Forbes Lists For Labor Day

Eric Arnold over at Forbes' website has a fun (and timely) article/list titled Ten Sauvignon Blancs for a Lazy Labor Day. As you all probably know, Labor Day marks the end of summer and the start of the long slow descent into crisp fall evenings.

That being said, it's high time to bust out the whites one last time and celebrate the nice weather! In a few months time we'll be discussing all of the bold and complex reds that go best with hearty wintertime meals, but for the moment lets all sit back and smile about still being able to drink something chilled in the great outdoors. The link's at the top of this post. Enjoy!

Rosé on the Rise

The reports are in and it looks like rosé is finally getting its due as a tasty summer treat. According to Decanter.com, the consumption of rose's has grown by up to 60% during the past three years. Long pegged for a sibling to well-known and almost universally despised pink and sweet white Zinfandel's, the more pleasant drier version of rosé has been breaking out of the stereotype and delighting wine drinkers looking for a refreshing drink during the hot summer months.

WSTA Chief Executive Jeremy Beadles said, 'Even without a good summer it seems the taste for rosé continues to spread. Interestingly, the figures show women have increased their rosé consumption the most'.

French Vintners Look to the Sky

I just came across a very cool technology meets wine world story courtesy of Reuters. According to this neat little piece, French vineyard owners are harnessing the power of a cutting-edge satellite and aerial photography driven technology called Oenoview to assess the potential of vineyards across the South of France. Here's a quote from the article:

"The technology, called Oenoview, is a combination of aerial photographs and satellite imagery in the near-infrared, which provides growers and buyers with a complete picture of the vines' vigor and the plot's 'terroir' before the harvest. Oenoview is based on an existing service for agriculture, but because of the smaller size of the plots a higher resolution was needed, Infoterra's Innovation Manager Herve Poilve said."

It's simple, but a neat meeting of the old world and the new. If you want to check out the rest of the article, you can follow the link I've created at the top of this post.

The Great Wine Hoax

The Los Angeles Times ran a really, really . . . really funny story today about a wine critic and author Robin Goldstien pulling a big one over on Wine Spectator. In an effort to point out how flimsy wine-related awards for restaurants tend to be, she created a fictional eatery and placed them in the running for WS's award of excellence this year.

The restaurant in question, Osteria L'Intrepido was supposed to be in Milan and had a very expensive, very hoity-toity reserve wine list. "I am interested in what's behind all the ratings and reviews we read. . . . The level of scrutiny is not sufficient," said Goldstein, who revealed the prank while presenting a paper at an American Assn. of Wine Economists meeting in Portland,Ore., last weekend.

If you're interested in reading the entire article, I suggest following the link at the top of this post - it's a guaranteed laugh.

Red State, Blue State, Red Wine, White Wine

Forbes ran an amusing and informative little piece today on the subject of the top-rated wines of the red states and the blue states. I foolishly thought that at least the wine world would be safe from America's year-long obsession with the upcoming Presidential elections . . . but I guess I was wrong. Strong showings came from big swing state Ohio, as well as New York, Hawaii (Pineapple wine, gross) and of course, California. If you just cant get enough election coverage from CNN and the Times and every other major publication in the country, this political wine breakdown is just the ticket. Enjoy!

Wine Advice for Men

Prolific website for all things guy-related, AskMen.com has a few helpful hints for all you gents out there confused about wine etiquette. The tips, written by a real-live sommelier, include such gems as how to order off a wine list, when it's appropriate to send a wine back, how to become a sommelier yourself, what type of glasses to use and what a back label can tell you about different varieties.

If you're a man's man looking for a little help on a subject typically foreign to American males, it's well worth checking out. Quick, simple and to the point, it'll put you in the know and maybe even help you to impress somebody on your next hot date!

Merlot Lovers Battle Back with New Film

Remember that movie Sideways that made a million-billion dollars at the box office and made America hate Merlot? Well now there's a new film called Merlove that's paving the way for the used-to-be-everybodies-favorite red wine's big comeback. So stand aside Paul Giamatti . . . it's pay back time.

The new film, which is finishing up last minute filming and editing will probably be released sometime this year and features a mixture of animation and documentary footage. You can see the trailer here, it actually looks kind of interesting.

A Little More Shock to Bottle Shock than Expected

I know I said I wouldn't touch the subject of the new Alan Rickman film Bottle Shock until I'd actually seen it, but I just came across an article in the Connecticut Post that was too fascinating not to mention. It uses the film as a starting off point, then sort-of branches out to explain the tremendous liberties apparently taken by Hollywood to doll the plot line up. If nothing else, the review in the Post is a great history lesson on how the story of the Paris tastings in the 70's actually went down. It also pointed out something that I didn't know until today, which is that another film on the subject is slated to be filmed later this year - this one a definitive, authorized version of the events based on a book by George M. Taber titled "Judgement of Paris.

Wine in a Box

More delightful wine-related stuff from The NY Times today, this time coming in the form of an Op-Ed piece by Tyler Coleman on the subject of boxed wine. Often shunned in America thanks to horrible varieties like Franzia, wine in a box is actually not considered a quintessential mark of trashiness in prime-time wine country like France and Italy. Granted, the really fine stuff should come in a bottle . . . but as the article points out, it actually makes a lot of sense for most vineyards to transition to wine in a box. It reduces a carbon footprint, is convenient for not having to drink an entire bottle in one sitting, and is cheaper than using traditional glass bottles. For what it's worth, one of the best rose's I've ever had was a cave wine sold in a box in the South of France.

More on Mark-Up

The Wall Street Journal ran a great story today on the science (or rip-off art) of marking up wine prices at restaurants. The article, titled Cracking the Code of Restaurant Wine Pricing, points out the glaring difference in prices of the same bottle of fine wine or champagne. The point couldn't be highlighted better than the initial example the author provides, saying -

"At Legal Sea Foods in Washington, a bottle of 1999 Dom Pérignon Champagne costs $155. At McCormick & Schmick's, less than half a mile away, the same bottle goes for $250. At Carnevino in Las Vegas, it's $450, and at Per Se in New York, it's $595."

A nearly $450 dollar bottle of wine is a glaring difference for a bottle that'll be gone in under an hour, not to mention the fact that the retail rate for the same bottle is less than even the cheapest of restaurant prices. The piece's author, Juliet Chung, lists a host of reasons that a restaurant may mark up a bottle more than the competition. When they bought the bottle, how many they bought, and who they bought it from all make an impact on how much a restaurant owner initially pays for a choice variety like Dom. Nevertheless, as I mentioned in a post a few days ago, you're geographic location plays as big a part as any other factor in the process. It's after reading stories like this that I wonder whether living in NYC was a great decision after all . . . so many good restaurants and wine bars, but who can afford them?

On Rice Wine

So I'm not sure how I haven't gotten around to this topic yet, but today I'd like to talk a little about Japanese Rice wine (AKA - Sake). A few years back I discovered the glories of Sake while dining at a Sushi restaurant in NYC. I became more than a little obsessed, bought a set of tiny cups, started drinking it at home . . . the whole nine yards. It's wine, but it's not like wine-wine. You know? I'm fairly certain that anyone reading this post is probably familiar with the lovely drink but if you're not, I thought it would be nice to provide a definition courtesy of Wikipedia.

Sake is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice. It is also referred to in English as "Japanese rice wine," but the characterisation implied is not accurate. Wine is made from the single fermentation of plant juices (other than sparkling wine, which can be a double fermentation to create the carbonation). Sake is produced by multiple fermentation of rice, which is similar to the way beer is produced.

So it's called wine . . . without actually being wine. Interesting.

Sulfur Smells and the Search for a Clean Penny

So I'm just going to come out and say it - since I began writing this blog several months ago, I've come to sort-of hate the minutia involved with wine tasting. The first thing you'll learn when you start looking into wine writing - I mean, the really, really noticeable thing, is how writers tend to fixate on the tiniest elements of a wine. They'll spend days, weeks, months or even years trying to get to the bottom of a plaguing question like what makes a specific blend smell a bit like dirt.

Granted, it can drive me crazy. I'm of a personality type that is not scientifically inclined, and after a certain amount of investigation on the properties of wine - it really does become all about science. Chemistry plays a more and more integral part in the winemaking process, and the further we advance the subtle art of chemical compounds and formulas, the more we know about why good wines taste and/or smell the way they do.

Today I had the good fortune of reading an article that toes the line between being brilliant and annoying, thankfully landing on the former side of the fence and providing me with a smile to start the day. I've linked to Eric Asimov's blog at The NY Times, The Pour, a number of times, and the reason is posts like this recent one on his obsession with the smell of Sulfur. Asimov recently detected a sulfurous smell in a Greek white that drove him nuts for weeks. In the post he spends tremendous amounts of energy trying to get to the bottom of it. He decants bottles, lets them sit for hours, interviews scientists . . . really pulls out all of the stops. In the end, his solution to the problem is so simple (and kind-of gross) that it borders on poetic. I'll let you read the article for yourself, but let's just say that I don't think I'll be placing any pennies in my wine anytime soon . . . even if he might. Thank's Eric, you've made my day.

Brooklyn as a Wine Region

The NY Daily News ran a great story today about the growing trend of urban wineries popping up in Brooklyn. According to the piece, wineries have been opening up in the budding borough for the past ten years, and they seem to just get better and better. I suppose it's a strange idea to think of fine wine being grown and cultivated in an area synonymous with grit and urban-culture, but the upstart vintners have actually put a reasonable spin on the situation.

It was something Italian-American immigrants did in their basements," said Allie Sharper, owner of a winery in Greenpoint. "There were a few commercial kosher wine producers, but they've moved out of town." She goes on in the article, saying - "New York is a great market to tap, and in my case I'm a resident here and into the culture and art scene. I figured there was no reason I couldn't practice my craft here."

What's the Mark Up?

I just finished reading an interesting article about Drew Nieporent, a resaurant owner who's operated high-end eateries in both New York and San Francisco. Really, the interview didn't have much to do with wine, but the bit that did I found to be very eye-opening. On the whole, the piece works as a sort of compare and contrast, discussing the major differences between keeping a restaurant afloat on either of the coasts.

For instance, rent is cheaper in Tribeca and staff wages are lower than in San Francisco, and the people tend to eat a lot earlier on the West Coast. The portion of the article that's applicapble to us here at the wine blog is the major difference between Mark-up on a bottle of wine in the two cities.

"Wine costs about the same on both coasts," said Nierporent. "But he couldn't mark bottles up as much as in New York; being close to the Wine Country breeds expectations of lower prices."

New York Wine Storage

I live in New York, and if there's one thing that most New Yorkers will tell you about living here . . . it's that space is a precious commodity. It's a fact of life that most people living in NYC don't have a lot of room in their living space, and certainly most of us don't have cellars. That being said, what's a guy to do when you've put together an impressive wine collection and don't have somewhere to put it?

Thankfully, there's a slew of excellent wine storage facilities in the city. Digitized, safe, and providing as-close-to-perfect environments for storage and aging, many of these companies are worth the money, even if you do have a cellar in your home. Moishe's Moving and Storage is a big name around the city, and after talking to a few people that have used their sister company Guarantee Wine Storage, it looks like they pack a pretty competitive punch in the vino biz as well. If you're in the market for someone you can trust, I suggest checking out their website. It's filled with helpful information on the wine storage process, testimonials and pricing guides.

What Sideways Did For Pinot (and Merlot, too)

I was having a conversation with my gorgeous friend last night about Sideways and what sort of an impact it had on the wine industry. I'd read reviews with vague hints that the movie drove Pinot Noir sales in the US way, way up and Merlot sales way, way down. When I came into the office today, I decided to look around the web for more concrete numbers.

As it turns out, the numbers either way weren't catastrophic, but certainly impressive when considering the shift was driven by one relatively-small budget feature film. According to the Wikipedia Page on the film:


"Following the film's US release in October 2004, Merlot sales dropped 2% while Pinot Noir sales increased 16% in the Western US. A similar trend occurred in British wine outlets. Sales of Merlot dropped after the films release, presumably due to Miles' disparaging remarks about the varietal in the film."

I wonder if the new hot film on wine, Bottle Shock, will give a boost to Sanoma . . .

Alan Rickman Talks Bottle Shock

I mentioned a few days back that there's a new film coming out about the California wine industry. As it turns out, the film (Bottle Shock) is more of a big deal than I initially thought. It's stars Alan Rickman (recently known as the prof you love to hate in the Harry Potter Series, Severus Snape), and focuses on the 1976 wine tasting where Sanoma Valley wines were chosen in a blind test over French ones . . . thusly thrusting the California region into the proverbial international vino spotlight. Rickman plays the wine agent who dove headlong into the California vineyards and made the whole thing possible.

Anyway, I just came across a great interview with him on The Star's website. The interview focuses on the story involved in the film, Rickman's own interests in wine and, of course, the upcoming Harry Potter film. It's a fun little read, follow the link to check it out.

The Electronic Wine Tongue

I believe the title of the post says it all. Well, most of it anyway. According to Science Daily, a new electronic gizmo being referred to as the electronic tongue has the ability to not just taste wine, but to also tell you exactly where and when it came from. The technology has the potential to be groundbreaking within the industry. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, wine forgery is rampant amongst collectors and people either are or aren't able to tell the difference between cheap and expensive wines . . . depending upon who's doing the reporting.

That being said, the wine tongue is actually a pretty neat-o little toy. It consists of six different sensors designed to detect substances characteristic of certain varieties. This means that if you're served a bottle of 1977 Lafitte and you're not 100% that it's authentic . . . pull out the wine tongue and give it the ultimate test. Wow, if that's not indicative of the fact that we are, in fact, living in the future . . . I don't know what is. Except maybe flying cars.

A New Wine Documentary

A new film based-around the wine biz in California is getting write-ups in the media. The SF Gate ran a story on the film - Bottle Shock. Have a look at a little of what they had to say -

"The movie takes as its focus the the relationship between Jim and Bo Barrett (played by Bill Pullman, left, and Chris Pine), the father-son team from Calistoga's Chateau Montelena, which made the winning Chardonnay in the 1976 tasting. In telling the story, certain liberties were taken; half the tale of the Judgment - the victory of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars' Cabernet over France's best reds - didn't even make the cut. There are other presumed embellishments, like a Calistoga bar in the early '70s carrying a bottle of 1947 Cheval Blanc. But as Bo Barrett said recently, "This is not a documentary."