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May 22 2007
On the heels of my post on Wine Library TV and their acquisition/partnership with Cork’d, comes a couple of more wine-related video blogs. I present to you two new viewing options for your consideration: WineTaste TV and Taste of Wine TV.
Got that? If you’re mildly dyslexic and a wine lover welcome to Dante’s 7th circle. The only worse thing they could have done is called it “Lesley sips Sauternes and Swims Sweetly in Sweden” TV and tortured some folks with lisps, too.
WineTaste TV/Taste of Wine TV.
So much for creativity.
I’m reminded of movie producers and television executives. By gosh, if one disaster movie about an asteroid hurtling towards earth gets a green light (Armageddon) than two movies (Deep Impact) must be absolute consumer gold.
Nonetheless, there are now a couple of wine-related video blog Internet viewing options separate from Wine Library TV.
The first and clearly superior option of the two new entries is WineTaste TV. Lo and behold, it’s a similar set-up to Gary’s. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Gary should be blushing. Brought to us by the good people at Zachy’s, the premiere wine retailer in New York, their vlog is a polished production with occasional appearances by Karen MacNeil, a noted wine expert and author.
Based on the couple of episodes I watched with Oriel Wines founder John Hunt, Richard Betts from Betts & Scholl, and Karen MacNeil it might be a little too slick and produced. Or, maybe it’s not authentic enough—hard to put my finger on it. But, in regards to authenticity, to quote former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart describing hard-core pornography, “I know it when I see it.”
The overall site is nicely set-up with the ability to buy the wines that are discussed within an easy click, but, strictly from a consumer perspective, occupying real estate in the wine space on the Internet, I’d like to see them be a little less overtly sales-oriented and slick.
Blogging and online communities thrive on transparency and while the folks at WineTaste TV aren’t hiding the fact that they are trying to sell you something, it seems like a little more do-gooder-ism and less sales bludgeoning might help them out. Case in point: underneath the video screen is an area that says, “Contact WineTaste TV about content and sponsorship opportunities.” Huh? I mean, c’mon guys. Bury that somewhere in the navigation, not underneath the area where you watch the content.
Another major faux pas is the fact that a quick check of iTunes indicates that you can’t get the content on iTunes. No additional comment necessary … it’s just a major gaffe and unfathomable that it occurred.
According to the site, a blog, message board and additional content is pending.
Check it out at: www.winetastetv.com
The other bit of online video content is re-purposed content from a Taste of Wine TV, a show based in So. California that features wine, food, people, and places from the region. It’s much less polished than the Zachy’s vlog; even though the segments appear on actual television. The show has a regional PBS feel to it. They do get it right in that their content is available on iTunes, though they chose to use Google video when YouTube or blip.tv might have been a better choice.
Kudos, in general, to them as they get some insightful and engaging guests, too—Mick Fleetwood and Marc Mondavi show up for interviews that end up as podcasts that can be found here and here.
If you’re wine video blogeth cup isn’t quite filled up enough with Gary from Wine Library TV, check out WineTaste TV or, er, Taste of Wine TV, er, both of them.
Gary, for his part, though, might tell you to take a Passsz.
Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (3) | Print |
May 18 2007
The other day I wrote a post about the opportunity I took last week to check out Crushpad wine in San Francisco.
The next night, I met up with filmmaker Bret Lyman a.k.a. B. Napa to have a glass of wine and talk shop—his filmmaking and my blogging.
I last talked with B. Napa on the cusp of the screening of his film at the Sonoma Film Festival in April. Then, as now, Bret strikes me as the kind of guy that combines a subdued charisma with heartfelt passion and a desire to put a stamp on the world, albeit through his own filter, the lense of a filmmaker’s camera.
If you haven’t checked out the short film yet, you should.
Thankfully, B. Napa has bigger plans for a larger scale documentary, many details still being fleshed out, and the obtuse answer to a specific query deflects his plans not yet ready to be revealed.
Quotes about wine being a social lubricant are numerous and apt. People that have problems drinking usually drink to forget, but wine lovers usually drink to feel, as a part of social intercourse. Bret, unwittingly, or perhaps very knowingly, captures the essence of “feeling” in his work; there is an undercurrent of humanity to all of his stuff that marks him as a talent to watch. When you watch the short film, clocking in at a brisk 13 minutes, you’ll see an eye for detail rarely seen on a broad level, in any subject area. B. Napa has a lyrical eye for detail and a sense for music that matches mood that elevates his work to a level worthy of a bigger stage.
An appropriate quote from Bret’s narration at the beginning of the short, “Crush” sets the stage:
In reference to Don & Son’s winemaker Richard Bruno:
“He and I, we’re not so different.
As a filmmaker I harvest images; clusters of time measured in seconds, minutes. Together they tell a story, become a film.
As a winemaker, Richard harvests the landscape where time is measured in years, each one a vintage, the resulting wine a documentary of taste.”
Check out the films and leave a comment. I personally think that a film that cuts to the human element of the wine industry is ready for a national audience, a sort of Wine Film 2.0 evolution to the macro niche-interest of Mondovino and the black comedy of Sideways. Just as the Oscar winning documentary “Hoop Dreams” told a bigger story then two kids in inner-city Chicago trying to make it in basketball, so too is there a bigger tableau to explore in wine. What do you think?
“Crush” Short Film (Links to Don & Sons site with great video clarity)
http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=770018169
“Topaz” Short Film
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May 17 2007
On a plane ride back from the West Coast this past week I read an article in the New Yorker that piqued my interest.
There was an article on a shadowy graffiti artist who goes by the nom de plume of “Banksy” who is making waves internationally with his brand of street art that combines a touch of whimsy, subversive delivery in medium and a heaping pour of social commentary—like calling out the elephant in the room. In fact, through his art, he does call out the elephant in the room quite literally as the below picture indicates.
You can see other examples of his art (my titles, not the artists) at the below links
Does the wine blogosphere have a “Banksy” in its midst—somebody that can cut sharply and incisively, while remaining refreshingly detached from the broad evisceration that causes conversation?
Perhaps, so.
Remember when you were a kid and you would come bounding home, skipping steps in a single leap, bolting through the backdoor excited and exclaiming to your mother with the bold innocence that only a 12 year can muster, ‘We had so much fun. We were at the pool and we had a diving contest …”
And, then, like a record scratching, your Mom stops you in mid-sentence and says, “Were you at the Simpson’s pool? You can’t dive there that’s only 6 feet deep. You could have broken your neck …”
Damn.
Maybe she’s right.
It was still fun.
And, so it is with the anonymous and deadly deadpan social wine ironist in our midst … St. Vini from The Zinquisition, one of the very first wine blogs I started reading and something of an inspiration, as well.
By way of background, his anonymous blog comes from an insider—probably somewhere in Napa or Sonoma—that is very in tune with the issues of the day in the wine industry. You can tell by his writing that he is in a position of authority, based on his authority of opinion. My personal guess is that he is probably somewhere between 44-48 years old, has 20 years in the industry and while not completely cynical, Vini is world-weary enough to cut to the chase, quickly.
And cut to the chase he does, as I went on, and on, and on about Crushpad wine in a recent post. St. Vini cuts me down to size with a simple, subversive posted comment.
The comment goes:
“Today’s Tom Sawyer,
He gets high on you,
And the space he invades
He gets by on you….”
You put up the cash, make the decisions, do some of the work, and still pay $32 per bottle. Genius!
V
Damn, if he’s not right. My first thought was, “How nice, he’s quoting Steve Miller Band.” No Midwestern kid since the late 80’s has gone through high school without having a Steve Miller phase. Then, I quickly re-oriented, thought for a second and sloughed off the actual reference to the song “Tom Sawyer” by Rush.
Getty Lee’s voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, even if the reference is apt.
For my age bracket, Dave Matthews is a little more my speed, something like:
I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering if we had spent our living days well
I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering what we might of been
I cant believe that we would lie in graves
Wondering if we had spent our living days well
Wine blogging needs more St. Vini’s—people that call a spade a spade and cut through the morass of romance that frequently invades the wine industry; people that call out the elephant in the room, Banksy style.
Me, personally? Perhaps I’ll get that world-weariness in twenty years, but for now I’ll keep eyes wide open and still marvel at Crushpad Wine and the absolute ingenuity in getting people to be a part of the nuts and bolts of winemaking for, yes, $32 a bottle.
Damn.
Maybe he’s right.
It was still fun.
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May 13 2007
I was in Napa this past week for work. Well, actually, I’ve been in Napa for four of the last five weeks for work, this past week just happened to be the last bit of travel for a few weeks. When most people ask me about my trips out to Napa I would love for nothing more than to puff up my chest and regale them with stories of coming across that special Pinot, only 100 cases made, or bumping into a winemaking documentarian at a special restaurant, but the reality is much more like anybody else’s business travel—I work, and I sleep and that’s about it.
This week, though, I made rare exception to break out and do a couple of fun things in the evenings.
After a recent podcast in which Alan Baker (Cellar Rat and Crushpad Wines) joined Tim Elliott and me to talk some wine, I asked to join his Rat Pack group at Crushnet, a part of Crushpad Wine.
To see an introduction via YouTube:
Crushnet, for the uninitiated, essentially allows fractional ownership in the winemaking process—kind of a timeshare condo as opposed to buying the condo.
So, Alan, or anybody can make a barrel (25 cases) and then solicit friends to buy a case or more of wine to offset the costs.
Alan is making four barrels of Pinot—100 cases—from the Wentzel vineyard in Anderson Valley.
It’s a pretty good cash outlay for sure, for Alan and for participants in the Rat Pack. At $384 a case, or $32 bucks a bottle you hope for something more than simply taking a flier on a social winemaking experiment. According to Alan 82 of the 100 cases are accounted for and he’s hoping to sell the balance at retail.
82 people is a lot of opinion, especially when it comes to winemaking. Nothing good has ever come from committee decisions so the best you can hope for is an acceptable quaff.
Fortunately, after meeting up with Alan this past week at the new Crushpad Wine facility in San Francisco (just past Indiana street, adjacent to Illinois street, I should note for fellow Midwesterners) and doing barrel samples of the Pinot 2.0 project with his Rat Pack, I can say the wines are going to deliver … in a big way … far exceeding my expectations!
What’s really fun about this is the fact that wine is not only going to deliver in value but its going to have plenty of story behind it, as well. If the Crushpad story wasn’t enough it’s also organic, it has native yeast fermentation and there are only 100 cases of the stuff. It’s enough to not make you want to drink any of it.
In fact, Alan noted that one of the most crucial decisions came from a member of the Pinot 2.0 project—using native, ‘whatever is in the air is what’s going to ferment the wine’ yeast. So, perhaps some good does come from group dynamics.
Alan has made some really other interesting winemaking decisions including handling each of the four barrels slightly differently before they are blended together for a cuvee.
The first barrel is totally neutral in toast and is very silky showing a lot of cherry fruit flavors with a slight undercurrent of damp earth, and some light leather.
The second barrel of wine is in 100% French Oak. This barrel is a star showing fruit and integration that wouldn’t turn away anybody if it was fined and poured today. In a couple of months, as a part of a blend, this wine is going to be the backbone for the rest of juice.
The third and fourth barrel is a zebra barrel with 25% new French oak. This barrel shows a lot of zip with acids still rounding into form against the Dr. Pepper-like fruit background. Barrel three and four also show a little vegetal character based on the decision to keep 15% stems in each of these 1 ton containers during fermentation.
Zebra barrels are an interesting aspect of winemaking at Crushpad, too. Whereas traditional winemakers have the opportunity to put some fine into new French Oak and other wines into 2nd year or neutral barrels, Crushpad actually takes apart barrels and has a cooper reassemble them with pieces from different barrels so you can exert some new oak influence within the context of a neutral barrel—therefore you get zebra barrels with 25% French oak or more.
Overall, what a great experience—fulfilling my fascination with Crushpad wine by experiencing it in person, tasting wine in barrel, meeting Alan Baker, as nice and genuine of a guy as you’d hope to meet, a wine blogging/podcasting peer, and knowing that this juice was going to show up at my door before Thanksgiving ’07.
The only thing better might be to meet up and share some stories with a wine documentarian, which I did the next night. More on that in the next post.
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May 6 2007
In this part of the country ‘A Taste of the Truth’ can usually be had after enough drinks at the recreational occasion of your choice. The start of the party season usually begins in the month of May—beginning with a bang with the Kentucky Derby taking place about two hours south of Indianapolis, in Louisville, KY and ending with a roar with the Indianapolis 500 at the end of the month over Memorial Day weekend.
May is one of the nicest months of the year in the Midwest—temperatures are moderate, the humidity doesn’t cling in the air like a thick, choking water blanket and bugs are refreshingly limited. May also happens to be a great time to sit outside and drink some wine—or some mint juleps, the signature drink of the Derby. Though, perhaps, grabbing a Budweiser if you go to the track for 500 is your best bet.
What, you ask, is my drink of choice for this 31 day precursor to the summer months? Generally speaking, in lieu of a mint julep or a cold, frosty one, I prefer a nice Riesling or a Chardonnay; perhaps some Kendall-Jackson Vintners Reserve—a tasty, reliable quaff.
Speaking of a K-J quaff, congratulations are in order for Jess Jackson, a horse lover of some repute and owner of Kendall-Jackson, for his third place finish at the Derby this past weekend. Though, if you asked him for a ‘Taste of the Truth’—the signature tag line to his K-J wine advertising campaign, after his defeat, you may not care to hear the response.
Curlin, Jackson’s horse acquired in February for a reported $3.5M, was the odds on (7-2) favorite to win the race according to an article in the Santa Rose Press-Democrat found here.
Third place, by all accounts, however, is a respectable job.
Despite the crushing defeat at the Derby, Jackson still has a lot to be proud of. In fact, May ’07 represents the 25th anniversary of Kendall-Jackson. Their onslaught of advertising continues, as well, touting “A Taste of the Truth” becoming near ubiquitous.
Two interrelated facts exist that link good wine and good horses and that’s provenance. Wine must come from good vines in good soil and good horses come from a line of good horses.
Jackson seems to understand the essential truth of provenance for both of his passions in spades
Trading California wine country “terroir” for Kentucky bluegrass seems to suit Jackson, but he doesn’t seem to have forgotten what helped him find such success.
Open any food and wine oriented magazine and you’ll see the aforementioned Kendall-Jackson advertisements—most of the ads center on the unique or interesting aspects of the land from which the grapes come for Kendall-Jackson.
One recent ad from K-J regarding terroir says:
Terroir can be defined as that mystical melding of light, water, soil, air and human touch. It’s is a definition I often use. The simple fact is, you must have a world-class grape in order to make a world class wine. And when it comes to grapes, their source, the land is what matters.
In fact, in support of this, a member of the K-J team published a book called “The Art of Terroir” off press just the other day, May 3rd, which highlights photography of the K-J vineyards.
In addition, Jackson is quoted in a recent Appellationamerica.com article saying
“We have to bring each generation of American consumers up to the knowledge and ability to make their own choices and accept responsibility for what they’re choosing. Unless they know where the good grapes come from … consumers should be educated to know that wines from Mt. Veeder or Howell Mountain are where great grapes come from.
“Terroir cares.”
Terroir may care, but a whole lot of consumers do, as well. K-J is one of the few nationally distributed brands (Bogle being another) that I pick up with some regularity. Congrats to Jess Jackson for understanding quality and provenance and a commitment to excellence—a commitment that yielded the valiant effort at the Derby and has sustained his growing wine business through 25 years of success. That’s ‘A Taste of the Truth’ we can all appreciate.
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