Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Educating Winos

After I got my Bachelors degree in History, and even before that, I knew I would go on to get either a Masters or a PhD. I just liked school and college in particular. But I never once, ever, considered getting an MBA degree. I wasn't a business kind of guy. Also, those numbers? Not good. They tended to get big once you started working them and all sorts of fancy calculations and formulas got thrown into the mix; the kind of formulas that included letters in addition to numbers. Not good. I stuck with the letters and decided to get the MA in History.

However, had their been something like the new Wine Industry MBA now being offered by Sonoma State University I just may have put up with the big numbers and tried to use this degree to get a step up into the wine industry.

By all accounts the new WineMBA is the first of its kind in the nation. While Sonoma State University seems an obvious place for this new program to be offered, the actual program is not necessarily such an obvious thing. This is a pretty pin-point focused curriculum aimed at a very small group of people. It's the kind of program my father would have looked over and said in response, "do you really want to narrow your focus that much, son?"

We live in a world where everything is about narrowing focus, and this is particularly the case in Academia.  When I got my MA in History, my adviser in the History Department spent pretty much all his free academic time studying the the history of the way American Diplomatic History was written. This professor was the at the top of his field. Of course there were probably on seven other folks in his very specific chosen field. Suffice to say, a concentration in the "Business of Wine" isn't exactly THAT narrow, but it certainly is out of the mainstream when it comes to business schools.

Reading the article about this new program I started to think what kind of courses I would create for the new MBAWINE candidates who really wanted to learn all they could about the business of wine.  I most certainly would recommend these courses:

1. Internet Wine Marketing
2. The History and Workings of the Three Tier System
3. A Survey of Wine Brand Business Models
4. Compliance and Regulatory Issues in the U.S. Wine Industry
5. A Survey of Wine Industry Hospitality Issues

Marin County Pinot Noir: Taste It!

The Marin County Pinot Noir Celebration is just around the corner and I recommend this event highly.

I went last year and found a small, enjoyable event that invited attendees to linger, talk to owners and winemaker and taste Pinots from what is the newest important Pinot region in California.  Details are:

What: Marin County Pinot Noir Celebration
When: Friday & Saturday, June 8 & 9
Time: 5pm to 8pm
Location: 771 Magnolia Avenue, Larkspur
Buy Tickets for June 8 Here:
Buy Tickets for June 9 Here

Wineries participating:
Brookside, Corda, Dutton-Goldfield, Kendric, Moon Hill, Orogeny, Pey-Marin Vineyards, Point Reyes, Sean Thackrey, Stubbs, Fogarty, Vergari, Vision, Willowbrook

In addition to being a killer tasting of some very unique wines, the event is a fundraiser for the Marin Agricultural Land Trust. If you've ever spent an afternoon driving around West Marin County, just over the Golden Gate Bridge, you'll understand why this is a worthy cause.

There I was, Minding My Own Memorial Day...

So there I was, minding my own Memorial Day by the pool, reading an old copy of the New Yorker (1963: a story about the Clay/Jones fight at Madison Square Garden), when all of a sudden I poured a  Cabernet down my throat that my wife put in front of me. The sun had just fallen below the tree line so the Rose had been put away.

At first I was startled. "Hmmm....I've already had a single sip of this stuff and I'm not drunk!"

Still surprised at the wine's balance, finesse, forward fruit notes and lovely hints of herb, I ask my bride, "what the hell is this?

"It's a Cabernet I picked up," she said

"Where's the bottle honey," I said as I took another swig.

As she approached me with bottle in hand, I noticed I still wasn't tipsy even after taking two good sized swigs of what had to be a California Cabernet--it's almost all she buys.

I moved aside the laptop (which held roughly 80+ years of New Yorkers on it....Amazing) and watched the wife swagger over toward me. She has a smirk on her face, a bottle in one hand and a half full glass in the other.

Upon sitting the bottle in front of me I could see it was a familiar brand, though nothing that would be called coveted by any wine lover or wine snob. It carried an Alexander Valley appellation and a 2004 vintage.

Before investigating further I took another good swig just to make sure the long weekend hadn't gotten into my head.

Even after the third gulp I felt no heat on the palate and no alcohol-induced fuzzy-headedness, yet the same sweet berry center, it's herbal note, the nice structure and medium tannins and a lovely balance struck me.

"How much was it, Darlin?"

"It was much more my price range than yours."

That meant somewhere in the neighborhood of $10-$14.

I had to look.

There it was. Staring me right in the face. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't seen such a thing in years:
TWELVE POINT FIVE PERCENT ALCOHOL.

I immediately felt the urge to blog. Then I thought better of it, remembering that only a couple good hours of Memorial Day daylight remained. Plus, the wine was very good, the air clean, the New Yorker story was humming right along in beautifully written prose and I just didn't want to think about typing. I'd leave it until tomorrow morning.

So what do you know. A 12.5% Alexander Valley Cabernet. I thought them extinct. I thought them, if they did exist, to likely be an experiment with water gone bad. But this wine didn't taste that way and even if it was an exercise in stretching a vintage I didn't care. Of course I secretly hoped that a winemaker had decided enough was enough of the 15% CA cabs and was trying to make a point.

What worried me more was that we would not be able to find any more of this. The wife is on it.

I suppose I've written about my fatigue with high alcohol wine enough to bore a number of readers. Usually it's a "complaint post". You can file this one under "revelation post" or "discovery post". However, since I do not review wine, this post does not include a wine review on any kind of the 2004 Laurier Cabernet Sauvignon.

The Problem with Viognier

I tasted six different Viogniers yesterday accounting for 4 different appellations. They represented three different recent vintages. Not a single one delivered anything that could remotely be considered "crispness" on the palate and in most cases the best description of the texture of these wines was "flat".

In my mind this is unacceptable. In fact, it leads me to the point of not even considering the varietal when I contemplate which white wine to buy or drink. I felt like I was drinking flat Mountain Dew.

I believe the problem might lie in the winemaker's desire to draw out as much of that "tropical" character that so many people look and hope for in Viognier. It means they try to get their grapes as ripe as possible before picking. This in turn often leads to diminished acidity, higher alcohols, and a palate feel that is more akin to worn satin. "Smooth" is nice, but it doesn't help when confronted with a cream sauce.

The other distinguishing feature of 4 of the six Viogniers was a clear bitterness and metallic quality in the wines. I don't know what causes this feature. But I don't think it's something that is natural to the variety.

What I'm wondering is this: Perhaps Viognier might be better utilized as a blending grape. I'm not talking about the traditional practice of tossing in single digit amounts of Viognier into otherwise red Rhone varieties. I'm thinking of a blend of Viognier, Chardonnay and and riesling. I'm thinking of the idea of using Viognier to deliver a hint of tropical-ness to to a blend of other whites, rather than trying to get as much "Tahiti" out of Viognier delivered all alone.

There are not that many varieties that disappointment nearly across the board as Viognier does. For years Sangiovese from California truly disappointed me but it seems that glitch has been taken care of due to more years of experience. I'm hoping CA vintners find a better approach to Viognier.

10 Things I learned on My Trip to New Jersey

10 Things I Learned On My One Day Trip To New Jersey

1. Seat mates on airplanes don't mind as much if it's white wine that is spilled on their suit.

2. It's very difficult to bribe a airline ticket counter agent...even if you offer a smile along with money.

3. New Jersey wine retailers are very cool folks who understand the stakes for themselves and consumers when it comes to the issue of direct shipment of wine.

4. Bad service in a restaurant diminishes the taste of the food.

5. The Newark Airport smells much different than the Phoenix airport.

6. Gary Vaynurchuk looks exactly like he does on Wine Library TV.

7. Three out of four seat mates on an airplane, upon finding out you work in the wine industry, will ask for a recommendation on a good wine at a good price. That percentage is decreased if you spill wine on them.

8. US Airways selection of wine could be much much better.

9. Vegas is by far the best city in America to fly over at night.

10. Arriving back home from a trip at 4am is better than leaving the house for a trip at 4am.

French Snakes and Cowardly Winemakers

I'm struggling to try and figure out how to wrap my mind around this statement by a group of whiny, good for nothing, burdens on society (actually, it appears I have found a way to wrap my mind around the statements of this group, doesn't it).

For the past few years, Regional Committee for Viticultural Action (CRAV), has been taking "direct action" against certain sectors of the French wine industry through violence and intimidation. Their goal? More subsidies for a business model so terribly unworkable that it has led those following it to fall on hard times.

Now they are threatening the new president of France: "If Sarkozy does not support the interests of the wine industry, he will be entirely responsible for what happens. We are at the point of no return....See to it that our children know what it is to make wine."

These incompetent wannabe winegrowers and thugs can't even light their own threatening video sufficiently. What makes them think that state subsidization of a business model so thoroughly out of whack with the realities of the current day wine market is going to in any way preserve their selfish "way of life" or allow their children to "know what it is to make wine"?

In the demanding video they sent to France 3 television, CRAV gives French President Zarkozy 1 month to aid the wine industry in the south of France or violence and potential deaths will occur.

Of course, these folks blame "globalization" for their plight. I wonder what happens to members of CRAV who stand up in their clandestine meetings and ask, "hey, what if we replant to premium varietals, make better wine, brand it in a real snazzy way, target export markets, build demand and slowly raise prices as more and more folks want our wines?"

My guess is that nothing good results from this kind of suggestion in those meetings. After all, it rarely pays to reason with snakes.

The More Stingy the Blogger, the Better?

It seems to me something of a rule (though with exceptions) that the really good writers and thinkers who take up blogging disappoint because they just don't blog enough to satisfy the desire of their readers for a lot more of their really good stuff. They are stingy.

This is the case with Thomas Pellechia's "VinoFictions" blog, a source of wonderfully written, provocative, educational and opinionated posts by a man who knows his stuff.

Pellechia is the author of "The 8000 Year Old Story of the Wine Trade", numerous articles on wine and food, and he is a wine educator to boot. He's the kind of guy you beg to write in a blog format.

And while I'm thankful he does do this, he is, again, stingy with his posts. In 2007 he has produced a mere 28 posts, each one interesting and worth reading. Perhaps it is a condition of being a good thinker and writer that you are also willing only to put out the good stuff, rather than a lot of stuff. This would certainly explain my own relatively frequent postings

Pellechia tends to write about Macro wine issues: Terroir, distribution, Biodynamics, Wine Education, the meaning of terms. It's really good, top shelf stuff.

Here's hoping that Pellechia has time to deliver more to VinoFictions. But if he doesn't I still await my RSS Alert to each of his new post with anticipation.

Happy Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of the 2005 Granholm V. Heald Supreme Court decision that informed us that a state may not grant in-state wine sellers the right to sell to it's residents but exclude out-of-state sellers from doing so. It violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Over at Appellation America Ray and Eleanor Heald (yes, the same as those the decision is named after) have a interesting article on the state of direct shipping two years out.

Legal decisions are important. They point the way toward paths that are allowable...where trouble will not be encountered. However, they tend to direct us toward the LEAST that must be done to stay on the path. I'm concerned with what SHOULD and COULD be done to widen the path that wine sellers and wine consumers follow.

It is a fact that nearly every state law that concern itself with who may sell what is a law that is in place for the specific benefit of a particular kind of commercial actor. What's interesting is that that commercial actor that benefits from the various laws is almost never the consumer.

Consider the various laws that are in place or have been attempted to be put in place in different states:

-Only the state's wines may be sold in state owned stores
-Only certain amounts of wine may be brought into a state
-Only wineries of a certain size may sell directly to a state's consumers
-Only after visiting a winery in person may you order wine from them
-No wines may be shipped into a state from another
-Only in-state wineries may ship wine to that state's residents
-Only in-state retailers may ship to that state's residents
-Only 1 case a month my be shipped to a resident of a state
-Only distributors may sell wine to a retailer or restaurantt

This is a list created literally by thinking about the question less than a minute. And it includes the time necessary to type it out.

What would widen the path? What kind of alcohol related policy would benefit consumers most? It's simple:

1. Allow consumers to buy wine from whomever they want
2. Allow wineries and retailers to sell to whomever they want
3. Force distributors to rise or fall without the benefit of a monopoly.

The problem with these three principles is that they would create a level playing field, real competition, better access to products for consumers, and better prices for consumers.

In the large scheme of things this issue of the consumer and wine and the principles that ought to apply really pales next to issues of war and peace, wealth and poverty, God and man. However, I'm not in the war, wealth or God business. Just the wine business.

Celebrating Nothing Specific in Sonoma County

The Sunday Santa Rosa Press Democrat had an interesting ad in it placed by the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission. In it they identify Sonoma County restaurants where 75% of the wines on their lists. are from Sonoma County and restaurants where 50% of the wines on their lists are from Sonoma County. These restaurants are congratulated for supporting Sonoma County, its growers, etc.

This is a nice way to both encourage more Sonoma County-centric wine lists and to let diners know what restaurants they can go to in order to find a nice selection of Sonoma County wines.

But it's the third category in the ad that interests me: "Sonoma County Star Wineries". These are wineries that produce bottlings with "Sonoma County listed on the label".

Are these wineries being congratulated for following labeling laws? Or are they being congratulated for listing an appellation that tells the consumer very little about the source of the grapes that made the wine?

"Sonoma County" is a huge region that includes "Sonoma Coast", "Carneros", "Russian River Valley", "Sonoma Valley", "Alexander Valley", "Knights Valley", "Dry Creek Valley" and other appellations and sub-appellations. Wines that carry the "Sonoma County" appellation need only have used grapes that came from any combination of these appellations. Suffice to say, Zinfandel grapes grown in Glen Ellen in "Sonoma Valley" struggle under quite different climatic circumstances than Zinfandel grown in the Russian River Valley. And we aren't even talking about soil factors.

By encouraging growers, wineries and consumers to celebrate the "Sonoma County" appellation we are encouraging them to celebrate nothing specific.  It's the celebration of a brand, not a place that can be said to have any specific regional character.

However, I don't want to suggest that the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission is trying to put anything over on anyone. They are very upfront about their mission and goals:

"Sonoma County Winegrape Commission will allow Sonoma County to promote its grapes and wines at a level consistent with other winegrowing regions.  NOW is the opportunity for all county growers to support this marketing and production research efforts."

"Sonoma County" has a lot of competitors in "wine region branding" department. It in fact must compete with other more meaningful regions and appellations INSIDE Sonoma County, not to mention efforts on behalf of "Lake County", "Monterey County" and numerous other terroirless areas.

For my money, the better educational and promotional effort is put into promoting much more specific appellations that produce wines consumers can have real expectations about.

Zinfandel vs Diet Pepsi

It's only a about a month away from the start of summer and that can only mean one thing: it's time we start seeing zinfandel recommended to go with barbecued foods.

How Zin became associated with barbecue I don't know. But it is. This is both a blessing and a curse as far as I can tell. One the one hand, lots of people love barbecue and need a wine to go with the various styles of grilling, slow cooking and searing that falls under the "barbecue" heading these days. That means more zinfandel sells. One the other hand, associating Zin with Barbecuing sort of relegates Zin to a second tier status as a wine since this style of cooking is not associated with high cuisine.

I personally don't often drink zinfandel with Barbecue. If I am going to drink wine with my famed "Caramelcued Beef Ribs" rather than Diet Pepsi on the rocks, it's almost always going to be a cold, dry rose or a sparkling wine of some sort. I like the extra traction my palate gets from the fizz and the acid.

So, now's the time of year I start looking for good buys on good rose and good sparkling wine. I'm going to quaff and swill the stuff, drink a lot of it, and I don't want to deal with much alcohol. I really don't care what country it comes from as long as the Rose is dry, fruit forward, isn't high n alcohol and has good acid, while the Sparkler needs only be dry, yeasty and under $25. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I suspect that it will be long after I'm gone when Zinfandel breaks out of its somewhat "pedestrian" box and is considered a noble grape, something recommended to be served with haut cuisine and other fancy foods, if it ever does. Perhaps to speed that along their needs to be some sort of concerted effort to get folks to age Zin (it can age beautifully), which automatically raises its stature or to get chefs and sommeliers to pair Zin with very small amounts of foods carefully presented on large white plates in restaurants where presentation competes with satisfaction.