Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

We Need More From Wine Reviews

Can you spare 10 characters in your reviews of wine?

That's really all it would take, a measly 10 spaces in a wine review to add the alcohol level of the wine under consideration. And by adding this bit of information the consumer would be served mightily.

I started thinking about this need for stating alcohol content in reviews upon reading Robert Parker's reviews of Paul Hobbs wines on MSNBC.com. For example:

"2003 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, 93 points. A dark ruby/purple-colored, full-bodied, impressively endowed effort offering up notes of charcoal, smoke, creme de cassis, and toasty oak. A wealth of glycerin, concentration, and fruit suggest it will provide ideal drinking now and over the next 10 to 15 years."

What's not mentioned is that the stated alcohol is 14.7%. This means it could be as high as 15.7% alcohol based on the leeway allowed by law. Even at the lower end of 14.7%, that's a lot of alcohol. But I'd never know it from the review unless I was able to read between the lines.

This is not an anti alcohol rant. Rather, it's a plea to wine reviewers and wine publications to recognize the the alcohol level of a wine is critical to understanding the wine. Furthermore, the alcohol level of a wine is crucial to know in the context of how and when the wine might be drunk. The fact is, many people can drink far less 14.7% wine at one sitting than they can a 13.5% alcohol wine. A little difference goes a long way. Add to this that the higher the alcohol content the higher the calorie content of the wine.

So, we are talking about adding a mere 10 characters to a review of any wine. It could go right there at the end of the review right before the price: "14.7% Alc."

At the risk of moving into the world of rants, I'm beginning to glean a clear set of indications that there is a movement afoot to back way from high alcohol wines. It's a movement that appears to be starting not with consumers but with restaurant wine buyers, retailers and even members of the media. Clearly this trend has already been in full swing when it comes to white wines. But no so much with reds.

Winemakers have been arguing for a long time that the difference between today's higher alcohol wines and yesterdays lower (12.5 to 13.5) alcohol wines is that today grapes are "being picked for flavor" rather than just when the sugars at a certain point. The message here is that today's wines are better.

There is absolutely nothing to validate that conclusion.

So, the plea is this: give consumers the chance to decide if they want a wine that is 14.7% alcohol. Put it right there in the review, before the purchase is made. There are a lot of implications to the alcohol level in a wine, not the least of which is the intoxication level that they can result in with fewer sips.

A Government Sposored System of Corrupt Wine Laws

The state of Illinois has been through a lot of turmoil this year over its direct shipping policies and in its attempt to update its wine regulations in the wake of various legal cases.

Earlier this year the Illinois wineries were willing to give up their right to sell directly to restaurants and retailers. The deal they worked out with distributors, who feared that left in place this privilege would mean out-of-state wineries would also be given the right to bypass the distributors, eventually fell apart when a number of the state's wineries balked at the compromise. No deal was done.

Now, an Italian winery has filed suit saying the existing set of circumstances in which Illinois wineries still have a right to bypass wholesalers is unfair because out of state wineries are mandated by the state to sell first to wholesalers who then sell the wine to retailers and restaurants.

Villa Monteleone Winery was right on the mark when they argued earlier this week that:

"This self-distribution privilege constitutes pure economic protectionism; there is no rational basis for the different treatment of Illinois and non-Illinois wineries."

It is of course nothing more than economic protectionism, but not for the states wineries. It's economic protectionism for a well-heeled industry of wine distributors who have in no way earned the kind of protection that a mandated 3-tier system of distribution grants them.

What's interesting to me however is the response from one Illinois winery that in response to the suit said:

"Some foreign company from Italy is going to tell the state of Illinois what's unconstitutional and kill an industry. Whoever is doing this would be better served by sitting down with the Illinois wine people and fashion something that doesn't put them out of business."

I guess what I'm wondering is how, if wineries outside Illinois are permitted to sell wine to Illinois restaurants and retailers without using a distributor, will this put Illinois wineries out of business.

Why if retailers can buy wine directly from a winery in California would they buy less Illinois wine?

The assumption being made here is that to deal with this obvious discrimination, Illinois must revoke the Illinois wineries' right to sell direct to restaurants and retailers. Instead, the state of Illinois should open up the right of wineries to "self distribute" to all wineries nationwide.

By taking this simple step a number of results occur:

1. Illinois wine drinkers will have access to far more wines in their local stores and restaurants
2. It will prove a boon to entrepreneurial wine sellers wanting to enter a huge wine market
3. Selling more wine in Illinois means more tax revenue for the State of Illinois
4. The state will no longer be burdened by the corrupt nature of a mandated 3-tier system
5. The move will inspire other states to take the same liberalizing approach to wine sales

Wine Buying Guides: What Are they Good For?

I wish W.R. Tish would write more.

First, his wine experience is deep. For a decade he was the managing editor at Wine Enthusiast Magazine. Second, he's got a probing mind that combines with a great sense of humor. However, there is very little humor, but lots of probing, in his most recent article for Wines & Vines Magazine  that takes a fairly close look at the wine Buying Guides of three major American wine magazines.

Let's get to the heart of the matter. Tish says:

"the bottom line of my buying-guide analysis is this: While they purport to be consumer aids, they are actually far from that. As the buying guides continue to grow and grow and GROW, consumers are simply confronted with more and more homogenous-looking ratings and tasting notes of wines they will never see in their local stores or even their regional mar-kets. What these major buying guides have actually become is pure (or impure, depending on your point of view) marketing vehicles designed to raise both the stature of the magazines that create them as well as the wines they commend."

I think you have to start with the assumption that reviews are a legitimate sub-genre of the larger wine writing genre. No one will argue with this. Furthermore, I think you have to accept the notion that reviews can be very helpful to consumers now confronted with such a huge boatload of choices that it boggles the mind. This is not to say that all review of wines are equal. Some are clearly more useful than others. But in general I think it's fair to say they are generally very useful.

So I guess this puts me at odds with Tish insofar as I think Buying Guides and their reviews are "consumer aids" (I hate being at odds with Tish...he usually bests me in discussions of this sort)

However, I can't disagree with him that Buying Guides at wine publications are INDEED "vehicles designed to raise the stature of...the wines they commend". And in that sense wineries and PR types view them as marketing vehicles. The question in my mind is can a Magazine's wine buying guide serve legitimate and above board purposes of being consumer aids as well as marketing vehicles for wineries? I think again the answer is, yes.

As Tish points out in his this excellent Part 1 survey of American wine buying guides, we can take issue with the way wines are tasted and presented, if we are so inclined. And most of us usually are. Critiquing the the critics is a blood sport in this industry. But when I think about the value of the Buying Guides to the person with a budge to spend maybe $200 to $500 a month or more on wine and who is still learning about the product, I think these guides serve to pique interests, deliver discoveries and "guide" the buyer.

READ this piece. It's important.

Attention: Winery At Play!

I'm pretty sure that sometime at the beginning of the year I predicted that the number of winery blogs would increase by a large amount this year. And it looks like that prediction is going to be born our.

I came across another winery that is really doing an outstanding job communicating their irreverent perspective on life and wine via their relatively new blog.

Twisted Oak Winery in the Sierra Foothills calls their blog EL BLOGGO TORCIDO (essentially translated as "The Twisted Blog").

It's a good read! And they manage to do what I think a good winery blog should do: educate their readers about their own products as well as educate their readers in general. The bonus here is the good humor.

How To Taste 1200 Wines in 2 Days

I got my invitation in the mail today for August's Family Winemakers of California Tasting. Based  on the preliminary list of wineries that have committed to pouring at the event, it appears there will be upwards of 400 California wineries at Fort Mason in San Francisco on August 20 and 21. Most of them will be relatively small wineries too.

The question for anyone going to this event is how to attack it. After all, we are talking about a tasting that will present at least 1200 different wines...and that's a conservative estimate.

When you have a tasting of around 100 wineries at a tasting you really don't need a plan. It's manageable enough to jump in with your glass and guide and go at it. Four hundred wineries is a different animal all together. If you spent five minutes with each winery you'd have to spend more than 33 hours at the tasting...and that doesn't count time for a bathroom break, eating, or conversing with others. You have to pick your wineries when you head out to something like this.

So I have an idea for Family Winemakers to make everyone's lives easier on August 20 and 21.

Provide us with a directory of wineries that identifies certain unique qualities of each winery.

In the past, Family Winemakers has provided a "Varietal Guide" to the wineries. That's helpful. If you just wanted to taste Viognier you could consult the Guide and head out. But with 400 wineries, offering more alternative with which to organize our pursuit of sips makes a lot of sense.

Varietal sorting, while obvious and useful, is hardly the only viable criteria by which to organize 400 wineries. Rather, I'd like to see Family Winemakers provide a guide to this tasting that provides a number of different categorization schemes that could make the tasting have a great deal more meaning for people. For example, the Guide to the Family Winemakers of California Annual Tasting should categorize wineries by:

-APPELLATION
-SIZE (cases produced)
-PRODUCERS OF WINE FROM MOUNTAIN FRUIT
-BY AVERAGE ALCOHOL LEVEL
-NEEDING DISTRIBUTION
-THOSE MAKING UNOAKED WINES
-PRODUCERS OF "OLD VINE" WINES
-PRODUCERS POURING WINES OLDER THAN FIVE YEARS

I realize that "discovery" is one of the enchanting elements of walking down an aisle of 200 different wineries. But with 400 wineries at your disposal the opportunity to hone in on particular types of wines is great. It might also make the tasting a far more interesting affair.

The Single Vineyard Man Passes

If you have an interest in "Terroir American Style" then you probably, or should, have an interest in Diamond Creek wines. The vineyard designated wines of Diamond Creek made off of a relatively small parcel of land on Diamond Mountain in Napa Valley were among the first to give concrete recognition to the notion in America that different pieces of land create different tasting wines.

The man who committed to this idea, Al Brounstein, died Monday after a long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

I met Mr. Brounstein a couple times, both at his winery on the hill. The first time was a trip to convince him to sell futures of his vineyard designated wines at Winebid.com. He immediately told me he wasn't interested as he already sold everything. Then he offered to give a detailed explanation of why I came to him with this business opportunity...in other words he wanted to give me his explanation of why his various small vineyard plots were so special. I forgot why I was there and listened. He had a lot to say. And I forgot why I was there.

I hate writing about important people like this after they pass because I regret not having mentioned them to readers while they are alive. It almost feels like I'm taking advantage of their death. At the same time it reminds me that there are a number of people out there that deserve continued recognition  and that I should make a greater effort to introduce them to readers, or at least remind readers of their value.

A lot of people will miss Mr. Brounstein. He helped American vintners feel more confident with the notion that vineyard designated wine is important because it is vineyard designated.

Dealing With A Labor Shortage in the Vineyards

While I know my position on the immigration debate in the U.S., I don't claim to know exactly HOW the ultimate outcome will affect the wine industry. Wine is an industry that employs a number of migrant workers, a great many of which are surely illegal.

However, this little tidbit  found at the California Farm Bureau Federation website is very interesting:

"Meanwhile, Joseph Ramazzotti, owner of Ramazzotti Vineyards & Wines in Geyserville, told the "San Francisco Business Times" last week that nearly half of his laborers didn't return from their annual winter vacations in Mexico for the first time since they began working for him 10 to 15 years ago.

Ramazzotti estimated that of the 40,000 agricultural workers in Sonoma Country, as many as 17,000 didn't return from Mexico to work this spring."

Part of the debate surrounding immigration reform centers on the impact on food prices were we to have far fewer workings in the fields and vineyards. Many suggest prices will go up since wages will rise as the supply of labor declines. Mr. Ramazzotti's estimates are that 43% of the laborers did not return from Mexico to work this year. That's HUGE, though it is, admittedly only a second hand estimate.

Still, it is something for the industry to consider: If immigration reform, or the threat of it, causes a shortage of labor come harvest, what will be the impact...BESIDES higher prices for wine?

A Constitutional Amendment Banning InVINticide

Today the Senate of the United States is considering an amendment to the constitution that would prohibit the desecration of the American Flag. It is an important debate that pits free speech advocates against those who would put priority on protecting the apex of American symbolism.

While this debate is important, I would urge congress to move past it quickly and get to what is a truly consequential and urgently needed debate: Whether Americans Should Have The Right to Practice InVINticide—the drinking of wines at too young an age.

There was a time in this country when respect was given to wine, whether originating in America or abroad. That respect was manifested in the acknowledgment that wine ought to be given time in the bottle before it was drained and consumed. That respect was practiced by consciously "laying down" wine for an appropriate time, allowing it to age, and consuming it only when its tertiary and more complex potential had emerged. It was a respect that all Americans acknowledged was essential to maintaining the critical role of wine in our culture.

Then, sometime in the 1970s, a wine drinking revolution emerged in which that respect for wine was diminished, if not completely destroyed, by a band of troublemakers who flaunted their disrespect for wine. They advocated that it be drunk YOUNG, yes YOUNG!. They said that it was an inherent right of theirs to enjoy this beverage in the manner they desired. They even went on to make the ridiculous argument that drinking wine young, not letting it age, and not letting it take on those important qualities that come with time in the cellar, was a right bestowed upon them by the Declaration of Independence's promotion of the ideal of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

The urgent debate that must occur now in Congress is whether life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness can still be the motto of this country while at the same time the consumption of wine in its youth is proscribed.

I say we must pass a constitutional amendment that very simply says: "The Congress of the United States shall have the power to protect all wine, foreign or domestic, from InVINticide: From being drunk too young."

By passing this Constitutional amendment America will restore the time honored, nay, the essential, recognition that only by aging wine can we honor this most important beverage and protect Americans from the kind of self delusion that we've seen lead to other unconscionable acts such as: serving cola without ice, preparing peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with "chunky" peanut butter, and the most recent degradation of American culture, the inclusion of caramel inside the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup.

There are those that would reiterate the argument that drinking wine young, using chunky instead of smooth peanut butter and serving cola warm is merely a reflection of our devotion to "freedom of choice" and liberty. I say these things are what lead to the slippery slope that degrades the tradition of "American Exceptionalism".

Write your Senator and urge them to move past the Flag Burning debate and move quickly on the debate over InVINticide Amendment.

Details of 2005 Bordeaux (I'll Still Take St. Barts)

As a follow up to Friday's post about the question of buying a few weeks in St. Barts or a case of 2005 Bordeaux, I've been alerted to this fabulous website that documents the details of the 2005 Bordeaux vintage at the top chateau as well as gives current pricing of the 2005 vintage as well as projected increases in pricing over both the 2004 and vaunted 2000 vintage.

Lots of interesting and illuminating ideas at this website if you are interested in Bordeaux, value and hubris.

That said, I don't want to suggest the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is not worth the astounding prices the owners are asking. If there are buyers at the prices they want, if they can sell out the wine at the prices they want, then the wines are correctly priced.

However, I'll still take St. Barts over a case of Chateau Lafite any day.

St. Barts VS. 2005 Lafite

The word on the street is that while the 2005 Bordeaux vintage is quite good, the pricing of the top wines is, well, quite ridiculous.

Decanter has the story.

But consider this: First tranche pricing of only a portion of Chateau Lafite's 2005 bottling was announced at $375 per bottle for negociants. The negociants are selling a bottle of the wine to merchants for around $465. And we aren't even at the marked up price for you....the consumer.

If you are a consumer and want a case of Lafite to save for the future you are looking in the neighborhood of $6000+ per case.  I just traded in a 1996 BMW 740 IL with 116,000 miles on it. It had new tires and breaks and an engine that ran pretty good. Air conditioning needed work. I got $6000 for it.

However rather than my old BMW or 12 bottles of Lafite, with that same $6000 you could also purchase:

-A 2000 Vintage Camero with 84,000 miles
-A mint condition 2000 Ford Taurus
-Five Acres of land in Spinney, Colorado
-23 Foot Chris Craft 230 Scorpion Speed Boat
-A bungalow rental in St. Barts for five weeks that is one minute from the Beach

I'm the kind of capitalist that believes an item or service is perfectly priced (or even under-priced) if it sells out at that price. So, if the Chateaux are able to get this kind of dough for their 2005 vintage then I guess we have to conclude that Bordeaux as an industry is in fine shape...and so is the luxury wine market.

However, I'll take the five weeks in St. Barts.