Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

The Art of New Year's Eve Excess

The Art of Drinking on New Years Eve

First let's begin from the premise that New Year's Eve is, or at least has become, an accepted excuse to indulge.

Now, let's change the traditional understanding of the idea of "indulging" from meaning excessive consumption of drink and make it mean excessive consumption of good drink.

This change is meaning is important because it's necessary to justify opening absurd amounts of very good wines and spirits and also assumes a certain degree of soberness. The soberness is important under this understanding of excessive because without out a certain degree of soberness we can neither appreciate nor think about the absurd amounts of good wine and spirit that we will be consuming.

THE COCKTAIL
So, first things first: The Cocktail. Every good evening begins with a fine cocktail, well prepared. The proper cocktail, I think, must be a Manhattan. While Maker's Mark is a great everyday bourbon for Manhattan making and can be used in a pinch on this day of excessive consumption, you should instead reach for the Bookers.

THE OPENING CHAMPAGNE
From the cocktail it's time to move to a fine Champagne. This should be a good one. And it should be served with a very light nibble. This would be the time to open the vintage Champagne. We are still completely sober, our palate is stimulated by the Manhattan and we are ready to indulge. 1989 or 1990 would be perfect. Pay for the good stuff. This is the sparkler you will remember tomorrow.

THE GREAT WHITE
Upon consuming your vintage Champagne you are now ready to move to the great still white wines. This should occur with your first course. Now is the time at least three whites ought be opened and on the table. Make them a well aged White Burgundy, a middle aged Chablis and something disturbingly full and buttery from California. Remember, it's about excess...excess experience. A great Condrieu would be a fine addition. Remember, start with half a glass each, running through them all. Then, choose the one most satisfying and attack the oysters you have ordered.

THE LIGHTER RED
The second course should be a dish that can be paired with a light red such as Pinot Noir or even a rose. I can't seem to move my mind away from the idea of a well spiced salmon tartar to accompany your earthy, funky red burgundy. No matter what you choose remember...it's about excess. Have at least 4 different examples of these light reds on the table.

THE FOIS GRAS COURSE
You must have some. It must be seared so that the outside is just south of crispy while the inside remains between pink and red. We will be drinking a 15 to 20 year old Sauternes. for the squeamish among you, have them bring a small wedge of blue cheese, preferably a Gorgonzola Cremifacato, Stilton or a Blue d'Auvergne.

THE MEAT COURSE
Here's where it gets silly. To truly be excessive you must have a ridiculous selection of fine reds to accompany whatever meat course you choose. The meat really doesn't matter. It's only there to hide the fact that it's really all about the wine. You'll be needing a well aged Bordeaux, an ungodly dense Australian Shiraz, a 1986 California Cabernet, a red blend from Washington State, something older and gamy from Spain's Rioja, and an Italian red, probably something like a '97 Solaia. This might be the time to pull out that big, fat American Pinot you've been carefully keeping in your closet. The red course is also when you pull from your Rhone collection.

HOW ARE YOU DOING?
By now you've sampled upwards of 15 wines and had a cocktail to boot and you are just beginning. Remember, the idea is not to get drunk, but to consume excessively. That means you are not drinking full glasses of any wine. It mans the water is flowing at the table. It means you are seated in the best seat in the restaurant that is also near the restroom and it means you are eating all the time. However, remember, do not eat excessively. If you do, it will make it difficult to continue consuming many numbers of wines.

THE CHEESE COURSE
The cheese course is your opportunity to be silly and pull out any and ever kind of wine you want. This also means that the cheese must be several varieties. You'll need a bloomy rind cows cheese, a semi hard probably of Swiss origin, something stinky and soft from Northern Italy, Chevre will be necessary, a lovely blue should be there on the plate, and of course you'll need a wedge of Constant Bliss from Jasper Hill Farms that has been cut only moments ago.

THE DESSERT COURSE
This is the moment to dig down there to the bottom of your rack and pull out those stickies and sweet things you've not found a time to open previously. If possible try to stay away from the excessively sticky and unctuous wines. You'll be looking to open the Beerenauslese, the old Madeira, the 1963 or 1970 Vintage Port, a Quarts de Chaume from the Loire and an old Tokay from Australia.

RETREAT TO COMFORT
By now you are feeling the effects of your excessiveness and it's time to retreat to a place of comfort. Ideally this should be to the home of a friend, but a quite corner in dark room with excellent jazz will do also. Now we must start in on our spirits and liqueurs. Alternatively this is a good time to return to Champagne and sparkling wine, but not the best. Cognac, Armagnac, Single Malt are all appropriate now. It's time to reflect on your excessiveness. Time to review the ridiculous amounts of wine you've opened that previous to this night have been sitting in your cellar because you could not find just the right time to drink them. It's time to reflect on the year just past and the year to come. This can really only be done well with close friends and a fine after dinner drink close at hand. Cigars and cigarettes are appropriate now also.

The art of New Year's Eve drinking is not a casual one. It should be approached with some preparation. But most of all, it must be excessive without drunkeness. This is a very fine line. I don't recommend it to those who have not previously attempted it in more limited circumstances or who have not learned to do it from more experienced types.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

What a loss. What a life. What an inspiration

How appropriate that Oscar Peterson left this world on the eve of Christmas. The 82 year-old piano legend was a gift to the world. Attempting to reflect on what he gave us you are struck by the totality of happiness, awe and inspiration he provided to millions with his unique and groundbreaking sound.

Having seen him, finally, at Yoshi's in Oakland last year, I feel very lucky. For me, attending that performance was one of those "before you die" experiences.

His is one of those lives that, upon considering its content, provokes one to consider just how much one can make of their life. Clearly the answer is a more than is often imaginable. He reminds us that while we ought to work to experience as much as possible in our short time, we ought also to spend this life trying to inspire others. That is to say, the man led a model life.

Of all the Oscar Peterson recordings I am most taken by "My Favorite Instrument". The solo recording from 1968 is arresting. From "Perdido", "A Train" and "Bye Bye Blackbird" to "Little Girl Blue and Someone to Watch Over Me", Peterson is entirely conjoined with his instrument as he moves through a collection of standards that  are taken over by his genius and reinterpreted.

Herbie Hancock said of Peterson, "I consider him the major influence that formed my roots in jazz piano playing. He mastered the balance between technique, hard blues grooving, and tenderness. ... No one will ever be able to take his place."

What a loss. What a life. What an inspiration.

Write and Write Well!

If I could choose to get paid to write professionally about any topic I don't it would be wine. It would either be a career writing about playing pitcher for the San Francisco Giants or about spending time on sandy beaches.

The fact is, if I did write professionally about wine, it's likely I wouldn't be able to spend much time even casually researching the intensity of sunshine on sandy beaches. It's just too damn hard to make a good living writing about wine.

That's why the folks who will be presenting, talking and working with attendees at the 3rd Symposium for Professional Wine Writers are so impressive. They actually make a good living writing about wine.

Here's a secret to life. If you want to be good at something, spend time around other people who are good at it. The is the single best reason to try to attend this Symposium happening February 19 to 22 in Napa Valley. Among those who are very good at wine writing and who make a living at it and who will be on hand to work with no more than sixty or so attendees are:

Antonia Allegra, Brett Anderson, Bill Daley, Jack Hart, Bob Hosmon, Bill LeBlond, Karen MacNeil, Linda Murphy, David Rosengarten, Lettie Teague and Alder Yarrow.

The cost to attend is $475. On top of that you'll need a place to stay. Meadowood, a sponsor of the symposium, is offering a rate of $250 per night for attendees. However, there are 15 fellowships available, each sponsored by a Napa Valley winery. The fellowship pays for registration and lodging at Meadowood. Frankly, I don't think you could get as much out of this symposium if you did not stay "on campus", as it were with Meadowood.

I've not been the past two years, but not for thinking the event too trivial. Rather, I've simply not been able to muster the $1600 and the time. However that did not stop me from applying for the Fellowship both years and had I been chosen for one I would have found the time.

Which brings me to my advice: If you are serious about pursuing wine writing, be it in blog or print, you really should go to this event, either by paying or applying for a fellowship. We are not just talking about the high caliber speakers mentioned about. We are talking about four days with others who are very serious about their wine writing careers. Walking away from this kind of intensive immersion into the craft of wine writing without having improved your craft could only mean you are much better suited to be a reader rather than a writer.

Finally, I'd like to note that one of the sessions scheduled this year is entitled, "Media Convergence: Writing for the Internet, Blogs, Pod Casting and Video Casting—Basics, wine searches and Opening Fields for Wine Writers. The session will be headed up by Alder Yarrow of Vinography along with other professionals.

UPDATE:
Derrick at Obsession With Food relates in the comment section that the deadline to apply for the Fellowships is up. What a shame.

 

Wolfgang Spumes!

In the first place I'm willing to check out any wine blog that names itself with a genuine word I've never even heard of. Hence, SPUME is something I wanted to check into. But then I realize that SPUME is a new blog written by Wolfgang Weber, the second but better reason to check out this brand new wine blog.

Wolfgang is is Senior Editor at Wine & Spirits Magazine, a very well respected (particularly by those in the wine business) consumer wine publication you can find on any good magazine rack. Wolfgang brings more than just his editorship to the world of wine blogging. His background includes a stint at the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, a time at Red & Green where he help produce outstanding Zins, and time with wine importer Bartholomew Broadbent.

Wolfgang joins the likes of Eric Asimov, Alice Feiring, Ray Isle, Jim Gordon and Mark Fisher—all professional journalists and writers who have turned to blogging to, I suppose, scratch an itch that isn't completely satisfied by their day job. That's good for folks who read wine blogs and folks who want excellent, authoritative wine commentary.

There is a very comfortable, personal, insiders feel to Wolfgang's new blog. It will be interesting to see if he talks much about the process of working in the world of wine journalism. I for one would be interested in reading about the intricacies of that life. The fact is it's a world very few people get a glimpse into and this is why, I presume, we regularly hear criticisms about wine publication not to mention claims of nefarious intentions when it comes to their coverage and review.

Still, back to "Spume". I actually looked up the word in my handy dictionary just to confirm that Wolfgang wasn't trying to put one over on us by defining the word as: "a mass of bubbles formed by a liquid, often through fermentation". Indeed, that is a good definition.

So, I'm looking forward to reading Wolfgang and tracking his "Spume". Now all I need is an opportunity to casually use the word in a conversation.

Ten Wine Trends To Watch in 2008

Looking ahead is very much a process of looking backwards to see which trend lines have begun to turn upward. It's the time of year that lends itself to this kind of vision. With that, my 10 trends to watch in 2008.

Green Marketing
It started this year with a number of wineries promoting their reduced "carbon footprint" and other environment friendly acts from a production standpoint. If by referring to this as "green marketing" I appear to be dismissing the efforts and the various pronouncements, please don't take it that way. By doing so I only point to my own bias that has me looking at most of what is said and done at wineries to be be a form of marketing. The point is that 2008 will see a ramping up of wineries thinking about and implementing ways to satisfy their own, the industry's and their customer's demand that environmentally-correct approaches to life and work be implemented.

Economic Difficulties
It's entirely possible from my reading of the tea leaves that spending on moderate to high priced wines could fall in 2008 if something close to a recession kicks in and/or if the housing crisis is not addressed in terms that give comfort to the middle class. There has been very nice growth in this end of the market and this is also where growth was forecast to continue. A number of business plans were based on a continuation of good growth in wines over $25. Continuing economic difficulties will put damper on some of those plans.

The Dollar's Gift to Domestics
As the value of the dollar remains low, that means the price of imports will increase. Pretty soon retailers and restaurants are going to have to start increasing their prices on everything from classified Bordeaux to German Riesling to Australian Shiraz to Italian Super Tuscans. This is a default gift to American-made wines that begin to look like better values.

Flattering Gary
The success of Gary Vaynerchuk's Wine Library TV has and will  continue to inspire a number of other folks to launch their own Wine Video Projects. Besides being inspired by Vaynerchuk's success, it's a fact that there appear to be no technological roadblocks to streaming video and a significant and still growing set of distribution networks on the Internet. As to the success of these projects the only question is the commitment of the producers.

Legal Eagling
2008 will see a plethora of legal issues that come front and center. The Costco appeals will be settled. At least 4 different direct shipping lawsuits concerning retailer to consumer sales will find rulings and appeal will follow. On the regulatory front we will likely see a new formula for TTB issued American Viticultural areas that if not satisfactory to some could lead to lawsuits.

Direct Shipping's Increase
We'll discover this year that those who buy their wine direct from the winery and the from the retailer are quite dedicated to this channel and have no intention of decreasing their direct purchases. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it is this year that we discover through the work of dedicated individuals a reliable measure of the direct to consumer market that only confirms this channel is the most significant growth area for wineries under 100,000 cases. This in turn will lead to even further efforts at innovation in marketing and technological efforts to take advantage of the direct channel.

Sitting in the Dark
We'll see at least two films released in 2008 that focus specifically on wine, beginning with "Bottle Shock" in January. In addition, a variety of documentaries will release. For the wine industry this spurs hopes of a Sideways-like bump in sales and interest. Whether such a specific bump in sales comes as a result is somewhat beside the point as any pop culture focus on wine will in fact create an increase in interest in the drink. The bottom line is that many unfamiliar media faces will both be associated with wine in 2008 and will otherwise be talking about wine in 2008. If there is a bump of a sort from the commercial and dramatic wine movie releases in 2008 the benefit goes to Napa Valley and the high end wines.

The "American" Wine Industry Awakens
It's not as though they has not been a renaissance in commercial winemaking all across the United States over the past decade. There has been. However, I expect 2008 to be the year when more and more people to take notice of the beautiful wines being produced in Michigan, Massachusetts, Texas, Colorado, Virginia and other states. This attention I think will primarily come in the form of wine professionals pushing the bottlings from across the country and will be followed with much more media attention. Another result of this will be a continued change in laws that make it easier for wineries in non-traditional producing states to market their wines. These moves will be opposed by certain elements of he wine industry who will work hard to restrict the ability of wine industries in various states from growing.

Consolidating the Gains of Wine 2.0
Interactive, Internet-based wine services that focus on social networking and content aggregation grew significantly in 2006 and 2007, particularly the sort that help sell or inspire sales of wines. In 2008 I suspect we'll see two things happen: 1) the demise of some of these hard fighting and innovative initiatives as well as the buyout of a few by larger concerns. The most thoughtful among us will realize that this approach to wine marketing and wine promotion works and will only grow in significance in the near future. They'll also realize that some of the better Wine 2.0 businesses represent a bargain as buyout options.

Buying a Place on the Wine Trails
The past few years has seen some amount of consolidation in the American wine industry. Older, established brands being traded and folded into larger organizations. I suspect one area where savvy investors not connected with large multi-national wine companies will be looking in terms of acquisitions are those wineries that have direct access to growing number of wine tourists that move up and down the well traveled wine routes: Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail in Napa Valley, Highway 12 in Sonoma Valley, Westside Road in the Russian River and Dry Creek Valleys, the Santa Ynez wine region, in and around Monterey. These properties are valuable to keen marketers because they provide instant access to the highly lucrative and high margin direct-to-consumer channel not only in the form of tasting room sales but incremental wine club sales that follow. The value of a tiny production winery that has a tasting room in any of these areas is made even greater by the prospects of fewer tasting room permits being issued by local authorities for fear of too much traffic.

Bloggerview #15: Lyle Fass

Bloggerview #15
Who: Lyle Fass
Blog: Rockss & Fruit
Where: http://rockssandfruit.blogspot.com/

It didn't take me long to figure out why I really, really liked Lyle Fass' Rockss & Fruit blog. Lyle is an "advocacy wine blogger", my favorite kind. Don't take it from me, just read the interview below ("My blog represents the forces of good...in the battle vs the forces of evil"). Let's face it, it's just more interesting to read someone with serious opinions, especially when they express them as well as Lyle does. Lyle also happens to be a wine merchant in NY. They guy knows his wine, his wine industry and he knows what he thinks will make the wine industry a better place and what will make wine drinkers better wine drinkers. It all makes for one of the most entertaining and educational wine blogs out there, and Lyle makes for one of the best Bloggerviews yet.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
I started blogging when I left my last job as I had to find something to pass the time and needed to express myself. I have such a big mouth and so many opinions it was a natural progression from posting on wine bulletin boards to establishing my own blog. Another factor is the wines I tend to taste and enjoy are not really written about that much on the Internet so this is a perfect forum to pontificate about everything from Grauburgunder to Irouleguy. The world does not need another blog to praise Caymus or Harlan.  I blog to bring attention to the small, artisanal producers with terrific, unique wines and great price to value ratios.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
A daily report of the wine wars from the front lines.  My blog represents the forces of good (natural, unique wines showing terroir) in the battle vs the forces of evil (spoofulated, high alcohol boring wines that all taste the same).

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
The wine world is at a crossroads.  The popularity of Robert Parker has caused increasing numbers of winemakers to create wines to target his palette.  In this Brave New World, wines have high concentration and high alcohol.  They all taste the same with gobs and gobs of fruit and little other flavor.
While it is certainly nice to able to quaff big fruity wines once in a while, the uniqueness of wineries that are centuries old is something precious and that is in danger of disappearing.  Winemaking should be an art form, not a brutal Stepfordian science designed to produce spoofulated wines to please the average palette. A counter-revolution has begun with a small band of wine lovers trying to present an alternate view.  They are creating natural wines that speak of the people and place where they are made.  These wines taste unique and even casual drinkers can tell the difference.
In my blog, I try to explain the philosophy of natural winemaking and also to point out examples of these wonderful, unique wines.  I detail in-depth visits to wineries like Paul Furst’s winery in Burgstadt.  I talk about the wines of Jean-Paul Brun in the Beaujolais, Francois Chidane in  Montlouis and Angiolino Maule in Veneto.  I recently completed a [14] part series on my travels to Germany.
My blog also covers the life of a wine buyer/retailer in New York (for example, eight course meals with wine lovers at the best restaurants in the city with crazy wines from our cellars).
I also try to be funny in an absurd type of way.

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
The growth has been pretty remarkable. In the beginning I was begging people to read it. I was sending multiple e-mails out per week saying “Look everybody I have a blog! Read it please!” But then with some key mentions in The Pour, other blogs and bulletin boards more people started to read. Nowadays some things I post get picked up on some random sites and readership is growing virally. This month I will smash last month’s record. But no rest for the wicked as I want it to grow and grow and keep doubling readership every month.

5. Do you accept sample for review?
I am wine retailer so samples are my life. People do not give me samples explicitly for me to review, but usually they find their way on my blog. And I am cutthroat. If I don’t like a wine it will get railed despite the fact that it was free. I will treat it with equal jubilation if I like it.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
Well you need to know I am anti-points and rating systems. I used to not be and when I posted stuff on bulletin boards I used points but then one day I said to myself “Who the bleep are you to give points to a living breathing thing that is changing constantly and all you are getting is a snapshot in the life of this wine.” Since then no points and no ratings. But if pressed I use the tried and true, would I buy it again?

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
Pretty much if I get an idea or see something interesting I stop what I am doing and blog about it. It’s just the way I am. Spur of the moment, spontaneous. Some of my most inspired posts were never planned and just happened in the moment. I try to post every day and multiple times a day if I can because I want people to keep coming back and checking multiple times a day and thinking “What is this loon going to write next?”

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
Besides my shameless self-promotion and whoring of myself every chance I get  in the name of Rockss and Fruit, no.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
I am so far from being a professional writer it is not even funny. A book could be published on all the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on my blog. Blogging is current. Blogging is controversial. Blogging is funny. Blogging does not conform to any traditional format. Blogging is witty, self promoting and irreverent.  Most importantly it seems that wine bloggers are part of an underground community that is forming. It seems with traditional wine writing, there are factions that have developed and have always been there. The British camp versus the American camp is good example. Not happened yet with blogging. I hope it doesn’t.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
First if I have left you out it does not mean I don’t read your blog. It probably means you don’t update it enough for me to read regularly! In no specific order:

Pickyeaters
The Pour
Old World Old School
Mcduff’s Food & Wine Trail
The wine importer
Wine Camp
Alice Fering
Brooklyn Guy Loves Wine
Do Bianchi

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
Oh yeah. For me personally I have gotten emails from happy and unhappy winemakers about things I have written about their wines. I read blogs for wine news, tasting notes and general commentary. Its where the most interesting wine writing these days by a mile. They have made a pretty big impact now but the big impact will happen in the future. The best is yet to come.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Paris. I mean . . . its Paris. . 10 times out of 10. You seen one beach you seen ‘em all. I have seen one.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
Cat. Ozzie has even made an appearance on Rockss and Fruit.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Ha! Me read on a plane. I am usually so freaked out you have to peel me off the floor But if I had to choose it would be People because it is brilliantly mindless and that is what I need when I am freaking out.

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
I’ll answer that when I get my license.

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
Chablis. I have not actually drunk a California Chardonnay voluntarily since 2001. Tasted a bunch but never drank one.  But I really don’t drink much Chablis as there is too much Riesling out there.

17. Describe what you would have at your last meal?
It would be a tasting menu I create from all the great meals I have had in my life. It would start of with those light cracker-wafer things from WD-50. Then some beautifully prepared simple vegetable (carrot, squash, celery) from Blue Hill. Then the cucumber and garlic from Grand Sichuan. After that a selection of Sashimi from Gari. Then an intermezzo of fried chicken from the Cornerstone Grill. After that back to Grand Sichuan with tea-smoked duck and spicy chicken with Chinese broccoli. No desert as it is not my thing. I would wash this all down with the 2001 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Spatlese. I am assuming this would be in 2025 when this wine is mature.

18. What is Heaven Like?
Watching the sun set over Kastanienbusch in the Pfalz from the main road in Birkweil.

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?
This was a tough question because I am not sure I would want it to be four famous people I have never met because what if I don’t like them? I mean I could get in a verbal battle with Aristotle or Bogart and it would be a mess so I would want someone there I know. There are two reasons I would need someone there I know. If for some reason there is a weird vibe between me and the other three famous people the person I know would make me feel comfortable. The other reason is I know what is in their cellar so they would bring the wine. With all that said it would be Woody Allen, Matthew Barney, my buddy Mark Dumeez who is the sommelier at Savoy in NYC and my best wine buddy in the world who also would bring the wine and Keith Olberman as he covers politics and sports.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Write what you feel and don’t think about

Time To Recognize the Vines

Upon reading my last post about my status as Wine Czar, Harold Baer, publisher of the Colorado Wine News, passed on to me a very interesting initiative carried out by Yalumba, Australia's oldest family owned winery.

Yalumba has created an "Old Vine Charter".

What is it?

OLD VINE = a vine that is 35 years of age or older
ANTIQUE VINE = a vine that is 70 years of age or older
CENTENARIAN VINE = a vine that is 100 years of age or older
TRI CENTENARIAN VINE = A vine whose life has spanned 3 centuries

While this last designation is odd insofar as what separates it from a CENTENARIAN VINE today is 8 years, the project is interesting. According to the folks at Yalumba they hope to spur discussion with their in-house Old Vine Charter. There is regulation in Australia that defines "Old Vine" or any of the other other designations that Yalumba lays out here.

I once heard Will Bucklin of Bucklin and Joel Peterson of Ravenswood offer similar definitions of old vine as well as offer similar distinctions for vines of varying ages.

The really critical thing about the idea of "Old Vine" is that a vine of significant age does NOT necessarily deliver grapes that will necessarily produce "better" wines. However, most everyone who has worked with well established, older vines (particularly those more than 50 years of age, seem to agree that these vines establish a natural balance of fruit and vegetation growth and they appear to weather both very cold and very hot weather particularly well.

Others will suggest these wines tend to produce fruit that is particularly intense or powerful. That is not my experience.

What I HAVE noticed about old vine vineyards however is that when particularly old, say in the 80-100 year range, they almost always are field blends when located in California. They almost always possess some combination of Zinfandel, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet, Grenache and Petite Sirah.

It is this that I believe makes Old Vine vineyards so unique and in many cases account for the unique character that is often assigned to the wine produced from these grapes.

The best example of this phenomenon is the Old Hill Ranch planting in Glen Ellen that was first planted in the middle of the 19th century. Today one finds more than 25 different varieties of vines planted in its primary 14 acres.

If it were up to me, I would want to regulate the use of the term "old vine" long before I got to the term "reserve". It is more easily quantifiable than anything that can be done with the term "reserve". In addition, while there is no quantifiable improvement in quality that comes with making wine from old vines, there is a strong presumption that there is something special about these vineyards.

One thing California has never done is look to the few remaining old vine vineyards and see them as landmarks. They should be recognized and designated as such. They represent a significant part of the state's agricultural history. And given the status of grape growing in this state they deserve to have that significance recognized.

It is unlike that the state or federal government would ever work on moving toward a rule for use of the term "Old Vine" on American wine labels despite the fact they should. Given that, would it not be interesting and useful for an appellation organization to create a policy similar to what Yalumba has put in place. It would be nice to see a symbol on a label of Russian River Valley Zinfandel that told me that by using the term "old vine" we know that it means the grapes used to make the wine came off a vineyard that is at least 75 years old.

The Wine Czar Has Arrived

Inspired by Paul Gregutt's excellent story on the meaning of wine terms, I began fantasizing about being named the American Wine Czar and being given complete control over wine regulations in the United States. I've fantasized about this before but given the wonderful fantasy it is, the topic deserves an update.

My first set of acts as the American Wine Czar are:

THE OLD VINE" REGULATION
Any wine produced in the United States that carries the term "Old Vine" or "Ancient Vine" or any other derivation of these terms that imply the vines are actually much older than average must have have been made with 100% grapes grown on vines that have been in the ground for 75 years or more.

THE VARIETAL REGULATION
Any wine sold in America that carries a varietal designation on the label must be made with 100% of the named variety.

THE DIVERSITY REGULATION
Any company that sells wine to consumers that is not also a producer must carry at least two wines from no less than five different states.

THE CONSUMER WINE PROPERTY REGULATION
Any consumer that takes legal possession of a wine may ship that wine to anyone anywhere in the United States unfettered by any agency or law of any state.

THE SPINAL PROTECTION ACT
No wine sold in the United States may be contained in a bottle that weighs more than 25oz.

The "HANDCRAFTED" REGULATION
No wine sold in America may carry a back label that asserts the wine was "hand crafted" unless documentation is submitted to the Wine Czar that verifies the wine was actually produced entirely while being held in the hands of one or more employees of the producer.

THE "RESERVE" DISCLOSURE REGULATION
The term "reserve" may be used on any wine label of American-produced wines only if on the back label the producer explains why the wine in the bottle is of higher quality than all other non-"reserve" wines made by the same producers.

THE "100 POINT" ACT
A 100 Point rating scale may only be used to rate a wine or promote a wine or to advertise a wine if the person or company assigning the rating is able to explain the difference between an 88 point wine and an 89 point in purely aesthetic terms.

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Every time I hear about a California winery putting up national ads for their wines and brands I think to myself: "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU"!

Beringer of Napa Valley has launched a TV (and print) campaign to that began in November. I'm currently unaware of any other national broadcast campaigns from a California winery. If they exist there can't be many of them. The point is, any national campaign for a CA wine brand delivers residual benefits to the entire CA wine industry in the form of increased visibility for what one might call "California Wine Brand".

Its not easy playing in the $6-$10 a bottle market. Those who stick to this price point are looking for value i the way of better prices and are willing to switch brands to find it. Advertising gives a band that little extra edge that is consumer confidence. When a consumer is convinced in some part by advertising into buying a CA wine and when they like that wine and feel their money was well spent they remember this was a CA wine they were happy with. That translates to "I liked that other Beringer Cab, let's try another CA wine."

In a San Francisco Business Times article on the ad buy, Beringer VP of Marketing Barry Sheridan said the ad buy was:

"a breakthrough campaign. You won't see very many other luxury wineries of our stature and quality making this kind of investment in the creative and in television."

Doesn't this almost sound like a dare: I double dare you to match this buy! I hope other wineries take the bait. There is no amount of advertising that can hurt the California wine industry.

Bloggerview #15: Alice Feiring

Bloggerview #15
Who: Alice Feiring
Blog: Veritas In Vino
Where: http://www.alicefeiring.com/

Alice Feiring is not incapable of pulling her punches. I just don't think she has any interest in doing so. This is a sure indication of a person who is makes every attempt to get on with life. Alice is a writer in the best sense of the word. When reading her work you get the sense that you are reading HER, rather than her notion of what someone will want to read. This is a treat, this is not all that common and we can all see what it looks  like by reading her blog. Veritas In Vino is where Alice sounds off without pay. It's where she lucidly weighs in on any and all controversies that interest her and it's where she pull no punches. If you've been reading these Bloggerviews for any time now you'll note that she is commonly listed as one of the blogs other bloggers read regularly. I've always harbored the theory that we each read certain writers regularly because we want to be them or their characters. I'm not sure we'd want all wine bloggers to be Alice Feiring. But it sure would be nice if a whole lot more emulated her approach.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
It started all so innocently. Initially I wanted one place I could send editors to see my work. Josh Mack, my designer pushed me hard to blog as well.  In retrospect, I see that my initial posts were the seeds for my forthcoming book. I used it to test material and expand on experiential notes.  Slowly, the blog became a home where I could write –cut loose—and not beholden to an assignment or compromise my voice. You know, an actor and writer both need an audience and it picked up the creative slack when my phone wasn’t ringing as much as I would have liked.  It also turned out to be the perfect place to unload the juicy bits that got cut out of bigger stories, observations and writings that I couldn’t find a home for.

2. In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
I guess it comes down to a search for authenticity in wine and the world according to Alice.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
I think I’m known for a certain brand of honesty and no fear of controversy.  Also, am I the only full-time, freelance journalist bloggers out there? I can’t think of anyone else who fits into the category. My profession and years of experience also gives me great access to the industry. I have one constraint. Since I do make my living from articles and not the blog, I have to always balance my topics and details and make sure I don’t scoop myself out of a paying gig. Sometimes I have to wait until a story comes out in print to give the underbelly notes.

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
I don’t know if I can characterize that. My readership fluctuates between 4,000- 8,000 regular readers. If I have a story in the New York Times or people on Robert Parker’s bulletin board are discussing me, it can jump to 30,000. I also find I have a pretty solid following in France, Italy, Germany and Japan which I find very exciting.

5. Do you accept wine samples for review?
Accept? Just try to stop them from coming! It’s impossible. I get a mini-mountain of samples (mostly industrial stuff) delivered constantly to my door; most of these I have utterly no interest in tasting let alone reviewing.  I usually redistribute those and the others to my unsuspecting neighbors, the Fed Ex guy or the plumber.

On rare occasion a bottle sneaks in and surprises me. That mostly happens when people take the care to actually read my blog and know what I am all about.  Then, if I like the wine, I will write it up. If the bottles have outrageous packaging and they are vile, I’ll write that up too.   I also get a great kick out of reviewing press releases. One that stands out was the bottle that came with the rock to extol the virtues of the terroir. For the life of me I couldn’t find out where the vineyard was or who was the winemaker.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
I don’t believe in them. I believe in words and making people read. But now that I’m thinking of it, if I had to, Alice’s system might be something like.
* I can’t put it in my mouth.
* Down the drain, not the hatch.
* I can drink it, but I’m not happy.
* I can drink this. It does no harm.
* Every day? Sure, why not.
* What a quirky wine. Interesting.
* I really like this wine.
*I love this wine.
*I can’t stop thinking about this wine.
* I can’t live without this wine.

Of course there would be a few descriptive tells on each, but I would never reduce it to a #1 or a #3.

7. How do you fit the maintenance and writing of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
Each morning I obsessively check for spam (as well as throughout the day). I check my stats daily to see where my hits are coming from. I answer emails as they come in. I try to blog at least twice a week. For a day or two after I keep on editing the piece, making sure I didn’t make a complete fool of myself. (This is when I long for an editor!).  For some reason, I just can’t get it right until it is up there and vulnerable. Every once in a while I email Josh about some tech difficulty. HELP!

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
Ha!  I don’t make any money off of this thing so that’s almost immaterial. If people are interested in my kinds of wine, they seem to find me. I do admit when the Parker board has a thread on me, I pick up several escapees. There were two jolts early on in the blog that were tremendously helpful in building my base; being included in Food & Wine magazine’s story on the top seven wine blogs and when my blog was nominated for a James Beard.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
A blog is all about voice.  I don’t have to deal with an editor saying, “My you have a strong point of view, we’ll have to work around that,” which is something an editor actually told me when I was writing the Food & Wine Guide some years back. I can breathe in the blog. Also, my style is talky and informal, as if I were writing emails.  I don’t have to worry about finely structured stories or coming up with a great lead or a killer kicker. In other words, for better or worse, come take a peek into Alice’s brain and heart.

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
Sometimes I think only bloggers read other bloggers! We’re a self-referential group, aren’t we? I read several but the ones that make it on my feeds are yours, Joe Dressner, Eric Asimov, Jeremy Parzen and Lyle Fass and Amy Lillard and Wine Terroirs. I also really enjoy stopping by Ray Isle’s blog, which reminds me, I’ll add him to my feed now. Now, his great example of a difference between the edited voices as appears in Food & Wine, and his own personal (and terrific) voice on his Food & Wine blog. Edited but still, it is all Ray.

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
I’m not sure a blog is going to dramatically increase wine consumption or help America finally get out of Prohibition, but they will slowly –as more wine civilians start to read them-- influence the drinking and buying habits and choices. Drinkers will find their personal wine guru and follow them to the stores, viewing them as more independent and trustworthy

I see the growing influence in the increase of marketers wanting coverage for their client on my blog. A few years ago nothing mattered to them but print

12. Vacation Choice: Paris or the Caribbean?
That’s a choice? Paris.

13. Pet Choice: Dog or Cat?
Dog.

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Gosh, how predictable am I? I wish I could say People just for effect. But, New Yorker.

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
I live in New York and mostly get around by bike! In theory I would say Prius, but it depending on what the driving needs are…..who knows? 

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
Guess!

17. What Would Your Last Meal on Earth Consist of?
I would love to know the circumstances of why this is the last meal because when I thought I was having it on 9/11, nothing I ate or drank tasted good to me. But I am assuming I will have an excellent appetite and thirst here ….my last meal and happy about it.

Dripping, purple Cherokee tomatoes (salt, novello olive oil from Umbria, crusty bread). Fonduta and cardoons with unlimited (I control of the shaver) white truffles. A side order of sautéeed morels and porcini  and twenty-year old Barolo, let’s say Bartolo Mascarello, or anything else that it going to give me that hit of rose petal and tar sensuality  I need to go off into the great yonder. Just to make sure I cover my bases, stinky époisses with old Burgundy like….1937 Camille Giroud Cuvée Blondeau that I had at Becky Wasserman’s.

18. What is Heaven Like?
I don’t really believe in Heaven but…I think love, intimacy, peace, health, wine, truffles, literature, no angst,  old burgundy, Barolo and five- year old syrah and supplies of aligoté,  muscadet (just to freshen it up) and a rent-controlled loft sounds pretty great to me.

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?
A dinner party has to have at least eight people! But, that said, today’s choice would be; Philip Roth, Maimonides, Edith Wharton and Aubert de Villaine (to bring the wine—I could have said Lalou Bize-Leroy but I think Aubert would be a better mix with my other guests.)

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Have a point of view bigger than what you drank last night. Have a good friend check your post before you mount.   Post often. Be truthful but don’t shoot yourself in the foot.