July 10 2008
19th century French Gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin famously remarked, “Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.”
Nowadays, a nation of Foodies hide the Velveeta.
In that vein, I will not tell you what I eat (though, because of virtue and discipline I have eaten McDonald’s only once this calendar year), but I will tell you what I prefer to drink (In no certain order).
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape
• Barolo
• Barbaresco
• Alsatian whites
• Rhone whites
• Unoaked California Chard
• California, Oregon & Michigan Pinot Noir
• California Zinfandel (particularly Old Vine)
• Napa Cabernet
• Spanish Tempranillo
• Lambrusco
• Moscato d’Asti
• Amarone
• Port
• Champagne
• Regional cordial (fruit) wines
I leave it to you – Who am I as a wine enthusiast?
digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (5) | Print | Email This
July 5 2008
Verge Wine Cellars released their first vintage in March of this year, a ’06 Dry Creek Syrah, and already they are in the top 5% of wine producers in the country, in my opinion.
Why am I tossing out the lofty platitudes for an unproven winery with a single varietal of a single wine from a single vintage?
A winery that comes out of the gate as fully conceived, full of conviction and put-together as the guys at Verge are, in my mind, are staring at nothing but green pastures and blue skies for their future.
Simply, most people do not know who they are, or what they want to be. Drawing a line in the sand and saying, “This is what we’re about” is completely refreshing.
Already named to a San Francisco Chronicle watch list for up and coming wineries, there is a lot to like with Verge.
They know what they believe in regarding the grapes, how they plan to sell their wine, with a cohesive story, and they utilize the best of new marketing tactics without it devolving into a distraction.
Take this as an example of where the guys at Verge are coming from and let it be noted that anybody that comes out of the gate with a Manifesto is a kindred spirit to Good Grape:
Syrah Manifesto
Let it henceforth be known to all mankind and future generations of winemakers, grape growers, vinophiles, wine adventurers, sommeliers, wine buyers, modern day rumrunners, moonshiners and all other discerning tipplers and non-teetotalers that:
Syrah, long in the shadow of the evil twins of greed and false devotion, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir, is hereby declared the world’s finest grape varietal with no second or equal.
Syrah, a vigorous vine indeed, must suffer and strain to produce great wines but can only do so when planted far from the likes of the fertile valley.
Syrah, when found on the outlying tracts of viticultural areas, in the hills, off the back roads, next to forests and the natural habitats of insects, mammals and fowl, on the fringe, is supremely good.
Syrah, when grown organically or biodynamically in this type of place, is intrinsically superior. Why continue the use of harmful agrichemicals?
Syrah is most unique and expressive when made by small producers who seek out distinctive vineyard sources and employ small-scale, minimalist winemaking techniques.
Syrah, grown for over thirty years in California, must be pushed past mediocrity to excellence by like-minded wineries and growers.
Verge Wine Cellars will combine right site, right vineyard, right winemaking and right mind, to produce expressive, age-worthy Syrah.
Verge Wine Cellars will follow the grand traditions of our winemaking brethren and sisters from the granite hills of Hermitage to the eastern slopes of the Barossa Range to the iconoclastic Rangers here in California. Never quit.
LONG VINIFY SYRAH!
We caught up with Verge Co-owner, Jay Kell, for our 20 “Not So Penetrating Questions.” Here is what he had to say (and remember to leave a comment and take a guess at which one of the last three answers in question 20 is an artful dodge on the truth).
Good Grape: Which of the Seven Deadly Sins are you most guilty of?
Jay Kell/Verge: Gluttony would be right up there. Mostly Laute and Forente. I tend to go right for the caviar cart.
Good Grape: What is your biggest pet peeve?
Jay Kell/Verge: Impatience. I’m also a big believer in promptly returning phone calls and emails. It’s part of what keeps the lights on in any business.
Good Grape: What is on your nightstand?
Jay Kell/Verge:
Just read: Tobias Wolff “Old School”
Just starting: Michael Ondaatje “Divisidero”
In between: Daniel Imhoff “Farming with the Wild”
Constantly: Cookbooks
Good Grape: What is in your refrigerator or pantry that you would not openly admit?
Jay Kell/Verge: Crisco Vegetable Shortening. Always a standby when lard is not availble.
Good Grape: What do you drink when you are not drinking wine?
Jay Kell/Verge: Water, Guinness, Bourbon. Is there anything more?
Good Grape: What type of music or radio station is played most often in your car?
Jay Kell/Verge: I am constantly rocking my good buddy Hayes Carll. Mostly R.L. Burnside, Dead Prez, The Roots, Grant Green, David Grisman, Peter Tosh.
Good Grape: In what era would you live if you transport yourself?
Jay Kell/Verge: Turn of the 20th century Graz, Austria.
Good Grape: What is the best wine-related book you have read?
Jay Kell/Verge: Like many people out there, I was inspired from the beginning of my wine career by Kermit Lynch’s “Adventures on the Wine Route”. I also like Jancis Robinson’s books
Good Grape: What is your favorite movie genre?
Jay Kell/Verge: Is Caddyshack or any other Bill Murray movie a genre?
Good Grape: Is your desk messy or organized?
Jay Kell/Verge: Papers neatly piled but I just barely make the Type A cut.
Good Grape: Are you always early or terminally late?
Jay Kell/Verge: First to arrive, last to leave.
Good Grape: Do you read the comics in the newspaper? If so, what is your favorite comic?
Jay Kell/Verge: No newspapers except on slow and lazy coffee laced Sundays. Always checking out homestarunner.com
Good Grape: Who would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
Jay Kell/Verge: I’ll just go ahead and say Ice Cube.
Good Grape: What super-power would you most like to have, and why?
Jay Kell/Verge: Telephathy would be cool as a means to understand what goes through someone’s mind when they taste a wine.
Good Grape: You are moving and can only take three or four items with you. What do you grab?
Jay Kell/Verge: The Santa Cruz OM guitar, the old school Gibson guitar, a case of the good stuff, and the IPOD.
Good Grape: What do you do if you have a spare hour?
Jay Kell/Verge: Cook something fresh for my wife.
Good Grape: What is the name of last great restaurant you dined at?
Jay Kell/Verge: Great to me is a restaurant where the folks are kind and the food is good. Zazu in Santa Rosa last week.
Good Grape: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Jay Kell/Verge: Chocolate.
Good Grape: What is the best compliment you have ever received?
Jay Kell/Verge: “That was the best mint julep I ever had.”
Good Grape: “2 Truths And a Lie” – Share 3 unique things about yourself and your life, 2 of them true, 1 false, readers will guess by leaving a comment
Jay Kell/Verge:
1) I got my start in business by making handmade pasta for restaurants in Arkansas.
2) For me, a degree in German Literature was the best preparation for the wine industry.
3) Making pinot noir really gets me excited.
digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (3) | Print | Email This
June 30 2008
Wine competitions, a polarizing subject in the online wine circles, are of great interest to me. Many view them as meaningless measures of merit, while I believe they are as good of a test against wine quality as any other subjective rating system.
I wrote extensively about wine competitions last year when the Charles Shaw Chardonnay took Double Gold at the California State Fair. You can see those posts chronologically here, here, here and here.
In my defense of wine competitions, the one thing I did not have was opinion qualified by first hand experience. Ah, but I have now solved that. Last week I was an esteemed media member and “Judge in Training” at the Indy International Wine Competition held from June 26 – 28th in Indianapolis, IN.
I received my invite after having a mildly scathing quote about an Indiana winery attributed to me in a front-page article of the Indianapolis Star, so I guess it is true that no publicity is bad publicity. Thanks to the organizers of the competition for not back-slapping me, and instead extending an olive branch. That said, the quote in the paper was taken out of context … I am a fan of regional wines, and particularly those in my backyard, which this competition handles with aplomb.
Aside from having a greater base of regional wines, the Indy wine competition is a very well-organized and finely tuned machine, to the extent that they have jousted with the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in recent years over the title of largest wine competition, having recently given way to the California behemoth. Just the same, the Indy International is a prestigious and well-represented competition and much less California-centric, with over 3200 entries, representing 15 countries and numerous states.
Based on my previous opinions on competitions, it was with a level of excitement that I joined a panel of five other judges in one of 15 judging panels. With an open mind willing to be swayed to the notion that wine competitions are bunk, I entered the fray with 75 other judges and thousands upon thousands of bottles of wine.
Given that I was playing hooky from work, I stayed for a half-day, tasted through three flights, and sized up my wine chops against the pros. And the pros had their work cut out for them going through nine or 10 flights comprised of 9-13 wines on day one alone.
A few of the things I learned include:
1) Judging in wine competitions is hard work.
Believe it. It is not easy to taste that many wines and while many would argue that palate fatigue sets in, I do not believe it is necessarily your palate that gets tired, it is your brain. Concentrating for such lengthy and sustained periods is not something, save for airline pilots and surgeons, that most of us do for an extended period.
2) Winemaking terms lend credibility: “It’s got a Phenolic bite.” “I’m getting some weird Acetaldehyde.”
I was, however, emboldened that my scoring (which did not count) was very much in line with that of the other judges, one of whom was a winemaker from Napa. This also happens to be the same winemaker that threw off winemaking terms that lends significant credibility in the same way that criticizing a soup at a fine dining restaurant engenders respect—nobody knows what the hell you are talking about, but it sounds smart. “This soup is complete rubbish, they soooo did not make their own stock.” Respect granted.
3) Despite spitting everything, you still absorb alcohol.
I was thankful for lunchtime, and prior to I had mowed through the palate cleansers at the table asking the judge seated next to me, “Is it bad form if I eat the crackers and cheese based on hunger, in addition to good judging practice?” She told me to go for it.
4) The scourge of wine tastings is allergies
My allergies were in check, but it was a high allergy day and you could hear the sneezing.
5) Some wineries submit bad, sucky wine
It is almost befuddling how much bad wine I tasted in a relatively short period of time … I understand that even a blind squirrel occasionally finds a nut, but operating at a level somewhere above deeply flawed and dreadful is a good place to start.
6) Fluorescent lighting does not mess with your palate, but it does mess with your head
Despite bad lighting, it does make you focus harder on the nose and the mid-palate
7) Watching a Napa-based judge try French-American hybrids is fun
‘Nuff said.
8) Wine competitions are completely legitimate and, yes, highly valid measures of wine quality
Peer reviews against other varietals and other judges palates, tasted blind under strict conditions is a very fine way to give a quality indicator of a wine, regardless of what others may say.
Overall, a very fun and pleasant experience and I hope I am invited back. The winners were announced last night and another maligned winery that I have defended, V. Sattui, won the International Pacesetter Trophy.
The Pacersetter Trophy honors the Best International Brand of the entire competition. The pride of St. Helena won four double gold, six gold, seventeen silver and six bronze medals—an astounding amount of winners!
Through my brief wine competition experience, I came away with an even greater amount of respect for wine competitions and the results that they yield. Next time you encounter a sticker on a bottle with a gold medal, I would urge you to take it as a sign of quality, as I did and do, and remember to drop a “phenolic” reference amongst your friends, as well.
Click here to see a list of winners by brand
digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (3) | Print | Email This
June 25 2008
Good Grape has a doppelganger; a Bizarro Superman; a nefarious equivalent, if only in name.
In my real life, I am used to this because I am an identical twin and I have gone through life answering to two names and bumping into my brother’s colleagues at the hardware store. Little did I know my online blog life has a like equivalent, as well.
Last night, before nodding off, I was in bed reading the current Cooking Light magazine (zip it for all macho men who are ready to insert a joke about my reading material), and as I was flipping through the very last pages of the magazine, what did I see but a full page ad for a wine commerce site called … Goodgrapes.com
WAIT … A … SECOND …
Immediately I leapt out of bed and checked my godaddy domain registrar account to see when the owner of the site registered the domain—November 2, 2000. For some reason, having beaten the owner of the site, Theresa, to the punch in registering the domain name was immediately important for me to confirm. I registered the name Goodgrape.com in March of 2000. I had beaten her by eight mos. Surely, she wanted goodgrape.com and failing that went with the alternative. Claiming victory, I went to bed.
The origin of the name Good Grape is, unfortunately, not very interesting. I wish I had a better back-story, but it is pretty simple, especially for somebody like me who contemplates detail for sport. I was sitting on the couch of a friend drinking a beer before heading out for some nightlife. My friend and I often talked about business ventures, entrepreneurial aspirations and the like and I was talking about wanting to start a wine commerce site—mind you, this was in the wine online Mesolithic era of 2000. My buddy asked me what I would call it and immediately and without forethought, I blurted out, “Good Grape.” And, my tag line would be “Celebrate the Good Grape.” I wish I had a beautiful Burgundy as a social lubricant to thank for the moment, but it was the influence of a couple of Bud Lights. The next morning I registered the domain.
So, you can imagine my surprise when seeing the ad for Goodgrapes.com and seeing the interestingly peculiar, smiling mug of—undoubtedly—the owner of the site that sells Champagne. Check out the ad here. It breaks about every advertising rule there is for layout. Plus, the models’ cleavage leading to indiscernible breasts is equally interesting. Though, I do have to note her grimaced smile does look as if she has some bubbles … bubbles of the stomach sort …
That aside, it seems like a nice enough site and the owner is likely a small business owner with a wine passion and that’s something I can get behind, even if her business name is a little close for comfort. Raise a toast, bubbles even, to a new entrant to the wine commerce space and my doppelganger, goodgrapes.com.
digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (3) | Print | Email This
June 22 2008
The 1st Annual Wine Blogger Conference commences October 24th in Sonoma. Organized by the Open Wine Consortium, led by Joel Vincent with a big helping hand from Tom Wark, and co-hosted by Zephyr Wine Adventures, the three-day event should prove to be a valuable educational and networking event for all participants. And, here’s hoping that material progress comes out of the event, as well—particularly around brainstorming ways to enhance progress.
The elephant in the room in regards to wine blogging is the two-headed monster called “credible monetization.” This, not so coincidentally, is also the area where the most material progress is necessary. Simply, most people that engage in wine blogging want more credibility and they would not mind making a little money from the time spent blogging.
But, let us face it, despite the occasional wine sample, free books from publishers, a paltry Google Adsense check, and the ‘once in a blue moon’ paid ad, the rewards from writing a wine site are much more deeply personal than they are financial.
For whatever reason, wine blogging, unlike other niches like product affinity groups (ex: iPod) and politics (ex: Huffington Post), has not seen the progress forward to legitimacy that is necessary to make wine blogging a truly dynamic force in the marketplace.
I hope that the Wine Blogger Conference is a step forward in making progress towards the goal of creating an influence mechanism that can take on the power wielded by traditional media.
20th century social critic and philosopher Eric Hoffer said, “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”
Wine blogging is ready to become a business and hopefully never degenerates into a racket.
In order to do so, it will not be pretty. There is a deeply rooted philosophical bent towards full disclosure and integrity, two noble notions that are not always simpatico with capitalism, and what makes business such a racket sometimes. This does not even begin to mention and acknowledge the iconoclasm that is inherent to blogging. Wine bloggers are a collaborative and helpful lot, but there are not a whole lot of people willing to take a backseat to another.
This is the Achilles heel of making progress: wine blogger ethos + wine blogger pathos.
Secondarily, the bloody truth of wine blogging is that wine journalism as a niche is controlled like the Third Reich—pick your dictator: Wine Spectator or the Wine Advocate. Neither is going to give any help to the friendly competition anytime soon. In fact, given that Parker started with Ralph Nader as an influence, I think he probably understands the competitive opportunity that blogs wield.
Whether wine bloggers like it or not, I do not anticipate a day in the near future where respect and legitimacy is conferred, therefore, we must make and take our respect. Similar to what Parker did in bucking convention.
I have an idea that I would like to explore in the “Unconference” portion of the event that I think will create a coalition of legitimacy.
Have you ever wondered what value “The Wines of Austria” get out of ads in Wine Spectator? Me, too.
With ad rates north of $30K for a full page and in the $15K range for a 1/3 page ad, do you think that money can be better spent elsewhere, amongst real influencers?
Yes!
Here is the sketch of the idea. Lenn from Lenndevours has done a terrific job with his Wine Blogging Wednesday thematic tasting collective. I would like to see something very similar, but organized like a commerce-oriented cooperative.
Wine Blogging Review Coalition (WBRC)
• Founders of the WBRC invite bloggers with participation limited to 20 bloggers in the first year
• Every participant must complete some form of education by the end of the first year of their participation—either the Introductory Master Sommelier course or Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW)
- A portion of first year blogger earnings are held in escrow and paid upon completion of training at which point the money can be paid to tuition for training by the blogger
• Solicited sponsorship from US-based International wine organizations (and domestic wine associations and wineries, as well)—Wines of Australia, Wines of New Zealand, Wines of Spain, Wines of Austria, etc. to a Wine Blogging Review Coalition web site. Includes advertising on the WBRC site and the blogger tasting participants in addition to participation grants to writers
• Wine reviews are coordinated as frequently as necessary based on specific wine samples from the sponsoring organization. Additional sponsorship fees go into the cooperative fund for the writer participation grants
• All bloggers participating write a review with some common standards for narrative structure and reviewing format (i.e. stars, points, etc.)
• Wine blogger participants are held to no guidelines for the content of their review—they are free to write as glowingly or critically frank of the wine as they deem appropriate.
• All content is published on the blog writer’s blog, the Wine Blogging Review Coalition blog and provided back to the international wine organization for their re-use and re-purpose with some copyright reserved to the author. POS materials are also created for the sponsoring organization’s use.
Really, this takes the core of Wine Blogging Wednesday and enhances it with fair collaboration and monetization in mind. It addresses integrity, it addresses the competence of reviews with the educational component, it creates an organized central body, and it addresses the ability to leverage the review for marketing purposes with the client.
Wineries participating get ready access to influencers, they get wine reviews for PR purposes and they get POS materials to use in the channel.
So, this is what I hope to discuss at the Wine Bloggers Conference, in addition to meeting many friends and peers.
If you have an enhancement idea for the Wine Blogging Review Coalition, which is admittedly only version .5 in development, please feel free to leave a comment for all to see.
digg this | toast this! | add to del.icio.us | add to newsvine | add to furl | add to reddit
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (16) | Print | Email This
Enter your email address for a monthly summary of posts, additional news and information available only to email subscribers. Your email is never rented, nor sold to anybody else!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.5 License.
Design by The Blog Studio
