Lynch Moussas Magdelaine Magrez Fombrauge Malartic Lagraviere Malescot St. Exupery
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Last Chance for the Murder at Mardi Gras ? March 5 at Cross Roads Winery in Frisco, Tx
Tickets are selling fast so get yours today. Each person gets their own bottle of wine for the event. Do not be left out. I will be attending????.. The honor of your presence is requested at the annual Krewe of Midas Masquerade Ball. Our King, Pierre DuPre, and his Queen, Melissa F. DuPre look forward [...]
Measuring the Coming Shaft That is Maryland's Direct Shipping Bill
In this blog post you will learn: 1. How Money Can Create Visions 2. Why Marylanders are likely to no direct shipping access to any foreign wines 3. Why the coming Maryland Wine Shipping law may be unconstitutional 4. An...
Magrez Fombrauge Malartic Lagraviere Malescot St. Exupery Margaux Marojallia
Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Benign Apathy Edition
Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass …
The Best Blog that’s not a Blog Pt. II
I’ve mentioned Garagiste and their daily email wine sales offers in the past. The Seattle-based wine purveyor is notable not just for their wine offerings (which are stunning), but also for how that offer is presented—their long-form daily email missives represent some of the best wine writing found anywhere.
For entirely different reasons, you can add Bottlenotes to that list as well (subscribe to their email at this link). If you’re not already a subscriber to Bottlenotes daily email, The Daily Sip, you should be. Since hiring Eric Arnold (ex-Wine Spectator and author of First Big Crush) as Editorial Director in April of last year, Bottlenotes has come to represent one of the best daily wine-related reads anywhere.
Taking a less wine-specific approach and focusing on wine people, personalities and stories, Arnold has proven he has a nose for interesting angles while asking the right questions. His writing leaves a reader satisfied with something they didn’t know beforehand, a neat trick given that every single wine-interested reader comes at the subject with a different point of view and knowledge base.
Case in point: Recently, Arnold featured a little known documentary making the rounds of screenings that features Julian Faulkner, a young Provence winemaker, and his struggles in the global marketplace. Arnold’s interview with Faulkner’s New York-based importer (Brian DiMarco of Barterhouse) caused me to pluck my wallet out of my pocket and buy the DVD. The documentary called “Escaping Robert Parker” uses Parker as the foil for the idealistic Faulkner, perhaps not as successfully as Arnold’s writing intrigues, but the documentary is wholly satisfying none the less.
In the documentary, Faulkner discusses a good wine not as a vehicle for critical acclaim, but as being good when it, “Gives pleasure.” It’s an oft-repeated phrase from the anti-Parker set, but Faulkner’s earnestness sells it as meaningful.
Overall, Arnold’s daily writing and the documentary are both satisfying ways to spend time if you’re a wine enthusiast.
Escaping Education
Speaking of “Escaping Robert Parker” and wine that, “Gives pleasure,” Elin McCoy (author of The Emperor of Wine), is featured in several vignettes in the documentary discussing the state of popular wine criticism – a part of wine appreciation that she describes as a declining need for younger wine consumers.
The role of the wine critic is a complicated subject, not easily placed within a neat box and a subject in which any opinion could be held up as having a shred of truth to it. Yet, in general, McCoy’s notion that critical scores are less important to younger wine consumers rings true.
I believe that not only is the role of the critic changing, but so too is the notion of education.
Historically, the wine business has lived off the “core” wine consumer – the small percentage of wine drinkers that drive over 90% of wine sales. So, when you see research from the Wine Market Council that indicates 1 in 2 Millenials are coming into wine as a “core” consumer it’s easy to see why the industry is excited.
By sheer numbers, life is good and going to get better ... from a volume sales perspective.
However, the wine industry in a macro sense encompasses more than just wine – it also includes all of the peripheral activities that educate about wine, as well – magazines, books, events, etc. and the entire picture can’t be viewed through rose colored glasses.
It’s the education portion that I think is in for the most dynamic change over the course of the next decade.
In large part, wine enthusiasm is a singular pursuit and serious wine lovers are known for being inveterate learners – reading books, educating themselves, tasting, traveling and then reading some more.
However, anecdotally, I’m seeing significantly less interest in younger consumers learning about wine as avocation, and instead merely looking at wine as something that, “Gives pleasure,” as Julian Faulkner so noted.
Last weekend my wife and I held an engagement party for my 26-year-old sister-in-law, her fiancé and their wedding party, all the same age, all 25 or 26 years old. The party was wine themed. Everybody was wine-interested. A lot of wine was drunk. My takeaway is that the importance of wine in that setting is its role as a social beverage. Education or knowledge aside from the correct pronunciation of names and regions and whether or not the wine is good (or not) is about all that matters, even amongst people with the same interest.
The implications for this can’t be understated. There was no geek talk. No discussions of alcohol percentages, styles, or anything remotely deeper than enjoying each other’s company with a glass of vino. This amongst a wine crowd.
I might be crazy, but if I were a wine educator, or a wine writer that focused on education, I would shift my focus not on the minutia of wine appreciation, but on the mechanics of how to say Chateauneuf-du-Pape without looking like an idiot alongside reviewing wine faults. That’s it.
How do you pronounce it and is it good, bad, or flawed?
Everything else is details, and, well, nowadays, there’s enough going on without needless detail…Right?
Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_benign_apathy_edition/
Clos Puy Arnaud Corbin Cos d\\\'Estournel Couspaude Couvent des Jacobins
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Wine Flash Sale Sites Are nothing New...Just Flashier
Wines & Vines Magazine has done a terrific job surveying the landscape of the relatively new "Flash Sale Wine Websites". These are deep discounters on the web that offer generally one wine for a limited amount of time at a...
Beausejour Becot Beausejour Duffau Lagarrosse Bel Air Lalande de Pomerol Belair Belgrave
Alan Kerr?s Vintage?s January 21st Release ? Tasting Notes
This mid winter release is uninspiring to say the least. It showcases the wines of Chile, not that Chilean wines are not stimulating, but my notes are minimal as palate fatigue took its toll. Anyway, please read on because as always, there is a gem or two to be found. Wines of Chile 203364 ERR�ZURIZ [...]
2007 Sauternes & Barsac
Here you find the ratings of the 2007 Sauternes and Barsac wines from Robert Parker, Decanter and Wine Spectator:
Sauternes & Barsac
Decanter
Wine Advocate
WineSpectator
Price
Chateau d’Yquem
***** 19
96 - 98
97 - 100
Chateau Guiraud
**** 17,5
92 - 94
91 - 94
Chateau La Tour Blanche
**** 18
86 - 88
90 - 93
Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey
**** 18
91 - 93
91 - 94
Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau
***** 19
91 - 93
92 - 95
Chateau [...]
Sauternes & Barsac
Decanter
Wine Advocate
WineSpectator
Price
Chateau d’Yquem
***** 19
96 - 98
97 - 100
Chateau Guiraud
**** 17,5
92 - 94
91 - 94
Chateau La Tour Blanche
**** 18
86 - 88
90 - 93
Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey
**** 18
91 - 93
91 - 94
Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau
***** 19
91 - 93
92 - 95
Chateau [...]
Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/41/2007-sauternes-barsac/
La Tour Martillac Labegorce Zede Lafite Rothschild Lafleur Lafleur Gazin Pomerol
Let?s Get Fizzacle!
Sure, bubbly is boss on New Years and even at celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries, but why not add its charming sparkle to silly-sweet St. Valentine?s Day? I can?t think of a lustier toast ? except for maybe Bedrock?s ravishing Ode to Lulu ros�, or a sinful zinfandel, or ?. Here?s my go-to list: NV [...]
Source: http://www.beyondnapavalley.com/blog/lets-get-fizzacle/
La Tour Haut Brion La Tour Martillac Labegorce Zede Lafite Rothschild Lafleur
2007 St. Emilion Grand Cru Class�
In this post you'll find an overview of the ratings of the 2007 St. Emilion Grand Cru Class� wines. We have gathered all ratings from Robert Parker, Decanter and Wine Spectator.
Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/36/2007-st-emilion-grand-cru-classe/
Larmande Larrivet Haut Brion Lascombes Latour Latour a Pomerol
Born Digital for the best online wine content
What was the best wine article or video that you read in 2010? For many people, the answer is probably something the rest of us have never heard about. It might have escaped our attention, it might have been by someone who doesn’t publish that regularly, or more likely, it was written in a language [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/-3nU9qKqKDA/
Baronat Mouton Baron Philippe Batailley Beau Sejour Becot Beau Site Beaumont
Calistoga ? Really Getting Away in the Napa Valley
But there is a quiet place in the Napa Valley much unchanged over time. That place is the historic town of Calistoga, at the very northern end of the Valley. It is here where you can find delightful things to do at a much slower pace. Continue reading
Winner Announced in BuyWithMe/Wine Enthusiast Giveaway
Related to this offer, I ran a contest to give away one of the vouchers - courtesy of BuyWithMe. Each comment left on the blog post received one entry, and each person who linked to a specific item on Wine Enthusiast's website received an additional entry. I count 13 entries from these, each numbered in the order they were received. Michelle, the first commenter, gets entries number 1 and 2 because her comment included a link for example. I couldn't tell whether Rosie888's comment was legit (it seemed primary aimed at promoting another site) so Jay gets entries 3 and 4.
I also received 4 entries via E-mail: They get entries 14-17.
Finally, 6 entries via Facebook: They get entries 18-24.
I then drew a random number between 1 and 24 and the winning number was 16:
Congrats, and thanks to everyone for their interest. Thanks to BuyWithMe for sponsoring the contest and to Wine Enthusiast for running the deal. If you were waiting to see whether you won the contest to decide whether to buy the voucher from BuyWithMe it's still available through Sunday night:
This $25 for $55 BuyWithMe deal runs through Sunday night.
La Croix du Casse La Fleur Cardinale La Fleur de Bouard La Fleur de Gay La Gaffeliere
Would you like a Gold or Silver with that Red or White?
Guest blogger�and wine judge �Stacie Hunt offers some insight into being a judge at the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.�Stacie is a�commentator on wine for National Public Radio, a Certified Sommelier (AIS), an international wine judge, educator, journalist and blogger. Everyone has his or her own idea of spring.� In the city, the [...]
Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=51
Haut Batailley Rare Signed Marie Jeanne Haut Brion Haut Marbuzet Haut Sarpe Hosanna
Monday, February 21, 2011
Afros Wine ? a sensory experience
What helps a winemaker make a really interesting wine? Is it the tools, technology and modern training received from experts at the best wine colleges? Or might it be the fact that when they walk through a grove, crunching the remains of Autumn leaves underfoot, to the sounds of the local church bell down the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/XhODua94tBc/
Facebook Deals with Wine
Another week, another bit of our world is touched by Facebook, as Facebook Deals launches in the UK as well as in Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Image by rhoadeecha via Flickr Facebook launched Facebook Places in the UK a few months ago but if you’ve never heard of it, I’m not TOO surprised. It [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/LGkYfLiQ4UE/
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