Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

My Top Five Aesthetic Discoveries of 2006

My Top Five Aesthetic Discoveries of 2006

5. Hiromi
This young Japanese jazz artist is...well...remarkable. Her compositions are original and unique in the same way the sound of The Who or Led Zeppelin's compositions were unique. If you are a Jazz fan this woman's work should become indispensable.

4. George Saintsbury
He's not exactly "new". However, in the course of doing work for Saintsbury winery this year I had a chance to read through his work, mainly his "Notes on a Cellar Book. Saintsbury was a very influential English literary historian and critic who possessed a keenly intellectual and, I think, visceral appreciation for wine. In "Notes" you see these two things meshed with his Victorian sensibilities. Reading "Notes" is a real pleasure. Here is a good Post from WineSapian on Saintsbury and his "Notes on a Cellar Book".

3. Aged Sauvignon Blanc
We just don't drink our whites with age on them, do we. My first exposure to a well aged SB that pleased me was a 20 year old Pat Paulson SB that was amazing...for about 10 minutes, then fell apart.  In those 10 minutes it tasted like no other white wine I'd had from the U.S. and I wanted more. But it left the room. This year I decided it was time to test aged SB and went out and found 3 or 4 ten year old examples. These were expressive, subtly fruity, with hints of maderization, a nuttiness and the best still possessed a backbone of acidity. I'm hooked.

2. Kermit Lynch's Palate
The man is  legend and for very good reason. A bit of a tempered iconoclast, Lynch gained famed with his book "Adventures on the Wine Route". MFK Fisher called this book, "   "One of the pleasantest and truest books about wine I've ever read." I never really sought out the wines that Lynch discovers and brings to his store, Kermit Lynch Wine Merchants, until this year. I've yet to be disappointed. He brings me discoveries and new wines and new ideas all at the same time when his packages of wine arrive at my home.

1. Old Hill Ranch Vineyard
Bucklin Winery became a client of Wark Communications in 2006. With that relationship came access to Bucklin's 150+ year old Old Hill Ranch vineyard in Glen Ellen in the middle of Sonoma Valley. For those of you who are thinking, "Tom's about to go off on a promotional aside for a client"...I don't care. I've walked throughout this vineyard, through the season, this year and I never failed to be stunned by it's complex, natural and intellectual beauty. Many of the individual vines are so unique they take on personality, particularly if you follow their progression throughout the seasons. Then there is the odd intermixing of varieties throughout the vineyard, a flagrant and promiscuous ensemble of more than 25 different types of grapevines. After harvest this year I was walking through the vineyard. The vines' second crop and part of the first was still hanging on the vines. As I walked through the vineyard I found myself gobbling up and tasting Grenache, Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Alicante Bouschet, Carignane, Syrah, Lenoir, Tempranillo, Chasselas, Mourvedre and who knows what else. And many of the grapes hung on vines over 100 years old. A sensual experience of this sort must be what wine lovers live for.

"The Big Lie" About Virginia Wine

I read something Interesting Today:

"The laws that underpin our alcohol controls established a three-tier system to eliminate corruption and chaos predominant before Prohibition. For more than 70 years, this system has served the nation well. What has been called an antiquated system and monopoly, by some, provides a broad selection of affordable products and an orderly market.

This system should evolve, but citizens must be careful not to dismantle it solely for those with recently emerging business interests or those few who are outraged at not being able to find a specific bottle of wine. We must try to accommodate them, but the system was not established to rain on anyone's parade. It has a larger, more important purpose."
James Archer
Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing—Blue Ridge Beverage Co (wine distributor)

It has been a long time since I've seen such a profound and perfect example of "The Big Lie".

"The Big Lie" is a a phrase that refers to a statement that, though false, is offered up over and over and over again until it becomes accepted as the gospel.

In this case the BIG LIE is the idea that anyone, be they wineries, consumers or retailers, are looking to "dismantle" the three tier system of alcohol distribution.

Archer heads up a wine distributor in Virginia, a state in which wine wholesalers were instrumental in removing wineries' 20+ year old right to sell direct to retailers and restaurants rather than being forced to sell their wine to distributors at a much lower price, who then sold to the same retailers and restaurants. Virginia wineries, which exploded in number while able to distribute themselves, now find themselves in dire straights because of the lost revenue directly resulting from the new law that prohibits them from selling to retailers and restaurants.

And Archer claims that people want to "dismantle" the system that keeps HIM in cash???

How could such a law that is so positively detrimental to the Virginia wine industry be passed? Simple.

Between 2003 and 2005 Virginia Wholesalers contributed approximately $1.67 Million to Virginia politicians. James and his company were happy to pony up more than $21,000 in that same time frame. And that doesn't count the 1000s of dollars they contributed to the Virginia Wine Wholesalers Association who gave LOTS of money to politicians.

So let's be clear about what James Archer is talking about. He and his fellow wholesalers are involved in a conspiracy to dismantle the system that allowed Virginia wineries to flourish. When he writes that the 3 tier system of selling only through wine wholesalers "has a larger, more important purpose" he's correct. That purpose is to provide wine wholesalers with as much profit as possible.

If Virginia wineries were given back the right to sell directly to restaurants and retailers, the Commonwealth of Virginia indeed would have to give that same right to out-of-state wineries. Archer and the wholesalers have convinced Virginia's legislators (and how hard is that sales job after $1.6 Million in campaign contributions) that such a turn of events would mean the dismantling" of the 3 tier system.

Not So. Not even close.

All it would mean is that the Wholesalers would have to demonstrate their value in a free market economy where wineries have alternative ways to get their wine to market besides wholesalers. Furthermore, the State of Virginia would have no problem collecting any taxes and fees they'd like to impose on wineries shipping to retailers and restaurants from out of state. It's called electronic transfer. Hell, I'm sure out of state wineries even possess checkbooks.

The only folks capable of dismantling the Wholesaler's Monopoly called the "3 Tier System" are the wholesalers. If they can't demonstrate they offer a valuable service in the midst of a free market then the system will die on its own.

In the meantime, Archer and his fellow wine wholesalers will continue to contribute millions of dollars annually to assure they don't have to face a free market, while at the same time pleading for calm among the Virginia wineries who are currently seeing their 20 year battle to establish their industry dismantled by the checkbooks of the wholesalers.

A Colorful Display of Wine Extravegance

Last week many of us read about the sale over in London of an extraordinary collection of wine: A 135-Bottle Vertical Collection of Chateau d'Yquem ranging from 1860 to 2003.

First off, if you don't salivate at the very thought of obtaining such a collection of wine then, well, then I question your status as even a semi-wine geek.

Steve Bachmann over at The Wine Collector Blog, a member of the board of directors of the society for wine geeks, has a very interesting post on the collection, including thoughts on the $1.5 million price paid for the wines and the custom cabinet it came in.

What interest me about this episode in wine geekery and wine collecting is not so much the price since I'm not in the wine investment or collecting business. Rather, I'm fascinated by the appearance of the youngest and oldest bottle next to each other.

The impact that the appearance of these wines has on someone looking over the collection critically or casually is much more than if we were looking at an ancient bottle of claret next to a new bottle: You can actually examine in detail the change in the liquid that occurs over time. This can't be done with colored glass. And I suspect this unique aspect of d'Yquem has a real impact on its cache, particularly older bottles. I don't care...that's just pretty damn cool.

You can check out images of all the bottles in the collection HERE.

Those interested in a good analysis of the sale and the price should read Bachmann's post at The Wine Collector Blog

Fixing Corked Wines: A Do-It-Yourself Guide

I have to admit that of late it seems I've encountered far fewer "corked" wines than in the past. I've no solid, scientific evidence to know this. It just seems this way.

What's interesting is that as many lower priced wines transition to screwcaps it is the mid priced and higher priced wines more likely to bless us with that unique "hair of the dog" or "wet newspaper" aroma that comes with tainted corks.

I've sent wines back a number of times in restaurants due to cork taint. But when I encounter the problem at home I tend not to take the trouble to go back to where I got the wine and and ask for my money back or something new.

So, I was intrigued when I got an email from Ray Jordon of The Spirit of Wine Blog about his home-based experiments for removing the effects of cork taint. Jordon carried out a series of somewhat controlled experiments. His results are very interesting. It appears that there are ways to avoid tossing a corked wine down the sink, cussing, and tossing the bottle into the recycling at a velocity that will cause that satisfying sound of breakage.

Read about Ray's experiments in fixing cork tank here..

Jazz & Bourbon

America's most influetial living Jazz pianist takes the stage at Yoshi's in Oakland, California today. Guess who will be there.

I'd have bought tickets for each and every night of McCoy Tyner's run at Yoshi's (26th -31st) if I could have convinced my wife there was a compelling reason to see him play six days in a row. While I think I could have made a compelling argument for taking up residence in a Hotel nearby for six days, I don't think it would have worked with Ginny. So, I'll settle for tonight.

The wine list at Yoshi's, which doubles as a Sushi House, isn't that great. But even if it were, I think the best drink to accompany McCoy and his Quartet of Joe Lavano on sax, Christian McBride on Bass, and Jeff 'Tain Watts on drums is bourbon. I've found a simple double of Kentucky bourbon works perfectly well with modal harmonics and breathtaking complexity of Tyner's approach to Jazz. Both jolt the inside at once then transition into something quite comforting.

If you live in the SF Bay Area you may still be able to get tickets to the late shows, though the early sets and the New Year's eve performance is sold out.

Tyner gained fame playing Piano in the legendary John Coltrane Quartet. He's often said that his groundbreaking style of playing his instrument was developed out of the necessity of keeping up with Coltrane as he would go off on riffs that quite new to jazz. Tyner had to adapt with a new way to accompany something else entirely new. After leaving Coltrane's quartet, Tyner went on to produce an astounding array of recordings and become an influence for nearly every jazz pianist who took to the keyboards since.

This will be my third McCoy Tyner concert this year, twice at Yoshi's and once at Rodney Strong  Vineyards in  Healdsburg during the  Healdsburg Jazz Fest. Three times is not enough, but it will do.

A Primer on How Wineries Can Lose 25% of their Profit

If there are any wineries out there who are looking at the prospect of losing their right to self distribute their wines to retailers and restaurants, they should read THIS STORY about the impact of such a turn of events in Virginia.

Wineries facing this possibility should also ask themselves:

-How much of your profit margin should you give to wine distributors to do a job you can better?

-Who is best at representing your wine: a commissioned based distributor sales rep or you?

-What would be the impact of immediately losing 25%-30% of your revenue?

To consumers who like the idea of having access to a wide variety of wines and to wine retailers who like the idea of offering the wines they really WANT to offer, you need to ask yourself if you are willing to sit still as open markets for wine are shut down for the economic sake of a very very small sector of the wine industry: distributors.

There should be a very simple goal in the minds of wineries, wine retailers and wine consumers: A well-regulated, free, open national market for wine.

Virginia wineries lost access to a free and open market for wine sales even in the their own state.

Women Wine Drinkers: What Do They Know?

I've thought about it. Winemakers have and most certainly wine marketers have: Do women perceive wine differently than men. Not "do women react differently to wine packaging than men?" Not, "Do women serve or use wine differently than men"?" Rather, when women smell and taste wine do they have a different reaction than men would to the same wine?

This appears to be the question that Women for Winesense, a national organization of women wine professionals, are attempting to answer with their "National Women's Wine Competition".

The Competition will take place in March in Sonoma County. What sets this competition apart is that only women will judge the wines.

The organizers of this unique competition take no position on the question of whether women perceive wine differently than men. The only comment on the competition website that comes near the question is their curiosity about "what wines would win top honors in the eyes of women."

I'd have liked to see Women for Wine Sense take a more proactive step in trying to answer the question of how women's palates differ from men's. It wouldn't be too difficult. You'd simple have two groups of judges, one all male and one all female, all judging the same wines in the same manner. As it is, the best tool this competition will yield is a set of wines that are endorsed by women. That's not a bad thing. As the Women for Winesense points out, women by far more wine than men do. Personally, I'd love to have a sticker to put on my wine bottle that says, "Judged Superior by Women".

We know that marketers out there have conducted focus groups that try to discover which packaging appeal particularly to women. I'd bet focus groups have also been conducted that attempt to determine which style of wine is preferred more by women. Yet, I've never seen any such results. And the more I think about it, I feel a wholly inadequate as a wine marketer because i don't know the answer to this question. It's fundamental, isn't it...at least from a wine marketer's perspective?

The competition is open to any wine. However there is a sub competition in side the competition that will judge only wines made by women. While another good idea, I'm not sure what information it will yield without there being another sub-competition of wines produced only by men.

Merely observing women and living in close proximity to women for most of my 43 years tells me that women perceive all sorts of things differently than men. They also seem to express themselves differently than men, which might suggest that women approach winemaking differently than men. However, I've yet to notice any particular palate difference between men and women. I'd be inclined to speculate on just what differences might exist, but it really would be useless as these guesses would only be a recitation of stereotypes applied to wine.

I'll be curious to see what the Women For Wine Sense's National Women's Wine Competition comes up with. I'm just not sure I'll know what it means.

Merry Elfmas From Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Fermentation is taking an Elfmas Break until Wednesday the 27th.

In the meantime, Click the Elf to see what Tom will be doing during the Elfmas Break

WineSatPic 3: Aerial Wine Marketing

It's real!

Jost Vineyards, a Nova Scotia-based winery near the Northumberland Strait, has taken to the air to promote their website.

My understanding is that this has not been photoshopped...Making it one coo. Satellite Picture again found at Appellation America.

Oh and yes, there is in fact a Nova Scotia wine industry.

A Revolutionary Time For Wine

The Wall Street Journal's wine guides John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter produced a thought provoking year end article today on the state of wine and trends they see.

Among their most interesting observations is this one:

"The first isn't about wine itself, but the selling of it. This is the most revolutionary time in wine retailing since the end of Prohibition. The combination of the rise of Internet sales and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision striking down some laws concerning direct-to-consumer winery shipping has helped to create more of a free-for-all in wine retailing than ever."

Spot on! This is a revolutionary time in wine retailing. The direct-to-consumer channel, be it winery-to-consumer or retailer-to-consumer, is in a state of mighty flux. Wineries are just now starting to learn how to use the Internet to cultivate a loyal customer base. Consumers are finding their choices are widening rapidly. Yet it is still important to note that we do not have a truly open national marketplace.

In large part this is due to the enormous influence the wine wholesalers across the country have on the regulatory environment. The astounding amount of influence they have purchased through "campaign donations" has resulted in remarkably anti-competitive legislation passing in a number of states, whether it is prohibiting winery-to-consumer sales, winery-to-retail sales or retailer-to-consumer sales.

2007 will be a watershed year for the prospects for consumer access to wine and a national market for wine. Lawsuits, legislation and lobbying will be the tools that either give consumers more access to the wines they want or limit consumer access to wine for the sake of preserving the state-mandated  monopolies and profits of the middle-men wine wholesalers.

There ARE heroes out there that are fighting the good fight on behalf of a nationwide open market for wine and on behalf of consumers:

Inertia Beverage Group
Specialty Wine Retailers Association
Free The Grapes
Coalition for Free Trade

Much of the battle for access to wine and against anti-competitive wine regulations will revolve around the media taking interest in the story. And the story is a compelling one: Just as the entire retail environment in America is changing due to new technologies and new attitudes by entrepreneurs, and just as the wine industry from California to Virginia is expanding choice and quality for wine lovers, the wine industry and wine consumers finds themselves in the grip of the one of the most anti-competitive cabals this nation has ever spawned; a cabal that will pay nearly any price, make any outrageous claim, foment as much inter-industry discontent as possible and buy up needy politicians at a remarkable rate.

I hope Gaiter and Brecher will keep their eye on the progress and machinations that occur during this revolutionary time in wine retailing. If they, or even their colleagues at the Wall Street Journal, exposed the desperate measures that are taken to prevent wine lovers from simply buying the wines they want, we would see an immediate response among regulators, politicians and consumers emboldened by merely reading the truth in a well regarded journal.