VINOGRAPHY: a wine blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
~ Recently in Ramblings and Rants Category ~
Don Cornwell, The Fine Wine Bidder's Hero
Don Cornwell may well be a wine fraudster's worst nightmare -- a highly motivated, highly educated, and extremely experienced collector who is tired of seeing people pay outrageous sums for fake wine and of auction houses that seem to have no qualms about selling it to them. Cornwell has been collecting burgundy for more than three decades. But he's not just a wealthy lawyer with a taste for Pinot Noir. By night he's the owner and editor of the Oxidized Burgundies Wiki Site, which is building a community database of experiences with prematurely oxidized white burgundies. And by day he... continue reading 
- Posted by: Alder on February 7, 2012 3:10 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Social Media and the Wine Industry: A New Era
Ordinary wine consumers may want to skip this post. On occasion I write purely for the wine industry, and today I'd like to address the role of social media in the wine industry. Whenever I write these kinds of things, I like to remind people that by day I run a company called HYDRANT that gets paid a lot of money to help big brands be extremely successful marketing, selling, and engaging with their customers online. In short, what follows below isn't just random opinion. Let's be clear, first, what I mean by social media, a phrase that has become... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 2, 2012 11:14 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Australia as a Lesson on Currency and the Wine Industry
Some of the big news last week in the wine world had to do with the shifting buying habits of our friends Down Under. Thanks to the vagaries of the international currency markets, the Australian Dollar has appreciated greatly against the Euro, and for the first time since the Euro was launched, stuff from Europe is pretty cheap in Australia. So, what does a wine loving country like Australia (they consume about three times as much wine per capita as America) do when imports get cheap? They stop buying Australian wine all the time and they start buying imported wine.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 30, 2012 8:54 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Gallo and Constellation Screwed by U.S. Tort Law
I'm sure I'm going to catch hell for this post from any number of quarters, but it needs to be said. Big wine companies are favorite punching bags for wine lovers that would never buy their products. Sometime's there's a good reason for this, like when they throw their weight around in the marketplace in ways that aren't exactly good for the industry. The bigger the company, the bigger the mistakes they can make as well. When they make mistakes, sometimes these companies can be hung out to dry simply because they have deep pockets. And that's exactly what seems... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 24, 2012 1:51 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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The States of Wine Shipping
'It will cost the economy thousands of jobs.' 'It will reduce tax revenues and destroy retailers.' 'It will result in an epidemic of teen drunk driving.' These were but a few of the vociferous arguments made on 5 January against a bill introduced to the New Jersey state legislature that merely proposed to allow New Jersey state wineries (of which there are now more than 40) to ship their wines to state residents, just like wineries in the neighbouring state of New York. The individuals offering these arguments were primarily representatives of the state's liquor wholesalers, who purportedly spent more... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 24, 2012 8:43 AM
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Reflections on 8 Years of Wine Blogging
Eight years ago, I decided that instead of giving my friends the same advice over and over again about my favorite wines and restaurants, I would start a blog -- both so that I would have someplace to send them, and so that I could learn about what a blog was and how it worked. And that, as they say, was the first day of the rest of my life. I've been writing about wine almost every day since then, pausing only to go on my honeymoon, hang out with my new baby girl, and go fishing in Alaska this... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 14, 2012 11:41 PM
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Knock it Off: Things I'd Like to See Disappear From the Wine World in 2012
It's the beginning of a new year. Everyone's making lists. The most memorable wines of 2011. Predictions about what will happen in the wine world in 2012. Lists of new years wine resolutions. Actually, I wrote an article for Fine Cooking Magazine's last issue with five New Years wine resolutions. Mine were focused on exploring niches of the wine world that are generally ignored. Check it out if you're interested. It's an excellent magazine and is on newsstands now. But let's talk now about a different sort of list: the stuff that should go away. Here's the list of stuff... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 3, 2012 10:01 PM
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You Won Tickets to the ZAP Zinfandel Festival!
Thanks to everyone who submitted Zinfandel themed haiku poems as entries for a chance to win tickets to the ZAP Zinfandel tasting taking place on January 26-28, 2012 here in San Francisco. After assigning everyone a number and then using a true random number generator, I have picked the following six names "out of a hat" as winners. Each of the people below will receive two tickets to the grand tasting, courtesy of Vinography. I will send you each an e-mail, but you can pick up your tickets the day of the event at will call under the name you... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 2, 2012 9:31 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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Happy New Year. I'm Not Recommending Any Sparkling Wine.
2011 comes to a close. If you're a wine consumer, and one that likes to read about wine, you've been bombarded for the last three weeks with recommendations for sparkling wine. I promise not to subject you to more of the same. In fact, I'm here to object to the fact that 98% of the writing about sparkling wine takes place in the few weeks that run up to New Year's Eve. OK, I'll admit that I haven't done a scientific study, but really, as someone who reads pretty much everything published on the internet with the word "wine" in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 31, 2011 4:35 PM
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And From Napa, a Huge Sigh of Relief
Warning: non-news ahead. The only reason I'm writing this article is because a couple of months ago, I did some speculating in my monthly column for Jancis Robinson about what would happen in Napa now that the reins for reviewing the region have been handed from Robert Parker to Antonio Galloni. The fact that Galloni's scores for Napa have just come out wouldn't ordinarily merit much attention from me, except for the fact that I had made some predictions about what might change as a result. My prediction was: nothing. And it turns out that's pretty much what happened. To... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 25, 2011 2:21 PM
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Bringing Your Own Wine Glasses to a Restaurant
It's not every day as a wine blogger you get to write about Madonna. But she made news recently (as she does every time she appears in public, because, hey, what better do we have to do with our time?) when she showed up at an Italian restaurant for a romantic dinner bearing not only her own bottle of wine, but her own glasses, too. While the gossip mongers pounced on this detail of her dinner as an excuse to speculate about her being a germaphobe. I do happen to know that the restaurant where she was dining, Osteria Cotta,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 21, 2011 10:59 PM
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2011 Tests U.S. Vintners
'Mildew, botrytis, blue mould, green mould, you name it, it was everywhere. This is the most difficult vintage I've ever been a part of', said winemaker Sam Spencer, summing up his point of view on the 2011 vintage in Napa and Sonoma. Spencer's role at one of California's most well known négociants, Cameron Hughes Wine, means he has the opportunity to evaluate both thousands of tons of harvested fruit and tens of thousands of hectolitres of finished wines on the market each year. 'There's a lot of really, really fucked up wine out there', he confessed to me forcefully in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 20, 2011 9:02 AM
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Looking for Bias in All the Wrong Places
Do wine critics have a nationalist bias? According to Beppi Crosariol, the wine and spirits columnist for Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, wine critics from any country with a significant wine industry (but especially America and Australia) can't be trusted to rate their own country's wines without artificially inflating the scores. Crosariol claims that when he is out buying wine based on scores (that this particular wine critic buys his wine based on scores should be your first sign of ignorance) he deducts points if the reviewer is reviewing a wine from their own country. What a load of crap.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 11, 2011 11:13 AM
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Ensuring Organic Wine's Lousy Reputation for Years to Come
I'll bet you didn't know there was an anti-sulfur lobby did you? Sure, you thought, there are those winemakers who try to make wines without sulfur, but they're mostly renegades and eccentrics, mad scientist winemakers-cum-philosophers (all, by the way, terms of endearment from my perspective) who spend more time with goats than with human beings. Some of them make great wine, but they'd most certainly never bother with something ugly like the bureaucracy of food policy, right? They're too busy following their personal vision to make transcendent wines. And thank goodness. That's what I thought, at least, until I got... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 8, 2011 9:38 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Giving Gifts to Wine Lovers: My Advice
Here we are in the Holidaze. A time I enjoy and dread with equal measure. I love Winter as a season, and the festive atmosphere that surrounds the holidays, but have always cringed at the massive consumer frenzy and the psychological pressure of gift giving. Finding the right presents to get everyone is right up there with getting a root canal. Don't get me wrong. I love giving people gifts, but the process of trying to decide what to get them and then shopping for it drives me a little batty. In some ways I can't wait to be an... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 7, 2011 9:44 PM
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Time for a Margin Call on your Wine?
I wrote last week about the great slurping sound that can be heard from China these days when it comes to wine. The explosion in the wine auction market there has been making news for some time. One of my readers who lives in Hong Kong had some very interesting perspective on the matter, which I am copying from his comment on that previous post:Here is the reality in China from someone who lives in Hong Kong and watches all this development. The biggest reality is that hardly anyone is drinking this stuff. It is being gifted. The problem with... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 27, 2011 2:36 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Giving Thanks in 2011
Happy Thanksgiving from Vinography. For those of you outside of North America, today is America's food holiday, where there is no excuse for consuming massive quantities of food with people you love. I'm in Puerto Vallarta, myself, and plan on spending the evening drinking some big reds from Baja if I can find them, along with some choice Argentinean beef if the claims of the restaurant we've booked for the occasion can be believed. But I'm still thinking about the spirit of this holiday, which has always been one of my favorites. Growing up, I enjoyed it for the food.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 24, 2011 1:34 PM
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Alder on America: Thanksgiving and Wine
At a certain point in my childhood, Christmas faced a stiff challenge as my favourite holiday. Never mind that I am technically Jewish. For whatever reason, we ended up with a Christmas tree and presents instead of a menorah and the eight nights of chocolate coins for Hanukkah. But at a certain point, as much as I loved getting presents, there was one thing I enjoyed almost as much as ripping the wrapping paper off brightly coloured packages, and that was eating meat. While other kids saw the months between the beginning of the school year and the Christmas holidays... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 21, 2011 9:53 AM
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The Downside of AOC
News broke today of the prosecution of a convenience store owner in France, near Bordeaux, whose sales of sugar apparently went off the charts right about around harvest time this year. The sugar was allegedly purchased by local "farmers" to "make jam." Authorities, of course, suspected these farmers of being winemakers, and that the sugar was to be used in wines. While chaptalization, the process of adding sugar to grapes that might not have enough natural sugars in them to ferment properly to the desired alcohol level, is technically legal, there are strict limits on how much and when it... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 17, 2011 11:03 PM
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China the Wine Juggernaut
Did you need any further confirmation that China is now the 8000000000 pound gorilla in the global wine industry? From the low end of the consumption spectrum to the high end, Chinese consumers are transforming the global wine scene. First we heard of it, they were beginning to buy up large quantities of very cheap Australian wine. Then they started investing in the wineries themselves. That was good for Australia, who had fallen on hard times in other parts of the world. With exports up 36% year over year, apparently, China was picking up the slack. When Hong Kong eliminated... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 15, 2011 11:05 PM
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When I Look at a Wine, I See...
My buddy Joe Roberts, who runs the blog OneWineDude.Com had a nice posting the other day that pointed out one of the great idiocies of what I might call "academic" wine criticism. Entitled "Are Wine Critics 'Wasting' Points on a Wine's Color?" his article explained how most "official" wine scoring methodologies (both those espoused by critics, as well as those taught in the more rigorous wine education curricula around town) include a certain number of points for the "color" of a wine. While I've never been a fan of such strictly metered wine appraisal (my own scoring system attempts, perhaps... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 10, 2011 9:41 PM
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Pay For Play Wine Criticism: Everybody On Board
When I first heard about Sam Kim, the New Zealand blogger who was charging wineries to submit wine samples to review, I thought to myself, here's the next guy Robert Parker ought to hire on to the staff at the Wine Advocate. He seems to have the right nose for the business side of wine criticism. Alas, it seems that one of Parkers current contributors has stolen the idea. Sorry Sam, you've been outflanked. But wait, this just in: now that the lawyers have all discussed things it's only the Murcia Wine Association (ASEVIN) that wanted money for tasting wines!... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 6, 2011 9:31 PM
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Wine in India: Visiting Bangalore
This week finds me in Bangalore, India, traveling to meet a client and kick off a new project for my customer experience day job. After long days of meetings, however, I've been exploring the restaurants of the town. Thanks to packed days of meetings, with no opportunities for down time that might be required by slightly more adventurous eating, my colleagues and I are sticking to more established restaurants that pose little or no risk to, how shall we say, the less than robust stomachs of visiting Americans, aside from whatever might be individual tolerances for spice. I've, of course,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 2, 2011 11:59 PM
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Last Day to get a Discount at JancisRobinson.Com
As part of the announcement of my new column for Jancis Robinson, she's offered Vinography subscribers a significantly discounted first year subscription price ($70 instead of $104). You can take advantage of this discount until Midnight Pacific Time today, by using the promotional code "THANKSA&J" when you sign up. So is it worth $70? Well, here's how I look at it. Two of the most important reference books in the wine world are The Oxford Companion to Wine and the World Atlas of Wine. I own both of them. However, together they weigh something like 25 pounds -- hard to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 31, 2011 3:54 AM
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Napa and the New Kid in Town
Napa Valley has been awash with nervous energy for the past week. And it has nothing to do with the nearly magical reprieve that Mother Nature seems to have granted the 2011 harvest after unseasonably fierce rains. On the surface, everyone pretends it's just another week in wine country, but behind closed doors and in hushed tones over beers in the local bars, everyone seems to be talking about the handsome young stranger in town (see picture). This past week, for the first time in more than 25 years, the wine critic Robert M Parker, Jr did not make an... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 19, 2011 12:01 AM
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An Important and Exciting Announcement
As many of you know, writing about wine is hardly my full time employment. With a demanding day job and a family, it requires a significant amount of discipline (along with perhaps a less than dynamic social life) to fit the wine writing into my crazy schedule. But I do because I love it. It's what I do for fun. People laugh when I say, "other people knit, I write about wine," but it's really true. I have been approached many times over the years with offers to write more for established outlets, but I've always declined for a combination... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 18, 2011 7:21 AM
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Aspiring Wine Writer? Go West Young Scribe!
The wine world is made of dreams. Some people dream about drinking wine. Some people dream about making wine. And others dream of writing about it. For all those that have ever toyed with the idea of writing about wine, and for those who have dabbled in it, I have a small anecdote to share from my college days. Those who have been reading this blog for a long time know that I share this anecdote pretty much every year when I am writing this particular article, which itself appears each year. I was taking a fiction writing class one... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 17, 2011 10:35 PM
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2011 Harvest: Rain, Rain, Go Away
"How wet is it up there?" I asked. "Wet enough that I'm on Facebook at 11 AM on a Tuesday in October," said Duane Hoff, proprietor of Fantesca Estate on the slopes of Spring Mountain in Napa. I reached out to Duane when I saw him online earlier this week just to see how he and his fellow Napa winemakers are handling the recent deluge and follow up drizzle that is making for what by many accounts is a "challenging" harvest up and down the West Coast of the U.S. Whenever it rains during harvest, journalists begin buzzing with rumors... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 12, 2011 11:19 PM
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A Well Designed Wine Map of France
It's rare that my day job (design) and my night job (wine) overlap, but thanks to the Internets I occasionally get choice tidbits that nicely fill that little sliver of a venn diagram between two of my most important disciplines. The latest intersection? This thing of beauty: Click to make it bigger! It's a subway-map-meets-wine-map that has some really clever design conventions that allow it to easily convey a lot of very complex, multi-variate information. Specifically, it illustrates the wine regions, their appellations, the major towns and waterways near those appellations and the relative positioning of those appellations, and the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 11, 2011 11:36 PM
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Wow. Winemakers Make A Decent Living.
Perhaps I'm just a little out of touch. I hope it's not proof that deep down I didn't have enough respect for the profession. But I was quite surprised to learn just how much money winemakers earn. Winemakers will earn average salary of $95,263 this year, according to a salary survey of the wine industry conducted by Winebusiness.Com. More senior winemakers (who supervised other winemakers) will earn an average of $121,774. That's a damn good living, considering that the median income in this country is around $49,000. It's also certainly more than a lot of executive chefs earn (they average... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 29, 2011 10:28 PM
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Hitler as California Cult Winery Owner
What if Hitler was a California Cult Winery Owner? The use of a particular sequence from the 2004 movie Der Untergang for comic effect by switching out the subtitles has a long history on the internet. I first saw it several years ago in (what is still my favorite) brilliant version about Burning Man. But it's been used for everything under the sun. It was only a matter of time before Hitler took a trip to Napa Valley (warning, adult language included): Can't remember what tweet I saw first about this, but obviously, I'm not the first to discover it,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 23, 2011 11:41 AM
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The Wisdom of the Crowd and Wine Critic Ratings
I think one of the more interesting phenomena in the world of wine that has arisen in the past five years is the emergence of a group known as the American Association of Wine Economists. I must admit, when I first saw the announcement of their existence, I assumed it was just some economists having a good time and looking for an excuse to drink some more wine. But then the papers started to be published, and now the AAWE has made it clear that they're quite serious in trying to apply the dark arts of statistics and economics to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 14, 2011 10:15 PM
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How To Run a Top-Notch Press Trip or Wine Junket
On occasion, I write posts here that are specifically for the world of wine marketing and PR. Reactions to these posts are strangely polarized. The folks in the PR world love them, but consumers somehow tend to read them as the complaints of an entitled, arrogant boor. I guess that some people seem to think that by offering suggestions to wine marketing professionals on how to do their jobs better, including examples of less than ideal experiences that I've had with such professionals, I'm either looking for special treatment or whining about not having gotten it. The important thing for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 12, 2011 11:03 PM
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Wine in the Wilderness: Backcountry Wine Transport Techniques
As many of you know, I spent the past week in the wilderness. Specifically, I was floating down the Kisaralik river in Western Alaska catching fish. To get there I had to take several flights, the final of which was in an ancient float plane that could only accommodate 1200 pounds of cargo, including any passengers. The combination of this weight limit and the reality of needing to fit everything that six people would require to survive and enjoy seven days on a river offered a bit of a challenge: how to bring a bunch of wine. Fly-fishing for trophy... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 25, 2011 11:58 PM
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South Africa Has Some Work to Do
I'm an unabashed fan of South Africa. I love its wines, its people, its food, and the land itself in all its natural glory. Consequently I was quite disturbed to see the news coverage over the last couple of days surrounding a report recently released by the organization Human Rights Watch that, in no uncertain terms, allegedly documents systematic human rights abuses in the South African Wine industry. The allegations in this report include seemingly rampant violations of South Africa's own labor and health laws, including inadequate safety precautions to avoid worker exposure to toxic chemicals and poor or no... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 24, 2011 11:06 PM
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Vinography Gone Fishin'
8 bottles of wine poured into floppy plastic water bottles. 50 pounds of gear and not an ounce more for fear of getting kicked off the tiny little float plane. And for the first time in six years, no laptop, no cell phone, and no iPad. I'm off this morning to the wilds of Alaska to float down a remote river called the Kisaralik to fly fish for silver salmon, rainbow trout, char, and grayling with my dad. I've not gone a week without checking e-mail or blogging since my honeymoon six years ago, so I'm sure I'll go through... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 13, 2011 9:40 AM
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Secrets of the Sommeliers: The Panel Version at IPNC
At the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon's Willamette Valley, the wine tasting and eating is occasionally punctuated by pursuits of a more intellectual nature. One such diversion this year was a panel of some of the top sommeliers in this hemisphere, loosely organized around the theme of a book called Secrets of the Sommeliers, co-written by the panel's moderator Jordan Mackay and one of the panelists, sommelier Rajat Parr. I've done my usual attempt to capture the discussion here. I didn't get everything but hopefully you'll get a sense of the conversation. Jordan was introduced by Joshua Wesson, who... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 9, 2011 11:05 PM
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The Funniest Wine Speech Ever?: Joshua Wesson Addresses the 2011 Graduating Class at IPNC
The International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon's Willamette Valley that I attended last weekend was, true to form, delightful. This wonderfully casual event usually takes place under brilliant cloudless skies, on the lush green grounds of Linfield College, a small liberal arts school in the little down of McMinnville, Oregon. Three days of wine tastings, seminars, and remarkable meals are traditionally kicked off on Friday morning with a "keynote" speech from an invited guest, often a member of the wine media. This year's guest was Joshua Wesson, the sommelier and founder of Best Cellars, a wine retailing concept that he... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 6, 2011 5:02 PM
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25 Years of Collaboration: A Panel Discussion at IPNC 2011
The IPNC event that I attended last weekend was celebrating more than just good Pinot Noir. It was also celebrating its 25th year of existence as a nexus for good Pinot Noir and the people who make it and drink it. While IPNC has always been a place for people to enjoy themselves, the event, and the people who brought it into being, both have a remarkable history that links together France and Burgundy in surprising and moving ways. The event always features a single main seminar, and this year's event brought together a panel of winemakers to tell their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 3, 2011 11:34 PM
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The Global Allure of Pinot Noir
As some of you know, I just got back from the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon's Willamette Valley. I'm still editing my notes from that, with more posts to come, but I wanted to share just a small moment from the event that I thought was quite telling of both the powerful community that IPNC manages to create, as well as the allure that the Pinot Noir grape has for wine lovers. The evening of the grand dinner, where 800 people sit out underneath the fading light of the sunset and are served a four course dinner while sommeliers... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 1, 2011 9:57 PM
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Off to Drink Some Pinot: IPNC 2011
I spent the evening on the crest of a hill overlooking the Willamette Valley watching the sun set over the hills. It was 83 degrees with a light wind blowing. A DJ was playing old reggae tunes, while I and about 150 other people wandered around sampling food from some of Portland's famous food trucks, and drinking wine from about 12 different wineries who were pouring everything from Gruner Veltliner to, of course, Oregon Pinot Noir. After the sun went down, a bonfire was lit, and the fire dancers started to perform. Sound like your idea of a good time?... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 28, 2011 11:58 PM
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Hungary: Where It's Tough to be a Wine Critic
Here in America, our government doesn't produce its own wine, it just reserves the right to monopolize the power to make an obscene profit from selling it. But if, perhaps, Uncle Sam did try his hand at winemaking, it's quite likely that it would be pretty shitty wine, and that I would have no fear of saying so here on Vinography. Unfortunately, it seems that the freedom to criticize lousy wine, especially when it's made by your government, isn't exactly a considered universal right. At least according to the government of Hungary. Hungary, of course, is home to some of... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 23, 2011 9:24 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Congratulations To the Winners of the 2011 Wine Blog Awards
Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Wine Blog Awards, which were announced this afternoon at the annual Wine Bloggers Conference, which is taking place in Charlottsville, Virginia. The winners were selected through a combination of a public vote and a vote by the judges. I'm particularly pleased to see Tom Wark's blog, Fermentation, honored this year as both the Best Industry blog and the Best Overall Wine Blog. Tom invented the Wine Blog Awards and has been both a tireless promoter of wine blogs and wine bloggers as well as a relentlessly fine blogger himself. The Wine Blog Awards... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 23, 2011 9:02 PM
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Should Wine Writers (or Bloggers) Be Friends With Winemakers?
Warning: wine writer navel gazing ahead. If you're not interested in such discussions, go read a wine review. Us wine bloggers can't seem to stop ourselves from discussions of ethics in wine writing. Perhaps you've seen the little kerfuffle over at DrVino.Com or the Wall Street Journal wine blog, where Tyler Colman, the author of Dr. Vino, pokes at Lettie Teague, one of the Wall Street Journal's wine columnists, for praising a wine made by a friend of hers (and a past subject of her writings) without disclosing that friendship in her blog post. Stepping around the spittle-flecked mess that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 17, 2011 4:32 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Being Proud of Your Country's Wine Doesn't Mean Anything if You Don't Drink It
There are a few things you can count on no matter where you are in history. One of them is the fact that children, in general, try very hard not to grow up to become their parents. The constant rejection of what the generation before liked, stood for, and lived for has propelled many a consumer trend over the last century. Sadly, it seems that while in America, this phenomenon is partly responsible for the current and coming surge in wine consumption, in France it may be just the opposite. It has been widely reported over the past weeks that... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 13, 2011 10:08 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Stupid Wine Name of the Century
By night I write here about wine. By day I spend my time in the world of branding, customer experience, and marketing. As a result, I have a higher tolerance for, and a keen understanding of the value that brands hold in the marketplace, and an appreciation for efforts to differentiate in a crowded field. All of this by way of saying that I can appreciate the idea of coming up with a distinctive name to use when referring to sparkling wine made in England. The Spanish have Cava, the Italians have Franciacorta and Spumante, after all. But "Britagne?" You've... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 12, 2011 11:53 PM
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Sit On Your Ass and Drink Red Wine
I can hardly think of a better piece of news than this: if all you like to do is sit around on your butt all day long, drinking red wine may keep you healthier, despite a complete lack of exercise. While there's no word whether the resveratrol contained in red wine can counteract the effects of pork rinds, mind-numbing reruns, and high-fructose corn syrup, it's good to know that this magical compound found in red wine can help with conditions such as laziness, sloth, and too-fat-to-do-much-else. And how did scientists discover this? In space, of course! Or rather, in a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 6, 2011 9:34 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Wine From the Caldera: The Incredible Viticulture of Santorini
Around 1600 BCE, the 15th Egyptian dynasty was in full swing at Thebes, the Minoans ruled the seas of the Mediterranean, and the beginnings of the Mycenaean civilization -- the culture that would become the great state of Greece -- was stirring on the Peloponnese peninsula. To the south of modern-day Greece, in the midst of the Aegean sea, a small Minoan society that had long thrived on the shores of a volcanic island were fleeing for their lives. The mountain which had sheltered them for many centuries was clearly a friend no longer. Nearly everyone fled in boats, leaving... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on July 4, 2011 9:58 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Vote For Vinography in the 2011 Wine Blog Awards
The finalists for the 2011 Wine Blog Awards have been announced and voting is now open to members of the public. The Wine Blog Awards are the longest running set of awards focused exclusively on the world of Wine Blogs. If you're reading this wine blog, then chances are you probably read one or two others, and therefore you know better than anyone what passes for compelling content when it comes to wine blogs. Which is why you should exercise your vote and support the folks that spend their time writing about wine for free so you can enjoy it.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 25, 2011 2:25 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Off to Greece to Taste Some Wine
I'm a very lucky guy. I'll admit that when I started this whole wine blogging thing, I had fantasies that someone would send me some free wine one day (now sometimes, I have to tell them to stop). But I never imagined that one day people would would want to fly me to foreign countries and pick up the tab just with the hopes that I'd write something about it. The chance to go on an occasional press trip sponsored by a government or a regional marketing association is a great pleasure and perk of what I do here on... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 23, 2011 11:18 PM
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Wine Counterfeiters Get Sloppy
It used to be that spotting the counterfeit wine was pretty tricky. You had to look for a cork that was just slightly too new; a label that was just a little too glossy; or perhaps even a vintage that was never made at the winery. These days? Just look for the used piece of bubble gum floating in the wine. Image courtesy of BBC News According to the BBC, someone has been foisting off some cheap wines on a Liverpool, England liquor store. This is only the latest in a series of counterfeit wine scams that seem to have... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 23, 2011 11:02 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Wine In Grocery Stores? Let's Not Be Hasty
As many times as I see Americans blatantly voting against their own self interest it never ceases to amaze me. We are such remarkable creatures, swallowing hook, line, and sinker whatever lies that politicians, lobbyists, and special interest groups cook up for us to feed on in advance of elections. One of my favorites is currently being trotted out yet again as some rational and consumer-oriented legislators and their constituents try to make it easier for wine lovers to buy a bottle of wine in the state of New York: " If we let grocery stores sell wine then all... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 20, 2011 9:50 PM
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Who Should Be Added to the Vintners Hall of Fame in 2012?
Yes, it's that time of year again, when a few writers, historians, journalists, and winemakers and yours truly (the token blogger?) get together to discuss who should go on the ballot for the next class of inductees to the California Vintners Hall of Fame. I've been a member of the nominating committee for several years, and will be again this year, along with Mike Dunne, Dr. Carol Meredith, Andy Beckstoffer, Randall Grahm, Gerald Asher, Daryl Corti, Sara Schneider, Charles Sullivan, Charles Henning, Paul Wagner, Warren Winiarski, and our chairman, W. Blake Gray. I wrote about the process and the Hall... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 14, 2011 6:07 PM
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Wine: Now THAT'S a Lousy Business
As many of you know, the wine business was hit pretty hard in the recent recession. Lots of wineries went out of business, and lots of wine sat around unsold, which meant people lost a lot of money. From the big Vegas restaurants that started refusing their allocations of Harlan Estate and Colgin, to the little producers whose mailing list customers decided they could forgo buying the next vintage, and instead pick up something at Trader Joes, lots of people were hurting. We're still seeing (if you know where to look) the fallout of the downturn, as wineries quietly change... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 9, 2011 10:24 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Wine Drinkers in Pennsylvania Begin to Escape the Borg
Unless you live in a fascist or totalitarian state already, you have probably not been aware of the grave and insidious threat that was gradually infiltrating the world of wine. Machines, smelted in the depths of the earth, engineered by an evil committee of subhuman overlords, have slowly threatened to take over the wine industry in Pennsylvania. Cousins to the passive aggressive computer HAL that talked its way into a starring role in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001, these machines exist for one terrible purpose: to frustrate wine lovers in Pennsylvania to the point that they'd rather eat shards of broken... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on June 6, 2011 10:52 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Wine, Architecture, and Reaching for Grandeur
There has long been an intimate relationship between wine and architecture. It no doubt began with form following function. Because winemaking and the elevage of its product requires a certain modicum of space, and that space must inherently achieve some environmental requirements, the enterprising souls, many of which were monks of one order or another, sought to house their works well, with barrel vaults and thick stone walls, with sculpted caves and cavernous barns. Later, when wine became the source of riches, or even an accessory to a fortune, those who made, or more correctly: had wine made for them,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 28, 2011 1:20 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Compound in Red Wine Shown to Simulate Concussions
Researchers are studying whether a compound found in red wine can produce short-term or the long- term effects similar to concussions in adults. Researchers at Arizona Pyrotechnic College in Sedona, Arizona are using resveratrol, and the red wine that it is found in, to counterproductively create the effects of mild concussions. The trial currently has five professional drinkers in Sedona taking part. The drinkers are taking resveratrol orally, via fine claret, in amounts previously shown to have positively stupefying effects on lab animals. Resveratrol is already being studied as an agent to lower blood sugar levels, for use against cancer,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 25, 2011 7:07 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Vinography Wins Some Awards
Arguably less interesting than the fact that Bernie Madoff's wine collection sold for $20,000 more than what anyone thought it might go for at auction (all proceeds going to victims, thankfully), it's worth mentioning that Vinography won some awards last week. I woke up on Tuesday morning to discover that Vinography had won Best Wine or Beer Blog in the 2011 Saveur Blog Awards. These awards were a combination of juried and popular votes. For those of you who voted for me, thank you so much for your support! You should go check out the winners, especially the young lady... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 22, 2011 10:13 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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The Perils of the New Wine Economy
We live in remarkable times. The pace of technological innovation and the remarkable changes that globalization has wrought upon the world economy are staggering in their scope. As wine lovers, we have never had access to more great wines at any time in history. The ways and sources of buying wine have exploded in the last twenty years. We've gone from a wine economy that was rooted in local retail stores (and some large multi-national auction houses) to a modern, globalized world of e-commerce, where most of the wines that anyone could want to get their hands on are available... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 10, 2011 10:35 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Feeling the Pain of Canadian Wine Lovers
I like to complain a lot about the state of wine shipping laws in America. It's a backwards system that favors the kleptocratic state-run monopolies and their distribution chain cronies (or is it the other way around?). And don't get me started on HR 1161, one of the worst pieces of legislation to hit our House of Representatives in recent memory. Of course, we Americans like to think we're on our own in both good times and in bad, but any wine lover who's spent time in Canada knows that things are just as bad up there, if not worse.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 9, 2011 10:44 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Read Some Good Wine Blogging
The fact that you're here, reading this, means I don't have much convincing to do when it comes to turning you on to good online wine writing. The rest of the world, well, they might need a little nudging. Despite the fact that pretty much every major working wine journalist in the English language that isn't on the doorstep of retirement has a blog, many people still dismiss wine blogs as irrelevant fluff. Of course, you and I know a few things about that. Namely that the volume of online wine writing by people like me eclipses all of the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on May 5, 2011 8:41 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Vote for Vinography in the Saveur Blog Awards
I found out yesterday that Saveur has announced the finalists for its second annual Blog Awards, and Vinography is one of the nominees. The others are Alice Feiring, Blog About Beer, Good Wine Under $20, Washington Beer Blog and Wine Terroirs. None of us makes a living tapping away in our respective little corners of the Internet, so, apart from the enthusiasm of our individual readers, such awards are among the few bits of official validation we receive for our efforts. If you enjoy Vinography, I'd be pleased to receive your vote -- as would any of the other nominees... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 28, 2011 8:35 PM
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Don't Steal Mommy's Wine
My daughter gets a kick out of smelling what's in our glasses when we're drinking with dinner, but she knows better than to steal mommy's wine. Apparently, though, not everyone else is as careful. A number of people just landed in court over Mommy's wine. The wine world is notorious for its highly aggressive, even draconian, protection of brand names. Who knew that one of those brand names was "Mommy?" "MommyJuice" and "Mommy's Time Out" are apparently in a death match to determine which has the right to Mommy's name. Careful kids, don't make me separate you! Don't you know... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 21, 2011 9:50 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Passover and Kosher Wine: Time to Graduate from Manischewitz
Growing up, my attendance at Passover seders was spotty at best, not for any lack of cajoling or even demands on my mother's part. I suppose we hadn't ever gone regularly enough for it to feel like a family tradition, so despite all the usual methods used to make it tolerable for kids, I found the whole thing interminable. Despite being a poor-excuse-for-a-Jew, I do have fond memories of my few encounters with Manischewitz. With just the right combination of verboten and high sugar content (especially for a hippie kid that didn't get much sugar at a young age) it... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 14, 2011 8:47 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Cheap Wine vs. Expensive Wine: No Contest
Why do journalists continue to consider it a revelation that the "average" consumer can't tell a $8 wine from a $45 wine? This ground has been covered so many times, yet trials of this sort (in this case roughly 600 consumers at the Edinburgh Science Fair) continue to be conducted. I certainly don't begrudge those who have the curiosity to test this hypothesis themselves, rather than relying on the tests that have already been done. And I actually appreciate the extent to which such tests and their inevitable results help ordinary wine consumers feel good about their enjoyment of wines... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 13, 2011 9:01 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Airline Wine: (Nearly) Everything You Wanted To Know
So there I was, sitting in Business Class on my way across the country, courtesy of an all-too-rare-these-days upgrade (thanks to my lowly status), and the option of having a glass of wine with my lunch arose. Always up for an adventure, I ordered the Merlot, and gamely tucked in, when I had the chance. It was awful. The sort of wine that I didn't want to have a second mouthful of. The wine had just underperformed my very low expectations, which I thought was hard to do. You see, it's been a long time since I had what I... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on April 3, 2011 11:52 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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The Albatross That is Food and Wine Pairing
Food and wine pairing is the big bird around the neck, or the monkey on the back of American wine appreciation. How we've gotten to this place I'm not entirely sure. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that as a country our wine drinking and food cultures are imported, and somewhat recently compared to the rest of the world. We lack a native or intuitive sense of wine as food, and of wine as an essential part of the dining experience. Don't ask me to fully explain how or why this has resulted in Americans' utter... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 29, 2011 9:12 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Drink Like Your Political Party
Forget Red States and Blue States, now there are Wine States and Beer States. While alcohol of choice isn't exactly going to be the best way to demarcate political affiliation at any point, apparently there are some pretty clear differences when you look at the political donations from alcohol producers to legislators. I know this will come as a shock, but... Democrats = wine Republicans = beer Of course, it's not completely black and white, but that's the general trend. According to the web site OpenSecrets.Org, which is run by the Center for Responsive Politics, Democratic lawmakers get more contributions... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 24, 2011 10:29 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Where All That Wine is Going
I swear I've seen something like thirty news headlines in the last two weeks announcing "Americans Now Drink More Wine than Anyone Else." This is clearly not true. But what is true, apparently, is that for the first time ever, more wine was shipped into this country (and/or shipped within our borders) last year than any other country in the world. What this actually means, well that's a complex answer. Anyone looking to simplify that complexity (and who wouldn't when you're trying to make generalizations at the scale of the global economy) could reasonably say that America consumed more wine... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 22, 2011 11:02 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Why Every Wine Lover Needs to Call Their Representative in Congress
Last year, one of the most anti-consumer pieces of legislation in years was introduced to the House of Representatives under the name HR5034: The Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness act, or ironically, "CARE." I wrote last year about what a piece of shit masquerading as legislation this bill was, and was happy to see that it never made it to the floor of the house for a vote. Well now thanks to a tool of a senator named Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, it has been resurrected as HR1161, and the named changed to the Community Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 19, 2011 10:00 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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The Young Turks of Burgundy: Allen Meadows with Domaine Marc Roy and Domaine Jean-Marc Bouley
As I mentioned in a previous post, last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the World of Pinot Noir conference in Shell Beach, California. In addition to the grand tasting of many different wines on the cliffs above the seaside, there were some focused tastings where moderators and panelists worked through some wines in great detail. I attended one entitled The Young Turks of Burgundy, led by Alan Meadows, the wine critic behind Burghound.Com, a newsletter that in the past decade, has become the de-facto critical authority on much of Burgundy, and especially the most famous part known as... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 8, 2011 7:17 PM
- Filed under: Boutique Wines , Ramblings and Rants , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Alcohol Levels and Balance in Pinot Noir: The Panel
I'm currently spending an idyllic weekend down on California's Central coast attending an event called the World of Pinot Noir. It's an event I've heard of for some time, but have never attended. I got the chance to go this year, and completely lucked out with one of the warmest, sunniest weekends in recent months, not to mention a nicely put together event with some seriously great Pinot Noir. Day one was full of seminars, and the first of two grand tasting events. I'll publish my notes from the grand tasting at a future date, but would like to share... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 5, 2011 2:44 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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You Already Drink Like a Sommelier. Now Read Like One. Free.
NOTE: This is not a standard blog entry, and it has a slightly promotional quality to it. You have been warned. It's not every day that you get to witness a magazine being born, but I remember the first conversation I had with David Vogels, a soft-spoken, well-dressed man who was attending the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers for the first time. He shared with me his dream of starting a wine magazine targeted at Sommeliers. Over the course of the next year or two, I got to see his dream come to life, in the form of Sommelier Journal,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on March 1, 2011 10:47 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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A Short Conversation Between Wine Writers About Wine as Art. Or Not.
If there's one thing that Twitter is good for, it's having meta conversations quietly in a room full of people talking about something else. Yesterday I posted Gerald Asher's keynote speech to the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. Towards the end of that speech he said something which sparked a conversation between a few of us attendees on Twitter. He made the statement: "I'm not very sympathetic to the world of wine criticism. It's not like music criticism, or any of the arts" in response to my question about whether he distinguished wine writing and wine criticism. The resulting silent... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 24, 2011 5:47 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Gerald Asher on Wine Writing
This week I'm living in two worlds. Not by choice mind you, but mostly because I can't leave the day job fully behind, ever. But most of my brain is here in Napa at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers. This morning we began the symposium in earnest with two keynote sessions ("Why have one when you can have two," said director Jim Gordon?) one from author and magazine editor Dominique Browning, and the other from wine writer Gerald Asher. I'm going to share my notes from Asher's remarks first, mostly because they touch on the ongoing discussion that surrounds... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 23, 2011 3:18 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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The Purpose of Tasting Notes
Eric Asimov, wine writer for the New York Times, and I agree on a lot of things, but we have quite divergent opinions about a subject that is near and dear to Eric's heart: tasting notes. Actually, tasting notes aren't near and dear to Eric's heart, rather, the opposite is true. He is a big proponent for the elimination, or at the very least a complete reformation, of tasting notes as a vehicle for communication about wine. Eric's point of view, which we have discussed over many bottles of wine, comes down to the fact that he feels the strings... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 22, 2011 11:37 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Fight For Your Right to Write....About Wine
Much to-do has been made over the past week or two of Robert Parker's handing over his responsibilities for reviewing California wines at The Wine Advocate. By handing the mantle to Antonio Galloni, he further reduced his influence in the world of wine, and increased the focus on (and speculation about) the growing responsibilities of his staff of contributors. Amidst speculation as to whether anyone can step in to fill the void that may be left by the waning power of Robert Parker, many are increasingly paying attention to the activities of James Suckling, who recently left the Wine Spectator... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 16, 2011 7:10 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Thoughts on the Wines of Alsace and Their Cousins
Last weekend I decamped with the family to the brightly greening hills of the Anderson Valley. Every time I go to Anderson Valley, I realize I have forgotten how beautiful it is, especially in the throes of approaching Spring. The vines are still bare, as are the oaks, but the newborn lambs and their new grasses both frolic when the sun is out. I was in the valley for the International Alsace Varietals Festival -- a celebration of the wines made in (and in the style of) France's Alsace region. That means wines made of Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Pinot... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 16, 2011 6:35 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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The End of an Era: Robert Parker Stops Reviewing California Wine
Most that follow the wine world closely, knew this day was going to come, but many, including myself would not have thought so soon. In an e-mail to subscribers today, Robert M. Parker, Jr. announced that he was handing over primary responsibility for reviewing California wines to his associate Antonio Galloni. Parker will continue to conduct vertical and other special tastings of California wine, but the regular critical coverage has been ceded to Galloni. I first learned of this announcement this morning on a site called the Wine Cellar Insider, run by a gentleman by the name of Jeff Leve,... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 5, 2011 3:12 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Why Trust a Wine Blogger?
This is the first blog entry (of thousands) in the seven years I've been writing, where I am actually writing an article about a press release that was sent to me. I mention that simply because it's worth noting how generally worthless most press releases are to me, and how little inspiration they provide to write anything. This press release wasn't from a winery, however, it was from an organization called Wine Intelligence, that conducts surveys and analyzes trends in the wine industry. They recently conducted a survey that purports to examine the level of trust that wine drinkers have... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on February 1, 2011 10:16 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Wine Competitions and Medals: A Panel at Vino2011
The signboard outside the door read: "Where have all the medals gone? Given the ubiquity of point ratings, do wine competitions still matter?" Thirty or forty of us assembled on Tuesday to hear the answer to those two questions as part of Vino2011, also known as Italian Wine Week. In service of the answer, W.R. Tish, a wine writer and blogger, had recruited the following panel of experts: Anthony Dias Blue -- Executive Director of the San Francisco International Wine Competition, lifestyle consultant, and author. Dan Berger -- Wine writer and organizer of the Riverside International Wine Competition. Alfonso Cevola... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 29, 2011 8:07 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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The Future of Italian Wine: A Press Conference
It wasn't your usual press conference. OK, it did start with a diplomat regurgitating roughly the same speech he gave to a different group of people about two hours earlier, but from there it moved on to some very interesting people talking about Italian Wine. I'm here in New York at the Vino2011 conference (no, not with James Suckling). Vino2011 is the third annual Italian Wine Week celebration that both celebrates and promotes Italian wine in the United States. Last year I moderated a panel, this year I've just been given a pass (and a plane flight and hotel room)... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 25, 2011 9:24 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Results from the 2011 Vinography Reader Survey
First of all, thank you to all of you who bothered to fill out my online survey. It was a huge help. Six of you won tickets to the ZAP Zinfandel festival. I've sent you e-mails individually, so please check your inboxes and your spam bins (the subject line that includes the words "won tickets" might not look so healthy to your e-mail server). For the rest of you, I hope you go to the festival anyway, as it's a rollicking good time. The results from the survey range from expected, to interesting, to fairly surprising. Here's what I learned... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 22, 2011 6:01 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Vinography Turns Seven
There's some sort of reality distortion in our brains that keeps us from being able to observe our own aging process. It happens so slowly and so gradually, and in our heads we're always the same person, so the passage of time seems surreal. That's a little how I feel as Vinography turns seven years old this weekend. I can hardly believe that I've been doing this wine writing thing for that long. It's a little strange. I remember when the idea of starting Vinography first occurred to me, as a way of both digitizing my somewhat obsessive note taking... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 16, 2011 11:22 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Take the Vinography Reader Survey (and Win Tickets to ZAP!)
It's been a long time since I found out anything about my readers, other than the glimpses I get of you from your comments here. In fact, that last time I conducted a survey was a mere 18 months after I started blogging, when there were still only about a couple dozen wine blogs on the Internet. A lot has changed since then, but I'm still here plonking away, expressing my passion for wine by writing here every day. But I'm curious about who you are, how you got here, and why. So I'm hoping I can convince you to... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 8, 2011 8:47 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Vinography Loves Sediment In Wine. You Should, Too.
While many are celebrating (even fawning) over the new wine bottle design by chef Martín Berasategui that hit the news today, I'm bemoaning the fact that it solves a problem that didn't need solving. This new bottle design, which is indeed quite clever, introduces a sharp indentation towards the bottom of the bottle that would (in theory) prevent any sediment that was in the bottom of the bottle from being poured into the wine as the bottle neared empty. The efficacy of the design in the real world will likely be less than perfect, especially when much sediment accumulates in... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on January 3, 2011 8:44 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Playing Wine Consultant and Treasure Hunter
"So, uh, would you mind coming over here and taking a look at our wine rack?" they said, after we had spent an hour catching up over bagels on a rainy day. And so I wandered around the corner into their dining room to find a couple small wine racks and a small wine fridge and an expectant and somewhat embarrassed silence as they waited for me to offer a verdict. This sort of thing happens all the time to me, as it likely does to most anyone who is known amongst their friends as "the guy/gal that knows about... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 30, 2010 11:57 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Open the Pod Bay Doors! Pennsylvania Wine Kiosks Go Rogue
Just about a year ago, I wrote about the wretched solution to selling wine in grocery stores that the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board was foisting on its residents. You remember, right? The kiosks that locked all the wine away behind closed doors so you couldn't touch it, to say, see the back label? The horrible touch screen user interface that forced you to click and click and click. The fact that the machine wouldn't take cash, only credit cards. The video camera mounted in it that monitored you. The fact that you had to swipe your drivers license AND take... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 22, 2010 11:01 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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The Wine Lover's Essential Library
I've been asked more than once in the past few weeks about which wine books I like that might make good gifts for the holiday season. And so I've had to give a little thought to which books I feel every serious wine lover should have read. So without further ado, here's my list. I didn't set out to have only ten, but that's just what I ended up with trying to stick to the most important books, the books that I think every self respecting wine lover should definitely have read, and possibly own. I had to leave off... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 16, 2010 9:18 PM
- Filed under: Book Reviews , Ramblings and Rants
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Cork Producers Hit a New Low by Insulting Women and Wine Drinkers
I've long been critical of the great, and outlandish lengths that cork producers seem to go to create negative sentiment towards alternative wine closures, and to promote their own products as the only real choice. I thought they had stooped about as low as they could go when they suggested that buying wine closed with screwcaps was killing an endangered species, but now they've outdone themselves with their latest series of ads. In a remarkable feat of crass and loathsome marketing, the cork lobby has managed to both insult the intelligence of women, and every wine lover that has ever... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 15, 2010 8:13 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Burgundy Makes a Pass at China
As many of you know, I spent a week or so of November in Burgundy on a press tour of the region, including the annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction. I went to taste a lot of wine, but also to see what I could find out about how Burgundy is dealing with the challenges and opportunities of the 21st Century. One of the top "news items" in Burgundy these days can be conveyed in a single word: China. More so than any wine region I've been to recently, most of Burgundy was talking about China in some form. The... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 12, 2010 8:33 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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The First-Timer's Guide to Les Trois Glorieuses of Hospices de Beaune
As some of you know, I spent the week before last tramping around Burgundy and then spent the weekend at the 150th annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction, which in many ways was the fulfillment of a fantasy I've had ever since I learned about the auction several years ago. Just why attending this event has been a fantasy of mine has to do with a number of factors, not the least of which is the fact that it takes place in the heart of a picturesque city in one of the world's greatest wine regions. Most importantly, though, this... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 5, 2010 11:54 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine Activities
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You Should Be a Wine Writer. Officially.
The wine world is made of dreams. Some people dream about drinking wine. Some people dream about making wine. And others dream of writing about it. For all those that have ever toyed with the idea of writing about wine, and for those who have dabbled in it, I have a small anecdote to share (again -- I wrote this last year) from my college days. I was taking a fiction writing class one Spring, and our teacher managed to convince a good friend of hers to substitute teach a bunch of us eager, bright-eyed college students for one class... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on December 1, 2010 10:21 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Burgundy vs. The USA: A Human Perspective
I expected to learn a lot on my first visit to Burgundy. After years of tasting the region's wines at every opportunity afforded to me in San Francisco and during my travels abroad, I looked forward to the education that comes only from driving unpaved roads, tramping with muddy boots in the vineyard, and the conversations to be had standing around in a cellar. My trip, arranged by the BIVB (Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne) to coincide with the 150th annual Hospices de Beaune wine auction, fulfilled these expectations and more, but also left me puzzled at how far... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 30, 2010 9:07 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Happy Thanksgiving from Vinography
To my fellow American readers, and anyone else celebrating, Happy Thanksgiving. We all have much to be thankful for if we are lucky enough to be celebrating this holiday with good food, good wine, and those that we love, especially in a world where so many go without all of these. I've refrained from my usual Thanksgiving rant about the endless stream of "Thanksgiving Wine Pairing" articles which I think do a bit of a disservice to the concerned dinner hosts out there looking for help with what to serve their guests. If for some reason you have arrived here... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 25, 2010 2:55 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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My Burgundy Photographs
I'm still a bit too jet lagged to be of much use after my trip to Burgundy. I've got a lot of fantastic producers and wines to write about, as well as the fabulous weekend of the Hospices de Beaune, but I need to clear my head a little, and get more sleep. What I did manage to do on the plane, however, was sort through some of my pictures from the trip, which many of you have asked for. So in the meantime, here's some highlights. For those of you unfamiliar with this browsing interface, there are 33 photos... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 24, 2010 9:27 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Vinography Images
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Robert M. Parker, Jr: The Cartoon
Spotted very prominently displayed in a bookstore in Beaune, France: Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer var so = new SWFObject("http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser.swf", "PictoBrowser", "500", "659", "8", "#EEEEEE"); so.addVariable("source", "sets"); so.addVariable("names", "Seven Sins of Robert Parker"); so.addVariable("userName", "ayarrow"); so.addVariable("userId", "32482602@N00"); so.addVariable("ids", "72157625314579135"); so.addVariable("titles", "on"); so.addVariable("displayNotes", "on"); so.addVariable("thumbAutoHide", "off"); so.addVariable("imageSize", "medium"); so.addVariable("vAlign", "mid"); so.addVariable("vertOffset", "0"); so.addVariable("colorHexVar", "EEEEEE"); so.addVariable("initialScale", "off"); so.addVariable("bgAlpha", "90"); so.write("PictoBrowser101121125845"); I first learned of the book from Parker himself on twitter a few months back: I don't read French well, unfortunately, so I can't validate Mr. Parker's assessment of the book, but it certainly didn't seem to be excoriating. But then... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 21, 2010 1:17 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Wandering Through the Chalonnaise
There are wine revelations to share, for sure, but tonight, I am in a reverie simply about the landscape. The day was punctuated with wonderful moments that had nothing to do with wine, and everything to do with the simple beauty of Burgundy. Getting out of the car to stretch my legs next to the freshly mowed field, whose pungent scent wafted over me in a wave of delicious greenness. From the top of a hill, watching the storm system play out, shafts of sunlight moving across the deep green and brown of the checkerboard landscape of vines and their... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 16, 2010 2:36 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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The Road to the Maconnais
My journey began with a series of comical errors, starting with me settling into my seat on the plane only to find, right when I wanted to go to sleep, that it was broken and wouldn't recline. A prompt upgrade to first class fixed that problem (please, may I always be this unlucky?), and left me only slightly less bleary eyed than normal at Charles du Galle at 6 the next morning, before sunrise. For the first time in my life, the Non-EU passport line was shorter and faster than the residents', and I emerged into the terminal looking for... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 15, 2010 8:04 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Off to Burgundy to Drink Some Wine
I'm watching the sun rise over the tarmac at the San Francisco airport, running on very little sleep, and leaning on a roll-aboard suitcase that only barely zipped close thanks to a few bulky sweaters. On most saturday mornings, I'd hope to be sleeping at this time, but instead I'm on my way to spend ten days in the heart of Burgundy, France, attending the 150th anniversary of the Hospices de Beaune wine auction. The Hospices de Beaune auction has been the celebratory end to the harvest in Burgundy ever since someone got the idea in 1860 to hold an... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 13, 2010 7:06 AM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Taxidermied Deer Don't Drink Wine
And that makes me angry... The sad thing was, the deer won the bar fight. This is the current feature called "What People Drink" in the latest issue of Mutineer Magazine, a very interesting outlet for the true cutting edge of drinking culture. The editor, Alan Kropf was a fellow judge at the Lake County People's Choice wine awards, and one afternoon he pulled me aside for an interview and a photo shoot. Here's a PDF of the spread. Go out and buy this month's issue if you can and check it out. It's a very interesting read.... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 9, 2010 10:29 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Looking Forward To, and Back On, the Last Decade of Napa Cabernet
There are few types of wine writing I tend to ignore so completely as I do vintage reports. The generally pithy paragraphs that attempt to sum up a vintage in Sonoma, for instance, are about as useful as a few sentences dedicated to an attempt at characterizing the quality of food in Lower Manhattan. No matter what you might say, there are a thousand and one exceptions. This vague uselessness tends to be true even if the vintage report purports to speak at the level of an individual AVA or appellation. There are just too many differences in micro climates... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 6, 2010 11:10 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Red Wine , Wine Reviews
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Winemakers Howling at the Moon, and Other Follies
The esteemed Mr. Jay McInerney recently penned a blog post in the Wall Street Journal entitled "Fine Wine by Moonlight? Not So Much..." in which he related a recent occasion where all the bottles of fine wine he opened at dinner showed poorly, or at least, under their potential. It happened to be a full moon that evening, which led him to wonder... well, you know. McInerney opens his column with the quip that perhaps he has been "spending too much time looking into biodynamic viticulture." Even without his recent forays into the wilds of heavily trademarked anthroposphic agriculture, it's... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on November 2, 2010 10:07 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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There's Good Wine Problems. And Bad Ones.
I'm sure most of us would love to be in the position of the Japanese government, who recently discovered that they had too much expensive wine on their hands. Apparently entertaining with wine is serious business if you're a Japanese diplomat. At least, that is, if you're in France or New York. Apparently the Japanese mission in France kept 7896 bottles on hand at the Ambassador's residence "just in case." Official embassy records show them serving only 289 bottles to guests last year, according to Japan Today. Having too many bottles of wine is really only a problem if you... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 18, 2010 9:01 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Don't Worship Your Wine. Just Drink It.
ome parts of this wine world are utterly ridiculous sometimes. Mostly, it's the luxury parts. Something odd happens when you cross the threshold into the domain of those for whom no wine is too expensive or rare to own, and for whom the full contents of the cellar tends only to be known to accountants. Call it a reality distortion field, a special brand of collector obsessive compulsive disorder, or just plain madness, but people can have pretty odd relationships with their wine cellars when they get above 10,000 bottles. Witness the recent article in Decanter magazine about British rock... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 12, 2010 10:13 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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How to Send Wine Samples to a Blogger
OK, all you marketing and PR folks, listen up. This article is for you. Specifically for those of you that haven't quite figured out how to deal with us wine bloggers yet when it comes to wine samples. And there are clearly a lot of you. I wouldn't ordinarily have thought to write such an article, but it appears that a) a set of reasonable guidelines doesn't seem to be readily available out there b) there is such incredible variability in my own experience working with you folks in the wine business around this specific domain, that everyone might benefit... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 10, 2010 10:48 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Canada: Declare War or Emigrate. It's a Tough Choice
Thanks to humorist Dave Barry's exposé of the looming threat to our national security, I've long been a proponent of preemptively invading Canada. And then came Michael Moore's film SiCKO, which convinced me that after we invade, we might want to dissect the Canadian health care system and find out what makes it tick. And now? Well, I think plans for the invasion should be called off, and all of us wine lovers should just consider picking up and walking across the border. Why? Because when the Canadian Government decides to spend money in a stimulus package they don't give... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on October 6, 2010 10:50 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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Where is All the Deeply Discounted Champagne?
Every day, I get e-mails with wines being offered at more and more outrageous prices. What you can get for $20 now astounds me, from Napa and Washington State Cabernet to Brunello di Montalcino. Hell, I got a 1978 Brunello di Montalcino for little more than $20 recently. That's just a little bit insane. It's not just the flash sale web sites. It's everywhere. While the newspapers are printing stories about how the wine world is weathering the recession pretty well, the offers that I am getting (and I'm subscribed to maybe 5 or 6 retailer's e-mail lists) tell a... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 20, 2010 10:34 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Sparkling Wine
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There Will Be Blood
True grievance or flagrant publicity stunt? Lawyers are revving their engines as domestic diva Martha Stewart is rumored to be sued by Vampire Vineyards for what the gossip rags quote "to disparage and tarnish [Vampire's] wine brands by portraying a mock label of Vampire Vineyards affixed to cheap, non-descript wine and spirits products." Furthermore, and not necessarily quoted from a reliable source, the rumors suggest that the lawsuit also alleges that Stewart is engaging in this "smear campaign" to further sales of her own branded wine that the Gallo company produces for her. After a little digging online, it looks... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 8, 2010 9:00 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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For Pete's Sake, Don't Throw Out That Wine!
In the course of trolling the Internet for all things wine, I recently came across a remarkable statistic: UK consumers throw away around 50 million liters of wine per year, valued at around $726 million. That's a lot of wine being poured down the sink. The British supermarket chain that reported this statistic, presumably from some study they had done, suggests that it is due "in part, to Brits not knowing how long it stays fresh in open bottles and too much wine being served at a time." Leaving aside for the moment the fact that the people reporting this... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on September 5, 2010 10:25 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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Give Them Some Wine!
The thought of being trapped underground for any length of time is enough to send some people off the deep end. The thought of being trapped underground for 3 months without any wine is a whole different ball game. In the event you missed the news, an underground landslide has trapped 33 Chilean miners about 700 meters underground since August 5th. Already the group has been trapped longer than any other in history. The miners are miraculously in good health and reasonably good spirits. One of them has proposed to his girlfriend. They've made videos for the world. They're getting... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 31, 2010 11:01 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants , Wine News
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This Year's Candidates for the Vintners Hall of Fame
Many of you had a lot of things to say a couple of months ago when I wrote a post entitled Who Should Be in the Vintners Hall of Fame? It was great to see such a passionate tide of enthusiasm for inducting various winemakers and historical wine personalities. Those of us that make up the nominating committee talked a lot about many of the names suggested, and about many of the names that weren't suggested, and after much debate and voting, we've come up with the names for this years ballot. That ballot has been mailed out to the... continue reading
- Posted by: Alder on August 25, 2010 9:30 PM
- Filed under: Ramblings and Rants
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