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May 7 2006
I have a post on the Wine Sediments portion of the Well Fed Network again this week. Mark Fisher, the editor of the wine portion of the site and also a wine writer and blogger at Uncorked, can take credit for a deliciously appropriate headline for my post: "Hoisting Wine Snobs on their own Petards."
Though, that one isn’t nearly as good as his recent headline that exclaimed: "2005 Bordeaux: A Fine Line between Sober Analysis and Orgasm." Some of the articles on the vintage have bordered on orgasmic, making it not only funny, but also true.
The crux of my post is the ongoing debate between wine with a keen sense of place and wine as recreational beverage enjoyed by many—and an increasing amount of of twenty-somethings with dubious reverence for the vine.
I’m reminded of a holiday party I went to four or five years ago when the hostess (in her mid-twenties) offered me a glass of red wine from a previously opened bottle, served it to me over ice, and offhandedly remarked that they had "sooooo" much wine leftover from Thanksgiving.
True story. Red wine. Opened bottle—three weeks old. Over ice.
I played it off, excused myself to go to the restroom and poured the offending liquid down the drain.
So, make no mistake, the young ‘uns have a lot to learn around the conventions of wine, but I don’t necessarily look askance at folks just earning their stripes. Heck, I’m far from knowing anything about wine, and really, that is its allure. But, I do strongly believe that all people deserve respect in regards to how they enjoy wine. Unless of course you drink White Zinfandel or Arbor Mist, then, well, that’s a greater sin then serving a glass of red over ice.
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May 5 2006
Longlive Mexican wine!
Tomost Gringos, Cinco de Mayo is a perfectly decent reason to party—enjoy a neonblue margarita at the local Don Pablo’s and whoop it up … and the perfect timeon the calendar nestled between St. Paddy’s day and Memorial Day for a longevening and even longer next morning.
Cinco de Mayo or theFifth of May commemorates the 1862 victory by Mexican forces over Frenchsoldiers. The battle known as The Battle of Puebla took place on May5th. It is a day marked by many Mexicans and those with Mexican ties asan important cultural event.
Margaritasnotwithstanding, any reason to celebrate is a reason to hoist a glass of vinoand wine in Mexico has a long history that is starting to re-emerge.
Or,in the words of the rock band the Fountains of Wayne, I think I’ll have anotherglass of “Mexican Wine.”
Iused to fly for United Airlines
Then I got fired for reading High Times
My license expired in almost no time
Now I’m retired and I think that’s fine
Because the sun still shines in the summer time
I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine
I tried to change, but I changed my mind
Think I’ll have another glass of Mexican wine
Mexicanwine, at least as an industry, is enjoying nice growth, despite the fact thatnative Mexicans are largely categorized as being ambivalent about the drink.
And,also important to note that the majority of Mexican wine is made above the 30thparallel where the growing conditions are more hospitable. This area is in Baja California, and most ofthe wine-growing region is in and around the Ensenada area.
WineX magazine has a piece that you can find here, writer Tina Caputo encapsulatesthe geography nicely when she says,
The heart ofthe Mexican wine country lies near Ensenada on the Baja Peninsula, about 75miles
south of San Diego. Baja is divided into three winegrowing regions: SanAntonio de las Minas, San Vincente Valley and Santo Tomas Valley. San Antoniode las Minas is home to the Valley of Guadalupe, Mexico’s most important wineregion.
Baja’s climate andsoil have been compared to those of Napa and France’s Rhone Valley. The climateis Mediterranean, with rainy winters, followed by dry springs and summers.
Ensenadais a place near and dear to my heart because I got very socially adjusted thereon the way south through Baja California with a San Franciscan bi-sexual guythat also had dual citizen-ship in the States and Israel and was independentlywealthy, under the guise of being an Art dealer and a young Austrian woman thatlooked like Natalie Portman—this all while take a hippy-dippy very memorabletrip on the California icon, the Green Tortoise, years ago.
Thereturn trip through Ensenada on the Tortoise included another alcohol soakedcouple of hours capped off with a visit to their public baths, but Idigress.
Inan article from the San Francisco Chronicle a year ago, writer George Lucas hasa nice first-person narrative of his accidental trip to Mexico winecountry. You can find the completearticle here:
Thevalley is the site of the last of the Spanish missions to be built, Misión deNuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Norte, founded in 1834 by Dominican priests. In1903, 50 Russian immigrants arrived with top-quality grape cuttings fromEurope; some of their vineyards are still around. Bibayoff is the
mostaccessible old Russian winery.
Sittingat an elevation of 1,000 feet just 13 miles from the coast, the valley benefitsfrom an oceanic condition known as "upwelling." Summer daytimetemperatures can reach 100 degrees, but every evening moist marine air comesflooding in to cool things off.
Allmanner of grapes thrive here: big, sun-loving reds, including CabernetSauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo, Malbec and Zinfandel, as well as a wide range ofwhites, from Chardonnay and Viognier to Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. The areaproduces more than 80 varietals and accounts for more than 90 percent ofMexico’s wine production.
Thewinery L.A. Cetto, is Mexico’s largest winery and a quality producer. An Internet search turned up numerousfavorable reviews for their reds, in particular. This kind of typifies it, and the site can be found here.
We cannot speak too highly ofL.A. Cetto wines, as verified by wine writers Joanna Simon, Oz Clarke, PaulLevy and many others. The winery has just celebrated its 75th Anniversary andis now, more than ever, producing wines of top international quality atdifferent price points. Cetto wines have been snatching medals at winechallenges all over the world for the past couple of decades. Most recently the2002 Petite Sirah was highly recommended at the London International WineChallenge 2004. The 1996 Nebbiolo won a silver medal at the LondonInternational Wine Challenge 2003 and the 1999 won a gold medal at Vinitaly2004 competing against some of the top Barolo’s in Italy!
Though my trip through Ensenadayears back hewed more closely to the tequila and cerveza mode of operation,I’ve got a couple of more years of refinement under my belt. And, while I’ll probably have a hard timefinding a bottle of the Mexican good stuff in time for today, I’ll certainly beheading south through Tijauna next time I’m in San Diego. You should consider the same.
HappyCinco de May and Viva Mexico!
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May 4 2006
If you’re like me, the DaVinci Code, soon to be a majormotion picture, introduced you to a lot of academic theory—the least of which,for me at least, was the Fibonacci Sequence.
Likea bit player, the Fibonacci Sequence was referenced fleetingly via Jacques Sauniere,the murdered curator of the Louvre, to Sophie, his estranged granddaughter.
The Fibonacci number sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,13, 21, 34, 55, in which each number is the sum of the two preceding numbers.
Scientistsbegan to discover examples of the Fibonacci sequence in nature. For example:
A detailed description of the Fibonacci Sequence can be found here, and excerpted below.
Fibonacciis also stated as having described the sequence "encoded in the ancestryof a male bee." This turns out to be the Fibonacci sequence. One canderive this truth by taking the following facts:
If one traces theancestry of this male bee (1 bee), he has 1 female parent (1 bee). This femalehad 2 parents, a male and a female (2 bees). The female had two parents, a maleand a female, and the male had one female (3 bees). Those two females each hadtwo parents, and the male had one (5 bees). If one continues this sequence, itgives a perfectly accurate depiction of the Fibonacci.
With Spring upon us, andpalates turning to lighter fare, I’ve seen a couple of mentions of Meadwine. Mead is, of course, wine madefrom honey—the sweet by-product from bees and their pollination activity.
According to the nicelycomprehensive site, www.aboutmead.com:
The history of mead isrich. It’s glorious history dates back thousands of years, predating both wineand beer. Although there are no references to support this, it is believed thatmead is the drink that gave us the tradition of the honeymoon. According tothis legend, the newlywed couple was given a month’s (moon’s) supply of mead inthe hopes of ensuring a fruitful union. If a son was born, the meadmaker wascongratulated on the quality of his mead. And there are many legends aboutmead’s aphrodisiac qualities. As these legends span civilizations andcenturies, one has to wonder if they might be true.
Just like grape-basedwines, mead can be made dry to sweet, still or sparkling, and with a range ofalcohol contents.
There are around 50Meaderies located throughout the United States. And, it’s making a bit of acomeback—you can find a list of “meaderies” near you at this link.
With the "Slow Food" movement making in-roads into mainstream American, not to mention the "Whole Fooding/Whole Paychecking" intersection, Mead wines might be poised for a breakout—particulary because "wineries" can be started and based upon local supplies of honey—this is key for the non-California boutique winery movement that often isn’t capitalized enough to plant their own vines and reliant upon a California shipment of grapes for their own product.
It bears watching, and I’ve found that some local Meads, when crafted in the style of a wine can be like a semi-sweet Riesling or an off-dry Gewurtz—both very enjoyable comparisons.
I’m not sure if Sir Leigh Teabing, from the DaVinci Code, enjoyed Mead, but given his proclivity for history, I’m sure the fact that Mead is attributed as our first alcoholic beverage is something he would appreciate.
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May 3 2006
And, you thought your high schooler or "Days of our Lives" was a soap opera.
Mark, a columnist on the Wine Sediments blog has a terrific "calling on the rug" post regarding the 30 year anniversary and recreation of the 1976 Paris Wine Tasting in Monday’s column.
The crux of the issue can be found in this excerpt from the column:
Inthe re-creation, "it has now been decided that ... the wines will bepresented semi-blind –- the panels will know which region but not which winethey are tasting."
WHAT??Let me translate that for you ...
...into chickenspeak: BAWK bawk bawk BAWK bawk bawk BAWK.
Withoutthe suspense of a truly blind tasting in which the experts choose theirfavorites without geopolitical influence—and run the risk of confusingCalifornia wines with French wines and vice versa, as clearly happened in the1976 tasting—there is no point in even bothering to hold this event. It is,quite simply, a sham.
And why is this beingdone? Due to some of the owners of the prestigious Bordeaux houses involved inthe original tasting "not wishing to have their wines tasted blind againstCalifornian wines," according to Decanter.com
Mark based his column on a Decanter column from April 28th.
There were some other machination’s involved with people and personalities, as well.
For example, The Baroness Philippine de Rothschild refused toparticipate in a
blind tasting of her Mouton Rothschild wines against theCalifornians, but her niece or cousin or somebody elected to step in to upholdthe family name.
Your first thought is that the French are a bunch of namby-pamby pantywaists afraid to stack their vino up against the Americans for fear of losing a second time, right? It’s the gas-guzzling SUV aesthete against the refined European, fast-casual restaurants versus dining, New World versus Old World, progress versus preservation of tradition argument.
But, as any college football fan knows, "Not so fast, my friend."
The Wall Street Journal reports on Tuesday that the Americans, clearly missing their opportunity to take the high road, are wallowing in their own pettiness and ego.
This excerpt from the story summarizes it, but you can find the whole article here.
Thefeud is an old one. Not long after Chateau Montelena won the Paris tasting, thealready strained relationship between the winery’s owner, James L. Barrett, andits winemaker, Mr. Grgich, worsened. Mr. Grgich quit in mid-1977 and foundedhis own winery.
IN THE YEARS SINCE, both Chateau Montelena andGrgich Hills have separately celebrated their involvement in the Paris tasting.Both men helped George M. Taber, the only journalist present at the 1976 tasting,with research for his 2005 book, "Judgment of Paris: California vs. Franceand the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine."
Reading galleys of the book last spring, Mr. Grgichwas enraged to see Mr. Barrett’s claims that the award-winning wine had anunusual copper color a few weeks after bottling that eventually disappeared,suggesting it was imperfect. Mr. Grgich says he angrily phoned ChateauMontelena and threatened to sue Mr. Taber for libel. Mr. Grgich maintained the1973 Chateau Montelena chardonnay was "perfect from the beginning."
Mr. Barrett gave the anniversary organizers anultimatum: "If you want Mike and his wines, I’m not coming," Mr.Barrett says he told the organizers. "My dispute is that he’s on an egotrip," he says.
Mr. Grgich says the opposite is true and that it ishis old boss who is unfairly "trying to claim credit, even though hedidn’t make the wine." He was excluded from the 10th and 20th anniversarycelebrations, he says, and feels "they are still trying to push me out ofit."
I’m not sure which is worse: a chicken or a bunch of fools, but there’s plenty of the former and the latter to go around in this situation. They ought to just let Parker come in and do the tasting, now that would solve the problem.
This reminds of the family that is fighting in the front room while a thief takes a TV through the backdoor. The Australians are surely watching this nonsense. Anybody for a nice Penfolds Grange?
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May 3 2006
The Stormhoek invasion has started.
The first wine geek dinner for Stormhoek Winery was held on May 1st in San Antonio.
If you want to get updated on this very cool concept of wine bloggers as marketing entry point for this S. African winery, you can check out the following links: stormhoek, Good Grape Post #1, Good Grape post #2, Blog and Stormhoek marketing disruption guy, Hugh at Gaping Void, and the report from the first dinner
Here are some Flickr picts from Kami at Communications Overtone and the coordinator for the first dinner:
Oddly, no reports on if they enjoyed the wine.
Stormhoek had this to say:
Just About 100 Dinners
With only 10 days to go and the latest count on the wiki now standing
at 69, plus ton of email requests from all over, by our reckoning we’re pretty much there.
Hosts so far are quite an eclectic mix of geeks, musicians,mathematicians, actors, explorers and would you believe, nudists.Apparently, we’ve got those hoping to determine the future of theworld, those who’d prefer to write a song about it, suduko
challengers, crypozoological impersonators, and even a GPS treasure
hunt adventurist.
Perhaps most intriguing is the group planning to have their dinnerparty ‘in a natural state’. Well, who are we to judge? It doesn’tmatter to us what you do (or don’t) wear! We just hope you have goodconversation, and most of all enjoy the wine! Although on reflection,they may have meant a party in The Natural State of Arkansas … Welleither way, we hope you have fun guys. We’re pulling straws to see whofrom Stormhoek attends that one.
I still haven’t heard from Stormhoek on whether I’ve been confirmed for the dinner, though I think I need to sign the Wiki and be aggressive in terms of identifying time and place and they’ll get it taken care of. They are, afterall, in S. Africa, and based on the looks of their blog, they are charmingly non corporate.
This whole thing is pretty cool. I’m not sure if there was any significance to the first dinner being held on May 1st, but there is a "May Days" people uprising kind of spirit to this!
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