Fermentation: The Daily Wine Blog

Is Wine One Letter Away From Disaster

I'm a curious guy. That's why I decided to do a quick google search today on "Wine and Swine Flu". Who knows, maybe something interesting will pop up. But right when I finished giving Google instructions on what to find for me the search sentence hit me in the face: "Wine and Swine Flu". Holy Cow. What if it there were no "S". What if it was the "Wine Flu"?

Pork Futures have dropped and there are reports of consumers pulling back considerably on their pork eating and purchases. Now, let's be clear, there is no danger of contracting Swine Flu from fixing up a batch of Baby Back Ribs or grilling up some Pork Tenderloin. Nevertheless, folks appear to be extra cautious, perhaps to the point of over reaction.

But it just goes to show how various things, even ludicrous ideas, can pound an entire industry. And it got me to thinking, what would bring the wine industry to its knees?

Certainly a virus or disease named the "Wine Flu" would cause sales to drop, whether or not the virus was aptly named. But unless a particularly virulent and smelly form of Cork Taint can infect a person and make them smell like trichloranisole, I think the industry is safe.

But if you want to worry about a real potential problem, go visit Highway 29 in Napa at noon in the summer. It's bumper to bumper. What happens when a pedestrian gets plowed over by someone driving to their 7th tasting room? What would be the political reaction? What would be the legal reaction. What restrictions would be put on tasting rooms? How would it effect travel to wine country?

Here's a good one. Remember the Tylenol Scare? What if it were the Wine Scare? What if some sick bastard who's dog died and wife had left him decided to do the syringe-through-the-cork in a few different cities in a few different stores? Im guessing a 65% drop in wine sales within 48 hours of it being reported.

What about scandal? What would be the consumer reaction to reports that a number of wineries that labeled their wines "Cabernet Sauvignon" were not in fact using that grape but a much something else? Or if it were reported that a number of wineries that labeled their wines "Napa Valley" or "Sonoma Coast" were actually using Fresno grapes. There would be a reaction by consumers. I guarantee it.

The point is fragility. Markets and economies and industries are fragile and can be disrupted easily and quickly. The saving grace is that while there are often long last repercussions to market disasters, markets, economies and industries are all capable of recovering quickly. Still, let's tale note that the "S" and the "W" are right next to each other on the keyboard.

The Long Drink

There was a bottle of rich, exuberant wine I'd been sitting with and taking long drinks from and enjoying and being strung out by for months. It pleased me. It confounded me. It drew me in. And I drunk as much as I could get my hands on.

It was captivating.

And wines will do that to you. They will bury you in delight. They will entangle you.

And they can make you believe that the delights of the senses and the sensuality of nearness to endearment can truly lift you up beyond a common, daily rift.

Then one day, I noticed the wine didn't seem to shimmer as it had. It didn't seem to be as delighted to see me as I was it. And I wondered if I had invested too much into this wine; into its charms. I wondered if I had misinterpreted the meaning of the long drinks this wine delivered.

Then I wondered...Was the wine something beyond my appreciative abilities? Or did I misinterpret this wine from the very beginning? In any case, one day the wine failed to shimmer.

This relationship we have with our desires is complex. We sometimes invest a great deal more than we should. We expect more than what the maker was able to deliver. We think these objects of our desire, rich and dark and supple, will return our investment. They do sometimes. Sometimes they don't.

Taste before you drink. Drink before you imbibe. Know the wine before you invest in it. And despite the possibility that its shimmer may go away one day, take the chance it might stay.

Bloggerview #22: Samantha Dugan

Bloggerview #22
Who: Samantha Dugan
Blog: Samantha Sans Dosage
Where: http://sansdosage.blogspot.com/

This girl has style and it shows through in her blog, Samantha Sans Dosage. The reason I know this is that many of her posts are longer than my typical post, which is too long for this format. Yet I find myself reading every single word of what Samantha writes, whether its about wine, food or the LA Lakers. In addition to posting regularly and carrying out a conversation with your readers, it's important for a blogger to commit to communicating with an authentic voice. That too is what shines through in Samantha's blogging. And it's an engaging voice. Her wine chops are pretty impressive too. All this adds up to a great read.

1. When did you begin blogging and why?
I started blogging just over a year ago, so March of 2008. I had been resisting for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I have serious bouts of writer’s block. I also write for The Wine Country’s, (the store where I work) newsletter, people seemed to really like my style or approach to wine writing, they wanted more so I started a blog. 

2 In two sentences describe the focus of your wine blog.
Tom, are sure you have read my blog?! Focus? Unless we are talking about my one-eyed-stumble “trying to focus” I’m not sure I have one. Hey, maybe that is my focus, it’s more about how wine enhances life and less about structured reviews.

3. What sets your wine blog apart from the pack?
Man, not sure really, maybe I expose myself a bit more? I may appeal more to the voyeuristic side of people. A good chunk of my posts are about eating and drinking too much, I think that is fun for people that do that too and those that secretly want to. I tend to share a lot, even personal stuff, so people sort of feel like they are there with me all the time, guess that is sort of different.  Not sure it “sets me apart”, I rather like being part of a blogging community…I’m just that crazy aunt that sometimes has one glass too many and drops the wee ones on their noggins.

4. How would you characterize the growth in your readership since beginning your blog?
I so wish I was one of those super cool cats that could say, I don’t really pay attention to my numbers…nope I need constant affirmation so I check my counter dealie all the time! When I first started I was getting something like 20 hits a week, and I honestly felt incredible about that…I think I even bought myself a bottle of NV Billiot Brut Reserve to celebrate hitting the 500 hits mark, (blushing) but something happened  late in the summer, (may have been the posts from my horrid vacation where I ended up stranded without my bags in Illinois…sharing stories with folks about what it’s like to walk around in a pair of men’s underpants, well, it just brings people together) from there it just exploded. I am still floored every morning when I check the counter…humbling.

5. Do you accept sample for review?
This is the serious “hot button” question right now isn’t it?! (Finger slipping under the collar) “Is is warm in here?” Truthfully I have never been sent a sample per se, but I am a buyer for a retail store so I am tasted on wines nearly every day, sometimes they drop off a bottle but that’s rare. More often than not I am hunched over in the tasting room, sniffing, slurping, spitting and taking notes with sales reps, but the bulk of my posts are about the wines I buy.

6. What kind of wine rating/review system do you use and why?
I don’t. I will write up wines but I never affix a number or score to a wine, I’ve just never understood that. I tell the story of the wine and it is for the reader to decide if it sounds appealing to them…who the hell am I to grade someone else’s work?

7. How do you fit the maintenance of your wine blog into your daily schedule?
You know, sleep is overrated. Seriously though, I almost never blog from work so everything is done either in the morning, before work or when I get home…I’m not a big sleeper so that works in my favor for blogging. 

8. Have you utilized any particular techniques to successfully market your blog?
Other than having my blog linked to The Wine Country’s website and facebook, not really, seems more word of mouth for my blog.

9. In your view how, if at all, is blogging different than traditional wine writing for print?
Curse words? I think there is a tremendous amount of freedom in blog writing, personality seems a big player in the blog world, much more so than print media…it’s an individual’s perspective, not a publications, somehow feels looser and more relatable for people that may not be in the business or lifelong collectors.  

10. Which other wine blogs do you read regularly?
Well Tom of Tom Wark’s Fermentation, I um, read yours. The Pour- I think Eric is fun to read and the comments suck me in. Benito’s Wine Reviews- I love his enthusiasm and crazy cooking stories, not to mention he has been remarkably helpful in getting my blog off the ground. Besotted Ramblings and Other Drivel- Peter and I share a passion for Champagne and I love the way he writes. Nancy On Wine- She is an ex Wine Country staffer and dear friend. Alice Feiring- her palate makes sense to me and I gotta love me another spunky wine chick. I’ve just started reading McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail- I really like his style too, kind of wine as seasoning to life, very comfortable for me. I read others too but those are the ones I read while sipping my coffee in the morning.

11. Do you believe wine blogs have made any marked impact on the wine industry or wine culture?
I think it is starting to, the more of us there are, with our varied styles and voices, the more people we are going to reach, and that is all good for this industry.

12. Vacation: Paris or the Caribbean?
Paris, this chunky girl does NOT dig bathing suit weather.

13. Pet: Dog or Cat?
I live in one of those evil complexes that allows neither but if I could, a dog Oh and I would not leave it in the car while I went wine tasting…man, do I hate pouring wine for some jackass with wine stained teeth, knowing the whole time their beloved pooch is sitting in the car, “Couldn’t stand to be away from the little darling huh? I mean aside from the three hours you’ve been here getting your drink on”

14. Airplane Reading: New Yorker or People?
Sky Mall, I am so getting me some of that stuff…they have a 3 foot plaster Bigfoot in there, I’m just sayin’

15. Car: Prius or BMW?
Not sure I’m cool enough for either, I drive a Camry…it is a red one though! So I’ll stay in the Toyota family and say Prius, plus it makes me look all green and junk.

16. Chablis or California Chardonnay?
Let me think, now Chablis reminds me of freshly sweating skin and California Chardonnay, (not all of them…don’t jump on my neck) reminds me of that orange that is sitting in the bottom of the bowl a tad too long…gonna have to go with Chablis.

17. Describe what you would have at your last meal?
Half a dozen oysters, icy cold with just a shot of lemon juice washed down with a glass of Agrapart Cuvee Venus. My Mother’s Sunday roast beef, rare with a blob of horseradish for dipping…I miss her, with a glass of Domaine de Montille Pommard Pezerolles. Cheese plate with a glass of Tempier Cabassaou.

18. What is Heaven Like?
This isn’t it?

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 the hardest question for me, so I’m going to cheat by adding a “If your friends and family were all out of town” Dorothy Parker, Barack Obama, Lewis Black and Didier Dagueneau…so I guess I would leave the wines to the wild man from the Loire.  Laughter and politics just do it for me.

20. What advice would you give to someone considering starting a wine blog?
Write about what you love. Write something you would want to read. Don’t measure your success by the number of comments on your blog. Post often. Check your facts, credibility is earned. Don’t blather, that’s my gig!

Humor, Wine & The Internet

If anyone wants to know why I've always loved the Internet, all you have to do is look at these three quotes, all published in various places on the Internet yesterday. This medium is always  source of great humor and fascination for me.

“'The updated information paints a portrait of an effective system that operates in every corner of the country and contributes mightily to the American economy,'said WSWA President and CEO Craig Wolf."

The head of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers Association on Wine & Spirits Daily refers to a study showing that alcohol wholesalers make an impact on the American economy and are everywhere. Kinda hard not to if your business model, outdated as it is, remains mandated by the states, regardless of its necessity. What next? An announcement by the National Association of Stop Sign Producers (AASSP) "that all across this great land stop sign makers create products that everyone continues to pay attention to"? The only thing the WSWA's Craig Wolf needs to do now is deliver up a new definition of "effective".

•

"This is not science. This is hippie, dippy, wacky commune back to the Earth zeitgeist. It reminds me of stoned university students wanting to go back to the 13th century and dance around the maypole during the full moon and then sacrifice an animal at midnight to please the gods."

Stu Smith of Smith-Madrone Winery commenting in a most colorful way at Peg Melnik's Blog at the Press Democrat on how he views Biodynamic Farming. I'll say this for Stu, who has made wonderful wines for years without dancing around a maypole—he sure has a way with words. I'm positive there is a tune around which we can wrap the lyrics "hippie-dippy-wacky" and make a fortune.

•

"looking at that Bloggers Conference, it does look like a big and free sloppy kiss and then some from the California wine industry...with much more than minimal hospitality offered...love to see some transparency from the bloggers(how many of them are paying for travel,car rental,hotels and meals?)...or should I say blobbers since they are the source of much of the misinformation,distortion,and egegious falsehoods spread with reckless abandon on the internet..."

Robert Parker Jr, commenting on the Wine Bloggers Conference and bloggers in general at the eRobert Parker bulletin board..I'll give Robert Parker this: He's got one of the greatest palates in the history of wine and has has about as much impact on the American wine culture of any human being in our history. However, it appears he also harbors an unctuous and massive conspiratorial streak.

My Kind of Governor

I've got to believe that THIS is a step in the right direction and appropriate: A winery owning governor of California.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom announced his candidacy for California Governor the other day, putting him in a position, I believe, to be the first Winery-owning governor in California's history. Newsom is part owner of Napa Valley's Plumpjack Winery. He is also part owner of the recently opened Cade Winery on Napa Valley's Howell Mountain.

It turns out that the San Francisco Mayor has had his fingers in food and wine for some time. He first dipped his toe in the Food and wine world with the opening of Plumpjack wine store in San Francisco's Filmore District. This would be followed by Plumpjack Cafes, Balboa Cafe and an upscale Squaw Valley resort. Newsom no longer has an interest in Business located in San Francisco, but remains partners in the two Napa Valley wineries.

It's hard to say what it will mean to the California wine industry and wine lovers if Newsom becomes our Governor. I suspect it might not mean that much. But perhaps he can help push CA wines when he takes his trade-related trips around the world. If Newsom does get the Democratic nomination, it is much more likely that his support for gay marriage will be the the focus of far more attention than his involvement in the California wine industry.

But I know this, I quite like the idea of a California Governor owning a CA winery. We've had two actors hold the post, and that seems appropriate. The only other thing that might be as elegantly representative of CA is if our new governor were gay beach bum with a employment history of wearing funny mouse outfits at amusement parks.

Wine and Money

As a follow up to a post on the total amount of campaign contributions alcohol wholesalers and distributors gave to Illinois State politicians in 2008, below is a list of TOTAL STATE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY ALCOHOL WHOLESALERS AND DISTRIBUTORS BY STATE.

Factors such as the state of the economy reduced the amount given from the last election cycle. These figures come from www.followthemoney.org. The total is $8,594,204. Sixty-four percent of this total is attributable to contributions in CA, FL, IL, MI and TX alone. These amounts do not include the money wholesalers and distributors spent on lobbying, which amounts to millions more.

AL    35,500
AK    900
AZ    99,358
AR    17,070
CA    1,011,156
CO    6,400
CT    ?
DE    33,050
FL    789,246
GA    381,831
HA    ?
ID    16,800
IL    1,588,484
IN    282,462
IA    84,425
KS    63,749
KY    58,350
LA    5,000
ME    554,805
MD    14,450
MA    86,450
MI    523,073
MN    31,650
MS    ?
MO    56,130
MT    5,450
NE    10,571
NV    130,838
NH    31,000
NJ    388,863
NM    41,151
NY    225,401
NC    147,298
ND    8,840
OH    283,650
OK    9,075
OR    299,983
PA    105,275
RI    32,450
SC    126,675
SD    1,900
TN    291,443
TX    1,557,606
UT    34,150
VT    3,800
VA    ?
WA    107,046
WV    45,300
WI    136,484
WY    ?

The Chilly Mistress Has Something To Teach Us

This last weekend at a gathering of friends, the issue of "Love" came bubbling to the surface. There was a cynic among us who assured his friends that love can not be measured, can not be observed and one cannot prove they feel love. What bothered him most was the cavalier way the term was thrown around, despite its transient and unresolved nature.

The conversation got me thinking about how people so often profess their "love of wine" and the differences between "loving wine" and "loving Ms. Right".

The difference should be obvious to anyone and if it is not then that person needs a crash course in the concept of "Consciousness". It is understanding the difference between loving wine and loving someone that should drive home the fact that Wine is a Chilly Mistress.

I happen to disagree in part with my friend. I think one's professed love for another person can be measured. I think we can measure it in the way the object of our loving feelings reacts to our confession of love and the acts we take on behalf of that love. The measurement of their reaction cannot be precise, it cannot be measured with a rule, but it can be evaluated in the same way we take the measure of man upon assessing his capabilities, his compassion and his morals.

Wine, on the other hand, never reacts to our love. It's cold in that way. Chilly. Wine neither spurns us or gives itself to us. It does not deflect our advances, embrace us, make long term plans to be with us, nor throws itself at us in wild fits of passion. It does nothing. For those of us who say they "Love Wine", this cold, sterile reaction by the object of our affection makes it a very chilly mistress.

Now, this all might seem like I'm just putting a shiny bow on the all too obvious. And surely that's true. But this coy little observation also serves to remind us wine lovers that if we really are looking for some sort of vital and profound meaning to life, we are not likely to find it anywhere near our love of wine, but rather in the presence of another person who can react, in some way, to our confessions of love.

However, I wonder if our love for the Chilly Mistress serves as a trainer for a future, more real, more permanent, and personified sort of love. I wonder if our "love of wine" trains us to look at something with greater care and greater interest. I wonder if the care and interest that we focus on the Chilly Mistress carries over to the way we look at a person for whom we profess to hold love. If it does, then my cynical friend perhaps should not be so concerned with what he sees as the cavalier way in which the term "Love" is thrown around—or at least the way it is applied to our appreciation for wine.

Just What the Cowboy Ordered

Despite the horrendously monopolized alcohol distribution system in Texas, that state has always bred some of the most fervent wine lovers in the country. It turns out too that there may be no other state in the Union that so actively supports its own in-state wineries. The vast majority of the wine produced in the state of Texas is consumed by Texans.

The seriousness with which Texans take their wine is demonstrated at Vintage Texas: The Wine Blog Searching for Texas Terroir."

Vintage Texas is truly dedicated to giving wine lovers an intimate look inside the vibrant Texas wine industry and to looking at what Texas Terroir really means.

The site is run by Russ Kane, who describes himself in this manner on the site:

Russ Kane is a wine writer with articles and tasting notes that have appeared in local and regional publications including Texas Culinary Thymes, ArtsHouston, Baycomber, My Table Magazine, and Wineandcuisine.com."

The fact that he is has been paid to write isn't a surprise when you read his posts. They are thorough, enlightening, detailed and educational. And they are fairly frequent too. Vintage Texas is coming up on its 1 year anniversary in June and as far as I can tell, there is no other blog in existence that so professionally and thoroughly covers the wines and wine industry of Texas.

I have some experience with Texas, having represented West Texas' Llano Estacado for a number of years back in the 1990s. What I learned from that experience was that anyone who wrote off the wines of Texas for no other reason than they were from Texas clearly hadn't tasted the broad range of Texas wines. Today there are many more bottlings and wineries from across the State.

Texas, as a state and a culture, has a strange reputation among those who have never lived there. That reputation as being the home of cowboys, shit-kickers, oil men and blond, big-haired cheerleaders does its wine industry no good. But that reputation isn't going away any time soon. That's why the state's wine industry ought to be very excited to have a blog like "Vintage Texas" up and running and doing such a good job.

Illinois & Wine Politics

I have been for quite some time convinced that the single most important factor in determining whose interests are represented by the Governing Class is campaign contribution. I believe this is the case whether you consider the issue of Gun Control, Taxation, Environmental Policy and, especially, Alcohol regulation.

To that end, I thought it time to use a few posts to shine the light on how campaign contributions by alcohol interests are dispersed in various key states.

In this post we take up the State of Illinois

WHO GIVES?
The break down of how much campaign contributions were given by sectors of the alcohol industry in Illinois looks like this:

Wholesalers/Distributors     $1,588,484
Beer Producers                   $243,162
Wine & Spirit Producers      $96,958
Liquor Stores                       $17,659

LARGEST SINGLE CONTRIBUTORS
The most prolific contributors to state political campaigns from the Alcohol Industry in Illinois in 2008 included the following:

Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois (wholesalers): $1,164,609
Southern Wine & Spirits (wholesalers): $179,550
Wine & Spirit Distributors of Illinois: (wholesalers): $162,900
Anheuser-Busch (beer producers): $157,912
SABMILLER: (beer producers): $78,250
DIAGEO: (wine & spirit producers): $66,450
Judge & Dolph (wholesalers): $50,500

Illinois represents one of those states where control of the alcohol regulatory structure and process has been completely co-opted by the alcohol wholesalers. As in most states, the Illinois legislature sets policy where alcohol is concerned and the Illinois Liquor Control Commission carries out the will of the legislature. Where alcohol policy is concerned, Illinois alcohol wholesalers control legislative policy.

Consider HB 2462, a bill that would allow Illinois residents to have wine shipped directly to their door from out-of-state wine stores. Illinois residents may have wine shipped to them from in-state wineries, out-of-state wineries and in-state wine stores; but not from out-of-state wine stores. There is literally no sensible argument that can offered to oppose HB 2462 unless hypocrisy is deemed "sensible."

Yet, this bill will not get out of committee this year. After it was introduced it was assigned to the House Businesses & Occupational Licenses Committee. The sponsor of HB 2462 quickly had it pulled from this committee because it became clear that even without any debate, it would fail to be approved by this committee and sent to the floor of the Senate for a full vote by the Illinois House of Representatives.

The only significant opposition to this bill comes from Illinois alcohol wholesalers.

It should not be a surprise that the the Associated Beer Distributors of Illinois is the single largest campaign contributor to members of the House Businesses & Occupational Licenses Committee. Among the other largest campaign contributors to this committee's members are Southern Wine & Spirits and the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of Illinois.

It has long been known that Illinois is one of the most politically corrupt states in the Union. In this case, that corruption is represented by the fact that a very small industry, controlled largely by two alcohol distributors, has been granted control of the state's alcohol regulatory structure in exchange for campaign contributions. The losers are clearly the citizens of Illinois.

I Feel Better Now

My therapist told me once that it's healthy for me to express my disappointment, my anger and my hurt, rather than bottling it up and being passive-aggressive. I used to have a hard time doing this. I used to turn the other cheek quite often or at least turn my back and walk away. I've gotten over that and now I'm able to express myself pretty thoroughly. For example:

DEAR ANONYMOUS:

SCREW YOU, YOU COWARDLY F*CK! DON'T TELL ME I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. AT LEAST I KNOW ENOUGH TO SIGN MY NAME TO THOUGHTLESS EMAILS. AND WHILE YOU'RE AT IT, YOU CAN KISS MY ASS BECAUSE I THINK THE LAST THING I'LL DO IS PACK IT IN.

I'm not sure this is what my therapist had in mind when she suggested I try to be more expressive with my emotions and feelings. But it is what came to mind upon reading this email from an anonymous correspondent:

"You know about as much about wine wholesaling as you do wine marketing you hack. Keep on whining. While you do that, wholesale and distributors will keep giving Americans exactly what they want. You think you know what's going on in the wine industry but all you do is sit back there in Cali and whine that retailers and wineries are screwed by wholesalers. Tell me numnuts, why should wholesalers be forced to carry any old winery's wine when they already carry the biggest burden in the three tier system. All you want to do is cause anarchy so your precious retailers can make a little bit more money.

Pack it in, Wark. No one reads you and no one cares what you have to say. Wine drinkers don't care about the little wineries and they don't care about Internet retailers. And they don't care about you.

(No name)

I feel better now...