Wine then, now and in ......the future!

As 2007 draws to a close and we are near 2008, I thought that I would do my final entry for this year with an "out with the old and in with the new"approach. In my September 26 post, I asked the question "I wonder what it would have been like to buy a good bottle of wine 300 years ago?" Peter May, the founder of The Pinotage Club left an interesting comment. I followed up on that with Simon Berry of the Berry Bros.&Rud Limited, the oldest wine shop in the world fame. I left his reply as a comment on the same post. So have a look at that post and the comments since it is relevant to this current blog entry.
If glass bottles were rare 300 years ago, will wine bottles made of glass become rare again?
The "green" theme and carbon "foot prints" has vintners considering the plastic bottle alternative but at least one Bordeaux wine producer may be heading that way because of a shortage of glass bottles. Castel is considering PET bottles.
The French Wine & Spirits company, Boisset, is in the forefront of alternative packaging. Following up on the success of the French Rabbit in a tetra pack, their recently released Yellow Jersey series in Ontario, will soon be a familiar wine in PET bottles in North America. Check out the "Boisset shakes things up with alternative packaging" at Boisset America's site.
So is it time to start collecting corks before they disappear? Soon you may be able to sell your cork collection on eBay. I have had a head start. Did not know what to do with them all, so I covered one wall in my wine cellar with some of them. No snobbery there, the best mingle with
the every day types. Along with that are you saving your wine labels? Will they become a collectors item? I have some wonderful labels from a few memorable wines but if you want to see some funky, fun labels head over to Peter May's unusual collection of wine labels.
So what may we expect in 2008? A continued surge in interest in all things wine. Consumption of wine, whether for health reasons or for the pure pleasure of enjoying it, will increase. And marketing will be at the forefront. Now that the EU has come to some sort of watered down agreement, expect to see a major push in attempts to regain sales dominance in world markets for European wines. Speaking of marketing and world dominance, watch Constellation Brands to become involved in the EU wine scene. Having sensed US consumers thirsting for better quality wines and their acquisition of Fortune Brands, I am sure the renewed interest in French, Italian and Spanish wines will see them looking at European wineries for future expansions.
Watch also for continued research into the healthful benefits of wine consumption and its antioxidant effects. Sadly, the antioxidant band wagon will lead to unscrupulous exploitation as well. But the fruit of the vine and its grape-seed extracts will bring us many joyful benefits in 2008. I love my red wine and I love a good steak and soon I might be enjoying a well preserved steak with that special "bottle", be it in real glass or otherwise.
So here is my wish for all of you. May Peace and Joy, Happiness and Health be yours during this Christmas season and throughout the New Year!

Wine is fine for Beef....but Dairy Cows prefer music!

What music do you play with your favorite wine? Clark Smith, founder of Vinovation, apparently has the answer. In an interview with Smith and reported in a recent article by Blake Gray in the San Francisco Chronicle it is suggested that perhaps Metallica goes better with a Napa Cab than Mozart. But what if I do not like Metallica Mr. Smith? Is this really such a startling revelation? Everybody responds to the sound of music and a little bit of background music while enjoying your wine is bound to make the experience more pleasurable. Even dairy cows know that Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony turns them on and makes for a better environment to produce more milk.
In a reversal of the classic question "Where's the beef?" some beef herds prefer to utter "Where's the wine?". Forget the music just give me my litre a day, please!
Back in 1869, Johan Strauss already knew that wine and music go together when he composed his famous Wine, Women and Song. And of course he also understood that in the company of a lovely lady it tastes even better.
Nick, over at Vintage Direct suggests that perhaps our wine drinking experience may be enhanced by viewing great works of art and even makes some wine recommendations.
All this music and wine and art had me thinking about what wine should we be drinking when we read a book. During a recent visit with renowned
local chef/author Bill Jones I brought up the subject while discussing his
Salmon- The Cook Book. The book is edited by Bill and has everything you need to know about smoking, curing,baking,barbecuing,steaming,poaching, etc. salmon. Over 120 recipes, including 10 of Bill's best.
In my mind I had settled for a Pinot Noir to enjoy while perusing his book and when I asked Bill what wine he would drink while reading "Salmon",well
Pinot Noir of course. So if music and wine go together and wine's pleasures can be enhanced by viewing art, why not match a good wine with your reading preferences? If you are into reading a thrilling mystery, perhaps you should consider a dark and brooding Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Astrology books? A Champagne might be your choice. After all who exclaimed "Brothers, brothers, come quickly for I am seeing stars!"? Why Dom Pérignon of course. Ah, you are into romantic novels. Why not consider
a Rosé? To me the sound of music comes when I hear the delightful pouring of wine into my glass. Roger Corder brings it all together for us... wine, a good book and your diet. Any suggestions what wine you might drink with your reading preference?

Food and Wine matching... don't drink vintage wine!

Much has been written these past few weeks about what wine to drink with your Thanksgiving turkey. Now that the entertaining season is here I am sure we will see lots more on the subject of food and wine matching.
"WHAT to DRINK with WHAT you EAT" is a great source of information and is a must have if you are interested in food and wine matching. Another good source is the extensive list offered by Natalie MacLean at Nat Decants
Hugh Johnson received a flurry of attention when he recently claimed that vintages do not matter any more. And of course he is right and of course he is wrong. Modern wine making technology can almost rescue even a bad vintage but
some years the wine gods do smile particularly favorably on
vineyards with resulting outstanding wines. But I don't think Hugh meant it literally, he just meant that wine makers have a lot of options today to make better wines on an almost yearly basis. After all, as one writer observed, Hugh's Annual Pocket Wine Book would become obsolete if every vintage turned out the same. Got me thinking though about outstanding vintage wines. Would you really match them with a great meal? Or does a special meal deserve to be matched with a good wine and the great vintage wine left to be enjoyed all on its own? I love matching food and wine but I would rather save my collection of better wines for a special occasion. In fact drinking them is the special occasion.
So now that we don't have to worry about great vintages anymore what is left? Terroir of course! Can you believe it? Those Germans have proved the concept of terroir actually matters.
But then this is something the French have known forever. Talk to any wine maker in the Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne regions.
I took this photograph while visiting Champagne.
It is just down and across the road from Taitinger. That's pure chalk and its a perfect terroir for the great wines from Champagne!
As Frank Sinatra once crooned about "Love and Marriage, Go together like a horse and carriage" But I tell you, vintage or non vintage, when you get that perfect match of food and wine, now that is a marriage made in heaven!! Bon appetite!

Wine&War

Wine bloggers everywhere look forward to reading and participating in the very popular blogging feature called
"Wine Blogging Wednesday". A different
host blog and a different theme each month. The theme for this month is "Silver Burgundy"and is hosted by
Brooklynguy's Wine and Food Blog
My first inclination was to participate. Then I read a review of the book pictured here and realized I was in possession of that very same book. And of course this past weekend multi television shows and documentaries covered the special day of November 11. Commemorated throughout the world, it is variously known as Remembrance Day in Australia,Canada and the United Kingdom, Poppy Day in Malta and South Africa, Armistice Day in France and New Zealand and Veterans Day in the United States. So my mind started wandering and wondering about what Burgundy would have become had it not
been liberated by the brave and heroic efforts of the Allied forces. "Wine & War" by Don and Petie Kladstrup gives an excellent account of these wartime events. Then I received an email with John Gebhardt picture taken in Iraq along with this note.
John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head ...... but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but she continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girls is coming along with her healing.
So instead of reviewing a Silver Burgundy for my post
I am taking a moment to remember and praise those heroic men and women who sacrificed themselves and continue to do so today, so that we may enjoy the remarkable wines from Burgundy. Be sure to visit
Brooklynguy's Wine Blog for what should be a very interesting round up of excellent Burgundians.
Take a moment in your busy hectic day and remember.

More Green Wine, Please!

One of the leading producers of fine wines sold in alternative packaging is the Boisset family in France. The French Rabbit in the Tetra pack first released in Ontario has become popular all over North America. Another recent release is the Yellow Jersey series and again Ontario was chosen for its release. The Yellow Jersey of course was made famous by the Tour de France.
The wines come in plastic bottles the size of a water bottle used on bikes. Enjoy your wine, then recycle it to your bike. How green can that be?
In a recent posting on Dr.Vino's wine blog,
Tyler Coleman discussed the "carbon footprint of wine" This thoroughly researched paper was published as a working paper for the American Association of Wine Economists, and
may be viewed here in pdf format. While there are some fascinating facts, lets put some of the figures in perspective. The production and distribution of wine represents 0.08 percent of global GHG emissions.
Meanwhile over at Good Grape, Jeff Lefevere informs us that manufacturing cement is really bad for GHG emisions. In fact, it accounts for 7% to 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Now that is significant. And while we are at it how about the burning of those Indonesian peatlands? That contributes another 4%.
Lets go back for a moment to wine's contribution of 0.08 percent. We are told that is an equivalent to fuel combustion emissions of 1 million passenger vehicles over one year. The latest figures available from a DOT study done in 2004 shows there were 243,023,485 registered passenger vehicles in the US. The latest figures out of China show an increase of 10 to 20% annually in cars and that by 2010 that country will have 55 million vehicles on the road.
When you know that a Hummer only gets you 9 miles to a gallon (31 L/100 km), wine is obviously not a major culprit. Singling out wine drinkers and expecting them to drink their wines according to a green line seems a bit too much to ask. Especially since the
US is set to become the largest wine consuming nation on earth. Oh and yes the Chinese are also increasing their consumption of wine. How green do you think their vineyards will be with increased demand for the fruit of the vine? Now don't get me wrong , I am all for saving the environment.
And the wine industry should be concerned and involved. One of the leading voices on climate change and its effects on vineyards is Pancho Campo, the president of the Wine Academy of Spain. He has been preaching the message for years now. I just hope that wine drinkers everywhere will not have to carry an unfair proportion of taxes to fix the problem. By the way according to Tyler Coleman's report wine shipped in 1.5 liter bottles weigh 4kg less per case than 750 ml bottles. So as you can see, I am doing my bit with that Nebuchadnezzar. And oh yes, my car is a convertible and just think how much energy I am saving by not turning on the air conditioner.
So in the meantime I will think green while drinking my red.

To Drink or Not to Drink Wine!

Consumption of red wine increased by 44% in the United States after the
airing of the French Paradox as reported by Morley Safer on 60 Minutes back in November of1991. Ever since, more and more research seems to confirm the healthful benefits of drinking red wine. Its those nice little
polyphenols at work when we consume red wine. There is even hope for diabetics as recent research indicates. And of course we know that a little wine is good "for thy stomach's sake." St.Paul, in his letter to Timothy advised drinking wine for stomach and other ailments. Take your pick as to which translation of the bible you prefer, the advise is the same. Paul may not have known the reason why it worked but it was sound advice. Conquering Roman armies always mixed wine with their drinking water because of concerns about the safety of their water supplies. And wasn't it nice of them to plant vineyards all over Europe while doing their conquering? Fast forward a couple of thousand years and you have governments trying to restrict the consumption of wine.
The imposition of the National Prohibition on the American public from 1920-1933 was a disastrous experiment doomed to failure. A lot of people suddenly seemed to have found religion as the consumption of sacramental wines soared. Of course the repeal of prohibition gave governments a wonderful source of tax revenues. UK wine drinkers are in for a tax increase on their wines if Health minister Dawn Primarolo has her way.
Middle class wine drinkers came under attack as she proclaimed:'[They] have drunk too much for too long.This has to change.'
"Should we be worried about middle-class wine drinking?" was the question posed by The Daily Telegraph. Some very interesting comments were received in response to the article.
I was not even aware that I am only supposed to drink 28 units of wine weekly until I read this report filed by Times wine critic Jane MacQuitty
Click on the lovely glass of red wine and tell me how many units I was drinking. I don't know and I certainly don't care. I pour myself a glass of a good red wine and then prepare to enjoy. So "Please" leave us wine drinkers alone. But as Plato once said: "Those who are too smart to engage in politics are punished by being governed by those who are dumber."

Waiter, there is a carbon footprint in my wine!!

A recent survey in the UK has shown that the public is ready to accept light-weight bottles for their wines. I discussed the issue of moving from the standard 500 gram wine bottle to a 300 gram bottle
in a September 2006 entry on my blog and the reasoning behind it. At the same time there is a movement to increased bulk shipments of wine. Better technology in bulk shipments, without sacrificing the quality of wine, will see more and more international wine companies moving in that direction in order to reduce their carbon footprint.
Plastic wine bottles will also be weighing in on the issue and as the technology improves we may see more public acceptance. And it is all about "carbon footprint". What is a carbon footprint? According to the founders of this family business, "A Carbon Footprint is a measure of the impact human activities have on the environment in terms of the amount of green house gases produced, measured in units of carbon dioxide." And yes it is a business, complete with job opportunities. Now that Vice-President Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize I am sure his fees will increase nicely. After all, he is leaving a big footprint. "Peace" prize? I guess there is nobody out there who has done much for peace these days, but I did not think that green house gases were considered a war. War on terror? Yes. War on greenhouse gases or global warming?
Back to bottles now. OK, apart from lighter weight bottles costing less to ship, will there be an increased breakage problem? And if so there will be a lot of messy foot prints. At least Champagne and sparkling wines won't see light weight bottles any time soon. They have to withstand a lot of pressure.
Considering that the average tire is inflated to somewhere between 30 and 40 psi, these bottles have to be able to handle up to 100 psi. As you can see, in spite of my giving some do's and dont's about how to saber a bottle of sparkling wine, my friend Kevin Doyle caught this moment of pressure and breakage on film. As I said no light weight bottles in the near future.
And finally here is another footprint; my kind.
Kristoff Coates, Founder of Grapefoot, is working diligently to constantly improve the Beta version of this website. He was kind enough to include some issues of my newsletter in his "All About Wine" section.
Until next time, enjoy your wines, no matter what form of packaging they may be using.

Wine sales...Wine info.....then and now!

Received an email from one of my wine friends in California with a link to a well done video on the sixties scene. Have a look and be sure to have your sound on. Sums it up quite well. They forgot one important bit of information, though. One of the best vintages in Bordeaux just happens to be 1964 and 1966 was an outstanding Champagne vintage. It got me thinking though. About wine sales then and now, about wine information then and now. Pictured here is Simon Berry, standing
(photograph courtesy Telegraph.co.uk)
in front of the oldest wine shop in the world.
Berry Bros & Rudd Ltd. dates back to 1698.
Step back in time and read a good summation of the firm's history.
I wonder what it would have been like to buy a good bottle of wine 300 years ago? No internet sales, of course but Berry Bros have kept up with the times and now sell wines world wide through their internet sales. Today internet sales are commonplace. But nothing really replaces buying in person from a reliable shop with knowledgeable staff. They can specialize and have access to some real gems. One interesting wine shop that sells wine on line and has a fine, entertaining and informative blog is Nick's Bordeaux Undiscovered Wine Shop.
The internet has also been a boon for anyone wanting information on wine. As I mentioned in my September 9 blog post, put "wine" into Google and you will be kept busy with 177,000,000
entries. Again Berry Bros has plenty of good information and now that it is easy to post a video on my blog, I have one of their info series in video format here that took a little time to download but is of very high quality. I certainly view many wine sites and blogs and there is a wealth of info out there. But there is something special about a good wine book, a good glass of wine and a comfortable chair to while away a little special time. Jancis Robinson and Hugh Johnson come to mind immediately.
When I first got seriously interested in wine ( and I don't mean quaffing Mateus in college) there was no internet. Most of my wine information came from books and belonging to several wine societies and organizations. One of my favourite books was, and I still use it as a reference text today, the 1976 edition of Alexis Lichine's New Encyclopedia of Wines & Spirits.

Then and now! I wonder what the future will hold for the world of wine. Any thoughts, anyone?

Martha's Vineyard

By now everyone is aware of Marvelous Martha's entry into the world of wine. Might the label look something like the one displayed here?
Its the back label that will be more telling. I would expect aromatic descriptors like "fresh
raspberry and strawberry aromas just like the ones growing in my beautiful backyard" and how about "your palate will be caressed by a lovely silky texture reminiscent of my satiny, velvety
sheets". Only 15,000 cases of Gallo?? wine will be released initially. Smart move Martha. That way if they sell out you can claim it to be a huge success. Wouldn't do if you made 150,000 cases and have a whole lot left unsold. Not good for your image. Here is a tip for you, Martha.
7-Eleven already sells Gallo wines. Why not approach them to sell yours? So how do you trump this marketing move into the American wine scene? You don't, unless of course you are the Donald himself. Watch out Martha and here is a little insider information for you; expect Donald Trump to move in. No love lost between these two. Of course if Donald gets into the game it would need a little primer to stimulate some interest. Expect to see a new version of the "Apprentice" to introduce the public to his foray into wine. The successful "apprentice" would become the project manager for a complete wine package. This would include a Trump Tower hotel, a state of the art winery and a housing development surrounding a vineyard. Move over Martha. In the end, what is all this contributing to the wonderful world of wine? I suspect it is just another contribution to the bottom line of Martha's millions. I think this madness is going too far. I therefor take a moment to salute all the wonderful, dedicated, hard working winemakers from around the world struggling to bring us their finest and equally the knowledgeable wine merchants from the many private wine shops seeking them out. They deserve our support!!

WBW #37: Indigenous Varieties.

My entry for Wine Blogging Wednesday, which this month is hosted by Dr. Vino, came from South Africa. The grape used in making this wine is the Tinta Barocca grape from Portugal where it is one of the five principal grapes used to make port.It is rarely used to produce a red varietal wine. While it is not indigenous to South Africa it is grown there to produce port and is practically considered indigenous. A few wineries will make a red table wine with it as well. I believe that South Africa is the only country in the world where wineries use the Tinta Barocca grape as a dry red wine cultivar.
One of them is the Allesverloren winery in the Swartland region of South Africa. The Swartland area is dotted with green vineyards among rolling golden wheatfields. Allesverloren is the oldest wine estate in the Swartland Wine of Origin district. The history of the estate dates back to 1704 and the first grape harvest was in 1806. The original farm house was destroyed by fire in 1704, hence the name Allesverloren, which translated from South African Dutch means "all is lost".

It was first planted in 1945 as a port making varietal and immediately won many awards. By 1961 it was decided to produce a dry red wine with it as well. The Allesverloren Tinta Barocca spends 18 months in oak barrels. Displaying a ruby red color with a youthful violet in the rim, it offers typical port aromas of lush fruit and vanilla. It is medium to full bodied weighing in with a 14.5% alcohol which gives it some warmth on the mid palate. It has a delightful silky texture and a complex fruity taste leading to a lingering well balanced soft and round finish. A great match for grilled or roasted meats. This is what I call one of my "book" wines, meaning you get a good book, sit in your favorite chair and sip and ponder on what a good wine is all about. It sells for $22.50 Can. here and unfortunately does not appear to be widely available. I have seen it on a few UK sites where it sells for an average of $13 US. Allesverloren may mean "all is lost" but I was happy to find this one.