Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Is it...a Woman (and man) Thing?

Louisa Hufstader, writing for the Napa Valley Register, gets the prize for Best Line of the Week:

"Men are from Parker, women are from Robinson?"

Hufstader is writing in the context of a story on women in the wine business, which was the topic as a recent event at Copia. In the course of writing her story on this topic, Hufstader brings us around to a salient point made by Elizabeth Thach, Ph.D., a professor of wine business and management at Sonoma State University and Keynote Speaker at the event:

"Genetic differences between the sexes include extra taste buds for most females, Thach told the group — and that could explain why reviews by the wine world’s two top critics are often at odds with each other."

The point is that because women have more taste buds, they in turn have more discriminating palates. I've seen this claim before and I don't doubt it for a second. What I'm not sure of is if the extra taste buds allow women to taste more of what's in the wine of if they just experience an amplified version of what men taste.

From a marketers perspective I rather hope it's the latter. It just makes things simpler. But as a fan of discriminating palates, I'd rather it be the former, thereby allowing women critics to offer up a fuller description of a wine.

But even in determining this difference, it doesn't get me exactly where I wean to to be when it comes to reviews of wines, be they from men or women. The state of my taste buds has me much more interested in a wine's texture than in its flavors. Frankly, the flavor of a wine is much less important to me than either its texture or it aroma.

I wonder if women FEEL the wine more fully than men do? And I don't mean in an emotional kind of way.

However, on that point, I'll never forget Milla Handley, the great winemaker at Handley Cellars, explaining passionately to me why women are better winemakers. It comes down to their innate ability to nurture...an ability that men seem to have in far less degree according to Milla. In my experience this is a truism.

Milla argues that great wine is made great through a nurturing approach to its production, just like children must be nurtured as well as guided as they develop and mature into adults. This analogy appeals to me in a number of ways.

But if we must compare the abilities and talents and tendencies of men and women and wine, then I propose we really do it right. I propose a WineOff between Men and Women Winemakers. Five women winemakers and five men winemakers. Each get a ton of grapes from the same vineyard and vintage. Each makes a wine from it. Then the same winemakers taste the wines and rank them.

Good lord, this would keep us writing, blogging and debating for days if not weeks.

Turning Three Years-Old

Is three years a long time to have been writing a wine blog? I guess in the context of the wine blogging world it ranks up there. Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Fermentation. This blog entry is number 1,446 since the beginning of the blog. That's 1.3 blog entries per day for the past 1,095 days. I'm not sure what that means either.

The past year, as related to blogging and Fermentation, has been interesting. I've had the pleasure of speaking before a number of groups on the very issue of blogging. I've been asked consulted professionally with a number or business on the issue of blogging. Advertising inquiries at Fermentation have increased significantly. The American Wine Blog Awards were created. My readership has increased to around 23,000 Unique Visitors Monthly. My RSS subscriptions is at 800. I receive inquiries as though I were a member of the wine media at the rate of 3 or 4 per day.

All this because of my unfortunate tendency to be a Know-It-All.

I'm not a Know-It-All, even though I fancy myself one. In fact, the more time I spend blogging, reading the number of amazing wine blogs that have emerged and the longer I stay in the wine industry I discover that I'm actually a  Know-It-Less-And-Less. But what I do know for sure is that in the capacity of a wine blogger I have a perfect venue for exploring those things about which I know less while still feeding my inner Know-It-All.

I find myself in a very enviable position in my professional life after three years of blogging. I'm still enjoying the blogging. It's a source of amazing pleasure. I also find myself professionally in a position of working with a set of clients that can only be described as the best combination I've ever brought together at Wark Communications: Vinfolio, Inertia Beverage Group, Specialty Wine Retailers Association and Mayo Family Winery. The more astute reading this entry will notice something about that group of clients. They represent, together, an obvious point on a specific trajectory that my public relations and wine industry career has taken. I think Bill MacIver, If he keeps track of me, would be proud. Others who read Fermentation regularly will also see this career trajectory informing my blog posts.

Finally, when I reflect on three years and 1,446 posts worth of Fermentation, I always get the feeling I'm in the middle of something very unique that is churning around me in a vigorous and always surprising way. In my Bloggerviews I ask the subjects if blogging is having an effect on the world of wine. It is. I don't pretend that Fermentation is very significant in the way that wine blogging effects the industry. But I do recognize that by blogging about wine I find myself in the midst of something that is developing into an arm of the wine industry that will cause some folks, some time from now, to reflect, "wow, do you remember where there were no wine blogs?"

This is fun.

Bloggerview #13: Dr. Debs

Bloggerview #13
Who: Dr. Debs
Blog: Good Wine Under $20
Where: http://goodwineunder20.blogspot.com/

Dr. Debs' "Good Wine Under $20" seemed to come out of nowhere. One day I was seeing it linked to by many folks I respect. I investigated. And then I understood. Debs is a wonderful writer, that's clear, but it was also obvious immediately that the topics she wrote about and the reviews of wines she wrote were given very serious attention. That might seem like faint praise. But actually I find it a rare thing in the blogging world. I was immediately taken by her blog. But what's better is that Deb is a person that went all the way with something that I was incapable of doing and for that I respect and envy her further. She studied hard and became a professor of History in Southern California. In an email conversation she and I were discussing what seems to be the fact that folk interested in History often show up in the wine world. She's right. They do. This expertise informs her blogging, but more important I think the particular techniques associated with the historian's craft help set Good Wine Under $20 apart. New wine bloggers can get some good tips by reading this interview. Wine lovers can get some very good information by reading Good Wines Under $20.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
I began blogging by accident in early October 2006 because I needed to set up a blog for a project. Reading the instructions didn't help--I just had to dive in there and do it. I went wine shopping that day, and wrote about my purchases for a sample entry. I gave the blog a name, wrote up a profile, and enabled comments to see how those features worked. Unbelievably, people like Neil Dorosin at the Brooklynguy Loves Wine and Food Blog found the post and commented on it. By the second week it was clear that I was not going to stop blogging. I was having too much fun and I was learning too much from fellow bloggers and my readers.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
I focus on "everyday wine culture," which means that I write about wines that are not terribly expensive, pair well with food, and are relatively easy to find or obtain (at least in California). A common misconception holds that if you don't spend much on wine you aren't that interested in it--but I like to prove that this isn't so by also providing information about wine culture, wine making, wine news, and wine travel.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
In my efforts to provide the kind of information to everyday wine drinkers that I would have found useful when I started learning about wine, I combine wine reviews with features on food pairing, profiles of California family wineries who also promote everyday wine culture, my reactions to big tasting events that my readers might be interested in, book reviews, and opinion pieces on everything from biodynamics to wine writing and objectivity. I try to make my posts as varied as possible while staying true to the "everyday wine" mission by sticking to wines that are under $20, with occasional forays into the over $20 bottlings.

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
My readership has grown significantly in the past year. Seasonal readership spikes around Thanksgiving, Christmas/New Year's, Valentine's Day, and Graduation brought new readers to the blog. Early mentions by you on Fermentation, and being included in Tyler Colman's list of the "5 Best Wine Blogs You're Probably Not Reading" in Wine & Spirits Magazine certainly increased the readership, too. I would describe most of the growth, however, as "slow and steady." I get more readers every day, and more subscribers every week. It's a good way to build a following, and I'm particularly pleased at the rising number of daily subscribers that I have. They're the heart and soul of a blog--your regular readers. I feel like my regular readers are friends, and their comments improve the quality of the blog for every other reader.

5. Do you accept sample for review?
Yes, I do. I grappled with this at first, because I was afraid it would remove me too much from the average wine consumer I was trying to reach, but the clear thinking of Fred Koeppel on this issue persuaded me that accepting a wine for review was no different from attending a wine tasting open only to the trade, or reviewing a book for work. It was just a way for me to bring greater coverage to my readers. I try to balance out reviews of samples with reviews of wines that I purchase myself, and I think it is working. I haven't had any complaints! If you want to send me a sample, follow the instructions in my blog profile and I'll be happy to consider it.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
I rate wines by their quality-to-price (QPR) ratio. I don't like the false sense of precision that you can get from the 100 point scores, and think that the pursuit of 90+ point wines is keeping a lot of good wine out of the hands of US consumers. After years of agonizing over student grades ("is this an 88 or an 89?") I just want to admit that all grades and evaluations are subjective to some degree. I judge a wine based on a combination of its varietal characteristics, its food friendliness, and its price on a scale that ranges from excellent, to very good, to good, to poor. I do a lot of research, and read a lot of reviews on blogs and in print, so I am happy to report that I don't drink many poor QPR wines--but it does happen occasionally.

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
Writing is part of my professional life, and I realized early into my blogging that writing nearly every day and pushing the little "PUBLISH" button was a great way to get over good old writer's block. Writing the blog also helps me to make writing my first priority of the day, rather than my last. Typically, I write rough drafts of the week's five blog posts over the weekend. Then, each morning, I revise the relevant post and publish it to the blog. From that point, it's easy to turn to my other writing and get an hour or so done before I start answering email, teaching, going to meetings, and doing all of my other work. So, oddly enough, writing the blog has helped my daily schedule in ways I didn't anticipate but they are very productive nonetheless.

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
I read a lot of blogs and I comment on my fellow bloggers' posts. I find this makes your blog more visible than more complicated and expensive strategies. Be a good citizen, and people will find you.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
It's faster and more responsive. That's the crucial difference, I think. I was just listening to a recent episode of Tim Elliot's Winecast that involved Tim, Jeff Lefevre of Good Grape, Mary Baker of Dover Canyon, and Alyssa Rapp from Bottlenotes. They were discussing the important contribution that bloggers make simply by being more timely in their reviews and notices. Magazines and books have long lead-times, but  my lead time can be as short as the 25 seconds it takes me to put down my wine, go to the computer, and start writing. And there have been times I've been so thrilled or mad enough to do just that! As bloggers get greater access to press releases, trade tastings, and establish their own relationships with wine makers and others in the industry, I think that a blogger's ability to post something quickly and effectively is only going to become more important in the upcoming years. Magazines and print won't disappear, but they will be only one segment of wine writing--not the majority of it.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
I read 58 wine blogs every day, and even more on an irregular basis. Some I read for news and excellent coverage of a particular region or issue (like Fermentation, Dr. Vino, Good Grape, The Pour, Jancis Robinson, Catavino, Through the Walla Walla Grapevine), some I read because of their excellent reviews (like Benito's Wine Reviews, Jamie Goode, Spittoon), some I read to get a glimpse into winemaking (like Tablas Creek, El Bloggo Torcido, Dover Canyon, and La Gramiere) and some I read because I love the writer's "voice" as well as their approach to wine (like Bigger Than Your Head, Brim to the Dregs, Wine Scamp, Domaine547's Freshly Pressed, Behind the Vines, Winehiker, Wannabe Wino, and Basic Juice). Then there are the blogs I love to look at, chief among them Chateau Petrogasm. And this is only the tip of the iceberg. Scary.

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
I believe that we are starting to make a mark. There are far fewer raised eyebrows now when I say who I am and what I write for than there were even six months ago. I think the wine industry is lagging somewhat behind consumers, because I think 99% of all consumers get most of their information about wine from the web. This is based on the sheer number of hits I get every day from people looking for quick information on a particular wine. But the industry is beginning to pay attention to the way that consumers are learning about wine from the 'net--and with that comes more opportunities for bloggers, and more responsibility, as well. 

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
London.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
The picture says it all. Dogs. Multiple dogs.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Usually I'm reading student papers or articles on history, but a mindless People magazine would be a nice change!

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
I think I'll wait until they put a hybrid engine in a Lexus IS.

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
Chablis. But I'd really rather have riesling if that's ok.

17. What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Consist of?
Anything Italian and a bottle of smooth red wine, or two (or three).

18. What is Heaven Like?
I'm with Eric Asimov on this one: the Sonoma Coast, and more specifically the Sonoma Coast between Stewart's Point and Gualala.

19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine?
I would invite the three 19th century "Champagne Widows" (Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin, Louise Pommery, and Mathilde Emile Laurent-Perrier) to join Jancis Robinson and me for dinner. The widows would bring the wine, no question. Ms. Robinson, I am confident, has better French than I do, so she could shepherd the conversation. I would cook dinner. We would have a very interesting discussion, drink too much excellent champagne (if there is such a thing) and hopefully people wouldn't pay too much attention to the food.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Start keeping detailed tasting notes on the wines you drink and see if you can regularly read and comment on some blogs. If you can't manage these two activities, you probably can't manage blogging. If you decide to blog, give your blog a good name and not one that's impossible to pronounce or figure out. Post regularly. If you post once a week, you will develop a readership. If you post 26 times one week and then not again for 9 months, you will not develop a readership. Don't take on too much too soon, and give yourself some time and room to develop as a writer--and as a wine lover. And remember what I tell all my students: don't be afraid to say you don't know about something. In 12 hours you will have answers from your readers, because what you don't know someone else surely does.

Whimsy

One thing you don't see on TV too much is Napa Valley being dissed. It's even less common to see Sonoma be hailed over Napa. Yet this very occurrence was brought to my attention today in the form of a recent episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Derek, played by Patrick Dempsey, is soliciting advice from Mark, played by Eric Dane, on whether he should take his girl to Napa or Sonoma for a couple days. The advise he gets back is straight forward: Sonoma, because there are less tourists and smaller hotels.

I know...it's a small little item, but...damn, you just don't see that sort of thing often on your average network show.

And I'm not suggesting it's a Sideways-moment that will catapult Sonoma in to the American consciousness. I think what we probably have here is a case of one of the writers having probably recently had this very discussion and they thought they'd pass on the seemingly insider kind of knowledge to the show's script.

But this is a reminder. The power of popular culture and its icons to influence American's views of the world is immense. The movie "Sideways" and it's effect on Pinot Noir sales is only the latest example. Before that we saw "60 Minutes" catapult the sales of red wine based on their coverage of the health benefits of the beverage.

The point, of course, is whimsy. No one as far as I know anticipated the effect that Sideways would have, even though many knew this movie was being released. One never knows what kind of popular culture event might ignite an idea or industry or wine or region.

Promote Viticultural Authenticity: You Can Do it!!

For some time now a controversy has been brewing over the system of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs). Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley, Napa Valley...these are all AVAs, geographically delineated areas created/approved by the Federal Government's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that in theory possess unique climate and geologic aspects affecting grape growing. AVAs are akin to Europe's well-established appellation system. Unlike in Europe, America's AVA's do not come with rules on what grapes can be grown, how they can be processed into wine, etc. However, in order to put the "Sonoma Valley" AVA on your bottle of wine, 85% of the grapes that went into the making of that wine must have come from the the AVA on the label.

In theory (one uses that phrase a lot when discussing AVAs) the unique climatic and and geological elements of an approved AVA are supposed to impart something unique to the wines that are produce with grapes grown within that AVA. Why else would there be a reason to identify a particular area? However, when proposals for AVA's are submitted to the TTB for approval, exactly what the unique character of wines produced from the proposed AVA are supposed to be really plays no role in whether the TTB approves that AVA. The question is only, does the proposed delineated area have unique natural characteristics that apply to the entire area inside the boundaries.

One could make a case that the Russian River Valley AVA in Sonoma County does indeed possess unique climatic and geologic characteristics throughout it's vast area. The Russian River Valley AVA encompasses 126,000 acres. However, a much better case could be made that smaller areas within the Russian River Valley AVA possess even more precise and consistent climatic and geologic characteristics that are in fact quite different from other areas inside the larger Russian River Valley AVA. It's this fact, one that can be applied to nearly every other medium to large AVA in America that has resulted in the brewing AVA controversy.

Last week the TTB addressed this controversy by discussing it and making suggestions for the future of AVA granting. Rich Cartiere of the Wine Market Report(subscription)  has done a great job of outlining the substance and significance of the TTB's Report. What's troubling is the way the TTB understands the issue of "preciseness". Consider this statement from the TTB's report:

"with reference to the boundary description and the geographical features criteria, a change in an existing AVA boundary, or the adoption of a new AVA within an existing AVA,could suggest that the original boundary was improperly drawn or that there is no unity or consistency in the features of the existing AVA that give it a unique and distinctive identity in a viticultural sense."

What they are acknowledging is that proposals for AVAs within AVAs (such as the Green Valley appellation within the Russian River Valley AVA) suggest that the larger AVA is not the climatically and geographically or geologically consistent area its approved status suggests its is.

Their proposed response to this "problem" is to let future petitioners for new AVAs inside established AVA's know they "should be expected to dispel any apparent inconsistency or to explain why it is acceptable"

My guess is future petitioners will go with "explain why it is acceptable" since dispelling "any apparent inconsistency" would remove any good reason for having the new AVA if it's climatic and geological features are consistent with the larger AVA's.

The concern of the TTB is that AVA's inside AVAs "might draw into question the accuracy and validity" of the larger AVA or even the entire AVA system as currently conceived.

The unique problem the TTB faces in trying to address the issue of what an AVA is comes from the fact that they apparently want to keep AVA's as a marketing tool while more and more winemakers want to use AVAs as legitimate tools for discerning differences among growing regions.

Yes, AVA's are marketing tools primarily. If they were genuine tools for identifying unique and homogeneous areas for grape growing you would not see so many huge AVAs that simple do not encompass homogeneous climatic and geologic features. Consider the original rational that was given by the government for the creation of AVAs:

"The establishment of viticultural areas and the subsequent use of viticultural area names as appellations of origin in wine labeling and advertising will help consumers better identify the wines they may purchase, and will help winemakers distinguish their products from wines made in other areas."

"Help Consumers" and "Distinguish Their Products" are marketing goals.

Yet back when this description of AVAs was created in 1986 vintners and growers were just beginning to really notice the differences among growing areas that often resulted in grapes from particular areas having distinct character. They were just beginning to really appreciate terroir. Today, that recognition is at the heart of every growers mindset. Growers and artisan winemakers need tools to communicate the very specific differences among terroirs. Most AVAs just aren't the right tool. They are too big, too clumsy, and too general.

One response to this has been petitioning the TTB for AVAs within AVAs.  Again, Green Valley, a much smaller tract of land located in the southern reaches of the Russian River Valley where the fog first hits and is the last to recede is a good example. Atlas Peak, a mountainous area inside the Napa Valley AVA where the winds and diurnal temperatures distinguish it from the much warmer Napa Valley floor is another good example.

But the existence of these and other sub-AVAs are consistent reminders of the problems with the larger AVAs within which they exist: They make little real sense.

Another response to the uselessness of large AVAs to distinguish real climatic and geologic reality is the increased use of Vineyard Designation on labels. By identifying the specific vineyard from which grapes came, a winemaker is in affect saying, "what's unique about the grapes that went into this wine is not the character of the appellation we have on the label, but the climatic and geologic character of the vineyard we've identified on the label.

In the end, if the TTB is most concerned with retaining the marketing value of existing AVAs, then it should discourage the creation of smaller and, ironically, more consumer-friend sub-AVAs. And this seems exactly to me what they are concerned with. Otherwise they would not point with trepidation to the fact that "the adoption of a new AVA within an existing AVA,could suggest that the original boundary was improperly drawn or that there is no unity or consistency in the features of the existing AVA that give it a unique and distinctive identity in a viticultural sense."

They state this as though it is a problem; that noticing the lack of climatic, geological and geographical unity within so many of the existing AVAs isn't a good thing. Well, it's not a good thing if your concern is retaining the marketing value of existing AVAs.

However, if your concern is doing a good job of identifying authentically unique grape growing areas that, due to their specific combination of climate and soil have a unique effect on grapes grown in them, then you'd want to encourage MORE sub-AVAs.

A message to the TTB: YOU CAN DO IT. YOU CAN CAN HELP PROMOTE VITICULTURAL AUTHENTICITY.

A Wine Blogger's Lists...

So many people with so much to be thankful for. A Set of Thankful Top 10 lists...

TOP TEN THINGS FOR WHICH WINE BLOGGERS SHOULD BE THANKFUL
10. The 24th Hour in the Day
9. Cheap Wine
8. Established Wine Writers that begin Blogging
7. The Controversy that is the 100 Point Rating System
6. Spell Checkers
5. The Wine Industry's Voracious Appetite For Publicity
4. Cheap Blogging Services
3. The Wine Blogging Community
2. The American Brand of Free Enterprise
1. The Robust American Appetite for Wine Information

TOP TEN THINGS FOR WHICH THE CALIFORNIA WINE INDUSTRY SHOULD BE THANKFUL
10. The Internet
9. The Old World Winemaking Heritage
8. Robert Parker, The Wine Spectator and the Rest of the Wine Media
7. Costco
6. Undocumented Workers
5. The Japanese and East Asian Wine Lovers
4. Napa Valley
3. Having the Regulatory Freedom To Experiment
2. Existing in an Affluent Country
1. A Remarkably Good Climates for Growing Grapes

TOP TEN THINGS FOR WHICH I AM THANKFUL
10. My Blog Readership
9. A Good Education
8. The memory of my Father
7. Having a Comfortable Home
6. Having a Career I Enjoy
5. Residing in Sonoma Valley
4. True Friends
3. Having My Health
2. My Whole Family
1. Being Alive

Now go forth, eat, drink and be thankful!

Bloggerview #12: Eric Asimov

Bloggerview #12
Who: Eric Asimov
Blog: The Pour
Where: http://thepour.blogs.nytimes.com/

When Eric Asimov's wine blog, The Pour, first appeared at the New York Times website I couldn't wait to see how the New York Times would interpret "the wine blog" format. Would they misunderstand the medium? Would it be a vehicle merely to move folks to their other digital products. Then Eric started writing. Regularly. "The New York Times" disappeared from my understanding of The Pour and I began reading "Eric Asimov". The most fascinating thing about The Pour is that we see a different type of writer than the "Eric-Asimov-of-the-New-York-Times". It is a more personal, introspective, even opinionated, writer. I understand this difference as the difference between traditional journalism and traditional blogging. Still, it turns out Eric is among the most wine-knowledgeable bloggers around. More importantly, his blog posts identify him as among the best writers in wine blogging.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
I began in March 2006, and it wasn’t my idea. As everybody knows newspapers are having a tough time finding their way in the online world, and as The Times was gingerly developing its online presence several columnists, including me, were asked by editors if they wanted to start blogging. They offered almost no guidelines about what they wanted in a blog. Essentially, they left it to me to do what I wanted, which is sort of unheard of at The Times and was very liberating. I presume they were trusting that we early bloggers could do something Timesian even if it did not conform to the rigid structures of the newspaper. I wasn’t sure how I would manage the added work. But I was excited to have a platform beyond my weekly column. I wasn’t sure where it was going to go, but it’s been remarkably rewarding. 

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
Drinking, not tasting, was the original thought and it still pretty much holds true. It’s also a chance to deal with news, issues and more personal occurrences that don’t really fit in the newspaper.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
Well, of course I benefit greatly from having the institutional visibility and resources of The Times. As a reporter and critic I have access that most people don’t have, so I have an unusual point of view in writing about issues and personalities. Beyond that, in my blog I’ve tried to take a stand against the tyranny of tasting notes that has overtaken the wine-drinking world. I don’t write about wines that I’ve tasted and spat, I write about wines that I’ve drunk, most often in the context of a meal. So I feel that I’m giving a more complete picture of the pleasures of wine drinking than you get reading the usual litany of wines and scores.  Also, though wine is my primary focus I write also about beer and spirits, which I hope can help bring down the absurd boundaries that seem to force people to choose one and deride the others. Why can’t we have it all?

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
I hate to say it but as a blogger for a great big company we have people who worry about that thing so that I don’t have to.  While I really have no idea about page views and things like that, I can judge by the people who comment on the blog that I have a consistent readership of people who know a hell of a lot about all aspects of the business. One revelation for me has been just how much knowledge is out there.

5. Do you accept sample for review?
The short answer is no. Any wines that we review we purchase ourselves through the various retail outlets. Now I’m speaking of the wines we review in the newspaper through the NYT wine panel. We can only sample a finite number of wines, and we don’t want to give an advantage to those producers who send us samples. So we simply rule them out. For my blog, I don’t taste vast numbers of wines, so I tend to buy specific wines that I intend to drink. Samples that I taste – because we still receive an awful lot of them – are strictly for my own edification.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
I don’t rate wines at all in my blog. In the newspaper we use a zero-to-four star scale. I’m not philosophically opposed to ratings. They’re handy consumer cues in the context of long lists of tasting notes. Honestly, most tasting notes sound pretty much the same anyway, regardless of what kind of wine is being tasted, so when you are dealing with many different bottles it helps to penetrate the sameness. But in my blog, I’m not dealing with lots of different wines. I’m not going to write about 20 different Napa cabernets, so there’s no point to scoring wines.

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
Maintenance? Again, I have the luxury of not having to deal with the technical aspects of a blog site. I’m fortunate to have experts to compensate for my computer illiteracy. 

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
Don’t mean to repeat myself, but again I have an advantage that sets me apart from many blogs. I have not had to worry about the technical and marketing particulars, which makes my blog very different from the more typical one person labor of love. At the same time, I like talking about my blog, and when given the opportunity I’ll natter on until told to shut up.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
Well it’s absolutely different. First of all, it’s completely democratic, so anybody can create a podium for themselves, and the audience selects what’s important and what’s not. Blogging creates an opportunity for many voices to be heard. For somebody like me, who operates according to the fairly rigid structure of a weekly column, it’s been a wonderful opportunity to expand and go off in ways that are not available in print. As a writer there’s a great freedom to knowing I can say as much or as little as I want, without having to worry about confining myself to 1000 words.  I know wineries worry about the negative impact of letting anybody say whatever they want, but I do think the audience eventually recognizes who has something knowledgeable to say and who does not, who is stooging for a particular winery or writing more as a marketer, and who are the independent voices.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
Well aside from Vinography, Fermentation and
Dr. Vino, I am a big fan of: Rockss and Fruit—http://rockssandfruit.blogspot.com, Do Bianchi— http://dobianchi.wordpress.com, Jamie Goode’s blog—http://www.wineanorak.com/blog/index.htm, Brooklyn Guy Loves Wine—http://brooklynguyloveswine.blogspot.com, Bigger Than Your Head, http://www.biggerthanyourhead.net, Mondosapore—http://www.mondosapore.com and Alice Feiring. http://www.alicefeiring.com/  I keep track of a lot of other blogs, as you can tell from my ever-expanding blog roll, but these are my most regular reads.

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
Of course they have, at least as far as wine culture goes. Voices come from everywhere! The raw intelligence around the world now has an opportunity to weigh in. You can listen or not as you wish. My guess is the wine industry, like the restaurant industry, has rabbit ears.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Paris, 9 times out of 10. I can’t completely deny the occasional need for mindless baking, gorgeous waves and tropical drinks.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
Both.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
New Yorker, except for flights under 20 minutes.

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
Look, I live in Manhattan. How about a cab?

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
What is it with these this-or-that questions? Must we be so categorical? Can’t we enjoy each for its special qualities? OK, Chablis.

17. What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Consist of?
Fresh eggs imbued with truffles; a small portion of spaghetti carbonara; a beautiful roast pork, full of flavor, the edges just barely caramelized, the fat meltingly sweet; Sichuan tea-smoked duck; the most wonderful fresh-baked bread; morels sautéed in butter; my wife’s Brussels sprouts; a ripe epoisses; wild local strawberries and fresh cherries. A great Champagne, a 20-year-old Montrachet, a beautifully aged Gevrey-Chambertin, a great old Barolo. And by the time I say trockenbeerenauslese, I’m ready to go.

18. What is Heaven Like?
It can’t be much different from the Sonoma Coast.

19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine?
Excluding my wife and two sons, whom I have the privilege of eating with most nights: Bob Dylan, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe and my father. In fact, I’d give up the others if I could have one more meal with my father.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Be passionate, have a point of view, enjoy writing, and do it because you love it and can’t help it.

Wine & the Pornographer

Over the past few weeks we at Wark Communications have been working on a catalog that presents various wines. It took a certain getting used to the idea, but after working on the project for a while and thinking about it, what became clear was that wine catalogs are all about sex.

Well, not the messy —let's make children—"hand me the smokes, dear"—kind of sex. Rather, creating this kind of catalog is all about turning the switch on a person's passions and desires; making them crave; asking them to give into their most vinous carnality.

In the first place there are the visuals. I believe that good, sexy graphics are the key to getting the motor running of most wine lover. That's not to say that visuals alone will seal the deal and convince them to jump in bed with a sexy first growth. But, a well composed shot that hints at the pleasure to be had by embracing an Old World vixon like Comte de Vogue sure does get the motor running for many a wine lover.

In the course of designing this catalog we scattered slightly revealing bottle shots of great wines that could be had throughout the pages. The idea is simple and not new: use graphics to help them decide they can possess these sexy things.

Then there is the copy that accompanies photos that are the spine of the project. Think Penthouse Letters.  It's there to make the reader crave; the copy is there to help the reader justify the spot of saliva that ran of their mouth as they skimmed the alluring photos. "That's right, that Comte de Vogue is exactly what you think it is big boy, it's a smooth, velvety goddess that you can keep wrapped up for decades and will make you burst with delight when you finally decide to consume it entirely...go for it. It's yours."

And then, of course, there's the money shot: "Robert Parker: 98 Points".

That feels good, doesn't it!!

Did I feel a little bit like a pornographer in the course of helping create this catalog? You bet! In fact, without embracing one's inner-smut monger, you just can't create the kind of product that will make a wine lover stand up straight and take notice.

Mergers, Acquisitions and Angst

I've never gotten overly concerned about the acquisitions and mergers in the wine industry that seem to have increased in pace over the past decade and that have inspired some deal of angst among others. I think the reason is that I'm not much of a nostalgian (word?). Also, I see new and interesting and committed wineries popping up like weeds across the country, a great number of which have quality and authenticity at their core.

However, for those of you who do see something of significance in these deals, it's pretty imperative that you read Dan Berger's "The Berger Merger Report" published at Appellation America. In a smooth, straightforward way, and with perspective, Dan outlines the impact that mergers can have on the wineries being acquire and uses the insights of some very knowledgeable folks to demonstrate how buyouts of respected wineries need not lead to a loss of quality or a loss of the authenticity that often define these brands.

Dan seems most concerned about the impact that a buyout of a smaller, terroir-driven winery by a larger, corporate winery. His concern is that a source of significance to to the idea of regional identity is too often lost when bean counters get their hand on such a brand.  To help him explain this concern he relies on the thoughts of George Rose, a long time advisory and PR expert who has worked in the Wine Industry for a very long time and seen much that there is to see. 

Dan's article on mergers also relies on the thoughts of an anonymous "A Sonoma County wine marketing executive". Why anonymous? Probably because of this:

"Some people buy wine by number,” he said, “but The [Wine] Spectator stopped being about wine years ago. To the readers of the Spectator, and even to their editors, wine is nothing but window dressing. It’s now a lifestyle magazine and the only people who read it are not very wine knowledgeable. They buy not what they like; they buy what someone else likes.”

This comment came in a discussion of how mid level marketing managers at larger wine concerns and corporations often give in to scores and attempt to have wine making techniques altered to achieve better scores from The Wine Spectator and, presumably, other wine publications.

I don't think I can agree that Jim Laube believes wine amounts to mere window dressing.

Nevertheless, Berger's article is another must read from Appellation America, particularly in light of Constellation's recent acquisition of Fortune Brand's fine wine portfolio.

Help Out With a Great Wine Story: Kids & Wine

We've had this discussion before.

Do you parents let your small children, say 4, 5, 6, 7-years old taste wine? Is it a proper, even healthy, thing to do? If you do, is there a fear in the back of your mind that the agents of the state will break down your door and make an example of you?

Someone else is wondering about this question. In fact, she's writing a story for the Associated Press about parents that introduce their children to wine at a young age.

Victoria Brett would like to speak with any parents out there who do have an opinion on this or have actually given their children sips of wine.

If you are willing to speak with her you can e-mail her here:

victoriabrett@comcast.net

As I mentioned to Victoria, we began allowing our children to take a sip of wine whenever we opened a bottle. Not a glass to swill down, but a sip. Each time they did take a sip we insist they tell us what they think. Good? Bad? Fruity? Yucky? Tart? Sweet? Whatever. The idea was to make them comfortable with wine as an object of interest and pleasure, rather than a forbidden fruit.

You may have a different experience or a different approach. Shoot Victoria an email and let her know your experiences. It will make for a better story.

Or, leave your thoughts in a comment here.

Bloggerview #11: Amy Lillard et Matt King

Bloggerview #11
Name: Amy Lillard & Matt King
Blog: La Gramiere
Where: http://lagramiere.typepad.com/blog/

I think I first started wanting to be Amy and Matt sometime last year.

I began reading their blog, La Gramiere. It was a simple little blog about two Americans who moved to the Rhone to start their own winery. There was nothing particularly groundbreaking about their tales. There was no used of interesting blogging tools. It was merely two Americans in a foreign land trying to make the most interesting and delicious wines they could and letting us all know what their world looked like. I was hooked. Today, Ann and Matt's daily travails and adventures are a regular staple in my reading. Reading La Gramiere represents a short mental break from everything else and I always come away smiling. These are fine folks from all I can tell. I'm going to meet them one day when I invade their lives with my wife and kids in tow on a French vacation. That will be a good thing for me, but an even better thing for my kids. It will show them that even living your dreams might mean a little bit of hard work...but that's the point.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
I began in July 2005 in order to chronicle this crazy adventure we had just embarked upon.  Mainly to keep friends and family in the loop.  Then one day I was poking around some other blogs and asked if they would link to my site, that’s how it all started, Alder and Lenn both put links to my blog on their sites, and I started taking it more seriously, realizing that it could be a great way to build interest in our new endeavor and eventually in the wine itself.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
Two crazy Americans farming the vineyards, picking the grapes and in the end making wine in the Southern Rhône Valley. Take part in our daily adventures, trials, successes and failures of our new life as vignerons!

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
I think it’s my honesty and my self-effacing, stream of consciousness writing.  Writing in this way makes people feel like they have a front row seat in the creation of this winery and our first wines.

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
To be honest, I was 2 years into blogging before I even realized that you could track things like site visits, page views and referring addresses!  I am definitely what you would call a low-tech blogger.  I see “widgets” on other people’s blogs and wonder how they get them there and what those widgets do!  I think the growth is steady, but I’m certainly not breaking any records.

5. Do you accept sample for review?
If someone wants me to taste their wine, I’d be happy to, but it’s not what my blog is about!

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
My best accolade for a wine has always been the word “Yum!” next to my tasting notes.  The more exclamation points the better it is.

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
That’s a tough one.  There are times when there’s lots going on and lots to talk about, then it’s easy, you just make time, because you want to share.  Then when things are a bit slower, and you are into your third year of making wine, the posts can seem a bit repetitive, but then before you know it something new arises and you’re off again.  I think it’s better to post often when you have something to relate to your readers.  When things are quiet I tend to not post as much, when it becomes a burden, it’s just not fun -  for the reader or the blogger, I’m sure readers can tell when the posts are less interesting and more “obligatory.”

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
Like I said in the beginning I started out by asking other sites to link to mine. Then I was lucky enough to have people like you at Fermentation and Craig Camp  at Wine Camp promote my blog, that helped a lot.  Basically that’s it.  I don’t really have the time to spend finding all of the different ways available to market my blog.  Maybe someone out there has some pointers???

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
The great thing about blogging for me is that it’s immediate.  Especially during harvest when people want to know how things are going.  Never before have we had the ability to show wine lovers what’s going on in the vineyards in such a timely fashion.  For that matter, winemakers/wineries have never had to ability to so directly communicate with the public.  For us, just starting out, our blog created interest in our wine even before it was bottled.  Now that’s pretty amazing.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
Let’s see besides the obvious ones that I’ve already mentioned, I read Jamie Goode, Joe Dressner, Alice Feiring, Eric Asimov, and have recently enjoyed Lyle Fass.  There’s also some really great French winery blogs that I enjoy, but you’ve got to be able to read French!

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
Definitely, I think it’s demystified the whole industry and made it much more accessible to consumers.  Just look at us, who would have ever heard of La Gramière if it weren’t for my blog?  You have journalists like Alice Feiring and Eric Asimov writing much more personal accounts of their wine experiences than you would ever find in print media.  Importers?  Take Joe Dressner, his blog lets you into the somewhat crazy world of a wine importer.  Before blogging/the Internet, importers were hardly ever emphasized, now it’s common to see names like Terry Thiese, Kermit Lynch and Joe Dressner among many others, mentioned in posts and articles.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Ahhh vacation.  Before owning vineyards, I wouldn’t have hesitated, it would have been Paris, even though I’ve lived there and even though I can still get there in 2.5 hours on the train. Now though, I must say, a week lying on the beach soaking up the sun and sipping tropical drinks sounds pretty darn good!

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
Both, we have a dog and two cats, love them all.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
New Yorker although I admit that it can be over my head at times…

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
Here in Europe we have diesel engine BMWs that get virtually the same mileage as the Prius.  That, combined with the fact that hybrids are most efficient in stop and go traffic, and the fact that for me to make the 40 minute drive to Avignon there isn’t one stop light, I might have to choose the BMW…  But my little blue 1978 Renault 4 is still the best car ever!

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
Chablis, no question.

17. What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Consist of?
Pata Negra, foie gras, and a dry-aged rib-eye,  the kind that only exists in the US, and finish up with a French cheese plate that would bring De Gaulle to his knees!  Nope, not a vegetable in the lot. Of course there would be wine, I would have the sommelier choose it, and he would know just what I was in the mood for if it was my last meal on Earth.

18. What is Heaven Like?
Hmm, not sure it exists, life is pretty good, so it’s hard to think about what’s next…

19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine?
Richard Olney, RW Apple, Edward Behr and Frank Schoonmaker.  I figure that would make for an interesting evening.  Everyone would bring a favorite bottle… I do feel a bit sheepish about not having any women, Gabriella mentioned MFK Fisher she’s definitely on the list and if I could add another it would be Colette.  Colette made me think of Hemingway too, can’t we make the party a bit bigger?

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Ask yourself why you’re writing it, and why someone would want to read it.  What do you have to say/relate that sets you apart from everyone else.  For me blogging is a personal thing, and you definitely have to be willing to identify yourself and give people a reason to believe in what you are writing about.  Find your niche and explore…

Wine Tasting is a Lonely Pursuit

Folks who find themselves arguing against ratings systems for wine, particularly the exacting 100 point scale rating system, often retreat, eventually, into what can only be called the "Final Point": Wine tasting is ultimately a subjective thing!

It's often a point that is offered as coup de grace in an attack on rating wine. A more robust assertion looks like this: "Even if one can accurately describe a wine using a rating system and words, the critic's palate is just that...his own, and that means my palate is as sure as his."

John Bender, a professor of philosophy at the University of Ohio and a sometimes wine writer, takes on in full this notion of subjectivity of wine tasting in a wonderful little exploration in the recently released book, "Wine & Philosophy". In his contribution to this collection of essay entitled "What the Wine Critic Tells Us", Dr. Bender argues that this Final Point is not so final.

Dr. Bender makes the case that well-trained and experienced tasters can indeed objectively perceive the specific qualities in a wine such as sugar levels, tannins, degrees of Bret and any number of other physical characteristics of a wine that lend themselves to detection by the palate. Further, he notes, correctly I think, that what is perceived in a wine by experienced palates can be validated by simple testing in a lab.

This is not a controversial claim.  His next claim however is an interesting and somewhat less specific one.

What about evaluations and qualitative descriptions of wines? Is it a subjective statement when I assert that "this Merlot is under ripe and displays unfortunate vegetal characteristics"?

It would seem so, but Dr. Bender cautions us, "not so fast". Bender makes a rather interesting claim that because our opinions are open to argumentation by others, open to being changed by a good argument, it just might be that something close to an objective qualitative claim about the aesthetic value of a wine might be possible. It just might be that I could convince you that this Merlot IS too vegetal, rather than "balanced" and "complex" as you claim. Bender makes this final appeal:

"Since standards or sensibilities are open to argumentation, they can be judged as more or less plausible or more or less experienced. When it comes to aesthetic sensibilities, one can be convinced to make a change. This process need not be seen as any more "subjective" than a debate over justice is necessarily subjective."

I think Dr. Bender is inclined to believe that there are aesthetic standards for different wines that have proven themselves reliable and helpful to consumers and the market and that they have developed over the years, if not centuries. I think his argument here is offered to support this contention, which, by the way, is an objective observation of the realities of the wine market. However, the existence of well excepted standards and the fact that folks can be convinced through a finely constructed argument to accept them does not make them objective truths any more than Christian, Muslim or Jewish claims to the ultimate moral righteousness of their God's moral claims make them objective truths. Standards of what a wine should be always will be judgments, despite the source or the force of conviction that stands be hand an argument for those standards.

Dr. Bender goes on to discuss the role the "sensibility" plays in our evaluations of wine. That is to say, If I am much more sensitive to acidity than you, it would simply be impossible for you to argue that I SHOULD find what I perceive as an edgy, overly acidic wine to be crisp and refreshing as you do. You can't make the argument I should because the objective nature of my palate does not allow me to.

This all leads me to conclude that wine tasting and particularly the evaluation of wine is a LONELY PURSUIT. Only I can taste what I taste. If we are lucky our palates will align and we can together discuss the characteristics and merits of a wine. Perhaps I'll change your mind about this Zinfandel's merits or that Cabernet's qualities. But in the end, my palate is mind, your palate is yours and they shall never actually meet.

Beezelbub Comes To Utah?

You have to admit, it has to be one of the funniest and weirdest anti-alcohol laws in the country:

No Alcohol will be served or available for purchase on election day or when the polls are open.

Yet leave it Utah.

But wait the spawn of the Devil is on his way to rectify the situation and bring Satan back in control of Utah. State Senator Scott McCoy thinks this law should be repealed:

"This whole notion of not being able to drink on the day you're voting is just archaic. You can get completely liquored up at home and go vote if you want to, or you can have a glass of wine at home while you fill out at an absentee ballot, yet on Election Day you can't walk into a restaurant at noon and have a glass of wine. It seems there's a bizarre inconsistency."

This guy clearly wants out of Utah politics. But he's got a point.

No doubt the political leaders in Utah will point out that Senator Scott is in the employ of Beelzebub and has it in mind to lead all the children and weaker souls in Utah to the gates of Hell, all the while chugging down cheap Chardonnay.

Indeed, Senator McCoy has a tough road to hoe ahead of him if he thinks he'll get this law changed. Consider this little nugget found in the middle of the Associated Press story on Mr. McCoy's Windmill Tilting expedition:

"Bobbie Coray, a recent appointee to the state liquor commission and who does not drink for religious reasons, proposed hiding liquor bottles from view in restaurants so those who don't drink aren't offended by the sight of them."

But here's my favorite thing about his entire article. The very next sentence following the revelation that simply seeing a bottle of Cabernet would likely offend folks in Utah is this beautifully understated sentence:

"McCoy acknowledges revising any liquor law will be difficult."

You think?

It's unfortunate that many Associated Press articles don't carry the reporter's name on them and also that I'm too lazy to go searching for the name. At the very least this reporter should get the Sense Of Human Award for Journalism.

Utah happens to be one of those states that we look at from afar and think, "what pretty mountains...let's go ski." But upon closer inspection of the state and its inhabitants' proclivity to legislate the fun out of living, we almost always end up heading to Nevada. After all, if you are going to do the Devil's work, you may as well do it in his back yard.

Why Ads On Your Favorite Wine Blogs Are GOOD!!

There has always been a bit of a cringe-factor among wine bloggers when it comes to the issue of running advertisements on their blog. It results, I think, from an intense desire to try to show themselves as being apart from mainstream publications that make their money off ads and who have always been accused of showing favoritism to those who run ads in those magazines.

But, advertisements are GOOD for Wine Bloggers as well as readers of Wine Blogs.

The vast majority of of folks that take ads on their wine blogs, and there are not many, are able to charge anywhere between $20 and $200 per month for a spot. The first thing to recognize is that if you are willing to show favoritism to an advertising client just to get, say, $100 per month for an ad on your blog then you clearly have more pressing problems than the compromised nature of your character.

But here's what's GREAT about Blogs that take ads: They motivate the blogger to create a better product (blog). No one wants to sell and ad to a company then see their readership languish or decrease. And in the world of blogging, readership increases as you increase your postings and as you keep your postings compelling for the audience you write for and for the audience your advertisers hoped to reach.

As you can see, we take ads at FERMENTATION. We sell companies these ads because we can. And the fact that folks do want to advertise on a blog that originally was created just for me to to spout off is a source of pride. But I don't think I'm any different than the vast majority of wine bloggers: I want to make sure that those who have expressed this kind of confidence in me and my blog are rewarded...and I'm not embarrassed by not living up to their expectations. That means I try to continue to make FERMENTATION a blog that more and more of a particular audience will want to read.

This is why ads on Wine Blogs are a good thing. They motivate the blogger to give you a better blog, whether you are an advertiser or a reader.

Intimidated By Wine

I bet there was a time when the White House, under no circumstances, would have served a California wine at a State dinner for a visiting leader from Europe. That time would have been long ago, but nonetheless I'll bet there was a time. And the reason is probably the same that explains how Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius could have been led to make this comment about her state's wine:

You should be thankful we don’t make wine in Kansas. If you ever see Kansas wine, don’t drink it.”

OUCH!!

For some reason, people tend to get self conscious about the quality of their home state products when faced with someone from a place that serves as an icon for that product.

In the case of the Kansas Governor, the unfortunate quip came out of her mouth while in Washington State at a fundraising event for the Washington Governor. I suppose it's the notion that fine wine has always had a way of bestowing some sort of sophistication on those associated with it, be it as a producer, drinker or representative of a place where the wines are understood to be outstanding. Governor Sebelius clearly didn't want to be associated with an industry that did not have the reputation equal to that of Washington States. She was intimidated.

The Kansas governor, if asked about either Washington Wines or Kansas Wines or the comparison of the two really should have responded this way:

"Kansas may not have a leg up on the great wines of Washington...Yet. We grow more than 20 different wine grapes in the state and our wines are getting better every year. Give us a few years and I'll be happy to bring the Kansas wines to a tasting alongside Washington's."

Given the unknown limits of technology and the advances in viticultural techniques, wine regions like Kansas can produce outstanding, regional, unique wines if they are encouraged to pursue winemaking. That encouragement really should be coming from the the State's political leadership.

The problem that Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius faces is that technology and science don't appear to have developed a cure for Foot-in-Mouth Decease.

Bloggerview #10: Russ Beebe

Bloggerview #10
Name: Russ Beebe
Blog: Winehiker Witiculture
Where: http://www.californiawinehikes.com/winehiker/

How could I not like a blog written by a fellow who would invite both Willie Mays and Thelonius Monk to his dinner party? Actually there's more to Russ Beebe and his Winehiker Witiculture Blog than his good taste in dinner companions. Russ does something with his blog that few others do well: combine his interest in wine with a distinctly different avocation: Hiking. When I first ran across Winehiker this is what struck me immediately: there was was felt like a very nice and natural combining of these two seemingly different pursuits at WineHiker. So, despite Russ' rash decision to do a post that include many terrible and unsettling photos of large spiders crawling near human beings, I thought it important you meet the man behind one very original and well done blog.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
In the late Spring of 2005, I received a layoff notice from a job I'd held for over eight years.  I suddenly felt compelled to focus on two activities for which I had long held great passion – hiking and wine tasting – and taking them to a professional level as a wine country tour guide with a "nature" twist.  I began building a website for my tour business, californiawinehikes.com, which eventually launched on the first of January 2006.  Meanwhile, I had a hunch that I should support the business with a blog – seems everyone was doing it – and thus I wrote my first post for Winehiker Witiculture on December 7, 2005.  Looking back, that seems to be a time in which a lot of wine and hiking bloggers jitterbugged onto the blogging dance floor.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
Winehiker Witiculture is for hikers who love wine.  It's also a blog for wine lovers who love to be – or desire to be – active outdoors.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
It's rather non-denominational in that I write for both the wine and hiking communities as one greater whole.  The demographic overlap between the two groups, and the realization of the wine country ideal for both, is huge.  I believe that I'm rather unique in this niche since nobody else, as near as I can tell, is blogging about winehiking, much less using the term, which I secretly hope to someday see defined in Wikipedia (and written by an objective third party).

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
The blog started life humbly, but hardly a month has gone by since the Spring of '06 in which its readership hasn't grown. Nurturing a blossoming community of readers – and a devoted band of commenters – has helped me to blossom, in turn, because the blog keeps me engaged in networking, researching, and learning, which therefore allows me to entertain and grow my readership further.
Toward that goal, I believe I've done best when I've taken the time and patience to strike a responsive chord with my readers.  There's something about being in the wine country – fully experiencing its potential for renewal and reward – that goes beyond where to hike next or how a wine tastes.  It's about developing a connection between people and the natural world that is all around us, but which we seem to easily forsake.

I want to place people on the winehiking path, figuratively and literally.  I prefer to write, then, with a sensibility that produces a physical desire on the part of my readers to pursue a winehiking vacation.  I therefore expect to continue writing about the things that tend to draw people to fully experience not merely the wine country as a place, but as an emotional or spiritual destination, a notion of the nature that surrounds the place in which the wine we love is created. 
This notion also describes the way in which I approach my tours.  When you're on the trail with me, you're not just walking – you're using me as your conduit to reconnect with something vital.  A self-guided tour offering nothing more than a map, a hotel reservation, and a boilerplate itinerary cannot approach this kind of genuine natural connection. So I would characterize the growth in my readership as being reflective of the values of a community that feels the attractive intangibles of the wine country as strongly as I do and, like me, wishes to reach out to connect with its very nature.

5. Do you accept samples for review?
Yes.  I tend to purchase my review wine most of the time – sometimes because I've already tasted it – but I do nevertheless disclose how I come by the wine I write about.  I admit that I've wrestled with how my review could potentially make or break a budding winemaker.  I feel, however, that I should express honesty at all costs, even if it seems displeasing.  Isn't that what other critics do? 
I've talked this issue up with my friends, most of whom suggest that if I don't like a submitted sample, I should just keep my yap shut.  However, that's the opposite of the tacit business schema in which silence is acceptance; maintaining silence about a wine I didn't like will not convey much to the winemaker about his or her need for improvement.  Why should a winemaker – or anyone else – assume false illusions?  I don't believe in tacitly perpetuating mediocrity; it's passive-regressive. Reality dictates that action should breed consequence.  And I do believe winemakers should make good wine, not bad wine.  Call me an iconoclast, but I refuse to be politically correct for fear of reprisal or lost subscribers.  I just plain won't write an honestly good review about an honestly bad wine.  But I'll still write it, given the bandwidth.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
Each system has its purpose.  To me, merely liking a wine is not enough; I want to know why I like a wine (or not).  I also want to apply reasoning to my ratings based on a wine's separate attributes - color, aroma, body, balance, finish, etc.  And while the five-star rating system is good for the quick glance, I find it too simplistic to be of educational value; conversely, the 100-point scale seems too mincingly complex to successfully employ in a wine blog.

Because I regularly host blind wine tastings, I use a variation on the 20-point scale (originally developed at UC Davis) because it possesses the capacity to aid learning.  I've since applied some design and formatting to my version of it and added a second page that combines individual scores to result in a group favorite and to see how individual tasters' palates compare and contrast to each other.  In retrospect, I'm glad I added the group scoring feature; the tastings that followed were much more engaging (read: fun!) for my guests.

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your winehiking blog into your daily schedule?
I somehow fit it in between CNBC and the Colbert Report.  And a full-time job.  Weekends?  Naw:  I'm usually out getting my winehiking ya-yas.

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
I have explored a number of tools for distributing the Winehiker Witiculture feed including del.icio.us, Facebook, Twitter, and other sites, but mostly I've concentrated on the search terms people use to find me, then using those terms where appropriate in my blog posts and tour descriptions.  What I believe most, though – and what I aspire to becoming more consistent toward – is that good writing attracts good readers.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
Technically, blogging is different than traditional print media because bloggers are not compelled to kow-tow to any editorial constraints imposed by management or to a particular accepted professional style.  We can just express ourselves in any way we see fit.  The similarity, however, is that both the writer and the blogger must think constantly of their respective audiences. As a technical writer by profession, I've always had to adhere to a strict company style and develop complex content for a technical audience; it's a narrow path with limited room for creativity.  Therefore I appreciate the freedom to write about the things I love the way I choose to write about them.  I also take great joy in knowing that I have built a readership that finds my words compelling enough to want to click through again.
Freedom and joy.  Sounds exhilarating:  kind of like a winehiking tour.

10.    Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
It depends on whether I'm seeking facts or feelings.  I've been tested as whole-brained, plus I follow many wayward notions, so I tend toward left-brain-oriented blogs on some days and right-brain-oriented blogs on others.  That leaves plenty of room for interpretation, and I therefore read a lot of blogs – both wine and hiking – to stay informed and to also gather the vinoambulocentric energy that fosters febrile creativity. 
Here's a short list of the wine blogs I read regularly, followed by a list of notable hiking blogs:
•    Dr. Vino
•    El Bloggo Torcido
•    Fermentation
•    Good Wine Under $20
•    The Cork Board
•    The Wine Collector
•    Vinography
•    Wine Life Today
•    Wine Outlook
•    Gambolin' Man
•    Trout Underground
•    Two-Heel Drive

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
Yes, to both.  I even believed this to be true before I wrote my first post on Winehiker Witiculture.  It's why I choose to target a readership interested in wine and hiking rather than an audience merely seeking tour- and travel-oriented content; there's much more long-term passion inherent in the former.  That passion must have outlets, and traditional media cannot contain it.

It's time for the wine industry to think outside of the static website, because the industry practitioners who choose to give a human touch to their enterprises via a blog are quickly gaining loyal fans who vote with online dollars and then tell their online friends, virally, about their experiences.  Blogging is huge – it's a freaking juggernaut – and it represents just too big an opportunity for wineries to remain complacent about.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Paris.  In the Spring.  On a road bike.  Wearing a jersey with 750ml pockets.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
I tend to enjoy deeper philosophical discussions with cats. They can actually make me purr.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Let's see: style or substance?  New Yorker.

15.    Car: Prius or BMW?
Style vs. substance again:  it's all about me vs. it's the global warming, stupid.  I purposely pick Prius.  (Be careful how you say that.)

16.    Chablis or California Chardonnay?
This California boy would cause some consternatious head-scratching if he declared himself a Chablis fan.  So it's Chards, all the way.  Spicy, big, mildly buttery.

17. What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Consist of?
If I were to be on the trail for the few days prior to such a mortally distressing event, even a strip of beef jerky, a handful of raisins, and a cup of cow-camp coffee might seem like manna. 
But if I could have a choice – and I'd like one, please – then I'd surround myself with lots of friends for a Southern-style feast consisting of gumbo, etouffe, jambalaya, blackened catfish on dirty rice, pork ribs slathered (slathered, I say!) in my own tangy-hot BBQ sauce, plus red beans and rice with Andouille sausage and a green salad with pecans, Vidalia onions and a spicy mustard dressing.  I'd follow all that with a heapin' helpin' o' fresh peach pie a la mode.  Plus I'd swill lots of Dry Creek Valley zinfandel with that dinner and Inniskillin eiswein – and later espresso – with that peach pie. I would probably die immediately of acute gluttony and the end would justify the means.  (Or is it vice versa?)  The meal, nevertheless, might just be worth it.  Because maybe I'll then undergo a crematory shape-shift into fertilizer for a new redwood sapling that'll endure for 2500 years.  Or perhaps a block of cabernet vines!  Yeah!! Future wine bloggers could remark about how the latest Winehiker vintage breathes earth, bramble, smoke, tabasco, charred sweat, and boot leather.  At least I (burp!) hope so.

18. What is Heaven Like?
Every trail goes slightly downhill both ways and there's a top-notch winery at the beginning, middle, and end of each one.  (Indeed, I've actually been there.)

19. If you could invite 4 people dead or alive to your fantasy dinner party, who would they be and who would you have bring the wine?
The Three Stooges and Gary Vay-ner-chuk. 
No, on second thought, too much good food and vino would end up on the walls.  Let's make that Mark Twain, Willie Mays, Thelonius Monk, and Jennifer Rosen who, naturally, will arrive an hour early to greet me with a double magnum of 1er Cru just so I can score it before the boys arrive.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
It may sound trite, but you've got to want to write.  Learn all you can about your audience, your wine, your network, and the particular wine-related passion that chose you.  But before you do, start writing.  And then edit, edit, edit.

An Impatient Age

“Wine doesn’t submit very happily to scores, but I realize people making buying decisions are in a hurry … We live in a very impatient age.”

"A Very Impatient Age"!

This is Jancis Robinson, the English wine scribe, explaining the factor that provoked her to use scores on reviews of wine on her subscription website, Jancisrobinson.com. This explanation of her giving in to scores came in an article and interview with her by Appellation America's Alan Goldfarb. The bulk of the article is about the educational value of using sub-appellations on Californian wines ("Atlas Peak" for example, in addition to "Napa Valley")

But it's this notion of a "very impatient age" that interests me.

I dare say that Ms. Robinson has hit on an explanation for the omnipresence of wine scores that strikes me as on the mark. I hadn't thought about it much, but it does seem that it is healthy dose of impatience that leads Americans to embrace a simple number to describe a wine, to use "LOL" instead of "that made me laugh" in their digital correspondence, that leads newspapers and reporters to write shorter and shorter articles on complex subjects, and to fully embrace the concept of "Fast" but usually quite yucky food for their meals.

I don't dismiss th