Water Droplet
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Original post by Vinography: A Wine Blog

Original post by Tom Wark

The somewhat recent revelation that it is technically illegal for home winemakers in California to hold public tastings and even competitions of their wines is one of those instances where a truly out-dated law of little or no value, previously unnoticed, comes to light and makes folks chuckle, shake their heads and get on with getting rid of it for the sake bringing laws and rules into line with reality and good sense.

The move to change the law licketty split is under way. Family Winemakers of California and State Senator Pat Wiggins have joined forces to introduce SB 607, a law that would allow winemaking competition among amateur winemakers.

It’s an easy fix to a pretty stupid law and both FWC and Senator Wiggins should be commended for moving it forward.

Changing stupid laws like this is not always so easy, however, Take for example the CA law that makes it a crime for a an out-of-state retailer to ship wine to a CA resident. This one went into effect in 2005 and was supported by Family Winemakers of California, The California Wine Institute, The California Association of Wine Grapegrowers, Napa Valley Vintners and a number of wineries. The bill was opposed by a number of CA retailers who realized that not only was the law unconstitutional as it discriminated against out-of-state retailers, but that it would encourage other states to lock out CA retailers from shipping to their state residents.

There has been no enthusiasm by California’s winery organizations, Free the Grapes, or any politicians to change this other example of a stupid law, though they all are well aware of the law. One wonders if it will be “discovered” in a few decades and quickly reversed by legislation because it no longer has any value, rhyme or reason.

It turns out this law is actually on hold because retailers sued the state of CA and were able to get an agreement from the state not to enforce it until the end of 2008. However, that time is quickly approaching. One hopes that consumers, wine organizations and politicians will feel an equal urgency to fix one more stupid law when it comes to light.

Original post by Tom Wark

Every once in awhile I like to remind Wine Camp readers that I can be significantly longer winded than I am in my normal posts on Wine Camp. So here I provide an annual reminder that I don’t employ an editor by providing links to some of my favorite longer articles:

• Milano’s Boccondivino - The Divine Mouthful

• Sherry: Use it or Lose it

• Gita! Day Tripping Italian Style

• Bar Mimmo: Finding Puglia in Lombardia

Original post by Craig Camp

It’s where it begins…

I wish I had penned that bit of wisdom, because it’s brilliant. Alas, it was penned by another, and I don’t take credit for someone else’s words of wisdom. So, credit to the universe.

When I read it, I didn’t make note of the author. The words, however, have never left my mind.

Another great bit of knowledge that I’ve found is by LAD Communications, penned by Anne Louise Bannon (May 2002 issue of Wines & Vines): “Which may mean that even when you’ve gotten big enough to hire someone to do your publicity for you, you’ll still be doing much of your own PR. But that’s what telling your story is all about, and that’s what sells wine.”

This is very important information when you’ve decided to hire a PR agency or person to represent you. In the wine business, how many brands are out there? I’d love an exact figure, but I don’t have it for this world-wide market. It’s not outside the realm of possibilities that there could there be as many as 10,000 worldwide?

It’s not like the peanut butter business, let’s say, where you’ve got less than a dozen brands. Those stories are very easy to tell. Nobody cares who started the company, and nobody’s going to oogle over the flavors. It’s pretty straight forward, “Is is smooth or chunky?”

With wine, your flavors will stand on their own, against the other 10,000 in the world.

So, what’s going to really sell your wine to a wine writer who could be thinking to him or herself? “Who are the characters behind the scenes, tell me everything you can about this person or people, and when may I talk to him or her?”

So, PR 101 is really what my mom drilled into my head ever so long ago, “God helps those who help themselves.”

PR people are just the missing link in the process to bridge the gap between who you are and getting that story into the hands of a writer. PR people open the door for you, and your job is to then step-up and be willing to tell your story, when the opportunity arises. And remember, opportunity only knocks once.

Cliche? Yes.

Good advice? You decide…

Original post by Jo Diaz

I can remember a time when the word “Alsace” only brought to mind dim memories of my 5th grade class discussion on some valley that people were fighting about in one of those big wars. In those days I definitely couldn’t spell Gewurztraminer, and I had only tried one or two of them.

Perhaps you’d call me a late bloomer when it came to Alsatian wine, but bloom I eventually did, and now I’m a quiet, but fierce devotee of what I believe to be some of the most individualistic wines on the planet. Alsace has always been an odd duck of a winegrowing region. It is the only region in France that not only allows, but mandates that the name of the grape variety appear on the label (though there are exceptions). It happens to grow grapes more associated with Germany and Northern Italy than with the rest of France (Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris), and perhaps by virtue of its occasionally Germanic past, produces more beer than any other winegrowing region in the country.

Characterized by steep hillside vineyards whose sun exposure, coupled with the region’s cooler climate make for long slow grape maturation, Alsace has been worked by small village winemakers for centuries (major regional wars notwithstanding). There are thousands of producers in the region, though according to the Oxford Companion to Wine, about 175 of those producers make up nearly 80 percent of the regions production. Many of those 175 are still relatively small by French standards, but some, due to their tenure as well as success have grown to be significant producers that make enough wine for export all over the globe.

Trimbach (or more properly, Maison Trimbach) is perhaps one of the best known of these larger producers, and for good reason. The Trimbach family has been making wine under their name since progenitor Jean Trimbach founded the house label in 1636. Twelve generations later, the estate is still run by the family, and is synonymous with the region, producing what some consider to be the finest wines around.

For the first two hundred or so years, Trimbach wines were made, like many in the region, in relative obscurity. Produced and consumed all within a 25 mile radius, the wines were part of the fabric of village life. Around the turn of the 20th Century, however, the then proprietor Frederic Emile Trimbach submitted the family’s wines to be shown at the 1897 Brussels Exposition, where they were apparently greeted with significant acclaim.

Now, nearly 120 years after that initial success, Trimbach is known for producing two of the region’s finest wines — both Rieslings. One is bottled under the name Clos St. Hune, and comes from the Grand Cru Rosacker vineyard, and is widely regarded as the region’s best Riesling. The other is this wine, named after the enterprising Frederic Emile, whose marketing skills launched more than a century of prominence for his family winery. In addition to these top wines, Trimbach makes 13 other wines, in quantities ranging from a couple thousand cases to the tens of thousands.

Cuvee Frederic Emile is made mostly from grapes grown on a south-southeast facing hillside vineyard named Osterberg above the winery. The limestone rich soil of this Grand Cru vineyard drains quickly and deep, and the grapevines are, on average, 30 years old. The grapes are picked with painstaking deliberation into small shoulder baskets over a series of days, with the goal of selecting only fully ripe clusters of grapes. These clusters are destemmed and assiduously sorted, again to ensure only the choicest grapes are crushed and fermented, ever so slowly, with native yeasts.

I’m not sure about the total production of this wine. The Clos St. Hune is less than 600 cases, but I suspect Cuvee Frederic Emile is made in slightly larger quantities. Were it more plentiful, however, it might be more common to find beautiful aged bottles like this one that some good friends shared with me last month. Trimbach’s wines, especially their top cuvees, seem to age forever, and as they do, their personalities begin to truly shine.

Every time I enjoy Rieslings from the Old World like this one, I realize that I don’t drink enough Riesling. Every time I enjoy such a beautiful Alsatian wine, I am reminded that I definitely don’t drink enough of Alsace.

Tasting Notes:
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a shockingly bright nose of quince and honey that begs to be inhaled slowly, as if that were physically possible. On the tongue it is halogen bright, with gorgeous acidity that brings to life a swath of flavors ranging from fresh lemon juice and honey to paraffin and nut skin. The wine lasts forever in the mouth, lingering through its drawn out finish on vapors of pomelo and orange zest. A fantastic, distinctive wine.

Food Pairing:
Whatever you eat with this wine, make sure it’s damn good. I drank this on my birthday last month and enjoyed it with many things, but especially with a light cooked shellfish salad of crab, squid, octopus, and clams in an “ocean vinaigrette” with seasoned sesame.

Overall Score: between 9.5 and 10

How Much?: roughly $110 - $190 these days. Current releases (2003) go for $35.

This vintage of the wine can occasionally be found on the internet. Current releases can be purchased here.

Original post by Vinography: A Wine Blog

Melanie Hoffman

My favorite kind of wine tasting is when I have a sample, a chair and a little bit of quiet. I do enjoy a fun tasting room, but for technical notes, not having a winery representative hovering is choice.

On April 25, 2008, the Wine Literary Award Foundation hosted its 18th Annual event honoring Charles L. Sullivan in San Francisco. I had the honor of an invitation to something I had never quite experienced. An ocean of wine to taste with nothing more than my own thoughts. I didn’t know where to start. Of course my palate leads me to the lighter fare, but with close to a thousand wines to choose from I had to pace myself.

I do love Sauvignon Blanc, I think it might just be my favorite white wine with a close second being Dry Riesling; something about the oily petrol nature has always turned me on, but I digress. In this ocean of wine my eyes are drawn first to Black Sheep, 2007 California Sauvignon Blanc. Now I might be giving myself away a little here, but it takes one to know one is what I have always been told.

In all I tasted five Sauv Blancs, I had a mind to keep going with 29 to choose from, but that would have been self-indulgent. The five I chose did not disappoint.

Black Sheep, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, California ~ Ripe melon and lychee nut aromas open the bouquet of this easily approachable quaffer. Citrus and mineral develop upon a second sniff that lead way to fragrant orange blossoms. Complex palate offers ample freshly cut grass flavors with added notes of kiwi. Nice acid to fruit balance. Trailing flavors of figs and Myer lemon finish this clean, fruity and delicious wine.

Hall Wines, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Napa Valley ~ Bouquet of nectarine and peaches that lead way to tropical notes of pineapple and papaya with hints of lemongrass at the close of the nose. Slightly sharp palate that softens as it lingers. Peach and nectarine flavors follow the bouquet with added tangerine that lasts.

Langtry, 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County ~ Soft bouquet of mineral and sweet spice. Added notes of mango and gooseberry in the nose with the essence of fresh strawberry. Palate is equally soft, an easy summer sipper. Palate follow nose with added juicy flavors of Spring Rainer Cherries.

Manzanita Creek, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Lake County | Oak Ranch ~ Sporting the Zork! cork. Subtle creaminess with hints of cinnamon on the nose. Flowery aromas continue with the addition of passion fruit. Balanced wine has good acid and nice fruit flavors. Palate shows more passion fruit flavors that are up front and last all the way through. Subtle mineral flavors exhibit themselves mid-palate with soft Genoa fig flavors that add to the tropical flavors in the finish.

McNabb Ridge, 2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino County ~ Bright nose pops! with a soft creaminess at the close. Apricots, honeysuckle and fresh grass upfront with an easy vanilla appeal at the end of the bouquet. Palate offers super delicious flavors; I had an “oooooh!” moment. Lots of fruit, more apricots and an essence of clover honey. This wine finishes with nectarine flavors and trailing vanilla bean that lingers.

I then turned to some different whites; pinot gris, trousseau gris, verdelho, gewurztraminer, dry riesling. An eclectic mix that made my mind swirl and my senses dance with the excitement of a child on Christmas morning.

Swanson, 2006 Pinot Gris, Napa Valley ~ Very floral bouquet offers bright notes of apricots, lemongrass and Cattelaya orchids with subtle smoke in the close of the nose. Palate has a dominant blood orange appeal. Nice acid and fruit. Myer lemon and gooseberry flavors with a lasting apricot finish.

Carta d’Imbarco, 2006 Pinot Grigio ~ Floral and fruit aromas, a certain 50/50 bar, orange and cream nature. Starfruit fragrance and marmalade finish the bouquet. Bright palate follows nose with more orange and cream and starfruit with added peachy notes in the finish.

Fanucchi Vineyards, 2005 Trousseau Gris, Russian River Valley ~ Lemon cream nose with added notes of pear and nutmeg. Mineral elements add to the complex nature of the wine. Trailing wisps of white smoke finish the bouquet. Delightful palate offers ginger and more pear flavors. Tropical notes of pineapple linger on the palate.

Barreto Cellars, 2006 Verdelho, Lodi ~ Aromas of tangelo, melon and an earthy nature in the bouquet. Added notes of vanilla and cranberry orange close the bouquet. Very citrusy palate has notes of lemon curd upfront and in the finish. Clean wine finishes light and fruity.

Husch, 2006 Gewurztraminer, Anderson Valley ~ Enticing nose of cantaloupe and star jasmine. Subtle aromas of petrol and mineral. Fairly dry wine (.6% R.S.) offers flavors of rose hips and spicy apple pie with a warm honey finish.

Wollersheim Winery, Dry Riesling | NV ~ Stelvin Closure, very nice. Classic riesling aromas; petrol upfront with hints of sweet nutmeg and ginger spice and a flowery hibiscus aroma. Palate is juicy and delicious. Gentle peachy flavors give way to an elegant honeycomb finish.

At this point I realized, I still had many more wines to taste and I decided to jump to my favorite red wine, Pinot Noir. A truly great Pinot Noir is classy and elegant, yet sturdy and plump. I found some worth mentioning.

J Lohr, 2006 Pinot Noir, Arroyo Seco | Fog’s Reach Vineyard ~ Huge nose, big cherry pie aromas, toasty vanilla oak and lots of plums in the bouquet. Palate follows nose with more juicy plums and a basket full of cherries. Added notes of worn leather and cocoa powder round out the finish of this wine.

Moshin Vineyards, 2006 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley | Lot 4 Selection ~ Ripe nose, very fruit forward. Subtle vanilla oak with the addition of plums, leather and cherry blossoms. Rich palate features a mouthful of cherries and vanilla. Soft finish of cassis and hibiscus tea.

Porter-Bass, 2006 Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley ~ Bright nose of plums and cherries, additional aromas of sweet pepper jam adds to the gentle nature of this wine. Soft leather and vanilla close the nose. Palate opens with big cherries and more leather. Soft tannins make this wine an easy drinker for tonight, a wine for a reason. Cherry flavors continue to the long, lingering finish.

Turner Vineyards, 2005 Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, ~ Cherry blossom aromas with added caramel and cedar notes. Bouquet continues with red currants and a sexy white chocolate nature. Palate has more red currant flavors with an added cherry pie quality with a brown sugar finish. Nice tannin structure.

I now turn to Cabernet Franc, a wine that is less appreciated than it should be. When everyone turned to Merlot, I turned to Cab Franc. I tend to stay away from Merlots, they have become watered down versions of their characteristic jammy and fruity variety. They just don’t have enough fruit and structure for my tastes. Cab Franc on the other hand, in my opinion, tends to have lots of fruit and awesome structure. Cab Franc is not just a blending grape. And this little Bordeaux variety is a best kept secret that I wouldn’t mind letting the cat out of the bag about.

Casa Nuestra, 2005 Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley ~ Huge bouquet exhibits blackberry pie and trailing vanilla aromas. Very fragrant. Delicious mouthfeel, medium to full body. More blackberry flavors on the palate, a basket full of them. Added easy oak, vanilla and coffee bean flavors but the blackberry lingers forever. Gosh that is a good wine!

Eaton Hill Winery, 2005 Cabernet Franc, Yakima Valley - WA ~ Complex nose, a little horse saddle funky upfront that leads way to plentiful jammy aromas of mulberries and loganberries, with a vanilla finish to the bouquet. Velvety palate features more mulberry and vanilla bean flavors. Lingering blueberry jam finish.

Thumbprint, 2005 Cabernet Franc, Alexander Valley ~ Lots of new leather and mulberry jam aromas. This CF has a slightly meaty quality, almost an apple wood bacon nature. Bouquet closes with cassis aromas. Very jammy palate displays more mulberry jam, cassis and smoky meat. Very balanced, nice tannins and good acid.

At this point I realized I needed to take a break and have a bite to eat. The event supplied a sumptuous feast provided by the chefs of the California Culinary Academy, a special tour-through-the-kitchen luncheon provided by the Culinary Academy students. Copious amounts of cheeses, smoky meats, poki salad, seared ahi, marinated beef, green salads, and the list continued. The dessert display was a towering confectioner’s delight. The lunch was as much fun as the tasting of wines. The folks at the Wine Literary Award Foundation know how to host an event. I can only hope the dinner and award announcements in the evening were as much of a success as the writers’ tasting during the day.

Original post by melanie

“He said: “I think the market has just tipped. All of a sudden, rather
than being driven by 20-year-olds who were the early adopters [of the
net], I’m starting to get emails from people saying ‘as a pensioner …
The silver surfers have arrived.”

This comes from a news story put out by Off License News. Just how significant is this finding that older drinkers are coming to the on-line wine sales channel?

I think it must be significant. Despite the talk about young folks being the one’s helping to drive wine’s sales accent, it is somewhat older folks that do the real buying of wine. There appearance in any significant number in the on-line world would in fact represent a notable turning point in the on-line wine sales world.

Now get this quote, from the same article:



“Vinitrac research from Wine Intelligence in March 2007 found that 16%
of regular wine drinkers in the UK had bought wine online in the
previous six months. Internet shopping was marginally more popular
among those aged over 55, the survey found, with those under 34 the
least likely to buy wine online.“

These kind of findings remind me that we are still very much in a transitional phase when it comes to the world of on-line sales and wine. While on-line purchasing has overtaken some industries such as travel and books, this same kind of transition WILL come to the world of wine and completely transform how this beverage is sold. And for those companies that are making full court presses to be at the center of this transformation and who have the funds to keep going and breaking even during the transition, AND who have the ability to either develop or implement “ease-of-use” technology to the sector will find themselves sitting pretty in the years to come.

It also suggests that as this transformation to on-line sales continues, the political pressure to make these virtual transactions easier will become more intense. This is bad new for those who still want to argue that restricting consumer choice in wine is a needed trade off in preventing all those teens from purchasing Paso Robles Syrah and the Austrian Rieslings they are known to crave.

Original post by Tom Wark

Original post by Tom Wark

Left to right: Elliott Mackey of the Wine Appreciation Guild and Charles L. Sullivan.

There’s a fondness in my heart for Charles Sullivan. When I asked him once about the history of Irish winemakers in the United States, he told me that he hadn’t researched that area in depth (yet), but there are logical inferences that can be deduced from historical facts that would present themselves upon further investigation.

“Logical inferences…” That’s stayed with me as long as the memory of visiting with Roz (his wife) and him in Los Gatos a few years ago. Charles is as much a historical treasure as are the books for which he’s authored. This award has been a long time coming and so deserved.

According to a press release from the Wine Literary Award Foundation:

Charles L. Sullivan, the famed wine historian’s career was celebrated at a gala banquet and award ceremony in San Francisco, California, this past April 25, 2008. The Wine Literary Award is administered by the Wine Literary Award Foundation, which seeks to advance wine writing and wine knowledge through gifts of academic scholarships for excellence in wine writing in the various fields of eonology.

Charles L. Sullivan accepted wine literature’s top prize in front of a sold-out audience of admiring wine industry notables, among them keynote speaker Andrew Beckstoffer (right), who thanked the wine historian for the breadth of his contribution to the historical knowledge of the Napa Valley and the performance of his work.

“A lot of writers use Napa Valley for one reason or another. To cause division and scandal…to exploit the Valley by exaggerating controversy. Charles didn’t use Napa. He gave it a gift of insight. For that, on behalf of the Valley, thank you.”

In his acceptance speech Sullivan said, “Most historians are loath to make predictions about the future. But sometimes we can’t help expressing a sense of foreboding or optimism, given the state of the moment. For me the latter is my sense of the future of wine for all of California.”

Since his 1978 article on the origins of Zinfandel in California appeared in the California Historical Journal, Charles Sullivan’s work has established him as, in Charles Olken’s words, “the single most important wine historian alive today.”

Image to the right is Warren Winarski of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars fame, who is featured in many of Charles’s stories.

In 1982, Sullivan published the first scholarly history of a California wine region, Like Modern Edens, which focused on the Santa Clara Valley and the Santa Cruz Mountains. The next year he coauthored Late Harvest, a history of wine growing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 1988 he penned another first, the highly acclaimed Napa Wine: A History from Mission Days to Present. His 1998 book Companion to California Wine, a historical encyclopedia of the wine industry in California, won the Julia Child award for best wine book of that year. In 2003, Zinfandel: A History of the Grape and its Wine won Sullivan the Veuve Cliquot award for best wine book of the year and was a James Beard award finalist. A second edition of Napa Wine is due to be published in May 2008, and Sullivan is currently working on a three-volume, comprehensive history of the California wine industry.

“Those of us in this room,” said speaker Dan Berger, “know that there are two aspects of wine that help to determine its intrinsic quality: terroir and history. These two elements of wine must necessarily be a part of what’s in each glass, and they are at the heart and soul of what Charles Sullivan has done with his investigation into wine over the decades.”

Wine Literary Award Laureates include Hugh Johnson, Robert M. Parker, Jr., Harry Waugh, Leon D. Adams, Dan Berger, Jancis Robinson, Gerald Asher, Tom Stevenson, Gene Ford, Michael Broadbent, Robert Lawrence Balzer, Andrea Robinson, Kevin Zraly, and Karen MacNeil.

Original post by Jo Diaz

I’d like to point you readers to an interesting post by Clark Smith, at his GrapeCrafter blog, about Natural Winemaking (yes, capitalized) and the role of yeasts in the winemaking process.

Clark spent some time recently at a wine industry event where panelists and the audience discussed the definition of what Natural Winemaking actually is. It comes as no surprise to me that the group couldn’t achieve consensus around a concept that remains, as far as I am concerned, a broken metaphor (vinegar is natural, wine requires technological intervention).

One particular sticking point arose out of a discussion surrounding the use of commercial yeasts. Many proponents of Natural Winemaking, including those that practice Biodynamic winemaking eschew commercial yeasts in favor of the yeasts that are found on and around the grapes, citing their role in the concept of terroir. Some do not.

Smith, in particular, seems to favor commercial yeasts for all the reasons that winemakers usually do: they prevent stuck fermentations, they allow the winemaker more choices in how, where, and at what temperature the fermentation process takes place, and finally they avoid the sometimes nasty odors and flavors that can be byproducts of some natural yeasts.

Smith goes on to make quite an interesting argument, however. He alleges that those concerned with the expression of terroir are actually better served by commercial yeasts than by so called “wild yeast” or “native yeast” fermentations. By virtue of eliminating or reducing the aromas and flavors that are merely byproducts of the yeast itself, Smith argues, the terroir is more likely to shine through. The implication being that native yeasts actually obscure terroir more than they create it.

I’m entirely ambivalent about commercial yeasts in winemaking. I’ve had phenomenal wines made both ways. Frankly, most of the time I (and I would venture, most wine lovers) don’t know what kind of yeasts were used in the wine I’m drinking. I recognize that 50 years ago, there were no commercial yeasts on the market, but I also accept that there were an awful lot of wines full of Brettanomyces and other uglies that made for unpleasant drinking.

What do you think? Yeast as terroir or yeast as tool?

Read Clark’s post.

Original post by Vinography: A Wine Blog

Last Saturday we attended the Burlingame Foundation Luncheon. Julia Flynn Siler, the author of the House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, was one of three featured authors. We did not attend so much to hear Julia but to support the Burlingame Library Foundation, but having Julia speak was a huge bonus. Her presentation was limited to 20 minutes but she gave us a fascinating account of her trials and tribulations in writing the book about one of the most famous families in the world of wine.

Shortly after writing a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal in June of 2004 about the Mondavi Family struggles, Julia received an email from a publisher asking her if she would be interested in writing a book about Robert Mondavi. She was undecided until she attended the Napa Valley Wine Auction. Here she witnessed the dynamics and interactions of this famous wine auction. She sat at the Trinchero Family table, a family that had made their mark with “White Zinfandel” years back. She observed first hand the decline of Robert Mondavi, not so much in his physical health, but in the decline in the prestige of his wines. His wine no longer commanded the highest bids and many “cult” wines were auctioned off for many times more than the Mondavi wine. It was then that she decided to write the book.

There were many obstacles to writing the book, the largest one being that no one in the Mondavi family wanted to be interviewed by Julia. But, two and a half years later armed with 525 interview hours, Julia completed her fabulous book.

This being a library luncheon, Julia commented on the importance of libraries and alluded to the fact that she spent many hours of research at the St. Helena Library. “It may be the only library in the world with a vineyard,” she stated. She also mentioned it was at the St. Helena library that she interviewed Timothy Mondavi for 2 hours. He had been ousted from the Robert Mondavi Winery and no longer had an office in the Napa Valley.

The book is a great read and we suggest it for anyone who enjoys California wines. We often wonder what the Napa Valley would be like without a Robert Mondavi. Be sure to go to Julia’s Web site and take the
Walking Tour of the Napa Valley. The tour is a gallery of images that was collected in the process of writing the book and gives a concise synopsis of the book.

Original post by joe

Original post by Tom Wark

Create a panel, and they will come. And so they did at the Florida Winefest & Auction.

A wine writer asked me at this event, “Don’t you think this audience is going to be too snobby for this panel?” To which I quickly responded, “The room’s full.”

It was standing room only, and we were turning people away… Snobby? I think not.

Perhaps the immense draw is because of the following:

• The variety’s been shrouded in mystery since its inception, and isn’t easy to completely comprehend
• Although everyone seems to have a favorite, there’s no true quintessential benchmark for this cultivar yet established above all others, although there are a few favorite “pets”
• So many vintners are consistently willing to load yet another panel with diverse talent for adoring fans
• There are so many wine makers that must focus on other varieties for their proprietors in order to have an easily marketable item; but, behind the scenes they’re working their passion; i.e., Petite Sirah

This all seems to be true, as I watch and study this particular grape variety more than any other, as the director of the PS I Love You advocacy group, which I’ve been doing since February 2002. It’s put me into a role of being the “go to gal,” when anyone has a question about who’s producing it, by how much, how many acres there are, etc.

It’s also made me the person that gets fed information by others who are in love with this variety. What would I do without Patrick Fegan of the Chicago Wine School? Each year, as acreage statistics are released, Patrick feeds me the information. California acreage is available through the California agricultural industry, but just try wading through their Website to get it. Patrick makes my life delightful by not only freeing up that reseach time, but he’s also got worldwide stats that I’ve yet to try to find. He remains faithful to this self appointed task that I’d surely miss if it ever went away.

Left to right for the above panel: Louis Foppiano (Foppiano Vineyard), Jim Concannon (Concannon Vineyard), Mike Phillips (Michael-David Winery), Miro Tcholakov (Trentadue Winery’s winemaker and Miro Cellars’ proprietor/winemaker), John Monnich (Silkwood Wines, proprietor/winemaker).

When I create a panel opportunity, it instantly becomes loaded with talent. And even though this might seem like a one trick pony, we’re immediately invited back. The above very charming gentleman talking with Jim Concannon, who attended the PS panel at Florida Winefest & Auction, thanked me the day of our panel once it concluded. The following day - after having slept on it - he returned to say that he loved the panel because it was both entertaining and educational.

Because this isn’t a grape variety that’s this side of intimidating, we can have fun with it… And we do. “Is there any better way to present anything,” I pondered… remembering the days when I was responsible for teaching “sternocleidomastoideus muscle of the neck,” and having a student fall right out of her chair onto the floor as she laughed uncontrollably. She got the answer right when tested, as did the entire class.

Anatomy can be fun. Anything can be fun. And, Petite Sirah is proving itself to be fun, regardless of all else.

Limited production by most of the producers (300 to 400 cases a year for about 80 percent of all wineries who make a Petite), hard to find on a wine list or a wine shop shelves, and consistent high quality by those who produce it - because it’s their “pet” project…. All of these things add up to “cult.”

• It’s had its own Petite Sirah Symposium for six consecutive years produced by Foppiano Vineyards, so winemakers could discuss how to better understand it, work with it, and maintain uniqueness from each the attendees.
• It’s had unusual road trips for wine trade people, all sponsored by Concannon Vineyard and other wine companies who immediately came on board (Bogle, EOS, F. Teldeschi, Foppiano, Guenoc, Mettler, Parducci, Pedroncelli, Robert Biale, Rosenblum, Silkwood, Trentadue, and Vina Robles). We merrily traipsed across the country in a motor home from coast to coast, and then did the same thing in Patrick Henry’s luxury railroad cars… All the while singing Johnny Cash’s, “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man” and “On the Road Again.”

Now, with the latest Florida Winefest Petite Sirah panel being planted in our historical travels, adding to “I’ve Been Everywhere, Man,” we look to what will be the next Petite experience. This is going to be in Sacramento this coming November, with the American Wine Society. Educating the educators will be David Mounts (Mounts Family Wines), John Monnich (Silkwood Wines), Miro Tcholakov (Trentadue Winery), George Moskowite (Moss Creek Winery), Jim Concannon (Concannon Vineyard), and Louis Foppiano (Foppiano Vineyards).

Petite Sirah continues its tortoise and hare race… Pulling up the rear, but constantly moving forward as an American Heritage cultivar. One must never forget that in the 1960s, Napa Valley was planted to Petite Sirah by 60 percent. While that will never return - and frankly, no one wants that to ever happen - it will find its rightful place as a wine grape of great merit in the California scheme of things.

Final thought from Appellation America:

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Wineries

Appellations

Grapes

Original post by Jo Diaz

While often referred to as a single “place” when it comes to wine, Napa is hardly a single monolithic growing region. Each of its 14 established AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) lays claim to a separate identity, characterized by geology, microclimate, and different histories of production.

The Oakville AVA has one of the most storied of such histories. It is home to the famed To Kalon Vineyard, purchased by H.W. Crabb in 1868, shortly after the installation of a railroad stop made the tiny village of Oakville spring to life. In 1876 Crabb’s neighbor John Benson bottled his inaugural vintage of Far Niente wine just down the road.

By the year 1880 the Oakville area had 430 acres under production, and these would nearly triple to more than 1000 acres in the next 10 years and continue to grow until Prohibition turned off the spigot in the 1920’s.

In 1965 Heitz Vineyards made the first vintage of Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet, a wine that Robert Mondavi probably tasted around about the time he established his own winery a year later. Over the next thirty years, Oakville would gradually become home to some of the best wines on the planet. Acre for acre, the Oakville appellation may be the heaviest hitting single wine region in the western hemisphere. It is home to many of the highest scoring and highest priced wines in America, including Harlan Estate, Screaming Eagle, and Dalla Valle, to name just a few.

Oakville is ground zero for Napa Cabernet, and with good reason. Year over year it produces some of the most tremendous wines in the valley. It’s hard to say that one particular area of Napa truly produces the best Cabernet, but it’s also hard to find someplace that has more claim to that title than the Oakville AVA.

Last week the Oakville Winegrowers Association put on its annual Taste of Oakville event, which gives members of the wine trade and the press an opportunity to sample wines from its members. This meant an opportunity to taste through a lot of excellent 2004 and 2005 Cabernets (as well as a few other reds and a few random whites), most of which I enjoyed greatly. There were a few wines at the tasting which I didn’t get a chance to taste, as they had run out of wine by the time I got there, but the list below represents all but a few of the wines poured. The tasting took place on the upper level catwalks of the Robert Mondavi Winery surrounding their large oak fermentation tanks, which you can see in the photo.

WHITE WINES
2006 Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards Soliloquy White Blend. Score: 9. Cost: $25
2006 Cosentino Signature Winery Oakville Chardonnay. Score: 9. Cost: $30
2005 Kelham Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc. Score: 9. Cost: $30
2006 Oakville Ranch Chardonnay. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $48
2007 Swanson Rosato. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $18
2004 Teaderman Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $28
2007 Saddleback Cellars Pinot Blanc. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $24
2006 Robert Mondavi Winery Fume Blanc Reserve, “To Kalon Vineyard.” Score: between 8 and 8.5. Cost:$20

Now that we’ve gotten those out of the way, let’s move on to the main event, shall we?

RED WINES WITH A SCORE BETWEEN 9.5 and 10
2005 FUTO Red Blend. $250
2004 Harlan Estate Red Wine. $450?

RED WINES SCORING AROUND 9.5
2004 BOND “Vecina”. $400?
2004 BOND “St. Eden”. $400?
2004 Dalla Valle Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $150
2004 Sophie’s Rows Bordeaux Blend. $75
2005 Rudd Winery Oakville Estate Proprietary Red. $105

RED WINES WITH A SCORE BETWEEN 9 and 9.5
2004 Enzo Wines “Saunders Vineyard” Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon . $75
2002 Atalon “Beckstoffer Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. $80
2006 Casa Nuestra Winery & Vineyards Tinto Classico - Old Vines Red Blend. $40
2005 Detert Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. $75
2004 Emilio’s Terrace Cabernet Sauvignon. $50
2005 Flora Springs Winery & Vineyards “Holy Smoke” Cabernet Sauvignon. $85
2005 Gargiulo Vineyards 575 OVX Cabernet Sauvignon . $??
2005 Gargiulo Vineyards 575 OVX G Major 7 Cabernet Sauvignon. $??
2005 Nickel & Nickel “Martin Stelling Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. $135
2004 Opus One Red Blend. $165
2005 Showket Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $85
2005 Swanson Merlot. $38
2005 Tierra Roja Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $110

RED WINES SCORING AROUND 9
2005 Enzo Wines “Tierra Roja” Vineyard Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. $85
2005 Far Niente Estate Bottled Cabernet Sauvignon. $125
2005 Gargiulo Vineyards “Money Road Ranch” Cabernet Sauvignon. $54
2004 Kelleher Family Vineyard “Brix Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. $65
2005 Kelleher Family Vineyard “Brix Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. $75
2005 Nickel & Nickel “John C. Sullenger” Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon. $90
2005 Nickel & Nickel “Branding Iron Vineyard” Cabernet Sauvignon. $90
2005 Oakville Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon. $65
2004 Paradigm Merlot. $44
2005 Showket Vineyards “Asante Sana” Red Wine. $50
2005 Showket Vineyards Sangiovese. $35
2005 Stanton Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $75
2005 Swanson Alexis Cabernet Sauvignon. $75
2002 Teaderman Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $80

RED WINES WITH A SCORE BETWEEN 8.5 and 9
2005 Cosentino Signature Winery Oakville Estate Cabernet. $75
2005 Ghost Block Cabernet. $55
2004 Oakville Ranch Robert’s Blend, Cabernet Franc. $90
2005 Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon. $62
2005 PlumpJack Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. $74
2005 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve . $125
2005 Venge Vineyards, Family Reserve, Merlot. $45

RED WINES SCORING AROUND 8.5
2005 Groth Cabernet Sauvignon Oakville. $57
2005 Hoopes Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon. $65
2002 Kelham Vineyards Merlot. $45
2005 Oakville East “Exposure” Cabernet Sauvignon. $100
2005 Robert Mondavi Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville. $45
2005 Tamber Bey Vineyard Estate Cabernet . $65

RED WINES WITH A SCORE BETWEEN 8 and 8.5
2002 Kelham Vineyards Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. $100

RED WINES SCORING AROUND 8
2002 Kelham Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon. $45

Original post by Vinography: A Wine Blog

Chateauneuf du Pape domaines Chante Cigale and Barroche on Unidentifed Appellation.

Original post by Craig Camp

Lodi has many great wineries. Let us help you plan your California Wine Tour to Lodi wineries with information on wineries, restaurants, and accomodations.

Original post by Tom Wark

Plan your own California Wine Tour with this guide to the California wineries, restaurants, and accommodations. Print free wine tasting coupons and winery maps for California wine regions.

Original post by Tom Wark

Best of the wine blogosphere for April 20th through May 3rd:

• 2005 Piña Napa Valley
• Score Whore!
• Industry vs. Non Industry
• Vin de Napkin - Wine Snob
• SFGate: Wine : Label watch: Heribert Kerpen
• A Century of Riesling
• Wine Twitters
• Wine Critics are Parasites, But That Doesn’t Mean We Can Be Bought
• Vin de Napkin - Frankenwine vs. Spoofulation
• Wine and Spirit magazine on
• Earth Day thoughts on sustainability in the world of wine
• Wine Journalists, might consider using Wordpress if you decide to join us!
• An Open Letter and a Call for a Merger in the Wine + Technology Space

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Original post by Tim

Screaming Eagle Snubs The Wine Trade - Vinography: A Wine Blog

In the above post Alder Yarrow tells a tale of the now famous Napa attitude. It must have been tough for the Screaming Eagle folks to spend time with the wine rabble. We should all remember that it is a privilege, not a right to drink their wines. However, what really stuck me in Alder’s post was this statement:

Forget the IQ test, here’s a new intelligence test. If you pay $700 for a bottle of a current vintage of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon you obviously skipped too many days of school. We’re in a golden age of wine quality: especially in this style. There is no shortage of high-quality. oaky, jammy red wines in the world these days. Anyone paying these prices for these wines is involved only in conspicuous consumption; not in being a wine connoisseur.

A quick look on Wine-searcher.com shows 2005 Screaming Eagle Cabernet going for $1600 and up a bottle. As they say, a fool and his money are easily parted. In my opinion you can set an arbitrary intelligence level of $100 a bottle for these cabernet based wines as there are just too many other wines on the market that are almost identical. Take a look at any of the wine rating guides and while you’ll always see wines like those listed above at the top of the pointy rankings, you will also see scattered among them wines of essentially equal ratings at a fraction of the price these wines command.

As a wine drinker you have to decide if you want to spend your money on the wine in the bottle or the label on it.

Tags: Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon, Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate

Original post by Craig Camp

Plan your own Livermore Wine tour with highlights and recommendations from Cheers2Wine. Sample wine from great Livermore wineries.

Original post by Tom Wark

If one were to speculate on the wine market as a savvy investor might in the small-cap stock market, the game would be the same: follow people you know with good track records. In the wine world, we’d also have to include a corollary about betting on great vineyard sites, but leaving aside the raw materials, it’s clear that most good wines don’t happen by accident. They’re made by talented people.

Finding talented people in Napa isn’t hard at first. There are a lot of them, many of whom have big brand names. When they start working for a winery, everyone pays attention.

But there are many more talented folks in Napa that never get the limelight of the big names. These are the “small cap” talents that are responsible for many of the small production wines throughout the valley that are just waiting to be discovered by anyone who can start connecting the dots between great vineyards and the people that work them.

Piña Napa Valley is owned and operated by the Piña Family, a name that might not mean much to most wine drinkers, but will turn the head of anyone who is reasonably involved in growing grapes in Napa. In the current generation, the Piña Family, through their firm Piña Vineyard Management are responsible for farming some of Napa’s most prestigious vineyards (Bryant, Pahlmeyer, Cafaro, Gemstone, Outpost, Showket, Sawyer, O’Shaughnessy, just to name a few), but the family has been making its home in the Napa valley since 1856 when their progenitor Bluford Stice led a wagon train into the valley from Missouri.

Only a few years after that wagon train, the family became involved in the wine business in Napa. They owned a vineyard just south of St. Helena, and Bluford Stice’s son became a prominent winemaker at the then famous Inglenook winery (now Rubicon Estate) The family has been part of the Napa wine industry ever since.

As early as 1979 the family had thought about making their own wine, even founding a company called Piña Cellars with that intention, yet somehow never found the time until they purchased a small property on Howell Mountain in 1996 and decided to put their viticultural talents to work for themselves.

Their Howell Mountain property is known as the “Buckeye Vineyard” and its partially terraced hillside surrounded by Redwoods, Oaks and Madrone trees border Ladera and Beatty Ranch.

The family has been producing wine from their estate vineyard for the past 7 years, and the last couple of years they have been acquiring long term leases on several more vineyard sites around Napa with the goal of producing single vineyard wines.

One of these sites is the D’Adamo vineyard which sits at the foot of Atlas Peak in the southern part of Napa. This sustainably farmed vineyard is planted with 100% Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Piña’s began their project with the wines being made by winemaker Cary Gott (a longtime Napa wine veteran and consultant who has worked for more vineyards than are possible to list). In 2001, Ted Osborne (of Storybook Mountain Vineyards most recently) took over as head winemaker, and is responsible for this particular wine. Osborne recently departed Piña, and has been replaced by the young Anna Monticelli.

This particular wine is aged for 18 months in 100% French oak (50% new) before bottling. 1147 cases are made.

Full disclosure: I received this wine as a press sample.

Tasting Notes:
Inky ruby in color, this wine has a rich and juicy nose of cherry and dark cassis aromas that are surprising and arresting for a Napa Cabernet. In the mouth the surprises continue with dark juicy flavors of black cherry and cassis wrapped in a package of silky tannins. The wine is beautifully balanced and dynamic on the palate, conveying darker fruits than typical for the varietal, making for an unusual and compelling experience. The wine finishes nicely, with lingering notes that nearly reach blueberry.

Food Pairing:
This wine would be a likely contender to accompany this beef stew with herbed dumplings.

Overall Score: between 9 and 9.5

How Much?: $72

This wine is available for purchase online.

Original post by Vinography: A Wine Blog

The wines of France’s Bordeaux region have long been a benchmark for quality due to a combination of tradition, terroir and mystique. William Echikson’s “Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution” attempts to lift the veil and show the inside of the Bordeaux wine trade which makes for some fascinating reading.

Mr. Echikson is the Brussels bureau chief for Dow Jones Newswires and a wine columnist for the Wall Street Journal Europe but his narrative here stays closer to the business side of things in his account of the 2001 growing season. Along the way, we are introduced to the movers and shakers of the Bordeaux wine scene, including critic Robert Parker, consulting winemaker Michel Rolland and garagiste Michel Gracia, but the central story is of the Lur-Saluces family of Chateau d’Yquem.

The wines of Chateau d’Yquem are well known to wine lovers as the standard-bearer of Sauternes, the late harvest desert wine made in Bordeaux. The fungus on the grapes, known as “noble rot”, concentrates the juice making the resulting wine lusciously concentrated and sweet but still has plenty of acidity to make you come back for more. My own experience with d’Yquem is nothing short of phenomenal; this is one of those wines you want to just keep your nose in the glass for hours at a time.

As it turns out the Lur-Saluces family is as complex as their wines and much of Noble Rot is devoted to telling their somewhat tragic story. While interesting, I found this part of the book a bit gossipy and liked the vignettes of other characters in Bordeaux better. But at just under 300 pages, Noble Rot makes for a quick weekend read and one I hope more wine lovers will check out.

That’s why I chose this book for the second installment of the Wine Book Club created by Dr. Debs of Good Wine Under $20. In Deb’s review of this book, she focuses on the Bordelaise wine culture and the historical aspects of the story, not surprising for an esteemed history professor from USC.

Richard, The Passionate Foodie, commented on how winemakers need to adapt to change or face the consequences in his review. Good insight into the tradition-laden culture of Bordeaux.

The Dude checked in with his thoughts on Noble Rot and gave it a thumbs up for, “…a) You love you some Bordeaux wine, b) You prefer your history shaken, & with a twist of gossip, c) You are in the wine industry.” Well played, Dude.

Farley came out from Behind The Vines to post her review and highlight the educational aspects of Noble Rot. I, too, learned a lot about what makes Bordeaux tick and why they are able to command such prices in the international marketplace.

Kori from The Wine Peeps gave a rundown of several juicy quotes from the book in her review but concluded that, “…If you are interested in learning more about Bordeaux, the people, places, and history, this could be a book for you, and you can head over to Amazon or your book retailer of choice to pick up a copy. However, if you are looking for a wine guide or basic wine information, I would suggest that you look elsewhere.”

Colin from the Grapefan’s Wine Adventures blog in the UK posted a mixed review of Noble Rot commenting, “…I’m still not sure what to make of it.” He thought the book might be best suited to Americans but ended up giving the work an 84 on the 100 point scale.

I know other bloggers started the book and hope they finish and post their reviews. As they do, I will update this post. Please send me your link if I missed your review or if you post a bit later than my tardy effort.

Thanks again to Dr. Debs for letting me host Wine Book Club on it’s sophomore edition. I’m hoping to see a better turnout on the 3rd outing to be announced next week.

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Original post by Tim

Sarasota is one of those places that once you’ve visited, you then patiently wait for your next opportunity to return.

It’s been six year of yearning for me. Now, I should be satisfied, because I’ve just returned. But, no, I’m back on the yearning bus. Sarasota is paradise, and it’s deeply in my soul.

The Florida Winefest and Auction was held at the Ritz Carlton on the mainland, in a gorgeous setting. Just right of center in this image are Jim and Helen Concannon, talking with guests who have just arrived. This event only allows for winery principals to be those representing the wine companies, so it’s a potpourri of wine stars.

This area is a cultural, gastronomic environment. In the spring, it’s bursting with flowers and festivities that include concerts, opera, theater, museums, galleries, and lots of outdoor activities, like dining sidewalk-style al frecso.

In its eighteenth year, the Winefest has become one of the premier charity events in the country, dedicated to raising money for disadvantaged children. This year they’ve raises approximately $500,000 for area charities, during the four days of the Winefest.

I took copious images, and these are just the beginning of my sharing from this beautiful location and worthwhile event.

Original post by Jo Diaz

Our last post on Dutch Henry Winery drew a comment from Dutch Henry owner and winemaker Scott Chafen. We mentioned in the post that we thought the Dutch Henry wines were priced on the high side. Scott responded by saying, “organically farmed, hand picked, barrel aged, and hillside grown all has its price.”

This leads to the subject of wine pricing in the Napa Valley or in any wine country. How is the price of wine set by a winery? Is there a set formula that takes into account the cost of wine production, how much profit to make, and other factors? Or, is the process totally subjective?

We occasionally ask a vintner, when the opportunity is right, how he or she figures out how much to charge for a bottle of wine. The only really straight answer we have ever received in our small sampling came from George Hendry of Hendry Wines. George simply stated, “Whatever the market will bear.” Maybe Joe Heitz started this idea back in the early days of the Napa Valley. James Conaway in his book, Napa, The Story of an American Eden, tells of the time Joe Heitz impulsively opened a bottle of his $12 Cabernet, “drinking Cabernet off the hood of a local’s pickup, laughing and laughing at the absurdly high price.” The absurdly high price didn’t stop people from buying his Cabernet. And even today, there are several “cult” wines going for an absurdly high price of $200 and higher.

George Hendry: “Whatever the market will bear.”

We wonder how many Napa Valley vintners have adopted this price point strategy. The price of Napa wines just seems to be shooting up despite the economy. Apparently, there are enough folks out there with plenty of money who are not affected by gasoline prices or the high cost of groceries, who want to buy wine regardless of the price. Napa’s big advantage is its reputation; wineries there can charge more for their wine simply because the wine came from the Napa Valley. It is true that it costs more to set up shop in the Napa Valley vs. Paso Robles or the Sierra Foothills. But some wineries in the Napa Valley have been there for ages, since the time when land was inexpensive. Do those wineries charge less because their overhead is lower?

For us, we travel often to the Napa Valley. We love the beauty, the food, and the whole experience of being in one of the world’s most famous wine regions. We are always searching for value wines in the Napa Valley and elsewhere. We love it when we find a good red for less than $20, a good white for less than $15. But this is so much easier to accomplish in the wine regions of the Russian River of Sonoma County, Mendocino, the Sierra Foothills, and Paso Robles.

Original post by joe

Use our direct wine links to access valuable information on other web sites.

Original post by Tom Wark

It was a strip joint, nothing more than a meat market. Places like this are always a bit sleazy no matter how elegant they pretend to be. I sat down at the bar almost expecting an invitation to a lap dance, but was handed a menu instead.

Such is the American steak house these days. I looked quite out of place in my Columbia Oregon garb surrounded by guys with gold chains and sport coats over their sport shirts, which were unbuttoned a bit too much, and shiny loafers. I got as close as I could to the TV and the baseball game, ordered my New York Strip medium rare and asked for the wine list. As my eyes raced down the list of big name California wines I realized that for these prices it may have been cheaper to go to a real strip joint and buy some “personal” attention than buy a decent bottle of wine at Morton’s. Who would have thought that illicit flesh could be cheaper than a bottle of Napa Cab and one-way-or-the-other a more memorable investment.

It didn’t take long before I understood that cabernet was out of the question for less than $100, so my eyes drifted to syrah and zinfandel. The selections from Ridge temped me, but they were 2005 vintage and I felt like keeping the enamel on my teeth. My eyes then focused on the vintages and there it was, 2001 Livingston Moffet, Mitchell Vineyard Syrah at a third or less of the cost of the least interesting cabernet sauvignon from much more recent vintages. Luckily for the next customer, I consumed this wine just in time as it is starting to dry out. The problem is that not having tasting the wine before, I can’t tell if the lack of fruit is the fault of the wine or the shipping and storage: I’m willing to bet it’s the latter. So I’ll give this wine the benefit of the doubt as all-in-all it had great appeal. The tannins were quite pronounced, but that was not a problem as my steak quickly absorbed them. It presented excellent balance with flavors that were wonderfully not a bit jammy, but loaded with rich earthy, meaty, smoky butcher shop characteristics. Given a fair chance I’d say this would be an excellent bottle of syrah. Too bad it wasn’t given a fair chance.

However, at a strip joint like Morton’s, no one cares about such details. My guess is this bottle was mistreated before they every received it. A summer or two in a hot Mid-Western warehouse or a day on a delivery truck on a hot August day will even rip the guts out of a robust syrah. However, at a strip joint no one is paying close attention to the quality of the wine. They only pay attention to paying a lot for it. The more you pay the better it must be.

I guess at all strip joints bigger is better.

Original post by Craig Camp

The danger of a post such as this will be the fact that some of you, and perhaps the people concerned, will believe that I am simply whining. But let me assure you, though I am slightly disappointed, I am far more astonished at what seems to me to be a level of rudeness and arrogance that is thankfully rare in the wine world.

Monday afternoon, April 28th, the Oakville Winegrowers Association put on a tasting of wines grown and made in Napa’s Oakville AVA (American Viticultural Area) for the trade and the media. Such tastings are quite rare for many reasons, but perhaps among them is the fact that many of the wineries in Oakville are quite simply the top wineries in Napa. These folks don’t have any problem selling their wines out every year for hundreds of dollars per bottle. Needless to say, they don’t have a lot of extra wine laying around for tasting. Many do not have public tasting rooms at all for this very reason.

However, most of these wineries, like the vast majority of their peers in Napa understand that their relationship with the trade (retailers, restaurateurs, distributors, the press) is important both for their own livelihood as well as the livelihood of the wine region as a whole. Which means that every once in a while they get together and throw a big tasting to allow members of the trade and media access to their hard-to-find wines in a comparative and easily accessible setting.

The Oakville tasting this week represented a fabulous opportunity to taste some legendary wines from some of Napa’s best producers. Among them was Screaming Eagle, the cult wine of cult wines. This small producer is widely known for making some of the highest rated, most expensive, and hardest to get wine in America.

Frankly when I saw that Screaming Eagle would be pouring at the tasting, my first reaction was surprise, since I had never heard of them pouring their wines at such a large trade event. My second reaction was a warm feeling of approval. I was proud that they were going to support their appellation and their fellow winegrowers, and I was personally looking forward to tasting the wine for the first time.

But I never got to. And neither did hundreds of other members of the trade and media.

After about 20 minutes of pouring at the tasting, having only brought a few bottles, Screaming Eagle was out of wine. So when I arrived to the tasting about 30 minutes late, I found this:

An empty table, surrounded by stunned members of the wine community — winemakers, wine buyers, sommeliers, marketing consultants, and other winery owners, all of whom were nonplussed at the blank table. Actually, not all of them were nonplussed. Some of them were pissed.

Now you might be thinking, well, they ARE the ultimate cult winery. They don’t make a lot of wine, and their wine is so expensive, they can’t really afford to just stand around and pour their wine all day long at thi