Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

FERMENTATION Readers Don't Like Strawberry Ice Cream

Just who are you readers of FERMENTATION?

-You are overwhelmingly male
-Spread across the age spectrum
-Make pretty good money
-Are very well educated
-Probably married
-There's a 50/50 chance you work in or around the wine industry
-Are heavy wine drinkers
-Are likely to spend on average more than $15 on a bottle of wine
-Don't really like your strawberry ice cream
-Prefer imported autos
-Are likely a dog, rather than a cat, person
-Prefer substantive reading over gossip

Not that surprising, but interesting.

We received a total of 157 responses during the week-long survey of FERMENTATION readers.

You can see the results by clicking here.

Among the deeper and more interesting findings:

-DAILY WINE DRINKERS are more likely to be older, own more wine and prefer Paris over the beach.

-DRINKERS SPENDING $20 OR MORE ON A BOTTLE have higher incomes, more education, less likely to be in the wine business, like their Mercedes and prefer the beach over Paris

-VANILLA ICE CREAM LOVERS tend to be more educated, less likely to work in the wine business, are dog people and are twice as likely to prefer People Magazine

STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM LOVERS tend to be older, less educated, less likely to be married, spend less on wine, more likely to be cat people, and more likely to prefer Paris over the beach.

CAT LOVING  READERS tend to be older, more likely to live on the West Coast, have slightly more education, own more wine, prefer Paris and are decidedly New Yorker readers.

DOG LOVING READER are much more likely to live in fly-over country, Spend more on their wine purchases, more likely to prefer vanilla and more likely to read Time Magazine.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to complete the survey. Interesting stuff. I'm trying to get to know FERMENTATION readers better. This helps. THANKS!

Champagne that Glows as Well as Sparkles?

I'm not sure what to make of this:

"Greenpeace today revealed that France's iconic sparkling wine, Champagne, is threatened by radioactive contamination leaking from a nuclear waste dumpsite in the region. Low levels of radioactivity have already been found in underground water less than 10 km from the famous Champagne vineyards....The Champagne producers are facing two nuclear timebombs - one already leaking at Soulaine, and one planned at Bure. The wine producers in the Rhone region stood up to the nuclear state in France and won. The Champagne region needs to act fast before it's too late,"

Essentially, Greenpeace is suggesting not so subtly that Champagne is about to glow as well as sparkle if something isn't done about the nuclear waste sites in the Champagne region.

If learned one fundamental truth in my years working in wine PR it's "Vintage Champagne=Good" and "Radioactive Champagne=bad".

However, I've also learned that the best way to get a people's attention, after offering them free money, is to scare the shit out of them. Though I"m not a scientist, I get the funny feeling this claim is the latter.

In California we've not had a debate on nuclear energy or nuclear waste in a couple decades. Nuclear Energy simply isn't politically viable in California. That may change if the price of energy continues to rise in the state. Yet if this happens, I'm pretty sure Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Santa Barbara and Monterey's wine regions are likely safe.

A Witness to the Tasting

I suspect we'll be seeing more of this in the wine writing world in the weeks to come. Scott Tracy is the sommelier at La Toque in Napa Valley and very well known for his expertise. He also maintains a blog and has written about his experience at the recent re-enactment of the Paris Tasting. It turns out that Scott poured and worked the tasting.

Scott's a pretty astute guy and mentions something that I never thought of when writing earlier about the run up to the tasting and the controversy surrounding it (some didn't want the tasting to be done blind): Scot speculates that some very high end CA wineries didn't want to participate, not because they didn't want to be tasted blind against the French wines, but because they didn't want to be tasted at all against their own CA comrades in winemaking.

This makes perfect sense. Why would Screaming Eagle under any circumstances want to be bested by a CA winery that sells its Cab for $100 less? It's the same reasoning that keeps the big name, big prices wineries from entering the many well run wine competitions across the country.

In any case, Scott's post, and blog, is well worth a read if you are interested in an insider's view of the re-enactment. Also coming in to print this week is Dan Berger's article in his Vintage Experiences newsletter. Dan was a judge at the tasting.

Wine Law Heftyman Takes to Blogging

If you are a wine blog reader you've probably noticed that most of what's being written in the wine blog world is mostly produced by wine lover, rather than wine insiders, let alone wine insiders of any heft. We have few blogs that are written by wine writing pros and some winemaker blogs. So it's nice to see an insider with great heft contributing to a blog.

The heftyman is Corbin Houchins.

Corbin is one of America's leading wine lawyers. He's one of the two or three lawyers and experts on goes to if you want to understand no merely what the law is, but how the law is likely to be made. Hutchins is guest blogging now and again at the Ship Compliant Blog where issues of wine shipping and consumers sales across state lines is explored in great depth.

Houchin's most recent post there concerns the implications of a preliminary junction handed down in a Texas cases in which the nations wine retailers are looking to open up that market, and the national market, to direct sales from retailers.

In nearly every case and every political battle that concerns the ability for consumers to buy wine direct from out-of-state entities retailers have been left out of the fix. Corbin address the legal and precedent complexities of  the recent Granholm V. Heald decision as well as past precedent setting decisions by that court. If you are in the wine industry or have an interest in the state of the legal wrangling surrounding this issue, this is a must read.

EncycloWine

I'm a fan of Wikipedia. I like the idea of a constantly updating encyclopedia at my fingertips, despite the rap that it gets from some (traditionalists?) that it's not accurate. While my go to source for general wine info is still the Oxford Companion to Wine, edited by Jancis Robinson, as well as a few other atlas', Wikipedia has begun to take over some of my mindspace.

It has its downfalls for sure. For example, it can't come close to Appellation America as a reference for North American wine growing regions or for information on grape varieties. Where Appellation America's cataloging of North American wine growing regions is broad and deep, Wikipedia's wine section is merely broad while the Oxford Companion is deep on only certain areas.

So, I was very intrigued when I saw Encyclowine.

Encyclowine has only launched in the past week. It is, essentially, Wikipedia for wine...a user-created and edited encyclopedia for wine. It is not filled out as yet. Also, I've noticed over the past  couple of days that the site has been both up and down at times. So what we are talking about here is potential. However, the potential IS exciting.

As with the Wikipedia, Encyclowine is meant to offer deep content on everything as long as there is someone willing to write it and others willing to edit it later. Like Wikipedia, the hope is that a collaborative effort will help create an Online index of everything-wine.

There is a great deal already on Encyclowine for the person researching varieties, regions, wines, production, etc. The question that Encyclowine has to answer is why create such an open-source encyclopedia of wine outside Wikipedia or try to compete with Appellation America's headlong dive into deep/broad info presentation? One answer, which seems to be a regular refrain among optimistic web developers, is "because we can"

If you visit Encyclowine give it a chance. Surf around. Explore the potential. Because it is there. If you are very knowledgeable on a particular wine subject, register and write an entry. This is how this source will grow. It could, if they play their cards right and spend their marketing dollars and time correctly turn into the kind of source that replaces the print world's Companions.

This Article Will Not Be Stolen

In response to my post yesterday about an Internet Site that was apparently lifting entire articles from wine blogs and posting them in their entirety on their own site, I received this e-mail:

"Tom,

I just saw your posting made here (http://fermentation.typepad.com/fermentation/2006/05/this_article_wa.html). Most importantly, I have removed the Fermentation articles from TheWinery.  However, I did want to clarify the situation.  We *DO* request permission from bloggers -- by no means do we want to steal anyone's content.  That said, clearly some blogs -- such as yours -- have slipped through the cracks, and for that I apologize.  We don't want to have anyone's content on the site that doesn't want to be there.  Luckily, at least 95% of the bloggers that we contact are happy to join our network and recognize the value we provide.  Right now that value is limited to helping readers filter through articles using "tags" that we have labelled articles based on our analysis of their content -- however, we plan to continue adding features that add value for readers.  Importantly, this arrangement has generally benefited bloggers by opening up their content to a larger audience, and built up awareness for their own sites. 

I felt that it was important to clarify this because I think that there was a misunderstanding.  We DO seek out permission, although clearly in the case of your blog something went wrong.  Once again we have removed your articles from the site, and I apologize for this error.

Thanks for your understanding,

Mario Grech
http://wine.nimbleferret.com"

My response to Mr. Grech was:


I’m sure bloggers see the value of your site.....the value to you.

You are offering no incentive to have a reader return to the site that actually created your content. Zero reason. Your site exits merely to reap income from google ads based on your lifting of work from others.

The problem is that most bloggers don’t have the financial ability to sue you. This is of course why you’ve never made a mistake and accidentally had a New York Times of Washington Post article “slip through the cracks” and appear on your site.

Thank you for not stealing FERMENTATION’s content anymore.
Tom Wark...

The Definition of Taste

What is "a taste" of wine?

This is the issue that the Director of the Alcohol Beverage Control office of the State of California is clearing up.

In a memo from the Directors office to it's division and branch offices, the Director has made clear that

"Since the Legislature has determined that a 1 ounce serving is sufficient and reasonable to acquaint a consumer with the qualities and characteristics of wine in an on-sale environment, it is reasonable to conclude that the same size taste is appropriate for a winegrower offering tastes of its wines in a wine tasting. As such, the Department has determined that a single “taste” which may be given away or sold as part of a “tasting” by a winery under its Type 02 license should be approximately 1 ounce."

One ounce!

I can live with that. Most tasting rooms pour somewhere between that and three ounces. However, it's unlikely that many of the sparkling wine houses will have a more difficult time living with this definition. At many sparkling wine facilities one pays, say, $5, and they give you a glass of sparkling wine....far more than one ounce. Then they send you out on the veranda to appreciate the view of the vineyards and sip your sparkling wine. Limiting this tasting to a one ounce pour is going to seriously diminish the experience.

It will be interesting to see if this new interpretation of the statues on the books will be enforced. I can see it now, an ABC agent comes into a tasting room, takes a pour from the person behind the bar, takes out their beaker and measures. 2.5 Ounces!! That's a fine!!!

Again, I don't think too many wineries will have a difficult time staying close to this requirement. But others will.

California Wines Best The French

Well, it appears California bottlings walked away the big winner at the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the 1976 Tasting of Paris held in Napa Valley and London. Only the original reds tasted in 1976 and a new collection of reds from Bordeaux and Napa were compared against one another.

The winners are:

Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon 1971

Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon 2000

In what must be a real surprise to many, California wines took the top five spots among the older wines in the following order:

Ridge Monte Bello 1971
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973
Heitz Martha's Vineyard 1970
Mayacamas 1971 (in a tie for 4th)
Clos du Val 1972.

The tasting of the newer white wines from Burgundy and California were not compared against one another. I can't imagine why that determination was made.

This sort of reenactment also occurred before on the 10th anniversary of the original tasting. Again, it was Stephen Spurrier who organized that tasting. Eight judges evaluated 9 of the 10 original wines tasted in 1976. Those results were:

Clos Du Val Winery 1972
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello 1971
Château Montrose 1971
âteau Leoville Las Cases 1971
Château Mouton Rothschild 1970
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars 1973
Heitz Wine Cellars 1970
Mayacamas Vineyards 1971
Château Haut-Brion 1971

I'm not sure what all this means except that the 1971 Ridge Monte Bello will leap in value in the auction and rare wine market. I do have one comment however that deserves consideration. Here we have five California wines, all over 30 years old that apparently tasted pretty darn good. I wonder  what their alcohol content was? Certainly not 14.7%. More likely they are in the 12.5% range. I wonder if there are any winemakers out there who want to make a wine for the ages and I wonder what this tasting might say to them.

This Article Was Stolen

Robbers. Thieves. Unethical. Without Merit.

There's just no other way to describe an organization that steals content, then represents it as their own.

This is the case with a website called "THE WINERY".They describe themselves as "part magazine, part newspaper, dedicated to wine.

What they do, is this:

-Surf Wine Blogs
-Post 100 words of an entry from a Wine Blog
-Create a link that says "Read More"
-Take the reader to the entire entry....located on their own site.

In other words, they are representing the content as their own. If I ever do this on FERMENTATION, someone call me on it in the harshest words, then never read this blog again.

But I thought I'd do a little experiment to see if they are actually reading the blog posts they are stealing for just automatically posting them without looking at what their computer program goes out and picks up. Hence, the title of this blog posting.

My suggestion to other wine bloggers whose work is being stolen and misrepresented is to see if this little test works, then do it your self.

The New Paris Tasting Wines...what's being tasted?

Today is the day of the 30th Anniversary Celebration of the 1976 "Tasting of Paris". A new taste off will occur in France and in Napa Valley. The orginal tasting helped put CA wines on the map when CA took top prize among whites and reds. There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding this new tasting, particularly over whether or not the wines will be tasted blind. That said, we should have the results today.

I came across a listing of the wines to be tasted at a French wine blog.

Here is the line up

The Whites
CALIFORNIA CHARDONNAYS
Château Montelena 2003
Mount Eden 2002
Patz & Hall "Hyde Vineyard 2004
Peter Michael Point Rouge 2003
Ramey "Hyde Vineyard 2002
Talley "Rosemary’s Vineyard

WHITE BURGUNDY
Louis Latour Bâtard-Montrachet 2002
Domain Drouhin Beaune Clos de Mouches 2002
Louis Jadot Chassagne-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Caillerets
Domain Laflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles 2002
Domain Bonneau Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2003
Domain Roulot Meursault Premier Cru Charmes 2002

The Reds
CALIFORNIA CABERNET
Clos du Val 2000 Reserve
Joseph Phelps Insignia 2002
Ridge Monte Bello 2000
Safer Hillside Select 2001
Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars Cask 23 2001
Staglin Family Vineyard 2001.

BORDEAUX
Château Haut-Brion 2000
Château Margaux 2000
Château Montrose 2000
Château Rausan Ségla 2000
Chateau Latour 200
Chateau Leoville Las Cases 2001

It all seems like a reasonable selection of CA wines to me. It is interesting that two wines from the Hyde Vineyard are represented in the white tasting.

Vermont on the Forefront of Wine Sales Reform

In the course of reconciling it's wine shipping laws with last year's equality-imposing Supreme Court decision, the state of Vermont has done something very interesting.

A new law (S58) signed this month says both in-state and out-of-state wineries may now sell and ship wine directly to retail shops and restaurants, effectively cutting the middle man wholesaler out of the loop. This, in and of itself, is a pretty dramatic step given the stranglehold wholesalers seem to have over the legislative process across the country. However, the new law does have some caveats.

1. A winery is limited to shipping no more than 841 cases per year to Vermont restaurants and retailers.

2. No more than 16 cases per month may be shipped to a single restaurant or retailer.

In an interview with the sponsor of the bill, State Senator Matt Dunne, Fermentation learned that the initial idea was to limit direct shipment of wines to retailers only to small wineries. According to Senator Dunne, the wholesalers feared bigger wineries would keep their good stuff to sell to retailers and restaurants themselves, while leaving lesser expensive bottlings for their wholesalers to deal with.

According to Dunne, had it not been for the state's Attorney General offering the opinion that limiting the size of the winery that could sell direct to retailers would be unconstitutional, this is exactly the type of new law that would have been passed.

The new Vermont law limiting the amount of wine a California, Oregon, Vermont winery can sell directly to a retailer still amounts to a wholesaler protection act by subsidizing the three tier system in a way that forces the vast majority of wine sold in VT to go through the wholesalers' hands.

As I hope I've mentioned before, I believe wine wholesalers offer an essential service that really can't be replaced if wineries want to get product to market. I just don't believe they should be a state-mandated service. They claim that they are uniquely suited to collect taxes for the state and assure that minors don't get their hands on wine. However, technology has advanced to the point where a winery can send it's tax burden to states across the country with the click of a mouse. And as for minors, 99% of the alcohol that gets into their hands first passes through the wholesalers' hands.

That said, the new VT law is a step in the right direction by not limiting the size of the winery that can sell direct to retailers and restaurants.

On Zin...

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My weekly post at Wine Sediments, a group wine blog, is up and concerns the Zinfandel Advocates & Producers upcoming ZINPOSIUM.

If  you have more than a passing interest in the grape and the wine ZINPOSIUM an event taking place July 7-9. All the names and wines will be there. Click on the link above to read the Wine Sediments post and get the background on the event.

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In the Last Days

Today is the last day you can make your voice heard in the
FERMENTATION READER SURVEY.

It's a short 16 question survey that won't take a minute.

We'll post links to the results so you can compare and contrast yourself to the average Fermentation reader (WHAT FUN!!)

More importantly, I'd be grateful if you took the minute to help me better understand just who it is that takes the time.

It's 100% anonymous!

Brilliance & Terroir

It was, I believe, the great Gore Vidal who once wrote, "Every time a friend of mine succeeds a little part of me dies."

It's a pretty astute, and brave, commentary on the effects and power of envy.

Some of us bloggers fancy ourselves decent writers. Some of us are mistaken, some close to the mark, other are underestimating their value completely if they think themselves only decent writers. A safe self assessment puts me somewhere between the first two markers.

So while I can't call Randal Grahm a friend having only met him briefly a couple times, I felt what Gore felt when I read this:

"Terroir, I am hoping to explain, is something like a Platonic form, or perhaps more concretely, a beautifully ordered wave-form that arises from a harmonically attuned vineyard – one wherein every element is in perfect balance. The formal information that is in this special vineyard is preserved, amplified, perhaps refined during the fermentation process of the grapes and emerges by dint of the winemaker’s skill, as the flavor characteristics of the wine. Some as yet unelucidated mechanism involving the minerality of the wine, I believe, acts as a medium to transform this information into a distinctive, unmistakable taste, analogous to the transformation of radio waves into aural sensation."

This is from Grahm's talk at the recent "Terroir Conference" held at U.C. Davis. He called the talk, "The Phenomenology of Terroir: A Meditation by Randall Grahm." It's a brilliant presentation of a philosophy of winegrowing with particular emphasis on biodynamics.

You can read the entire talk HERE at Appellation America.

Why did a little part of me die? Because Grahm so successfully communicated the spiritual approach to understanding terroir, something I've spent some time thinking about but have never been able to come close to explaining it's importance the way Grahm can in so few words.

Grahm's translation of the significance of the IDEA of terroir, and the way it has the ability to really call out to wine lovers, into words is brilliant. His speculation on the true purpose of a wine's minerality is original and beautiful, if not a bit hopeful. And finally, it's his obvious respect for the mystery of terroir that shows through that I like so much.

If you are interested in the mystery of terroir, Grahm's paper is must read.There's a certain amount of spirituality in the meditation that might put you off if you are not so inclined. But try to push on. The complete package comes together in such a way that might finally send Gore home were he to call Randall Grahm a friend.

Organizing Wine Disharmony

In case no one saw it, Mark Fisher (pictured on the left and demonstrating the reason God gave us two hands)  of Uncorked writing for WineSediments Wine Blog on the Well Fed Network posted a fascinating piece on the organizing of the of the upcoming 30th Anniversary celebration of the the Great Paris Tasting of 1976.

The controversy is over how the European judges and the American judges will be tasting the wines as they compare French and American wines in an attempt to re-create the tasting of '76 that helped put California wines on the map.

It had been assumed that the tasting would be done blind. But that's not so. Apparently some Bordeaux producers objected.

The whole story is here along with an interview Mark conducted with the event organizer, Stephen Spurrier.

16 Questions About YOU

The Ongoing FERMENTATION READER SURVEY will end on Thursday. If you haven't taken the opportunity to take the survey I'd be grateful if you did.

YOU CAN CLICK HERE to take the survey.

It's a quick 16 question, mainly multiple choice survey that shouldn't take more than a minute to complete. The results will be posted here and will also give myself and you a good idea of who is visiting this one and a half year old wine blog.

Thanks in advance for your participation.

Mendocino Wine: PR Cometh

Marketers, like myself, get a lot of the blame for taking the authenticity out of wine and lowering the beverage to just one more product to be foisted upon the public with exaggerated claims and pretty pictures. There's a lot of truth to that kind of accusation. However, the winemakers and grape growers in Mendocino have rightly determined that more marketing is just what the doctor ordered.

The growers and winemakers of Mendocino County, located about 70 miles north of San Francisco and just north of Sonoma County, have approved the creation of a self-taxing mechanism to fund the Mendocino Wine and Winegrape Commission. The responsibility of the new commission will be to better promote the grapes and wines of Mendocino County.

Mendinco County includes some of the most diverse growing regions in the entire state frm the coastal oriented Anderson Valley where Pinot and Alsace varietals thrive to the hilly Yorkville Highlands to the warmer inland region where Petite Sirah, Syrah, Zinfandel and other varieties thrive. The wines are terrific. Yet, the Mendocino County appellations and growing regions lag behind other areas of California when it comes to recognition among American wine drinkers.

The vote to form the new commission is certainly a reaction to the more competitive market landscape for wine sellers. Imports of inexpensive wines from many New World, and Old World, regions and the rise to prominence of other quality oriented California wine regions such as Santa Barbara and Monterey apparently have convinced the Mendocino folk that more marketing of their wines and grapes are in order.

Surely part of the effort the Mendocino Wine and Grapegrower Commission will undertake is drawing more people past Napa and Sonoma and into the Mendocino region. This is not so easy a task. With so many wineries much closer to the main airports of Oakland, San Francisco and Sacramento, it's all too easy to take the short route and end up on Highway 12 in Sonoma Valley or Highway 29 in Napa. You really have to want to go to Mendocino. But it's these visits, the direct encounter with region that creates evangelists for wine regions. And that's exactly what Mendocino needs: more evangelists.

It's reported that the initial annual funding will be in the neighborhood of $700,000. That seems like a lot of money. But imagine if you want to take the advertising route and choose (inappropriately in my mind) to place ads in the major wine publications. For even a minimally effective awareness campaign you need to spend upwards of $150,000. Then there is staff to pay as well as offices and the administration of the new organization. $750K isn't a lot of money.

However, John Enquist, the executive director of the soon to be defunct Mendocino Wine Growers Alliance, will likely head up this new organization. With more funds at his disposal You can bet he will put on the kind of show that demonstrates the value of promotional expertise.

Mendocino ranks up there as one of my top 3 wine growing regions in California. The region's diversity and the variety of quality wines tips the scale for me. And it's the beauty too. If you've never seen the sun breaking through the fog in the morning in Anderson Valley, you need to.

Important Wine Sales Changes in VT and MD

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It appears that both Maryland and Vermont have followed Washington State's lead and passed laws that allow wineries outside the state to sell directly to retailers and restaurants in VT and MD.

This is a huge step that confirms the states' acknowledgment that wine wholesalers are not necessary tools for getting wine to market but rather one tool that CAN be used to get the wine to market.

In the case of Maryland, however, the new law restricts winery's that make more than 11,500 cases per year from participating in this direct-to-retail sales channel. This of course makes the Maryland law really a wholesaler protection act and begs the question, if, say, Gallo found it more cost effective to sell wine directly to Maryland retailers and restaurants themselves, rather than doing so via a middle man, why shouldn't they be allowed to since a smaller winery is allowed to?

I predict that some day, down the road, wine wholesalers will be asked to demonstrate their value without substantial subsidizing of their business plan by the states.

More to come on this as I hear back from various officials in Vermont and Maryland.

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Blogging on Wine Blogs being Blogged

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Another wine blog aggregator has appeared: VinoBlogosphere.

Like other aggregation sites, VinoBlogosphere has chosen a selection of the nearly 300 wine blogs and posts their most recent entries. This new site is presenting posts from only 15 different wine blogs.

So far I've not come across a wine blog aggregation site that does of a better job of updating me on whats been said and whats being discussed in the wine blog world than my own Bloglines RSS Reader. The difference of course is I can tell Bloglines exactly which sites I want it to track, rather than relying on an aggregation site making a one time determination of which blogs are worth reading, arranging for their updating on the site, then moving on and hoping they make some money off their Google Ads.

The nice thing about VinoBlogosphere is that it doesn't present the entire post from the blogs it program's its site to monitor. Rather, only the headline and the first 40 or 50 words are presented, followed by a link to blog for the rest of the reading.

I'm thinking there is an opportunity for someone to put together are truly robust wine blog/wine news aggregation site that doesn't limit the number of sources it chooses from and which offers it's own daily commentary on the best blog posts and most significant articles of news on the web. So far, it really hasn't emerged.

VinoBlogoSphere is probably worth a look, however.

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$111K for a Bottle? Sure!...$500...Nope!

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Working at and for Winebid.com in the late 1990s was exciting on a number of different levels. It was the DotCom boom so you felt like you were changing the way the wine world worked buy creating an online market for rare wine. And it worked. Thousands of people bought and sold rare and not-so-rare wines at Winebid.

The other part of the excitement had not so much to do with being part of the DotCom phenomenon but in watching wines soar in bid price. It wasn't so much that the the higher the price someone was willing to pay for the wine the more Winebid.com would make it commissions, but rather it was the normal excitement that comes with watching any type of auction with a number of willing bidders. Watching the price go up and up is....well, it's pretty cool.

This weekend a case of 1974 Heitz Cellars Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon sold for $19,975 at a Sothebys wine auction in New York. For some time now this wine has been the quintessential American Cabernet to collect. I presume it's drinking just fine. But at $1600 per bottle the '74 "Martha's Vineyard" is becoming one of those wines one purchases in order to possess, rather than to drink. It is leaving the realm of consumable and entering the world of art.

At the same auction a bottle of 1865 Lafite went for $111,000. Clearly art at this point.

What's interesting is the idea of justifying these prices. For this wine lover, it's far easier to understand spending $111K on a 150 year old wine or even $1600 on a 30 year old American Classic, than spending $500 for a bottle of wine that is meant to be drunk, not displayed.

I understand the desire to possess something rare, to surround oneself with history that means something to you. It's much more difficult to understand spending $400 or $500 on something that is meant to disappear down your throat then be washed back into the local sewage system.

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The Daily Wine Blog's Biggest Fans: You & Them

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Not just a wine tasting room, it's the way wine tasting ought to be. Sit down at one of the Mayo Family Winery's Reserve Rooms in Healdsburg or Sonoma Valley and experience a seven wine-seven food pairing the Wall Street Journal called "An Awesome Experience...the best deal in wine country."

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There are questions that need answering.

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Your responses to the Fermentation Reader Survey are 100% confidential. Not even I will know who you are.    I'll just know the answers that are left in the survey form, but I'll not know who left them. The survey is quite short: only 16 short questions.

The Survey will be up for about 1 week. At the end of that time we'll all have a good idea of who we are and where we stand in relation to other FERMENTATION readers. The results will be posted here and a link to the raw results will be posted too.

Thank you in advance for your participation. It is greatly appreciated.

What Next?..."Flash...Alien Wine"

I'm not sure what to make of THIS article at Decanter.com.

How does a planning commission dispute over the placement of a road and building in the hills above Napa Valley make into the News section of the normally very excellent Decanter.com?

--Is the world that thirsty for "wine news" that anything will do?

--Have Marc Mondavi and David Abreu reached Hillary Duff and Paris Hilton levels of celebrity status that their every move must be watched and reported on? (by the way: my sources tell me Abreu brought a Sonoma wine!!! to a dinner at a posh Napa restaurant the other night...Valley aghast...stay tuned for more juicy information)

--Are there simply more wine-related information sites on the web than there is news?

Here at FERMENTATION we are committed to bringing you only the really hard and relevant wine news to keep you informed of the most important developments in the wine industry.

What Kind of FERMENTATION Reader Are You? It's Survey Time

It has been almost a year since I last surveyed the readers of FERMENTATION. In that time the readership of wine blogs has grown and the number of blogs has grown.

So the question is...You read FERMENTATION, but what kind of person are you really?

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE SURVEY

Your responses to the survey are 100% confidential. Not even I will know who you are.    I'll just know the answers that are left in the survey form, but not know who left them. The survey is quite short: only 15 short questions.

The Survey will be up for about 1 week. At the end of that time we'll all have a good idea of who we are and where we stand in relation to other FERMENTATION readers. The results will be posted here and a link to the raw results will be posted too.

Thank you in advance for your participation. It is greatly appreciated.

Discovering American Terroir

In its continued quest to deliver identity to North America's varied appellations and the wines made from them, Appellation America has recently posted the results of two of its "Discovery Tastings":

Spring Mountain District in the Napa Region and Yorkville Highlands in Mendocino County.

For those unfamiliar with Appellation America's Discovery Tastings, the organization brings together winemakers focused on the appellation under consideration to be guided through a tasting of the appellation's wines The Discovery Tastings are undertaken blind (meaning the producer of the wines are not known, but the varietal and the region is) and usually focus on one varietal.

As the Appellation America website puts it: "The Appellation Discovery Program seeks to identify threads of commonality and to pinpoint terroir based signatures in the wines of each appellation, if such commonality exists, or is developing."

You have to be a realist when you undertake such a mission. That realism, I think, is best demonstrated with the acknowledgment that some appellations may or may not show "commonality" of character across its wines or that such a commonality is in development or changing.

Both Yorkville Highlands and the Spring Mountain District are somewhat obscure regions, with the Yorkville Highlands surely being known to fewer wine drinkers. It is interesting to ponder if this relative obscurity may have something to do with the fact that in the case of both tastings the moderators report very specific "signatures" and "commonalities" emerging from the wines they tasted.

There are two important developments winding their way through the California wine industry today. One is the emergence of more and more inexpensive quaffing wines and labels. The continuance of this trend will engage more people in the habit of wine drinking.

The second important development is the heightened interest in the characteristics of wines that are made in specific appellations, sub-appellations and single vineyards. We are at a point in the evolution of the Californian and American wine industries that suggests a certain maturity. Differentiation is one of the hallmarks of a mature industry in 21st century America. The focus on appellational differences is a result of this evolution.

Winebabe?? Where Do I Sign Up?

Some people have a great deal of time on their hands...as well as a sense of humor.

I'm not sure I approve of the WinoBabe of the month concept. I'm particularly concerned about the April 2006 pick (photo re-posted to the left) for this honor. But what I really want to know is how I can get in the running for the June issue?

Hat tip to the folk over at REthinkwine Blog.

Two Buck Chuck Creator: An Articulate Guy

It's hard to get a handle on Fred Franzia, CEO of Bronco Wine Company and producer of Two Buck Chuck, among other wine brands. Reading about his life and attitudes and beliefs in the latest issue of INC, you get the impression this is a man who will pull no punches and go after the things he wants in a fairly direct fashion. Among the brands owned by Bronco Wine Company are: ForestVille, Estrella, Charles Shaw, Montpellier, Grand Cru, Silver Ridge, Rutherford Vintners, Hacienda, FoxHollow, and Napa Ridge.

The problem is that Franzia doesn't exactly engender love and respect from others in the wine industry. It's surely his tendency to say EXACTLY what's on his mind that results in this unappreciative response. But let's let Fred tell you himself.

They are "a bunch of whiners"
Fred on Napa Valley Vintners

"Why complicate it? Does anyone complicate Cheerios by saying the wheat has to be grown on the side of a mountain and the terroir in North Dakota is better than Kansas and all this horseshit?"
Fred, on the idea of appellation

"Greedy Bastards!"
Fred on excessive retail mark ups.

"They rape the consumer"
Fred on Restaurants' wine mark ups

"They're expertise is talking about themselves and saying they are experts."
Fred on the Wine Spectator and Robert Parker

"I don't socialize anywhere. There's no money to be made in socializing"
Fred on getting out.

"I defy anyone that charges more money (than he does for his wines) to let me conduct a blind tasting. He'll look like a fool with his own wine."
Fred on the quality of his cheap wines.

"They tattooed me, so fine. Do I look like I'm worried about it? Does it look like it's killed our company?"
Fred on having to pay a $2.5 million fine after being convicted of conspiracy to defraud for representing cheap grapes as more expensive grapes.

"They don't impress me one bit."
Fred on Napa Valley winemakers.

"They try to create a myth to keep the consumer from buying other people's wines."
Fred on Napa Valley's objection to the use of the term "Napa" on wines that have little Napa fruit.

"These fucking guys have no mind-games capability. Guys like that are no challenge to me."
Fred on losing a court battle with Napa Valley over the use of the word "Napa" on a bottle with little or no Napa Fruit, then responding with the release of "Four-Buck Chuck" made with Napa fruit.

Fred Franzia is clearly a smart guy. He clearly is giving many of the consumers out there what they want. And, he's clearly successful. More important, he sure does make for good copy.

Zinfandel is Officially Not Official, Just Historic

I don't think I can agree with Mike Dunne more than I do.

In his frank fashion, Dunne, the longstanding wine writer for the Sacramento Bee, takes to task the wine industry's associations for not getting behind an effort to name Zinfandel the "historic wine of California."

Some of you will recall that not too long ago California State Senator Carole Migden pushed a proposal to name Zinfandel the Official State Grape. Well, this didn't go over to well with vintners who make wines other than Zinfandel, fearing that this designation would make consumers run out and buy Zinfandel just as fast as they've gone out and purchased Golden Poppies.

So, Midgen has amended her proposal to merely call Zin the "Historic Wine of California", Not the "Official State Grape."

Still, most wine industry types don't like the idea.

Paul Kronenberg, Executive Director of Family Winemakers of California, speaks for what is probably most of the industry when he says "Plenty of other wines also helped shape the state's wine industry, and to single out one for special recognition is akin to asking parents to choose which among their children is their favorite, says Kronenberg. That's not a function the state should get involved in."

But Mike Dunne's retort is on the mark:

"This argument is an extension of a long-standing dodge in the wine business; winemakers for decades have been avoiding naming their favorite wine in their lineup by likening their wines to their children, thereby not only sidestepping the issue but making journalists feel ashamed for even asking."

Of course there is no arguing that Zinfandel is the most historic grape in California. There's no arguing that this was the grape that put California wines on the map. There's no arguing that Zinfandel was the grape that allowed California vintners to produce loads of good wine in the early days. And there's no arguing that today no region in the world comes close to producing the amount or quality of Zinfandel that is produced in California.

10 THINGS: You'll Never See On A Wine's Back Label

10 THINGS...
YOU'LL NEVER SEE ON A BACK LABEL OF  A WINE

1. A description of the health benefits of wine

2. The wineries suggested retail price for the wine

3. An apology for the high alcohol content in the wine

4. A list of the MOG —materials other than grapes—in the wine (you probably don't want to know)

5. The name of the person who designed the back label

6. A suggestion you pair the wine with sauteed liver and onions in a balsamic reduction sauce

7. A political statement

8. A tribute to the first wife

9. What to do if a bad cork spoiled the wine

10. The amount of beer it took to make the wine

Taking Stock in Wine (Or Donuts)

The wine industry in America is in good shape. Sales are growing. More people are taking to wine. There are issues for the American wine industry, such as falling market share that is being accumulated by imports. But overall, things are moving in the right direction at the moment.

Ever wonder....maybe I should invest in the wine industry. Maybe put a bit of my IRA in wine-related stocks?

Probably the three largest and most visible public wine companies are Constellation Brands,  Diageo and Fortune Brands. Below is a chart marking the growth of their stock prices going back five years.

Roughly speaking, a $10,000 investment in Constellation in May 2001 gives you about $29,000 today. A Fortune Brands invest makes your investment worth about $26,000. The same investment in Diageo brings your investment up to about $15,000.

A similar investment in the Dow, Nasdaq or S&P 500 would have kept you just about even, your $10,000 investment hovering somewhere between $10,500 and $11,000 in value.

What's this all mean? How do I know? I gave up my stock picking experiments when we cashed out our Krispy Kreme stock with a 100% gain. I figured, if I could make that kind of money on donuts the stock picking game was really all about luck.

However, it is food for thought.

"I WONT Eat My Peas!!!

a Press Democrat writes a very nice round up story today on the state of direct shipment of wine a year after the historic Granholm V. Heald Supreme Court decision.

What caught my eye was the very end of the story where the President of the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association, Juanita Duggan, identified with this quote:

"the justices' opinion that states could find other ways to enforce underage drinking laws in an era of direct shipping of wine doesn't sway her and never will."

Now, doesn't that strike you, particularly the part about "doesn't sway her and never will, as seeming a lot like the 7 year old boy who folds his arms, makes a frown and declares, "I'm not eating those peas!!!"

Duggan goes on to say about the United States Supreme Court Justices: "We think they are in fantasy land."

"Fantasyland". This from a woman who spent years as the chief lobbyist for on of the Tobacco industry's largest cancer pushers before joining the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association where she would argue that direct sales of wine to adults would harm American children.

Fantasyland.....indeed.

Duggan has been on a fairly long losing streak for some time, making one wonder just how long her employers are willing to put up with her antics. Since joining the WSWA there has been a steady liberalization of America's wine shipment laws, despite Duggan penchant for demeaning the justices of the Supreme Court, arguing that kids will want to buy $40 bottles of Cabernet with their credit cards, and spending literally millions of dollars trying to buy politicians.

Note to America's Wholesalers: You might wan to rethink your management structure.

According to McCallum's article, " Wholesalers have vowed to fight new states from opening up to wine shipments and from that right being extended to retailers."

If Duggan's past achievements are any indication of her future success, we can all look forward to more access to fine wines. Maybe we don't want the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers to dump Ms. Duggan.

Wine Blog Watch...It is Alive!

NO...."Wine Blog Watch" is not Dead?

For a week now the pre-eminent catalog of wine blogs has been no where to be seen. Going to the site rewards one with: "The connection has timed out". However, according to proprietor, Jarret, the site will be back up within the week.

The beauty of Wine Blog Watch is its constant reporting on which blogs have been updated in the past hour. It has been one of my most important sources for newly launched wine blogs as well as one of the best indicators of the pace at which wine blogging has exploded. There is no other site on the net that so accurately portrays the state of the wine blogging community.

Jarret says WineBlogWatch will be back up soon.

No CAP for Florida Wine Consumers

Here's good news...

The Florida legislature has apparently refused to pass a bill that would have put a cap on the size of the winery that is allowed to ship wine to Florida consumers. The Florida House passed a bill restricting direct shipping only to those wineries that produced 250,000 gallons of wine annually or less.

The cap provision is protectionism, pure and simple. It is a provision that protects large distributors from having to compete with the convenience that comes with direct shipping. Proponents of the protectionist measure argued that large wineries are more likely to produce inexpensive wine, which are more likely to be ordered by minors. Say it with me: HOGWASH!

Florida State Senator Paula Dockery has championed the cause of consumer access and introduced a competing bill into the Florida Senate that assured all wineries would be allowed to ship direct. Apparently the lobbying by Family Winemakers of California and the California Wine Institute helped quite a bit in stopping the wholesaler's protectionist measure from passing. Kudos to Paul Kronenberg at Family Winemakers of California and the Wine Institute crowd.

For now, all wineries remain eligible for shipping to Florida consumers. It is likely that the protectionist Cap Law will return in the 2007 Florida legislative session.

Viagra, Viognier and Good Wine Blogging

Here's a relatively new wine blogger that is really hitting their stride:

GenevelynSteelSwallows

What I'm liking most about her blog and what caused me to get it on my Bloglines Reader is the character of her writing. Let's face it, most reviews of wine on blogs and elsewhere are pretty much the same. With exceptions, they bore me to tears. Genevelyn's reviews however make me READ. Make me read and I'll follow you, even into the world of Virginian-made Vidal Blanc...or, the connection between wine and Viagra:

"One thing about viognier, it has a dipsy doodle nose. The wine can smell so honeyed you'd expect a glass of something poured from a bear-shaped bottle, but still drink bone dry. Or, viognier can smell like cashews, but taste like fruit cocktail syrup. Viognier is the Bob Dole of white wines: unpredictable, but smart. Sometimes a winner, sometimes a loser, but always a little different(and willing to not take itself too seriously. Viagra, anyone?)"

GenevelynSteelSwallows appears to have been launched late last year. The content is eclectic, sometimes rambling, always interesting and the posts are pretty consistent.

Go Read It!

Mainstreaming of Rap Music & Wine

As I was driving up Highway 280 from San Jose back to Glen Ellen after visiting my mother I heard something on the radio that was arresting. It was a radio commercial for a wine that mocked rap music in an attempt to present and market the wine.

The commercial went something like this: To make it these days you need a rap star to endorse your product. No rap star would return our calls. So, we'll do it ourselves. Then, the announcer bounces into a mock rap song about the new Pinot Noir: "Gino Da Pinot".

I had to find out who had the cajones to push their wine using such a mocking, irreverent, outside the box, even weird, marketing approach.

Of course, it was Don Sebastiani & Sons, better known as Screw Cappa Napa, Mia's Playground, Used Auto Parts, Plungerhead, etc.

The new Gino Da Pinot label will apparently introduce a well priced Monterey Pinot Noir too the market...using this irreverent marketing approach. No on in the wine business is taking this almost self mocking irreverence to the lengths as the folk at Don Sebastiani & Sons; and no one is doing it as successfully as they are.

The Gino Da Pinot pushback on the mainstreaming of Rap is indicative of a lot of things. First, it assumes that rap is such a cultural mainstay that its mocking is now possible. Second, it presumes correctly that many wine drinkers want to be entertained as much as they are satisfied.

Don Sebastiani & Sons was named "Winery of the Year" for 2005 by Wine Enthusiast Magazine. They deserve every inch of the Award.

Getting Clarity on Wine Laws

A critical ruling handed down in Washington State by U.S. District Court Judge Marsha Pechman is being appealed by the State. This is good. But there's also another interesting nugget in this development in what is known as the "Costco Case."

First the good.

An article reports: "In its appeal, the state will argue that the judge erred when she ruled that federal antitrust laws take precedence over the state’s right to regulate alcohol. The 21st Amendment, passed in 1933, repealed Prohibition, and gave states broad authority to regulate liquor. The Washington State Liquor Act, passed in 1934, was aimed at controlling consumption, maintaining an orderly market and raising revenue, according to court papers."

Getting clarity on what kind of regulation a state can impose upon its in-state alcohol sales will create  market that is better regulated and allow companies a more stabl