Wilf's Wine Press

Red Wine is Good for Your Health..Yes...No...Maybe!

2012-01-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

It all started when 60 Minutes with Morley Safer aired their "French Paradox" show on November 17, 1991.
Over 33 million people watched 60 Minutes that evening. Sales of red wine increased dramatically and were up 44 percent over the same month of the previous year. Sales of red wine for the entire year following the initial broadcast went up 39 percent. The American public embraced red wine as the newest health food. That was over 20 years ago but lets have a look at the show that started it all.

Much has been said and written about the subject of wine and health since then. In April of 2009, the Wine Spectator published an article titled Is Drinking Wine a Breast Cancer Risk?
Yes, according to this article!
Fast forward to January 2012 and the good news is NO.
Red wine could lower risk of breast cancer.
A Google search for breast cancer and red wine consumption turns up a staggering 32,500,000 entries.    For your enlightenment I chose the following from the Huffington Post

Along with the good, there is the bad.
Getting plenty of news coverage, especially in the wine press, is the startling revelation about fraudulent results from researcher Dr. Das at the University of Connecticut. And yes a Google search will once again show plenty of entries. Here is what Reuters   reported on the incident.

But I can report on research that is both reliable and truthful. Years of personal research conducted by myself can attest to the very healthful benefits of wine consumption, particularly red wine.
I can also attest to the fact that no cuddly, furry little creatures were sacrificed in my extensive research.

All that remains now for me is to wish you all a very healthy 2012. And may I encourage you to do your own research. All with moderation of course.

à votre santé

Trips to Wine Regions in France....Begin in Paris!!

2012-01-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

There has been a noticeable absence of posts to my blog for a while. All for good reasons which belong in 2011. But this is 2012 and one New Year's resolution I am going to keep is to post regularly again.
Let me begin with wishing every one a Happy and Healthy New year.
I think we will see some significant changes in the wonderful world of wine, although I am not quite ready for paper wine bottles.
One thing that will not change for me is that I begin and end my trips to French wine regions in Paris.
More on that in a moment. But first if you are planning a trip to Paris, I can highly recommend Bonjour Paris
Visit their site and be sure to sign up for their newsletter or sign up for their premium membership.
Bonjour Paris is the ultimate guide to Paris and France.

The city of light has been fascinating to visit but now there is another good reason.
When I first started blogging I had the pleasure of receiving a comment from one of the first French wine bloggers, Olivier Magny and I have been following his career since then.
Olivier has recently opened a wine bar in Paris that has become an overnight success and I am looking forward on my next trip to Paris, to visit him there.
The Ô Chateau Wine Tasting and Wine Bar is not your average wine bar. To give you an idea, visit their website and have a look around O Chateau
After you have signed up at Bonjour Paris and got the scoop on where to eat, stay and visit, there is something else you must do. Get a copy of the Olivier's recently released book titled 'Stuff Parisians Like'.

So what are Parisians really like? And what do Parisians really NOT like? You will get an insiders close up look in this 'hilariouslly perceptive' book. In impeccable English Olivier gives us an insight into what Parisians think, do and like. It is cool to drink San Pe and love cherry tomatoes. It is also hyper sympa to go away on a ' le p'tit weekend'. And Parisians love their 'le metro' or at least till its on strike. Ah, but line 14 never goes on strike, it is fully automated.

I took this picture the last time I was in Paris and call it 'Art in Motion'. Click on it and enlarge it, you will see some of Olivier's Parisians. So are these graffiti artists considered sympa or are they 'beaufs' Olivier?
In his final chapter, Olivier laments the fact that Parisians do not drink enough wine and finds it quite disconcerting. He is doing his best to change that. So am I, Olivier, so am I.
Have to go now. I have a glass of a great Burgundy waiting for me. Picked it up while in Burgundy a couple of years ago. A votre Sante!!

Wine, Women and a Cardinal Rule of Tasting.....!!

2011-08-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

It is good to see more and more women involved in the wine industry as writers, wine makers and on the sales side of the industry.
There are also some great web pages and blogs written by women.
Women for Wine Sense is an organization that has recently celebrated its 21st birthday.
As well on the consumer side, women outnumber men significantly in the purchase of wine.
Women buy 77 percent and consume 60 percent of the wine in the United States.
It is generally known that women can smell and taste wine better than men. In my own experience I have observed this time and again. I write an email wine newsletter in which I review wines. I have a panel of 8 tasters, 4 women and 4 men ( not always the same tasters ) and we blind taste the wines. The ladies give me better descriptors both of aromas and flavor profiles. As an added bonus, I can read their notes better. I hasten to add that I have a couple of gents who are regularly on my panel and who are outstanding tasters.
My annual sparkling wine tasting just before the holiday season starts is usually more ladies than men and they have a blast.
Six ladies and two men. I am taking the picture and therefore not visible.
Given all this, why in the world does a marketing firm come up with what I consider a put down of women's wine sense and knowledge by creating a wine and bottling it in a perfume shaped bottle?

One of the cardinal rules when tasting wine is not to wear perfume or any other scents. Obviously the marketers and makers of this product show their lack of knowledge and sense. At least that is the way I see it!!

Is That Isinglass in my Wineglass??

2011-05-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

The backroom beurocrats are at it once again. If you need a make work project, pick on wine labels. This time it is the ever vigilant crew at Health Canada.

And isinglass is one of the culprits the unsuspecting public must be protected against. Isinglass is a derivative of swim bladders in fish and most often sturgeons are used in its production.

Living on the west coast of Canada on Vancouver Island, home to our beautiful salmon, naturally I show you a picture of a Sockeye salmon swim bladder. What a magnificent piece of equipment to have on board.The air in the bladder provides buoyancy and thus allowing them to float. The amount of air can be adjusted so they can hover at different levels in the water.
But I am straying away from the point of my blog entry. The point being that this new label requirement is another bit of idiocy foisted upon the wine industry.
I won't go into details because in his usual right on style
BEPPI CROSARIOL of the Globe and Mail
has written an article that says it all and is well worth reading. The most telling fact of all is that between 2000 and 2011 there were 700,000 bottles returned to the LCBO and of that number 380 were investigated for causing alleged illnesses and only 'one' was related to an allergic reaction and this was due to quinine found in an Italian bitter.
What insanity and what an incredible waste of taxpayers money.

I smell something fishy here or is it the belch of a powerful beer lobby?

To Blend or not to Blend....that is the question!!

2011-04-10T12:46:00.000-07:00

A short while ago I read an article by a well known wine writer proclaiming that in a few years all wines will be blended wines.
I had just tasted a blended wine made up of and get this... Pinot Noir..Cabernet Sauvignon and Gamay Noir. Really now?
I chose to ignore this off the cuff remark. Then I read it again by another wine writer. Had these two gents attended the same wine conference?

Now,as we have seen it reported over and over again, the US total yearly consumption of wine is now greater than in France. But those figures are like comparing apples and oranges. On a per person basis consumption, the US is still far behind France. But this statistic is based on a total population figure.
The significance however lies in the fact that wine is finally becoming much more a part of our culture.
Along with this new found thirst comes an eager search for more knowledge about wine. And thus statements such as the above might be taken seriously by our new wine loving friends and should not be made by responsible wine writers. There is just too much nonsense out there. At least that is my opinion.
So I thought I would check with a couple of people who I respect highly and get their opinion.
First I checked with Alice Feiring. I take you to a post I did on her a couple of years ago. I loved reading her very interesting book.
So here is what she had to say as per quotation.

"I have been in the blend camp for quite some time. I sort of feel it's the salvation of California as well as other regions that might have spotty 'great' terroir".

Yes of course. Bordeaux, the 'King of Wines' producing some of the best blended wines in the world.

Since I had used Burgundy's Pinot Noir and Germany's Rieslings as examples of single variety wines her response was as follows.

"The comparison to Burgundy or the Mosel is pretty unfair as those regions have been one grape grape one bottle for quite a while, but they spent 100s of years fine tuning which grapes grow best on the soils"

Ah, yes..Burgundy Pinot Noir ..the 'Queen of Wines"

Along comes modern day science and technology to help us out and it is now possible to determine which grape variety is most suited to a specific vineyards plot.

Dr. Pat Bowen has done extensive research in this field and by means of the GIS or Geographical Imaging System, site specific grape varieties can be determined.

Poof.... hundreds of years can be bypassed by modern science.

Read the highlights of that research here.

Going back to my archived blog entry on Alice Feiring, I realized that I had written about one of my favorite German vintners as well on that same blog entry.

Why are we smiling so much? Me ...because I had just tasted some wonderful Mosels and Johannes Selbach.... because he is justifiably proud of his single variety wines.
So I contacted him and again as per quote.

"We do NOT blend our Selbach-Oster Rieslings with anything else and have no intention to do so.

There are grapes that are suitable for blending and there are grapes with little flavour that benefit from blending but good, genuine Riesling certainly doesn't need it.

I firmly believe in the future of handcrafted, authentic varietal wines if they are grown in suitable climate and soil because they will offer the wine drinker a sense of place, terroir, as well as the pleasures of varietal character.

That being said, if the individual components don't have enough character to make a distinctive wine or if the blend is better than its components, blending makes sense. Blending also makes sense where the married components together enhance complexity and typicity ( and here Bordeaux certainly is a classic example for successful blends )."
So there you have it.
Let me finish with an image of my family blend of wine which consists of 55% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Noir and just to add a touch of complexity... 5% Pinot Noir.

I raise my glass of blended wine, straight from the above bottle, to you my dear readers!!

Global Cooling in Wine Country.....!!

2011-03-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

On February 2, 2011 Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow and thus according to tradition an early spring was predicted. Within a week, I was snowed in and could not get out of my driveway. I finally managed to get out but on the way back in, I ended up teetering on the edge of the ditch and had to get a tow truck to help me out. Ended up parking my car at the start of my driveway and carry two big bags of groceries for about a 1/2 kilometer stretch down my driveway to get home. Miserable unseasonably cold weather. Fortunately I had plenty of wine on hand and a raging fire in my fireplace to keep me warm.

On the 26th of February, I received an e-mail from my dear friend, Jan in California with a series of pictures, including the Myers lemon tree in her garden. The subject title was 'It never snows in Scotts Valley????'

California Wine Country was in for sub freezing temperatures on that day.

On Tuesday January 13th 2009, featured speaker Kim Cahill, a viticulture associate at UC Davis, spoke to the concerned Napa Sustainable Winegrowing Group and detailed a predicted warming trend due to climate change for Napa vineyards.

Now hold on a minute and fast forward to February 7, 2011. Forget about that warming trend because now a new in depth study carried out for the Napa Valley Vintners Association suggests that climate change may cool the Napa Valley.

Of course these days it is no longer called 'Global Warming'. There is no money to be made with such a scary concept and terminology. 'Climate Change' is the in thing and there are plenty of greenbacks to be made.

Why not attend the III World Congress on Climate Change and Wine? For a mere 575 Euros you can get your VIP ticket and hear Kofi Annan speak. But you better hurry because after April 1st, the ticket price goes to 675 Euros.

The one that really gets me is the Carbon Credit concept. If you want to really understand what that is all about, look at this article on Carbon Credits.
This informative article was written back in 2008 and a mere $60 billion had already been traded worldwide. What are the figures for today?
Imagine trading and making money on Hot Air??

I think, I must do my part and trade my car in for a much more fuel efficient green car.

And I cannot get the lyrics of Johnny Rivers' song "Green Green" out of my mind.
So sing along with me while we join the New Christy Minstrels.

I do hope that our Vancouver Island and surrounding Islands vineyards see a much warmer 2011 year. Most did not see their grape crops reach maturity because of the cold and wet weather. We want to see a return of Global warming!
Lets all drink to that!!

Dieting?... Check Your New Wine Label!

2011-02-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Once again wine label requirements are under attack. This time it is the US and Australia. I did a post in January last year when Brussels was rattling its chains. Here is the link to that entry.

http://wwpress.blogspot.com/2010/01/wine-labels-under-attack-by-brussels.html

It seems bureaucrats everywhere feel they must protect the dumb public by forcing wineries to print the number of calories in their wines on their wine labels. This would change of course with each vintage and thus creating additional costs for the wineries.
Australia is moving ahead on this requirement
Now the US is also considering label changes. Now I ask you would anyone seriously look at a back label and do calorie comparisons between two or three wines?
'Look at this one dear, it has 20 calories less than the one you are looking at'.
When you buy your bacon do you for one minute think that it is not high in calories, but you better check all the bacon labels to see if you can shave off a few calories? How utterly ridiculous.
We buy wines because we thoroughly enjoy them and we know they are good for our health.
How about equal opportunities and allow statements of wine being good for your health to be displayed as well?
Latest research has just discovered that red wine contains chemicals used in the treatment of diabetes.
Doctors are loath to tell patients that wine maybe good for their health for fear of turning their patients into alcoholics. But the use of wine in treating various ailments has been with us for centuries.
I am in possession of a book called 'Healing Wines' by Manfred Kohnlechner tracing the use of wines in medicine from antiquity to modern times. Fascinating reading. It was published and printed by Autumn Press in 1981, so its not likely too many copies are still around. But Roger Corder's The Red Wine Diet is readily available. It is a well written and thoroughly researched book. Decanter states " Quite possibly the most useful wine book published this year"
Roger's opening sentence in the first chapter is as follows: "Wine drinkers generally are healthier and often live longer than people who don't drink wine on a regular basis"
I say Amen to that and raise my glass in a toast to all you wine lovers out there!!

Be Good Hearted... and Drink Red Wine!!

2011-01-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

It never ceases to amaze me how much research is deemed necessary before we finally come to the conclusion and accept the fact that drinking wine, especially red wine, is good for our hearts. And here is the latest as reported in BMJ..helping doctors make better decisions. The research paper is titled "Prospective Epidemiological Study of Myorcardial Infarction"

It is worth reading but you probably should have a glass of wine or two while consuming this information and if you proceed to glass number three, try saying the above title real fast three times.
Now here is some research that has just been reported. It has come to light that humans were drinking wine over 6000 years ago.
And we are still around doing our best to convince Neo-Prohibitionists and other anti-drinking groups that drinking wine is good for their health and we are going to be around for a long time.
My good friend Keith Watt over on Pender Island, owner of
Morning Bay Estate Winery and Vineyards, wrote a nice sensible, summing it all up article on wine and health.
Good wines, good friends, laughter and love. How can we go wrong? Of course drinking too much wine may be bad for your health. Everything in moderation. I love crisp bacon and could eat it all day and every day but that would not be good for my health, would it now?
So let us make sure that when they dig around an archaeological site 6000 years from now, they will say that in the year of 2011,they sure knew how to live the good live.

May you have a happy heart this year and every year and enjoy your wine in peace and in good company!

Peace, Wine Wishes and Tiny Bubbles for 2011 !!

2010-12-31T16:22:00.000-08:00

May I share with you, on this last day of 2010, my thoughts and wishes.

If you have been under a lot of pressure during this past year, then just let it all go and out of your system, like the Cremant d'Alsace in the picture below. But do not let your cares and worries build up inside you until the inevitable blow up happens similar to the mishap in the below right picture.

Well maybe I was having too much fun, or shall we say maybe one glass of wine too many with the obvious and dubious wording in the video below.

So for 2011 may your troubles be small, like the tiny bubbles in your bubbly.
May your days be filled with sunshine and even on the days when a little rain does fall into your life, may a beautiful rainbow await you at the end of the day.
Peace, prosperity and tranquility to all for 2011!

And of course a day without wine is like a day without sunshine. Happy New Year to all my friends and followers of my blog!
Wilf

Become a Wine Expert

2010-12-13T13:15:00.000-08:00

Many tastings, many events, many friends and wow, did I get snow,have kept me from doing a posting. Yes, Vancouver Island with the mildest climate in Canada did get its first and hopefully last snow. Thought I would share this picture taken on my front yard with a little Holiday holly added for the season.
The weather man of course was wrong as usual with the prediction of 4 centimeters and 10 for higher elevations. Well I am not that high, but I got 14 cms. Snowed in for 3 days, but plenty of food and good fire wood on hand to keep a blazing yuletide fire going. And of course tasted some wines from my cellar that had been waiting for a special occasion.
Now the title of this blog entry is 'Become a Wine Expert' and there are plenty of wine courses offered. But if you do not want to spend 3 to 4 hundred and even more dollars and tie up every Tuesday evening for the next 3 months, here is a fun way for the beginner and even those who already have some good understanding of wine, to learn.
It is even more fun when you get a small group of your wine loving friends together. Internationally known wine writer, taster and teacher, Michael Schuster has recently created a handy dandy, nifty little box full of cards loaded with great information. Pick a card, any card and you are presented with very useful information. It starts with a set of cards on the 'basics', then a set on 'grape varieties', followed by 'tasting techniques' and finally 'tasting lessons'. Some great advice for pairing wine and food included as well. Very, very well done Michael. Let the fun begin and you are on your way to becoming an expert.
On my trip to Italy and specifically, Tuscany, I relied heavily on the foremost expert on Italian wines, Joseph Bastianich.
Visit his site and go to media and then books. His book 'Vino Italiano The Regional Wines of Italy' is a wonderful, excellent read on Italian wines and his 'Vino Italiano Buying Guide, the ultimate Quick Reference to the Great wines of Italy' is a must have book. I took it along on my trip.
Joseph Bastianich is a foremost expert on Italian wines. He is the co-owner, with Mario Batali of some of America's premier Italian restaurants. But he also owns and produces wines on four wineries, three of them in Italy. Busy though he is, he has just finished another excellent Italian wine book, Grandi Vini, an opinionated tour of Italy's 89 finest wines. Now we are getting into some serious writing on Italian wines. With in depth details on wines and their producers, ranging from a superb Sangiovese from Emilia Romagna, to Barolos and a delightfully fresh, dry white Pietramarina from Sicily, Joseph captures the essence of them all. Every wine has its website information included. You will enjoy the hand-illustrated maps of locations of the wineries. Yes, Joseph's richly detailed descriptions of 89 of the world's best Italian wines will lead you to explore some of the world's finest wines. Great opinions and another must have book for any wine lover. I am planning my next visit to Italy.
Thank you Joseph.

No Apologies if you drink Sweet Wine from Alsace!

2010-11-01T12:02:00.000-07:00

Recently a number of websites and blogs proclaimed that the wine industry owed an apology to sweet wine drinkers.
The headline from Wine Business.com read as follows: "How Sweet it is: Wine Industry Owes Sweet Wine Drinkers HUGE Apology!" Huge apology? Give me a break!
Harpers Wine & Spirit told us 'Sweet wine drinkers can be best tasters' But when Jancis Robinson's column told us we're all wrong, I wanted to put in my own thoughts.
Tim Hanni's statement: 'glaring errors in understanding by the wine industry have led to the disenfranchisement of millions of consumers and the loss of market share to other beverages' is in my opinion a misleading, headline seeking remark. If sweet white zin is your drink, nobody is stopping you from keeping it your go to wine. No need to say 'Forgive me Father, for I have Zinned'. And there is plenty of it out there.
Furthermore this is hardly a scientific study. It was based on analyzing 1500 'online' questionnaires looking for potential judges for the Lodi Consumer Wine Awards. Come on Mr. Hanni and company you can do better than that.
Now here is a bit of real research that may be worth a second look. At least by those who do not like the bitter taste of tannins in their wine. And nobody is suggesting we should apologize for looking down on those wine drinkers who like their wines less tannic and bitter. That pretty picture is a slide of lung taste receptors. Yes, that's right 'lung taste receptors'.
Dr.Liggett, a pulmonologist,
(and I am not pulling your leg, that is what he is) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and his team, found taste receptors in the lung that react to bitter compounds. Well now isn't that interesting. Perhaps we can now add lung observations to our tasting notes. Such as: 'I found the tannins in that Cabernet overpowering and I experienced a third degree cough'.
Now back to reality. I guess the sweet wine producers in Alsace are more than willing to share their sweet, lush Vendanges Tardives and Selections de Grains Nobles. No one will need to apologize to you for loving every single last drop of them.
On my recent visit to Alsace I had the pleasure of meeting Samuel Tottoli, the outstanding winemaker at the Kuentz-Bas Estate
A big thanks to Lucas De Jong, owner of the Hotel Husseren les Chateaux where I stayed during my last visit, for introducing me to Samuel. Samuel arrived at the winery in 2004 and has made great changes. As of the 2007 vintage Kuentz-Bas is certified organic. The great advantage in Alsace is, that mainly due to the calcareous/limestone soils, the grapes can attain high levels of natural acidity. And during this tasting I found out what an amazing influence that has on the wines.
Lucas, outside the Caveau de Degustation (tasting room) of the Kuentz-Bas winery. And always busy but never too busy to take time out to share his marvelous wines, that is Samuel. I was wrong every time when Samuel asked me to guess what the residual sugar levels were in some of the wines we tasted. That is picture of my notes and the 2007 Pinot Gris Trois Chateau . I have a notation calling it 'the pineapple express" Again I missed the residual of 34 grams on that one due to the amazing acidity.

So in closing this post let me say to all you sweet wine lovers out there, you haven't lived until you taste some of the delicious sweet wines from Alsace.

Me? I will stay with their big, bright, crisp, dry wines with that wonderful minerality and of course you can never get enough of their Cremants. As always, click on the pics to get a close up view. Next up is some bubbly talk and a great picture of a sabering gone wrong!
Cheers and happy drinking for now.

It Takes a Lot of Sunshine....to Make a Super Tuscan Wine !!

2010-09-28T17:58:00.000-07:00

I do want to share some more on Alsace wine but this entry is dedicated to my friend Alessandro Dondi at Castello di Bolgheri.

Check out the rich history and tradition of the Castello di Bolgheri by clicking on the above link.
I had the pleasure of meeting Alessandro a couple of years ago while doing a tour of Tuscany with my California wine loving friend Sanjoy Ghose.
Castello di Bolgheri is located in the town of Bolgheri, on the Etruscan coast in the province of Livorno. We were scheduled to visit Ornellaia, the very well known and excellent producers of the Super Tuscan, Ornelaia. But since Sanjoy managed to get us to the coast way ahead of our appointment, we had plenty of time for lunch and a little sightseeing in Bolgheri. Just happened to walk into this delightful shop selling locally produced body lotions and creams. I asked the owner why do people drive all the way to the coast to visit Bolgheri. Ah, but of course, Bolgheri is where the famous Italian poet Giosuè Carducci wrote the poem "Davanti a San Guido", giving everlasting fame to the Viale dei Cipressi ( Cypresses ) As you drive into the town of Bolgheri these stately 200 year old Cypress trees line the road on both sides for a 5 KM stretch.
Then, the charming owner of the shop, Beata, asked me what brought me to Bolgheri. When I told her I was on a wine tasting, wine writing tour of Tuscany, she insisted we meet her husband Alessandro, the wine maker at Castello di Bolgheri. What a marvellous turn of events that turned out to be.

I won't go into details about Super Tuscans. I am sure you know about Sassicaia and the other Super Tuscans but both Sanjoy and I were overwhelmed and duly impressed by the amazing Super Tuscans Alessandro has produced.

The vineyards are about 70 meters above sea level. They are planted facing west southwest. The rows are perpendicular to the Mediterranean Sea which during the hot summer days allows the afternoon winds coming from the sea to cool the vineyard. The soils are sandy-clayey, skeletal and stone rich and a pH which is mostly basic. This "terroir" produces wines of great subtlety, smooth soft tannins and great complexity with rich aromatics. I noticed when Alex took us into the vineyards that he did a quick inspection of the Cabernet grapes, giving them a gentle squeeze. When I asked him about it
he explained that he wants the skins just
to start getting a touch of softness and that is when he wants to pick. Of course he does lab testing as well. Then he told us that they would be picking these Cabernet grapes tomorrow. Looking a few rows over, he indicated that those Cabernet, Castello was growing for Ornelaia, but that they were not planning to pick for a couple of weeks.

The close-up picture of Alessandro's grapes to the left shows them to be in perfect picking condition. Meanwhile back at the winery we tasted tank samples of the recently harvested Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah. Wow, I have tasted a lot of tank samples but these were amazing.

Now click on the map to enlarge it. As you can see, the Castello vineyards are located in the same ideal locations as the Ornellaia and Sassicaia vineyards. So what makes the Castello di Bolgheri wines so special? Because they are created by a winemaker with a passion. Truly an artist at work. One of the techniques he employs is called delestage. Very time consuming but with very beneficial results.
Alex joined the Castello in 2005 and as their cellar master here is his wine making philosophy. In his opinion when making a wine, the most important thing is to always have a clear picture in your mind of the kind of wine you want to make. Just like a good chef knows what he wants his dish to taste like, he images the texture,smells and tastes. He knows his grapes and the soils, then lets his feelings and emotions run with his artistic abilities.
And tasting his wines confirms that this winemaker truly makes a super Super Tuscan. In my opinion, among the very best of the Super Tuscans out there.
Fortunately for consumers here in British Columbia, finally almost three years after my visit with Alessandro, they are now available here in BC.
I am looking forward to visiting with Alessandro again and tasting what great wines are all about.

Sunshine into Wine.....!

2010-09-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Not this year, or at least not at many of the wineries on the west coast of Canada. Following up on my last blog entry, I contacted a few more wineries.

The song everybody seems to be singing is "Rain, rain go away, come back again some other day". But they say every cloud has a silver lining. Perhaps the sluggish economy of the last few years has left most wineries with enough inventory to carry them through till next year. At least those that as part of their marketing plan, hold back some of their inventory for a rainy day. When I spoke to Jerry Mussio at Starling Lane Winery he was fairly optimistic about this year, although their Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir was lagging behind. But since they make one of the best ( or in my opinion 'the best' ) sparkling wine on Vancouver Island that should make fans of their Célébration Brut happy. Over on Pender Island Keith Watt at Morning Bay Vineyard reports similar conditions and thanks his lucky stars to have a decent inventory. Then this morning, speaking to Eugene Kwan, the managing director of one of my all time favorite British Columbia wineries, once again a similar story emerged. Domaine de Chaberton is located in the Fraser Valley. Be sure to click on 'Winery' and then 'about us' to get the story behind this magnificent winery. I had the privilege of working with Claude and Inge as their Vancouver Island rep while running my wine shop, The Wine Barrel in Victoria. For all you Seattlelites, Domaine de Chaberton is located just across the Washington / British Columbia border and easy to find. Their Bacchus Bistro is very popular year round and is a must visit. Since I am leaving tomorrow to spend a few days on the mainland, I have made reservations at the Bistro and greatly looking forward to it.
Not everyone of course is unhappy about the rain. In the Bordeaux they were crying for rain and finally got it. Looks like they will be bragging about another good vintage and the first growth estates will be able to continue their obscene, outrageous prices.
My good friend Philippe, the export manager at Dopff 'Au Moulin" in Alsace sent me this picture of his Auxerrois and tells me harvest for the sparkling wines has begun.
I must tell you some more about why I love the wines from Alsace and my visit to Kuentz-Bas but will leave that for another entry.
In the meantime, rain, shine or otherwise, no matter how wonderful your wines might be, a little smart marketing goes a long way. So here for your 'viewing' pleasure is how one Okanagan Valley winery shares some fun with us. The View Winery makes a wonderful Pinotage and I reviewed the 2008 vintage for my newsletter. But Jennifer, the star in their video, tells me "Wait till you taste the 2009". OK Jennifer I am looking forward to it. So be sure to click on the above link to the winery and I am sure you will agree when you view the video that it is great marketing.

As always cheers and enjoy your wines!!

No Sunshine....No wine!

2010-09-01T12:15:00.000-07:00

At least that appears to be situation developing on Vancouver Island. On the weekend I visited some of the wineries here on our island.
Veraison is barely visible and the only grape showing any signs of it that I saw, was the Siegerrebe grape at the Blue Grouse Vineyards.
If you click on the picture to enlarge it you might see some of the clusters picking up a bit of color. Summer took a long time coming and unless we see a lot of sunshine over the next 4 to 5 weeks, there will be no harvest this year. Although we might see a lot of sparkling wine produced this year and I do like my bubblies.
Meanwhile back to Alsace, the report I received from my friend Philippe Durst at Dopff "Au Moulin", in the middle of August, veraison was on its way. Slow start to their summer as well but the vineyards are shaping up for another good vintage. And of course that is where it all begins. That is cellar-master and oenologist Pascal Batot at Dopff keeping a close watch in the vineyards. Pascal's winemaking philosophy is that the quality of a wine starts first of all in the vineyards.

It definitely paid off recently when Dopff was awarded two gold medals at the very prestigious
Sélections Mondiales des Vins Canada in Montreal.
They received a Gold for the Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenberg 2007 and a Gold for the Gewurztraminer grand Cru Brand de Turckheim 2007.
Thought I would share with you a photo I took of the Schoenenberg Crus vineyard while visiting there in May. It looks like it is mostly hands on work required there, wouldn't you say?Yes, the fruit of the vine does like its share of sunshine!

The Wild Vine...Todd Kliman

2010-08-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

I am going to take a detour from my journey in Alsace and venture down another road. This road leads us to a most interesting and fascinating discovery of a forgotten grape...the Norton grape.
The Wild Vine A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine by Todd Kliman

Fascinating from the beginning to the end. Tod Kliman had me hooked from his opening sentence. We all know a picture can be worth a thousand words. But in a few words author Kliman paints a picture that sets the tone for this book.
"Clouds of dust drift through the open window of my rickety Toyota as it shudders along the bumpy gravel path of Champe Ford Road like a washing machine on spin cycle, stirring up sticks and pebbles."
I knew immediately I was in for a literary treat but little did I know I was in for an amazing story, a true American story. The story of the Norton grape. The grape that was used to make a wine from Missouri that walked away with a gold medal at an international exhibition in Vienna in 1873. History is carefully interwoven with facts that could only have been gotten by long and careful research.
Throughout the book I encountered sentences loaded with wit and wisdom. Here is one of my favorites. describing the scene on the night of the grand "heritage tasting" and the buzz in the room, Todd observes, "Free wine and food have a way of bringing out the best in people - or at least, bringing them out."
Wine culture in Europe is evident in all wine producing countries. it has been that way for centuries. Does North America have a wine culture? A major set back and blow to our wine culture was due to Prohibition. in fact it stopped it dead in its tracks. We are just beginning to recover from that fiasco.

Tod Kliman describes in wonderful details, the historical characters beginning with Thomas Jefferson, who made an attempt to establish a wine industry in America. Interestingly, most of the major players involved with the Norton grape had their last name begin with an 'H'. Horton, Husmann, Held and even the town where it all began, Hermann and its citizens, the Hermannites. But it all came to a grinding halt with the onset of Prohibition.

Virginia, where it all began and where today the story continues, thanks to in large measure, the determined champion of the Norton grape, Jenni McCloud.
This is a must read for anyone interested in wine, wine history and wine culture in North America. In fact I believe this book should be required reading for all oenology courses taught in America.
One final observation. The states of Missouri and Virginia are to be highly commended for their part in promoting the Norton grape, but for me Todd Kliman by writing this book, has done much, very much, in creating an awareness of the true American grape - the Norton Grape !!

Wine and Weather in the Alsace....!

2010-08-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Wether in the Alsace or in other wine regions, weather conditions continue to challenge wine makers. My number one source for info in the Alsace, is my friend Philippe Durst, the export manager at DOPFF "Au Moulin". In the middle of July this is what he reported. ( Photo courtesy Philippe )

"With the thermometer sometimes close to 40°C in the afternoons, we are long way from the -10 and even -20°C that we have experienced in the winter between november and right until Easter. It is tough not having felt spring in between!

And still we are long way from grape picking: at this stage, the grapes have the colour of green peas and they are best suited for producing ball bearings!"

Here in British Columbia weather conditions have not been ideal and unless we get nothing but sunshine for the next month and more, the Vancouver island wineries will be really challenged to produce a decent wine. In the Okanagan Valley it will also be a vintage that will be difficult to work with, except for the best of vintners. In a direct communication with Bradley Cooper of Township 7 and Black Cloud wineries here is his take on this year.

"The crop this year will be full of challenges. The two winters previous to this last one were tough on some varietals. The cold snap of early October 2009 was another kick in the pants. A lot of vines slowed by the late, wet spring will show remarable adaptive ability and appear to catch-up. But the actual grape clusters seem to lag behind the appearnce of the vine as a whole. Pinot varieties seem to be recovering quicker than Merlot and in some cases, Chardonnay. It's a mixed bag, very site specific."

So is this the year we will see a lot more sparkling wine being produced? It likes the higher acid from less mature grapes.

During my recent visit to Alsace, I fell in love once again with their great wines, but I now also have a particular fondness for the "Crémant d’Alsace". Crémants by law have to be aged for a minimum of 9 months. Champagne a minimum of 15 months. So what do you get when you age a Crémant for 24 months? You get Crémant Excellence Brut from La Cave des Vignerons de Pfaffenheim.

With an impressive complexity and a fine mousse this bubbly was pure pleasure to drink. Toasted almond and hazelnut on the nose followed by a richness on the palate, its no wonder they call it "Excellence".

I have to once again extend a big 'thank you' to Lucas DE JONG owner along with his wife Karin, of the Hotel Husseren les Chateaux for introducing me to an excellent winery in the village of Voegtlinshoffen where Eliane Ginglinger weaves her magic at Ginglinger Fix. Eliane produces outstanding Grand Crus wines using grapes from two Grand Crus d'Alsace, the Hatschbourg and the Goldert.
That is my cousin Gerda, who drove me from Holland to Alsace and that is Lucas de Jong posing with the delightfull Eliane Ginglinger. Her beautiful blue eyes are brilliant and sparkling and are matched by the brilliance and sparkle of her Crémant d’Alsace"

And I just loved her Riesling 2008 Grand Crus 'Goldert' and her Gewurztraminer 2008 'Hatschbourg'.
Once again I must stop and take an 'Alsace' break. I have one chilling in my fridge. So until more on Alsace in my next blog entry, here are my cheers to everyone!

Alsace...the Wine, the Food and its People !

2010-07-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

So let me continue where my last post left off. This great French wine region, ideally located between the Vosges Mountains on their western boundary and the Rhine river on their eastern boundary, stretches along a beautiful wine route from Strasbourg in the north to Mulhouse at the southern end. Some of the greatest white wines in the world come from this region and I had the pleasure of tasting a lot of them during my recent visit.
Since in the title of this blog, I mention wine, food and people, let me begin with the people of Alsace.
So very friendly!
On my first visit to Alsace I met David Ling, the Export Director at Hugel et Fils in Riquewihr. David had been invited by the late, great Jean Hugel, for a training session, with a promise that "after the harvest" his future would be discussed. Only which harvest was never specified.
The long and the short of it is that David met and fell in love with a beautiful local girl and never left Alsace. Now back to who are the Alsace people. This description was given to David by a Canadian colonel, stationed at the airforce base in Lahr (across the river in Germany) which is now the Karisruhe-Baden airport. To quote his definition, the Alsace people are 100% Alsatian, 150% French, 100% European and 100% Germanic ( with an emphasis on the "ic" ), while the total of 450% explains their ego; 0. Well that is one man's opinion, but I think they are great!
Now to the middle part of my title ..."Food". Were the wines of Alsace created to match their wonderful cuisine? Or was it the other way around? All I know is. there are many food and wine matches and as the saying goes "are a match made in heaven" and a lot of them come from Alsace.

Finally the wonderful wines of Alsace. I am frustrated at the lack of Alsatian wines available to me here in BC.
I want to go into more details about the wines I tasted but will leave that for my next blog entry. But let me at least say that I was impressed with the great attempt to produce quality wines everywhere I visited. From the smallest to the largest, quality is number one concern. For instance, at the very sizable La Cave Des Vigneron De Pfaffeheim, and I quote "Every one of our wines is the object of scrupulous attention, from harvest to the moment the bottles leave our cellars." Pfaffenheim was started in 1957 by a small group of winemakers and today is a co-operative with 230 members. During harvest, the cellar master keeps a watchful eye on the quality of the grapes and the growers are paid accordingly. All grapes are picked by hand. The plastic containers used to transport the grapes are only half-filled, so that the berries do not get crushed. You can taste it in the end result.
Must go now, the sun is shining and I have a cold bottle of an Alsatian Riesling waiting for me.

Tulips and Wine from Amsterdam to Alsace ...

2010-06-17T16:47:00.000-07:00

I must begin this blog post with a very special thank you, once again, to my good friend Katherine Andes. As regular readers of my blog will have noticed my blog has a new look. ( and thank you to those who have already sent me emails with positive comments.) Anytime I make changes to my newsletter or this blog I run it past Katherine and her extremely useful suggestions have always been very helpful.
Katherine develops custom content for commercial websites. She also has a free, very informative newsletter which you can sign up for by visiting her website. THANK YOU, Katherine !!

So while I am still in Amsterdam, lets stay on the Keizersgracht and go visit with Jessica Lombardo at Art Vine located at 471 Keizersgracht.
They were recently written up in the travel section of the New York Times. I had a great chat with Jessica while visiting her art gallery and plan on doing an art and wine event with her when I next visit Amsterdam. Hopefully next year.

Now before heading for Alsace with my cousin Gerda, who kindly offered to drive me down there, I must show you at least a couple of images that we can all recognize as being truly Dutch.

Windmills and tulips anyone?

It takes about 5 hours to drive from Vancouver to the Okanagan Valley, our main British Columbia wine region. Nice easy drive on a very scenic highway. Then you are only about half way across our province. Holland on the other hand is one hectic highway. When you look at a map, the whole thing is one road after another. Too many cars ! So it was nice to get to Belgium, then Luxembourg and end up in France with our final destination of Alsace. Imagine 4 countries in one day.

My visit to Alsace this time was confined to the Haut-Rhin region. So many wineries and so many wines and not enough time. I will cover some of the wines and wineries in the next few posts.
Colmar, the capital of Alsace, has a population of 67,000 people. Great place to shop and visit. But approximately 6 KM south of Colmar is the little village of Husseren les Chateaux nestled in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains.
That is where we stayed at the marvellous Hotel Husseren les Chateaux.

Fabulous facilities, great swimming pool, excellent restaurant and a bonus for me, the walls are solid cement. So you will never hear your neighbour in the next room snoring. Meeting facilities for up to 45 people. What a great hideaway place to have a group meeting and seminars. Another bonus for me was Lucas de Jong. Very knowledgeable about the local wineries. He took a day out of his busy schedule to take me to some of the best Grand Cru properties. More on that in my next posts. So tulips in Alsace you might ask? Lucas was originally from Holland. Then 20 some years ago before he and his lovely lady, whom he had met in Denmark, moved to Alsace and built the hotel. Lucas,formerly a sommelier, has extensive wine knowledge and yes they also own a vineyard in the Beaujolais. Naturally he would have a few tulips around. Look at them in the entrance to the hotel inviting you to the restaurant Au Sapin Dore.
Next up winery visits and some great photos and of course a discussion on food and wine in Alsace.
A Bientot!

Drinking Wine in Amsterdam !

2010-06-09T12:43:00.000-07:00

Having recently returned from a trip to Amsterdam, visiting relatives and a wine tour of Alsace, it has been difficult getting back into the swing of my normal routine. Met with my panel to taste 7 just released delightful wines from the Starling Lane winery and getting ready to taste 12 Rose wines for my next newsletter. And of course wading through all the e-mails and answering as many as possible. I fully intend to share pictures and experiences of my trip in the next few posts. I read with interest, Alder Yarrow's post over at Vinography on wine consumption statistics and thought that would be a good starting point. So I looked at the pdf posted on his site from TDA ( Trade Data and Analysis ) on his site and scrolled down to the Netherlands. The average liters per capita for the Dutch in 2008 was 21.68. Surprisingly that great nation of wine consumers, the United Kingdom, consumed somewhat less than the Dutch with 19.14 liters per capita. There are no silly regulations and restrictions on selling wine in Holland and it is available in grocery stores and great little wine shops everywhere. The picture of De Ware Jacob is an example of one of them, located a 3 minute walk away from my cousin's home on the Keizersgracht.
(Click on the pic)
Its difficult to translate accurately but
' De Ware Jacob' means 'the real Jacob' and is an expression used when a woman has found 'the' real man of her life. The shop was originally owned by a Jacob and after his death his widow continued to run the shop until the new owner took over.
Let me tell you, we did our best to raise the national average during my visit. But while we are at this location, kitty corner from the wine shop is an incredible chocolate shop owned by Mireille, the exuberant and gracious daughter of my cousin. Her shop, 't Goede Soet, at 95 Keizersgracht is a must visit while you are in Amsterdam. 't Goede Soet translates into the Good Sweet and is a chocolate lovers paradise. Google it and see some of the great reviews.

Meanwhile back to statistics. The average consumption for Canada is listed as 12.24 liters per capita but according to Statistics Canada, the official Government of Canada branch that carries out surveys, the national average is 13.1. The Yukon territory leads the way with 18.3 but what else would you do on those long winter days in Canada's great northern white? Second place goes to the province of Quebec with an average consumption of 17.4. Could that be because of its historic ties with France? Once again I am happy to report that I am doing my share of wine consumption in the province of British Columbia which ties down third place with an annual consumption of 14.5. Our burgeoning wine industry would account for that. Newfoundland and Labrador come in 11th place with 6.5 and dead last is Saskatchewan with only 5 liters per capita. Of course they do enjoy their beer. Finally our neighbours to the south of us are working on their annual consumption with a 9.68 liters per capita. But with wine becoming much more a part of our North American culture I would expect these figures to increase in the coming years. As they say in Dutch 'tot ziens' or farewell or until we meet again. Lets all do our share to help the economy and raise the national average.

Awaiting Another Vintage in Wine Country !

2010-05-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

I am just a few hours away from flying off to Amsterdam and then on to Alsace. In Amsterdam I will be giving a talk on British Columbia Icewines and of course in Alsace its all good. Good food, good wine and good people.
So what will this year bring to various wine regions?
My good friend Philippe Durst, the export manager at Dopff au Moulin send me this picture a few weeks ago. The vineyards are budding and showing early leaf formation. But he says they are behind last year at this time.
I visited a winery, Rocky Creek, here on Vancouver Island, just a few days ago and early leaf is just starting to show and again somwhat behind last year.
Then I checked with Alessandro Dondi on the Tuscan coast and he reports nothing positive with the weather, cooler than usual and rain three times per week.
So there you have it. But I will be sure to give you first hand reports upon my return. When I told Philippe I was trying to lose a few pounds before coming to Alsace, he reminded me that I wasn't coming to weight watchers country.
So be it!! Food and wine, wine and food. Tell me, is there anything more enjoyable?
Cheers,
Wilf

Job Security in the Wine Industry !

2010-04-26T16:20:00.002-07:00

Some excellent posts recently, as always, on Tom Wark's Fermentation and Alder Yarrow's Vinography. An issue that has made headlines everywhere, especially in the wine blogosphere, is the H.R.5034 bill before congress. Here is Tom's take on it.
Another couple of good analyses are on Palate Press and the 30 Second Wine Advisor.
Alder did an in depth review of "The Coming Carnage in the California Wine Industry" with excellent comments that followed his post.
Even though they are two different issues, what is their common thread? Why jobs of course. Both have the potential of some serious job losses. But hold on, coming back to my previous post about Prohibition and its results, who is not looking for a new job? Massive government bureaucracies were created to interfere, oh pardon me, I meant regulate, alcohol consumption and subsequent contributions to government coffers. Do you know or have you heard of any regulatory inspectors loosing their jobs? If anything, they will be hiring more, with great job security as a bonus thrown in for the lucky candidates.
After all making sure that proper licencing is in place ensures those extra revenues. British Columbia has also seen some significant government lay-offs with the last go around another 230 people losing their jobs.
Recently the Naramata wineries held another very successful annual wine event in Victoria. At the same, in the same hotel, some government liquor inspectors were holding a conference. Guess what? They just could not resist and marched right in to check that every winery had proper licencing for the event. And as an added bonus for their efforts they got to taste some awesome new releases.

May We Have a Little Culture with our Wine ?

2010-04-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

It would have been inconceivable to think of Plato, Socrates and other Greek philosophers to have held their famous symposia without the benefit of wine. Ancient Greek society has contributed much to modern Western civilization, not the least of which is the culture of wine. For centuries Britain dominated the world wine trade and the nouveau rich upper middle class was largely responsible for creating the impression that wine was only for the educated well to do members of society.The poorer members of society went to the local 'Jug & Bottle' when they were thirsty.Thank goodness we are more enlightened these days.
Today there is a problem with young people and binge drinking. So how enlightened can it be for the French government's plan to bring wine education to French university canteens? It is not without opposition of course, but can you imagine some US state or in Canada a provincial government to even think of such a proposal? No, I am afraid we are still suffering from the hangover of Prohibition enacted in the US in 1920. And what were the results? Massive crime waves with the establishment of the Mafia. Ah, but the answer was to regulate alcohol consumption and of course use it as a cash cow for governments. It truly set back North American wine culture. Yes, it should be regulated as far as drinking and driving is concerned. Plato and the boys did not have to worry about getting into a car and causing accidents. It is morally very wrong to drink and drive. Killing yourself is one thing, but to be the instrument of death of another human life is reprehensible. Wine has been around since very ancient times and is not about to go away. So why not introduce wine culture and wine tasting at every opportunity out there?
How refreshing to read that at the California State University at Sacramento there is a course available on wine tourism.There is an enrollment limit of 20 students at a time because it involves field trips and yes, actually tasting wines.
There is I am afraid, a bit of nouveau snobbism out there. In our North American eagerness to catch up, there is a potential of wine education for the sake of the education itself. Consequently these 'experts' have an intimidating effect on large numbers of potential drinkers. They are forgetting about the best part of wine. Wine was made to be enjoyed to the fullest. Notice that the young lady in the picture knows not only how to hold the glass the right way, but most of all that she is taking time to enjoy the fruit of the vine. In Vino Veritas indeed. She has learned and knows the truth about wine. The truth about wine is that it is a most enjoyable drink and was meant to be shared and give pleasure to human kind.

Wine & Media at the 2010 Olympics !

2010-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

I could not resist doing a follow up on my March 4th post on 'Wine & Sponsors at the 2010 Olympics'. On March 12th our national television broadcaster, the CBC, picked up on the Girls Hockey team and their celebration with the Sigura Viudas sparkling wine. It is now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Permanent inexpensive advertising for Sigura. By the way, the girls have good taste. For the price, it is a delightful bubbly.
On a more serious note I did encounter a lot of misinformation by the foreign media about our outstanding Icewines. Back in 1994 I started a wine shop in downtown Victoria, British Columbia called The Wine Barrel. In 2005 I sold the shop and it is now in the capable hands of Bruce and Merrilee Stuart. During my tenure I sold a lot of BC Icewines and picked up a fact or two about them. But my mentor about Icewines was John Schreiner, the world expert on anything to do with Icewine or the original German version called Eiswein. John is the author of "Icewine The Complete Story" and I had the pleasure of hosting John for a book signing in my shop when his book was first released. I treasure my autographed copy. I have featured John on my blog a few times and here is one entry.

The image on the left is of the 2008 Paradise Ranch Merlot Icewine boasting a residual sugar of 218 g/l and the right image image is of the 2008 Paradise Ranch Riesling Icewine with a residual sugar of 134 g/l. As always be sure to click on the image to get a close up look. I had to give the images a framing of hot and cool. The Merlot is outstanding and will be a 'hot' selling Icewine. The Riesling is such an elegant Icewine that it gave the impression of a really 'cool' fresh and clean Icewine.
But now to the point of picking on the international media. Two write ups in different newspapers drew my attention and I just had to send them a message with the correct version. One writer stated that 'Icewines are often sweet'. NO, they are always sweet! And as my two above Icewines show, they may have different sweetness levels but please they are 'always' sweet. Another writer claimed that they were high alcohol dessert wines. NO again! The high sugar levels dehydrate the yeast cells and kills them before they get a chance to convert more sugar into higher alcohol levels. So they will range from a low of 9% to 12% at the higher level. Both of the above Icewines clocked in at 12%.
The Olympics have come and gone and are part of history but great BC Icewines will be around for a little longer and we might as well get it wright when we write about them.

Wine & Sponsors at the 2010 Olympics !

2010-03-04T09:51:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Winter Olympics have been a great success in spite of the lack of snow. The sponsors of course, have been very happy with the huge exposure of their products. But wait a minute here. What was that Canadian Women's gold medal winning hockey team up to? Two of the major sponsors at the Olympics were Molsons Canadian Beer and Vincor Canada's Sumac Ridge Winery in the Okanagan. Fittingly the gold medalists were treated to a three litre sized Molson Canadian beer that looked very much like a Champagne bottle and Sumac Ridge's Tribute Gold sparkling wine. The Tribute Gold and Silver were created in honour of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
Click on these pictures courtesy Alex Livesey/Getty Images and Surprise !!
That ain't no Tribute going down that gullet. Looks suspiciously like Sigura Viudas to me. Sigura Viudas was rated as one of the top 100 wines by the Wine Enthusiast. And yes that is a cigar in the picture on the right. Now cigars and beer maybe. But cigars and sparkling wine? That is a no no. Especially when it is not even from one of the official sponsors. Oh well, at least the ladies'?' won't be at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Vincor Canada is again one of the sponsors. Its not cheap to be a sponsor and Vincor did not get their money's worth at this event. But Viudas received a bonus and how do you suppose that happened? Oh the joys of being a sponsor and the politics in wine!

I Want to Teach the World to Drink....Wine!

2010-02-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

In a recent article in Decanter, philosopher Roger Scruton, postulates that Muslim fundamentalists could become more tolerant were they to consume wine. In the comment section, Stephen Hobley points to the magnificent jade drinking cup of Shah Jahan (picture courtesy London's V&A Museum) in support of Roger's thesis. This theme was also also enlarged upon in the Telegraph.co.uk.
The Islamic Society of Britain's Ajmal Masroor wonders if Roger made these comments while sober or intoxicated.
I believe the whole world, not just Muslims, could benefit from partaking of the 'fruit of the vine'. Pliny the Elder said it all when he proclaimed 'In Vino Veritas', origin in Latin, there is 'Truth in Wine'.
Do you know how many "World Day of.." there are? There is the World Day of Peace, the World Day of Prayer, the World Day for Water, the International Women's Day and a host of others. I would like to propose a 'World Day of Wine' when the whole world stops for a few precious moments and we toast one another and drink to world peace!
In the seventies the Coca Cola company had a major hit on their hands when they produced the 'I'd like to teach the world to sing' advertisement where the singers proclaimed they would like to buy the world a coke.

Similarly I would like to teach the world to drink ..wine of course. We raise our glasses, toast each other, forget our differences and just love one another.
Perhaps I will leave the last word to Alice Feiring at 'Veritas in Vino' who simply wants her wines, like her friends, to speak the truth.

Chinese Wine Made in Australia...!

2010-01-29T12:41:00.000-08:00

Before I delve into today's topic, just a quick update on my last post. It seems that Brussel's concern about labeling is not impressing European consumers. In a report just released by the European Food Information Council and published in the Journal of Public Health, it states that only 16.8% of consumers looked at nutritional information on labels. Say no more.
We all know that the Australian wine industry is going through a bit of a hard time and we also know that there is a potentially sizable market in China, but is selling out to the Chinese the answer? Doing business in and with China runs into many governmental snags. It is after all a communist regime running the show. Good for Google for taking a stand. Google stated that hackers had tried to infiltrate its software coding and e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Of course the Chinese immediately condemned the US and Google.
China has a "one child" policy whereby only one child per family is allowed to be born. Forced sterilizations and abortions, especially of baby girls, are not uncommon. Boys are favored over girls. Now there is a problem in the making. Women in the wonderful world of wine are becoming increasingly more important. Starting with some outstanding women wine makers, sommeliers and above all consumers. Maybe that trend will not be possible in China. There won't be enough women around.
Meanwhile back in Australia.... It seems that Chinese communism with a small 'c' is embracing Capitalism with a big 'C'. Chinese companies loaded with cash from state owned banks are on a buying spree in Australia.
Australia pioneered the cute and cuddly critter labels. Look no further than the very successful Yellow Tail with the Wallaby on its label. So can we expect to see the Koala bear replaced by the Panda bear? Click on the pics to get a closer look at these two famous icon bears from both countries. Good luck and best wishes to our Aussie friends!

Wine Labels Under attack by Brussels...!

2010-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

Are government wine regulators somewhat akin to restaurant food critics, who feel it is their job to be critical of every restaurant they review? Do regulators feel they must foist obnoxious rules on the wine community or they are not doing the job they are paid to do? North America may have their neo-prohibitionists but it seems Europe has a whole gang of neo....(fill in your own blanks ).They feel
humanity must be saved form this harmful beverage that has been around for thousands of years. The latest outrageous proposal from Brussels will see dramatic changes to wine labels for wine produced in Europe. Calories? Does anyone really care? Does Sally turn to Harry and say look dear 'I know you don't really like this wine, but it has 20 calories less per serving'. When you buy your bacon do you check each label to see which one has the lowest fat content? What fat headed thinking is going on here? Perhaps beverages that have been around for more than 200 years should be exempt from this idiocy. Wine would certainly qualify. What about Sacramental wines? Will they be exempt? Forgive me Father, for I have Zinned. We made a mistake on the label. There are a whole lot more calories in that wine then what shows on the label. Does Father care? If this became mandatory in Canada, it would me a nightmare. Canada is bilingual and all product labels have to show both the English as well as the French versions. Then of course there are the huge costs associated with this folly. Wine is not a standardized product that is exactly the same each year. Variations will occur each vintage. Another needless cost for the consumer. I hope sanity will prevail and bumbling Brussels will back down from this bomb shell.

Wine Predictions for the New Decade...!

2010-01-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

As we begin 2010 and a new decade there are some fascinating predictions out there. Two I found particularly interesting were Steve Heimoff's "My Ten for the Next Ten" and Julie Brosterman's "Was 2009 the Tipping Point for Wine & Social Media."
But let me begin 2010 with a needed correction to my last blog entry. If you look at the picture I posted, courtesy Philippe Durst of the Dopff Au Moulin winery in Alsace, you would have to believe that there was a lot more pressure inside that bottle than the 2-3 atmospheres of pressure I attributed to Crémants.
I am again indebted to Philippe for the celebratory picture but mostly for pointing out that since Crémants in France are made in the traditional method, previously known as Méthode Champenoise, they all attain 5.5 to 6 bars of pressure. And to quote Philippe here are the correct details.
"Originally the term crémant was in use for wines of lesser pressure in Champagne (such as in Crémant de Cramant) but since it was traded by French producers in exchange for no longer using the wording "méthode champenoise" on the labels, it is now used since 75 in Loire and Burgundy and since 76 in Alsace for fully sparkling wines made with the local grapes."
So while we are in correction mode, I hope that this will be the decade that wine writers and media types will use the words "variety" and "varietal" correctly. Look them up in Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine or check out this
article on Snooth.
Click on the pic for a closer look at the Sangiovese grape "variety" I took while visiting Tuscany.
So do I have any predictions for the new decade? Yes, two of them. We will see a much greater involvement of women in wine and deservedly so. I will go into more details on that in a future posting. My second prediction is that as the the North American palate evolves and becomes more educated we will see the producers of multi million bottles of wine, such as Yellow Tail, adapt and make their wines in a less sweeter fruit bomb style of wine. Who will be asking for that? Why women of course!

Celebrating and Toasting with a C....Sparkling Wine!

2009-12-31T08:24:00.000-08:00

Will that be a Champagne, a Cava or a Crémant you will be drinking to celebrate the new Year? All of them made of course in the traditional method. Crémants are produced by adding a smaller dosage for the second fermentation, resulting in less carbon dioxide and thus a lower bottle pressure.This lighter effervescence creates a creamy texture to the wine and hence the term Crémant which means "creamy". Crémants have 2-3 atmospheres of pressure instead of 5-6 in wines from Champagne. My friend Philippe Durst, the Export Manager at Dopff Au Moulin in Alsace sent me this picture of a Crémant having some fun with a waitress.
But no matter what sparkler you will be celebrating with ( and I will be celebrating with a bubbly made here on Vancouver Island called Célébration Brut from Starling Lane Winery.) it turns out that it is actually good for your heart.
My friend Nick Stephens over at Bordeaux-Undiscovered did a great post on that. And of course we all know that we should continue to drink our favourite beverage in 2010 because it is good for our health. Decanter has done a nice summation of the beneficial effects of wine. But only look at the green column. The researchers in the red column will be drinking and celebrating with a cup of decafinated tea.
Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy 2010!!

How Much Will you pay for your Wine.....?

2009-12-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

Yes ,the Asian market is hot. According to Sotheby's auction house fifty-seven percent of all wine sold by value went to Asian buyers this year. Asian bidding has boosted prices at both Sotheby's and Christie's International for first growths such as Lafite, Latour, Petrus and Mouton Rothschild. Both houses anticipate selling wines worth $5.7 million this week as buyers attend the last international sales of 2009 and thus propping up the prices once again for the greedy first and second growth Bordeaux producers. ( Don't be afraid to click on the feet in the picture.) But tell that to the 5000 plus workers at Threshers and Wine Rack shops who are loosing their jobs just before Christmas. Or tell that to the many Bordelais vintners whose vineyards have been grubbed up for lack of sales of their grapes. Similarly those pumped up prices will not impress the Australian wineries who are bulldozing their vineyards because there are 100 million cases of unsold wine sitting in their cellars. In the meantime Napa is also feeling the pressure of a slump in sales of their high end pricey wines. But predictions by the International Organization of Vine and Wine are for global wine sales to increase by 4 percent to 246.3 million hectoliters for 2009. But this is fueled by the demand in the US for cheap wine during the economic crisis. Meanwhile back in Hong Kong a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothshild is selling for anywhere between HK$37,000 and HK$48,000. No wonder they are a prime target for thieves. Robbers removed $877,000 worth of Lafite from a warehouse in Hong Kong.
And is this another Billionaire's Vinegar in the making? According to Renaud Gaillard, deputy director of the French export trade body, Federation des Exportateurs de Vins et Spiriteux de France (FEVS) China is "the principal counterfeiter" of fine wines and spirits. Counterfeiters have targeted 5 to 6 of the top Bordeaux wine estates.
So, how much are you prepared to pay for your wines next year? Personally I will be quite happy to stay away from those pricey Bordeaux.

Are You Passionate About Wine...?

2009-11-05T10:03:00.000-08:00

A new book, 'Living with Wine' by Samantha Nestor is eye candy for anyone with a passion for wine. It could easily have been titled 'Living with the Passion for Wine'. Samantha Nestor is well qualified to write a book such as this. She is the special projects editor at Metropolitan Home magazine and regularly appears on television and radio shows.

I am an amateur photographer and love to see great photographs. The pictures in this book by Andrew French are stunning. I was equally pleased to see Alice Feiring's name on the cover. She is definitely one of my favorite wine personalities and has been ever since I read her book,
The Battle for Wine and Love.
This book is a little bit like following the lives of the rich and famous. The majority of us will never have wine cellars like the ones detailed in 'Living with Wine' but if you are passionate about wine, this book will further stimulate your passion. I have consulted on wine cellar construction but only from the basics of where and how in a home and the importance of insulation, vapour barriers and usage of environmental control units but this book takes you to the outer limits. Liberally sprinkled with factual notes it will carry you away to a wine lover's paradise. it is simply amazing how today's technology, availability of a wide range of materials and exquisite craftsmanship can transform even a small space.
Each chapter carries an intriguing title. There is even a cellar made with no wood or natural fabrics. Why? It is located in a winery and any and all materials that might possibly carry the bacteria responsible for the production of TCA were avoided.
There are books and glossy magazines detailing far away travel adventures to places the majority of us will never visit. This book similarly will carry you away and further en kindle your passion for wine. Get your favorite bottle of wine and dream and drool while visiting these places of passion in this book. 'Living with Wine', a must have for every designer and architect with even a hint of interest in wine. Show this book to your wine loving friends and it will be sure to start a lively conversation. If Bing Crosby was around, he would probably be humming "I'm dreaming of a Wine Cellar..just like the ones...( I saw in Living with Wine).
Dream on, wine lovers out there!

Those Tiny Tasty Bubbles in your Wine........

2009-10-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

.....tickling your taste buds on your tongue. When I first read that Champagne bubbles improve flavour in a Decanter news report I was intrigued but baffled when I read this sentence. " ..discovered that many aromatic compounds were more likely to be present in the bubbles than in the wine itself". If they were not in the wine in the first place then how would they suddenly appear in the Champagne bubbles? But the following article in RSC made a little bit more sense. So just how many of these precious little bubbles in a bottle of Champagne will bring us those delightful flavours? A scientist by the name of Bill Lembeck gave us the incredible number of 50 million. And that along with 90 psi ( your car tires are only inflated to 45 psi ) makes for a powerful punch of aromas and flavours.
The image is one of a Champagne sabering that went wrong. But there you have those 50 million bubbles under 90 pounds of pressure blowing away all those delicate flavours.
But the story does not end there, because now another scientist has discovered that we actually have taste receptors for carbonation. Apparently carbonic anhydrase 4 is responsible for sensing the taste of carbonation. It activates our sour cells. No wonder Champagne tastes so good.
I think it would be a good idea for Gérard Liger-Belair and Philippe Schmitt-Kopplin with their Champagne bubble experiments to get together with Nicholas Ryba and devise experiments that will tell us what to expect from the next generation of sparkling wines. The bubblier the better.
A toast to all of you!

Low Cost Wines, Media, Scandalous...lets get it straight!

2009-09-24T20:38:00.000-07:00

It must have been a slow day around the National Post office. Lets see how can we blow this one up to grab some attention. California couple buys a bottle of "BC" wine and discovers it is California wine. Add the word "scandalous" and you have a story. It worked because the story was copied and repeated many times. I have a problem with this kind of reporting. First of all buyer beware. Do read the label! There is a market for inexpensive wines and the big three wine producers mentioned in the article are there to supply you with what you are prepared to pay for your wine.
Secondly, this has been going on for years.So suddenly this is worthy of a news item? Look at the Ontario scenario.Read this interesting synopsis of the situation in that province.. It may not be ideal or right but it is quite open and above board and a government sanctioned situation.
Third on my list. I am not necessarily a fan of the British Columbia Liquor Licensing and Liquor Distribution system, having had my own 4 year battle with them, but where might I ask should these wines be displayed? If they contain mostly California grapes should they go under the imported US, California section or if mostly Washington grapes should they be displayed under Washington state wines? Give me a break and stop stupid reporting like this. I do however have a problem with the minister responsible pretending he was unaware of this situation. So chase that down for a newsworthy story.
In the end what is really scandalous is the outrageous mark up and taxes imposed on wines here in BC and similarly in other provinces. For us it is 117%. So your cheap imported plonk, suddenly is not so cheap anymore.
I have said it before but my favorite US President said it all when he said:
" I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury. On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens."
Thomas Jefferson, American president and Renaissance man, (1743-1826)
Since we all know wine is good for your health, I say lower taxes on wine. It is time to put a whopping tax on those "whoppers" and fries. Greasy hamburgers cannot be good for the average citizen and are creating a burden on our health care system. Tax them!!

A New Kind of Wine Doctor !

2009-09-15T13:23:00.000-07:00

Should a doctor recommend wine for your health? There is an overwhelming amount of evidence that drinking wine, particularly red wine may be beneficial to your health and well being and yet doctors are loath to recommend a glass of wine (or two) to their patients. Their common concern has been their fear of the possibility of turning you into an alcoholic. This seems rather an unfounded fear. If you have it in your genes to become an alcoholic,you don't need your doctors blessing to become one.
So I was pleased to see one enterprising doctor do a little smart marketing. I congratulate him for his efforts to take the sting out of what is for some people an unpleasant experience. Dr. Scott Hanlon, a family physician, will let you enjoy some wine right after you get that needle.

I find it rather ironic that a doctor will stay away from suggesting a glass of wine might be just what the doctor ordered but have no problem prescribing one of the anxiolytic ( anxiety reducing ) drugs. In fact according to the American Psychiatric Association 61 million prescriptions a year are written by doctors. One of the most successfull novels of all time was Jacqueline Susan's "Valley of the Dolls". It has sold more than 30 million copies. it details the use and abuse of uppers and downers. The "dolls" of course refer to the downers or mood altering drugs.
In a new book by Dr. David Herzberg, titled "Happy Pills In America - Our Complex Love Affair With Designer Consciousness" Dr. Herzberg states "Patients have always demanded sedatives and stimulants from their doctors, who generally oblige them"
Now I ask you, would it not be of greater merit to recommend a glass of the fruit of the vine from one of many wonderful wine producing valleys in the world ( Sonoma, Napa, Loire and here in British Columbia the Okanagan Valley or you name your own favorite wine valley ) rather than the very addictive drugs from the Valley of the Dolls?

What Kind of Wine Are You?

2009-08-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of money that is wasted on frivolous research. While half the world is starving to death researchers are telling us what kind of personality you have based on the type of wine you prefer. And marketers just love it. You will be debonair, smooth and smart when you eat our pretzels or any other product they want to promote on TV. OK, they tell us that it will allow them to figure out why the Western world has so many obese people and solve the problem. I think not.
Ah, but trust those Texas tasters to figure it out. The wine division of the Texas department of Agriculture think we have it all backwards. Check out the pdf version of Texas in a bottle to see the wine wheel or click on the image below. Wine drinkers describe a wine having character or personality. No, no, that is backwards. Its people that are a lot like wine.

So what are you? A Cabernet, nice and dry? Or a Muscat, so sweet?
I guess I must be a certified wino. I like them all. It depends on the mood I am in, what I am planning to eat and most of all the people with whom I am sharing that bottle of wine.

Roll Out the Barrel or Make that Wine Bottle Plastic !

2009-08-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Another year, another vintage. Some wine regions are reporting that harvesting of early ripening grape varieties has begun. So, as in my previous post, is it time perhaps to stop and think about the grape's journey from vineyard to bottle? Yes, the Torres video ends with an ad for their wine, but it is very well done and worth watching.
So now the push for plastic wine bottles is on. The Boisset family of fine wines has been at the forefront of introducing wine drinkers everywhere to this new concept. And for my every day drinking wines, I can live with that.
A couple of years ago wine drinkers in Ontario were introduced to Boisset's Yellow Jersey series of wines by the LCBO of Ontario. The Yellow Jersey of course is the iconic jersey made famous by the Tour de France. Not available to us in British Columbia but through the kindness of Boisset I received samples of these wines. As you can see, I did my bit of recycling and leaving no carbon footprint when I replaced my water bottle with a Yellow Jersey wine bottle.
But I have to question the barrel concept described in the below video. I know Tod Nagle and he is a fine fellow but after the initial charm wears off for the patrons to your restaurant, what are you going to do for an encore? What are you going to tell those who want a Chardonnay, a Riesling, a Cabernet or any other wine? Will you be lining up a whole series of barrels? Green is good and this was good marketing and received some media attention but realistically not a sustainable project.
Are the marketing gurus tripping over each other to see what novel 'green' idea they can come up with to get that extra bit of media coverage? Or is there some exploiting of the green concept?

Take Time.....to Smell the Wine!

2009-07-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I visited the Dragonfly Hill Vineyard, and had a delightful visit with Carol Wallace, the owner. Looks like an abundant, excellent crop coming for this vintage. That is a picture of her Ortega grapes. She also grows Auxerrois grapes. Her vines are now 16 years old and produce excellent fruit. We sat in her cool winery building and enjoyed a glass or two of her very refreshing clean and crisp Ortega Auxerrois blend. It brings you right down to the reality of what wine is all about.
Do we here in North America frantically and in a frenzy spend to much time writing, blogging and criticizing wines? There is a daily outpouring of wine reviews on the internet, mostly via blogs. Oh, you must try this wine and before you've had a chance to purchase it, the next best wine is presented for your consideration. Its enough to drive you to drink! Are we forgetting to stop and smell the roses or in this case the wines, long enough to truly understand what wine is all about?
Susan Kostrzewa over on the Wine Enthusiast's Unreserved wine blog
wrote a very good article on wine critics. The comments were equally enlightening but I particularly liked the last sentence summation of Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe and I quote, "And in my favorite countries, those common folk are drinking wine—not because it received a good rating, but because a table without wine, food, family and friends just doesn’t seem right."
It is 110 F ( 34 C ) outside. Not a cloud in the sky and just a gentle little breeze blowing. Our Vancouver Island vineyards are basking in the sun. Its time for me to prepare some lunch and enjoy a brilliant, refreshing white on my sundeck. (click on the image)
If we enjoy the wine in our glass, after a whole year at the vineyard and winery has passed and has given us one of mother nature's great gifts, spend some time researching the winery, the vintner, the soils and get an idea of what you are experiencing. You will appreciate the wine that much more. Stop, slow down, don't just rush out and get the latest recommendation.
Life is too short, take time to smell the wine and enjoy every drop!
Happy summer time drinking!

Stop Tooting Your Horn about Biodynamic Wine!

2009-07-06T12:49:00.000-07:00

We have all heard the litany about how wonderful biodynamic wines can be. Some people swear by them and others say it is a lot of hocus pocus. The fact is of course that any vintner going to great lengths taking care of his vineyard should theoritically produce a good wine. Its the cow horn part that bothers a lot of people and it bothers me as well but perhaps for a different reason.
I did not realize, until I did a Google search, how popular cow horn products seem to be.That takes a lot of cow horns.
Considering the fact that most dehorning of cattle is done at an early age, is there going to be a shortage of cow horns if biodynamic wine making becomes popular?
Now here is my problem. Do you know how painful and therefore cruel it is to dehorn an adult cow?
Since biodynamic growers are close to the earth, the moon and the stars, should they not also care for these creatures with horns that roam the earth?
Do they have to use a real cow horn? I am sure that with today's technology an imitation cow horn can be made. Now there is a business opportunity.
Can anyone enlighten me as to why a real looking fake horn could not be used?
In the meantime I have a wine buddy coming over for supper and I am making super sized hamburgers. He is bringing an 'organic' Malbec. No horns, no bull. Just an enjoyable night with a good wine expressing its terroir.

Drink Wine Today ... but use the right glass!

2009-06-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Just a follow up on my last post. I have been testing the tasting on the right day theory. I am happy to report I tasted 10 Sauvignon Blancs with my panel on June 15th, a leaf day, without any ill effects. I really tempted the lunar crowd last night, a root day of all things. Tasted a high end Super Tuscan and same thing, nothing but praise for the wine. Now I can relax and return to my normal drinking pattern. That is, enjoy my wines whenever and wherever the occasion arises.
I am NOT a wine snob, never have been and never will. Each wine deserves a chance to tell its story. But I have to tell you that I am a bit of a wine glass snob. I often bring my own glass when attending trade tastings. After all when tasting a series of wines, should you not give the wines a chance to show off their best? The rolled rim restaurant style of glass at these tastings are just not very helpful.
Recently I had the opportunity to attend a Riedel Glass tasting, sponsored by the largest wine shop in Victoria, Everything Wine. The Riedel representative introduced us to the latest in the Riedel series of glasses, the Vitis.
Before I sold my wine shop in Victoria, The Wine Barrel, I became a firm believer in what the right glass can do to enhance the wine drinking experience. While I think the Vitis series are beautiful and elegant and I now have a set of them, I do not think that they have an advantage over the Vinum Extreme series. Recently I shared a 1989 Opus 1 with a good friend and I chose the Extreme Cabernet glass rather than the Vitis Cabernet glass. The Vinum Extreme is, I feel, better suited to a big bold wine like the Opus 1. It still makes me drool when I think of this tasting.
Now to get to the point of this post. Some years ago, Riedel introduced an Icewine glass. The sales representative at that time, tried to convince me that since British Columbia makes some of the finest Icewines made anywhere, I should be selling these glasses. I was of the opinion that this new glass was just not the right one for our BC Icewines. I felt that they may be very suited for Ontario Icewines and they were in fact created using Ontario Icewines but BC Icewines are different. He reported this to Riedel in Austria and that started a challenge. In other words, put your money where your mouth is.
Well, OK then . I contacted a number of BC Icewine producers to get their opinions on the difference between BC and Ontario Icewines. As well I spoke to John Schreiner, the author of Icewine -The Complete Story and got his take on it and a number of other in the know individuals. Next I created an "Icewine Glass Evaluation Chart".
Click on it to get the enlarged version.
Next I collected 3 BC Icewines and 1Ontario Icewine and put a panel of 6 local wine experts together (OK, 5, I was taster #6), including bringing John Schreiner over from Vancouver. John, in my opinion is the world's number 1 expert on Icewines. I won't go into details but the long and the short of it was that my theory about the Riedel Icewine glass was proven correct when 5 out of the 6 panelists agreed that indeed the Riedel Icewine glass was the best for the Ontario Icewine but not as suited to the BC Icewines we tasted.
Since Riedel had been interested in my project, I forwarded them all the information. Guess what? If I would order 50,000 glasses they would create a glass according to my specifications for a BC Icewine. Well...it was fun!
When I visited Tuscany with my friend Sanjoy from California we had the pleasure of tasting the wines made by Alessandro Dondi, the winemaker at Castello di Bolgheri. I believe it to be 'the' super, Super Tuscan. I brought it back with me and it looks like we finally will have a distributor to bring it into BC. I shared part of the Castello di Bolgheri this week with some local wine experts and quickly added nitrogen preserve to the bottle. Their opininion was that it was outstanding. Elegant was one of the descriptors.Tonight I am sharing the rest of this wine with a wine loving lady friend. I guess I will use the 'elegant' Vitis Cabernet glass for this get together. Just done right BBQ'd steak and a great wine and great company.
Yes, I believe the right glass is essential to the ultimate enjoyment of a great wine.

Do Not Drink Wine Today....!!

2009-05-28T10:34:00.000-07:00

According to the Lunar calendar we are in a 'root' day face of the moon and drinking wine may be a No No. Really now?
( Calendar courtesy of Domaine de la Vougeraie--click to enlarge ) According to a recent article in the NewsScotsman there are days you simply should not be tasting wines.Two of the UK's major retailers, Tesco and Marks & Spencer's, who account for at least one-third of all bottles of wine sold in Britain, "now only invite critics to taste their ranges when the moon-related biodynamic calendar dictates that wine will be at their best...
Our first choice is a fruit day. We seek to avoid root and leaf days."
Today and tomorrow we are in a root day and a lunar node. Really bad! Had a lady friend over for lunch today. Made a nice salad and served a beautiful Pinot Gris from the Desert Hills winery in the South Okanagan Valley in BC. Followed this with a hot beef dip on a bun served with the Desert Hills Mirage, a big bold Bordeaux blend. Guess what? It was delightful. Then we went to a new release tasting of the wines of Tinhorn Creek, another great winery in the South Okanagan. Same thing! Tasted ten wines. Could not find a fault with any of them.What's going on here? The wines were fruity not rooty.
One wine merchant in Britain who does not subscribe to this theory is my good friend Nick, over at Bordeaux-Undiscovered. Nick writes an excellent, informative
blog and did a good review on this.Check out his take on this called Drinking by Moonlight
Could not help but wonder what Alice Feiring's opinion might be. Alice of course is the author of a gutsy little slap at Parker with her book called "The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization"
Since she discusses Biodynamics in her
book in several chapters and had a very interesting interview with Nicolas Joly. Nicolas is the unofficial leader of the worldwide biodynamic wine movement. So I wondered. Well Alice does have days when her wines do not quite taste right but has not attached it to any particular fruit, leaf or any other type of day.
So the question remains "Does wine change with the phases of the moon or do individual palates change with the lunar period?"
Tell you one thing though, while I was still practicing vet med, I did have some "colorful" character clients visit me claiming that their pets were not feeling well, Could never find anything until I looked at the calendar and found it to be a full moon period. Thankfully my wines taste good any old day.
What sayeth thou?

Rosé Wines by any other Name......

2009-05-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

Is a blush wine a Rosé? Is a white and red wine blend a Rosé or just a blush wine? Is a white Zinfandel a Rosé? Not if the French have any thing to do with it. The continuing battle with the EU has a determined group of French wine makers up in arms about the pending EU Comission's decision to allow a white wine blended with a red to be called a Rosé. Now the Italians have joined the battle. The EU wine reform committee was to have voted on this proposal on April 27. Now,because the World Trade Organisation needed more time to look at the proposals this contentious issue has been delayed till June 19. In the meantime Rosé's popularity continues to increase. True rosé wines are even seeing rising sales in California, the home of US white Zinfandel. The good news is that all
this media attention is keeping rosé in the lime light. Just finished a rosé tasting for my newsletter with mostly rosés from Britsh Columbia and I love the way they are starting to lean to much drier versions. At this point in time the French have at least won the right to allow for a special label designation that their rosé wines are made with 'traditional' methods. Rosés are such great food wines and I for one am thrilled to see more and more of them available.Try them, you will love them!

Wine and Dine.....at Home!

2009-05-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

Higher priced wines continue to suffer a slump in sales. This seems particularly true in restaurants. Restaurants need to be imaginative during the current economic downturn. One of my favorite local restaurants is doing just that.
They feature a different theme for every day of the week.Thursday is their Thirty for Thirty with 30 bottles of wine each selling for $30.
An annual state of the wine industry report just released by the Silicon Valley Bank forecasts that economic conditions will have a lasting impact on the fine wine business.
Is this perhaps a time where dining at home will become increasingly popular? Dine out by all means but share that expensive bottle of wine with family and friends.
When visiting friends in California last summer they did just that. Click on the pic and you will see what I mean.
You have heard this one before, but I love cooking with wine and sometimes I even put some in the food.
With the excellent help and encouragement of Katherine Andes, I have been making some changes to this blog and my email newsletter. Sign up for her very timely and topical newsletter.
As you can see I have Nat's Wine & Food Matcher. But I have just added a great source for recipes. In Recipes Looking for Wine you will find some taste tempting menus. But I always check out two of my favorite sources for recipes when I want something unique and tasty.
When you visit my British Bordeaux friend on my link list, Nick Stephens, and click on recipes you will find the Angels on Horseback recipe.
I just love that one. Nick's blog is always very informative and a pleasure to read. And I can hardly wait to try out David Crowley's latest,Tortellini with Garlic Spinach Sauce. You will find him at my link to "Cooking Chat"
So now the question remains, do you pick your recipe and then find a wine to match or do you choose your wine and and then search for that great recipe?
Have fun always and enjoy this precious gift of the fruit of the vine!

Summit Needed to Stimulate Slumping Sales in Le Champagne

2009-04-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

There has been a dramatic decrease in sales of Champagne and calls for drastic cuts in yields may be required. Domestic sales for the first two months of 2009 were down 29.3% and European exports dropped a whopping 47.7%.
So perhaps what Le Champagne needs is a great Ambassador. And of course no one was better at it than Napoleon Bonaparte himself. The image portrayed here
is of Napoleon and his good friend Jean-Rémy Moët in July of 1807 at Moët et Chandon
click on pictures to get the enlarged versions for more detail
It was Napoleon who commented "That in Victory you deserve Champagne,in defeat you need it." A lot of Champagne was bought and consumed.
When we visited Moët et Chandon
during the 2005 harvest season we were taken to the pleasant garden courtyard with the Three Emperors' Tree and taken back in time when Europe's great leaders met there to enjoy Champagne and of course talk about the issues of the day.

It was a thrilling moment enjoying our own glass of Champagne and stepping back in time to March of 1814.This was followed by a magnificent lunch in the
Moët's residence formal dining room. Our hospitable host, Arneaud de Mareuil, the Vice-President Public Relations, Communication & Heritage was a true champagne ambassador.
That is Sanjoy, my wine travel friend, on my left and Arneaud on my right. The rest of the guests were media and movie types from Denmark. I ended up calling them the Great Danes (That's a veterinarian's mind)
So is it time to move forward and have a Champagne Summit to discuss how best to support the Champagne industry? The picture on the right shows who might be meeting under that old Three Emperors Tree today.
Now the faces may not fit too well as I adapted them to the lunch scene, but you get the picture. That is Prime Minister Gordon Brown on the left, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merchel and of course Obama. On the right is President Nicholas Sarkozy. Somehow, I get the impression that he may not be the most popular guest. I think the question could be asked 'What have you done for us lately?' A toast to you all!!

For Goodness Sake...Wine is Good for Your Health!

2009-04-03T11:13:00.000-07:00

Seems like a day does not go by without some health minded organization or government agency telling us how bad wine is for our health. I say stop picking on wine and use those valuable research dollars to enlighten us about the benefits of drinking wine. Look at those grapes, one of nature's greatest gifts to humankind.

For thousands upon thousands of years they have been picked and turned into the most pleasurable drink known to mankind. But no the tea drinking anti-alcohol crowd must tell the world about their latest research detailing how 3247 women and men were followed for the last three years (or were there 7423 ? ) drinking wine and now..ouch they have a 27% greater chance of getting cancer. I am not trying to make light of this terrible disease. There is nothing more devastating for a woman to be diagnosed and go through the ordeal of breast cancer but so many other factors have to be considered. I know of women who hardly ever drink wine or anything else and yet have suffered with this dreadful malady. Cancer needs a cure but there are many, many things that can cause it. So men, have you been taking extra folic acid supplements? It turns out that men who have, are at much greater risk of getting prostate cancer.
Of course there are studies indicating that drinking wine is a preventative for cancer. Barrett's Esophagus is a precursor to esophageal cancer and drinking wine may lower the risk by as much as 56%.And here is more good news. This study indicates that the combined polyphenols from red wine was found to be effective against breast cancer.
The latest anti drinking wine study finds that even your teeth are in trouble. Yes, they used cow teeth for this one.Could they not have found a human skull or a set of human teeth for this experiment? You will really be in trouble if you drink wine during dinner and follow that up with tea or worse if you get up and brush your teeth. Me? I usually don't drink tea after a delightful dinner with a good wine. I certainly won't be getting up to brush my teeth. How about grapefruit juice folks, which I happen to like very much, its very acidic. So could you please do some research to tell me I am going to loose my teeth prematurely?
Plato, wise man that he was, said, "Nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the Gods to man."
And would Jesus have turned water into wine at a wedding feast if he thought for one moment that it was harmful to the guests?

Peace be with you! Especially when you are enjoying the 'fruit of the vine.'

Feel the Love,When you Are a Wine Critic !

2009-03-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

I set out to do a book review of Alice Feiring's
The Battle for Wine and Love or How I Saved the World from Parkerization
but instead will refer you to a very good in depth review by Brooke Cheshier on Vinography.
Apart from getting hints about the loves in her life, there is an inspiring passion about her love for 'natural' wines and her loathing for chemically manipulated, scientifically engineered from vineyard to cellar wines.
Her book has obviously made its mark in Spain where a translated version will be available in 2010. You can read about that on Alice's own site 'In Vino Veritas'.
Besides her book being easy to read you will find yourself coming away and wondering about how natural the wines are that you now consume. Since reading her book, I have had the pleasure of meeting several wine makers and asking them how much of an influence Robert Parker has had on their wine making.

There is hope out there Alice!
During a delightful lunch with Johannes Selbach of the Weingut Selbach-Oster, I posed this question to Johannes. With great pride and perhaps a touch of indignation, he suggested that since his famly had been making wines for a long time before Parker came on the scene (since 1661) they have been making wines in traditional styles handed down from generation to generation. The Selbach-Oster wines are known for their purity of fruit and fresh and delicate aromas. The mineral rich slate soils of the 'MittleMosel' and the ripe, juicy Riesling fruit are evident in all their wines. Interestingly enough both Robert Parker in his Wine Advocate and the Wine Spectator rate these wines highly with their 'points' in the 90+ range.
Alice has written passionately and you will experience that when reading her book. I admire her fearless approach on this controversial subject.
The video below takes more than the usual few minutes of videos seen on YouTube but this one on Vimeo is well worth watching. You can 'Feel the love' or otherwise, in this one. Oh, the life of a critic is not easy.
Go Alice, Go!

Robert Parker's Bitch from Josh Hermsmeyer on Vimeo.

Will the Real Green Wine Come Forward!

2009-03-16T20:00:00.000-07:00

We hear so much these days about green wines and carbon foot prints but have we forgotten that there is only one wine that is truly 'the' green wine?
I am speaking of course about the Vinho Verde from the Minho Valley in Portugal.
It doesn't refer to the colour of the wine but rather that it is a wine produced under minimal growing conditions and one that should be drunk young. You do not age a Vinho Verde wine. I thought about this after reading the article in the Irish Times and the arrival of the the French schooner, the Etoile de France landing in the port of Dublin delivering 15,000 bottles of 'green' wine in time for St.Patrick's Day. Very admirable concept. The article even mentions that "each shipment is fitted with radio frequency identification to record and monitor the temperature of the alcohol during the voyage". OK, then what? So if this ship travels during the hot summer months are cooling systems in place to keep the wine from getting cooked? If yes, then what about the carbon foot print of all that energy used to do the cooling? And oh yes, that North Sea can get pretty turbulent during winter storms. Is this just a little bit of hyped up marketing going on? Really now, are we going to see French and Italian wines shipped all the way to the North American market on fancy frigates?

But hey, you know what? Tomorrow is St. Patricks day and what better 'green' way to celebrate then to enjoy a bottle of Vinho Verde, especially one with the cool green cat on the label.

I take this opportunity to wish all my readers a very happy and fun filled St.Patricks day and may the following Irish prayer come true for you all.

Notice the part about "may the sun shine warm upon your face" and "the rains fall soft upon your fields". Sounds very much like an Irish prophecy and ideal growing conditions for a vineyard. Who knows with a little bit of global warming, the Emerald Isle may become the next best place to grow grapes. Then you can anchor your schooner and expend no carbon foot prints at all. God bless the Irish and one and all!!

Travelling in Super Tuscan Wine Country!

2009-03-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

Say Super Tuscan and surely Sassicaia and Ornellaia come to mind. In 1968 the first Sassicaia was introduced to the market and thus the Super Tuscan phenomenon was started. They are produced with non native varietals, using instead Cabernet Sauvignon and other grapes to make up a Bordeaux style of wine. So successful was the vinification with these Bordeaux grapes that in 1994 Bolgheri was officially recognized with its own DOC status.Today there are some 40 producers on 1300 hectares of vineyards.
Bolgheri is a very picturesque town and to get there you travel along 5 km stretch of road,the Viale-dei-Cypressi, lined by magnificent two hundred year old Cypress trees.The 19th century Nobel Prize-wining poet, Carducci immortalised this "sunlit green avenue" in his famous poem Davanti a San Guido. Italian school children are taught this poem at an early age.
Side roads will lead to the Bolgheri wineries. My trusty driver and friend Sanjoy had managed to get us here from Florence faster than we had anticipated for our appointment at Tenuta dell'Ornellaia. So we decided to visit Bolgheri and as luck would have it we met the wife of a local winemaker. She insisted we meet her husband and that turned out to be the best part of our visit. The Castello di Bolgheri winery is located right in Bolgheri and its winemaker is the brilliant Alessandro Dondi. Allessandro gave us the grand tour of the winery and the vineyards.
The Castello vineyards are located on the farm surrounding the castle. The farm consists of 130 hectares and 50 hectares are planted to vines. The vineyards were planted beginning in 1997 using the principle varieties, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah and Petit Verdot, specified for in the DOC Bolgheri wines.All the grapes had been harvested except for the Cabernet Sauvignon and had been fermenting in stainless steel for about two weeks. So we tasted straight from the tanks and I have to tell you, I have tasted freshly fermenting wines many times before but never anything this delicious. Allesandro drove us out into the vineyards where the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were waiting for his decision as to when to be picked. Gently squeezing a few grapes, he announced tomorrow would be picking time. Besides lab analysis, he feels the grapes and just when the firm skin begins to soften slightly,that is when it is optimum time to harvest for him. Back at the winery we had the opportunity to taste the Varvara, a very impressive entry level wine. But Allesandro beamed with pride when he saw the big smiles on our faces after tasting the flagship Castello wine, the Castello di Bolgheri.
This Super Tuscan is an amazingly well crafted wine made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Aged in oak for 18 months and then a further 12 month aging in bottles. Rich, silky, smooth, this extremely well balanced wine is a pure pleasure to drink. What a fortunate stroke of luck to "discover" the Castello di Bolgheri and meet this very talented wine maker. Certainly a high light of our trip to Tuscany.
Since we still had time to go for lunch we asked Allesandro where he would recommend we go. So he took us to a restaurant a short distance from the winery and introduced us to the owner.
That was another great experience. Tourists and locals are treated to traditional Tuscan cuisine and of course wines from Bolgheri. If you happen to find yourself in Bolgheri be sure to visit the winery and have lunch at the enoteca Tognoni. You never know, you might find Allesandro taking time out for a super Tuscan meal and enjoying a truly super, Super Tuscan wine from the Castello di Bolgheri.

Wine Lives and Breathes...so does my new blog's look.

2009-02-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I did it. I changed to the new blogger layout. Yes, it is still the same me. Nothing changed there. But after some very useful suggestions and hints from my dear friend Katherine Andes, I decided it was time to go forward. You can get to her website by clicking on the "My Great Writer Friend" in my links list or you can just follow this link
After 30 plus years of tasting and enjoying wines, I have picked up a little bit of knowledge about wine but I am still a neophyte when it comes to websites, blogging and all that wonderful technical stuff. So her help was invaluable. I also pick up a lot of good info from her free newsletter which you can sign up for via her website.
My friend Carl Brown, who gets my newsletter and regularly leaves a comment on my blog, also is prompting me to get a little bolder and braver. He left a good suggestion in his comment on my "Champagne then and now"post. So thanks to all of you for your regular visits, comments and suggestions. I appreciate it very much. It spurs me on to the continued pursuit of the" fruit of the vine".
I could not do a post without at least one picture related to this subject. So enjoy this one. I took it in the Blue Grouse Vineyards and Winery on Vancouver Island. Those are lush Ortega grapes a few days away from picking. Oh and while we're at it, I am still having great fun preparing my Italian dishes.

Which leads me to my final note. In my next blog entry I will be telling you about the fabulous wine maker we met in Bolgheri. Alessandro Dondi makes some of the best wines we tasted while travelling through Tuscany.
Ciao!

The Heart and Soul of an Italian Winery !

2009-02-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Too many wine tastings, too many events and a series of my wine newsletters have kept me from returning to post another entry on my blog. But I am back because memories of my recent Tuscan tour keeps filling me with thoughts of returning soon to that blessed area and its wonderful wines and friendly people. So I want to share some more of that experience.
Before I do, I must tell you about my experimenting with various Italian recipes. In my December post I have a link to Mestolando, the authentic Italian kitchen in Florence and their Bucatini ala Matriciana recipe or as they call it, Amatriciana. Or go to Bobby Flay's for this bucatini recipe. With all due apologies, I have altered it a little bit. Perhaps we will call this a New World adaptation of an Old World Recipe.
First of all I break up the Bucatini into two or three pieces rather than the regular spaghetti length.I'll tell you why in a moment. Then after cooking the sauce, I put it into a saucepan and keep it on low heat. The recipe calls for some of the sauce to be mixed in with the spaghetti ( and remember I use the real Bucatini, not the regular spaghetti) Then you plate it and top it with the grated Pecorino Romano. Stop, right there. I now take two or three good tablespoonsful of pesto and add that to the frying pan that has just been released from it sauce. I add a couple of tablespoonsful of olive oil and stir and spread it across the frying pan and heat on a low to medium setting. Now I add the Bucatini an stir it to ensure the pesto is thoroughly mixed with the spaghetti. Having broken up the spaghetti previously makes it easier to stir it around. Then I take all the sauce and add it and again stir it until all the Bucatini is thoroughly coated with the sauce. Then after heating it for another two to three minutes, I plate it and sprinkle generously with the grated Pecorino. May not look as pretty as it does in the video but it is oh so delicious. Just a hint on the pesto. I have tried almond, walnut and even Macadamia nut pesto but I keep returning to pine nut pesto. And the best recipe for that I have found on my good friend David's blog "Cooking Chat".
So now finally to the purpose of this post. We had the pleasure of a visit to the Casa Vinicola Luigi Cecchi & Figli winery in Castellina in Chianti. It was one of the more impressive wineries we visited while touring throughout Tuscani.

Ultra modern state of the art facilities at Cecchi.

A lot has been said and written about "Old" World and "New" world wines. The new world claiming superiority because of advanced technology. But hold on... what if Old World wineries adapt New World technological advances? Well now that means that the Old World wineries have the advantage of tradition and generations of family history. Yes, of course some New World wineries have a proud history of making wine in their family for many years. But few can claim generation after generation of wine making tradition. In the New World everyone uses modern technology. So you cannot use that as your claim to fame. But knowledge of terroir and tradition is a little more difficult to claim when promoting your wines.
The Cecchi winery is a true traditional proud family winery. Started in 1893 by Luigi Cecchi and today both his son, Cesare and his grandson Luigi are very involved with the Cecchi winery. They are comitted to sustainable practices in both the vineyard and their facilities.

In fact one of the beautiful meeting rooms at the Castellina winery has a beautiful oak floor made from their old wine barrels. It even has a red wine stain visible in the oak.
The feel of family is evident when visiting this winery. Our hosts were the two beautiful ladies Chiara Bellaci and Cecillia Muzzi. Truly dedicated to the Cecchi family of wines they proudly showed us the state of the art facilty followed by a tasting of the best Cecchi has to offer.
We tasted our way through 8 of their outstanding wines. What a shame I cannot get them here at home. But I can dream. Dream, I will be able to get them someday soon and dream of visiting Cecchi again. The first two wines we tasted were the Litorali and the Natio Chianti. Two superb wines followed by 6 more of the best Cecchi has to offer.

The Litorale is a lush , fresh lively Vermentino. Refreshing and crisp and loaded with fresh fruit. The Natio is a superb organic wine with 90% Sangiovese and 10% Colorino grapes harvested from small vineyards in the Chianti region. The essence of Sangiovese is captured in this wine. The remaining 6 wines we tasted were equally exciting and flavourful.
Ciao Cecilia and Chiara! Thanks for the memories!!
In my next blog entry I will tell you about the amazing Alessandro Dondi of the Castello di Bolgheri.

Champagne ...then and now !

2009-01-15T22:00:00.000-08:00

After my first post on my Tuscan tour, I fully intended to share more about that marvelous trip. But I am detouring slightly to cover part of a previous trip. And thus I will make mention of my visit to the Champagne. Only because Harper Collins, the publishers in New York, send me a copy of the book The Widow Clicquot by Tilar J. Mazzeo to review. I had the pleasure of a private tour during the 2005 vendange, again with my friend Sanjoy from California, and with that background it made this book that much more meaningful.

The Champagne house of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin is truly a must visit establishment and those of you who have been there will agree with this I am sure. The limestone cellars, which have been there since Roman times, are a treasure house of works of art. If you follow this link it will take you to the Veuve Clicquot website. There is an age verification before you can actually visit the site and just a little hint for those of you from Canada ( and yes we are a bilingual country) if you do not speak French, use the USA country of origin. The good people at Veuve have assumed if you are from Canada you must be able to speak French and the French version is what will present itself. We had a wonderful, knowledgeable young lady give us a most interesting tour and at the end of it, we had the pleasure of being served the La Grande Dame. Like Dom Perignon, I thought I was seeing stars.
The archives at the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin reveal very little of the remarkable widow Clicquot. Their website gives only sparse details about this brilliant business woman. But Tylar Mazzeo has done an incredible amount of research for her book. Tylar is also very well versed in anything wine related and the book is liberally sprinkled with wine facts, especially about Champagne. For instance, did you know that in those early days, Champagnes were very sweet and had upwards of 200 to 300 grams of residual sugar? These are woven into the story and makes the history of the widow Clicquot come alive and the book almost reads like a novel and personal diary at the same time. This book is certainly a must read for all Champagne lovers out there. It is a tribute to the widow Clicquot Ponsardin and her marvellous determination and entrepeneurship. I believe Veuve Clicquot should host a major book signing event with Tilar Mazzeo present. She has contributed immensely to the story of the Veuve Clicquot with this fascinating, well written book. Publishers Harper Collins have just added another great book to their long list of excellent books.

Icewine and Christmas Greetings!

2008-12-26T13:36:00.000-08:00

Winter has hit all of Canada with a vengeance and British Columbians who can normally brag about their mild winter conditions, are shivering and shoveling on a daily basis. Vancouver Island, where I live, has seen up to and over 2 feet of snow in some areas. That includes my home. Those are pictures of my driveway and other than a path down the middle, I have given up on keeping it clear. I have rarely seen conditions like these in the 15 years I have lived here.
The good news for Icewine producers here in BC is that they were able to pick grapes for their 2008 vintage. When grapes are picked at this time they result in luscious fruity Icewines. If the required freezing temperature ( -8 degrees Celsius or 17.6 Farhenheit) does not come till January or Frebuary which is often the case, the fruit has become more dessicated and the resulting Icewines are more concentrated but do not display those big fresh fruit flavours. Growers in the Okanagan saw temperatures drop to -12 and with the wind chill factor to minus 21 degrees Celsius. As always my source for Icewine conditions was John Schreiner, the auther of the ultimate book on Icewine. I introduced my readers to John a few times and most recently on my September 5th blog entry.
I am eager to do some further posts on my Tuscan tour but it seems appropiate for this my 100th post to wish you all the best of the season and a Happy and Healthy New year. That means of course that you must do your share and continue to drink those Red Wines.
Greetings from Wilf and my little friend Maddie. That is a two foot snow bank behind her.

Travelling and Tasting Wine in Tuscany!

2008-12-12T21:00:00.000-08:00

A news item on the total volume of wine for the 2008 Italian vintage as reported by the Associated Press puts Italy in the number one position as the world's largest wine producer. It has been copied verbatim by many leading newspapers. It never ceases to amaze me that news media do not check the accuracy of facts and figures. Thus the Assoenologi's estimate of 44.5 billion liters, should have read 4.45billion. But you read it accurately here. It is 4.45 billion liters. Now that I have got that out of the way I can tell you that not only is it a larger volume but the grapes are wonderfully ripe and mature. Look at those Cabernet grapes. (click pic.)

Even the grapes for Vinsanto ( as pictured here) are juicy and delicious. The grapes shown here are Trebbiano grapes at the
Castello di Verrazzano estate winery.

My traveling buddy Sanjoy and I spent a delightful day at Ruffino's Tenuta Poggio Casciano property in Tuscany. Click on the map to enlarge and see Ruffino's other Tuscan properties.

Tenuta Poggio Casciano is a state of the art facility. Our gracious and very hospitable host Francesco Sorelli made our visit a memorable one. Knowledgeable and dedicated, he gave me enough information to write a book. Ruffino was established by two cousins, Ilario and Leopoldo Ruffino. In 1913 having no heirs, they decided to sell to the Folonari brothers, Italo and Francesco. Their proud history and traditions were carried on by the brothers. Ruffino was the first Italian winery to export Italian wines to the United States. Before treating us to a magnificent lunch with wines matched to each course, he gave us an extended tour of the magnificent cellar and facility. History seeps out of the walls and their wine cellar is just like you always pictured a wine cellar to look like.

I am not going into a detailed description of the wines we tasted. I am leaving that for my email newsletter I send out on a regular basis. It is also called Wilf's Wine Press. But here is the line up.
2007 Libaio Toscana IGT Chardonnay. Unoaked,it is fresh, clean and rich on the palate.
2007 La Solatia Chardonnay Toscana IGT
It has 10% Viognier added and this well balanced wine is rich in fruit aromas and on the palate.
2004 Nero al Tondo Pinot Noir Toscana IGT. This one is not available anywhere except for in house use and a few lucky journalists like myself. Ah, The touch of tuscan soil and forrests mingle with rich cherry aromas. Well balanced acidity and lingering flavours.
2007 Il Ducale Toscana IGT. This is a blend of 60% Sangiovese, 20% Syrah and 20% Merlot. Fruity and velvety tannins, it matched beautifully with the Pappa al Pomodoro we were served. Loved the wine and loved that true Tuscan dish.
2005 Tenuta Lodola Nuovo Vino Nobile Montepulciano DOCG which is predominantly made with Prugnolo Gentile grapes. Rich aromas of spice, earth and cherries which carries on to the palate. Red berries and plum on a long lingering finish.
2006 Tenuta Santedame Chianti Classico DOCG made up with 85% Sangiovese and 15% other varietals. The colour is a violet best described as "mammole" which is a special violet. Complex aromatics mingle with spicy scents, elegant on the palate and a lingering, long satisfying finish. A beautiful match for the rich pork dish and roast potatoes we were served. It all ended too soon with the 2004 Riserva Ducale Oro Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG. This of course is Ruffino's flagship world renowned wine. Country fresh fruit, complex spicy notes with sweet tannins, elegant in structure and a long lingering satisfying finish. Very fruit driven and food friendly and a oh so worthy of aging. Long will I remember this wonderful visit. I really liked Italian wines and food before this, now I can only say I really love their food and wine. Thanks to Francesco for being such a wonderful ambassador for Ruffino. I have been making some delightful Italian dishes since my return home. I have used a good many recipes forwarded to me by friends and found on the web. But I have also modified and added some of my own twists to some of them. One of the dishes that has become a regular for me is the Bucatini alla Matriciana. Thanks Bobby, but I have altered your recipe somewhat, adding a little home made Pesto sauce among other things. Want to see how it is done Tuscan style in a Florence kitchen? Watch this video and open that bottle of Ruffino Chianti and get ready to enjoy a great meal with a super food friendly wine.
Thats me toasting our host. Ruffino also produces some very good olive oils which we applied liberally to the tuscan bread and of course you need Pelligrini to clear your palate for the next part of the adventure.

When Wine flows like water......

2008-10-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

......you probably have a plumbing problem! At least that is what happened at this year's annual Sagra dell Uva Grape Festival in the city of Marino. Every year, since 1925, the city of Marino celebrates one of the oldest wine festivals in Italy. Marino is located in the wine making region of Lazio in the Alban Hills south of Rome. This year the festival had a delightful turn of events when residents turning on their taps were surprised with a free flowing supply of local wine. Sad to say we were not there. But we did get our share of local wines and food while traveling all over Tuscany with my buddy Sanjoy from California. Having just returned, hence my lack of postings to my blog, I must say I am missing all that good food and wine. We visited the major DOCG regions and some of the more important DOC's like Montalcino, Montepulciano and
Bolgheri.
Driving along the Strada del Chianti ( SS 222) you get a wonderful sense of what the Tuscan countryside is like. That large picking basket just seems to be waiting to be filled up and 2008 appears to be bountiful with good quality grapes throughout the region. Just look at those beautiful bunches of Sangiovese grapes. Lush, ripe and mature and oh so sweet. These were scheduled for picking the day after our visit to the vineyard. Click on the pic to get a better view.

In my next posts I will be going into more details about some of the wineries we visited. All well known and all outstanding producers. Names like Ruffino, Cecchi and Ornelaia are recognized around the globe and we had the pleasure of visiting with them. Met an outstanding young winemaker in Bolgheri and was really impressed with his style of wine. I will be telling you more about Alessandro Dondi at the Castello di Bolgheri.
Tuscany, one big happy vineyard and I am already looking forward to a return visit. We maybe going through some world wide financial crisis but I tell you Italian food and wines give me comfort and lifts my spirits. But then good food and wine tends to do that. I will leave you with a message captured in this picture taken outside St. Francis' Basilica in Assisi. Yes, we did get in some fantastic sightseeing and of course sampled local foods and wines.
So Peace to you all, enjoy your wines and good things are bound to come your way.

Politics & Wine!

2008-09-15T08:54:00.000-07:00

Just received my copy of Tyler Colman's "Wine Politics" but since I am of to Italy in a couple of days, I will have to read it when I get back. But here are a few of my thoughts on politics and how they have influenced wine and wine consumption for thousands of years. Speaking of Italy, I guess you could say that is where it all began. When Roman armies invaded and conquered one European country after another they planted vineyards along the way. Not very nice to be taken over by a foreign army but how often do you end up with some nice vineyards in your backyard planted by your enemy?
It is generally believed that Georgia is the oldest wine region in the world where it all began some 7000 years ago and it is often referred to as 'the birthplace of wine'
Some archaeologists now believe that wine may first have been produced in Iran.
However I have"Georgia on my mind" when it comes to classic manipulation of wine for political purposes. Back in March of 2006 Russia put an embargo on wine from Georgia
claiming to have found heavy metals and pesticides in their wines. A little political economic blackmail to punish pro west Georgia. Russia had been the largest consumer of Georgian wine accounting for up to 85% of its production. But over the next couple of years Georgia found markets in other European countries, notably Poland. Taking it one step further the recent invasion of Georgia by the Russian army resulted in Polish wine drinkers, in support and solidarity with Georgia, to encourage all Polish people to drink Georgian wines. Watch for Russia to take punitive measures to punish those popular pro west Poles.
And then of course there is always the "politically correct" factor in wine consumption. A few years back a good friend of mine, who happened to be the XO on one of Canada's navy ships, was informed that Canada's ambassador to the UN would be making a visit to our west coast navy base in Esquimalt and that the ambassador wished to have a meal with the officers on his ship.
He was instructed as to the wines to be served with dinner but when my friend read that they were French wines he had a rebellious fit. Not on his ship! British Columbia wines or nothing. Hastily the protocol officer for the ambassador admitted this "oversight" and BC wines would be served.
In my own case I fought the government for 4 years in an attempt to get a licence to sell BC wines. Finally BC's Attorney General himself overturned the liquor control board's decision not to give me a licence. Talk about heavy handed politics! And so on and on it goes. Yes, I am afraid politics in wine is here to stay. I am sure there are countless stories out there about politics and wine. What is yours?

Welcome to New Wine Blog!!

2008-09-05T20:32:00.000-07:00

It gives me great pleasure to welcome and introduce a new wine blogger, Canada's well known
John Schreiner.
I have had the pleasure of knowing John for many years. John has had a long and distinguished career as a reporter and writer. He began as a reporter for the Regina Leader-Post and subsequently became the newspaper's chief political reporter in the Saskatchewan Legislature. In 1961 John joined the staff of The Financial Post in Toronto. Served in the paper's Montreal bureau from 1967 t0 1969 and in 1973 became the bureau chief in Vancouver for that newspaper. John "retired" in 2001 but has been busier than ever adding to his already impressive list of 15 books on wine.
John has also been the regional correspondent for Appelation America.
So now he has added blogging to his endeavours and you can click on
"John Schreiner on Wine" in my links list or follow this link to his blog
The first Canadian Icewine was made by Walter Hainle in 1973 in Peachland in the Okanagan and yes it was several years before Ontario started making icewines.
John is the world most knowledgeable expert on Icewine or Eiswein and his book
Icewine-The Complete Story is a must read for anyone wanting to learn more on this fascinating wine. I did a post on the 2006 Icewine harvest in BC and you can scroll down in my December 2006 archives to Dec. 3 to get John's take on it.
Welcome John!! I am sure we will get many informative and entertaining posts.
Speaking of entertaining, I have just put a link to "My Favorite Canadian Wine Lady"
in my links list. Follow the link and have a look. She has a great newsletter that you can sign up for. I don't know how she does it all. Daenna is a very knowledgeable (and beautiful) wine lady and she is the Diva of wine. Welcome to my links list Daenna.
So there you have it. I am off to Italy on September 17th but will get one more post in on "politics" and wine before I go. Pliny the Elder has been quoted as follows. "It has become a commonplace proverb that in wine there is truth" Yes and isn't it too bad that so much in the way of politics is commonplace as well.

Smoke Gets in Your Wine!

2008-08-27T16:15:00.000-07:00

Or rather, smoke gets into your vine. As the saying goes: "Where there is smoke, there is fire!" California has seen many fires this summer and for vintners it has been "where there is fire there is smoke". Smoke taint in wine is not easily removed. The summer of 2003 saw major brush fires in Australia. Here in British Columbia, the Okanagan Mountain Park fire in August of 2003 saw 45,000 residents evacuated and 239 homes burned down.Tom Di Bello, a graduate of the University of California, Davis, is the winemaker at the Cedar Creek Estate winery in BC and is getting a lot of calls from vintners in California. He had to attempt to salvage some badly tainted grapes. I tasted his premium Pinot Noir from the barrel while up in the Okanagan in the spring of 2004 and let me tell you smoke taint ain't what I like in my wine. In the end this wine was used in their entry level red blend. If a wine is badly tainted it is pretty much a write off. Tom tells me that this particular batch of Pinot Noir was the worst tainted wine on record anywhere. A rather dubious and unwanted distinction. If the damage is not severe Tom recommends a method now widely used to reduce or remove smoke taint, Reverse Osmosis. Nanno filtration, micro-oxygenation and activated charcoal are other methods employed. Getting those grapes in as fast as possible if the fire happens near grape picking time is essential. Whole cluster pressing and no skin contact is what Tom suggests and forget about making a red wine. Just make a rosé.
I had the pleasure of meeting Hugh Hamilton from McLaren Vale in Australia and tasting his remarkable wines when he made a visit to Victoria this summer. Not only does Hugh have a great sense of humor (Is that an Australian trait?) but he makes outstanding wines. Talk turned to taint and I am endebted to Hugh for some very valuable info regarding smoke damage to grape crops. Australia of course not only suffered great losses in 2003 but major brush fires were a problem in 2007 as well. The McLaren region was lucky enough to escape both times.
The latest research seems to indicate that grapes do not actually absorb smoke directly, but rather the smoke compounds are absorbed by the leaves and translocated to the berries.
(pictured here is the Okanagan Mountain Park fire in 2003)
Meanwhile back to the Okanagan. The picture below shows their entrance gate and the total devastation of the St.Hubertus Estate Winery. The winery building, a residence, tasting room and the entire crop was lost. By some blessed miracle the winery's storage facility with all the previous vintage wines and their entrance gate survived. They used to produce a Bacchus wine which is no longer produced. Too bad, I really liked it. But I think Bacchus, the God of wine, smiled down on Leo and Andy, the two brothers who operate the winery. They had brand new facilities up and running in no time and their wines are better than ever.Good luck to all California wineries who will be daeling with the problem of smoke damage to their crops. It will be interesting to see how they fare.The picture at the top? Those are real grape vine leaves, but it ain't smoke and it ain't a real fire. Just me trying to be artistic for this blog entry on "Smoke Gets in Your Wine"

Never a dull moment in California Wine Country!

2008-08-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

Just putting the finishing chapter on my California adventure and Paso Robles wine country in this post. But I want to dedicate this post to the lovely lady pictured here, my friend Jan. Not only did she put up with me for a week but she introduced me to the fabulous Meyers lemon. Thanks for everything, Jan.
So many things to see and do around wine country. And of course so many great places to eat. At the end of one day of tasting we ended up on Novo's outdoor patio in San Luis Obispo. Great way to finish the day. Can you imagine California without Two Buck Chuck? Just had to get a picture of that at Trader Joe.
As always, click on the pics to get the large view.

What is more Californian than Pebble Beach?
Did not get to play on any of the courses but it is sure stunning to look at the various courses and of course the beautiful beach.
Oh yea, happened to stay outside of Pismo Beach one night and took a quick look in town the next morning. It just so happened they were getting ready for the 23rd Annual Pismo Beach Classic Car Show. No wine served there but what would a classic car show be without a "bud"
Not one but two huge Budweiser trucks showed up for this event.

While visiting in the area you cannot miss going to Carmel. Great art galleries all over town. Oh and yes there are no stop lights and get this, no street lights. So bring your flashlight if you are going around town at night. My friend Sanjoy, Jan's husband, took me to this real funky eating establishment. The Casanova is a "must" stop to eat restaurant. Great food, fast and friendly service and an amazing wine list. I knew that I would get at least one mention of wine on this blog entry. With over 30,000 bottles in the cellar, they are the annual recipient of the Wine Spectator Grand Award. Jean Hubert, operations manager at Casanova, showed us where those
30,000 bottles were resting. Some rare dust covered wines are nestled down there, aging beautifully. Want to know the intriguing story of that table pictured below? Fascinating piece of history. Follow this link and you will find out.
Lunch was so enjoyable. We picked a nice Chablis and it went down perfectly since the day was another hot one.
Of course if you happen to go there for dinner, you can browse through 60 pages of their wine list.
So there you have it.
My next blog entry will be on "Where there is smoke, there is fire" Or in the case of California where there are fires there is a lot of smoke. Thought I would leave you with one final bit of true California. These two must have shared a bottle of bubbly. Happiness and Health to all of you!

The Superlative, Super Wines from Paso Robles!

2008-07-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

Before I get to some of the outstanding wineries we visited let me thank David and Russ for leaving comments on my first Paso Robles post. Be sure to read them. The picture on the left is the vineyard directly in front of the L'Aventure Winery where Bordeaux expatriate Stephan Asseo does his magic. The impressive, immaculately kept vineyards are a promise of what you can expect when you taste his wines.
Stephan had always wanted to blend Bordeaux varietals with others like Syrah. French appellation regulations prevented him from doing so. The result was that he moved to Paso Robles and the rest is history. His wines are highly rated by the likes of Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator and Decanter and have been extensively written up in many publications, so I won't go into any details here.
Now, if you want to have some fun be sure to visit Zin Alley where Frank and Connie will proudly pour you their remarkable Zinfandel. Only 500 cases a year are produced on their three acre Nerelli Estate. The dry-farmed, head pruned
vines are grown on Linne Calodo soils with hot summer days and cool coastal nights resulting in a
complex Zinfandel. Connie has a great sense humor, as you will discover when you visit them.
Looking for a great Bed & Breakfast place to stay at while visiting Paso Robles? Look no further than the beautiful Venteux Vineyards Bed & Breakfast right on the Venteux Vineyards property.
This 10 acre vineyard is also dry-farmed and the vines are head-trained as well. Scott and Bobbi Stelze are at the helm of this well run vineyard and winery. Located in what is known as the Templeton Gap, which brings the cool coastal breezes to an otherwise hot region. Their wines have become so popular that visitors are limited to 2 bottles of most of their wines. Scott specializes in Syrah, Petite Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. When he is not tending his vineyard or making his beautiful wines he restores old Dodge trucks and is as meticulous about that as he is about his wines.
The next winery, which is actually the first one we visited in Paso Robles, is a must visit before Parker or any other wine critic finds out about them. Run by a couple of very cheerful fellows who are just having fun while making outstanding wines. I think we agreed that the wines of Bella Luna Winery were our favorites of all the wines we tasted during our Paso Robles tour.
Kevin Healy, a Vietnam veteran and Sherman Smoot, a Navy fighter pilot, grew up together in Paso Robles and their lifelong friendship and passion for wine resulted in the establishing of the Bella Luna Winery. This five acre estate specializes in the Italian Barbera and Sangiovese and the Spanish Tempranillo. Of course Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel are there as well. Yes, the Zinfandel is called Fighter Pilot Red to honor all aviators who have put themselves in harm's way. All of their wines are simply amazing. Rich and powerful with great extraction. Natural yeasts, no fining or filtering produces wines that are bold and full of character. We all know about the famous Sassicaia wine from Tuscany, but wait these two gents are out to show that their Paso Robles version will be every bit as good if not better.
Scheduled to be released in May of 2009, it will have spent 40 months in new French oak. And of course it will be called Bellicaia. This 2005 vintage super Tuscan style is a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Sangiovese. We had the opportunity of tasting it out of the barrel.
It is superlative now. What will it be like when it is released next May? I can only drool but hope to get my hands on some before it flies out of the winery. Yes, Paso Robles and its many fine family run wineries are definitely worth a visit.
As always click on the pictures to get the larger view. On my next blog entry I will share some pictures of interest I took during my visit to California and they are not necessarily wine related.

Don't Pass Up Paso Robles Wineries!

2008-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

I have been shamefully neglectful about getting a post to my blog but I have had good excuses. Its the lazy hazy days of summer but as well I have given a few wine and food seminars, did a number of tastings with my panel for my email newsletter, attended trade tastings, wine- makers' dinners, entertained out of town guests and most importantly spend some time with friends in California and visited the Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyards and the great little wineries in Paso Robles.
(Click on the map for an enlarged version)
For my food and wine seminar one of the food items I used is a nifty little recipe from my British friend, Nick Stephens over at Bordeaux-Undiscovered from his recipe section. Its called Angels on Horseback. Just slightly chilling that Pinot Noir did the trick, Nick. While talking recipes, I used to marinate my fresh BC salmon with two or three different home made marinades but not anymore. Picked up this marvelous way to BBQ salmon from David Crowley over at Cooking Chat. Here is his recipe and it is really good!
Sorry I missed you this trip, Russ. Catch you next time I am down your way. Russ Beebe is the fellow from Winehiker Viticulture fame. Russ is a smart operator and he knows his business inside out. Be sure to read his good sense.... no, great sensible approach on mountain lions. While you are at, read my comment. I just happen to agree with Russ 100%.
So now I want to touch on the Paso Robles scene. I will do two posts on my trip. I have enough info and pictures to do half a dozen or so. My good friends Jan and Sanjoy in Scotts Valley treated me royally and one night we went to another friend, Herman and that was a feast I will long remember. Butterflied leg of lamb and here is what he chose to bring out of his cellar to match with it. No wonder I cannot do a proper post after my trip to California.
That's a 1975 Stag's Leap Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1978 Ridge California Zinfandel. Needless to say they went down well. My friend Sanjoy (He is my Investor Friend that I have a link to and he has a free interesting and informative newsletter that you can sign up for.) is a great chef and not to be outdone also brought out some of his finest a couple of nights later for another feast.
Herman just happened to bring along the remainder of that 1971 Chateau d'Yquem to give the dessert a little competition.
Click on both these pictures to get a closer look.
Before I get to the Paso Robles scene, I must mention a couple of the Santa Cruz Mountain wineries.
The first one we drove up to is quite a spectacular place on top of the mountain. Great views, amazing facility and wonderful wines. Worthy of a visit. The Byington Vineyard & Winery was established in 1987 by Bill Byington and the building was originally conceived as a family residence.
Some residence! The grapes for some of their Cabernet Sauvignon wines actually come from the Paso Robles region. I found their 2004 Tarman Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek to be outstanding and their 2004 Messina Vineyard Merlot to be exceptional. The other winery of note is the Hallcrest Vineyards
located in Felton, California. So you don't even have to get up into the mountains for this one. Just drive into Felton. Everybody will know where it is. Outstanding wines and a bonus for me is that they are available here in BC through Blue Nose Wine & Spirits. Their Pinot Noirs are superior.
No wonder they can claim to be the most awarded winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Now onto Paso Robles. As you can see from the map, there are plenty of wineries to visit. We visited some of the best. I think one of the more noticeable features in the vineyards is that a lot of them use dry farming and head trained vines. Dry farming may be unusual in California but not in the Paso Robles region.
Can it get any hotter and drier looking than this?
You'd swear you were in Spain. No that is a head trained, dry farmed vineyard in Paso Robles. So now that I have hopefully got your interest piqued, I am going to leave you but I will be back soon with my next update on some of the fine wines and wineries in Paso Robles.
That picture (click to enlarge) was taken while the temperature was a mere 107 degrees F.

Billionaire's Vinegar 2nd Edition

2008-06-13T07:40:00.000-07:00

And so the saga continues. As reported in Decanter, there is new evidence in the Jefferson bottles case. One of the main characters in the book is William Koch, a Florida billionaire, and he claims to have new evidence that will once and for all prove Hardy Rodenstock's guilt.
So perhaps Benjamin Wallace will have to consider writing a revised edition of his book. Since the film rights to the book have been optioned, the continuation of this story will make for an even more exciting movie. It will be fascinating to see who will play Michael Broadbent and who will be the actress taking on the role of Jancis Robinson.
Speaking of billions, the news that Foster's in Australia is considering shedding its wine division has investors and growers worrying and wondering. Foster's spent $6.8 billion getting into the wine business by acquiring Beringer Wine Estates and Southcorp Ltd. in the US. Flagging world wide beer sales triggered this expansion. Wine sales continue to increase world wide. Here in Canada, and we are a beer drinking nation, wine sales have increased yearly and beer sales are down according to Statistics Canada.
So it seems to me rather counter productive to sell off a potentially lucrative business. Another eyebrow raiser is the sale by the world's largest wine producer, Constellation Brands, of 5 well-known California brands, two Washington state and one Idaho winery. A strong Euro and increased wine consumption in the US has benefited American wineries. Again another puzzling corporate decision. So if you don't like the company that owns your favorite winery, wait a month or two, it is likely to change hands soon. Billions of dollars at play. In the meantime I will just continue to enjoy my daily fruit of the vine and since I am leaving for a week of visiting wineries in California, I am sure to be tasting my way through some fabulous examples. My camera and I are ready.

Wine, Vinegar....and Billionaires!

2008-06-05T17:51:00.001-07:00

Just finished reading "The Billionaire's Vinegar"
by Benjamin Wallace,Crown Publishers, New York. A very impressive detailed book on the history and the mystery surrounding a 1787 Chateau Lafite which went at the incredible auction price of $156,00. The bottle was auctioned off by Christie's of London and was supposed to have been owned by none other than America's first wine connoisseur, Thomas Jefferson. I love mystery stories and I love
history surrounding wine. After all it has been around for over 6000 years. Benjamin Wallace has created a wonderfully detailed account of the Thomas Jefferson wines. A thriller from start to finish. Its rather sad that the great gift of the fruit of the vine should be turned into an object of greed. You soon know who the culprit is in this story. And of course well known figures in the world of wine are not spared in this saga either. The well known and respected Michael Broadbent is a key player in this whole affair. Mr.Broadbent claims there are many inaccuracies in the book. I doubt that he will come forward and tell us what they are. In the end the pathetic Hardy Rodenstock has not done the wonderful world of wine any favours and you can only hope that Bacchus and any other Gods of wine out there, show him some mercy.
Just when I finished reading this book I received the sad news of the passing of a dear wine friend of mine here in British Columbia. Claude Jacques Violet passed away on May 31st, 2008.
A true pioneer in the BC wine industry. Claude and his magnificent wife of 49 years, Ingeborg, known by her friends as "Ingy" dared to be different. Visit the Domain de Chaberton's web site to get the details about the Violets. Click on "winery" and then "about us"to get the history of
Claude and Ingy. More than 300 years of wine history can be attributed to the Violet family. What has always struck me and left me so very impressed was their sincerity, their honesty and their dedication to anything wine and their community. They say behind every good man, stands a good woman. Only in this case beside a "great" man stood a great woman. Claude you will be missed my friend.
Shady characters like the one in "The Billionaire's Vinegar" will come and go. But wonderful people like Claude will be in our hearts and minds forever. Rest in peace, mon ami and I am sure that right now you are having a great conversation in that big vineyard in the sky with the winemaker of the 1787 Chateau Lafite.

The Heart and Soul of Wine.

2008-05-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Berry Bros & Rudd recently released a report on the future of wine.
They are of course Britain's oldest wine establishment, celebrating their 310th anniversary this year. I have a great respect for this vintage company but do not agree with everything covered in this report. (For those of you interested in reading the entire report, email me at fruitofthevine@shaw.ca and I will send you a pdf copy)
Their claims on China as a future rival to Bordeaux are refuted by people in the know as evidenced by comments left on Decanter.com
There is an intense interest in wine around the globe and a thirst for knowledge about the subject. Bloggers and writers everywhere giving us daily doses and we can't seem to get enough of it. We all know how wine drinkers progress from the sweet barely drinkable wines but eventually will settle for the many outstanding wines available today. I think of my own journey along the road of wine which started while in college. Mateus was where it was at. So I find Jasper Morris' MW
prediction somewhat unbelievable.
"In 50 years, consumers will ask for wine by the brand name or flavour and won't know, or care, where it has come from. Grapes will be genetically modified to change a wine's taste and producers will add artificial flavourings to create a style wanted by consumers." I cannot visualize the wine consuming public dumbing down and ordering a "Waitrose White" or a "Rosemount Red"
The quality of wines will continue to improve. It has to, if wineries expect to sell their wines in this highly competitive market. An example of this happening is the creation of a "crus" appellation in the Minervois region of the Languedoc. TheAOC Minervois La Livinière
was established in 1999. This past week I had the pleasure of meeting Isabelle Coustal, the proprietor and wine maker at Chateau Saint Eulalie.
Her Chateau Sante Eulalie La Cantilene is an outstanding wine and an example of what the future holds for us wine drinkers not content to drink the commercial plonk. We tasted Isabelle's Plaisir d'Eulalie. and it truly is a pleasure. Candle light and wine shared with friends enjoying a good meal came to my mind. Now I won't be around 50 years from now to say I told you the BBR report was not accurate, but future wine drinkers will be enjoying some amazing wines like the ones coming from the Minervois La Liviniere today. And with wine makers like Isabelle leading the way the Heart and Soul of good wines will be passed on to wine drinkers 50 years from now.

The Nose Knows Fine Wine!

2008-05-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Birds do it! Bees (wasps) do it! And of course dogs do as well. Do what? Use their sense of smell. They do it so well that they are being trained to do some pretty amazing tasks. Wasps
could be trained and very cost effectively at that, to detect toxic chemicals and explosives. That would make for an interesting scenario at our international airports. Instead of sniffer dogs you would see inspectors walking around with jars of wasps. Birds also have a strong sense of smell. It turns out they use their sense of smell to detect possible predators. Our dear dogs are being trained to detect the nasty vine mealy bugs which have become a challenging problem in California vineyards. It is quite obvious that in every case this is part of their genetic make up. It comes naturally so to speak. I am sure momma and papa wasp aren't taking time out to teach the little ones. By the way that is my little dog Maddie in the picture. Click on the pic. to get a closer look at what she is doing. I am teaching her to detect TCA in my wines. So what is all the buzz and surprise about our sense of smell and taste being part of our genetic makeup? An interesting article by Dan Berger over at Appellation America discusses how recent research has come up with the idea that our genes may be a factor in how we smell and taste our wines. Really now? So perhaps who you are will determine whether or not you should pay attention to Parker points or any other subjective point system. Speaking of Robert, has he been blessed with an abundance of smelling and tasting genes? They say that as you get older your sense of smell and taste are likely to be less intense. So does that mean he will be retiring soon? After all he will be turning 61 this July. And how about that $1 million insurance policy he has on his nose and palate? Will his insurer be taking a second look at his coverage? If your genetic makeup plays a large role in what you can taste and smell how do you insure your genes? Just some points to ponder. In the meantime drink what you like and like the wines you drink.

Do Capsules on Wine Bottles Impress You?

2008-04-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

I had not really given much thought to wine bottle capsules until I read the feature article in the March issue of Wines&Vines magazine on capsules. "Capsules in Transition" gets down to the nuts and bolts and its importance in the marketing scheme. Wine Business Monthly does a capsule survey every two years. The last one was in 2006, so we are due for one this year. It will be interesting to see the change in trends when the survey is released. As pointed out in the Wines&Vines article the cost factor will have a determining influence.
All the wine press has focussed its attention on the pros and cons of cork versus screw-caps and it seems capsular comments have been few. Screw-caps had long been considered by many wine drinkers as closures for inexpensive or inferior wines. That is certainly not the case today. A press release in February 2007 boldly announced that Boisset would be launching both a Grand Cru and a Premier Crus under screw-cap.
But capsules? I just have not been paying too much attention. OK, a funky label might get my attention when I am shopping for wine. But I have never turned away from a wine because of its capsule or for that matter bought one because the capsule gave a "buy me" message. I have to admit that lead capsules always appealed to me. They seemed somehow to denote and give a certain grandeur to a bottle of wine. So I went and paid a visit to my humble little wine cellar to see just what kind of capsules I have been collecting. Ah, there is one with a lead capsule! It turned out to be a 1976 Chateau Ducru Beaucaillou. Not a great vintage but a good one. It needs to be consumed now! Had I ignored this noble wine because of a secret admiration for lead capsules? Fond dreams and memories of great wines are part of the charm of drinking wine. Changes in capsule styles should never interfere with those special moments in the presence of a gift as great as a good bottle of wine. Sure would like to receive some capsular comments on this topic.

ROSÉ and BEAUJOLAIS.. are here to stay!!

2008-04-10T13:44:00.000-07:00

Preferences and fads in wine styles come and go. The movie "Sideways"
created an increased demand for Pinot Noir. That seems to have settled back and now Merlot sales are increasing once again. With consumers becoming ever more knowledgeable about wines, might we see a decrease
in the ever popular "White Zinfandel"? While I like my reds and certain white varietals, there is something undeniably pleasant about a good rosé.
Sales of rosé wines are on the increase.
But what always baffles me is the continuing success of Beaujolais Nouveau. Released on the third Thursday of each November it has been a marketing success. Over 65 million bottles are sold annually, which accounts for more than half of all the wine produced in the Beaujolais.
Say "Beaujolais" and the average wine drinker thinks of it in terms of Nouveau. What a shame.
Because Beaujolais produces some outstanding wines at reasonable prices.
There are five classifications of Beaujolais:
Beaujolais Nouveau, Beaujolais, Beaujolais Superieur, Beaujolais Villages and the 10 Beaujolais Crus. The ten village Crus from north to south are St.Amour,Julienas, Moulin-a-Vent, Chenas, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Morgon, Regnie, Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly. The Beaujolais Crus are the spritual home of the Gamay Grape. Most Beaujolais should be drunk young but the Crus are much more concentrated and the best can be kept for up to 1o years.They can then resemble a mature Pinot Noir but at a much lower price. Its time for Beaujolais! I know, they do not get Parker points. Not big and bold enough. But there in lies their charm. And if you want to get away from those high alcohol, over-powering wines look no further.

Eat, Drink (Wine) and be Merry.....

2008-03-26T18:24:00.000-07:00

..... for tomorrow you die! Or so British Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo and her anti-wine drinking cohorts would have women believe, if they consume one glass of wine a night. A report released by the minister claims that "Women who regularly drink too much are 50 percent more likely to develop breast cancer."
Ever since the now famous French Paradox was aired on the CBS weekly program "60 minutes" back in November of 1991, the clock has been ticking and almost weekly another "scientific" report tells us about the benefits of drinking red wine. The latest study from Spain states that polyphenols in red wine can prevent high blood pressure in older women. A new study at University of Rochester Medical Center shows antioxidants to be effective in killing pancreatic cancer cells. The media of course jump on these reports to bring you both negative and positive claims about the consumption of wine. Some of the evidence for the healthful benefits is almost anecdotal, some semi-scientific and but a lot are studies undertaken using classic scientific methods. None seem to be totally conclusive and will remain that way until a study involving a large number of wine drinkers, consuming equal amounts over a long period of time can be evaluated. In the meantime governments will continue to reap the benefits of collecting huge amounts of revenue in the form of additional taxes. Not much we can do about that, I guess. There are human endeavors that are much more dangerous than drinking your favorite glass of wine. Try white water rafting, mountain climbing, skiing or just plain driving your car. So my advice to you based on personal research over many years..... drink your wine and enjoy to the fullest, for tomorrow you....

Overwhelmed by Wine!

2008-03-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

Are you an overwhelmed wine drinker? I am. But not in the sense that the marketing gurus have determined what the definition of an overwhelmed drinker is. In a study commissioned by Constellation Wines US. Wine consumers were broken down into six categories. So why am I overwhelmed? Not by the sheer numbers of wines available from around the globe but rather by the "so much wine, so little time"factor. And I love trying wines from different regions in the world whenever I can get them. When I travel to different parts of the country and to other countries I drink "local" wines as much as possible. I read a lot of wine blogs but I have to say that I do not find the endless reviewing of wines on these blogs to be particularly useful. Mostly because I cannot purchase the wine described at any of the wine shops I frequent locally. But also because of my philosophy about wine. Wine to me is the most wonderful drink in the world to be enjoyed to the fullest. This frenetic chasing of one wine after another does not give me the peace and joy I have come to expect from wine. I have a dozen or so I fall back on for that purpose and then will taste others for a change of pace.
Having said all that I have a wine newsletter by the same name as my blog "Wilf's Wine Press" and I have a panel of 8 tasters to help me review wines. You will not often see me reviewing a wine on this blog because of the fact that chances are you will not be able to find them where you live. So what's the point in you reading about a wine you cannot get. My newsletter's subscribers are for the most part (95%) local and at least the wines I review will be available to them.
So keep on drinking. (wine of course) And perhaps someday soon we will be able to try a wine from a far off Arab state. There might be a rocket or two resting among the rocks in their vineyards but that will just add to the "terroir" taste. Or is that terror?

I Saw Three Sailing Ships....Delivering My Wine!

2008-03-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

Yes, coming to a port near you, will be your next shipment of wine. Talk about history repeating itself. In the late 17th century a flourishing trade relationship developed between Britain and Portugal with the shipment of Port wine. To help the wine survive its voyage it was found that the addition of brandy made the wine more stable and thus the forerunner of todays Port wine came into existence. This time around it is France and Ireland. Going green does give rise to new investment opportunities, does it not? But there is a thin line here between sincerely believing you are contributing to the reduction of that carbon footprint and just using this as a means of adding more greenbacks to your bottom line. You have to wonder when "the Canadians have already ordered 20,000 bottles" whether or not this is just a marketing opportunity being exploited. Of course they could ship the wine in plastic bottles to reduce weight and perhaps carry a bigger load. But then you do not want to be consuming those BPA's, do you? Or perhaps now that we know wine just does not taste as good when bottled in plastic, we will be demanding "green" containers. You cannot get anything more natural and socially responsible than glass. If you thought that the cork versus screw caps debate was controversial, the glass and plastic bottle should keep us all busy for a while. I know this is a traditional Christmas carol but follow the link below to a musical version of it and close your eyes, glass of wine in hand and picture your next wines being delivered by three sailing ships.
Three Ships

Does Wine Age Under Screw Cap?

2008-02-23T08:05:00.001-08:00

It is not my intent in this post to rehash all the arguments for and against cork or screw caps. All I know is that at the present time, I do not have any wines aging in my humble little cellar that are under screw cap. While each side has put forth strong arguments, some proponents have taken an almost religious do or die approach. Its black and white and the other side better wake up. After all, says New Zealand we are mostly under screw cap, so we must be right. Others are taking a more reasoned approach and have an ongoing evaluation wine program. Most of these evaluations have not been very scientific and it is difficult to keep subjectivity out of the picture. And the power of suggestion plays its role as well. After all, recently a group of tasters chose a cheap wine, which they were told was expensive, as the best and the expensive wine which they were told was cheap as their least liked wine. So can tasting wines with cork and screw cap closures for evaluation, even when done blind, be anymore believable? Amorim believes that more research will lead to the development of an improved cork closure that every one can be happy using.
When I cellar my wines it is with the intent on having them develop and mature. And if a closure prevents that from happening and gives me a wine with all its fresh, lively fruit just like the day it was bottled, then why would I cellar it?
So I was happy to read that Nomacorc and UC Davis are conducting research into how oxygen
influences the evolution of wine and hopefully determine what constitutes the optimum closure(s). Chemical markers will be used to evaluate the evolution of key wine molecules exposed to different amounts of oxygen. All very scientific and very objective.
We will just have to wait till August 2009 for the results. In the meantime when I am in the mood for a fresh, zippy, fruity wine I will buy that delicious New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and when the mood strikes me for a serious mature rich red I'll take my chances and dig up something I have been aging for a while. Happy drinking to all of you out there!!

Rinse Your Mouth with Wine!

2008-02-08T12:23:00.000-08:00

Following up on my last post and my reference to drinking wine and preventing tooth decay, some further research is now pointing to the possibility of a mouthwash to do just that.Now that sounds exciting. Polyphenols in pomace point to promising protection for our teeth. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center and the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Cornell University have found that polyphenols may "significantly reduce the ability of bacteria to cause cavities". Research continues into the development of a mouthwash containing the beneficial polyphenols. Now click on the bottle to the left to enlarge it and see this couple with beautiful white teeth. They know that at the end of this wonderful dinner with a health bestowing red wine they can count on their mouthwash to protect their teeth as well. So don't you see this as a huge marketing possibility for Pepsodent or some other toothpaste maker? Toothpaste may in fact become obsolete. Remember Kodak being the giant of film? Smart marketing has seen them move into printers and digital cameras.
Many of you may remember the smart and catchy ad shown
on TV in the 1950's making you wonder where the yellow went. Just for the fun of it see it here on YouTube.
So any of you toothpaste makers out there, jump on this great
opportunity. You'll be able to bring back that ad only this time
it will be: "You'll wonder where the yellow went when you rinse
your mouth with Chardodent"
By the way, all the lab animals used in this research were well
fed and seemed to enjoy the experiment. Click on the mouse.

To Sniff or not to Sniff...Diacetyl in Your Wine!

2008-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

Ah.. that wonderful process called malolactic fermentation (MLF) may be in trouble with health authorities. Grapes grown in cool climates typically produce high-acid wines. MLF was originally developed in Burgundy to smooth out and make their high acid Chardonnays more palatable. Lactic acid bacteria(LAB) convert tart malic acid into a softer lactic acid. However in warm grape growing regions in the "New World" such as California and Australia wines tend to be low-acid and when a wine maker employs MLF, magically Diacetyl turns up. Diacetyl is a chemical byproduct that produces the typical aroma of real butter, so prized by New World Chardonnay lovers. Producing this chemical cocktail with LAB
is not without risks and sometimes undesirable results show up. The Iowa State University's Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute has a good description of possible problems.
But it is Diacetyl itself that is potentially a health hazard. Ever heard of "popcorn lung"? It turns out that workers in popcorn factories are in danger of getting this condition. Bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung) is caused by exposure to Diacetyl. Currently the FDA is "carefully considering the safety and regulatory issues raised by the use of Diacetyl". Can't you just see it now? Compulsory warnings on the back of all Chardonnay labels stating that "sniffing this Chardonnay may cause more than just sniffles". Of course wine makers could skip the whole MLF process by just adding Bell's butter flavors to their wines.
It seems no matter how many wonderful health benefits wine bestows upon us mere mortal wine drinkers, some misguided bureaucrat has to justify his job by creating another ridiculous regulation. I guess we will never see a label stating that "drinking wine can help prevent tooth decay, gum disease and sore throats".
What next? Would not be surprised that British pubs and restaurants will soon be required to serve wine in glassware with etch marks indicating the "units" of alcohol. Why is everybody picking on wine? Is this a new form of creeping prohibition? Time to sign off and just enjoy another glass of the fruit of the vine.