Celebration!

OK. what kind of a wine blog would this be if I didn't talk about the one beverage on EVERYONE's mind today . . . you know, the one with bubbles, served chilled and in a flute. You guessed it, it's New Years eve and today we're talking Champagne. I don't have a ton of time to muse on hangovers gone by and hash out which varietal is better than another, so I thought I'd just provide some links to various helpful resources for your late night endeavors to kick off 2009.

First up, The Chicago Tribune has an excellent run down on how to select your bottle, pop it, and yes - drink it.

Next, we've got a great recipe from The Los Angeles Times for Champagne punch.

The Washington Post is running a funny (and most likely necessary) article warning you to guide your eyes against 50 mph corks this evening.

And, of course, don't forget to check out my post from yesterday on Sabering. Please be advised that the author of this blog does not recommend trying this while intoxicated.

Happy New Year everyone, we'll see you in 2009!

Sabering Champagne

Here's something to kick off the New Year - ever think about opening that first bottle of Champagne by literally chopping the top of it off? Well, apparently the act is fairly common. Called sabering, the subtle art has it's origins with French soldiers during the Napoleonic Wars - and it's still alive and well today. There's a great article on the practice on DemocratandChronicle.com, complete with the conditions necessary, a vivid description of the act and a detailed history of sabering. Here's a bit from the article:

"Demonstrating at WineSense last week, the neatly dressed retired Pittsford neurosurgeon grasps a machete-type knife. He stands up straight, one hand at the base of the bottle, the other holding the knife's blunt edge at about a 30-degree angle. Then in a swift, decisive yet not particularly forceful strike, he lops off the top of the bottle, and a chunky missile of glass lip, cork and wire cage arcs through the air. Left in his hand is a bottle with just a bit of foamy overflow and an angled, clean-cut spout."

If you're looking for something that will add a bit of flair to your end of the year celebration - this might be exactly what you're looking for. All I'm saying is . . . attempt at your own risk.

Wine for the Holidays

It looks like just about every wine writer under the sun is dusting off and breaking out their yearly wine's-for-Christmas piece, but that's just so predictable. They do call it the Holidays after all (plural) and it seems a bit unfair that there aren't more writers covering wine's that are great for a Hannukah party. That being said, I did come across one such piece, even if it's sole focus isn't just wine. The author recommends a nice, Israeli Kosher red, which I think is a fine pick. Some of you might also remember that I did a whole week of posts on kosher wine a few months back. You can check the backlogs if you're looking for a refresher course.

I'd also like to say that today is my last post before the Holiday break. I plan to eat a lot of food, drink a lot of wine and try to sleep in as much as possible. I hope that many of you have the luxury of doing the same. Happy Holidays!

Wine in a Tube

I came across an interesting story today about one California vintner claiming the they are selling "the first premium California wine that has broken out of its glass house." The wine, FOUR is a Cabernet/Petit Syrah blend and it's sold in squat, three litre. tube-like canisters. Packaging fine wine in boxes is a bit more common on the other side of the pond (though still pretty taboo), but in America wine not found in a bottle is typically written off as being both cheap and horrible. The distributors of FOUR say that their product is a bird of a different feather and that this new type of packaging is both efficient and more environmentally friendly.

From the article:

"The FOUR tubes -- which can hold the equivalent of four bottles of wine -- are 28.5 centimeters (11 inches) tall (slightly shorter than a standard wine bottle) and 13 cm (5 inches) in diameter.
Everything is recyclable, and the company that makes the bags that hold the wine inside the tubes -- Smurfit Kappa of Epernay, France -- claims a three-liter (three-quart) tube is six times lighter than four 750ml (25.4 fluid ounces) wine bottles.Producing and transporting tubes is less expensive and requires fewer resources than bottles, which allows FOUR to charge about 40 dollars per tube and to reduce its carbon footprint."

The Perfect Gift

I've come across a million articles on buying gifts for wine lovers, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen more bottle openers mentioned. The one I'm thinking about in particular, The Rabbit, is a high-end, easy-to-use and remarkably efficient (not to mention pricey) corkscrew that will change the way you open wine. I first came across it at a friends party last year, and have had it on my wish list ever since.

And on an interesting side note, when I was searching for basic info on The Rabbit, I came across the Wikipedia page for the corkscrew. Here's a bit of history to impress your friends with over the holidays.

"The corkscrew is possibly an English invention, due to the tradition of beer and cider, and Treatise on Cider by J. Worlidge in 1676 describes "binning of tightly corked cider bottles on their sides", although the earliest reference to a corkscrew is, "steel worm used for the drawing of Corks out of Bottles" from 1681. In 1795, the first corkscrew patent was granted to the Reverend Samuell Henshall, in England. The clergyman affixed a simple disk, now known as the Henshall Button, between the worm and the shank. The disk prevents the worm from going too deep into the cork, forces the cork to turn with the turning of the crosspiece, and thus breaks the adhesion between the cork and the neck of the bottle. The disk is designed and manufactured slightly concave on the underside, which compresses the top of the cork and helps keep it from breaking apart."

Wine: Coming to a Grocery Store Near You

According to a recent article at TimesUnion.com, wine may be headed into New York's grocery stores for the first time ever. The sale of wine and beer in groceries has been a hot topic for years in the rest of the country, probably because more than 30 states in the union allow it already. But New York has been one of the few states holding back, requiring that wine and spirits are to be sold exclusively in liquor stores. Now that New York is facing somewhat of a budgetary crisis however . . . it looks like newly-made Governor Paterson may sign legislation getting rid of the old rules. The idea is that the state stands to make a whole lot of money by selling licenses to chain-grocery stores and independents looking to widen their stock. The good news for vino enthusiasts is that with more sellers . . . there's more competition . . . and with more competition . . . prices go down. Here's a snippet from the article:

"At long, long last, New York will likely join 35 other states in allowing the sale of wine as well as beer in grocery stores. That's if a Paterson revenue-raising proposal passes the Legislature. In the current economic climate, with government scrambling for every dime as it stares at a $51 billion shortfall over the next four years, chances are deemed very good that will happen. This would bring in an estimated $100 million to $200 million a year in additional franchise fees from stores who want to add wine to their wares."

Healthiest. Wine. Ever.

An Australian doctor and former wine-maker has created what he's calling the most healthy wine in the world. I've talked at length on this blog about the chemical resveratrol, the heart-healthy ingredient found in grape skins and thus in red wine. This doctor, Philip Norrie, has created a way to extract that chemical directly from the grapes, then infuse his wine with it. The result is a "vascular pipe cleaner" with nearly 300 times as much reveratrol. The wine tastes the same, ages the same and drinks the same . . . it's just a whole lot better for you.

The good doctor is doing his best to get the wine out there. According to an article in The Times Online:

""I have wanted to invent the ultimate preventative medicine," he said. "Not only does this reduce your risk of heart attack, but you can drink less of it to get the same effect."
Over the last three years, Dr Norrie, an expert on the links between wine and health, has patented a method of extracting the anti-oxidant from the skin of red and white grapes and concentrating it before returning it to the wine in the bottling process. He is now producing both a Chardonnay and a Shiraz, each with 100mg/L of resveratrol per bottle - as much as is contained in 70 to 100 bottles of standard white wine or 15 to 20 bottles of standard red. ""

American Wines Fly High in the UK

According to a recent report in British newspaper The Evening Standard, last year marked the first 12 months, ever, that US wines outsold French ones in the UK. Yet, despite the rise in desire for American vino, we're still only number two in England, falling just short of Australian vintners.

According to the report, "The popularity of Californian rosé, combined with a slump in demand for cheaper French wines put the US second behind Australia. Sales of US wine grew five per cent to £781 million in the year to November, while French sales slumped three per cent to £780 million. Production volumes of US wine have also overtaken France's, growing three per cent to 140 million litres, while France's slipped seven per cent to 130 million litres."

The author goes on to point out that California rosé has become extremely popular amongst women drinkers. That particular varietal saw an 18% increase from just one year ago. There's a lot of speculation as to what put California over the top, and a lot of people seem to have drawn a similar conclusion, which I think is summed up fairly well in the article.

“The Californians do very well what the French don't — which is to find out what the customer wants.”

On Skimpy Pours

Sometimes the best part of reading blogs is the comments. The best blogs out there tend to have two things going for them - sharp, entertaining writers, and sharp, entertaining readers who chime in on the boards. I stumbled across a very informative and interesting comment on one of the posts of a SF Gate wine blog.

The blogger was relaying a question they'd receieved from a reader about skimpy wine pours. With the struggling times, they thought there was a notable trend of smaller pours in restaurants . . . without a dip in price. The author didn't do much in the way of answering (other than to say she might investigate), but a helpful reader who works in restaurants gave a great rundown of how single pours have always, and will always work.

From the post:

"Frankly, there's no rule about what the proper pour is, and it's up to any restaurant to determine that for itself based on its concept and cost structure. True, the bartender has leeway, but the price:portion size discussion permeates all areas of the restaurant business - small plates vs entrees, ala carte vs tasting menus, old fashioned martini glasses vs jumbos, etc. etc. The concerned citizen writing to you is clearly more concerned with quantity than quality (everyone knows the wine by the glass is always the cheapest stuff in the house, outside the cooking wine). It would be an analagous missive to complain that the steak or fish serving has shrunk over time, which it has, without also mentioning the price. Many restaurants market themselves very effectively with lower prices than their competition but also offer smaller servings. Any price rating system for restaurants should note that, as should the conspiracy theorist. Also, for what it's worth, the reidel pictured can hold half a bottle of wine, but that's not why it's big: it's big and the pour relatively small so as to aerate the wine and allow the customer to smell it better."

Wine Books for the Holidays

A wine book makes the perfect pairing for a nice bottle of vino for the holidays. If you're planning to give the gift of wine this year, The Sydney Morning Herald has put together a great little list of books to add to the mix. There are literally thousands of books on wine floating around, so having a professional help narrow down the candidates can be a huge help.

Here's a blurb from the first of her selections - 1001 Wines You Must Try Before You Die.

1001 Wines You Must Try Before You Die is compelling stuff if you are into lists - and who isn't? From the sparkling Adami prosecco from Italy through to a palo cortado sherry from Williams & Humbert, there's a lot of fine wine to work your way through in this book, the latest in the "1001" series of things to see, hear or taste before you go.

Italy Becomes Worlds Largest Wine Producer

According to an article released by the AP today, a bigger harvest than usual this year has pushed Italy over the top - becoming the worlds number one wine producer. The news means that Italian vintners have successfully passed over neighboring country and vino-nemesis France for the first time in over a decade.

According to the AP report, "Italy last surpassed France's production in 1998, and has since been reducing the area of land cultivated as vineyards in favor of improving quality, Coldiretti's wine expert Domenico Bosco said Wednesday. Italy's strong harvest is largely due to good weather, Bosco said, which helped Sicily, in particular, recover from lower 2007 yields caused by a deadly fungus there"

Keep an eye out in 2009 for a lot of Italian wines on a shelf near you.

Wine and the The White House

From George Washington to Ronald Reagan, wine has been in The White House as long as the president has - and there's a lot of speculation over what vintages will be travelling with President Elect Obama when he moves this January. According to an article released by the AP this week, a bottle of Kendall-Jackson caught on the Obama's kitchen counter in Chicago during an interview was enough to encourage KJ to send over a whole case.

"Getting poured for a president is a thrill that doesn’t fade, said Hugh Davies, president of the Schramsberg winery, which moved from relative obscurity to the world stage when Richard Nixon used its sparkling wine to toast Chinese Premier Chou En-lai in Beijing in 1972."

The article speculates about the Obama's palates, but also gives a quick history lessons on wine's role in The White House. Who liked white and who liked red? Dry or sweet? American or French? These are all extremely pressing matters! Follow the link for the full text.

Aussie Wine Exports Slow

It seems like only yesterday that Yellowtail was the new big thing for suburban wine drinkers everywhere. It was Australian! It had a great logo with a kangaroo! It was all very exciting! Well, it seems that Americans may finally have come to their senses - realizing that the wine inside the fancy packaging was actually never that good - because Aussie wine exports are down significantly this year.

According to a report from The Australian Bureau of Statistics, exports of wine have fallen by 13.5 pc in the last 12 months. I have to give the guys down under their due, they've done a heck of a job selling bottles of barely palatable wine to Americans for far too much money. Just goes to show how far a well done rebranding job can get you in today's marketing world.

Cool Gift for a Wine-lover

Ever bought a bottle of white wine for a party and realized you didn't have time to chill it? When you did, did you resolve the issue by tossing the bottle in the freezer and risk ruining the bottle before it was even open? Thankfully, now there's a nifty solution. The single bottle wine chiller, from Napa Style, may be just the gift you're looking for this holiday season.

According to the brief coverage on SFGate.com:

"A single-bottle wine chiller at Napa Style ($98) not only cools your wine in minutes, but will warm it, too, bringing everything to the perfect temperature for sipping. The chiller features 10 temperature selections (from 37 degrees to 122 degrees), and also works for sake, cider and Champagne"

Follow the link for photos.

Wine.com announces 2008 "100 List"

Last year wine.com announced their first Customer's top 100 list. Today they released their list for 2008, officially making the list a holiday tradition. Of course, since it's a list of top sellers, not everything included is actually worth buying. But, it is worth looking at to see what Americans are buying. The $7.99-$15 range is big, as are cheaper champagnes and anything cheap that wasn't bottled in the last twelve months. For some reason Americans can't help but think - "It's wine . . . it's got to be better if it's a little older, right?"

Here's part of the introduction to this year's list. "Announcing the 2008 edition of the Wine.com 100, the second year we have compiled our top 100 list based entirely on customer preferences. The ranking reflects the top 1% of wines sold nationally on Wine.com during 2008. While many publications rank wines based on the opinions of their wine critics, we wanted our customers to be the judge, voting with their wallets to determine the Wine.com 100"

Follow the link at the top of the post to see all the most popular buys of the year.

Q&A with NYC's 21 Sommelier

I don't know if any of you have heard, but last week marked the 75th anniversary of prohibition being repealed! And as part of the celebration, NY Magazine has an excellent and informative Q&A with Phil Pratt, the sommelier at New York's ancient 21 Club. The club began in the West Village during prohibition as a speak easy, and their cellar parties are something of legend here in the city. Many big names have rung in their 21st birthdays here, including former first daughter Chelsea Clinton.

You can follow the link for the complete article, but here's the introduction to the Q&A to get you started.

"For years, families have stored stellar vintages in the private wine cellar accessible only by a hidden door — the better to protect their stash from the likes of Eliot Ness. The practice was suspended fifteen years ago to make room for '21''s expanded wine list (it grew to 1,200 bottles from 350), but there are still leftover holdings. We asked Pratt what's in the cellar and how '21' appeals to drinkers in the 21st century."

Shopping Cheap at Trader Joes

Last week I wrote a post on Trader Joes' much-discussed two buck chuck. Today I came across another article on Trader Joes' wine shop - this time focusing on the store's many less-than-ten-dollar bottles. The writer, who works for The Oregonian, picked a selection of cheap wines that are all sold at Trader Joes, many of them exclusively.

According to her introduction:

"I often receive queries from readers asking why more of the wines I recommend aren't available at TJ's. The answer is this: Many of the wines sold at this retail chain are private or exclusive labels. That is, they aren't sold anywhere else around town. So I recently picked up a selection of sub-$10 wines from TJ's for a taste test. I chose wines that appeared to offer the most bang for the buck and that I had not seen outside of the Trader Joe's universe. "

To check out her complete list of delightful bottles on a budget, just follow the link.

The Pours' American Picks for Thanksgiving

I know Thanksgiving is over, but I'm still in recovery mode. After days of turkey sandwiches with a side of stuffing and baked macaroni and cheese I'm feeling a little lethargic - so I'd like to take a look back at one of my favorite wine writer's takes on wine for the Thanksgiving meal. Eric Asimov writes for NY Times wine blog The Pour - and he's always got something interesting to say.

After his Thanksgiving post, many people criticized him about the lack of American Vino. So what did he do? He went back to the drawing board with a list of fine turkey-friendly American wines that will leave you wanting more. Follow the link for all of his helpful holiday suggestions.