posts. The book has great graphic features (like a comparison of how politics shapes French and American wine blog labels) and informative sidebars that offer the reader opportunities to pause and consider the issues from a fresh perspective.
I highly recommend this book, especially if you find yourself wondering why you don't know what grape is in a French bottle of wine, or why it is that an American wine is labeled "Cabernet Sauvignon" when 25% of the grapes in it are Syrah. The answer to both questions is simple. Wine Politics. After reading this book, you'll never think about the relationship between the two in the same way again.
Tyler Colman's Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink was published by the University of California Press, who sent a copy of the book to me for review. It retails for $27.50, but you can buy it on Amazon.com for $18.15.
If you are participating in this month's online club, please leave comments and/or links to your own posts below. You can also leave links at the Wine Book Club site, or on our mirror site on Shelfari.
I caught up with winemaker Yves Cuilleron today at a tasting of fourteen youngish and noteworthy French producers dubbed “Les Gobeloteurs” at the Tribeca Grill. Yves makes highly regarded red and white wines from the Northern Rhone appellations of Condrieu, Cote Rotie, Saint Joseph, Cornas, and Saint Peray. I really liked his ‘06 Saint Joseph, “Les Serrines,” which is made from small berry Syrah and has great aromas of tar and black olives on the nose. (find this wine)
He paused from his pouring to answer three quick questions:
What’s your favorite Northern Rhone appellation that’s not Hermitage? Condrieu (and Saint Joseph for reds).
New oak, good or bad? It’s a good thing when it’s well done but it depends how it is done. It’s very difficult to work with new oak.
How was the 2008 vintage for you? It was a very good vintage for the whites, which have very good acidity. The wines have high intensity but without too much alcohol. Vintages 2006 and 2007 were nearly 15%. But 2008 was a very late harvest. There was good, slow maturation and they ended up 13.5 percent.
The reds were mixed; there was lots of rain in early September, which caused problems in the early-ripening areas. But in the late ripening areas, there were six weeks of beautiful weather after September 13 and I harvested those in October.
A list of all the “Gobeloteurs” follows after the jump. Domaine Vacheron (Sancerre) Domaine David Duband (Nuits Saint-Georges) Pierre-Yves Colin Morey (Chassagne Montrachet) Domaine Etienne Sauzet (Puligny-Montrachet) Domaine Cuilleron (Northern Rhone) Domaine Roches Neuves (Saumur Champigny) Le Clos du Caillou (Cotes du Rhone, Chateauneuf du Pape) Domaine Michel & Stephane Ogier (Northern Rhone) Domaine Albert Mann (Alsace) Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette (Languedoc) Bastide du Claux (Cotes du Luberon) Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve (Cahors) Domaine Roc d’Anglade (Languedoc) Champagne Larmandier Bernier And their guest, HdV Wines - Hyde de Vaillaine (Carneros)
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.
Meerea Park have been through a (pardon the pun) purple patch recently, especially with their red wines. The 2003, 2004 and 2005 vintages were very good to exceptional and the 2006 vintage of “The Aunts” Shiraz is no exception. There is one big difference this year, your favorite Aunts now come dressed in a bright red frock.
A clean and modern hunter nose of cherry, dusty earth, aniseed and hints of clove and nutmeg. Medium bodied with a solid backbone of fine tannin, blackberry fruit, balancing acidity and a goodly dollop of spicy oak. Good length, needs time.
I suspect the score will increase somewhat as the wine ages, this particular bottle was enjoyed very soon after the wine was released a couple of months ago, however I was very slack in writing up the tasting note. As a little side note, we now have more bottles of The Aunts Shiraz in the cellar from various vintages than any other label.
Score: 91/100 Price: $26 Closure: Screwcap Alcohol: 13.5% Other Opinions:Meerea Park Would I buy this wine again? Yes, quickly becoming a mainstay in our cellar.
Insiders know that many of British Columbia?s most tantalizing food and wine experiences are found in the Fraser, Cowichan and Okanagan valleys. So wine, dine and taste your way through these food-centric areas. Discover boutique wineries, savour Aboriginal cuisine, feast...
Monday blues? Here at Vin Vini Vino, we've got Monday Hangovers, a weekly dose of headaches, hangups and how-not-to's. Consider it your worst-case-scenario guide to wine. Grab an aspirin - we'll try not to yell.
OK, so this weekly feature hasn't been so weekly lately. Frankly, I haven't been all that snappy with the posts, either.
Like any passion (cross-stitch, anyone?), wine has a habit of getting lost in the shuffle when the stampede of daily life comes barreling through. We've been painting our office, landscaping, working, entertaining. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.
But how do you pick up with your passion once you find the time again?
How do you get inspired? How do you find the energy?
If wine is your cup of tea, er, juice, you go to the store. That's right, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. Even if you have a cellar full of drinkable bottles, shelf browsing can be quality time. There's nothing like a few hundred brand new, shiny bottles lined up like soldiers to remind you that there's a world of wine out there - and that what you've tasted wouldn't fill a bucket.
Something to try at every turn. Single-varietal gamay, beerenauslese, pinot blanc from Sonoma, muscat, ripasso, Douro, Kongsgaard, vernaccia.
‘Twas the night before Conference, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a computer mouse;
The nametags were hung by their lanyards with care, In hopes they’d be worn when they bloggers arrived there;
Each and every wine geek were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of black-cherries and licorice danced in their sweet heads;
While I sat panicking over every tiny detail, Ryan smiled proudly regarding the conference’s grand scale;…
Yeah, not going to happen! Our creative juices are completely dehydrated. The conference is now on cruise control, and barring any strange twists, we should be enjoying a fine Participant tasting on Friday night. Still a bit nervous? Of course! Seeing that this is our conference, or rather, this is the first international wine bloggers conference ever, we just hope all the wine bloggers behave themselves!
So for now a few pointers too things we think you should look at.
Another winery sent to the sidebar
This time it’s Port wine, and damn fine port wine at that, Quevedo. A few months ago, we started working with this small winery and we’re proud of the results. Located in the Douro Valley, right next to some of the most historic wineries in the region, this is a young winery with old roots. We’re holding back a bit on the details, because they’ve done a superb job telling their story at this point. So, please check them out and say hello from us!
Thank you Sponsors
We don’t do advertising on Catavino, but we did need sponsors to help us put together the EWBC conference. Therefore, we’d like to offer a sincere thank you for their generous support. It’s companies like these that support new technologies at the early stages that will continue to succeed. Thank you: Dinastia Vivanco, La Rioja Tourismo, Raimat, Casa de la Ermita, Heredade Esporao, Amorim and all of the wineries who donated wines for our various tastings!
Wine Recommendation
In an effort to catch up on some sample tastings, we had an impromptu BBQ party on the roof this past Sunday afternoon. Seriously fun time with lots of friends, who as a result of summer schedules, have been strangers to us for what seems like months. Our brined, bone in pork loin was the main attraction, which continually amazes us as to how juicy pork can be on the grill when brined correctly. Grilled vegetables, couscous, Ryan’s famous black beans and a couple of melons rounded out the meal. As for wine, we offered a bunch of tasters, some better than others. I will say though a Cava from Utiel-Requena winery Sybarus. This little wine is a knock out, with great toasted notes, intense honey and lot’s of lemon notes.
So Gabriella and I just want to say sorry for the short post. We’ll be around, and trying to get an update up on Friday or Saturday though we make no promises.
After four decades in the wine industry, Harry McWatters, the spirited, fun-loving, and sometimes outspoken president of Sumac Ridge Estate Winery in Summerland, British Columbia, is stepping down.
Harry?s accomplishments are legendary. He helped found the British Columbia Wine Institute, Wines of Canada, VQA Canada, the BC Wine Information Society, and the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society. In 2003, he was a recipient of the Order of British Columbia and is considered instrumental in propelling British Columbia?s wine industry onto the global stage.
But even more important, Harry is known and loved for his tireless commitment and enthusiasm. To be in a room with Harry, is to be instantly caught up in a contagious passion for all things wine-oriented. His wit is razor sharp, his smile impossible to resist, and few can match the sheer depth of his knowledge.
But there?s clearly no slowing down on Harry?s immediate horizon. Effective May 1st, 2008 ? the day after he officially steps down as president of Sumac Ridge ? Harry intends to begin work establishing The Okanagan Wine Academy, an educational program offering in-depth wine educational programs primarily to consumers. In addition to providing consulting services, he will also continue on as president of the Black Sage Vineyard.
And he?s going to finally be able to devote some time to completing his cookbook, Wine Country Cooking, British Columbia, a project he says ?has been talked about and gathering dust for several years.? He smiles with that characteristic twinkle in his eyes. ?This is by no means retirement, but an opportunity to find new reasons to get out of bed in the morning and shift gears, as I plan to remain active in the future growth of this great industry.?
Like everyone who has ever had the privilege of meeting this incredible man, we wish Harry every success and look forward to seeing what shifting gears will bring. We?ll also be first in line to try out some of his Wine Country Cooking recipes.
GREAT GOLD MEDAL FOR CHILEAN WINES. In order to reaffirm its prestige, Chile gained 9 Great Gold Medal by its wines. These distinctions were gained in the "Concours Mondial de Bruxelles" finalized in Lisbon the 23 of April.
These great prizes corresponded all to wines of the Carmenere variety. The Carmenere has its sanctuary in Chile indeed. An historical event: in the middle of century XIX the phylloxera attacked the Old World and she destroyed the vineyards. An agriculturist came to Chile from France and helped to develop the Carmenere. That man of Bachelet last name also turned out to be the first ancestor in Chile of Michelle Bachelet, president of the country today .
Now, by the excellence of his carmenere, received Great Gold Medal: Aresti Chile Wine (Valley of Curico), two for Casa Silva Ltda. (Valley of Colchagua), Siegel S.A. (Valley of Colchagua), Misiones de Rengo (Valley of Rapel), Santa Helena S.A. (Valley of Colchagua), Casa Tamaya S.A. (Valley of Limari), Ventisquero (Valley of Maipo) and Viu Manent (Valley of Colchagua).
We present here the detail of some of these good wines.
Tecnorati
So here we are again, the harvest is completed and the new wine is in the barrel. Once more the cycle begins anew, a sequence which we in the wine business live to develop and enjoy. Already we are hearing talk about the miraculous victory of the return, the gathering of the century, the harvest of hope. The bringing in of a new dawn, the hope of a new age.
Today in a little trattoria; a rather immense man, with an even larger ego, walks in and proceeds to sit in the table next to me and my lunch companion, an old pro who has seen it all. This large man is a small distributor and he knows not of the code of professional regard. All the wine in his beat up 30' by 70' stockroom is a small insignificant corner of a warehouse somewhere in the Midwest, forgotten by time or care. But as he has not trodden the path of the ancients, his malfeasance is to ignore the history of his trade and mock those who have paved the Via Appia so that he may pretend to be in the company of those who really give a crap.
Today I saw a group of college students as they were being taken on a tour of one of the big warehouses, in for a little recruitment into our multi-thousand year old trade. How I?d love to have five minutes with them. But since I haven?t been asked, wait, this is my wine blog, I can take five minutes. Or ten.
If you are looking for a place to get a free drink on a Friday morning, you?ve come to the right place. But if you have alcoholic tendencies, this place could be worse than Gitmo for you.
Well, let me tell you. Because I was once there on the outside-looking in. I really didn?t know what to do with my life. I had graduated from a private university and the economy was in the tank. Gas prices were high, home values were crashing, the stock market was a mess and American cars were the pits. But I remember the times I?d drive up Highway 29 in Napa and think what a wonderful little place that was. Or I?d think about the grapes I had picked in Calabria and thought how special it was to sit in a cellar at night with a bunch of cousins who I didn?t understand and they surely didn?t understand me. But after a bottle or two of wine in that musty, balmy old place, a miracle occurred. We started understanding each other. Our global village was born there and to this day I have been under the influence of a power greater than anything I could ever imagine or take credit for creating. In a phrase, I found my place. I belonged. And that gave my life meaning. Greater than the $100 million bucks one of my sad relatives probably just lost. Greater than the fame my college friend Tony once had, a friend who can no longer find it in him to return a phone call from one of his friends before he became famous ( him, not his friend). I am having a Lou Gehrig moment, and I have it often in this crazy old wine business.
Oh, one other thing ? find a specialty, be it Port or Bordeaux or naturally made wine or the wines of Campania, just find a way to be seen as having a special niche. And don?t forget to love all the other wines too, for they are all part of the same energy and deserve your respect and honor.
Do that and your ?career? will take you anywhere you want to go. And before you know it, you will have been in it for some time and you?ll be walking down a corridor and pass by a group of young folks on the outside looking to get in. And then the large cycle will have made its rounds and you?ll be part of the elite group of folks, from Chaldea in 1000 B.C to Suvereto in 2008.
The one question I was left pondering with the suggestions was the distinction between wines for drinking 2008-2010+ and for 2010-2018. Why do a couple of decent Italian reds from 2004 fit in the first category, but a Portuguese 2005 and a Spanish 2003 fit in the second? I know it’s down to how it is made and matured, but how are you expected to know that for the slightly more unusual wines? Labels don’t always given enough information and certainly very few give how long to keep the wine for.
Meerea Park have been through a (pardon the pun) purple patch recently, especially with their red wines. The 2003, 
Bruxelles" finalized in Lisbon the 23 of April.
