Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Anti-Wine Groups Start PR Effort in Michigan

It appears that the foes of the consumer and foes of the small winery are beginning pull out their guns in the battle over direct shipping in Michigan.

As I've reported here before, the Michigan Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association wrote a bill (isn't that the legislature's job) that would ban all direct shippment of wine in Michigan and found a legislator in the Michigan House to introduce it. Yet, up to now the anti-consumer wholesalers had not launched any significant effort to support the bill through PR efforts. That silence has ended.

Most recently Executive Director of the Wholesalers Association Mike Lashbrook made a false claim in to the media that 10% of Minors nationwide are getting alcohol via the Internet. That claim has been debunked here in an earlier post on Fermentations.

Yesterday, the "Coalition for a Safe and Responsible Michigan", a front organization for the wine wholesalers, announced that they had organized a sting against Internet wine sellers in which seven boxes of alcohol were shipped to a 20 year old intern working for the "Coalitiion".

We have to assume that this new strategy of trying to convince legislators that wine is regularly shipped to minors comes in the wake of significant disapproval in the media of what appears to be vote buying in the Michigan legislature on behalf of the donation-crazy Michigan wine wholesales whose goal is, appartently, to call in it's markers with legislators in support of killing Michigan wineries' ability to make a living selling wine.

Though the point hardly needs to be made, it will be here. Well over 99% of all alchol that lands up in the hands of minors, goes down their throats and plays a role in their deaths through auto accidents is goes through the hands of the wholesalers. The vast majority of these sales go though brick and mortor stores that have no use for the Internet. However, the wholesalers would argue that Internet sales need to be outlawed altogether. Wouldn't the more logical step, if you are concerned about alcohol sales to minors, to ban sales from those outlets that are putting most of the alcohol in the hands of minors?

Reason does not play a large roll in this debate currently raging in Michigan. It's about Money.

Currently there are other bills awaiting hearing in committees that would allow limited shipping to Michigan residents by that state's wineries as well as out of state wineries. However, much of the what happens in Michigan will depend upon what Governor Jennifer Granholm chooses to do. If she gets behind a limited direct shipping bill, there will likely be a compromise that allows direct shipping.

Parker the Wine Dictator? I Think Not

Boy, THIS is what makes it so easy to blog on a daily basis.

Hugh Johnson, one of the greatest wine writers to ever walk this planet, has stumbled into a quagmire by proposing that "Imperial hegemony lives in Washington and the dictator of taste in Baltimore…Taste in the past was largely a matter of harmless fashion. In American hands it feels more like a moral crusade."

Johnson, the author of the groundbreaking "Vintage: A History of Wine" and "World Atlas of Wine, perhaps one of the best wine books ever written, makes this comment in an interview with Decanter Magazine and apparently in a forthcoming book, "Wine: A Life Uncorked".

Among the other tidbits Johnson drops are these:

Parker feels he has the right to tick off people who don't do “Better”, whereas I don't feel any such right.'

"Robert Parker deals in absolutes, and castigates those he sees as backsliders."

Johnson makes the fatal mistake of confusing the role of critic with the role of cheerleader, or commentator at best. And make no mistake, this is not just offhanded comments by Johnson. This is criticism of a critic based on what they like. In other words, its the most common of criticisms you see aimed at that long-established and well-honored writing genre.

You also get the impression that Johnson is motivated by an impatience with American foreign policy. This part doesn't bother me as much, since I like the using various lenses to examine a subject. But more than anything, this diatribe by Johnson bothers me because I have such huge respect for the man and his work and I think this kind of invective is below him.

 

Promoting the Wines of a Country

Working with an association of wineries is a notoriously difficult task for wine publicists and marketers. There tends to be a lot of decision by committee as well as indecision by committee. You also tend to have a lot of complaining about some members getting more attention than other members. It can be a minefield.

Yet, we find ourselves here at Wark Communications actively working on a proposal for representing a group of wineries...a proposal for creating a promotional organization to represent a country's wines that, amazingly, have little or no representation here in America.

The marketing of an entire country's wines is in some ways an easier task than representing a single winery if your goal is to raise visibility for your client. It's easy to ignore one winery if you are a member of the press. It's more difficult to ignore an entire country's wines. On the other hand, it's more difficult to effectively deliver a marketing message for a country than for a single winery.

Some organizations have done amazingly good work. Napa Valley Vintners comes to mind. Also, Russian River Valley Winegrowers are another promotional organization that has done a very effective job of promoting their region.

Budgetary constraints are always a huge issue with associations. They tend to be notoriously small. This means that most of the work is done in the trenches, interacting personally with the media, standing behind lots of tables at wine events, and making your printed materials go a long way, while relying on electronic communications quite heavily. The proposal we've developed for this potential client reflects these realities.

Yet, with all the obstacles that come with association PR, I must admit, the idea of promoting the wines of an entire country through a group of member wineries really is exciting. It's the opportunity to do some real education that gets the blood flowing. It's the opportunity to introduce not just the wine trade and media, but consumers also to a whole universe of wines they've never tried before. And it's the opportunity to participate in the growth on an important part of a country's export economy.

Why Wine, Not Beer?

LA Times reporter Robin Abcarian asks the right question: "What Does it Mean"?

The question refers to a surprising finding in a new Gallup poll that shows that more Americans choose to drink wine than beer. This is the first time wine has outpaced beer in the poll Gallup has been taking since 1992. The poll found 39% choosing wine vs. 36% choosing beer. This is a near 50% increase in the number of respondents who cited wine as their drink of choice over the 27% who named wine in Gallup's first poll on the subject. Indeed, what does this mean?

The responses found in the LA Times story are not quite off the cuff and infused with a bit of silliness, as well as playing off "masculine beer people" off the "know-it-all" wine people. However, two bits of insight are revealed in the story.

First, they properly point out that there is a lot of affordable wine out there to be had. It really doesn't matter what the product is, once price comes down enough and once the perception of the price of a product is understood as a value, more people will consider purchasing it. This certainly has occurred with wine. We can thank a number of factors for bringing this into play:

-The lake of wine combined with economic downturn in the early 00s resulted in terrific and very visible bargains.

-The imports into the American market have mainly been value priced wines

-A lot more marketing of wine has been undertaken, particularly by the large drink conglomerates that have been increasing the size of their portfolio, upping production and looking for new customers.

One suggestion to explain the new found status of wine is the impact of the movie "Sideways." There's no doubt the film has spurred an increase in Pinot Noir sales, and it would be foolish to suggest that an across the board increase did not coincide. This brings me back to a theme I've written about before: the impact of pop culture on commerce. Those of us who tend to work in the more rarefied end of wine sales sometimes ignore the impact of pop culture trends and themes and how they related to marketing. We tend to focus on that core group of drinkers that stay in the $20 and above area, visit wine regions, eat well, and buy upscale goods. Yet the ability of pop culture to inspired sales trends is undeniable and probably even more impacting than mass marketers even appreciate.

Clearly a number of factors have come together to see this shift in drinking habits. It's not one thing.

The health benefits of wine drinker is another factor for sure. Since the 60 Minutes documentary on the "French Paradox" in the early 1990s showing that while the French drink more, they have less heart disease, a number of other studies have been rolled out showing any number of other benefits of wine drinking. This consistent barrage of good wine and health news surely has had a cumulative effect.

Yet it seems the real increase in wine consumption is coming from women and young people. The poll showed that 52% of men still choose beer over wine, suggesting that a whole lot of women are buying the wine. In addition, the millennial generation, those essentially in their 20s, are adopting wine at a much faster rate than Gen X or the baby boomers.

What does all this mean for the wine industry? Clearly it is good news. They are attracting a larger piece of piece. The mass market brands will do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to continuing to attract wine drinkers and who are likely to be attracted to the low end of the price scale. However, a good number of these value drinkers will move up too. They'll graduate from the $10 a bottle to the $20 dollar a bottle and some will make their way to the $30 and up bracket.

For those of you looking for quality at every price point, the increase in wine's popularity and in wine drinkers is a good thing. The more drinkers, the more opportunity for sharp winemakers who have a quality vision to find enough consumer support for their efforts.

Better Wines Through Science.

Better wine through science. I like this idea.

So do the Italians and the French who have together embarked on a "genome" project to create vines that they hope will result in a number of improvements including:

-vines more resistant to pests
-vines more resistant to disease
-vines that produce grapes that offer greater health benefits to drinkers
-vines that can grow in a variety of terroir previously inhospitable to grapegrowing

One wonders if in the future, as we think back to the wines we are drinking today, if we will be comparing apples and oranges. I think we will be. Yet, you can say the same about today's wines vs. wines of 50 years ago. Technology has played a significant role in changing the character of wines. There is nothing wrong with this.

The Art of the Vineyard

We like to think, perhaps too often, of wine being an "art". It could be fairly said that this comparison is often overused. However, what you don't hear all that often, but which strikes me even more as having true qualities of art, is the vineyard.

I was up early today running errands. On my way to Santa Rosa in Sonoma County I drove past Matanzas Creek Winery in Bennett Valley, a sub-appellation of Sonoma Valley (and really a world apart). I noticed that Matanzas had finally gotten around to replanting a vineyard that had held the same vines since around 1980. It had mainly been Chardonnay and Merlot. I suspect at least more Merlot was planted given that winery's reputation.

The vines were small, recently planted, laid out in perfectly straight rows, enclosed in milk-carton like boxes with the top of their shoots poking up through the milk cartons that protected them. There were acres and acres of new vines. The vertical steadfastness of the stakes, the splash of identical white splotches of the milk cartons and the spike of green, covering acres, delivered a really entrancing geometric design...it was artful.

The geometric quality of the vineyard, with it's straight rows and even spacing between them, makes this a familiar sight in wine country. Each vineyard is somewhat different however, with some rows reaching up over hills, some with wider spacing, some with different trellising, and in some vineyards seeing rows going on at different angles.

Then you have the seasons. In the winter it is the bare bones of the vines that make up the spines of the vineyards, giving the geometry of the spaces a somewhat morbid quality. Yet in the fall, many of these well aligned pieces of art take on amazing splashes of gold, red, yellow and crimson, particularly among the older vines.

In my view, it is far easier to see art within the vines than in a glass. The art of the vineyard seems truer to me; more literal, more mathematical than the art in the glass.

If you are around Sonoma County, take a drive out Bennett Valley road and grab glance at the new Matanzas Creek vineyards. And keep your eye out for the art of the vineyard whenever in Wine Country. It is, perhaps the basis of the beauty that is Wine Country

Your Wine Survey Results are HERE

RESULTS OF THE COUNTRY WINE SURVEY

You can see the results of the survey by clicking HERE.  A total of 216 people took the survey.

A quick summary and additional interesting observations are below.

1. QUALITY COUNTRIES
-France, Germany and Italy come in for the highest regard for their wines, with France being named by nearly 60% as producing wines of the highest quality.

-Poor Canada. Only 11% said they produce very good or top quality wines, while nearly 60% ranked their wines of only average or below average quality.
This is unfortunate as I'm inclined to believe this result is only due to Canadian wines being fairly unknowns. Canada hardly has a reputation for making poor wines. What they need is better marketing. Is anyone aware of a well distributed Canadian value ice wine? There's a niche.

2. LEARNING
-Spain walks away with the award for most intriguing wines. Nearly 60% said they definitely want to learn more about this country's wines. Italy is not far behind.

3. BEST VALUE
Ask to choose three countries with the best value, 50% looked to Spain, perhaps explaining why so many wanted to learn more about that country's wines. No other country really comes close, though Australia, supposedly the "value continent" comes in with 38% naming it as full of value

4. WORST VALUE
Are California wines really this over-priced. Just over 70% of respondents said California provides the worst value wines. It must be an issue of price as respondents put California wines near the top for quality.
I honestly never thought of CA wines being a bad value as it appears most of you do. I look at the price of the very best German and French wines, for instance, and see remarkably high prices. Meanwhile, I never have a problem finding very good $30 California wine, even $20 wines. However, I do believe I am biased.

5. QUALITY EXPECTATIONS
-No country even comes close. 63% of respondents believe that Argentine wines will improve the most a decade from now.

-The other interesting finding, but perhaps predictable since is is already ranked of the highest quality, is that France appears to have no room for improvement.
Argentina, in my estimation, does indeed appear to be a sleeping giant. The wines I've tried ave been very good, yet I've not tried that many.

6. WHAT YOU BUY
-No surprise here. 70% of respondents said they buy CA wine often or very often. France is not far behind.

-The Value King, Spain, interestingly, is only purchased often or very often by 34%. Australians, who sure do know how to export is bought often or very often by 35% of respondents.

7. GENDER
-It's true. The guys are the geeks. 90% responding to this survey are guys.

8. AGE
-A near perfect curve. Less young-ens. Many middle agers. and only a few oldies

9. TIME DRINKING WINE
-Not surprising. It matches the Age Curve

10. KNOWLEDGE
-It's nice to inhabit a world where no one considers their knowledge base below average. Or, it could be no one who believes they have something to learn about wine frequents this blog.

REALLY INTERESTING STUFF
-Among those who said CA makes the highest quality wines, 68% said it was the worst value and 90% buy it often or very often. Message: They can't help themselves

-Looking at responses by women  you see virtually no differences in their answers from men

-Those who consider themselves wine experts have a higher regard for French and German wines, are much more likely to find value in French wines, are even more convinced Argentina will be producing much better wines in a decade, drink a lot more French and Austrian wine, and, can you believe it, are 100% male.

-Respondents who are between the age of 21 and 30 are much much more likely to want to learn about French wines, are more fed up with CA wine prices and less fed up about French wine pricing, have MUCH greater faith in the future quality of Chilean wines, are more likely to buy French wine than CA wine, and are somewhat more likely to consider themselves expert or VERY knowledgeable about wine.

-Looking at the Francophiles, those who buy French wines "very often," we find that they are nearly half as likely to call CA "Top Quality", believe French wines are the best values, believe CA offers the worst value to the tune of 84%, are far less likely to buy Australian wines, tend to be younger, and tend to think themselves more knowledgeable about wine than the average respondent.

-Among those who believe Australia provides the best value wines they are much less likely to want to learn about European wines than the average respondent, believe French wines are the worst value by far, buy more New Zealand and CA wine than most respondents, and tend to be younger

The Most Offensive Wine Web Site Ever?

Thanks to an alert Mike Duffy over at the Winery Website Report Blog, I do believe I've laid my eyes on one of the most offensive wine-related websites: BumWine.

Yes, "Bum Wine".  The Authors of the website explain their mission this way: "Call them bum wines, street wines, fortified wines, wino wines, or twist-cap wines.  Whatever you call these beverages for the economical drunkard, this page explores the top five.  So curl up on a heating duct and enjoy..."

Very nice, isn't it? However, they do explore those wines we all snicker at but never lay out hands one including "NightTrain", "MD 2020", "Cisco", "Thunderbird" and "Wild Irish Rose".

However, like good wine reviewers, the authors to deliver on their promise of explaining the drinks. For example here is their description of  MD 2020:

Some test subjects report a slight numbing agent in MD 20/20, similar to the banana paste that the dentist puts in your mouth before injecting it with novocain.  Anyone that can afford a dentist should steer clear of this disaster.  Available in various nauseating tropical flavors that coat your whole system like bathtub scum, but only the full "Red Grape Wine" flavor packs the 18%.

"Bathtub Scum"

There's an "Accident-on-the-side-of-the-road" quality to going through this website. You know you shouldn't be browsing around, but you can't stop yourself from looking as you surf past.

Quick...take the wine survey!

The time for participating in the currrent "FERMSURVEY 3.0: Country Wines" is coming to an end. I'll be closing it down tomorrow.

If you've not already taken the survey, I urge you do to so.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Thanks to EVERYONE who has participated. We've got some interesting results coming.

What's Going On With Wine Blogging?

In October 2004, the best listing of wine blogs on the Internet, listed a total of 26 blogs devoted to wine. Today, that number is at 81. More than a three-fold increase in the number of wine blogs being tracked in less than a year.

What's going on?

Here's what I think:

1. Blogging has gone mainstream in the past year, spurring vast numbers to try their hand.

2. It's not difficult to achieve a huge percentage increase in wine blogs when you start with 26.

3. Yet, the wine blog universe is "nichifyng"...we have wine blogs devoted not only to wine in general but to very specific wine topics: winery web sites, Pinot Noir, Rose, specific countries, specific wineries, winery tasting rooms, etc.

4. By all the reports I get and from my own experience more and more people are turning to wine blogs for their literary satisfaction. Traffic to wine blogs is increasing.

5. Wine bloggers hare becoming a common and legitimate audience for publicists and marketers. A number of publicists and PR agencies regularly distribute press releases to wine bloggers as well as invite them to cover events. Wark Communications now does this regularly as well.

6. Still, no wine blog has broken out of its relative anonymity and become a critical element of the "wine media" in the way some wine magazines, wine columnists and other wine websites have. But it's only a matter of time.

7.Based on my own surveys, the people who frequent wine blogs tend to be VERY wine & food Savvy, signs of a communications medium that is still in its infancy.

8. The only thing holding back a very good wine blog from attracting significant readership is the willingness to engage in a serious marketing campaign to attract readers.

9. Nevertheless, we are beginning to see the mainstream wine media and trade media reference wine blog-originated stories as well as cover wine blogging as a story.

10. Those 81 wine blogs will seem quaintly small in number in another 12 months.

Technology Combats Wine Wholesaler Hypocrisy

DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE FERMSURVEY 3.O.  CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Trend Watching Wine

The Italian press is reporting that among that country's younger set, white wine is coming on strong as a casual sipper, that is, something preferred outside the context of a meal. The interesting thing is that white wine is apparently taking a swipe a the market share enjoyed by what the Italians call "pop drinks"— drinks prepared with fruit juices, rum or vodka.

The explanation given is that white wines are somewhat less expensive and "easy to drink".

I'm not exactly sure what "easy to drink" means. I suppose it means the drinker need not contend with tannin. There is probably something to the notion of white wines being more refreshing than red, as well as being less intoxicating than spirits.

Here in America I've not seen any significant studies, polls or surveys that speak to drinking trends. What I have seen however is an increasing interest in Rose. Rose does not control a large part of the market today, so any really increase in its consumption will appear large. That said, market watchers watch trends closely. When they see a particular type of wine capturing significantly more interest among trend setters, it isn't long before marketers make a move to capitalize.

My prediction: look for a a high production, mass marketed, well promoted DRY Rose from a major producers to be introduced to American wine drinkers...with great success.

French Winemakers Come Up with a KILLER PR Campaign

You've got to give it to those French vintners fighting against overproduction, archaic government regulations and an international wine industry that is making it more and more difficult for them to sell their wines. The one thing they know how to do is bring attention to the winemakers' plight.

First they decided to bomb buildings and tear up train tracks in a bid to get the attention of government officials. It worked. It really is hard to ignore vandals in berets stopping the trains.

This time they are going after the hearts, minds and palates of visitors to their region in an effort to spread the word of their economic plight.

There are reports that French winemakers in the South of France plan to distribute 400,000 bottles of wine free to drivers along rural roads and at toll booths. Along with the free bottle of wine they will deliver information about their difficulties that surely have a plea for help in persuading the French government to come to their aid.

Wine given away free to drivers at toll booths and along rural roads. Boy, we aren't in Kansas anymore are we! I'm not even sure what the penalty would be for that in Kansas, or for accepting the wine. But I'm sure it's hefty. But the Languedoc clearly isn't Kansas.

The protesting French winemakers clearly don't have safety in mind. But that aside, you have to admit, they seem to know what they are doing. There's no better way to buy a vote or bring someone over to your side then give your target audience something they want. All you have to do is look at the way wholesalers in America have purchased legislators with money.

Be a Wine Writer

Wanna be a "wine writer" read by thousands of people? Think you've got a bit of the wordsmithy in you? have a passion for wine?

GrapeRadio Wants YOU!

Brian Clark, one of the hosts of the podcast "GRAPERADIO" informs me they are looking for a few good writers to help them create a newsletter that will go out via email to their listeners ever other month. GrapeRadio has become one of the more popular and successful podcasts out there due in large part to their sense of what their listeners want, their professionalism and the wonderful guests they convince to come on the show. It's likely this newsletter will have a nice following.

What are they looking for? People with writing skills and passion for wine. Someone who can write four articles a year. Someone who is willing to write and not get paid. Yes, I know. That is the downside. However, everyone must start somewhere. Anyone who aspires to write anything and get paid for it must demonstrate they have what it takes for an editor to accept their work. Anyone who hopes to become a paid scribe must demonstrate they are able to meet deadlines. GrapeRadio just might be your chance.

Interested? Contact Brian Clark at brian@graperadio.com

ATTENTION: SURVEY TIME!

ATTENTION...

FERMSURVEY 3.0: "Country Wines" is up and running!

Make your voice heard! 

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY ON WINES FROM MANY COUNTRIES.

Gallo Can be just plain mean!

This isn't "Just Business".  It's just MEAN!

Someone over at Gallo should be ashamed of themselves.

Pushing a homemaker this hard isn't what businesses should do...particularly when no harm has been done.

I've said a few mean things about Gallo in the past. They have been extraordinarily anti-wine industry in some cases. So they've deserved what I said.

But this isn't Anti-wine industry. It's Anti-People.

My Favorite Vice

It's time to admit, on the occasion of the eve of Bastille Day, my favorite vice: PASTIS.

I can safely say, after great amounts of experience, that after a fine dry rose, Pastis taken on the rocks is the greatest beverage ever invented by man or Gaul.

For those sorry souls not familiar with this Drink of Provence, it is a licorice flavored spirit produced with star anise and a number of herbs. One usually mixes it with water. It can be taken on the rocks or straight up. I like to mix it this way: 1 part pastis, 4 parts water. The flavor can be madly a madly intense blend of rich, deeply intense licorice with hints of clove, lavender, and sweet herbs. It is one of the great refreshers too. There is very little that can compare with sipping on a pastis on a late summer afternoon when the heat is just beginning to dim. The drink washes over your palate like an adult sorbet, taking with it any remnant of despair or fatigue the day may have left with you.

The most common brands are Pernod and Ricard, both owned by the same company. But you can find other, Micro-pastis that tend to be of higher quality. Then there are the courser renditions from other countries such as the famed Ouzo from Greece.

While Pernod and Ricard are the most popular Pastis, there are a number of boutique producers who cater to the obsessed. Absinthe24.Net is an on-line store that specializes in Pastis

Pastis was developed in Marseilles around 1914 after the French government banned Absinthe, that notorious drink also with a licorice flavor, but with wormwood too. The wormwood gave absinthe a, well, apparently a narcotic like affect to the drink. Needless to say it was popular. Yet, it was banned, but the French southerners need a replacement that had that same cleansing, refreshing quality. Born was Pastis.

It is only fair to warn the Pastis novices that a certain enthusiasm for the drink can overtake you, especially on those languid afternoons. Basically, the drink will take the helm and you can find yourself in one of the most comfortable stupors you've ever experienced. However, take note. A Pastis stupor can be quite overwhelming. Sipping is recommended.

So on the occasion of Bastille Day, make a note: Sip Pastis in the shade.

Prohibition Ends!!!...in a small town

DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE FERMSURVEY 3.O.  CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

So, you want to work in Wine PR

DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THE FERMSURVEY 3.O. CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Take the FERMSURVEY 3.0--Country Wines

FERMSUVEY 3.0 is up and ready for your humble opinion.

In this third survey of Fermentation's readers we look at Country Wines. Tell us what you think of various countries' wines. Do you buy them? Are they over priced? Are they set to get better? Tell us everything.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

Or click on the link in the far left column on top.

The results will be made available here at Fermentations: The Daily Wine Blog

Life is too short to read average wine books

Well, I've tried and tried to get into "A Very Good Year: The Journey of a California Wine from Vine to Table" by Mike Weiss.

I just can't do it.

It's not that it's a bad book. And it's not poorly written by my estimation. It has a natural flow to it too. It's just that I know this stuff. The book delivers what is a fairly common set of discussion for someone in the wine industry: marketing

For someone outside the industry it may well prove an interesting, inside baseball-kind of read. But you better be interested in wine, secret yeasts, marketing mantras and discussion of the media.

I'm turning back to some other books I left on hold. I've been re-reading John Haeger's "North American Pinot Noir." It's a page turner. Still, It has been competing with  Peter Irons' "A People's History of the Supreme Court."

I think there is a message here. If you consider reading one of the true simple pleasure of life that deserves to have a good amount of time devoted to it, then you really need to pick your reading material carefully. It's like that old wine saying, "Life is too short to read average books."

FrankenWines? I Think Not

Here is an example of why I am generally not opposed to Genetically Modified Organisms (generally called GMO's, called "Frankenfoods" to others, and dubbed "Progress" some.) Over and over we see examples of Progesss GMO's that can aid in significantly reducing obstacles to growing better and more efficient plants.

With regard to vines, here are just a few of the modifications to grapes I'd like to see:

-vines immune to the effects of Piece's Disease
-Vines less susceptible to mold and rot
-vines immune to phylloxera
-vines incapable of producing grapes that can be described as "unctuous"
-vines that are self-prunning and carry their own cuttings to the burn pile
-vines that permanantly stay that golden-red color that appears usually during fall
-vines incapable of producing grapes that can be transformed into 15.0%-plus alcohol wines

There is currently a campaign to ban all GMOs in Sonoma County. Such a ban was also passed in Mendocino County north of Sonoma County. And you can bet more bans on GMOs will be introduced in other areas of California and the United States.

I've yet to see a compelling arguement that suggests these bans on GMO are more help than hindrence when introduced judiciously and monitored. My hope is that the path to better wine through gentetics is not blocked.

Pack Rats or Wine Collectors?

It's not just wine. I looked in my overflow kitchen cabinet the other day searching for hammer one uses to pound meat. I didn't find it. But I did find approximately 20 wine glass, each with a little logo etched into the glass. How and why I collected these glasses I'm not sure. For the most part they are small, ugly little things I"d not set on the table for a guest. But they did remind me of the various wine events I'd attended.

And it got me thinking: It's not just the bottled juice we wine lovers collect:

Commemorative Glasses
They take up lots of space. And they aren't really attractive in a display. But, they do undoubtedly tell the wine lover where he's been. Generally they are small little numbers meant to accommodate a taste, rather than a drink. And they usually have the "Libby" quality with a little lip at the top of the rim.

Corks
Much easier to store than glasses. These remind us of what we've put down our gullet. Bonus: you can make a pin board out of them. Of course some corks are themselves different than the rest and these should go in the middle of the pin board arrangement. I'm partial to the corks with little messages on them, rather than just the name of the winery or its web address.

Bottles
A true space waster! Yet in most every case the bottles that are kept seem to commemorate either a very special event or a very special bottle...usually both. If you line them up in a window upon which the sun shines in the morning or late afternoon you can get a pretty cool visual affect...something you can't say about corks.

Champagne Caps
They remind me of the prizes you get in a cracker jack box. And honestly, they are among he cooler collectibles. Those little caps that are fastened down upon the top of the champagne cork by the wire cage. If you put about 200 of them in a bowl it's fun to run your hand through them as you recall when and where you drank each and every one of the 200 bottles of champagne. Bonus: they tend to be colorful.

Winery Schwag
Truly useful stuff. I'm partial to the baseball caps over the tee shirts. In the better tasting rooms you can find fuzzy slippers with the winery logo stitched into its sole. The real prize for the winery schwag collector is the winery logo beenie. Very rare. Rarer still is the coveted Chateau Lafite Logo Beenie.

Menus
This is the collectible of choice among the hard core, high end wine drinker who attends those events in which the meal is and its wines are printed on lovely parchment and placed upon the under-plate sitting at each place at the table. More often than not they result from winemaker dinners. Collectors must also invest in either a scrapbook or a lot of frames to display this set of collectibles.

Labels
The poor man's wine collectible. Requires usually a soaking bucket and special soap to carefully retrieve the label from the bottle. One of the few collectibles that the publishing industry has acknowledged and offered nifty little books to paste the labels into after you've unpasted them from the bottle.

Wine Magazines
The wine equivalent of National Geographic collectors. Requires sturdy shelving and a good rationalization. Some magazines accommodate this set of collectors by issuing special binders to hold the bound paper. The arrival of the Internet and the recent interest in Beanie Babies has somewhat diminished the once common art of wine magazine collecting

Grape Vines
Needed: clipping sheers you can keep in your car as you drive through wine country. Though relatively rare form of collecting and frowned upon by those from whom you collect them, it is a hobby that appeals to the naturalist wine love and can be quite rewarding. (Once saw a collection of 5 inch by quarter-inch round pieces of vine taken from 30 famous vineyards in seven different countries.) Looks impressive under glass with just the right backing.

Dirt
A variation of the grapevine turn on collecting. Requires baby food jars, labeling apparatus and lots of shelf space. Begs the question, how do you know the collector isn't just a poser who went out to his back yard, gathered up a bunch of dirt, put it n jars and wrote on them "Chateau Latour", "Martha's Vineyard", "DRC"...

Willi Wine Bar Posters
Wine collecting for the artistic. Willi's in Paris creates artful posters each year, selling them to print wholesalers across the world making more money off them than the actual Willi's bar. Often beautiful pieces.

Books
Again, more shelf space needed. However, can be educational despite the compulsion to add titles such as "History of the Florida Wine Industry in the 1940's".

New Zealand Wineries Need You!...and bring pruning shears

Do you know how to prune a vine? Do you think you could learn fairly quickly? In the mood for a working vacation in one of the world's most beautiful wine regions?

You might consider heading down to New Zealand. With only 10 weeks left in the pruning season, the Marlborough wine growing region is suffering from a severe shortage of labor. Reports suggest that more than 1000 more workers will be needed to get the pruning done in one of the few grape growing regions that make a specialty out of producing Sauvignon Blanc.

Here in California vineyard labor presents a real ethical dilemma. The vast majority of vineyard laborers, particularly during harvest time, consists of Hispanic men, a great many of which are illegal aliens. It is purely illegal to hire them. Yet, without them in the vineyard it is likely that California would have either a severe labor shortage or much higher priced wines. This is the case with California agriculture in general.

Some New Zealand winemakers are asking the government to provide amnesty to illegal workers until the pruning season is over. Whether or not the government chooses to do this, it's likely that the shortfall in labor will be taken up by illegal workers.

It doesn't appear the situation is likely to get better soon. Marlborough currently has about 37,000 acres of vineyards. Vineyards are anticipated to increase by one-third over five years.

In France, not long ago, it was students on holiday who would be employed to pick grapes. I'm not sure this kind of labor is still used in France today. However, I'm quite sure college students would never work in the vineyards in California. Why they would not is a post better left to a political blog.

So...looking for a little working holiday. I'm guessing the New Zealanders would be happy to have you right about now

A Presidential Wine Request

Just the other day I came close to bemoaning the fact that American wine drinkers rarely quaff aged wines. My wife, who reads this blog religiously only because she likes it so much, reported that of late my posts have had a bit of the "bemoan" in them. So I've been trying to avoid that style of writing.

So, let's call this post about Americans aging wine "A request". In fact, let's call it a "Presidential Request."

I recently learned that the White House does not keep a wine cellar. Nope. There's no dark room kept at just the right temperature that holds old vintages. It turns out that White House Assistant Usher Daniel Shanks, a former manager of the restaurant at the Napa Valley winery of Domaine Chandon, is charged with procuring wines for each state dinner.

What this means, most likely, is that well aged wines are unlikely to be served at the White House. Instead, they seek out current vintages to serve guests.

But what about when President Bush and the First Lady host a couple of old friends? Wouldn't it be great if George could turn to the White House waiter and say, "Would you mind bringing us one of those 1991 Chateau Montelena Cabernets I saw the other day?"

Of course, George is not a drinker. But, shouldn't the First Host be able to dip into the stash when the good friends come over. More importantly, I can't think of a better venue for preserving consecutive vintages of American wines than at the White House. I couldn't take up too much room; just a big walk in closet somewhere. In fact, it could be a "Federal Cellar": a collection of wines from every state in the Union. Wouldn't it be great if when Bush hosts a few Texans he could dig down into the First Cellar and pull out a bottle of 1990 Llano Estacado "Texas High Plains" Cabernet Sauvignon?

Over in Scotland yesterday, Bush shared dinner with the most powerful people in the world. Guess what the President saw them lift to their lips....A 1990 Chateau Climens. I'll grant you. That wine was probably a bit young. But still, it wasn't a 2003 vintage.

For the record, the powerful ones dined on Marrbury smoked salmon and roasted langoustines, followed by roast fillet of lamb accompanied by broad beans and peas, aubergine caviar and parmesan polenta. they drank wines from Italy, Germany and California.

Since the Johnson Administration (that's 1964 to 1968 for those of you who just graduated high school) the White House has only served American wines. This seems a reasonable policy to me. But I just can't get past the fact that the American wines that are served must be so young. It tells the guests that American wines can't age. And throughout the world the ability of a wine to age is viewed as one of the requirements of a great wine.

What we need is a president with a background in wine. Of course, had the last election gone differently we may just have had someone who apparently appreciates wine.

Still, we need someone in the White House who can describe the balance, tertiary bouquet and impressive structure of a well aged wine while also winning the war on terror. What's Randal Grahm of Bonny Doon doing in 2008?

Let the Sun Shine on Wine

I was in a meeting today talking to a client about the foot print the wine industry leaves on the environment.  More often than not the media carries stories about a winery that planted illegally on a hillside or a winery that didn't put into place sufficient erosion controls and allowed a large portion of a river or stream to be jammed up with silt and mud. What you don't hear too much is the effort, the really leading edge effort, wineries often make with regard to environmental protection and restoration.

The move of wineries toward using solar power as explained in an article in the Capital Press out of Oregon is exactly the kind of thing the wine industry should be looking at. The installation of solar power at a winery, while expensive up front, is extraordinarily cost efficient in the long run.

"According to PowerLight Solar Co.’s president, Dan Shugar, the 766 kw solar electric on-site generation system at Rodney Strong Vineyards in Healdsburg, Calif., is the largest solar array in the wine industry. It generates enough electricity during the daytime to power almost 800 homes, and provides a significant portion of the winery’s power needs. It’s projected to cut the vineyard’s energy use by 45 percent and annual electricity costs by 50 percent."

The cost to install this system was less than $2 million after rebates and tax breaks and is estimated to pay for itself in less than 10 years.

In addition to Rodney Strong, Domaine Carneros in Napa, Ridge Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains and Quiviera Winery in Healdsburg have all made a commitment to solar power.

It seems to this writer that that nearly anything that helps cuts consumption of oil as well as other dirty forms of energy is among the patriotic things a citizen can do. Our reliance on oil gets us into some very dangerous situations as a nation. Yet, using and generating alternative forms of energy such as solar also turns out to be good business.

A Winery for the Ages

I had a chance to appreciate a wine with a bit of age on it this weekend while celebrating Independence Day. While the 20 or so different Roses I tasted were the focus of the holiday parties, I did wrap my palate around a 1999 William Selyem Russian River Valley Chardonnay.

It was really delicious with a citrus core, creamy palate and nose of burnt marshmallow and meyer lemon.  Yet it make me stop and think about just how little aged wine I drink and thus how very little aged wine Americans drink. This 1999 Chard comes on the heels of a 1995 Saintsbury Chardonnay I tasted about a month ago that was really quite brilliant.

Still, it got me thinking about why less and less aged wine is drunk here in America. I'm not sure it was ever a large percentage of the wine that is consumed in America on a daily basis. But I can say for sure today's consumption of wine older than even five years is far less than what that percentage used to be.

I think it's the most common response to suggest that "we live in an age of instant gratification." We don't have patience any more. We want everything now. There certainly is truth to this. Living for the instant is certainly a part of the American culture. We see it in the kind of foods we eat, in the kind of investments we make and in the savings rate of the average American.

Yet I think there was a time when the bona fide wine lover assumed that an important and sizable part of their wine lives would be spent preparing to and actually drinking aged wine. Importantly, they knew why this was: They'd regularly tasted well-aged wine that had softened, changed, become more accessible and taken on flavors and aromas that simply were not accessible in the wine while it was a youngster. This kind of experience and the assumptions that go along with it are simply not part of today's wine lovers' expectations and experience. And it is a fact that those things we do not know, we rarely prepare to do.

Winemakers figured this out about Americans too. While it would be hard to verify, My bet would be that nearly 95% of all wine produced in America today is DESIGNED at the winery to be drunk within 2-4 years from vintage. I don't mean that it is made so it can be drunk in this time frame. I mean that it is made and has a character that suggests it SHOULD be drunk very very young. It appears this is what we want.

I don't want this post to turn into a lament. I'm a sentimental fellow, and even a history buff, but not so that I idolize the past and that which has been turned away from. I do however think that well-aged wine is still such an "ideal" even among casual wine drinkers that there may be a niche for placing some older vintages in the channels of commerce.

So here is my idea. We need to find someone very very wealthy; someone for whom profit and sustainable business practices are of no concern. This person would then set out to make Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The Chardonnay will not be released to the market until it is seven years past its vintage date. The Pinot is released 8 years after its vintage date. And the Cabernet waits a decade past its vintage date before release. The wines must be made in a style that allows them to age this long: Respectable alcohol, but not too high. No high pH. A good core of fruit. Ample tannins, but not really hard. Of course, the financial resources of this winery will allow it to keep up to 10 vintages of wine in its cellars at any given time. Finally, this well-endowed wine company must spend millions of dollars marketing its wines as "The Aged Ones" to the wine trade and to consumers.

What do you think? Is there room for such an product in the American mind and marketplace. I certainly thought so as I sipped the 1999 and 1995 Chardonnays.

The Snake and the Winemakers

The purchase of an elected official is hardly uncommon in America. There is, in fact, a long and distinguished history of graft that runs like a snake though the American era. Yet, one of the real accomplishments of the American culture is that this snake has not swallowed all political commerce. There remains a real, not feigned, expectation among voters of fair dealings when it comes to matters of public policy.

It is the American practice of expecting something more out of our elected officials that makes the rank and near-criminal attempt by the Michigan wholesalers to buy an anti-direct shipping bill and the snakish actions by their senator and champion in the senate that makes the Michigan wine battle so hard to watch.

In a certain act of discrimination against Michigan’s wineries and consumers, Senator Chris Ward called a very hasty committee meeting on the anti-direct shipping bill that he was carrying to the Senate on behalf of his benefactors, the Wholesalers. Opponents of the Bill were given no more than 24 hours to prepare for this surprise, then all invited to speak were told “there was no more time” when it came their turn. Ward made his point sharply, in essence saying: “I am going to fulfill my obligation to my campaign contributors, like it or not, fair or not, ethical or not.”

It is, I recognize, something of an heroic effort on Senator Ward’s part to attempt some other justification for his legislation beyond, “It’s what the wine wholesalers want.” No, in fact Ward has declared that it’s the children’s well being that motivated him to offer a bill that would put winemakers and grapegrowers in a difficult economic predicament and that would severely stifle commerce in the state while wholesalers alone benefit.

Ward explained the need to ban any and all shipment of wine to consumers by saying, "The shipping industry will not be strident enough to check IDs.”

Here,  here!! The good Senator was able to put up some sort of justification, regardless of the utter feebleness of the attempt.

Let’s be clear about something Senator Ward knows, the Michigan wholesalers know, and anyone involved in the issue of shipping wine knows: There is no evidence existing anywhere in America that shows minors are using the Internet in any slightly alarming way to obtain booze. No study showing this has been published. No government alcohol boards have had any complaints lodged. No testimony has been heard that offered up examples of the problem.

Nevertheless, Senator Ward went on to lie at the committee hearing when he claimed his bill was necessary because without it: ““Lawmakers are putting the health of children and the community at risk,”

Yet this brings us back the sad reality: Senator Ward has sold his vote and influnce to the wholesalers for about $12,000.

When asked by a writer for the Detroit Free Press about his seeming slavishness in the employ of wholesalers, the writer explained “Ward refused to discuss the ethics of all this.”

Of course he did. The selling of votes and influence is so obvious it could stand no discussion.

I was talking to one of Michigan’s best wine writers the other day and she asked me, “Why do you care about this, Tom.”

It made me think. I realized that my preoccupation with direct shipping legislation in a state across the country from my own is less about allowing small, family owned winemakers the chance to compete, less about my own feelings for wine as one of it’s true geeks, and less about the fundamental idea that monopolies hinder progress and economic growth.

What truly gets me concerned about this issue is that it strikes at the central issue of our time: Fixing the responsiveness of government to the governed. The process in America of deciding policy, whether it be foreign policy, inter-state relations, tax policy, policy on the relationship between minority and majority rights, or nearly any other decision we make in the public sphere, is becoming less and less a matter of accounting for the voice of the people.  The direct shipping issue and the way it is decided on the state level goes even beyond the bureaucratic and administrative barriers that have been plopped down between citizens and the source of action. The pure purchasing of laws that represents the situation in Michigan is the deepest sort of handicap to government responsiveness. It removes any chance of any response after the money has changed hands.

On matters at hand, there is not more at stake when a matter of policy is decided by money rather than voices. It’s simply another way of governing. It’s called a Profitocracy: Those who make the most profit make the rules. No doubt this system of governing is more efficient than real representative democracy and is likely to remain more efficient no matter how clean politicians were goaded into becoming and no matter what changes were made in the administration of government and the election of public officials. While we don’t live quite yet in a Profitocracy, the kind of bare-knuckled corruption we see in Michigan encourages this system of government.

Senator Ward still must contend with a PRO direct shipping bill that will compete with his “For-the-low-low-price-of…” type of bill. There is the possibility too that the Michigan press will continue what has been a remarkable display of real reporting on this issue as well as superb editorializing against Ward’s corruption, and this will help alert Michigan residents to the “government as gratuity” on display in their state.

The more this situation is exposed, the more likely Michigan’s legislators will be responsive to the people of the state as well as to the notion of fairness. WineCam, a group of Michigan consumers has also taken up the fight, working to expose the public and government officials to both the merits of direct shipping and to the Wholesalers plan to buy a state body.

While there is little those outside Michigan can do to influence the course of events in that state, I do think there is a policy California’s vintners can adopt toward Michigan and other states where wine shipping might be threatened. The California wineries do have a great deal to gain by seeing states opened to free commerce. California wineries should support efforts to fight the wholesalers and Chris Ward. They should send money. Thousands of dollars should be sent, from individual wineries as well as winery associations.

After we talked about the tough fight that lies ahead of the likes of WineCam, supporters of direct shipping in the Michigan legislature and Michigan’s wineries, and after only giving a brief and unthoughtful response to her question as to why I cared about the direct shipping issue, discussion with the Michigan wine writer swerved toward the question of drinking wine.

She mentioned what I had heard others say quite often over the past few months: “You really need to taste these new Michigan wines, Tom. Many are really beautiful. Particularly the Rieslings.”

How is it that a single very small group of business people and a weak willed set of legislators could threaten an entire industry for the sake of power and profit? And consider that those this cabal threatens are in the very same business as they: providing good wine to consumers. I have put orders in for some Michigan wine. I’ve found a way to obtain some Rieslings. It seems like the least wine lovers around the country can do given the circumstances.