Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Are You Drinking Your Bourbon??

Today is my annual check up. And I don't mind.

It's the day I get to hear an expert say to me, "Drink your bourbon every day, Tom."

My doctor's read on the literature is that the moderate consumption of alcohol, not just wine, is connected with a number of good things things that promote longevity. A few years ago when he asked about my alcohol intake (he was naturally concerned since I work in the wine industry), I told him "no, I don't drink daily." He was surprised, again, because I work in the wine industry.

"No, not daily, Doc. I do like to have a bourbon more often these days, though."

"Well, Tom," he said looking me in the eyes quite seriously, "I recommend you drink a glass or two of bourbon every day."

This kind of advise really does make up for the poking and prodding that accompanies your general medical examination of a man.

This kind of recommendation was not the case 20 years ago, before the 60 Minutes "French Paradox" broadcast and before there seemed to be 5 to 10 news stories a year about how moderate consumption of alcohol would prevent everything from heart disease to warts.

Twenty years ago, when I first started monitoring closely the news on alcohol, the big news was Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. It seemed to be talked about everywhere and not a few folks in the wine industry worried that between strict calls for not a drop of alcohol during pregnancy and constant calls for hasher drunk driving laws as well as lower BAC levels for drunk driving, that the wine industry could be put in a tail spin as folks just decided that alcohol was too much trouble to deal with.

Anyone reading this who was in the wine industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s, just think about the difference in attitude between then and now as it concerns alcohol.

As I get older (I'm 44), I've found that the affects of alcohol come on me faster and with less intake. I'm not a big fan of drunk or tipsy. It's just a feeling that never appealed to me. This surely has something to do with my desire to see alcohol levels in wine come down. But it also accounts for my lowering intake of alcohol in general. What I can't explain, and neither can by doctor, is that the "tipsy" feeling I'm liking less and less as I age does not seem as pronounced when I have a glass of bourbon versus when I have a glass of wine.

"Mad Men" is a great new series that debuted on AMC. It depicts the men and women who work in a high powered New York ad agency circa 1960. One of the appeals of the show is their attempt to get the attitudes, lifestyle, and accoutrement of the era correct. One thing that stands out is the drinking. These guys drink during lunch, have bars set up in their offices that get lots of use and they tend to have cocktails, usually more than one, between the time they are seated and the time the orders are taken.

I can't figure out how they could have possibly lived that way. But even if the show over does this aspect of the pre-social revolution era when men were men, men were drinkers and men who weren't drinkers weren't real men, there would still be too much drinking for me to imagine as part of my life.

That said, I still like the fact that later today a doctor, a good doctor, will look me in the eyes and tell me (after I'm instructed to exercise more and smoke less) that I should drink bourbon every day. Despite my lower alcohol intake, I really do like having a professional's recommendation that I enjoy my Maker's Mark daily.

Teen Spirit

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly (YES, that is the name of a publication. Wouldn't you have liked to be in on the meeting when the powers that be over at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who publish it all got together and decided on that name!) is reporting that Spirits is the drink most often chosen by teenagers.

Forty Percent of those participating in the study identified spirits (meaning bourbon, vodka, etc.) as their preferred drink. Beer came in second.

But here's the news: ONLY AROUND 2% OF THE TEENS SURVEYED IDENTIFIED WINE AS THEIR ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE OF CHOICE.

Surely this has implications for policy making. Surely this finding has implications for policymaking on the issue of the direct shipment of wine.

Hat tip to Megan at Wine & Spirits Daily for identifying the story.

Ask For that Sweet Caress

Do you know who Randall Dunn is?

For those of you who do, bear with me.

Dunn is one of the most respected winemakers in America. He built Caymus Special Selection. He defined the meaning of mountain-grown Cabernet. He helped put Howell Mountain on the viticultural map. He consulted for the likes of La Jota and Pahlmeyer. His Dunn Vineyards Howell Mountain Cabernet was identified by Jim Laube as one of a very few produced at the time to be a 5-star wine and among the very best California has to offer. Robert Parker likes to give his wines 95, 96 and 97 points.

Randall Dunn also believes "The current fad of higher and higher alcohol wines should stop."

This was the message contained in an e-mail (read it HERE) Dunn sent out to the American wine media a couple days ago. Coming from a man as respected as Dunn, the result of the electronic shot across the bow of American winemaking and American wine criticism was to get LOTS of people talking.

That accomplishment alone gets this message from Dunn nominated for E-mail of the Year.

Very simply, Dunn is saying that the trend toward 14%, 15% and higher alcohol wines is 1) destroy the ability to taste terroir, making drinking wine with dinner less enjoyable and resulting in less wine being sold in restaurants. Though he believes its the wine media that is encouraging winemakers to producer higher alcohol wines, he lays it at the feet of consumers to stop the trend:

"It is time for the average wine consumers, as opposed to tasters, to speak up....Ask for wines that are below 14% when you are out to dinner.  The reactions are fun, but the results are not good for United States wines.    The sommelier usually comes back with a French or New Zealand wine....Consumers – wake up and get active.  Reviewers -please at least include the labeled alcohol percentage in all your reviews, and try to remember that not everyone is spitting."

Dunn has taken a bit of a beating for his disparagement of high alcohol wines over at the e-RobertParker wine forums. What I glean from those who don't like Dunn's message is that he should understand that everyone has their own palate and it's not right to say that high alcohol wines are bad because they simply are higher in Alcohol.

One of my favorite things about wine reviews and criticism and commentary in general is we get to see folks take a stand, which it strikes me is exactly what Dunn, and Robert Parker, are doing.

As it turns out, I really hate being left out of a good old fashioned piling on of opinion. So, allow me my 2 cents: Those who disagree with Dunn and who defend the high alcohol wines, particularly those in the 15%+ range are simply wrong. Unless it's Zinfandel or Port, a 15.5% alcohol wine is not good. It may not be bad. But it's not good. Though I can appreciate a firm slap in the face, that never feels nearly as good as a sweet caress on one's cheek.

The defense of these absurdly high alcohol wines is amusing at best, particularly when you get to the point when the defender gets to the point of using the phrase "physiologically mature”. Start stepping away slowly, never turning your back on them, when you hear a defense put up with these words as the basis for the defense.

Here's hoping that many more folks in the media and many more consumers take Dunn's advice and start asking for a sweet caress rather than a slap in the face.

25 Years of Substance Over Style

Wine & Spirits Magazine announced that with its Fall 2007 edition arriving on newsstands at the end of this month it will celebrate 25 years of publishing.

Of all the consumer wine magazines out there, Wine & Spirits is the least flashy. However, it's also among the best. Next to most of the other tabloid sized wine magazines, W&S with its regular size almost looks outclassed next to its competitors. Yet, what you've always gotten with W&S is great editorial! These are the folks who scoop of James Bear Awards for their writing.

The magazine has also gained an outstanding reputation among folks in and around the wine industry for a number of things they've done.

Their annual wine restaurant poll is always very closely looked over by wineries to see who is selling the most to restaurants. I once worked with a winery who every year partly evaluated their success by seeing how far up the rankings their Merlot, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc placed in the W& Spirits Restaurant Poll.

Each year W&S releases their "Wineries of the Year" awards that are always very thoughtful, never obvious and are a coveted reward for wineries.

At roughly 75,000 in circulation W&S is not a huge publication. But I'd hazard to guess that its readership is among the best informed and savvy of the wine drinking population. The publisher, Josh Greene, prides himself on putting out issues that "focus more on the substance of wine than on style." That's not talk. It is the case.

Wine publishing is not an easy business. It's a real niche market that will never produce a hugely circulated magazine. Advertising is always a bit of a struggle to come by, regardless of the quality demographics of the wine magazine readers. And there is always a good deal of education that must be stuck into stories along with reportage in order to assure that the casual reader, who is important, isn't turned off by the language and minutia of wine. You've got to figure that if you've stayed around for 25 years then you are doing something right to overcome these hurdles.

Congrats to W&S Magazine.

I Love LouLou

I love LouLou!...Well, I don't know LouLou, but I do love her blog...a foray into Peter Mayle-type reporting on entering into living arrangements in new lands.

LouLou describes here blog, Chez LouLou, this way:

"I started this blog in January 2006 to share the experience of living in this beautiful part of France with others (including the challenge of bureaucracy) and to have a place to write about my passion for cooking, wine and food."

LouLou's writing and reportage is a really well done "through-my-eyes" encounter with a new way of living. The fact that she's taken with her new South of France home, community and life doesn't hurt. What you'll find at Chez LouLou are lots of great photos of this encounter, recipes, tips, descriptions of what life in France means to an ex-pat and regular infusion of subdued thrill with being where she is.

What prompted me to finally write about Chez LouLou was THIS: I can't wait to try this recipe for Caramelized Onion, Roquefort and Parmesan Tart.

It appears over time that LouLou has increased her blogging output. This is a good thing. There is a wonderful authenticity to LouLou's posts. Concentrating mainly on her daily life in her new French home, the reader is sucked into that daily life through photos of her garden, the foods and goodies she regularly consumes and the wine that is never far away.

This blog leaves a smile on my face every time I look it up to see what LouLou is doing.

Sound Familiar?

"Supporters of prohibition say that the cost, no matter how high, is worth the price to save families torn apart by the scourge of alcoholism. Despite a cultural ideal that frowns on drinking, alcoholism is a major problem at every level of society. The consequences are particularly severe among the working classes, where men often spend large portions of their meager daily wages on booze while their families go without adequate food or shelter."

Sound familiar?

It should, this could have been written word for word in a newspaper somewhere in New England or Indiana or Georgia circa 1916.

It comes from a recent UPI story out of India.

India appears to be considering the same noble experiment that America undertook over 80 years ago.

Recently Prohibition was instituted in the Indian state of Haryana. In April, the state of Kerala banned the production and sale of Arrack, a traditional brew made from the sap of palm trees.

India has a population of more than a billion people and a fast growing economy. It, along with China, is one of the great export markets many wine producers in America and elsewhere are looking toward for real growth in sales.

It seems to me the unfortunate affects of alcohol abuse have to be pretty bad to consider, let alone implement, Prohibition in a state or entire country. By all accounts, the abuse of alcohol was pretty ugly in parts of the United States prior to 1919 and the installation of national prohibition here.

One tool to combat alcohol abuse that exists today that didn't exist in 1919 is the mass media. Delivering a message and promoting a message is much more efficient today than it ever was. But even with this and other modern tools to combat societal problems, enacting a total prohibition on alcohol must be pretty tempting particularly for a politician. Leaders make names for themselves with with bold steps; by putting in place plans of action; by responding to the needs of many people.

Were more states in India to ban alcohol it's quite clear that crime and corruption would increase. Criminals, like politicians, are adept at answering the call of a citizenry.

It will be fascinating to watch the course of events in India and to see if their experiment can take a different course than America's.

Can a Film Help Popularize $175 Napa Cabs?

There's a good deal of Hollywood Intrigue surrounding the cinematic interpretation of the famed Paris Tasting that put California on the maps. There are apparently now two rival productions in the works that will bring the story to movie theaters.

"Bottle Shock" is set to go into production staring Alan Rickman as Steve Spurrier and Bill Pullman as Bo Barrett of Chateau Montelena while "Judgment of Paris" is the "official" film based on Jim Tabor's book "The Judgment of Paris.

"Bottle Shock" focuses on Chateau Montelena (which made the winning Chardonnay)
"Judgment" focuses on Stag's Leap (which made the winning Cabernet)

Talk of lawsuits are in the air. It's believed the film that gets into the theaters first will usually do better than the one that comes second. The story of the dueling movies may turn to be more intriguing than the subject matter of the two films as there is word that the Barretts of Chateau Montelena are funding "Bottle Shock" that focuses on them. However, that may or may not be true. The director of "Bottle Shock" is Randy Miller who's "Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School" opened the 2006 Sonoma Valley Film Fest.

Who knows, maybe these movies will do for $175 Cabernet Sauvignon what "Sideways" did for Pinot.

It's not 1933 Anymore...is it?

For anyone who has not been following the attempt in Illinois to re-write the wine distribution laws in that state so that distributors are granted even more power than the state already grants them, a new development has occurred.

A new association of wineries calling themselves The Illinois Winemakers Alliance has formed in part to oppose Illinois House Bill 429.

HB 429 does a variety of things:

1. Allows out-of-state wineries to ship to Illinoisans
2. Allows in-state wineries to ship to Illinoisans
3. Allows wineries making up to 25,000 gallons of wine to distribute 5,000 gallons annually to retailers and restaurants
4. Prohibits wineries making over 25,000 gallons of wine to distribute directly to retailers and restaurants
5. Prohibits Illinoisans from purchasing wine from out-of-state retailers..
6. Allows Illinoisans to have wine shipped to them from in-state retailers

The reasons consumers are against this bill should be obvious. They are being stripped of a long held right to buy from out of state wineries. But when you couple this with the fact that in-state retailers may still ship to Illinoisans you can see the unconstitutional implications of the proposed legislation. To quote from the Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court decision:

"States may not enact laws that burden out-of-state producers or shippers simply to give a competitive advantage to in-state businesses….If a State chooses to allow direct shipment of wine, it must do so on evenhanded terms…”

However, the new Illinois Winemakers Alliance, while opposing this anti-consumer provision of HB 429, is also opposing the bill because it strips some Illinois wineries from selling directly to retailers and restaurants, even in the small amount that the bill allows smaller wineries to sell. These wineries that make more than 25,000 gallons annually and that would no longer be able to sell direct to retailers and restaurants, would be put at the mercy of Illinois wholesalers—who are the only ones who could sell these wines to the trade but are under no obligation to distribute these wines. Put simply, Illinois wineries making over 25,000 gallons of wine would be at the mercy of Illinois wholesalers to get their wines in restaurants and on store shelves. What if no wholesalers want to distribute these wineries' wines?

You can see why the new Illinois Winemakers Alliance, that represents wineries producing nearly half the wine made in the state, are against HB 429. And you can see why wholesalers just LOVE this legislation.

Currently HB 429 is sitting in the Senate Rules Committee awaiting action. It has passed the house and would likely pass the Senate if it ever gets out of the Rules Committee.

HB 429 represents the kind of regressive direct shipping and wine legislation that has popped up all over the country since the Granholm Supreme Court decision. What's most interesting is that NO consumers are asking that this kind of legislation be passed. And no wineries are asking that their ability to sell directly to retailers and restaurateurs be diminished. As always it's the wholesaless that are demanding this legislation.

With regard to the anti-consumer legislation proposing that wine lovers no longer be allowed to buy wine from out of state retailers, it seems counter-intuitive that wholesalers should have anything at all to say about this. Wholesalers don't interact with consumers. They don't sell to consumers and they don't buy from consumers. They don't talk to consumers and they certainly don't listen to consumers. Why are they always the one's proposing legislation that affects consumers?

When was the last time you saw wholesalers actually do something beneficial for consumers?

They talk a big game about providing lots of choice by distributing so many wines in so many states. Yet, there's no way they can rival the number of wines that are made available to consumers via direct means. Furthermore, they spend millions of dollars opposing consumer access to wines through campaign contributions, writing anti-consumer legislation and opposing reasonable direct shipping legislation.

There is one theme that runs through all the actions of wholesalers whether they are opposing direct shipping to consumer or the ability of wineries to sell direct to restaurants and retailers: Their actions are all meant to reduce the power of their competition.

It's as though they know something very fundamental about themselves and their business model and the market place. It's as though they know that forced to compete in a level market they'd lose that competition. Luckily, they've had the states on their side since 1933 when prohibition ended and most states mandated that producers of wine sell to wholesalers who would then sell to retailers and restaurants. In essence, the states have been protecting wholesalers from themselves for nearly three quarters of a century.

It's not 1933 anymore..is it?

Tom Wark is the executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers Association.

It Tastes Like "The Velvet Britches of Jesus"

You see lots of pictures of labels and bottles on wine blogs. Naturally they tend to accompany reviews. It's pretty hard to do anything different with these kinds of graphics. And this is why the What Would Mikey Drink blog caught my attention.

Mikey, from New York City, has been at the wine blogging thing since September 2005. You've got to like a guy who, reportedly, at the age of 8 can taste a Red Burgundy and proclaim it tastes like "the velvet britches of Jesus."

Another reason to get a kick out of this blog is that each shot of a label or bottle that accompanies his reviews comes with a shot of Mikey himself integrated into the shot. I think that's kinda cool. Reminds me of Gary Vaynerchuk on dope. (He kinda looks like Gary, Too.)

"What Would Mikey Drink" focuses on reviews of wines. This isn't unique. But among the things I like about his approach to reviewing wine that is different from many other wine bloggers is the diversity of wines he looks at. There is no particular focus on a price, region or varietal. You are as likely to get an '04 Aussi Grenache as you are a 1999 "Jackass Vineyard" Zin as you are a Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru.

Sometimes Mikey includes the price, sometimes he doesn't. Note to Mikey: INCLUDE the price of the wine.

"What Would Mikey Drink" is real good wine blogging.

Survey Results: The Meaning of Wine Blogs

What's the meaning of Wine Blogs (according to those who read this one)?

The survey we launched last week attracted 172 responses, a decent sized sample. Here's what I've discovered is that meaning:

To FERMENTATION Readers Wine Blogs are a very trustworthy source of wine commentary and information that is apparently craved on nearly a daily basis that also rival wine magazines as the source they'd turn to for reliable wine reviews. Wine blogs are most appreciated for their regular updating, the independence of the voices behind them and the interaction they, leading the readers to turn to a good number of other wine blogs.

It should be no surprise that readers of wine blogs give a fairly ringing endorsement to wine blogs. But with that bit obviousness out of the way, let's look at some details that don't jump out of the survey numbers.

Below are some of my observations. CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE RESULTS.
(If you are a wine blogger, there is note at the bottom of this post for you)

THE REVIEW SEEKERS
Among those who cited "Reviews" as the subject that most attracts them to wine blogs, they were far more likely than the average survey taker to name Reviews On Internet Wine Forums as their preference to get reliable reviews of wines. And, they were much more likely to have purchased a wine after seeing it reviewed on a blog. Yet, they were much less likely to name "Interaction via Comments" as one of the elements of the blog format that most attracted them. What I'd love to see is this question asked of readers at blogs that actually do publish reviews.

MY WOMEN....BLOG READERS
Because there appear to be so few women readers of this blog I wanted to try to get some idea about them. They are much more likely to work in the wine industry than the average survey taker. They are also much more likely to other gossip, fashion and food blogs than the average survey taker and less likely to read sports and political blogs. I'm not sure what to make of this. If I want to attract more female readers (and I do!) should I perhaps add regular posts about wine country gossip? I could snap pictures of snappily dress women at wine events. But it turns out women are also more likely to read food blogs. Maybe more food and wine posts?

HEAVY READERS
This I found Interesting, of those who say they read more than five blogs regularly, there was no significant difference in the way they answered the other questions. No correlation to gender, where they work, their age, education, etc. These folks are only slightly more likely to use a "Blog Reader" to view their favored blogs. These folks appear simply to have a greater desire for diversity.

BLOG FANS
Of those survey takers who named Blogs as the place most likely to find reliable wine reviews, the only significant difference between them and other survey takers was that they tend to be much younger, tend to call blog-based information more reliable and are heavier blog readers.

It turns out that by parsing the data from this survey I don't find too many significant differences between classes of answers, suggesting that the straightforward results of the survey are a pretty good snapshot of this blog's readers. The question remains, what is the difference between FERMENTATION readers and the basic class of blog readers?

So here's what should be done: IF YOU ARE A WINE BLOGGER, EMAIL ME (tom@warkcommunications.com) AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU ARE WILLING TO PUT A PROMINENT LINK ON YOUR BLOG TO A NEW SURVEY SO THAT WE MIGHT COLLECT A LOT MORE DATA ABOUT A BROADER RANGE OF WINE BLOG READERS. I'LL SET UP THE SURVEY.