Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

New Wine Media Popping Up

The wine writing genre is something pretty impressive. At Wark Communications we have a media list of over 400 writers who write often or occasionally about wine. How many consumable products can you find that are so well covered by the press. Know any "Onion Writers" or "Frozen Pizza Writers? I don't. Why wine motivates such devotion is fodder for another post. What I want to draw your attention to here is a nice development in the realm of the wine media.

Popping Corks is a new web site dedicated to gathering wine reviews and articles from across the web. Most of the articles they point to at their website are published both in print and on the net. Yet Popping corks is going the extra mile. They are also listing and linking to posts written by wine bloggers. They've linked to posts at Vinography, Spittoon.biz, Turn The Screw, Lenndevours, VineSugar and Red-is-Life.

It's a forward thinking policy they have over at PoppingCorks!

20 Food & Wine Wishes for 2005

1. My family is healthy and happy
2. 2005 is the "vintage of the century" for all Californian winemakers
3. Wark Communications and its clients continue to enjoy success
4. Great success to my family and friends
5. I get into the finals of the Rock Paper Scissors Championship at Roshambo Winery
6. Anderson Valley get "discovered"
7. Huge Johnson posts more on the state of the wine industry
8. The SF Chronicle adds even another page to their Wine Section
9. The trend toward wines with less oak continues
10. My lovely wife is able to wean herself off Australian wines with cute animals on the label
11. The creation of a vintage chart for California that takes into account the different regions
12. More movies in which wine is treated like something besides a punch line.
13. The continued rise of Fine Dry Rose
14. The mainstreaming of wine & food blogs
15. More dinner parties with friends
16. Finding some Stony Hill Chards from the 60s and 50s to complete my vertical
17. An invasion of wine into the "Red States"
18. A decision by the Supreme Court that states can't discriminate with in comes to wine
19. Finding just the right wine to go with "General's Jerky" (don't ask!)
20. Health, happiness, and fine wine to readers of Fermentations

Tearing into Terroir

I've wanted for some time to address the issue of "terroir" in this blog. But I've not found a real good way to approach what is an interesting, though controversial and misunderstood notion.

"Terroir" is most important because it is the notion that a wine represents a particular place at a particular moment in time that makes it a romantic, mysterious drink. Yet notice, this statement of terroir really says nothing about what a wine tastes like or what its value is.

There are those, and I could be one of them under the right circumstances and after having drunk enough wine, who would argue that the very best wine in the world are those that accurately represent the terroir the grapes were grown in. When in this condition, I'll conveniently forget that the winemaker has far more influence over the character of the wine than the climate, soils and exposure of the grapes to the sun.

So, rather than go on, I thought it important to introduce readers of "Fermentations" to the best article I've come across that discusses the nature of "terroir": Jaime Goode's "Terroir Revisited: Towards a Working Definition of Terroir".

Review of the Wine Media: California Grapevine

This is the second in a series of reviews of wine publications

CALIFORNIA GRAPEVINE

I've been reading California Grapevine for more than fifteen years. The bi-monthly newsletter rarely strays from its charge: Give California wines a good, detailed, technical review along with commentary by the best writers in the business.

California Grapevine is no nonsense and no frills. In each issue, printed in black and white on its beige pages, you will find nothing but reviews of California wines, each described in searing sensory detail. Though I've been a devoted reader of the Grapevine, I've always wished they'd put a bit more context in their reviews. Here is a representative review from the August/September 2003 issue:

"2002 J Pinot Gris
Russian River Valley, ($18)-Medium-light yellow color; attractive, floral, spicy, green apple, white peach and honeysuckle aromas that continued to develop with airing in the glass; medium to medium-full body; tight, crisp, lemony, peach and green apple flavors with an appealing, crisp, clean mouth feel; well balanced; somewhat tight and austere on the finish; lingering aftertaste. Very highly recommended. 13.7% alcohol; 5,800 cases; 100% Pinot Gris; 25% Malolactic fermentation; released March 2003 (Group Score: 16 of 20 Points, 4 of 8 first place votes/3 second/0 thirds; My Score: 17 [90 of 100 points], first place)"

No question about it. I know what this wine looks, smells and tastes like. But the review does leave me someone cold without more context. Still a great deal of information is given for each wine reviewed. Toward the end of each review you will find a variety of contextual ratings. In the above review of the J Pinot Gris you learn that the tasting group gave it 16 out of 20 points. For those of you who aren't familiar with the 20 point scale, this is a pretty good score. You also learn how many first, second and third place votes it was given. Finally, "My Score" refers to the palate of Nick Ponomareff, California Grapevine's Editor and one of the most experienced palates in California. But as I said before, the write up leaves me a bit cold. I want to know where on the Pinot Gris style scale this wine sits. I want to know a brief history of J's Pinot Gris production (is this there first, third, 10th vintage of Pinot Gris?).

Reviews are categorized in flights of varietals. So under this Pinot Gris you will find reviews of 9 other Pinot Gris that were tasted in this flight and their position in the final ranking.

One of the best reasons to read California Grapevine is what's in the back of each issue. For some time Dan Berger has been writing insightful essays for the newsletter; essays in which he deconstructs myths, offers explanations of industry practices, critiques trends, and comments on emerging regions in California. The newsletter is worth the price just for Mr. Berger's essays. Yet in addition, California Grapevine often delivers two or three book reviews written by Bob Foster.

California Grapevine is a venerable publication that deserves more exposure. I'm unaware of any website they maintain. And I rarely see the publication given out at the various wine events throughout the year.

In the end, California Grapevine is for a more experienced wine drinker; someone who understands detailed and even obscure descriptors of wines.

California Grapevine
$40 Per year for six issues
(858) 457-4818

HELP!! Now's the time to Help

The numbers that are being reported regarding the tsunami really can't measure the immensity of what has happened.

Instead of listing here all the ways you can help, I recommend you read Juliette Rossant's perfect post at her SuperChef Blog.

Now is the time to help. Juliette can show you how.

2005 Wine Trends...Who Drives them?

Paul Greggut is a longtime, experienced wine writer from Seattle. His wine column appears in the Seattle Times. Paul has come up with an interesting list of wine trends for 2005

I find two of his predictions very interesting and I hope he's right about them:

-A trend change toward lower percentages of alcohol in dry table wines.
-Renewed consumer interest in un-oaked, food-friendly white wines.

There is an interesting question connected with this issue. Who drives trends in the wine industry? Is it the consumer who drives the move toward lower alcohol wines and less oak in wine? Or is it the trade...meaning winemakers who decided it's time to try something different? Chicken or the egg? Who's the chicken and whose the egg here?

Anyway, my answer, which is not very exciting, is both. I think it's a combination of forward thinking winemakers and the high-end wine drinkers who move trends forward. The unoaked trend for example is something that will be pushed mainly by winemakers and to a degree the press. They do this for their own satisfaction and because they get an inkling from what they are hearing from their best customers and other wine drinkers that such a wine will be welcomed. The snowball builds from there.

I'm hoping the snowball for unoaked, lower alcohol wines gets bigger and bigger as Paul suggests it might

2005 What's Hot in Food...Where are the Blogs?

Over at the Santa Cruz sentinel writer Nancy Redwine (is that really her name?) speculates on what's in and out for food in 2005.

I like these kinds of lists. They make think and I get to measure my own opinions against another's. But in her list what's in and out with regard to food there is a huge omission:

They appear to her to be neither IN nor OUT. Yet clearly FoodBlogs are IN.

Some the best, most original food writing, some great discoveries and some very insightful commentary is coming from the growing list of food blogs on the net. And with the news feeds and aggregators it's easier than ever to construct your own media world filled with the writers you want to read...Including food bloggers.

The list of great food bloggers is very long...to long to list in this post. My best advice is check out FOOD PORN WATCH for a list of those foodblogs that have been most recently updated.

Wine Spectator's Power Shouldn't be Undersold

Let me say up front that I believe the Wine Spectator Magazine is extraordinarily lucky to have Jim Laube at the head of their tasting panel for California wines. Say what you will about preference, big wines, the 100 point scale or the influence of the magazine. The fact is, Jim Laube has one of the best palates in America. My guess is he could make far more money simply acting as a consultant and selling his palate to those who want an experienced set of taste buds sampling their wine. Mr. Laube clearly loves what he is doing now.

However, I think he understates the power of a great rating from the Wine spectator. Mr. Laube wrote the following in "90 or bust", an article that appeared online yesterday:

But there's so much more involved in achieving long-term success in the wine business than a mere rating. A high score is worthless unless the winery has an effective business plan, and a business plan is an empty shell if there's not some core conviction about wine character behind it. One winemaker acquaintance put it well: those who live by the scores, die by the scores.

Having worked in wine promotion for a number of years and having followed the impact of high numerical ratings both as a publicist for wineries and at an auction house I can tell you that:

1. A high score is far from useless no matter what the business plan of the winery is. It turns out if your first wine out of the blocks is scored a 95 by The Wine Spectator you will sell it out, and sell it out quickly, assuming it is priced decently and there are less than 5000 cases.

2. It doesn't matter what the core convictions are of the person behind the wine. If the 95 point or better score comes those convictions can be anything from "I just wanna be vintner who has fun" to I want to make the greatest wine in the world". It doesn't matter. The wine will sell out.

3. The character of the wine is of no importance if it is scored 95 points or better by the Wine Spectator. It will sell out if it is thin and acrid. This is a reflection of the consumer's trust in the Wine Spectator and the retailers and wholesalers reliance upon the magazine's ratings.

The Wine Spectator and Robert Parker have both done something very impressive. They started out as publications that only hoped to offer good solid information to consumers. Consumers were comfortable with their approach. This in time resulted in both publications becoming extraordinarily powerful. I don't think either ever sought power. But with their scores, they have it.

Having that kind of power can only do one of two things to a person or organization. Corrupt them or push them to greater heights of integrity. The Spectator, Mr. Laube and Mr. Parker have all demonstrated integrity. But I think Mr. Laube understates the nature of his impact.

Dollar vs Euro=Sparking Wine for New Years

New Years Eve is going to cut into the' pocket book more than usual this year...that is if you insist on toasting with Champagne rather than domestic sparkling wine.

It's about the historically low value of the dollar versus the Euro. The dollar has declined more than 20% this year and hit historic lows. That means Champagne is going to be more expensive than usual.

How much? These are prices from K&L Wines in San Francisco:

1996 Dom Perignon: $100
Krug Grand Cuvee: $100
1996 Pol Roger Brut: $50
Veuve Cliquot Brut: $33
1995 Salon Blanc de Blanc: $130

The low dollar is certainly going to help exports of California wine as well as domestic sales as some look at the rising cost of imports and choose to drink on the home field. If the dollar falls further you can bet the big American wine companies will be doing all they can to take market share from european producers. In fact, I've been surprised for a while now that some winery hasn't undertaken a "patriotic" ad campaign: "Drink California—You can count on us"

For those of you looking for a good domestic sparkling wine for New Years and beyond consider:

Roederer Anderson Valley
Schramsberg
Handely Cellars Anderson Valley
Domaine Carneros
Domaine Chandon Etoile
Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee

Cheers...

High End California Wines Set To Rebound Strong

It appears the stars are aligning for the market in high end California wines to soar.

Though it is unlikely this surge will equal the staggeringly ridiculous run up in prices for California wines seen between 1998 and 2000, it appears that the economic ground has been laid to see the sales and prices of high end luxury wines increase.

Consider the macroeconomic factors at play. Home values as well as the stock market have continued to rise throughout 2004, with the stock market beginning its real run in the summer. Add to this reports that luxury goods have done very well this holiday season, continuing a trend that started well before the shopping season began. It appears that those who drive sales in luxury goods, the wealthy, are spending.

Fine dining is up. Sales of luxury vehicles are up. The major auction houses have had an outstanding year. Consider the stock prices of the Champagne producers. They have outperformed the CAC-40 index of French stocks by a considerable amount.

And, consider that just today, the Consumer Confidence Index soared after being in declined for 4 months. Add to this the instability that is no longer out there surrounding who will be the president over the next four years.

There are other indications from within the wine industry itself that the future of high-end wine is looking very bullish.

The gulf between supply and demand of grapes has narrowed considerably as the excess wine is being slurped up by low end brands and as grapes have been ripped from Central Valley lands. Fine Dining receipts are up across the country. Recently, Winebid.com, the largest online wine auction house announced it will move to weekly auctions, doubling the number of auctions it holds in 2005. In December we saw a number of wine auctions that sold well over 95% of their lots, many at record prices. And who can forget the bottle of 1847 Chateau d'Yquem that sold in LA earlier this year for over $70,000--a record price paid for a bottle of wine in the Untied States.

Finally, supply for the best wines will be slightly down after three consecutive vintages in California of lower yields.

The combination of a healthier economy (at least at the top of the economic ladder), a more stable political environment, the perception that the economy is moving, fewer supplies of bulk wine on the market and the rich spending at a fine pace and you have the development of a boom in the highend California wine market.

Based on this, I can predict the following:

-More difficulty finding the high end wines that seemed to have sat on shelves the past 3 years.

-Slightly increasing prices for wines in the $40+ range

-Increased interest in well-cellared, older California wines

-Pressure on the "2-buck chuck" type wines as the surplus of grapes disappears from the Central Valley and elsewhere.

-Continued acquisition of well-known premium wine brands producing 50,000 cases or more.

-Increase in advertising pages in wine publications

It is always possible the unseen events can derail a trend. However, given the circumstances currently in place, it appears that high-end California wines are back in the saddle.

"Cultured Wino" Off to a Good Start

We have a new, and quite good, wine blogger in our midst: Cultured Wino.

Tiffany, the proprietor of the Cultured Wino, wants to help "de-snootify" wine. And she's off to a good start by taking me to task over my comment that I think there is room for elitism and snobbery in the world of wine. However, Tiffany's point, which is correct, is that if the wine industry is going to attract a larger audience then the predominant view of wine and wine drinkers must be something other than elitists and snobs.

Ms. Tiffany is worth reading!

Where to Talk Wine

Wine lovers talk and talk and talk and talk...about wine. There's no problem with this unless you find yourself talking to someone whose appreciation of wine isn't quite as deep as their appreciation of Diet Cola. The glazed look arrives on their face and you get labeled as a snob.

So, what you need are like minded lovers of wine who are always available to talk about oak aging, ratings, where to find wines, your latest acquisition or that wine country vacation you are planning.

The Internet is your friend.

There are some really great "Wine Forums" on the internet where wine geeks gather and talk about everything a wine lover could imagine would be a topic of conversation. I regularly monitor and participate in four that I think are stellar:

West Coast Wine Forum
A decided emphasis here on domestic wines, but one of the oldest and best wine forums out there.

Wine Lovers Page
Another long standing wine forum run by Robin Garr. Also well read, Wine Lovers Page has a more diverse range of topics (not so much emphasis on domestic wines)

Mark Squires Bulletin Board on E-Robertparker
A very active wine board that attracts many due to its semi-association with critic Robert Parker.

Wine Spectator Wine Forums
Another active site associated with the magazine. Lots of varied topics with lots of people.

No Wineland Revolt

It appears there will be no revolt among vintners in Napa Valley as this blog speculated in an earlier post

According to an article by Alan Goldfarb in the St. Helena Star, Napa Valley Vintners Board of Directors unanimously approved a significant change in the way the Napa Valley Auction (Now called : "Auction Napa Valley") will operate.

The per couple cost will triple to more than $7000. In addition, the auction will be cut from the usual 7 hours to about 2 hours. This means that far fewer vintners will be able to have a lot in the auction.

Where Are The Real Vintage Charts?

The great hole in the world of wine information must certainly be the "Vintage Chart".

Those who publish them (The Wine Spectator, Robert Parker, Wine Enthusiast, etc.) try hard, but in the end are forced or choose to take short cuts by rating the vintage of an area so large as to make them fairly useless. California is the best example. The better charts seem to be the Wine Spectator Vintage Charts. When rating California's Pinot Noir by vintage, they give separate ratings to Carneros, Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara. Other charts give a single rating to "North Coast" which includes Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino.

What's really needed is a vintage chart for California that takes into account the reality of microclimates. A useful chart for North Coast Pinot Noir would include distinctions for Napa Valley, Sonoma Valley, Carneros, Cool Sonoma Coast, Russian River Valley, and Anderson Valley. There is no technical reason why such a chart doesn't exist. Certainly it is possible to taste through Pinots or cabs or chards from these various regions and come to an assessment. But no one does.

My theory as to why there are not vintage charts for smaller wine growing regions goes back to my theory on the relative uselessness of the California American Viticultural Area system and to my theory of tasting terroir: California AVAs are generally useless because they are marketing driven boarders that don't take into account the possibility of identifying wine growing regions that actually have enough similarities to look at them as a whole. As for my theory on tasting terroir...I don't think there are very many people in the world who could consistently identify a Carneros, Russian River Valley and Anderson Valley Pinot Noir in a blind tasting. Asking someone to additionally identify the vintage is just useless.

Nevertheless, being one who looks for marketing opportunities and one who really likes their information broken down into smaller bits, I would welcome vintage charts that acknowledge the fact that the quality of a vintage can be different from Temecula to Anderson Valley as well as being different from Carneros to Russian River Valley.

Drink With a Fish...Go To Jail

I was looking for some information on the internet concerning alcohol laws in the various states.

Did you know....

-In New Jersey it's illegal to give even a sip of alcohol to a minor, even in your home
-The wine "Fat Bastard" cannot be sold in Ohio or Texas
-The BATF made it illegal to define any alcoholic beverage as "refreshing"
-In Missouri a minor can be charged with possession if they take out the trash and there are empty wine bottles in the trash
-The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a recipe for making beer that can be used at home
-Texas state law prohibits taking more than three sips of beer at a time while standing
-Nebraska state law prohibits bars from selling beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.
-Ohio state law prohibits getting a fish drunk.
-In Fairbanks, Alaska, it's illegal to feed a moose any alcohol beverage.
-In the 1940's, California law made it illegal to serve alcohol to a gay person.

A Bright Shining Star on a Hill

Driving through Sonoma Valley this evening I noticed for the first time a bright star, stationed at the top of the mountain range on the eastern side of the valley. Some hill dweller bought or constructed this huge shining gift, set it upon their home and lit it bright for the whole valley to consider and enjoy. The owner is anonymous as it is dark and impossible to see the home upon which it sits, making this bright holiday star quite an unselfish offering.

After nearly a month of blogging, it strikes me that even though there is no money to gain from this endeavor, it still cannot be seen as anything nearly as unselfish as that gift on the mountain range. Instead, I notice more than anything the hubris associated with blogging. I assume, as most bloggers must, that there are people out there who will enjoy my missives and thoughts and writings. Yet at this early point in the exercise I can't really be sure that is the case. So, blogging begins for me as a rather self concerned act that really speaks more to who I think I am, rather than any measure of my readership or my ability to advance the conversation.

Hubris isn't a bad thing when cultivated in only small amounts. It isn't a bad thing when balanced by a sense of responsibility. But still, any project that begins as a self-advancing act probably can't ever aspire to equal the selflessness of an anonymous, bright Christmas star on a moutaintop.

Christmas should be about bright, anonymous stars on a mountaintop.

Review of the Wine Media: The Wine News

This is the second in a series of reviews of wine publications

THE WINE NEWS

The Wine News really is the most beautiful consumer wine publication available.

Published out of Florida by Tom and Elizabeth Smith, The Wine News takes a substantially tactile and graphic approach to delivering wine lovers with an editorial connection to the vine. Just hold this publication. It's tabloid sized and printed on thick, semiglossy paper that holds the printing spectacularly. It should be no surprise that every bottle, every vineyard view, every portrait of a winemaker in the magazine pops like in no other wine magazine on the market. There is real effort and commitment to a product coming from The Wine News.

The Wine News is published bi-monthly. Cost: $30 per year. A bargain. But there is more than just pretty pictures.

Consider the list of contributing Editors:
Gerald Boyd: One of California's most experienced wine writers
Clive Coates: Few have deeper experience with Bordeaux and Burgundy
Jeff Cox: Home winemaking Guru and California wine specialist.
Gerry Dawes: Maybe America's premier Spanish wine specialist
Richard Kinssies: Washington State based Writer and educator with a keen palate and appreciation for education
Tom Maresca: A GREAT wordsmith with a deep and experience-laden knowledge of wine
Steve Pitcher: German and California specialist who knows everyone
Dick Rosano: Wine writer/historian who can turn a great phrase.

This is just the beginning.

The magazine's editors are wise enough to let their writers go. They write what they think. This is not always the case in wine magazines. I love writer Lyn Farmer's statement in a column about Dry Creek Valley from an 2003 issue: "If you're a grower in Dry Creek Valley and you don't plant zinfandel, you're kind of stupid"

The content is a mix of winery profiles, regional reviews, industry coverage, travel features, varietal reviews with a decided emphasis on food. (they employ a "food editor", "news editor", "European editor", "Health editor", "books editor" and a "travel editor")

Of course, The Wine News also offers wine reviews. They review wines using the 100 point scale and always include a written review of the wine. They almost always employ a panel to review wines, though on occasion a wine or series of wines will be reviewed by a single person. When this is the case it is always indicated.

Many wine lovers have complained about ratings inflation over the past few years. I don't think The Wine News falls into that category. When they give a wine 93 points or above it means something special. If you like your reviews to focus on the sensual qualities of the wine in question, you'll like the Wine News' reviews. There is clearly a policy in their reviews to focus on what the wine smells and tastes like, and to exclude most other information. Example:

2000 Swanson "Alexis" Estate Red Wine, Napa Valley Deep India ink hue. Ripe plum and cherry aromas with a vibrant menthol nuance. Very approachable and soft with plenty of lush black fruit flavors and a note of milk chocolate. Prolonged finish with charred oak and pepper accents 92 Points

The Wine News has been around for a long time. It hasn't gotten the attention that the Wine Spectator gets. Yet it is absolutely a great addition to the wine lovers yearly subscription quota and a beauty to look at.

The Wine News
http://www.thewinenews.com

On The Wine News website you can read a number of stories from the current issue, include "Best Wines of the Year" by Steve Pitcher.

Can Wine Snobs Be Wine Educators?

Wine bloggers tend to be anti-snobs, or at least anti-elitists.

Have you noticed this? Look around the wine blogs. The majority of wine bloggers want to broaden the appeal of wine (that's good), demystify it (that's good too), and take out the snob factor (Is that good?)

Wine snobbery and wine elitism must be, I think, the inevitable result of becoming intimate with wine and the wine world over a long period of time...or at least over a period of time that includes intense study.

In this regard, wine is very similar to baseball. At some point with baseball you must, no, you enjoy, going to the statistics and feeding your brain with the arcane. The same is true with wine. After a while, after you've tasted through the regions and varietals, after you've investigated over oaking and the mysteries of terroir, you can either dig deeper or you give up the hobby. I think sometimes "digging deeper" is mistaken for elitism when in fact is only enthusiasm.

It's a good thing to challenge other wine lovers' palates, to engage in debate over the merits of a wine, to look deeper with your wine pals into the aromas and flavors and textures. But this is why we are a fairly close knit group: outside of our group we get nailed as snobs.

The irony is that is the elitists who usually end up doing the educating. So I guess the trick to being a good wine geek, just like the trick to being a good teacher or professor, is to try to instill in those that will listen a sense of the simple joys and mystery that wine can deliver to one's life without suggesting there is anything wrong with not aspiring to elitism.

It strikes me that this is what the best wine bloggers are trying to do.

To those about to drink...we salute you!

We are in fact in the midst of a wine boomlet. There are a number of things impressive about this little boom too.

The first is that it comes not during the greatest of economic times. Things aren't terrible, but it sure isn't 1999. Much of the consumption boom comes from the availability of lower prices wine for sure.

However, the most impressive element of the boomlet is the involvement of the Millenials. According to research, Millenials drinkers are defined as those aged, roughly, 18 - 27 years old. They are adopting wine at a much faster pace than nearly any generation before them. Nearly 40% of this group are considered "Core" wine drinkers. And among male Milenials, over 50% are core wine drinkers. This is significant because it had been females who traditionally drank more wine than men.

Again, the Millenials are able to drink more wine at their age due in part to lower prices for wine. But we also can't ignore the "culture of taste" that they have grown up with. Over the past ten years or so food products that are organic, regional and much more exotic than in the past have emerged as considerably important elements in the market place. The Millenials have grown up with them, are comfortable with them and through their exposure to them Millenials are much more comfortable trying different foods and experiencing different tastes.

Yet, all is not happy faces in winedom. In a survey of Millenials in Sonoma County, a very progressive wine region where over 45% are core wine drinkers, this group was asked to describe wine they responded: "expensive," "snobby," "way too serious," "natural," "old guys," "white" and "confusing."

I've always believed their is room for snobbery and elitism and seriousness when it comes to things like food, wine and the arts. These attitudes are the perquisites for serious contemplation of any subject. Yet, for wine to become far more widely appreciated and for the boomlet to turn into a certified boom, we descriptors of wine much different than "expensive, snobby and "old guys".

Another Food/wine Movie

Saw a film last night that had nice wine and food component in it: "Spanglish". Adam Sandler plays a top chef in LA. The credits indicate that Thomas Keller of the French Laundry was the technical advisor.

Funny thing in the film was Adam Sandler hoping and praying the food critic doesn't give him 4 stars because it will take away his edge. Unfortunately, not only does he get 4 stars, the critic calls him the best chef in America.

A very good film. I enjoyed it more than "Sideways".

Review of the Wine Media: "Restaurant Wine"

This is the first in a series of reviews of wine publications

RESTAURANT WINE
http://www.restaurantwine.com

Ronn Wiegand is no ordinary wine reviewer/writer. Consider the credentials: Wiegand is the first person on the planet to hold both the "Master of Wine" and "Master Sommelier" title. Plus, he passed both exams on his first attempt. So it should not a surprise that is bi-monthly newsletter, "Restaurant Wine" is also not ordinary.

"Restaurant Wine" is written for the on-premise (restaurant) trade. It's goal is to make restaurant professionals, restaurant owners, sommeliers, and wine buyers better at what they do. And this explains its content.

Issues contain interviews with Master sommeliers, profiles of restaurants with successful wine programs along with the kind of details about those programs most people couldn't pry out of the buyer with the best of bribes. In issue #102, for example, we learn that Bonterra Dining and Wine Room in Charlotte, North Carolina sells over $1 million in wine annually, that its wine sales per table is $30, that 70% of sales are by the glass, what its wines sales breakdown is by country, varietal and color, how many wines are on its list, average price per bottle and glass, and that the value of the restaurants wine inventory is $120,000. All this information comes with a detailed story on how the restaurant's wine program operates, what works for it and what doesn't.

This kind of content is par for the course in Restaurant wine, making it really the most important publication in America for the on-premise wine manager and wine buyer.

The publication is decidedly educational, but it's an education for the educated. Wiegand often delivers special reports on the industry trends, varietals, merchandising and more.

Each issue also includes tasting notes and reviews of wine. Wiegand uses what is essentially a 10 point scale to rate wines. His is a star rating system that also attaches a "+" to wines that fall between one rating designation and another. In addition, this scores include identification of wines that are "Unusually smooth for the wine's type and age, and a good wine by-the-glass choice". Not one to waste our time, Wiegand only publishes reviews of wines that rate * * * or higher. Finally, his reviews of wines tend to identify and focus on the style of the wine. While generally short descriptions, Wiegand's experience in tasting and judging wines is obvious. You feel you have a very good handle on the wine after reading these reviews. For example, this review of the 2002 Frei Brothers Reserve Merlot:

"supple and very fruity in style, this is an excellent Merlot, particularly at the price. Very smoothly textured, lightly oaked and moderately persistent on the finish. It tastes of plum, blueberry, toast and spicy oak. * * * *"

Lest you forget he is writing for wine buyers, prices are given for their retail prices as well as their wholesale prices. Furthermore, review categories on not simply broken down by country of origin and varietal, but by price category: medium, high and expensive. He always includes the cases produced if available, an window for "peak drinkablity", the producer's phone number and what bottle sizes the wine is available in.

Ronn Wiegand is not well known among wine consumers even though he wrote the wine column for the San Francisco Examiner from 1986-1991. However, within the industry he has one of the best reputations as a marketing pro and a reviewer.

"Restaurant Wine" cost $99 for a one year subscription. If you are buying wine for a restaurant or at retail it really is one of the indispensable publications form one of America's wine pros.

How To Find a Job in the Wine Industry

Ok..so you want to work in wine.

First some admissions. Yes, it can be glamorous. For a number of reasons the industry attracts personalities, well-heeled types, iconoclasts, upper classes, accomplished types and not a few stars. The perks are good too. Good food, great wines, an amazing natural setting. Plus, the product you are producing or selling generally makes peoples' lives better...or at least more enjoyable.

The downside? Generally the pay isn't great. Yet, like any industry if you excel as your craft, you will get rewarded. But entry level work and even mid level work is not going to get you that house you really want. In fact, chances are given the cost of housing in wine country, you are going to have a difficult time finding a decent place to live nearby, let alone that palace you've always wanted.

You still want in? Ok.

Best Entry Level Positions
1. Tasting Rooms.
They are a great place to get a wine education and there are always positions open. It's a pretty good place to start if you want to get into the marketing or retail side of the business. However, be prepared. You will spend your days saying the same thing over and over again, pouring the same wines, looking out at the same view. The hours are generally good, accept weekends will have you at work. And, the pay is not great either because it doesn't take a PhD to pour wine and memorize the percent of the wine that went through malolactic fermentation and the percent of the wine that was aged in new oak. Still, it's a good place to start and a good place to learn if you keep your ears open, get yourself working on other projects and become involved with the regional organizations for wineries.

2. Distributor Sales Representative.
You are a sales person. If you have sales experience and are good at it, this is a good entry point. It's a fairly independent experience too. You are on the streets meeting with wine buyers at restaurants and retail shops, pouring new wines for them, filling orders, working hard to move a case of that new $60 Carneros Chardonnay, and working to meet quotas. However, you will be exposed to a number of different wines. And that means you need to know more about wine than a tasting room person. You will also be exposed to retail and restaurant operations. This is important because they may prove to be how you move up in the industry. Pay is base plus commission usually. If you do well, you make good money. If you aren't a good sales person to begin with that knows how to close, you might struggle.

3. The Harvest Worker
This is a good way to get into the production side of the business. Most wineries, even smaller ones need extra work during the crush. It's very long hours and its very hard work. You are hauling hoses, pushing down grapes in bins by hand, cleaning up the skins of grapes. You are a mess at the end of the day...if the day ends. You are at the mercy of mother nature and you have to be willing to be at the winery when necessary. However, helping make the wine, and you are, can be thrilling. You also have the opportunity to work with some very talented people in the cellar. Finally it can lead to full time cellar work.

Best Sideways Moves into the Wine Industry
1. High End Retail to Wine Retail:
If you 'have worked in high end retail where specialized knowledge and the care and feeding of people with expensive tastes is the norm, you might make a move into wine retail. This presumes that you have a good knowledge of wine. But in the end, retail sales is about merchandising and selling. If you have these talents a wine shop owner will talk to you.

2. Hospitality to Event Management.
One thing we do a lot of in the wine industry is put on events. From weddings to corporate meetings to seminars, the industry is a magnet for people who want to sit down with other people. If you have experience in hospitality, either in hotels or restaurants, you might want to consider making a horizontal move to event management. There are a number of event management firms and catering companies that specialize in wine country events. They need people who are versed in logistics, planning, waiting tables and sales.

Industry's that Serve (Specialize) in the Wine and the Wine Industry
1. Graphic Design.
It's not all packaging and label design, those these are the prestige jobs. There are a number of graphic designers that specialize in catering to the wine industry be it for brochures, advertising, newsletters, you name it. Be warned, packaging and label design demands specialized knowledge including knowledge of government regulations

2. Photography. I just got done having photos taken for a client of their new line of wines. I knew exactly who I wanted to shoot the photos. He has been doing it for many years and understands the difficulties of shooting round glass. However, a good photographer can break into the wine industry through persistent marketing and a good portfolio.

3. Web Design and Coding.
Any winery that doesn't have a website at this point just isn't trying. There is regular need for good, creative web designers in the industry. You are better off if you have a background in code (html) AND graphic design.

4. Public Relations.
If you have a strong background in public relations, you can get into the wine industry. Some wineries bring PR people in house, others farm it out to agencies. Most agencies tend to be small, but there are some larger ones. Keep in mind though, you will have to bring a bank of experience with you. Want to open your own shop? That can be done too. Keep in mind, the wine industry has a more specialized and unusually large group of media dedicated to its coverage than most other industries. Knowing this media will be key to your success.

Where to Find Wine Industry Jobs
1. http://www.winejobs.com
2. http://www.winecountryjobs.com
3. http://www.winecareers.com
4. http://www.sommelierjobs.com
5. http://www.agriseek.com
6. http://www.wineandhospitalityjobs.com

For what it's worth, I started my career in wine this way.

Having graduated with an MA in History from San Francisco State University, and realizing that there was little work for a Churchill/Roosevelt specialist, I evaluated my talents and realized I was suited, theoretically, for marketing and public relations. I then realized that there were PR firms that specialized in different industries...including wine.

Well, being a lover of wine, I decided that's where I look. I started by calling wine writers and simply interviewing them. I asked what was really wanted from a good PR person and who in the industry I could call to talk with. Armed with names and info, I started calling PR firms and asking for nothing more than a chance to speak with the owners about the PR world and particularly the wine PR world. I spoke with about 5 different PR people.

Everyone said, you have to write well and you have to be a good sales person. Ok. So, I put together a portfolio of my writing. I wrote fake press releases, fake book reviews, fake wine reviews. Then, I bundled up my writings along with a resume and letters of recommendation and started to write letters to wineries and PR firms asking for an interview. I sent out over 100 letters. Finally, I met with the owner of a PR firm in Santa Rosa, California who, though she liked what I had to offer, had no position available. A month later she called and said she had a project I might want to work on. I took the project and eventually came on full time.

If you really want to work in the wine industry it's critical you learn as much about it as possible. Read. Then read some more. Finally, read more. Read the trade publications the wine magazines, the bulletin boards on line, yes, even read the blogs. Arm yourself with information and form a base of knowledge.

Another GREAT wine Book: by the terroirista

In an earlier post I claimed that John Haeger's "North American Pinot Noir" was the best wine book of 2004. That claim stands. However, another book needs to be mentioned in the same breath: "Matt Kramer's New California Wine". The title doesn't say much about this book. You have to mine the subtitle to get an idea of what Kramer is going for: "Making sense of Napa Valley, Sonoma, Central Coast and Beyond". Again, not a lot of info here, but at least we know that Kramer is attacking California from a geographic perspective.

Kramer's new book is actually an update of his earlier "Making Sense of California Wine." To my recollection, Kramer, a columnist for the Wine Spectator and the Oregonian is the first wine writer to really address the issue of terroir in California. And he's good.

The new book takes a close look at all the major appellations, discusses their history, their terroir, their major players and their developments. Kramer isn't too impressed with our "American Viticultural Area" approach to designating wine growing appellations. Who would be? Nevertheless, he recognizes it as the most convenient way to break up California into parts for discussion. (I'd love to see someone attempt to redefine California grapegrowing by suggesting new appellations based on something that makes sense: like contiguous soil character and consistent climate factors.

Kramer is a terroirista. He believes in terroir and it's ability to help us make better wine. I believe Kramer is one of our best wine writers.

The Great Wine Lines From the Movies

I had a conversation today with a winemaker who had a chance to sit with "Sideways" Director Alexander Payne, talk about wine, and discuss movies. We got to talking about that great scene when Virginia Madsen explains her love affair with wine and it got me thinking about my favorite Movie Wine Lines. Then, over at The Wine Cellar (A stellar wine blog) Rich has a post about favorite wine lines from any source. Well this inspired me to commit my favorite Movie Wine Lines into the blogosphere:

"I like drinking wine more than I used to...Anyway, I'm drinking more."
-The Don in "The Godfather"

"So? I like ketchup. It's like tomato wine."
-Oscar Madison in "The Odd Couple"

"You got da wine? Good. We can eat now."
-Paulie in "Goodfellas

For a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoon full of arsenic, then add half a teaspoon full of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide."
-Aunt Martha in "Arsenic and Old Lace"

I'd rather have a case of the clap than a case of this wine. "
-Vince in "Cousins"

Feel free to add your own...

Love Wine? Good...Now get to work!!

I'm a trend watcher. I watch for trends in marketing and politics and culture, but I do focus on wine. The idea in my business (PR) is to try to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to trends so that, basically, they can be exploited to help clients get publicity and positioning.

There are a number of ways to watch for trends that apply to the wine industry:
1. Watch Pricing at the wholesale level
2. Keep an eye on changes to import/export values
3. Read the design oriented magazines
4. Keep an eye on early color forecasts
5. Watch for the appearance of wine as a topic where it doesn't usually appear.

Today, something in concerning #5 hit my radar.

Entrepreneur.com has recently begun touting wine as a "growth industry". They also identified wine as one of the 13 hot business for 2005.

Essentially their message is: Wine is growing. More people drinking wine. There is room for entrepreneurs who love wine to make money in the industry.

I'm not sure if this is good advice, particularly if the idea is to start making and selling wine. But that's not the point. The point is this: when a mainstream consumer business publication starts recommending people look to the wine industry as an entrepreneurial opportunity, you have to ask what spurred them to do make this recommendation. It may be one staff writers dream and therefore meaningless. But you also have to ask what conditions now exist for such an article to be approved and seem worthy to pass on to a fairly large readership.

I think what's happening is we are seeing is a major shift in the mainstreaming of wine; wine as as an acceptable beverage for more than just the "elite". A lot has to come together at one time and work together for this to happen:

1. Large excesses of bulk wine leading to lower prices
2. A new generation that is accepting of wine: 20 somethings
3. Packaging and marketing that ignores tradition
4. Increased consumption
5. Wine showing up in the popular culture as a positive
6. Continued rise in the standard of living
7. Greater accessibility to information of wine.

With all these factors in place, you get the slow mainstreaming of wine....to the point where a publication now recommends the industry as an entrepreneurial opportunity. It's happening.

Will Napa Valley Vintners Revolt?

There is a plan afoot to revamp the great Napa Valley Auction.

For those of you who have never attended this glitziest of wine and food gorgings, well..you just haven't lived. It's really too easy to ridicule this greatest of conspicuous displays of wealth and grandeur. So, I'll hold myself back, suffice to say, the kind of money that is thrown around at verticals, horizontals, celebrity dinners and "once in a lifetime" vacations is really awe inspiring.

The fact is, I've been. And the fact is, I've never been seen so much great wine poured in one place. However, I thought I might die. The actual auction takes place on Saturday. Either by tradition, law, or poor planning, the auction usually lasts a good seven hours. Now, If you can afford to bid on the lots (and your probably can't) then after about 30 minutes the auction becomes a deadly affair.

The organizers know this. Hence, the change.

The idea is to make more money than before, but cut the auction down to about 2 hours. Both good ideas. However to do this, their is a good chance the entrance to the 4 day extravaganza will triple to more than $7000 per couple. Wow. But to get the auction down to two hours, they are going to have to cut down the number of lots. And this is where the trouble starts.

If you are a vintner, the one thing you really want from the auction is the chance to showcase your wines with a live auction lot that is talked up by the auctioneers then bid on furiously. So with fewer lots on the block, we might just have a vintners revolt on our hands.

Last I heard, the Napa Valley Vintners Association still had to count votes to decide if the auction would be raised to over $7000 per couple and if the lots would be cut back to fold into a mere two hours.

Bottom Line: If this is the direction the auction goes, the event will be filled with just the high rollers and fewer vintners. Who cares? Well lots of people...particularly the numerous charities throughout the Napa Valley that benefit.

Sinning Used to Be More Fun

It's not easy being a sinner.

For those of us who like a glass of wine, perhaps a slow smoke and a good cold can of diet cola, Washington State wants to make life a bit more difficult, or at least more expensive.

It appears Washington Governor Gary Locke is set on raising the tax on these fine goods. Drinkers and smokers are used to paying the tax freight for others. We are sinners after all. Actually, I kind of think of it as a "Pleasure Tax". Can't be having too much fun.

The interesting thing here is the addition of cola to the roll call of sins that are acceptably taxed. The Governor is concerned with obesity in children. That's the reason for the Cola Tax. It was only a matter of time. Talk of and articles on overweight children has paved the way for this. I suspect that this new addition is a permanent addition to the barrels of sin that fund highways and stadiums. Turns out the tax WA is considering will amount to about 5 cents a can. If Pepsi and coke can handle it, I could handle it.

I'm used to it. After all, I've been paying an "oak tax" when I buy a bottle of wine for the past decade or so.

So let's raise our glass, and cans, together and sing the new Washington State Fight Song:

"I'd like to teach the world to sin
In perfect harmony...."

What to do with $700,000 and some great wines

Mendocino County, that much more sparsely populated county north of Sonoma, must be America's most underrated wine region. And now it appears that county's vintners and growers want to do something about that with the creation of a state regulated agricultural commission to raise the funds to drive a new promotional effort.

As a whole, Mendocino County is amazingly diverse. The inland portions can be very warm. Highway 101 divides this inland region that is the home to Fetzer, Parducci, McDowell Valley, Lolonis and a number of smaller wineries. Yet Anderson Valley, the strikingly cool, Pinot gold mine is also part of Mendocino County.

I've always argued that the reason this entire region, and Anderson Valley in particular, isn't better known and appreciated is because of proximity to the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma and Napa benefit from the fact that they are both no more than an hour's drive from San Francisco and thus are the targets for most visitors who want to take a spin into wine country on their visit to the Bay Area. Mendocino and its Anderson Valley are a good 2 hours or more away from San Francisco. If it weren't for the magnificent Mendocino coast, the Anderson Valley visits would be cut in half. You really have to want to see Anderson Valley and the Mendocino region to go there.

The new Mendocino Agricultural (marketing) commission hopes to raise around $700,000 through fees from wineries and grapegrowers.

$700,000 is a lot of money. What can the Mendocino growers and winemakers do with this treasure to bring more attention to their wines?

1. The rule is, if they don't taste it, they don't write about it. They should send a case of Mendo wines to 100 wine writers nationwide. (bloggers too????)

2. The beauty of the Mendocino area is stunning. They need to get writers up there where their senses can be completed seduced.

3. The Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival should be expanded into something much more important and substantial than it is now.

4. Significant efforts should be spend creating materials that explain the various Mendocino terroirs and their potential for grapegrowing.

5. They should not rest until every major wine publication and every newspaper that has a significant food section covers the wines of Mendocino.

6. They should hire Ronn Wiegand to develop an educational program directed at sommeliers and on premise wine buyers.

7. They need to take their wines on the road and do tastings in ten of the top 20 markets in America.

If they can establish this commission with significant support from growers and vintners, then a real opportunity presents itself. I hope they can.

The Marxist Truth Behind Wine & Robert Parker

At the risk of becoming circular and responding to blogger's post that was a response to a post of mine...I'm going be circular.

Huge Johnson, responding to to a point I made about about the slow turn in wine styles away from the heavy handed use of oak, made the point that homogenization of wine style is not the problem many think it is. Along the way in making the point Huge gave us a nice visual to work with. You need to read what led to that visual yourself, because this is a family wine blog. (read end of his first paragraph)

But, the issue of the homogenization of wine styles has become a talking point across continents and for some, the most obvious indication that the end of wine as we know it is at hand. Huge's point was that homogenization of wine styles isn't the problem many people make it out to be. He's right.

Yet I think we can say that over the past 20 years there has been in the United States at least a stylistic move among winemakers toward making wines bigger, softer, more oak centered. Chardonnay is the best example. It seems sometimes that the highest rated chards tend to deliver the same profile over and over: tropical fruit, oak, buttery/fat texture resulting from 100% malolactic fermentation and too long a time in new oak barrels.

Yet although this winemaking trend is unquestionable, the other side of the stick is the dramatic increase in the number of wineries in the United States. This is a story that hasn't been touched on nearly enough given the truly dramatic rise in wineries. And most of them are not new labels by big wineries, but small wineries started by individuals. So while the stylistic trend has seemed to narrow, there have been such an explosion of wine entrepreneurs that anyone worrying they can't get their hands on something a little different simply hasn't had their eyes open.

Still, the point about homogenization deserves a little deconstructing. I believe that the cry over homogenization is really a back handed slap at Robert Parker's influence and, to a degree, that of the Wine Spectator. If the word used for wines seemingly become too much the same is not "homogenization", it is "Parkerization".

The path from Parker to homogenization usually is explained like this: 1. Parker's best scoring wines sell out quickly 2. Parker's best scoring wines are all a particular style. 3. Winemakers want to use Parker to sell wine. 4. Winemakers decide to make a "Parker-style"wine. 5. Parker likes these wines and gives them high scores. 6. More market-minded winemakers are influenced by the success of peers who get good scores from Parker and duplicate the style. 7. More and more wines are "Parker-style" wines. 8. The homogenization of the wine industry is upon us.

The truth of this path is partial. But, it is not a path so wide that enough winemakers have trod down it to create the homogenization of wine styles so many decry. Styles come and go. And the Big Fat Chardonnay style, while still enjoying partial hegemony (is "partial hegemony" possible?), has lots of competitors. Yet Parker is still reviewing wine and helping to drive the market. So why, if I am write, is there a move away from this style of wine?

The answer lies with Karl Marx (or was it Hegal?) who explained the dialectical. That is, with any idea or thesis (Big fat wines) eventually an opposite or antithesis (unoaked chards) emerges, that eventually leads to something like a synthesis (this suggests a coming balanced style of wine). And this is indeed what is happening. With so many new wineries there was bound to be leaders who said that there were other styles of wine just as valid a the Big Fat Wine style. To prove it, and to soothe their own palates, we have unoaked chards emerging from many directions.

However, this explanation probably isn't as satisfying as visual image Huge Johnson gave us.

Wine, Sex and...........Government?

It's nice to know that with a war in Iraq raging, a new government in Afghanistan to support, a massive debt to service and a major overhaul of social security in the works that the Bush administration's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau has the time and resources to police wine ads for "improper" advertising.

According to Michael Doyle, a reporter out of Washington regulators are "adopting what they call a 'more proactive approach,' as they search for everything from false health claims and juvenile appeals to "subliminal representations that are obscene or indecent."

I guess this means my one client will have to scale back it's plans for their new ad campaign: "Wine Geeks Gone Wild" in which drunken celebrants scandalously lift up their cardigans and pop off their cuff links as they reveal the wine behind the label.

Actually, wine is pretty safe in this new era of morals enforcement. If there is one industry that has an affinity for bland ads it's wine (unless you consider those new ads For Mondavi and Kendall Jackson in which the founders look lovingly into the camera lens with a come hither expression on their face. In fact the closest thing to a salacious ad is one for a big Champagne producer showing a bathtub full of suds, a pair of black high heels strewn on the floor and a mens tie draped over a towel rod, with a bottle of the bubbly in the foreground. The tag line? "When life takes off." Nod bad. But will this mean the beginning of the end for this big champagne house have crossed the line from clever to salacious?

Read the article here

A Hugely Good Bit of Blogging

Leave it to wine blogger Huge Johnson to offer the best wine blog post of the month. Mr. Huge deconstructs an article by Roger Voss on the suspect benefits of puting ingredient labeling on wine. My favorite part of the deconstruction comes when he address the suggestion that the amount of sugar in a wine should be disclosed:

"It would be useful if one was trying to find a certain level of sweetness or dryness to match with a certain occasion.
Other than that it may be of use to diabetics, or those watching their waistlines...
But let's be real about it, if you're consuming so much wine that you have to become concerned about it's caloric value, then I'd think you have a bigger problem at hand..."

Read the whole thing

The "Un-Oaked" Trend is Upon Us

There appears to be a growing movement in California among winemakers and the media to champion wines that go light on (and in some cases eliminate) oak aging. One client has in fact introduced three different "unoaked" wines. A chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc and a Pinot Gris. Recently, the New York Times explored this movement in an article by Eric Asimov.

In fact a number of California wineries are talking about and promoting their more fruit forward, leaner wines...mainly white. From a publicists perspective this is a good story to tell. It appears to set the winery apart from the crowd, it suggests they are acting on integrity, and it's a story that a lot of writers and readers want to hear.

My take on this trend is that it is a case of the pendulum swinging back, rather than just a chance to get some ink. For quite some time now California wines have been (rightly, I think) pegged as big monster wines with lots of oak with a cream-butter middle. While a generalization, ask anyone who tastes lots of chardonnay and they will confirm that too many wines have taken this approach. They can be fun to drink...for a while. But they've come to define California winemaking. More and more wineries and more members of the press are simply saying "Stop!"...there's another road to be taken.

Delivering balance to the world of California winemaking is a good thing. So I'm fully behind this movement. I have two clients that are now making "unoaked" wines. I don't want to mention who they are because this blog is not meant to be a vehicle to promote clients.

If you are interested, just google "unoaked"...you'll get a glass full of results.

The hypnotizing glow of Wine Country

So I'm in Napa Valley today and I turn up Soda Canyon Road. I'm on my way to meet with a client and a wine writer (one of the best). And it's foggy. Not just foggy, it's dense like a white wool shroud. I'm heading up Atlas Peak. About 4 miles up, around 1000 feet, the fog slips below me and the sun is bright like summer. It's really a stunning thing to experience. It's mood altering.

There are other ways and places in wine country where the mood is altered by the natural setting. If you are driving from Sonoma Valley, over the Oakville Grade into Napa Valley, there is a point, after the summit, as you begin to head down into the valley on a road that's destroyed many a brake, that the Valley all of a sudden spreads out in front of you. It's really magnificent.

These are the kind of experience that drive people to want to be here in this neck of the woods. It's also, in a subtle way, why the vast majority of coverage of wine in the media is so generous. Just like anyone else, the wine country casts a spell on writers. I'm not saying they are hypnotized into generosity. It's more an issue of the industry they've chosen to work in casts such a pleasant sheen it seems nearly subversive to fall into negativity or to dwell on the critical. I've met some writers who are very clearly under this spell and it shows in their writing. The really good ones though appreciate this special glow yet keep their wits about them and tell good stories set in this happy land setting.

The writer we met with today is one of those good ones. The man understands drama and knows what issues are critical to the industry, whether openly discussed or not.

Coup for K&L Wine Shop in SF

I was browsing through wisewalletwine.com and came across a wine I didn't know exist: 2002 Kalinda "Floodgate Vineyard" Pinot Noir. The Floodgate Vineyard is one of the best vineyards in Anderson Valley. It's now owned by Duckhorn. I wasn't aware they were selling any fruit. What's really interesting is they sold their fruit to K&L, a wine shop in San Francisco. Kalinda is their own private label. Quite a coup for K&L...got to go try it. WiseWalletWine gave it their "wine of the week" designation.

Kendall-Jackson: Wine Hero

I just finished off a 2000 Matanzas Creek Merlot and it reminded me of something: Kendall Jackson along with Jess Jackson is one of winedom's true heroes.

We did a lot of public relations work with Matanzas Creek in the 90s before it was purchased by Kendall-Jackson. They were the best clients I've ever had. Not only was the wine always fabulous, but the owners were too. Sandra and Bill MacIver were passionate about business, about wine and about the wine industry.

But it was through them that I came into contact with the good works machine that is Kendall Jackson. For those who are not aware, Jess Jackson and his crew are one of the few huge wineries in America that have always been big backers of the movement to make wine shipping laws fair and equitable. This makes them champions of the consumer and of the wine industry. They back this campaign with money, with manpower and with reputation. But if you dig around, you'll see that Jackson has been involved in a number of industry movements that promote the little guy as well as the industry as a whole. This can't be said for most of the giant wine companies. It's a sign that there is a real person at the top, not just a bean counter with offices next to the "investor relations" department.

There was a time when it looked like Jess Jackson would sell his wine empire. I'm glad he didn't. I want him in the business; him and his 4,000.000 cases of wine. And it's good wine too: Cardinale, Carmel Road, Hartford Family Wines, La Crema, Stonestreet, Verite, Lokoya, Archipel, not to mention Matanzas Creek, all under the Jackson Family Farms umbrella. And under the KJ umbrella you have the Great Estates, Grand Reserve, Vintners Reserve, Stature and Collage lines. Pretty impressive.

Oh...And the 2000 Matanzas Merlot was, as you'd expect, stunning. Still ripe with a velvety envelope and mocha edge.

The Best Wine Book of 2004

John Haeger has written a book that many of us, who believe Pinot Noir is the purest expression of fermented grape juice, have been waiting years for. And given that Pinot Noir inspires such cultish devotion, it is rather odd that there has been so little writing devoted to the Queen of Grapes.

Haeger's "North American Pinot Noir"(University of California Press) offers a state-of-the-grape overview. It's not the tale of the winemaker that Marq de Villier gave us in his 1994 "Heartbreak Grape". Rather, it is the state of the art that Haeger delivers. From his discussion of the origins of clones to his coverage of the various areas where Pinot has shown its best colors, Haegar has giv