Talk-A-Vino

Meritage Time!

I’m soooo behind on my posts it is not even funny. Probably good 15+ posts behind, and it is not a good feeling. Not being a professional writer, I never developed a habit of just writing no matter what. Not having such a habit definitely gets in the way. Oh well, such is life.

Today’s Meritage is once again mostly focused on this very blog. Of course, a lot is happening in the wine world, but nothing really caught my eye as worth repeating. Even the record heat wave in Europe doesn’t have much coverage as it relates to the vineyards. I checked to see if I can find anything worth sharing about extreme heat in Europe and vineyards, and only found plenty of articles from 2019, but none from 2022. It will be really interesting scary like hell to see the effects of this extreme heat on the 2022 wines in a few years, but yes, we will have to wait a bit.

For the local “news”, outside of the fact that I’m grossly (understatement of the century) behind on my writing and my postings, I spent some time cleaning up and updating references on the front page of the blog.

On the right side of the screen (assuming you are using a PC – it will be all different on a mobile), there are links grouped into 4 categories – social media, blogroll, wine buying, and wine travel. I went over all of the links in these sections and removed all of the dead ones. In the blogroll, some of the links will connect you to the sites which had not been updated for years – but as long as the link is not dead and you can actually reach the content, I left those links in place.

I also realized that I’m missing some of the references I actually should have. I added a few blogs I’m reading semi-regularly (I won’t tell you what they are though :)). I also added a few links to the wine buying section.

Wine.com was a notable absence from the wine buying section, as I was not a fan. I gradually changed my opinion – I wouldn’t say that Wine.com is my only or even preferred source of wine buying, but they have plenty of interesting and unique wines (Grosset Polish Hill Riesling, for example, or Masciarelli Marina Cvetic Reserva), which are also priced at an “average retail” level, which I’m okay with (I despise with passion overpaying for wine). I also like the extensive information provided on Wine.com on all the wines, whether they are in stock or not.

Same with the Wine Exchange – I gradually warmed up to their e-mails and even bought a few interesting wines based on their suggestions. They also carry a good inventory of well-aged wines at reasonable prices – for example, there you can find Chateau Lestage from the Listrac-Medoc, 2000 (legendary!) vintage for $39.98, or Shiraz from Barossa Valley from 2004 vintage (18 years old wine) for $29.99.

The last addition to the wine buying section is not even about the wines – it is about a close relative, cognac. I came across the Cognac Expert website as I was looking for interesting cognac tasting sets to share with a friend who was supposed to visit. There is a tremendous Cognac selection on the website, plus every cognac has a very extensive description of its history, tasting notes, and more. They also charge reasonable shipping rates (I think) for the cognacs delivered from France, so if you like cognac, this is definitely a site to visit.

Okay, just to step outside of my blog’s realm, a few more news items:

There are 5 days left to enter the Web Wine Writing competition conducted by the Hungarian Wines organization. I know this is not enough time, but in case you wrote about Hungarian wines recently, this might be a great opportunity for you. Details can be found here.

International Shiraz Day is the next grape holiday, coming up on July 28th. Shiraz or Syrah, Australia, France, Italy, or Washington – I’m sure it is not difficult to find a tasty bottle and enjoy it in honor of one of the major red grapes.

And the month-long wine celebration is almost upon us – August is Washington Wine Month. From Bordeaux blends and GSM to the world-class, cult quality, single vineyard Cab, Syrah, Grenache, and everything in between – folks in Washington know how to wine. Just get a bottle of your favorite Washington wine and you are ready to celebrate.

That’s all I have for you for today. The glass is empty, but the refill is on the way. Cheers!