Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Cheese & Wine Mongering in Glen Ellen

I hope this post doesn't come off as bragging. I hope it comes off as thankful homage to my hometown.

This past weekend was by far one of the best I"ve spent in some time. I didn't leave my hometown, Glen Ellen. Rather, I reveled in its special attractions and was reminded that Glen Ellen is more than just a wine country village. It's a sybarite's retreat.

Without leaving town this weekend, I visited a cheesemonger, a chocolatier, a seller of fresh vegetables and herbs, and olive oil producer and a "deli" no New Yorker would recognize. It was in every way sensory overload of the best sort. And it got me appreciating the notion of the Culinary Vacation.

This is the term I would hope folk visiting Sonoma County and Napa Valley should adopt when visiting these regions where wine is the star. On a purely climatological and agricultural plane, it makes sense that where grapes grow fine you're likely to find other fine locally grown products. But what's the deal with finding a superb chocolatier? A Cheesemonger that likely ranks among the best in the country. An olive oil producer that is responsible for some of the most highly regarded bottlings in America?

The answer is obvious: People who live among a community of winemaking artisans and visitors who travel to a place where consumption of wine is the raison d'etre are likely to be people looking for even a culinary experience that transcends the ordinary. Hence, this place will attract those willing to provide these folk with what they are looking for. It makes for a "culinary community" and that unique spot on the globe that can called a "culinary destination."

How does my little town of Glen Ellen stack up? First you have to consider that this town holds only about 3000 folk, many of them sequestered up in the hills surrounding the main village and residential areas. The town lands smack dab in the middle of the Sonoma Valley in a part called the "banana belt, meaning it's generally a bit warmer in this narrower part of the Sonoma Valley. It's not a tourist destination. We have perhaps 100 hotel/B&B rooms here. And, the town is off the main road (highway 12) that runs through the famed Sonoma Valley.

Yet still it supports, for example, a number of culinary destinations. Consider Raymond & Co Cheesemongers. I visited this little shop for the first time on Friday and Saturday as I prepared for a dinner party. You will not find here cheeses that can be found in the best markets. What they sell are micro-produced cheeses from around the globe. In many cases they are the only importers of the cheese to America. In other cases they are micro-produced cheeses from across the United States, like the remarkable "Brie" I purchased from a small Georgia cheesemaker. The owner talks to customers about things like herbage and goats, about proper aging techniques, about the exact right moment to consume cheese about the need to expand his own aging room. We are talking fanatic here. I bought three cheeses for the cheese course of the dinner party. Despite my heroic culinary efforts on the other three courses, the cheeses were by far the star of the show.

The next stop on Saturday was the new chocolatier in Glen Ellen. Their specialty is truffles, about 15 different sorts. All made onsite. They only use a combination of Vahlrona and Scharffenberger chocolate to produce these luscious morsels. But what the hell is a chocolatier of this quality doing in the little town of Glen Ellen? While I care about this question, I'm more concerned that they stay.

To pick up the tomatoes for the Bread & Tomato salad I headed off to Oak Hill. It's still a bit of a secret. Located off highway 12 in an old red barn, Oak Hill grows tons of veggies, herbs and flowers. Much is sold wholesale. But inside the red barn they sell the finest produce in the land, most picked no more than hours before they land in the hands of customers. The tomatoes I bought were sweet with a hint of acid. The were quartered and combined with cubed then olive oil infused and toasted Italian country bread and mixed with chopped garlic, fresh basil (from my garden) olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Culinary destinations and culinary vacations are will continue to grow in popularity, this a result of the growing trend toward homegrown, local culinary creations and the expansion of wine industries across the country in states not normally associated with wine production. It will grow a the demand for the organically produced increases.

The Dinner Party was great fun, due mainly to the guests as the success of any Dinner party is dependent upon. However, for the host the part was great fun on another level. It gave me the opportunity to drive around my town and enjoy the amazing array of culinary resources this little town has inspired and that will keep me here until I can't take it any longer and just fall down dead from too many years of pleasure.

Looking For a Few Good Wine PR Types

Over at the day job side of my life, we are looking to fill out our database of Wine PR types.

In essence we are looking for folk who have some experience in wine public relations or some experience in PR/marketing/communications and a knowledge of wine that might recommend them as potential independent contractors or even, down the road, as hires.

Here's the kind of person we want to talk to:

-You can write, write well, and write fairly quickly.

-You are familiar with the wine industry, particularly the California wine industry.

-You known intuitively why it's not a good idea to call a wine writer and ask, "Did you get the unsolicited wine sample we sent for XYZ Winery?"

-You are able to look a client in the eyes and tell them, "that's a bad idea".

-You know the difference between "Intriguing", "fascinating" and "commonplace".

-You have the capacity to become authentically giddy when a client succeeds at something.

-You appreciate the upside and side effects of the disability known as "Winegeekosis".

-You are able to confidently pick up the phone, call wine writers and editors and explain without fear exactly how the world will end on a particular date.

-At best, you may have some experience in wine public relations, but not necessarily a lot.

-You have no problem working as an independent contractor, rather than as an employee.

-Computers and the Internet are your friend.

I got into the wine public relations business directly after receiving an MA. I thought I had the talent and skills to work in PR and I knew a bit about wine, but not much. I got a chance to work as an independent contractor at an agency specializing in wine.

We aren't looking for someone like that, but with an itsy bit more experience.

Maybe you work in a winery tasting room. Maybe you've have a low level position in a PR/communications firm or some other communications firm. Maybe you've worked in wine retail or in restaurants. Perhaps you are already an independent contractor who's just starting up your consultancy or you are scraping by. Maybe you are a wine blogger or food blogger with an obscene amount of wine knowledge and moxie and have thought about getting into PR or the wine industry.

If you think you fit the bill, E-MAIL ME. Send me your resume. Contact me. Make me think about you. You know someone like this? Send them a link to this post.

Wark Communications is a Boutique Wine PR Firm. We provide communication and design services to small and medium-sized companies in and around the wine industry. We work long hours. We go to wine tastings. We read an obscene amount of wine related materials. We listen to our clients and the media. We lay down in the road for our clients. We are looking to fill our our database of potential independent contractor types who have wine knowledge, the ability to learn, and the willingness to lie down in the road for clients.

Carlo Rossi Jug Wine: Making Me Smile

I've been saving this post for today because it really is a "Friday-kind-of-blog-post" subject.

I think I've discovered my favorite winery website: Carlo Rossi.

You will likely recall Carlo Rossi from your youth or from the grocery store or drug store aisle where you got to pick up your margarita mix. Carlo Rossi is a jug wine producer owned by E and J Gallo. They put wine in big 4 liter jugs.

They produce wines like "Paisano", "Rhine", "Chablis", "Sangria" "Burgundy", and "Vin Gris". They have descriptions of all their wines on the web site but for the life of me I can't tell the difference between the wines from their descriptions. But then, that's the point.

These guys have their tongues so deeply embedded in their cheek that the entire dimple has been erased.

The highlight of the site must be the "My Furniture" page. Here we learn how to make stereo speakers, chandeliers, coffee tables and shelves....all out of of empty Carlo Rossi jugs. Every item includes schematics for their construction. Some items require many people to help construct because you need to drink LOTS of Carlo Rossi wines to have the jugs necessary to create these unique...."furniture items".

I'm prepared to believe that I won't enjoy Carlo Rossi wines because my palate has evolved since I began stealing these types of Jug wines from my parent's garage when I was 18 and drinking them on a deserted golf course at night with my buddies.

That said, I swear to God I'm tempted to make one of these pieces of furniture. And what gets me is I can't quite lay my finger on the reason why. I do know that the Carlo Rossi website is pretty brilliant stuff. It doesn't serve to sell wine. It doesn't convince me I might actually like the wine. and it tells me next to nothing about the wine. However, it does make me smile. And sometimes, when your business doesn't depend at all on offering enlightening material on its website, provoking a smile is a job very well done.

"Fixing" The Wine Sales Results?

The Hypergigantitholic (that's a technical term in the wine industry meaning "BIG") wine company known a Constellation seems to find itself in a bit of an embarrassing situation down in Australia.

According to reports, in an attempt to influence sales trials at a dining chain that was testing the popularity of a couple Constellation brands before adding them to their list, Constellation told their employees to go to these restaurants and buy the wine in order to "maximize volumes" during the 8-week trial.

Word of this maneuver got out when emails asking employees to buy a bottle a week at the chain then bill it back to the company were leaked:

""We would implore each of you to participate in this activity as it is vitally important that we maximise volumes during the remainder of the trial period. Line managers, as leaders of our business, can you ensure your direct reports are aware of this and are participating to ensure Constellation Europe is awarded this lucrative contract. There is now two weeks remaining of the trial and it is key that we pull through every bottle of Constellation wine … to see us over the line."

Constellation claims it was actually undertaking a "mystery customer exercise" just to see how the wine was being presented during the trial period.

For the sake of argument, because we don't have ALL the facts, that Constellation's request of its employees to go buy the wine was actually an attempt to influence volume figures during the eight week trial.

Is any one surprised that this sort of thing happens? I wouldn't be.

A rather benign example of this sort of thing happening is what takes place at charity wine auctions. I can report first-hand knowledge of "consortiums" of buyers coming together, financed by a winery, to assure the winery's lot at the auction goes for VERY HIGH prices in order to garner prestige from the high price at which the wine sells. Now, while somewhat unethical, this doesn't compare to what Constellation is accused of, but it speak to the notion that fixing results is a part of business.

Should Wine Critics Be Sued?

I suspect THIS STORY will be picked up around the wine blogosphere. If it isn't it should be.

It appears that an Australian winery, perturbed that a wine blogger's poor review of their wines shows up high in the search engines, had threatened legal action against the blogger.

I was made aware about this turn of events through an email sent to me, and many others I believe, by the folk at Wine Life Today. They were highlighting a post on the subject by Tim over at Winecast.net.

The story is pretty simple. The Blog Appellation Australia posted unflattering reviews of Graeme Miller wines back in February. About a week ago, the proprietor of Appellation Australia received word from Graeme Miller that unless the posts were removed they would take legal action. (the episode and commentary is described here) Graeme Miller's complaint about the reviews boiled down to this:

"They are serving to absolutely denigrate our wines and our reputation and they have created the most embarrassing and distressing situations where we have lost business. A wine critic is expected to express opinion, but not to denigrate. You need to understand the impact that you are having and may have on others as well."

The review of the Graeme Miller wines were hardly denigrating. However, I really don't think that's what they meant to say. What they probably meant was what followed: The reviews resulted in an "embarrassing and distressing situation" and that the reviews have an impact.

Graeme Miller is absolutely correct in this assessment of the Appellation Australia reviews. In fact, I suspect the hope of any wine reviewer or critic is that their evaluation of wines will have an impact. That's sort of the point, isn't it?

I don't review wines at FERMENTATION so the idea that those who do might find themselves in legal trouble doesn't really effect me. That said, I have some opinions on the role of the wine critic. Also, being in wine PR, I'm actively involved in soliciting reviews from wine critics and reviewers around the country. I also have something of a stake in seeing our clients' wines reviewed and, hopefully, reviewed well.

So, first, the idea that a wine critic might be at legal risk if they publish a poor review of a wine I don't think is a notion that has ever been tested directly. And I'm unaware of any legal precedent that suggests published reviewers and critics, of any craft, can somehow be held liable for the reaction of those who read their reviews, good, poor or otherwise. So, let's dismiss Graeme Miller's original threats against Appellation Australia as an unfortunate and poorly constructed response to the kind of frustration that often occurs among wine producers upon reading a poor review of their wine.

Second, this episode brings up the issue of whether or not a wine critic SHOULD publish poor reviews of wine. I think clearly such reviews can play a positive role in the consumer's life. But more important, poor reviews also remind us that critics can easily ball into the role of cheerleader if they abandon the publication of poor reviewers. Yet, there is also the issue of how the critic sees their purpose. Perhaps they merely want to turn on their readers to the good stuff since there are so many wines out there that it is enough to point to the good ones. In my book, a wine critic can't avoid the publishing of poor reviewers forever. Yet, to focus on them is a bit morbid.

Third, if you are a winery that is going to submit your wines for review, to anyone, you should not have any expectation that any resulting reviews will always be positive.    If you do, you will be disappointed.

Graeme Miller needs some good public relations help. Or perhaps a good slapping about the head would do. The idea that his threat to Appellation Australia would not be made public is so far removed from the reality of Internet age as to defy explanation. One of the most important things to learn when it comes to marketing, public relations and the Internet age is that many times the best strategy is to simply say nothing. This advice seems so elementary to me that I am amazed that I get paid to give it at times.

So, if you are a wine blogger, don't look at this episode with trepidation and consider not posting your reviews of average or poor wines. Consider the benefit to your readers of posting too many of them.

If you are a winery, learn to keep your mouth shut when it needs shutting

Great Winery Blogging: La Gramiere

Amy Lillard produces what I think might be the most entertaining winery blog on the Internet.

There's nothing really ground breaking about her "La Gramiere" Blog. But it is entertaining as hell. I think what makes it so is that in her posts you can actually read a sub plot of real giddiness.

Amy and her Husband Matt recently bought a vineyard in the Rhone and set about making wine. Her blog chronicles their introduction, as it were, to the world of the French wine industry, growing grapes with a passion and making wine...from harvest to buying bottles.

It's all pretty mundane stuff...unless you are doing it yourself and excited about it...if not a little anxious. Amy's blog posts highlight all these things in the couples journey to becoming vignerons.

Indicative of the real excitement and giddiness that comes though in Amy's La Gramiere blog is THIS POST about seeing her Rose being poured and consumed by a customer in a local restaurant. She describes the experience this way:

"On Saturday night as we sat at Terroirs with Matt's brother Brian and his wife Jenn, we kept saying, "Ooh look, they're drinking it! Oh, and over there too!"  It was pretty funny, kind of like watching your kids at the school play, glowing with pride as they come out on stage..."

I can absolutely understand what they mean. More important. I wanted to be them.

Amy is apparently a busy Gal. After all, she has a winery  and vineyard to tend to. It must be because of this that she doesn't post nearly enough to satisfy my desire to live vicariously through her and Matt's experiences. But I'll live.

There are some really wonderful winery-run blogs out there. This is one of them.

France to Winery: "You're Third Rate"

Can you imagine the Federal Govt. or a state government in the United States refering to a winery as "Third Rate"?

This is the job of wine critics, isn't it? Yet it France it appears that such character assassination is the purview of government.

The French want to put a six lane highway and a TGV line through Bordeaux to make the trip from Spain to Northern France quicker. However, in doing so they are going to have to go through some pretty nice vineyard land. They considering a route that jets through either the Haut-Medoc region or through Margaux.

If the new roads go through Haut-Medoc it will apparently lead to the destruction of Chateau Cantemerle. As you might imagine this doesn't make the owners all that happy. Yet, according to a story in the First Post, the response of the government is the following:

"the French government dismisses it, and other affected properties, as "third-rate", and thus not worth preserving."

OUCH!!!!

Chateau Cantemerle has a history that dates back to the Middle Ages. It is a Fifth Growth Grand Cru Classe estate. Yet, it is "third rate" and not worth preserving.

OUCH!!!

If this comment were made by a government official in California they would be condemned, tossed into the fires then sued. Though I've spent a good deal of time in France, spent a lot of time around French folk, and even married one some time ago, I still don't understand how this kind of comment could be uttered by a French Govt. official...even if the wine was third rate.

Expectations of Averageness

Expectations! 

They can "do in" a wine or elevate it to heights we never expected. But sometimes our expectations for a wine are met so perfectly that there can be no lamenting, no elation...just acknowledgment of what we expected. Personally, I prefer to be elated or disappointed by a wine.

This was driven home this past weekend as I broke open a couple bottles of wine:

1996 Rochioli Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (Russian River Valley)
1996 Mondavi To-Kalon I Block Fume Blanc (Napa Valley)

Ten year old Sauvignon Blancs.

My expectation for these wines was that while they would be drinkable, they would not necessary be mind blowing in any way. I expected they would have lost their fruit, but retained much of their acidity. I expected that they would throw of interesting secondary aromas and flavors that fell into the realm of coconut, old hay, caramel, and maybe a little lychee nut or unripe mango.

This is exactly what I got.

My partner that night, an unabashed advocate of fruit forward, silky powerhouse wines couldn't figure out why he'd ever want to drink these wines after a decade in the bottle. My suggestion that they would be magnificent with a bit of Flan fell on deaf ears. However, my contention about this possible pairing pushed him (out of pride of his opinion?) to go to his cellar and pull out a recently released late harvest wine to demonstrate exactly what would go well with Flan.

The Rochioli had held up better than the Mondavi. It showed a bit more fruit, more acid and experienced less oxidation. I suspect there are ten year-old Sauvignon Blancs out there that have held up better than these two, both of which were considered at the time among the best California SBs produced. I'll be looking for those other well-aged SBs and I'll bring only moderate expectations to their consumption. It's the prudent thing to do. One the one hand, It's likely my moderate expectations that the wines will be average. But on the chance that they really soar, I'll have the opportunity to revel in something far beyond what I expected. Which is really what I like about trying these older wines that are not expected to be great.

French Wine Branding...Of course.

The New York Time's Eric Pfanner has an interesting story today about a French wine company apparently doing something extraordinary for a French wine company: Branding!

The story has become a fairly familiar one: The French, having trouble competing with competition from new world wineries and their own tradition, must do something to revive their franchise as the premier producers of wine in the world.

The person behind the new French Branding Experiment is Pierre Courbon, the director of international marketing for a new brand being called Chamarre, which will be on sale in America in large amounts later in the year. M. Courbon has something interesting to say:

“Wine increasingly is becoming a consumer good, not a cultural exception,” said Pierre Courbon, international marketing director at OVS, a French company that was created to sell a new wine brand, Chamarré, which it intends to go head to head with consumer favorites from Australia, California, Chile and elsewhere. “Beer, spirits, vegetables, dairy products and even bread is branded. Why not wine?"

It turns out the French have had no problem at all branding their wine products. Sure some have done better than others. But if the French need a homegrown example of branding in the wine industry all they really need to do is look to the Champagne producers.

Is there another category of wine in the world that been made more successful via branding than Champagne? The various large Champagne houses (think Roederer, Mumm, Veuve, etc) are among the most successful branding agents in the entire wine business.

With a multi-million dollar marketing budget in store for Chamarre it's likely that we will all become familiar with the new brand fairly soon.

Does anyone really think the French won't eventually overcome their natural disadvantages and start competing with the New World industries that are tossing out low priced wines? I don't. Of course they will. They have no choice really.

The Science & Marketing of Wine & Slurpees

What wine do you drink when it's 115 degrees?

That was the official high temperature in the Wark Family backyard yesterday, and the record high for my life.

The answer is not wine. Believe me, you're sluggish enough without putting any alcohol in your body.

The correct answer to what you drink is obviously The SLURPEE.

Now, when it comes to Slurpees, I'm a "Cola" kind of guy when it comes to Slurpees. It has a refreshing "bite" that gets you on the back of the palate with a flavoring that seems to match affect that freezing slushiness has on your palate. I've always been a "cola" imbiber when it comes to one of my favorite drinks. But a few years ago the flavor was not longer "cola". It was "Pepsi" flavored. That's OK because really, it just tasted like "cola" anyway.

But did you know that today Slurpees have contracted with the likes of Hawaiian Punch, Sobe, Sprite and Mountain Dew to help market their Slurpee flavors? As I watched that icy goodness flow into my cup yesterday this licensing of well known flavors to help sell an already famous branded product I got an idea:

Why not "Sprite Wine" or "Hawaiian Punch Pinot Noir" or "Sobe Sauvignon Blanc"?

It occurs to me the licensing of flavors in the pursuit of new wines just hasn't happened. We've had other wine based drinks like Wine Coolers and Arbor Mist and the like. But no one has utilized the power of brands to create a new kind of wine. We might get some flack from those convinced we are marketing alcohol to children or teens, but that charge, will uncomfortable, clearly wouldn't stick.

I don't know. Maybe the heat got to me yesterday and as I write this at 8:00am and the temperature is already 81 degrees outside and getting ready to head toward 110, I'm just not in my head.

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That said, I want to offer you my best "Slurpee Tip"

The amount of air that comes into your Slurpee cup along with the Slurpee when you pull that magic handle is pretty significant. You are in effect paying for lots of air along with your Slurpee. If you want to get more Slurpee than air you must do this....

1)Fill the Slurpee cup about an inch from the top of the cup with your favorite flavor.

2) Walk away from the Slurpee machine and get a straw.

3) Start stirring the Slurpee then gently pound the bottom of the cup on the counter.

4) Repeat this process about ten times until the air in the Slurpee mix pushed out and the Slurpee comes together in a thicker mix. You should now have just over half a cup of Slurpee, rather than nearly a full one and more room to pour in more of that cool icy concoction.

5) Return to the Slurpee machine and add more Slurpee. You can repeat the process but due to the concentrated nature of the Slurpee you've already created you won't gain much more room. But, you'll gain some. So Repeat the process.

6) Put the domed Slurpee Cup with the opening on top on to your Cup and fill it with Slurpee to the top of the dome.

If you do this correctly you will have obtained almost twice as much Slurpee Happiness than if you just filled up your cup.

Australia's "Two Buck Chuck"

The oversupply woes that have hit Australia's wine market over the past couple of years appear to have generated a wine that many in America will recognize.

The Aussies are referring to a wine that hit the shelves there at a price of $1.99AU as "Two Buck Chuck" in reference to the Charles Shaw wine of the same American dollar price that Trader Joes sells and which is made by the Franzia family.

The Australian wine industry doesn't like this turn of events:

"Wine Grape Growers' Association executive director Mark McKenzie said there was no way wine could be sold economically at such low prices, and fire-sales would hurt the industry in the long run if consumers came to regard such prices as normal.

"Other popular branded premium products at $10 or less would certainly be under pressure if consumers feel the quality of the wine is reasonably comparable," he said.

I suspect the wine could be sold economically if the producer got the grapes or juice cheap enough and made enough of it to allow the very small margins to accumulate.

However, just like in America, there just isn't enough Two Buck Aussie Chuck in that country to convince drinkers that this is the price at which most wine ought to be sold. That said, it appears there will be time and restructuring to rid Australia of the lake of wine that exists there.

90% Fake Wine??

I'm not even sure what to make of THIS.

The United Nations' "Food and Agriculture Organization" has issued a statement saying that 90% of Georgian wine sold outside that country is Fake.

That's just astounding. If it's not wine, what is it?

"Fake Georgian wines ranged from alcoholic cocktails mixing spirits, colourings and flavours to wines bearing false appellations of origin."

Yuck!

The Georgia wine industry has had it tough this last year, owing mainly to the Russian Government's banning of all wine imports from Georgia.

However, being a curious fellow, I'd love to taste some of this fake "wine" just to see what they believed they could get away with. One wonders just how good the blenders and chemists are in Georgia.

The Role of the Wine Critic

I sat back in my chair. Somewhat stunned. I had just read what amounted to a "hit piece" on a few wineries by a wine critic. The gist of the article was, "these guys just don't cut the mustard". Being the sensitive type I had to wonder what the point is of raking these wineries over the coals. It's a question that could only be answered if I knew the inner workings of the wine critic's mind. Who knew how deep the reasons went.

But it also leads to an even better question: What is the Role of the Wine Critic/Reviewer?

This is not the simple question it seems. It's just too easy to suggest the role of the wine critic is to pass judgment. It might help get to the bottom of the issue by looking at what others have said about critics in general

"What I ask of a critic is that he usefully show the impact on his own consciousness of another's artistic power."
ALFRED KAZIN

"The spectator, untutored, stands unmoved; he sees the work of art, but it fails to make any intelligible impression on him; if he were spontaneously sensitive to it, there would be no need for criticism. But now comes the critic with his catalysis. He makes the work of art live for the spectator; he makes the spectator live for the work of art. Out of the process comes understanding, appreciation, intelligent enjoyment -- and that is precisely what the artist tried to produce."
H L MENCKEN

“The critic is not a straw-poll merchant, a tipster or a second-guesser of audience taste, simply an individual paid to record his or her reaction. Throughout history this has been a source of creative tension between artists and critics.”
THE GUARDIAN

"''I love criticism just as long as it's unqualified praise.''
NOEL COWARD

THE DIFFRENCE BETWEEN WINE & MOVIE CRITICS
It's important to note that all those speaking of critics and criticism above were referring to criticism of the arts. Wine is different in a number ways. In the first place, the wine critic evaluates with senses the art, book or movie critic will never use to make an evaluation: the nose and palate. Another difference is that wine plays a quasi-utilitarian role in our lives. It quenches our thirst. A book or movie, no matter how much we yearn for a good one, does not do this. A wine review is almost always a very short affair, usually no more than a few sentences.

Finally, consider this: The full time wine critic will probably write more reviews in a year than other types of critics will undertake in their lifetime. Does this speak to the importance of wine versus the importance of, say, a book or play or movie or dance recital?

Clearly the role of the wine critic is as varied as the wine critics' own varied views of their roles. The critic/reviewer that spurred this post clearly sees themselves as a prod. Unless they are simply mean spirited, and I don't think they  are, the only reason to write a scathing set of reviews is to prod the object of their reviews into doing better winemaking. The need of the consumer is clearly secondary to their goal.

But this brings us to the heart of the matter of the wine critic's role today. It clearly is defined by their responsibility to the consumer.

THE LIMITED ROLE OF THE WINE CRITIC
In the case of nearly every wine critic I know, they would say they are acting as a consumer advocate, guiding consumers through a sea of bottles and pointing them toward the good stuff and, sometimes, make a point of telling them which is the "bad stuff". Inherent in this effort is passing judgment. This should go without saying.

It's this rather limited mission of the wine critic that surely leads them to write reviews usually of only a few sentences which in turn allows them to churn out 100s of reviews each year. It also happens to be a fairly dismal definition of criticism. And it certainly isn't a role that elevates the wine critic to the level at which Mencken and Kazin expect them to reside. Yet it appears that by churning out 100s of short reviews each year, wine critics achieves what is expected of them: identifying wines that taste good.

Yet, consider that most professional critics utilize one or two of their senses to take in the object of their review. The music reviewer (different from the concert reviewer) uses only their ears. the book reviewer uses only their eyes. The drama critic uses both eyes and ears. But consider the wine critic. They must use their eyes, nose, and mouth. This broader array of input should argue for something that has potentially more girth when the filtering is done and the writing begins.

Unfortunately, most wine reviews fall short when it comes to bringing all this input through the most important filter: the brain. It's as though wine critics operate on a sort of simple word association principle whereby the first adjective that comes to their mind upon seeing, smelling or tasting a wine is quickly jotted down on paper and with that, the review is finished.

This works quite well if your goal is to simply describe what is in front of you with a little added judgment of whether there is "too much" of this or "too little" of that.

THE MEANING OF THE WINE
What's missing from most wine reviews is what's essential to good criticism: The meaning...of the wine.

This sounds a little silly, I'll grant you. It sounds particularly silly if you understand wine as something that is there to help get the steak, fois gras or pasta to go down in a slightly enhanced fashion. And this is in fact the role of wine in most people's life. But, since we are talking about criticism, a celebrated and ancient form of literature that, at its best, has the ability to connect laymen to the spiritual and intellectual secrets inside the artist's mind, then it might do to consider exactly what a serious wine critic can do and what they might have the potential to produce for both readers and drinkers alike.

There is in fact "meaning" in every wine. But more important, every wine represents an idea in a winemaker's mind. What is that idea? Where did it come from? How well was it articulated in the wine? Is there a connection between this idea and the popular culture that surrounds the winemaker? Could the idea that we glimpse in tasting the wine have been better told if the winemaker used different tools to express it? The questions that can be provoked by a wine are, if the critic is open to venturing outside the limiting model we have of wine reviewing, limitless.

WINE CRITICISM AS LITERATURE
I'm arguing for a form of wine criticism that tells the whole story. For a review that enlightens me as well as makes me a more informed consumer. For something that at least strives to be literature.

It's unlikely that there is any significant demand for this kind of wine criticism. Yet how much demand is there for reviews of ballet recitals? How much demand is there among the general population even for art criticism? Not nearly as much as there is for reviews of Tom Cruise's marriage. Yet, reviews of these things are written and often come with real insight and thought-provokingideas. And they are read by aficionados.

The main difference between those who write reviews of dance, fine art, and drama and those who write review of wine is their view of the subject matter. Wine critics don't view the object of their judgment to be art. This is what prevents us from reading wine review that might be called "literature".

The wine critic who thrashed a few wineries in print for not making good wine would have been justified in doing so, I think, if they only had some way to connect the failure they saw to a bigger, more important, even more engaging, idea. To suggest that some wineries fail from time to time is not the kind of revelation that rises to the level of interesting. What I want to know is why did they fail? What led them to failure? Is redemption possible? What's at stake due to their failure. What does it mean if the wineries in question believe that they in fact have succeeded wildly rather than failed, as the critic states so emphatically?

Beyond drinking wine, the only way to experience it is to read about it. This make the critic/reviewer a very important person with a very important role to play. I'll keep looking for those that step up and tell the whole story, who seek to inspire me as well as guide me down the right aisle.

Rosella's Vineyard: A Tale of Terroir?

Oh how I'd like to see more of THIS!

Charles Olken is the longtime publisher and primary reviewer for the Connoisseur's Guide To California Wine, a well-respected newsletter that is as reliable as any wine reviewing organ in the business. Olken also writes a newspaper column and his latest takes into account a variety of different Pinot Noirs produced from a single vineyard in Monterey's Santa Lucia Highlands appellation: Rosella's Vineyard.

It turns out that after tasting more than 100 different Pinot Noirs, Olken found that the three highest rated wines came from Rosella's Vineyard, produced by three different wineries. Two other wines made from the same vineyard also please him.

That's pretty extraordinary. But what does it mean?

Clearly this vineyard is producing stellar fruit. You've got to assume to that the growers, Gary and Rosella Franscioni, do an outstanding job of caring for the vineyard.

It also hints at the seemingly obvious conclusion that some locations are "better" terroirs than others.

But what I'm wondering is this: Despite the fact that wine is made by a variety of different wineries from this particular vineyard, is there something in all the wines that can be traced back to the vineyard? Is there a characteristic common to the various wines made from this vineyard's grapes that reflect a unique terroir?

Olken doesn't address this question directly. But he does hint at some answers through the descriptions of the wines he provides.

First, he reveals that his expectations for wines from the Santa Lucia Highlands include the delivery of "richness and deep fruit". From another review he reveals that a wine, like "its cousins," provides "a full complement of deep and wonderfully well-defined varietal fruit." In a review of another wine from Rosella's Olken is attracted to "the careful structure that marks the best examples from this vineyard."

This kind of comparison of wines from a single vineyard are the stuff that keep wine lovers thinking abut the deeper issues associated with grapegrowing and winemaking and wine drinking. They bring us back to the sometimes forgotten idea that a wine should carry with it a signature of a place.

I'd love to see the same type of reviews of wines from the Savoy Vineyard in Anderson Valley, the Rochioli Vineyard in Russian River Valley, Gary's Vineyard in, again, the Santa Lucia Highlands, the Shea Vineyard in Oregon, and the Stagecoach Vineyard in Napa Valley...just to name a few.

Pinocchio Wine & The Future of Europe

The Europe we all know and love from history, the one in which factions, tribes and families fight among one another for power, influence and self interest is emerging in the debate about what to do to do with a lake of European wine no one wants.

The past few months has been a busy one for European wine policy. The EU released a proposal that would result in the ripping out of 400,000 hectare of vineyards and reduce the amount paid for turning wine into industrial alcohol. Meanwhile, a deal was struck with America that would allow wines into the EU that didn't live up to previous standards of production and at the same time grant Europeans the right to use production methods such as oak chips and oak staves in place of oak barrels for aging.

The debate over the EU's proposal to restructure European wine by reducing the number of vineyards begins today. A block consisting of France, Spain, Italy and Portugal are against the reforms. These are the major wine producing countries. Those not SO against the proposed reforms are England and new producing countries like Slovenia.

The difference? The major wine producers get billions in subsides from the EU while the likes of England and other smaller producing nations get next to nothing.

That's not to say that the main concern among the European Nations is a reduction in subsides. The Italians, for one, are in a tizzy over the dreaded "Pinocchio Wines".

Pinocchio Wines. You know, any wine that is produced with the addition of oak flavoring that is not imparted simply by putting the wine in a VERY expensive oak barrel. In other words the Italians are upset, indicated by debates in their Parliament, that the new EU rules allowing the use of oak flavoring tools such as chips does not also demand that use of these "artificial aging" techniques be outlined on labels.

The argument the Italians are making is that by not noting the use of oak chips on Italian wine labels leads to " the standardization of wines at the lowest level to the detriment of the consumer."

(One wonders to where the line is to be drawn when it comes to listing ingredients and winemaking techniques on labels.)

You see, here is the problem in criticizing the use of Oak Chips as something underhanded as the Italians seem to be: Whether it is oak barrels or oak chips, the desired result is the same. There is a manipulation of the wine. What many Italians don't like is that it's far cheaper to use oak chips than it is to age wine in oak barrels. And in many cases, the results are very difficult to tell apart by the average drinker.

The Europeans will work this out...in time. The debate over the restructuring of the European wine market, subsidies for distillation and the removal of vineyards is far more interesting and important than the "Pinocchio Debate" that is ensuing in Italy.

America's Enemy of Wine Consumers Leaves the Industry

Well, it appears that either the nation's wine wholesalers have had enough of Juanita Duggan or Juanita Duggan has had enough of wholesalers.

Either way, it is being reported that the CEO of the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers Association (WSWA), the powerful national lobbying arm of the nation's wine wholesalers, is jumping ship and joining the fight to keep the world safe for paper.

If I had to guess (and I don't HAVE to, but I am inclined to), I'd say that the wholesalers are tired of Ms. Duggan. Under her leadership the wine wholesalers girded their loins for battle against direct shipping. And what came of their battle against consumer access to wine? Under Duggan's leadership the nation's wine wholesalers...

1. Lost nearly every court battle they took part in to stop direct shipping.

2. Lost the most important wine related Supreme Court Case in decades.

3. Found themselves slapped around by the media every time they tried to argue they were fighting direct shipping for the sake of the children.

4. Saw numerous states open their borders to direct shipping

5. Gave this blogger plenty to write about.

I'm guessing the wholesalers gave up on her.

Yet, in all fairness to Ms. Duggan, while she clearly employed a disastrous strategy in fighting against direct shipping, there really wasn't too much to work with in the first place. The nation's wine wholesalers have been attempting to defend a patently unfair and immoral system by which states mandate businesses use their services. Their defense of the state's mandates in their favor were all to reminiscent of plantation owners' defense of slavery in the 1850s: "It's for their own good; we can be trusted to look out for everyone's interest; it's our God given right."

Duggan is a professional lobbyist who moved from working on behalf of Big Chemical and Nicotine pushers to working with wine and spirit wholesalers. It's hard to know if she really cared that much about her charges. However, it is clear that she knows her time at the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers Association was not merely unproductive but damaging to their interests. In the press release (PDF)
announcing her resignation as CEO the only items she touts as her achievements after seven years on the job are the "passing the 21st Amendment Enforcement Act and the Domestic Spirits Tax Equity Act."

The mission of the nation's wine wholesalers today is not simply to stop direct shipping. That horse has left the barn. Now the nation's wine wholesalers and their national lobbying arm are in a battle to remain relevant in the face of the perhaps the most innovative period America's wine industry has seen in decades. There are entrepreneurs out there who are fashioning various new methods for reaching out to American wine consumers, and most of these tactics don't involve discounting their wine 50% for sale to a wholesaler who's list of winery accounts is too long to count.

The CEO of the WSWA can only do so much to inspire its membership. This person and the organization they head take their marching orders from a cadre of businesses that are ultra conservative and loathe to change in any meaningful way. However, the next CEO of the WSWA really ought to make it their mission to inspire their membership to become marketers again, not merely order takers. This is a tall task. But as more and more wineries find way bypass the wholesaler this unique group of business will need to learn how to deliver added value.

During her seven years with WSWA Duggan acted as though she and her wholesalers were on some sort of moral crusade to save the children of America from the dastardly wineries that only want get youngsters hooked on Chardonnay and Cabernet. At one point she actually uttered these words:

"Consider the recent presidential election that turned on the question of values and morality. Voters made it very clear they want to be able to protect their families from some elements of American culture. Just as they always have, they once again validated the rationale for controlling alcohol."

Her vital mistake was not the way she held up children to block the bullets flying at her wholesalers. It was her misinterpretation of the times. She mistook the trend toward liberalized trade provoked by the emergence of the Internet for a general attack on America's wholesalers. This mistake probably cost that industry a half decade in its necessary transformation into a relevent and modern industry.

Bitch, Bitch, Grenache, Bitch Bitch...

The Feds used to be very very strict about what you could put on a wine label. No naked people, no health claims and not dirty words. It all seemed fairly reasonable to me as long as the good people who approved labels didn't go overboard in their capacity as regulators.

It seems either there just aren't enough people at the TTB to do their job or the rules have been relaxed in a serious way.

I concluded this upon seeing drinking my first bottle of BITCH...a cheeky little import from Australia which is produced by Chris Ringland of Three Rivers and imported by Aussie wine importer extraordinaire, Dan Philips of the Grateful Palate.

The back label is really quite extraordinary. It essentially repeats the word "Bitch" a good 50 times before advising that life's a bitch then you drink some more.

The wine? It's just fine. A fairly simple Grenache with good forward fruit, some earthy notes, decent acid and soft tannins. We chilled it down.

I clearly need to read up more on what constitutes an appropriate use of label space on wine according to the federal government.

The Trouble With Screwcaps!

As a rule we don't like to make fun of people here a FERMENTATION...unless they deserve it.

So in that spirit, the name attached to this email I was forewarded will be left out. That said, a winery forwarded me an email they got from a customer who has a very important inquiry. The message is short and to the point:

"I would like to ask how you recommend opening the bottles that have a very heavy foil that I had to pull off with the pliers and no cork. They have a plastic bottle cap liner. The corkscrew does not work because the foil is too heavy. Thank you."

I have not received the response the winery sent back to this pour reader who clearly has never seen a screwcap bottle before. Perhaps we ought to take the high road here and note that the wine industry might want to do more education with regard to how drinkers should treat the growing number of screwcap closed bottles that are appearing on the shelves.

Writer/Journalist/Blogger

The big newspaper north of San Francisco is the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. As you might imagine being published smack dab in the middle of wine country they do a great job of covering the wine industry.

One of their best reporters on wine-related events, Virginie Boone, has jumped into the world of Wine Blogs with her new  WINEABOUT Blog.

Virginie follow a path trodden other writers and journalists who have taken up wine blogging that include Eric Asimov of the NY Times, Tricia Colianne of the Akron Beacon Journal, Mark Fisher of the Dayton Daily News and Jon Bonne of MSNBC.

Being based in wine country should make Virginie's blog a must read. Being a journalist she also will have access to information the mere mortal wine bloggers don't.

To begin with she has offered some insight to the goings on at Napa's recent TASTE 3 conference. Among the insights is the intriguing conversation started by Leo McCloskey of Enologix who suggested that wine industry needs a new kind of rating system along the lines of the Bordeaux Grand Cru system.

You wonder sometimes if journalists who get into blogging will just deliver "left overs" while the real interesting stuff gets into their other medium. From what I can tell this hasn't been the case at all. In fact, what's real nice is that often times these journalists' blogs are even more interesting because oftentimes the blog entries can be more detailed and well analyzed than the stories that are written for the mass market.

Bad Wine is Good For The Environment?

Thanks to Decanter Magazine it recently came to my attention that the World Wildlife Fund has begun a campaign to preserve the use of natural cork in the use of wine. It seems a counter-intuitive call for an environmental organization because in essence the use of cork involves the exploitation of the environment.

What WWF is saying, however, in their recently released report "CORK SCREWED" (PDF), is that if the global wine industry continues to migrate over to alternatives to cork closures for wine an entire biosphere attached to the cork forests is under threat to be destroyed as farmers will be forced to replace their cork forests with other agricultural products.

So, WWF is urging wineries, out of a concern for the environment to choose cook and urging consumers to demand this be done.

The WWF Report says very little about WHY the wine industry is migrating away from cork toward alternative closures: cork taint. It is commonly understood that the nasty smell that pops out of a glass of wine about 5% of the time when it is closed with cork is the result of a contamination of the cork by a nasty compound called TCA. WWF addresses this issue like this:

"Information about tainting by TCA in various media often places the blame on the cork, and can confuse consumers. People tend to blame taint problems on the cork, on the basis of misleading or incomplete information."

Without denying that tainted corks are most often the source of TCA in wine, they suggest it is just as often the result of TCA being in the wine or in the cellar, rather than in the cork.

This is disingenuous at best as research as shown that contaminated cork is far more often the source of "cork taint".

The WWF's campaign, while understandable and perhaps laudable, will fail. Unless the cork industry can find a way to guarantee their product does not ruin the wine, the wine industry will continue to look for alternatives that don't make up to 5% or more of their product undrinkable. I suspect the WWF would suggest that that this 5% undrinkabilty rate should simply be the price the wine industry pays for being good stewards of the natural environment.

Andrew Jeffords, a well-respected English wine writer has the best response I've seen:

"The industry will always take quality control as the most important issue. Producers will go for screwcap regardless of the environmental considerations if they think it is the best closure. While red wine producers are still very uncertain that screwcaps are the future, for short-term storage wines cork has already lost the battle. No amount of environmental pleading will change that."

The Soul of Wine?

I'm not real sure what to make of Sondra Barret's "microscopic portraits" of wine beyond the fact that she is completely sincere when she wonders if these art pieces truly are "expressions of style, personality, and perhaps the 'soul' of the wine."

A former medical researcher, Barret's technique for exposing the "soul of wine" seems pretty straightforward. Apparently she uses a microscope to photograph wine on a molecular level, revealing what are some pretty nice looking images. However, I'm not sure they are reflective of anything beyond the microscopic image of wine. But then, we bring to art our own experiences and expectations so her work might mean different things to different people. Clearly, they mean something to Barret:

"As an educator to wine lovers, children, health professionals, and people challenged by health problems, I discovered that images through the microscope open a doorway for people to appreciate life at a deeper level. Living with large prints of the wine portraits, I became inspired by nature's hidden beauty."

Clearly there are many different avenues for wine lovers to indulge their fascination with the drink. The pace at which tasting room trinkets move out the door is just one confirmation of this. Some will see Barret's "wine art" as nothing more than another tasting room add-on. And that seems a legitimate way to view her microscopic images. But some people, the ones Barret knows are out there, will look at these images and see something much deeper.

The Soul of Wine? Perhaps.

Barret's Website Is Here. Decide for yourself.

Wine Down the Drain..Ahhhhh

There was a time in my life when I was flat broke. I was studying History (“what are you going to do with that degree, young man?”) at University and everything I had went into books, supplies, rent and, usually, Cup O’Noodle Soup.

Yet I still had back then an interest in wine that would lead me on occasion, when there was something leftover, to buy a bottle. And you drank it...no matter what.

In fact, when you are as broke as I was, yet interested in wine, you make excuses. It didn't’ matter how bad the wine was. I’d still sniff it, sip it, think about it and certainly drink it. And when it was really really bad, I’d just chill the hell out of it, rather than do the right thing: pour it down the drain.

It took a one of my history professors to demonstrate just how liberating it is to pour a bottle of wine down the drain.

As it turned out, I was a bit of a brown noser in college. I liked talking about history, took the opportunities that were there to gather with the History profs to do just this, and got a pretty good education out of the bargain.

One professor of American History was a drunk. He also happened to be a great teacher, but a drunk, nonetheless. He had his own chair at the local pub where he and other professor, and occasionally I, would gather and talk about how “Only Yesterday” changed American’s view of their culture or whether or not there was any validity to Charles Beard’s “Economic Interpretation of the Constitution."

I invited my drunk professor over to dinner one night. We had become friendly. I don’t recall what I pulled out of my hat to serve him but I do recall the wine. It was cheap Bordeaux from the 1983 vintage. And it was bad. Not “off” bad. Not “unpleasant” bad. But dirty, ugly bad. Still, I’d have drunken it.

About two sips into it, the drunk professor just stopped and looked at me and said:

“Tom, I don’t care how broke you are and it doesn’t matter if someone is a drunk. There’s just no excuse to punish yourself with this kind of wine.”

I thought about my American History professor the other day as I poured down the drain a nearly full bottle of 2002 “California” Rose that was both dirty and ugly, as well as too sweet. What struck me was the liberating quality that comes with the dumping of a wine for no other reason than it doesn’t please you.

This may seem a curious revelation for many wine drinkers who simply won’t take the time to drink average or bad wine. But for a boy raised by two Midwesterners who survived the Depression it really is a significant acknowledgment of his epicurean bent.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve been pouring wine down the drain ever since I got that job as a teacher’s assistant in graduate school. But there is always that mental twitch that strikes me when I do.

Wine Industry Destroyed!!...News at 11

Who writes these headlines? Chicken Little?  Jonathan Swift?  Publicists for the beer Industry ?

"Global Warming Destroys Wine Industry"

I say we just pack it up and pull out the vines...whadda ya say?

I almost detect a sense of glee in this headline that comes from a story produced by the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center.

The above headline communicates a slightly different story than this headline, doesn't it:

"Napa Threatened By Global Warming"

The story that goes along with the second headline, written by a "weather person" at ABC in San Francisco, is also far more instructive and illustrative with its interviews of local winemakers and grapegrowers.

The story on global warming and wine has some real legs as you can see if you simply do a search of Google News on the word "wine". Occasionally a story comes around that actually spurs people into action. This might be such a story. Talking with a gentleman who makes wine in and around Napa he told me there is a move afoot to get wineries and growers to "get out in front" of the Global Warming issue and make strides to do what can be done to reduce the affect that even the normally very environmentally conscious wine industry has on our planet.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, getting people worked up about something that isn't tangible or won't happen until far into the future is often a very difficult thing...until you start talking about how it will affect their own industry.

There's a lesson here for those looking to generate action on a variety of issues. Bring it home. Demonstrate as starkly as you can how something affects people personally. Particularly their pocket book and that of their offspring.

Just don't abuse the art of headline writing in the process.

It's All About Dry Rose

It's all about Rose...Dry Rose.

As far as I'm concerned, if you aren't drinking predominantly Dry Rose between mid June and the end of September then you just are living right.

It used to be that your choices in the category of Dry Rose were quite limited. Most of those available were made in mass quantities, were not that interesting and they probably had too much sugar in them. Sure, you had the Saintsbury's and and others who make great Rose you could count on, but most of the others were afterthought bottlings.

That's changed. Today a number of small batch Dry Roses are being produced across California that are just stunning. And of course, you can always go to the South of France to discover the original stuff, that salmon colored, dry, strawberry and citrus-laden jewels that made the heat of the summer down right inviting.

Jim Gordon of California Wine Web has written   what I think is really terrific account of the state of California Dry Rose as well as delivered with reviews a number of them. Go read...then, go find a warm corner of your yard and go drink.

10 THINGS...That Keep Me Living In Sonoma Valley

10 THINGS....That Keep Me Living In Sonoma Valley

1. AN EPICUREAN LIFESTYLE
We all set priorities, some more important that others. The idea of putting epicurianism high on the list is a choice that is better than many. Just recently a cheesemonger and a chocolate maker opened up not more than 3 minutes from my house. I can purchase the best meat in the world at local markets. The restaurants in Sonoma Valley rival those of any town north of San Francisco. These are not the most important things in life. But they take the edge off in a lovely sort of way.

2. THE CREATIVE ENVIRONMENT
Sonoma County has always been a retreat for those wanting to remove themselves from the faster pace of the city and the suburbs. Amongst those who have been attracted to element are the artists and the artistic minded. Sonoma Valley has benefited from this continual influx of the artist and the mindset they seem to have blanketed the communities in which they live.

3. CLIMATE
It's the essential reason why the cost of housing is so high here. Our climate is near perfect. Not too hot in the summer, not too cold or rainy in the winter. No snow. We are able to grow nearly any plant we want here given the right microclimate

4. FRIENDS AND FAMILY
At some point you realize your friends and family are the bedrock of your life. Mine are here.

5. VINES AND WINE
After you live in wine country a while, and I mean in the middle of vines and wineries, you begin to realize that you are affected by the cycle of the seasons in a most comfortable way. Not by the coming of the snows, the thawing of spring or even the falling of leaves that many locations experience. Rather the subtle changes of the vineyards around you is something that gets inside your mind and body's cycle. Add to this the delight of seeing the results of this seasonal patter in the form of new wines made from the vines you live amongst. It's all pretty compelling in a "biopsychological" sort of way

6. SMALL TOWNS
Sonoma Valley is somewhat different than most of the other regions in Sonoma County insofar as it is broken up in to small, but very identifiable and historic communities. The town of Sonoma is the largest community at about 14,000 people. Yet it is decidedly small in character, even as it swells with tourists. Up Valley is my hometown, Glen Ellen, and farther north the little village of Kenwood. For those of you who have not or don't live in small towns it's hard to explain the draw. The intimacy of the small town acts as a regulator on people's more base instincts. That intimacy also creates the kind of bond amongst neighbors that simply cannot be found in larger communities or cities.

7. BACKROADS
I'm a sucker for a slow, winding backroad. Sonoma Valley is home t a number of truly inspiring sort of routes: Warm Springs Road, Bennett Valley Road, Trinity Road, Dunbar Road, Sonoma Mountain Road.

8. INVESTMENT
More people want to live here than we have homes. And the process of getting homes built in this neck of the woods is mired with all sorts of problems. I'm not saying that's good or bad. However, I know my home and its continued increase in value will play a large role in my retirement.

9. SAFETY
If I were ranking the reasons that keep someone living somewhere, "safety" must surely be near the top. But this isn't a ranking kind of list. Nonetheless, I've never felt unsafe in this community. We have crime, but it's insignificant for the most part. I like this. It makes everything else about one's life a little easier.

10. THE PEOPLE
I think it's the pace of life here in Sonoma Valley, though I can't be sure that's the thing. Still, I've never lived anywhere in which the neighbors and people are more accommodating and helpful and caring. It's down right weird. I've spent long periods talking with people whom I've just then met at the meat counter of the Glen Ellen Market. I can't recall a frown or grimace pointed my way by anyone on the streets. It might be the water. Maybe the wine.

Warming Wine

Do I need to worry about THIS?

Don't get me wrong, I'm as fearful of the next person of rising ocean levels, skin cancer, melting ice caps and the like. But I'm having a problem getting worried about Sonoma and Napa Valleys being too hot in 100 years to produce good wine. Let's face it, unless I really cut back on some of my vices and medical technology leaps forward I'm not going to have to worry about Global Warming's affect on North American wine regions.

The study being touted here suggests that global warming will increase the number of 95+ degree days during the year, thereby making those places currently growing premium grapes unsuitable for making premium wine. The winners, according to the study, are said to be the New Englanders where temperatures will still be suitable for grape growing.

I think I understand why those who are concerned with Global Warming shout so loudly. It's because most people are like me. It's so difficult to wrap your arms around a problem that is unlikely to really take hold in our lifetime that we tend to discount it. Since this is not a political blog, I think we'll stop right there.

Fermentation Wine Blog Housekeeping

Some Friday Fermentation Housekeeping and Public Service Messages...

1. SUBSCRIBE TO FERMENTATION
It's easy as a chilled Chardonnay to subscribe to the FERMENTATION RSS Feed. Over there on the right side of this page you see a number of one touch RSS Feed subscription buttons. Click on the RSS Reader that you use (MyYahoo, Bloglines, Newsgator, etc) and voila, you can easi