Best Values from Northern California

Looking for a good deal on great wine out of California? Food & Wine Magazine can help! They're currently running a guide to the best values in Northern Californian wines on their website, and there are more than a few great selections to choose from. The listing offers eight separate bottles that all sell for under $15 . . . so you should be able to find at least one of them in your local wine shop.

Even better still, this list is part of an ongoing series, providing readers with a handful of wonderful, complex and (yes!) affordable wines from some of the most popular wine regions around the globe. Chile, Australia, Spain, France & the Mediterranean have all been covered. You can find a link to all of those lists on the F & W website.

Wine to Stay in Liquor Stores

It looks like the much-debated motion to allow wine sales in New York liquor sales is no more. According to a report from Newsday.com, the budget agreement that's been reached in Albany has nixed the idea of granting liquor licenses to chain grocery stores. Presumably the owners of liquor stores across the state are jumping up and down with joy, ecstatic that they won't have the added competition. I'm not sure if this is the end of the debate, but it certainly looks that way.

From Newsday:

The Albany agreement on a 2009-10 budget eliminated a proposal to allow the sale of wine in supermarkets and other stores, a measure intended to help close the mounting state deficit. The move was applauded by independent liquor and wine store owners even as it was denounced by supporters of the proposal. Supporters of the proposal said the decision will cost New Yorkers millions of dollars in added revenue that would have been generated by licensing and other fees.

Besotted Ramblings

I just stumbled across a new favorite wine blog written by one of the editors at Food and Wine Magazine. The blog, titled Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel, is written by Peter Liem and has a focus (for the most part) on wine and the area of Champagne, France he lives in. It's a nice, loose approach to wine writing that seems refreshing, especially after spending a lot of my day reading stuffy reviews and feature pieces for the major mags and newspapers. I suppose Peter uses this as a space to get out all of that stuff without having to do it on F + W's website. Anyway, if you're looking for an entertaining place to get a firsthand account of life in famous wine country, this is the blog for you.

More on Rose, At Least You'll Know What You're Getting

Last week I mentioned that French Rose producers were up in arms over new EU regulations concerning their product. Today, the EU is trying to take some of the sting out of the new rules (which will allow vintners to produce rose by blending red and whites instead of using the traditional method) by passing additional stipulations that will require bottles to label how the wine was made. It's a small concession, but I suppose better than nothing. Let's just hope that consumers are smart enough to notice the difference and support the real artists in the bunch.

From the AP Article on the subject:


The European Commission said it would lift a ban on blending red and white wines to make cheaper 'vin de table' and set out new labels to allow shoppers to distinguish between blending — a method many European producers shun — and traditional methods of making rose wine. It said rose table wine should be labeled as either "traditional rose" or "blended rose," to assure French wine makers that their hallowed rose would never be mistaken for a diluted red. The new rules will be voted on — and likely approved — by EU governments in May and would then come into force in August, officials said.

Why Wine is Cheaper in Europe

There's a great article on OregonLive.com examining the many factors going into why wine is cheaper (and many times, better) when you're vacationing in Europe. To oversimplify, it breaks down into a number of social and environmental factors. Maybe in a few years we'll see comparable prices in the States, but we'll need to encourage most people in the country to increase their consumption in the meantime. Follow the link of the entire list, it's really interesting.

From the introduction:


If you're lucky enough to be able to take advantage of this season's economy-driven discounted airfares to Europe, you'll probably discover a sad truism: The wine seems to taste better and cost less over there. This can be difficult for West Coast denizens to understand. After all, Oregon, Washington and California are all wine states. So we should be awash in the same sort of sea of cheap, delicious drinking options that European wine-producing states are, right?

Afforably Priced from the South of France

Want to impress your next dinner party guests without breaking the bank? French wines are, by default, the way to go. And while you might find the same quality product for slightly cheaper in Spain or Italy, South America or the US these days, there's just something magical about French regions like The Languedoc-Roussillon, Rhône Valley and Provence.

That being said, Food and Wine Magazine's website is currently running a list of the best wines from the South of France that you can buy without breaking the bank. The author suggests nine delicious wines that all retail for $15 or less. Check out the list, head out to the wine shop and start planning a party. These varieties are sure to leave friends and family impressed and happy.

French Rose Producers Furious withNew Euro Standards

Rose has gotten a bad rap over the years, mostly thanks to saccharine sweet varieties produced for cheap coming out of California. But for French enthusiasts, making a fine rose is an art form perfected over hundreds of years. In recent times, the pale wines have seen somewhat of a resurgence, taking over roughly 10% of the sales market and even surpassing their white counterparts in popularity in France.

To meet the growing desire for rose around the globe, the EU recently announced plans to modify their regulations or making it. The main idea? The new rules will allow vintners to create rose artificially by mixing red and white wine, rather than the far more subtle and difficult process currently used in France. Needless to say, those vineyards who specialize in making rose in the traditional fashion are more than a little upset about the turn of events. The AFP released an excellent article on the subject earlier this month.

From the AFP:

Rose's distinctive pink hue comes from a special technique. Red grape skins are crushed and left in contact with the macerating white juice for a few hours, long enough to gently tint the wine, then removed. But the European Commission believes fiddly EU rules on how to make rose are holding French, Italian and Spanish producers back in new export markets, including China. It has adopted a draft trade ruling, to be put to the vote by EU members next month, that would allow wine merchants to mix red with a splash of white, and bottle the result as rose -- heresy as far as France is concerned.

Majoring in Wine

Ever wonder what it's like to get a degree in wine? What's the curriculum? Where can you go? How tough is the program? If you've asked these type of questions before, you'll be interested in this article running on NewsTimes.com today. The author takes a look at the wine program offered at Napa Valley College, examining what the students study, as well as how their program translates into tangible, real life experience. According to the piece, students not only learn how to make their own wines, but also how to get them on the market and, ideally, sell them.

From NewsTimes:

It's like auto shop, but tastier. The idea is to provide vocational training for would-be workers of the local wine industry. And as more schools win approval to sell wines produced in the classroom, students learn not just how to make it, but also how to get it to market. "We teach them what they really need to know to get out there and work in the industry," said Stephen Krebs, the wine program coordinator at Napa Valley College. While many schools have teaching wineries, getting permission to sell adds a practical element to the programs, said Mike Jellison, president of Swanson Vineyards, whose vineyard manager is an NVC graduate.

Asimov Talks Wine Service

Resident favorite New York wine writer and all around entertaining guy Eric Asimov, of the NY Times' The Pour, has a passionate and dare-I-say a little finicky blog post up on The Times website lamenting poor wine service in restaurants. Mr. Asimov has a predisposition towards rants of this sort, and I have to say that there a big part of why I enjoy his blog so much. Granted, I don't have anywhere close to the same ferocity in my opinions of how wine is served to me, but it sure is fun to read about his opinions. If you've ever been frustrated with the pacing and pours of your favorite restaurant, this is a must read.

From The Pour:

What especially annoys me is when I’m asked repeatedly – which amounts to being urged — to order the wine before I’ve had a chance to look at the menu or before I’ve had a chance to discuss it. This happens more than you might think and always conveys the idea of the hard sell, of a restaurant pushing the profit-making wine and beverage program in an effort to maximize your consumption and their bottom line. No doubt, this is accompanied by the eager hand of the waiter who will not stop pouring your bottle until you’ve consumed half of it before you’ve even received any food.

Eliza Dushku and Bottle Shock

A few months back I did a number of posts on the Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, and soon to be Captain James Kirk film Bottle Shock. The film, based on a blind tasting that led to the emergence of California wine as a legitimately good alternative to it's European counterparts, got a lot of coverage in the wine-focused blogosphere, but I never got a chance to see it in theaters. As it were, I finally got around to Netflixing it last week . . . and it was pretty good. It wasn't quite on a par with the other excellent California wine flick, Sideways, but entertaining nonetheless.

As fate would have it, today I stumbled across a small interview with another star of the film, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Eliza Dushku. According to the interview, she didn't catch the wine bug during filming - but she was happy to be there. Follow the link for the blurb.

The Nose Knows

MetroActive.com has, in my mind, one of the best introduction to wine tasting articles I've read on the web. The piece, which initially sets its focus on why smell is so important to wine consumption, then goes on to break down the tasting process step-by-step. The author breaks down what different tastes and sensations in your mouth mean about a wine (tingles on the side of the tongue means acid, too dry means a lot of tannins and needs aging, etc.), as well as provides ways to help improve your palate. If you're interested in wine, maybe even familiar with terminology but too intimidated to take a class, this is a great way to get your feet wet.

From MetroActive:

The various aromas and structure are clues to the type of varietal and country or region of origin. For instance, a California chardonnay will taste different than one from France. This is due, among other things, to the differences in climate, soil and grape growing conditions. California has a longer growing season, for instance, allowing the grapes to stay on the vines longer, producing more fruit-forward wines. In France, with a shorter season, grapes are picked sooner, resulting in less fruit on the palate and earthier characteristics.

French Wineries Breathe Sigh of Relief

As I mentioned in a post last week, the French legislature has been hard at work on a revision of National Alcohol laws. The proposed changes initially included upping the minimum drinking age to 18, and of much fear and interest to the wine making community - banning Internet advertisements and open bars. The latter two adjustments would have taken a hug toll on the wineries, first by limiting their advertising options and second by effectively making wine tastings illegal.

In the end, lawmakers decided on an amendment excluding wine tastings from the open bar provision - I guess they finally realized what a detriment it would be to France's tourism. For the full details, go check out the article released by the AFP.

Best Wine Blogs of 2009

At this month's 2009 Wine Bloggers Conference, the winners of The Best Wine Blogs of 2009 were officially announced and celebrated. The awards were divided into seven categories, including Best Wine Writing, Best Graphics or Presentation, Best Single Subject Blog, Best Business/Industry Blog, Best Winery Blog, Best Wine Reviews and Best Overall Blog. The top awards of Best Overall and Best Writing this year went (no surprise here, really) to Vinography.

Here's a complete list of the winners, including links to all of the sites.

Best Wine Writing On a Blog

VINOGRAPHY


Best Graphics or Presentation

THE GOOD GRAPE


Best Single Subject Blog

LENNDEVOURS


Best Business/Industry Blog

THE WINE COLLECTOR


Best Winery Blog

MICHEL-SCHLUMBERGER'S "BENCHLAND BLOG"


Best Wine Reviews

BIGGER THAN YOUR HEAD


Best Overall Blog

VINOGRAPHY

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Why Does America Care So Much About the Health Benefits of Wine?

Slate Magazine has hit upon something I've been wondering for months now - why does America care so much about if wine is good for you? Part of my self-imposed tasks for writing this blog involves searching the Internet every single day for what's going on in the world of wine. In my morning searches, you would be amazed, nay, astounded by the sheer number of stories running in newspapers across the country with headlines like - "Red Wine May Extend Life," or "White Wine Gives Women Cancer, Study Shows." These pieces are literally everywhere, and at least one of them goes to print somewhere every day of the year.

The Slate Magazine piece is a reaction to that phenomenon - starting with the question and then delving into why this very American-centric trend exists. In my opinion just about everything that comes out of Slate is worthwhile, but this article goes beyond that. If you've got any interest in wine, the medical profession or what makes the average American tick, it's a must read.

From Slate.com:

Obviously, scientists aren't investigating wine's physiological impact because they are shills for the wine industry and want to encourage Americans to imbibe; the research is being pursued and the results disseminated because it appears that there really is a link between red wine and well-being. (For their part, vintners are not allowed to publicize these findings; federal and state laws prohibit advertising that touts the health benefits of alcoholic beverages.) It is now widely recognized that moderate red wine consumption—generally defined as one or two 5-ounce glasses a day for women and two or three for men, drunk with food—boosts HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol that purges arteries of fatty deposits. In addition, scientists have determined that the flavonoids in red wine have an anticoagulant effect that can help prevent blood clots leading to heart attacks.

French Government Cracking Down on Wine

Eric Asimov over at the NY Times has a post on his excellent blog about the unusual way the French government is more or less snapping at the hand that feeds them. I've seen a few dozen stories surrounding clashes between the vintners of Southern France and the regulatory committees that oversee them, and it seems like each new regulation is more absurd than the next. In a nutshell, France has decided that wine (and all alcohol for that matter) is now to be treated as a dangerous drug. Apparently the fact that vino is such a wonderful part of French culture and a main reason for folks from America and elsewhere to visit won't stop them from banning advertisements, enforcing strict rules on the ads they do allow and even considering passing law that would make wine tastings illegal. It's a sad state of affairs, and the Asimov blog post has some good insight into whats going on.

From The Pour:

France already has ultra-strict rules regarding how wine is portrayed in newspapers and magazines. Le Parisien, a magazine, was fined last year, Spurrier reports, for an article on Champagne that the government contended promoted consumption of alcohol. A French court ruled last year that articles about wine must carry a health warning, just as cigarette packages do. For the record, Bettane’s wine Web site, which he runs with Thierry Desseauve, carries this warning: L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé. A consommer avec modération. (Alcohol abuse is dangerous to the health. Consume with moderation.)

Cult Wines on the Rise

What's the upside to the recession? Wine prices are on the decline! Especially among super-rare, super-wonderful "cult wines" that only release a few dozen cases each year. Since restaurants are seating less tables, they're bringing in less cash and subsequently spending less money on rare bottles of wine. Since no one is buying them, the prices are dropping . . . which means people are starting to buy them again! It's a wacky system, but in the end it could be a great thing for the consumer.

The LA Times has a long story on the topic, centering around a Master Sommelier who works at Disneyland's Napa Rose Restaurant in Anaheim - Michael Jordan (no relation to the basketball player). I've provided an excerpt of the article below, but you can follow the link to read the entire thing on The Times website.

For the dining public, that means that even though your dining dollar may have shrunk, you're probably getting more wine value with it than you have in the last three years. All of this leaves many sommeliers, on behalf of their guests, optimistic. "This may be the reshuffling of the deck that will stratify wine into prices that remain," Jordan says. "I think a whole lot of meals are going to taste a whole lot better."Despite industry-wide jitters, Southern California's best wine restaurants remain fairly busy, and though wine sales aren't exactly record-setting, they're much better than expected.

Aussie Wine in Need of a Redux?

According to Australian Website WAToday, the Aussie vino industry is in need of a serious makeover. The brief article features an interview with the group director of Foster's Group, which is one of the largest exporters of wine in the country. Known around the world for its affordable (but in my mind, quite bad) and well marketed YellowTail brand, the Aussies have had an excellent 10 year run in the wine industry. Their presence in Supermarkets and wine shops around the world has quintupled, but now has hit a wall. Chalk it up to the economic recession, poor management on the exporting companies fault or just buyers fatigue - I'd say you can expect some sort of major re-branding efforts coming to a store near you in the next year.

From WAToday:

The Australian wine industry needs to undergo a major overhaul so it can regain its place as a leading exporter, Foster's group director says. James Lovell says the industry is doing it tough in the face of increased competition and the global financial crisis. "We've all got some adjustments to make," he told delegates at the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resource Economics Outlook 2009 conference in Canberra on Tuesday. Mr Lovell said exports had been steadily increasing between 1990 and 2007 on the back of Australia's image as a country of fine wines. But since last year, exports had dropped significantly, he said. "Our competitive advantage has gone and our competitors are catching up."

Airline Wine: Mediocre at Best

If you've taken an airline flight in the past few years, you're aware of how dreadful the wine selection is. Buying a glass of wine on an airplane tends to be pretty expensive, but worse than that - most of the time it's pretty awful as well. San Francisco wine writer and New York native Liza Zimmerman has an op-ed piece running on the Examiner's website that tackles the subject head-on, wondering aloud why American carriers like Continental don't make more of an effort to pair with American wineries and offer their customers something special. It's a quick and entertaining read, and I think that anyone who has first hand experience with airline wine will whole-heartedly agree with his take on the subject.

From the Examiner:

I had this idea when my grandparents flew around, in the 1930s, that airline travel was very romantic. Even in the late '80s and '90s when I lived in Italy, and flew to Rome and back a couple times a year, wine selections seemed better and less regulated by the bottom line and deals made by I am not quite sure whom. I am still offended by having to pay $5 to $7 for a generally disappointing 375-ml. bottle of wine (read those tiny plastic bottles) when I pay a handsome amount of money for an often-late flight and I can't bring my own wine or elect to sample something more exciting.