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Whilst in Bordeaux I took the time to speak to Thierry Manoncourt at Chateau Figeac to ask him about his life and how things have changed during his stewardship of the estate since the 1940s - he will be ninety in September this year. The interview will be podcast in the near future (in [...]
I have two real passions that I’ve spent the last few years trying to combine - technology and wine. This post is about technology. My technology passion goes back a long long way (in my life) to Commodore Vic20 to working in a computer software store all through High School to going to MIT for an Electrical Engineering degree. I just love to learn about it and having grown into my skin as somewhat of a geek I feel fine diving in and ripping things apart just to figure out how it works at its most basic level.
Anyway, one thing I’ve seen, particularly in the latest “craze” of social media, is the utter lack on innovation. There is a repetitive iteration (yes, that was on purpose) to sites and technology I see coming out all over tech but particularly in social media websites. People, particularly in wine, are confused as to which site to use, why? Because that are pretty much the same thing. Slight variations, but for the most part the same.
And yet, many of these sites call their releases “innovation”. Blech! Come on. Innovation is disruptive to the status quo. In my mind, disruptive makes things interesting. I’ve gotten involved in a few projects that I found interesting (i.e. I thought could be disruptive) and have tried to counsel these companies on how to highlight their innovations. I’m not going to blather on about them in this post, this is more of a post to highlight what is and isn’t innovation which is pretty simple - if you’ve created something with some defensible intellectual property then you’ve likely got an innovation. That means a NEW WAY of doing things. Not a re-swizzle of old technology.
Unfortunately, far too often folks in Marketing (I guess my current field, technically) walk around touting innovation and what this does is create a high noise floor for real innovation. One very innovative company that I worked with, Cruvee, went through some intensive messaging sessions with me and are going through some re-designs to reinforce that messaging. But why did they have to do that and why did they have to call me and ask for my help? Because the sheer number of “social media” sites that lack innovation in the tiny tiny area of “Wine” made it actually challenging to highlight what they do differently, and believe me, they are taking a very different approach and actually introducing some new concepts. But that seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
I think this is in part due to a diluted engineering discipline called “agile development“, which I’ve written about before. I say “diluted” because the interpretation of the interpretation of the interpretation of the original discipline has made people think that pumping out any old crap and then adding features will eventually allow you to hit the one thing that people need (or somehow early adopters will just start using it for what they need). That is a horrible assumption. That is called “luck” and its no replacement for hard, smart, innovative work. If you know the story of YouTube you might disagree with me. If so, then “good luck”, you’re gonna need it.
If you agree with me then what’s the cure? Easy, proper Product Management - think about what you’re doing, the audience you’re attracting, what their actual problem is, and have a directed effort. What a Product Management discpline is all about is INCREASING YOUR CHANCES OF SUCCESS. You can count on luck, or you can do the work. I guess it depends on how much time you have and how long you can go without a salary.
On the plus side, investors that I know just ask me “who’s got something innovative?” or “what do you think of this company?” and I can keep being employed to separate the wheat from the chaff.
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[08/29/2006, 02:09]
Buenos Aires, wine and tango (1).
Almost a hundred of Argentine warehouses will expose your products in the biggest Fair of Wine of Latin America.
This event - Wines and Warehouses 2006 - removes to end for the sixth year in a row. It will be realized in the Fairground Land of La Rural, in Buenos Aires, between the 14th to September 16.
This meeting of the industry of the wine incites the interest not only of the consuming public, but specially of merchants and distributors, places and foreigners who have opportunity to analyze in an alone place the variety of Argentine wines, produced both by big companies and by the warehouses called "boutique".
In the last years the Argentina realized a deep review of your position on the international market of wines and, thanks to the joint effort of the local butlers, the positioning of the mark is fortifying country in the different markets. Provided that your wines expire with all the requirements of quality and being relied on, likewise, by two varietales celebrated, the malbec and the torrontés, the Argentina marks a difference and manages to differ from other countries producers.
Wines and Warehouses 2006 foresees the accomplishment of business Rounds, where the local producers will be able to make concrete economic agreements with buyers of the whole world.
Exhibitors' list:
Alta Vista - Bodegas La Riojana Coop.- Aristides - Lariviere Iturbe - Atilio Avena - Lavaque - Babco - Los Haroldos - Balbo Luigi Bosca - Barale Biurrun - Luis Segundo Correa - Bgas. Kaufman - Lurton - Bodega Altus - Morsella - Bodega NQN - Navarro Correas - Bodegas Borbore - Nesman - Bodegas La Guarda - Norton - Bodegas Lopez - Pcia. de San Juan - Bodegas Mayol - Porvenir de los Andes - Cavas de Santos - PR Argentina - Chacras del Sol - Putruele Hnos. - Chandon - R. J Viñedos - Clos de los Siete - Revista Club del Vino - Club del Vino - Dante Robino - Roca - Crotta - Ruca Malen - Del Fin del Mundo - Saenz Briones - Domingo Hnos - Sua - Don Cristobal - Telteca Winery - EAS - Tempus Alba - EAV - Terrazas de los Andes - El Rosal - Tittareli - Eral Bravo - Toso - Familia Nofal - Trapiche - Fantelli - Trivento - Fecovita - Valentin Bianchi - Finca el Retiro - Viña El Cerno - Finca Flichman - Viñas del Baron - Finca Las Moras - Viñas del Golf - Fincas Andinas - Vinecol - Flia. Schroeder - Wine 5 - Flia. Zuccardi - Xumek - Freixenet - Honda - Guime - YPF - Humberto Canale
And apparently, Yulia is the Upset Queen. She's adept at bringing $7 bottles that end up winning blind tastings. Either that or we all have cheap tastes... not quite sure.
So last night was the Mourvedre/Monastrell showdown. And honestly, it was pretty disappointing. We blind tasted 5 wines and none of them were particularly stellar. As per my normal accuracy, I guessed 3 out of 5. I knew we had 2 cheap Spanish, 1 pricier Spanish, Cline's Ancient Vines, and Thomas Coyne. I did not know the vintage of any of them.
Wine #1: Blackberry/blueberry nose, with a touch of herbs. A bit of funk wafting through. Tight tannins. Thin fruit, but very ripe. Smoke on the finish. I guessed it was a cheap Spanish from 05. I gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars.
Wine #2: Smells exactly like sweet boysenberry pancake syrup from IHOP. Blast of fruit on the opening palate and then... nothing. Kind of gross, really. I guessed another cheap Spanish from 05. I gave it 1 star.
Wine #3: Much lighter in color (the previous two were densely purple-red). White chocolate and sweet cinnamon on the nose with blackberry/raspberry fruit. Same fruit on palate with spicy-herbal finish (sage, thyme, cinnamon). Lingering cocoa. I guessed a CA from 05, and I figured it was Cline. I gave it 2.75 stars.
Wine #4: Ripe blackberry, some astrigency on the nose - kinda like band-aids. Also lighter in color than the first two, more red than purply. Cassis fruit, smoke and lots of herbs. Lingering tea. I guessed a CA from 03 or 04 based on color and herbality. I guessed it as Thomas Coyne and gave it 3.25 stars.
Wine #5: Smelled just like... dish soap? Seriously. Or cheap rose perfume. Sweet raspberry also present. On the palate, pretty tasty mulberry fruit with mint and thyme. I guessed it as the pricier Spanish and placed it as an 05. I gave it 3 stars.
So, it turned out that:
#1- Cambra's 03 Uno! Shit, we all got that one wrong. And quite frankly, it is NOT worth the price.
#2- Chonchelo 06 - Cheap Spanish, indeed. We just poured this straight down the sink.
#3- Cline 05 Ancient Vines Mourvedre - Got it right, but it's not as good as I recall. Much lighter and much leaner on herbs.
#4- Thomas Coyne 04 Mourvedre - Pretty good stuff. I'd feel ok about recommending this.
#5- Finca Luzon Verde 06 Monastrell- And with that, Yulia's cheap Spanish trumps us all. This is a great bargain.
I like light reds. Pinot noir, gamay, barbera all make food-friendly wines that can be light in style as compared to, say, cabernet sauvingnon or zinfandel, which are fuller bodied (and often higher in alcohol).
Talking about the flavor profile of wines, from light to full bodied is, in my view, a really constructive way to talk about wine. Heck, entire stores such as Best Cellars in Manhattan and wine lists at numerous restaurants arrange wines this way.
So I was surprised to hear a boutique wine distributor tell me the other day that “light” is verboten! Here’s what he said:
“Light is bad. It’s the kiss of death for a wine. I instruct my sales staff to never describe a wine is light–it’s not beer after all! Succulent and fruit forward and food-friendly, yes, but light, no.”
It’s probably just a question of semantics since he does have many light-bodied (my term!) wines in his portfolio, which I don’t think even has one Aussie shiraz or Cali cab. But I was struck by his hostility to the term and, needless to say, I don’t think it is the kiss of death; rather, it’s a strong endorsement in my view! What do you think?
The Mountain X Hunter Shiraz 2006 is the inaugural release and the brain child of Gary Walsh and Campbell Mattison of The Wine Front. It is a blend of 95% Hunter Shiraz (good start) and 5% Yarra Pinot - a throwback to a traditional hunter blend of yesteryear. The winemakers are Rhys Eather (Meerea Park) and Franco d’Anna (Hoddles Creek) respectively.
Stylistically modern Hunter Valley - showing fruity aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and some licorice. The palate is initially juicy and intense with tangy dark fruits and berries, a dash of spice and a dollop of vanilla oak. There are just enough super fine and approachable tannins to pull the finish into the savoury realm.
If you plan to drink up now, I suggest 2+ hours in a decanter, otherwise it should improve in the cellar over the medium term. A successful first release, there is something here for hunterists and non-hunterists alike. Since I don’t mind giving this lot a plug, you can buy the wine from the Boutique Wine Center, Boccaccio or North Sydney Cellars.
Score: 91/100 Price: $30 Closure: Diam Alcohol: 13.5% Would I buy this wine again? Yes I will, $30 is a reasonable price for a low production, hand picked and unique wine.
CSU chardonnay has gathered a fair deal of attention over the past couple of years, mostly due to the provision of extraordinary value. This release - from the Wagga Wagga Campus vineyards, as well as from vineyards in the Orange region - is another goodun’, if perhaps not quite up to the past couple of [...]
Visit BusinessWeek.com for an interesting article on wine web sites, including Bottletalk. There is also a slideshow walking you through seven different wine web sites, explaining how they work and who is behind them.
Obama beat McCain by 53 - 46 percent in the popular vote. The logic of the electoral college broadened this to a 68 - 32 percent victory. But there’s one core constituency where Obama thrashed McCain by an even wider margin: the wine vote.
Obama took nine of the top ten wine consuming states (Texas, the fourth largest wine market, was red) as well as 17 of the top 20 (Georgia and Arizona are 13th and 14th) using 2006 data on wine consumption from Adams Wine Handbook. Those states alone would have been enough to win the electoral college with 276 electoral votes for Obama. Overall, blue states this year were thirsty for wine, putting back a total of 80.8 percent of all wine consumed in America.
McCain captured nine of the ten states with the lowest consumption (Vermont was blue).
And in case half-bottle sized Vermont raises the question of whether the data per capita (of drinking age) were different, Obama actually took all of the top ten thirstiest states per capita and 18 out of the top 20. McCain took 14 of the bottom 15.
Drink wine, vote Democratic? Forget Joe Six-Pack, this year the path to the White House was through the wine glass.
Finally, and prosaically, Illinois was the number two state (behind much larger California) for Champagne and sparkling wine. I’m sure that figure went up after last Tuesday night.
Total gallons of wine consumed in blue states: 228,563,000 or 80.8 percent of the total. The top twenty wine consuming states roll after the jump.
California Florida New York Texas New Jersey Illinois Massachusetts Washington Pennsylvania Michigan Virginia Ohio North Carolina Georgia Arizona Connecticut Maryland Colorado Oregon Wisconsin
Fellow wine blogger Jon Bonne crunched the numbers differently, looking at wine production and voting behavior, finding that states producing 99.6% of American wine were blue this year. [SF Chronicle]
Part of becoming a connoisseur of cheap wines is knowing where to look for them. I’ll share with you one of my little secret places I attempt to seek out cheap wine: the “Reduced for Quick Sale” shelf at your local supermarket. At Meijer, my local super-mega-ultra-store, this shelf is usually located in the bottle return area. Not a very pleasant place to be searching for wines, but just think of it as a treasure hunt! You may find a bounty of cheap wines that you never knew existed.
While picking over the wines yesterday, a cartoon label caught my eye: Big Daddy Vineyards Merlot. I picked up the March 2002 vintage for about 6 dollars.
Why was this reduced for quick sale? Was it worth enduring the stench of the bottle return area to bring home this wine? Yes, yes it was. It’s almost sad that this wine traveled all the way from Argentina to end up in my bottle return area.
Big Daddy knows how to make a good cheap wine. Believe it or not, the first attribute of this wine I picked up on was the light hint of bacon. Mmm bacon. Who doesn’t love bacon? Big Daddy loves it, that’s for sure. Look at that belly! On top of the bacon was a strong berry with a leathery taste.
If you’re looking for a full bodied cheap red wine with a lot of character, give the Big Daddy Merlot a try.
Rating: 8/10 - High score for originality Price: 6.00 Place of purchase: Meijer Vineyard Info: Big Daddy Vineyards Mendoza, Argentina www.bigdaddyvineyards.com
A weekend blow through to (NW's) place had us drinking through a few bottles from his "informed" cellar. (NW) of this blog, picked this up several years ago and laid it down. It comes from the St. Julien section of Bordeaux and is noted as a premier great growth year after year.
Even before raising the glass to my nose sweet fruit filled the air. Luden's wild cherry cough drops (a fond memory from kid-dom came to mind)
Nose is big cigar box aromas with touches of leather and of course cherries galore.
Palate--even at 13 years old, this wine still has some maturing to do with slightly chewy tannins, which lay out the cedar foundation with bright red fruit, plum. (NW) paid around $50 this when he purchased it but you won't be able to touch it for that now. Raise a glass for sure!
Hmm. I wonder if anyone even bothers to stop by any more, even if it's just to note my conspicuous absence.
Lots going on, folks.
Thanks to all who wished the Chef and me well last month on the anniversary of our wedding.
On a similar note, best wishes to Scott and Jill on their nuptials last weekend. Such a beautiful party.
And, of course, there's the wine goings on. Much to do here in Northeast Ohio, especially this weekend. If you felt let down by the Tribe's oh-so-typical performance this year, you can return to Jacobs Field in Cleveland this weekend, Nov. 2-4, for a much happier occasion. It's the Heinen's/WVIZ World Series of Wine , a perennial joy for wine novices and aficionados alike. It really doesn't get much better than the grand tastings ($70-$75 a person; purchase tickets in advance). More than 400 wines, 100-plus producers, stellar munchies, unparalleled people watching. You'll find lots of opportunities to speak with winery and distributor representatives to get the real dirt on what you're tasting.
It's hard not to over imbibe with so many wines to try, so take a cab or a limo or book a hotel room. Some downtown Cleveland hotels are offering packages specifically for the occasion.
This is easily the biggest wine event of the year for Northeast Ohio. Oh, and it benefits public broadcasting, as if you needed another reason to go.
When people find out that I enjoy cheap wine enough to devote a website to it, they usually ask me if I have been to Trader Joe’s. My response, until last week, has always been “No, not yet”.
Well, I finally caved and took a trip to Detroit, the nearest Trader Joe’s location for me here in Lansing. Ann Arbor might actually be closer, but as an MSU Spartan, I try to stay out of there.
I’d like to preface this review of Charles Shaw Cabernet with a synopsis of Trader Joe’s. If you have one near you, go there. If not for the wine, then for the thousands of food items that pack the small market. I spent 80 dollars, which sounds like a bit much especially for me. I ended up leaving with 2 cases of wine and enough food for a week. Fresh mozzarella, fresh gnocchi, fresh salsa (notice a pattern?), Guacamole chips, Trader Joe’s Marinara, soups, veggies…. I was in heaven. They have got all kinds of cheeses, breads, meats, micro-brewed beers, and their wine selection was out of this world. What a great store!
Trader Joe’s is the exclusive retailer of Charles Shaw Wines, better known to most as “Two-buck Chuck”. In California these wines sell for $1.99, which is just amazing. Here in Michigan, though, the price was $2.99.
Did we like it? Was it worth the trip?
Hell yes it was! For 3 dollars, I don’t think it could have been any better. The Cabernet was great. At first, I found it to be a little sweet, but looking back, I was actually enjoying the salsa with the wine, which probably wasn’t a great combination. Along with the Cab, I also purchased some of the Shiraz, Merlot, and Chardonnay (reviews coming soon).
Congrats to Two-Buck-Chuck and Trader Joe’s for achieving the highest rating available here on Cheap Wine Reviews. Hats off to you!
Rating: 10/10 Price: $2.99 Place of PurchaseTrader Joe’s
A nice polished style. Rounded tannins surround a juicy core of raspberry ganache, plum and cassis flavors that lead to a long, spice-filled finish. Drink now through 2023. 1,200 cases imported.
This year 9,358 wines were judged from 35 different countries, by 400 judges. The judges came from 19 different countries and included 33 Masters of Wine. 260 Gold medals were awarded, 1,129 wines won Silver medals and 1,839 wines won Bronze medals.
The top 3 medal winning nations remain the same as last year ? France, Australia and Italy. France scooped the most medals with a total tally of 635. English wines continue to show improved form with 21 medals in 2007 up from 16 last year.
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.
Pertaining to the art group ?000SICK Estudio?, founded in 2000 with the artist and musician Rafael Jurado, resides and works in Seville (Spain).
Each human mind guards a back door in the deepst of its unfathomable mistery. All these doors open into the same dark and quiet back alley; previous to culture and even to ourselves, only self intuition sometimes gives us indications of its existence.
Emilio Subira´s work is focused on the intuitive translation of the multiplicity that characterizes the reality in plastical terms from the perspective of a viewer plunged into ostracism, working like a satirical and critical filter.
In the spirit of the upcoming Presidential election, one Washington DC restaurant, OYA Restaurant and Lounge, is pitting Arizona wines (from Senator McCain's home state) against those from Illinois (Senator Obama's home state). Neither state is well known for its wine industry, but according to the restaurant's Director of Wine Marketing & Sommelier, Andrew Stover, "Illinois has over 70 wineries and has been producing wine since the late 1700s. Arizona's wine industry is on a much smaller scale with close to 30 wineries."
According to Stover, the Lynfred Seyval Blanc has slightly outsold the Arizona wines during the summer, but fall could usher in a preference for the red wines of Arizona. The promotion will continue through the election in November.
Oya Restaurant and Lounge is located in Washington's Penn Quarter neighborhood. They serve an innovative menu that combines Asian ingredients with French technique.
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Dark and winey, but polished. There's a good beam of blackberry and black currant fruit that's reticent for now, with loam, tar and coffee-laced tannins at the fore. Should open up nicely with modest cellaring. Best from 2009 through 2014. 1,550 cases imported.
After weeks of fiddling around with game, organ meats and arguing in Spanish about whether or not the package contains gizzards and hearts, I felt like taking things back to basics. Roasted chicken with creamed spinach, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese, the sides coming from Fresh Market.
I used the "Stretch's Chicken" recipe from the latest issue of Saveur, which involves putting a hard cheese/herb paste on a cut-up chicken and browning the parts in a cast-iron skillet before roasting it all at high temperature in the oven. For simplicity and because it's my favorite for this kind of cooking, I just used a pack of leg/thigh quarters. Defat the pan and deglaze with red wine vinegar and you've got a tangy sauce to go with the chicken. It's ridiculously simple but really flavorful.
Tecnorati
I like light reds. Pinot noir, gamay, barbera all make food-friendly wines that can be light in style as compared to, say, cabernet sauvingnon or zinfandel, which are fuller bodied (and often higher in alcohol). 
The Mountain X Hunter Shiraz 2006 is the inaugural release and the brain child of Gary Walsh and Campbell Mattison of 
