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Another Thanksgiving day is quickly upon us. Below is a re-post by (NW) that is helpful as you navigate the vast choices upon you for this festive day of food and reflection.
With all the gloom and doom in the news one might think there isn't much for which to be thankful. That couldn't be further from the truth. My nation and the indeed the world have been through challenging times; even despairing times and yet, acknowledged or not, understood or not, we manage--by God's grace to come out on the other side smelling like a rose (or a Sauternes if you prefer.)
We of the WCB hope that whatever country you are in, (I know Thanksgiving Day is uniquely American) whatever your situation, you will be able to raise a glass with a thankful heart to the God who is there. (PB)
(NW) writes--
Thanksgiving day meals, whether traditional or uniquely creative, offer a terrific opportunity to showcase the marriage of wine and food. A lot of people fret over the wine pairings because there's a lot of time and money invested in the meal. Let me suggest that the pairings don't need to be exacting and a wide variety of wines will suffice.
Some general categories of wine tend to be very good pairings for Thanksgiving. This is partly due to that fact that most meals have a number of dishes and a wide variety for flavors. Wines that do well in this situation are wines that naturally accompany food, both red and white. The red wines that are often viewed as traditional Thanksgiving meal accompaniments include Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Zinfandel.
Cabernet Sauvignon is a great way to enhance the meal. Is it too red- meaning too full-bodied and powerful? I say no. Cabernet Sauvignon does well with meats, even poultry, especially when accompanied by sauces, gravy, and starches. To refine this selection, try a Cab with a little bit of age on it. The age will likely have mellowed the wine's tannins and softened its edges.
Pinot Noir can be a stunning accompaniment to a Thanksgiving meal! It's really an amazing varietal that has the capability of total success and total failure. Therefore, it's the riskiest choice. For example, I paired a highly regarded Oregon Pinot Noir with the meal two years ago, but it didn't work at all. It was an amazing wine, for sure, but too exotic and smokey. It just didn't work. If you know you've got a good one, then go for it. Otherwise, be careful because Pinot Noir is the most unpredictable varietal.
Zinfandel is often considered a perfect pairing for Thanksgiving. After all, it's the most American grape. Stick with a traditional Zinfandel if you're going this route. Some of the newer single vineyard bottlings are highly ripe, alcoholic, and overpowering. They won't work well. Make sure you are serving a traditional, balanced wine. A good wine merchant can help you find the right wine. For example, Ridge produces Zinfandel blends that are very elegant and balanced.
On the other side of the spectrum, if you're looking for white wine, consider Riesling, Chardonnay, or Chenin Blanc. Riesling can be an amazing food wine, but you'll have to stick with the dry versions. These dry Rieslings are produced the world over, but if you're shopping in the German aisle look for kabinett or spatlese bottlings.
Chardonnay can be a nice choice, especially if you're unsure of your guests' preferences. Because Chardonnay comes in so many forms, look for a wine that has the reputation of ripe tropical fruit and enough acidity for food.
Chenin Blanc could deliver a nice pairing if you're looking for something on the lighter side. It can be very crisp, so get the help of a good wine merchant if you'd like to find one with a little more body.
Obviously, you can find success with a number of wines and, therefore, have some flexibility. In fact, not only do you have some flexibility in wine selections, you have an opportunity to present multiple wines. I always recommend this as a way to satisfy different palates and make the meal more festive. Multiple pairings give people the chance to figure out what they like and go back for more of the same. If you have the means, I recommend placing two glasses at each place setting- either one red and one white or two red glasses.
Also, when considering multiple pairings, use finger food and appetizers as a way to offer up other wine options. Before the meal, consider opening a sparkling wine or use this as a chance to offer a white wine if you're only offering reds with the meal. Rose can also be a nice pairing for appetizers. And don't forget about dessert wines. For example, this year we are having three small dessert courses. With the first two, we'll have a dessert wine and with the last one we'll have coffee.
Wine can enhance a Thanksgiving meal in many different ways. Realize that you have many options and don't fret over exacting your wine pairings. With all the flavors and various dishes, a number of different wines will work. Just enjoy making wine a part of the festivities. Raise a glass!
This really tickles my funny bone. Deidre Woollard (luxist.com) writes:
We may all be cutting back, but at the the White House dinner Friday night for foreign leaders to discuss the global financial crisis, the meal was anything but spare.
The menu for around 24 global leaders gathered in the White House State Dining Room included, according to the AP, fruitwood-smoked quail? with quince gastrique; quinoa risotto?; thyme?-roasted rack of lamb?; tomato?, fennel? and eggplant? fondue?; a salad? course of endive?, baked Brie and walnuts?; and a pear torte. What's raising some eyebrows though is one of the wine selections, the Shafer Cabernet Hillside Select 2003, which runs for around $300 a bottle, if you can find it. This wine was served with the main course will more modest wines such as the Landmark Chardonnay Damaris Reserve? 2006 (around $40 a bottle, served with the appetizer) and the Chandon Étoile Rosé? sparkling wine? (about $30 a bottle, served with dessert) rounded out the rest of the meal.
The President pays for his own groceries in the White House but state dinners such as this one are paid for with taxpayer dollars. It is perhaps some comfort in this case? that at least two of those attending: President Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are said to be teetotalers. Others in attendance included Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Chinese President Hu Jintao; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Siam Winery is no tiny concern. With 1.2 million liters of tank capacity for fine wine, and twice that for the profitable wine cooler venture, they are the big boys in the region. Their 72 acres of grapes are spread over several locations, including one parcel that is actually planted among canals.
The image of a boat paddling through the Floating Vineyards is only slightly upstaged by the shot of the elephants in the vineyards at Hua Hin Hills. This is certainly not any wine country most of us are used to. Don't be fooled by the tourist friendly visage, this is a serious wine concern, making serious wine.
Kathrin Puff is the winemaker, and an incredibly capable one at that. Hailing from Germany she spent years in Italy before coming to take the reins here in Thailand. Her approach is to take the best of technology without going overboard, and the best of the organic approach, without being limited.
The Floating Vineyards are the source of the local vinifera varieties Mlaga Blanc and Red Pokdum. Their Chenin Blanc, Colombard and Syrah are sourced from the slopes of the Hua Hin Hills Vineyards, which is ever expanding.
Hua Hin Hills has issues with high water tables due to their proximity to the jungle covered mountains, so they have had to dig down 15 meters and place water barriers and add shale and other stones for drainage. This huge effort has been well rewarded by decent quality fruit from surprisingly young vines. The quality can only go up as the average age of the vines increases.
Housed in an industrial facility the winery is not at all impressive from the outside, but the interior more than makes up for that. The barrel room is well maintained and there are plans in the works to double its size.
Kathrin is a fan of micro-oxigynation so the lower level wines are not penalized by failing to get a chance to develop secondary aromas through barrel aging. The Monsoon Valley wines show the care and crafting you would expect from a small hands on winery, so the sight of the sprawling tank rooms might catch you off guard.
The scale of the fine wine production is nothing in comparison to the wine cooler facility. Here bottles whip by at blinding speed, 24/7 being filled, labeled and packed for the never ending demand for these "starter" wines. The commercial success of the coolers ensures that there is the needed capital for expanding and improving the fine wine division.
This fiscal planning is not only evident in their diversification, but also through their distribution. Not only is Monsoon Valley one of the most prominent Thai wines in stores and restaurants, they have their own retail outlet here in the high end resort of Hua Hin. This tiny shop in an upscale mall allows visitors to taste and buy the wines in the comfort of a beach town, without having to trek into the countryside or halfway to Bangkok.
But if treking is your thing the Hua Hin Hills facility will welcome you with their modern tasting room and dining facilities and tours are even available for the main winery. More information can be found at http://www.monsoonvalleywine.com/.
They said it couldn?t be done. Yet it is being done. California is emerging from the excesses of the previous decades (who isn?t) and presenting a leaner, meaner attitude in their wines. By lean and mean I mean acidity and a glorious lack of residual sugar. Perhaps Pilates is good for all types of fat.
Just today I had two crisp, mineraly and very dry white wines from California and they were as good examples of the genre as you?ll find anywhere.
Facing down a half dozen pristine oysters the 2006 Brander Sauvignon Blanc Natural from Santa Ynez was master of its domaine. It was clean and fresh as you could want, yet the Brander was not that simple cat pee punch produced in New Zealand as on top of that zest was a lovely touch of honeydew melon and ripe pears. Brander Natural is a rare example of a new world sauvignon blanc that can actually challenge Sancerre or Pouilly Fume for both guts and glory.
More difficult to find, but well worth the search is the 2007 Pey- Marin, The Shell Mound, Riesling from chilly Marin County. Here?s a high strung dry riesling that is not a bad copy of Alsace, but an interesting wine in its own right. Like the Brander, on top of all the structure and bite is a deliciously ripe fruitiness that belongs only to California. At only 11.8% alcohol it hits some of those high notes you thought only German riesling could hit.
There used to be a line that could not be crossed in California without wines being branded as thin. Thankfully those days seem to be gone as producers like Pey Marin and Brander produce lean, mean fighting machines such as these.
Class occurs 10/19/2008, 11:30-01:00 pm Panel discussion
Riesling is currently the fastest growing white varietal in the US, increasingly sought out for its food friendliness and its aromatic, vibrant character, however, its variety of sweetness can make it a challenging purchase for the consumer. Join Riesling producers for a discussion of this versatile grape and the new ?Riesling Taste Scale,? read more.
Rediscovering Riesling Walk Around Tasting Sunday, October 19 ~ 1:00 - 4:00 pm Elegant, aromatic and food-friendly, Riesling?s making a comeback! The perfect pairing for Asian, Indian, and of course, German and Austrian cuisine, ?The Other White Wine? abundantly deserves its growing popularity. Taste dozens of domestic and international dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling Rieslings paired with artisan foods ranging from sausage to sushi. You?re sure to find the perfect match! read more Pub.: 2008-10-08 09:18:37; Udt.:
The Prosecco DOC? di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Consorzio? has applied to the Italian government for promotion to the higher DOCG? status.
At the same time, the basic IGT? (Indicazione Geografica Tipica?) level Prosecco grown in the lower plains will also have to go though stricter quality control, the DOC says.
Some IGTs will be elevated to to DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata?) while others will be demoted, losing the right to put 'Prosecco' on the label.
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita?), established in 1963, is the highest legal category of Italian wines.
The Prosecco Consorzio has applied to the Ministry of Agriculture to allow promotion of the best Proseccos in 2009.
Speaking at the Consorzio tasting in London on Monday, Consorzio director Giancarlo Vettorello told decanter.com it was time 'to push ahead with our UK promotion as sales in UK are on the rise and Prosecco seems to be all the rage.'
There were 37 producers at this year's tasting, 12 more than last year.
Today the Prosecco DOC produces some 57m bottles of which 15m are exported worldwide. The currently imports 6% of total exports, the equivalent of 1m bottles exported in 2007.
Since day one, I’ve wanted a map of the wine regions of Spain and Portugal. Seems like a simple request, and if I couldn’t have one of Iberia, at least you would think that there would be one of Spain and another of Portugal. You would think. You would also be wrong, sort of. Announcement
Interestingly, there are no good maps of the peninsula we call Iberia, or at least as it relates to wine. Wines of Spain, the bureaucratic agency in charge of promoting Spanish wine, does have an outdated map, but you can’t get a copy of it. I had a prominent tour guide friend of mine once ask to buy a few copies to give to her clients, all of which were on wine tours, and she was told it was not possible. Hence, I’m not sure why they made it. We had to steal a few copies from a regional government’s office, and while we use them occasionally, in truth, they are worthless.
That said, Portugal is no better, and I have yet to find a map that accurately sums up the many nuances in a very confusing set of regional wine laws. And considering that there is little consensus among differing governmental maps, it is clear that one concise and accurate map was desperately in need to be created.
Enter the DeLong wine company, creator of such treasures as the Wine Varietal Table. Having encountered way too many inaccurate regional wine maps around the world, Steve decided to fix the problem by making his own map. Smart guy! The best part for us is that he asked us to help him out. Now, we can’t claim much in the way of contributions to this map, but we did make sure he included some important landmarks and we worked with him to make some editorial decisions on how to handle certain place names and regional identities. I asked him a few questions about how this map came about:
Why did you choose to start with Iberia?
We started with Iberia for three main reasons: 1. It’s the most dynamic (and constantly changing!) area in the wine world - but you already knew that! 2. There wasn’t a good map available (for France there are a few) 3. It’s a great looking land mass.
Which regions are next on your list?
We’re working on France and Germany right now, which will be available early next year. Then on to Italy, and finally, the New World!
What makes this map different from other wine region maps?
The one very simple thing that distinguishes these wine maps from others is that the wine regions don’t stop at the border. In reality, the wine regions reflect the regional differences that underlie the country borders. Catalunya and the Basque Country, which both overlap France and Spain, are just two examples.
Hence, this is just the start of a much bigger plan to cover the planet with quality wine resources - something that is SORELY needed! We hope that this first map is a resource that we can not only learn from, but can also use when reading about Catavino’s adventures throughout Spain and Portugal.
And best of all, if you click here and buy the Iberian wine map through the Catavino website, a small portion of the sale will come back to us - something we would appreciate! Also, if you are in Spain and want to see this in Spanish, please let us know. We are considering translating it into Spanish and Portuguese if we find enough interest. Also, if you have a wine shop and would like either English or Spanish versions of this map, just send us a note at map(at)Catavino(dot)net, and we’ll tell you about additional opportunities to buy larger quantities.
We’re very excited about this and feel VERY privileged to have Iberia be the first map of the series, a testament to the importance of this rich and exciting wine region. We hope that if Iberian Wine interests you at all, you’ll pick one up and let us know what you think.
Sitting in front of the computer preparing to sum up my experience at the European Wine Blogger Conference, I literally feel speechless. Are there words for my emotions, my feeling of warmth and excitement for what’s occurred, along with a touch of sadness and depression I’ve been feeling now that the conference is over? It’s like using an instant camera with the intention of capturing the breadth and beauty of the Grand Canyon. Unless you were there, feeling the hot canyon winds come across the 1,218,375 acres that dip down an average of 4,000 feet deep; smell the rich evergreen and sandalwood aromas in the air; or touch the blazing hot iron soils which kick up fine, red dust under your feet, pictures nor words can never fully describe your experience.
On one hand, I feel a warmth in my heart that has lasted for four days, and I expect it will last well into the future. To see 40+ people from all over the world come together and bond in literally, moments flat, was something we wish would happen among nations everyday. From Friday to Sunday, voices were always raised, bubbling with curiosity and excitement; because how often do you get to speak with someone who blogs in another language as to their perceptions, desires, hopes and fears about wine blogging? For me, not often enough. Instead, I am typically caught in a whirlpool of voices from my own culture, an incestuous conversation that circles around the same view point over and over again. But to have so many different ideas as to what wine blogging is, what we need to do to better our profession, how we can solve our problems, and where we can find solutions was beyond a breath of fresh air, was astonishing! And although we never came to any solid conclusions, we did solidify trust among us, breaking down both cultural and language barriers that hinder our communication to form a cohesive and passionate group willing to continue the conversation well into the future.
Just to give you an idea of the depth of conversation we were able to share, I had a great discussion during dinner on Saturday night with David Cray from Carleton University in Canada on how he can blog about his research on the structure and organization of wine bloggers, allowing us to see step-by-step what has worked and what hasn’t worked in his research. All six wine producers from Portugal, France, Germany and Italy chatted about how they are interested in both tasting and blogging about each others wines to emphasis the fact that even wineries drink other peoples wines. With Justine Keeling, a winery owner out of Tuscany, spoke of her genuine desire to have wineries speak honestly and openly about the daily experiences in the vineyards, rather than promoting only the positive events. Giampiero Nadali offered us some wonderful and innovative ideas on using hedonistic, rather than traditional, tasting notes. And Thomas Lippert offered up his insight on how wine bloggers can increase their credibility by separating themselves from spam and wine aggregators. Granted, this is only a tiny percent of the conversations that were dissected and debated, but it at least gives you a general notion of how receptive many people were in sharing their thoughts. We’ll be going into more detail in the coming days regarding many of these topics.
Oddly, despite these incredible feelings regarding the conference, I am also going through post conference depression (PCD). When I went to drop off our gigantic van filled to the hilt in leftover wine (no complaints, mind you), I literally broke down in tears in front of the Hertz attendant. Among a cloud of exhaustion and excitement, I felt an enormous sense of loss. I wanted my 40+ new friends back. I wanted to have the ability to call someone up and go out for a drink. I missed their kindness, their positive attitudes and the hours upon hours of belly aches I had from laughing nonstop. Look, I’m tearing up again!
I’ll stop before I get my cast wet, but please know that we couldn’t have done this without your belief in us and your willingness to come hundreds, if not thousands, of miles to La Rioja.
Saludos,
Gabriella Opaz
Here are a few pics from Ryan’s camera of what happened, enjoy!
Au Jardin Les Amis (”The Friends, In the Garden”) is situated in the tranquil Singapore Botanic Gardens, on the second level of an 1920s home. We were seated on a glass enclosed balcony with a relaxing view of the gardens. It is a wonderful setting and was a great place to spend some time on my last day in Singapore.
The service was attentive, professional and was invisible except when needed. The food was very good, it wasn’t innovative - but with clean, elegant and pleasing flavour profiles it was memorable for the taste and technique. I have read that this venue can have good and bad days, and I think this must have been a good day as everything seemed to go well.
Like Iggy’s, the price was more than fair - the meal consisted of an amuse bouche, an entree, consommé, main course, dessert, les mignardises and coffee and cost $52 AUD (including 7% GST and a mandatory 10% service charge) per person plus wine. I guess when every corner of the city has wonderful (and cheap) food, you have to be fair to stay alive.
The wine;
The wine list is extensive and full of very special bottles, as well as being generally well above my budget!
Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett 2006 (Nahe, Germany) - 8.5% alcohol - Donnhoff is very quickly heading toward the top of my favourite Riesling producer list. This had aromas of sea salt, pears, tea leaves and mandarin. Delicate and long on the palate, there is some lovely fruit sweetness balanced by superb acidity. Lovely drinking now, but will age well over the next 10 years. 91/100
Bonneau Du Martray Corton Charlemagne Grand Cru 1992 (Burgundy, France) 375ml - 13% alcohol - Golden straw coloured. Butter, sesame, toast and honey aromas on the nose. Rich and creamy mouthfeel, with enough acid to keep the palate from being flabby. Very good length and texture. Drink now and over the next couple of years. 91/100
The food;
Prawn with Basil and Berry Foam with Apple juice
Cougette blossom stuffed with crab meat
Hon maguro with horseradish and roasted sesame dressing
Vine ripened tomato consomme with basil
Lightly smoked ocean trout with apple and fennel salad
Roasted flank steak and braised oxtail in red wine with seasonal vegetables
Iggy’s at the Regent Hotel in Singapore is the recipient of quite a bit of hype, with various awards and reviews proclaiming it to be among the best restaurants in Singapore and the world. It seems very few people have anything but good words to say about it. Wednesday the 25th of June saw me visiting this restaurant for the first time.
My expectations were high, but I will be one joining in with the praise for this establishment after my experience. The food we tried was sensational with both classic and surprising combinations of flavours that worked brilliantly together. The service was overall very good and with one or two minor tweaks could have been excellent.
Four courses at lunch (an amuse bouche, two entrees, a main and dessert) was an entirely reasonable $70AUD (including GST and a mandatory 10% service charge) per person plus wine.
The wine;
The list is heavily tilted toward white and red Burgundy, the prices are quite decent for a high quality restaurant. I was impressed when I asked to keep the bottles, they offered to remove the labels if I wished instead, and I was presented with them laminated and in perfect condition at the end of the meal.
Serriger Schloss Saarsteiner Spatlese Riesling 1986 (Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany) - 8% alcohol - Golden coloured. Initially a bit closed, but as it warmed and shook off the confines of being in bottle for almost 22 years it blossomed beautifully with notes of honey, orange peel, lily petals and minerals. The palate showed fine, detailed acidity to balance the ripe fruit characters. Very good length and balance initially, with the mouth-feel and components coming together even further with time in the glass. Drinking very well now, but will hold for another 5 years. 91/100
Rossignol-Trapet Chambertin Grand Cru 2002 (Burgundy, France) - 13.5% alcohol - This was decanted for around an hour and a half. Deep ruby red in colour, the nose is expressive and sensual with aromas of red cherry, rose petals, strawberry, light earth and black truffles. The palate shows great finesse and depth. The structure is excellent, with tannins playing their role in the background and acidity giving great freshness to the mouth-feel. There are layers of subtle flavour and complexity to this wine that kept me enthralled with every taste. Delicious and approachable now, but it will get even better over the next 12-15 years. 93/100
The food;
Sweet Corn “Cappuccino” with Chocolate
Sourdough roll with garlic and herb infused olive oil
Charcoal-grilled bonito with white anchovies, mizuna salad, olives and peppers, citrus dressing
Roulade of kurobuta pork belly with red cabbage salad, whole grain mustard dressing
Fresh Burrata mozzarella with vine-ripe tomatoes, basil and extra virgin olive oil
Home-made potato gnocchi with truffle salsa and soft-boiled egg
Classic onion soup served with crusty bread loaf
Braised kurobuta pork cheek with onion confit
Home-made Wagyu beef burger with white truffle sabayon
Confit of duck leg with rosemary potatoes, mesclun
Grand Marnier soufflé with home-made Java vanilla ice cream
Baked chocolate molten cake with Java vanilla ice-cream
The much-promised, overly hyped Riesling Review has now arrived (brought to you by Mylanta)
Jill, Yulia, P-Cat, and myself (Jay) converged at Boozer Headquarters (my place) last Wednesday for the Riesling blind tasting. P-Cat's writing a column for a local newspaper and needed to taste through a bunch so we decided to make it A Thing. We each got a bottle from a different geographic locale, figuring the areas that needed representation were Germany, Alsace, Austria, New York, and Australia (don't blame me for the last one, ok?)
AND, since we live the malt liquor lifestyle, we tasted them blind, each bottle wrapped lovingly in two layers of plastic bags. Ghetto super star, that is what we are.
Here are my rather lame notes:
Wine #1: Apricot, honeysuckle, rose petals on the nose; palate is lime, tangerine - stones, touch of cream, but thin.
Wine #2: SULPHER! Yikes, burned my nose hairs. V pale in glass. Diesel, swampy nose. Palate of bitter green orange, lemon zest, pink grapefruit. Long finish due to acidity.
Wine #3: Light, aromatic greens - fresh, sweet grass, white flowers, honeydew. Melon-apricot palate with stone minerality and balanced acidity. Yum.
Wine #5: Swamp water. Grape-lemon pucker candy. Sour Patch kids. Yuck. We no like.
Results:
1: Paul Blanck 05 from Alsace (score 1 for me!)
2: Grosset 05 from Australia (upset of the CENTURY, folks!)
3: Domaine Wachau 06 from Austria (amazing value - our favorite, hands down, at only $12.99)
4: Fritz Haag 05 Kabinett from Germany (which we all guessed because of the residual - oops, sorry, forgot it was supposed to be a dry Riesling tasting..)
5: Red Newt Cellars 06 Reserve from NY State (surprising only in that is sucked so badly for the money - tasting like bad NYState wine, so I guessed this one immedately...)
It was interesting too in that every wine except the Red Newt was screw cap. Go figure.
Still not a huge fan of Riesling, especially since I tasted all these the night before some serious food poisoning that had me leaving pieces of myself roadside throughout the state for the next two days and I can't help but link the two incedents.
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.
I played Risk as a kid. It's never a good idea to fight a war on two fronts.
But that's what winemakers are doing. They're fighting for our taste buds and our minds. And in the quest for our minds, New Worlders are winning. Why? In a word: marketing.
And that's where Old Worlders have fallen behind. For too long, they didn't play the game. They didn't embrace the global marketplace with a big, wide bear hug. They didn't think they needed to. They were wrong.
I get this.
People want at-a-glance labels, suggested pairings, critters, playful names and specified grapes. They don't want micro appellations, regular-size appellations or any appellation, for that matter. They want wine. Just wine. So many people don't really care where it comes from or about the traditions and geography behind it.
The German wine industry has taken this so much to heart that it's changing the name of one of its wine regions (they've done this before). The Mosel-Saar-Ruwer appellation will most likely become Mosel. Why? Because it's easier to say and remember. For who, you ask? Not the Germans, I'm guessing.
And this is where I get off the bus.
I fear this rush to make wine look the same on the outside will ultimately homogenize what's on the inside. And I don't think I'm far off this one. If wine drinkers have become so lazy that they can't be bothered to know that Chianti is made from the sangiovese grape, why should their taste buds be bothered to know the difference between quality and plonk or even red from white?
I know, I know. We're busy. We have far too many things floating around in our heads already. We shouldn't have to know that Sancerre is sauvignon blanc to be able to enjoy wine. But that's the thing. You don't need to know that. All you need to do is try it. Most people don't wonder what's in their beer or how their Jack Daniels was made. It's just something we drink; it's part of our culture - the way wine is a part of so many other cultures.
I'm all for demystifying wine, but for me, that's done in the mouth. The idea that generic labels will help the average consumer enjoy wine more is something that's being perpetuated by the very people who made it intimidating in the first place: marketers.
Tecnorati
Class occurs 10/19/2008, 11:30-01:00 pm 
