January 7 2008
Author Note: I was lucky to collaborate with Jill from online wine retailer Domaine547 (http://www.domaine547.com) in putting together a three-pack of wine recommendations that Jill has made available for purchase at the site. It’s a cool project--she basically gave me carte blanche on the wine recommendations giving me only the stipulation that she be able to source it into California. I chose three whites from Oregon producers that are all excellent wines at a reasonable price. I have no vested or financial interest in this other than supporting an online wine retailer that actively engages in the wine blogosphere in addition to the vicarious thrill of making wine recommendations that I believe in. Please check out and buy the Good Grape Wine Blogger Sampler Pack at this link.
The below is an excerpt of the newsletter that is included with your purchase.
Somewhere between being a contrarian and a lemming is where I like to write and observe. I call it being “pragmatically idealistic.” Because of this, I knew I’d have to get creative with my theme for the Wine Blogger Sampler Pack. A California Cab three-pack probably wouldn’t fly, you know what I’m saying? And, this semi-contrarian bent is probably the reason I’m enjoying whites this time of year, flying in the face of the ‘comfort casserole and red wine’ prevailing wisdom.
The endlessly fascinating thing about wine and what has allowed it to hold my gaze for far longer than any other pursuit is the fact that you can never, ever have empirical expertise on wine. There is an inexhaustible amount of information to know and continue learning. For this reason, I think Jill from D457 and I are like-minded spirits. One of the impetuses for her to develop this site was, in her words:
“(I) came to realize that wine offers a terrific means for traveling the world. Not in the traditional sense, mind you, but in a modern, newfangled, and virtual sense. Sure, you can physically visit wineries on six continents, 70 countries, and an almost uncountable number of cities, towns, and villages. But sometimes you don’t have the time, or you don’t have the money (in our case, we’re a little short on both). But at some point it dawned on us that wine was actually bringing the world to us, right to our doorstep, to our dining room, and to our mouths— by way of the history, local culture, cuisine, science, and so much else captured in each 750 ml bottle.”
This is armchair travel at its best because my recommendations are around Riesling and an Alsatian blend. No need to head to the outlying nether regions of northeastern France (Or Germany for that matter, where the Alsace region passed back and forth between France and Germany several times between the 17th and 20th century) or hop a bird to Oregon during the winter, it’s all here in the glass.
Why choose Riesling? Several reasons … First, it’s the Alsace regions predominant varietal. Secondarily, Riesling is one of the hottest selling varietals in the U.S. market today, noted, alongside Willamette Valley’s other famous grape, Pinot Noir, for its ability to pair with a wide range of food. A brief sidebar and prediction: long after Pinot Noir has lost its trendiness amongst the general population, Riesling will be going strong and competing well in the section of the marketplace for food white wines and the fast-growing un-oaked Chardonnay category. The third reason for choosing Riesling is Oregon’s Willamette Valley is frequently compared to Alsace and many of the same varietals are planted in the region—according to the Willamette Valley web site:
“…The Willamette Valley compares favorably with the Burgundy and Alsace regions of France. Wineries also produce Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, Melon, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, sparkling wine, Sauvignon Blanc, and some Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah.”
Fourth, the wineries chosen, Amity and Brooks, have incredible back story’s that are compelling to any budding or bloomed wine enthusiast and, finally, and most importantly, each of these wines are delicious—and compelling examples of the high quality that can be produced in the U.S. at a reasonable price. You will not be disappointed.
Amity Vineyards 2005 Willamette Valley Riesling
Founded in 1974 and one of Oregon’s pioneering wineries, nestled to the north in the Willamette Valley, Amity makes small lots of affordable, but high-end Pinot Noir, Riesling and Gewurztraminer, amongst other varietals.
Tasting Note: Floral and citrus fill the nose, and lead into a rich, full bodied wine. Unlike most Rieslings that are made for sipping this wine is intended for food. It is a perfect match to shellfish, crab, and white fish.
A scant 100 cases of this Riesling was made from estate grown fruit.
Brooks Winery 2006 Willamette Valley Riesling
Brooks is a darling in the Oregon wine scene. Founded by Jimi Brooks in 1998 and focusing on Pinot Noir and Riesling, Brooks is an organically farmed vineyard noted for their high quality. Sunset Magazine named the 2005 Riesling their “Favorite Western Riesling.”
Jimi Brooks, unfortunately, met an untimely death at the age of 38 in September of 2004, but the winery lives on under the guidance of his sister and as a legacy for Brooks’ young son, Pascal, who is frequently cited as one of the youngest winery owners in the world.
Quality and a commitment to excellence have not flagged since Jimi’s passing and the torch carries on continuing to build the winery in his spirit.
Tasting Note: This wine is not your typical Riesling… it is an initiative to restore the reputation of old world German Rieslings and to showcase how well old vines can grow in the Willamette Valley … immediate aromas of green apple, minerals, white currents, raspberries, cherries and citrus. After some time in the glass chestnuts, honey, slate, lime and mint all make an appearance. The focus pushes the wine into the mid-palate with concentrated flavors of stone and honey. There is great power, succulence and depth in this gorgeous wine.
493 cases produced.
Brooks Winery 2006 Amycas Alsatian White Blend
Tasting Note: A fanciful name for a blend of noble white varietals. Pure, complex and diverse … Immediate aromas of ripe peaches, lime, white flowers, citrus fruits, clover honey and ripe cavaillon melons. With air, apricots, tangerines, wet stones, cinnamon and clove notes, nectarines and hints of fresh hay add to the complexity. Rich texture and great focus. Intriguing blend of honey and minerals with a broad mid-palate is rich, with good texture and presence. A great value for a powerful wine.
1118 cases produced.
So, there you have it. Three beautiful whites from two wonderful producers in Oregon. All of the wines are tremendous values and scarcely distributed outside of their home state. Assuredly, you won’t find these beauties at your local shop. Purchase them at Domaine547 www.domaine547.com
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Posted in, Tasting Safari: Wines You Can Buy Online. Permalink | Comments (2) | Print | Email This
January 5 2008
It may be that Karl Rove, deposed political operative and widely acknowledged architect of the swift boat credibility attack on John Kerry in the 2004 Presidential election, has nothing on Rich Bergsund, CEO of Wine.com.
It would seem that both are fully willing to reach deep inside the bag of dirty tricks in order to achieve their goals.
For Wine.com, their goals are obscured by the canard of wanting to change the laws for the entire industry, but that’s not a very dense smokescreen. I would posit that it has more to do with eliminating competition. This dueling positioning is, at best, dubious and, at worst, despicable and therefore the crux of this post.
I have absolutely no issue or challenge with somebody, anybody doing good for goods sake—acting as a whistleblower for the sole purpose of trying to right a wrong for the sake of doing the right thing. It’s only when somebody does this with less than noble intention, the opportunity for remuneration, or for bettering of their own position that it crosses over into slimy territory.
What Wine.com is doing is exactly akin to your buddy telling your girlfriend that you’re (insert perceived disrespect) in order to drive a break-up between you and your girlfriend. Said friend subsequently swoops in to provide comfort to your now ex-girlfriend.
It’s just one of the unwritten rule no-no’s that you don’t do. There is no crying in baseball but there is honor in the gentleman’s agreement that is love, life, baseball and business--if you want to throw a pitch on the inside of the plate, no problem, but don’t throw at somebody’s head.
First, a little context (and if you want to see a run down on this issue separate from my digest version, check out Vinography.com here).
Basically, wine.com is ordering wine from competing online retailers, many with brick and mortar stores, and having those orders shipped to them in order to create a paper trail of an alleged illegal wine shipping transaction. Wine.com is then sending letters to that states alcohol enforcement division turning in the culprits. It’s an entrapping sting operation. And, where wine.com is doing this happens to coincide with where they have a physical infrastructure in order to comply with the letter of the law in those states. Their contention is that retailers are shipping illegally and they are shipping legally. Therefore, the other retailers should be punitively punished and if the enforcement agents aren’t wise, then Wine.com will make them wise. How generous of them and completely in keeping with Bergsund’s contention that they want an even playing field (yes, I’m being sarcastic).
According to Rich Cartiere’s Wine Market Report (found here)
Wine.Com says it is taking the unusual and controversial actions because alcohol regulators that require out-of-state retailers to set up in-state operations for direct wine shipping are not uniformly applying and enforcing those regulations, putting the high-profile Wine.Com at a competitive disadvantage to its otherwise numerous illegal peers. Wine.Com has opened facilities in each of those states.
Bergsund goes on and is quoted as saying:
Wine.Com CEO Rich Bergsund says his company wants “nothing more or nothing less than just a level playing field” for everyone engaged in interstate direct shipping.
In the comments section at Alder’s post on Vinography.com, Bergsund says:
SO...we think it’s time for answers on this topic by the state regulators to either:
1) enforce their laws uniformly and fairly OR
2) open up to interstate shipping
We’re ok with either outcome, though the second would be the best for the health of the online wine market. Keep in mind that online wine is still tiny compared to overall wine. The biggest barrier to growth in online wine is the current stalemate on state laws. If we can use our legal standing in a state to get their attention to the issue, maybe we can bring about changes that will benefit the online wine business.
Unfortunately, Bergsund’s contention rings hollow. What this really boils down to is another quote from the Wine Market Report:
“We’ve had to ask ourselves whether we are wasting our time and energy having all these warehouses all over the country or not while others apparently do not,” added Bergsund. We deserve an answer on that.”
If he were truly interested in protecting his business and ensuring its growth he would be hiring counsel and a lobbyist and engaging with lawmakers like thousands of other special interests due everyday, many successfully. He would be doing this while building out his own business against his competitors.
Or, he could join the Specialty Wine Retailers Association, which he is supposedly not a member of, and whose sole cause is to ensure a free market for wine shipping for wine retailers of all stripes.
Allow me to give Bergsund some advice, a bit of counsel and insight that his Stanford undergrad and MBA didn’t afford him on his path to partner at management company Bain & Co., before joining the CEO circuit: if you want to do this sort of thing, have it two layers removed from your company and being executed by a lawyer, a consultant working behind a non-profit association, an intern or the WSWA association, who would undoubtedly take a check from you to engage in this kind of thing. This way, when the PR roils up you may get caught in the collateral crossfire, but not completely in the middle of the bullseye. I went to a middling 2nd-tier state school in the Midwest, and I know this …
Instead, the Wine.com tactics are transparently exposing the company for seeking to eliminate competition by narc’ing on competitors to advance their own cause.
Integrity? I hardly know ye. Somewhere the Karl Rove politico tactics book is being put back into its place on the book shelf; pages dog-eared and tattered by a wine retailer. What a shame.
Author Note: The Wine.com Affiliate Sponsorship is Coming Down ...
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January 2 2008
House and Garden magazine is ceasing operation. This would otherwise be a blip on the radar in the “another one bites the dust” graveyard of magazines were it not for Jay Mcinerney’s notable contributions as a wine writer par excellence.
The author of several critically lauded fiction books and two additional book compendiums of his wine essays—A Hedonist in the Cellar and Bacchus and Me--Mcinerney is one of the most erudite, yet accessible wine writer’s making keystrokes on a laptop today. Second, perhaps, to Matt Kramer from Wine Spectator.
As the story goes in the preface to one of his books, an editor friend asked him if he wanted to pen a monthly wine column for House and Garden and given his writerly ways and predilection for vino a match was made between he and the magazine; of course, a subscriber was made out of me, if only to read his monthly columns.
Perhaps if the magazine had a wider focus than an editorial ethos skewing towards decorating schematics utilizing $600 decorative throw pillows and $450 table lamps, it might not have met an untimely death, but I digress …
The really valuable thing about Mcinerney is he writes from the perspective of a guy that knows something about wine, but is endlessly inquisitive and not the least bit pretentious—the end result is usually a juicy essay around 800-1000 words that is brisk, informative and memorable. In a day and age where most wine writers either write for Susie Homemaker or 1% of the wine population, Mcinerney stood out by writing for the kind of people that read wine blogs—intelligent, but not too big for their wine britches. If you haven’t read his collection of essays, I would highly encourage you to pick up both of his wine books used on Amazon.com and shhhhhhh … don’t tell Mcinerney either … he gets screwed on royalties when you buy a used book … I figure its karmic payback for all of the fabulous junkets he took as a result of his wine writing sideline …
In fact, it was Mcinerney, who through his prose turned me onto Condrieu. Condrieu is a wine-growing AOC in the northern Rhône region of France, on the right bank. Coming from only some 300 acres of planted vines, a succulent and expensive Viognier is produced that is notable for its delicacy and its amazing floral aromatics.
It was the Condrieu that my wife and I enjoyed at the Sea Grill at the Rockefeller Center while in New York in October that made the dinner, not the seafood on the plate. A bit forbidding at the start and over-chilled, the wine came up to temperature and turned into a kaleidoscope of amazing flavors nuanced to a greater extent than you’ll ever see in a California white. It’s no wonder the Sea Grill is a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence winner with wines like the one I enjoyed populating its wine list.
Speaking of Wine Spectator, and having already made the Matt Kramer reference, I think it’s only fitting that Wine Spectator take a looooooong and hard look at adding to their stable of wine writers. Perhaps it’s not according to the culture of WS that a hired gun comes in to write a column--most of the wine writers have cut their teeth there for years. However, adding Mcinerney adds considerable chops to their wine writing staff and a decidedly outsider POV that would be refreshing and refreshingly engaging from a content perspective.
Put it this way—if The Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator are the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox of the wine journalism genre, then picking up a marquee off-season free agent might be the ticket to the World Series. It takes a team to win, but sometimes the team needs the outside difference-maker. With the flak that Wine Spectator takes from such a divergent audience, adding a superstar that speaks to me and thousands of others seems like a safe bet.
What do you say Wine Spectator? A monthly column for Mcinerney nestled between Laube and Kramer? I’d love to see somebody in the three spot writing a column that would set the table for Kramer to hit clean-up!
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