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Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC4 Deadline Nears, What Vinotype Are You, Understanding Luxury Goods
Meritage Time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #77, grape trivia – Savagnin. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Savagnin, best known in the Jura region of France. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Australia makes wines from Savagnin grapes. However, when the grape was planted, it was assumed to be …?
A1: Albariño. We actually already talked about it when we run through the Albariño quiz, only in reverse (in the Albariño quiz, Savagnin was the answer).
Q2: Wine made from Savagnin was one of the most expensive wines ever sold at an auction. It was sold at about:
a. $98,000, b. $74,000, C. $47,000, d. $30,000
A2: b, ~$74,000. See the full answer below
Q3: Continuing previous question – do you know what wine was that? Bonus part: can you also identify the vintage?
A3: This wine was 1774 Arbois Vin Jaune, sold at an auction in France for €57,000, which would be about $77,000 considering today’s exchange rate.
Q4: Name at least two other wines, produced in the same way as way Vin de Paille, one of the popular wines made from Savagnin.
A4: To produce Vin de Paille, after the harvest, the grapes are dried out on the straw mats for a few month, to concentrate the flavors. Similar methods of production are used for Vin Santo, Amarone, Sfursat of Valtellina and a number of others.
Q5: Which reddish-skinned ( but technically white) grape is a close relative of Savagnin?
A5: Gewurztraminer. Savagnin is closely related to the whole Traminer family, and Gewurztraminer, “an aromatic Traminer” is known for its reddish skin.
There was very little participation in this quiz (sad, but mostly expected). We don’t have the winner, but I have to acknowledge Namie from Eat with Namie for her excellent attempt at the quiz.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First, a friendly reminder. Your Oops! moment is getting near – the deadline for #MWWC4 (Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #4) is next Wednesday, October 23rd. The #MWWC4 is hosted by The Wine Kat, and the theme is Oops – you better get your wine oops together, or it will be a clear oops on your part… I have an idea, I hope to be able to find time to actually put it into the blog post, or oops.
Now, couple of interesting articles for you. First one is coming from The Wine Economist blog, where Mike Veseth is suggesting that all wine drinkers can be divided into the four categories, or Vinotypes – sweet, hypersensitive, sensitive and tolerant. The concept of the Vinotype is described in the book by Tim Hanni, MW, and Mike is explaining the concept in his blog post – but you should probably read the book. In the post, there is also a link to the web site where you can quickly perform your Vinotype assessment. I actually did, and came out as “Tolerant” – I would probably accept that, but the description provided for the Toerant type didn’t match me for a second. Well, YMMV – see it for yourself.
The second post I want to bring to your attention comes from Seth Godin, who is one of the very few people I would call as my mentor. His understanding of the world is nothing less than stunning to me, and every time I read his daily blog posts, it is almost a revelation of a simple truth, right in front of you. Seth’s post, called Understanding Luxury Goods, has nothing to do with wine in the direct form. However, every time we scoff at a bottle of Screaming Eagle, or Chateau Petrus, or 1755 Taylor Port at a price of north of $3000, or 1966 DRC at $10,000, understanding of how the luxury works helps to put things in perspective. Read it for yourself, and better yet, subscribe for Seth’s blog – it will provide infinite value compare to your subscription price.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on the way! Until the next time, cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC4 Theme, Merlot is Back!, And a Few Videos
Meritage time!
Let’s start from the answer to our weekly wine quiz #76, grape trivia – Roussanne. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Roussanne.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Explain the source of the name Roussanne
A1: Name Roussanne most like comes from the word “roux”, which refers to the reddish color of the grapes.
Q2: Which one doesn’t belong and why:
a. Hermitage, b. Côte-Rôtie, c. Châteauneuf-du-Pape, d. St.-Joseph
A2: b. Côte-Rôtie. Roussanne is allowed to be blended into the red wines of the three other regions – but the white grape allowed to be used in Côte-Rôtie is Viognier.
Q3: Outside of Northern Rhône, the traditional bending partner of Roussanne is…
A3: Grenache Blanc is the most popular blending partner for Roussanne outside of Northern Rhône
Q4: Roussanne was re-introduced in California in the 1980s, only to be proven in the late 1990s to be not the Roussanne but another grape. Do you know what grape was that?
A4: Viognier. Randall Grahm, winemaker from Bonny Doon winery, brought [illegally] a number of cuttings of supposedly Roussanne from France at the beginning of 1980s. In 1998 it was found that the grape is actually Viognier, not the Roussanne.
Q5: One of the first California “Roussanne” wines from the 1980s had a specific name. Can you name that wine?
A5: The “Roussanne” wine was produced by Randall Grahm under the name of Le Sophiste.
Sadly, there was very little participation in this quiz – I have to acknowledge Julian at VinoInLove, who was a sole participant – thank you Julian! I guess I’m going to far into the vineyard with some of my latest quizzes… Well, one more white grape, and we are switching back to the red right after.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First of all, we have a new theme for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge! Now in its 4th round, it is hosted by The Wine Kat, winner of the round #3. The theme of the #MWWC4 is… OOPS!, and I can tell you that oops is looming, as the submission deadline is already very close, it is only two weeks away – October 23rd. Get your writing pants… oops, may be glass? Writing hat? Well, whatever oops gets you moving, get it on and start writing. The theme announcement and all the important dates can be found here.
Just a quick question at the moment. What do you think of Merlot? Do you still have an image of Miles “I’m not drinking no #$%^ Merlot”, or does it trickle back to you table and Cellar? Well, I can tell you that about 100 Merlot producers from California want to make sure you will once again look at Merlot seriously. Tomorrow, October 10th, is actually the start of #MerlotMe, a month-long celebration of Merlot, taking place both with the live events and all over the social media. You can find more details about the festivities here – and don’t wait, grab your bottle already!
Continuing the theme of Merlot, I wanted to share with you this video, made by one of the Merlot pioneers, Gundlach Bundschu:
And for no other reason, but just for your enjoyment on this Wine Wednesday, here is the video which I wanted to share a while ago – a “Blurred Lines” parody, made by the enterprising folks at Jordan (in addition to making great wines, they also have one of the best social media outreach in the wine industry):
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC3 Winner, The Way You Pour, Wine and Shutdown, and more
Meritage time!
As usual, let’s start from the answer to the wine quiz #75, grape trivia – Marsanne. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Marsanne. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Name the grape, typical blending partner of Marsanne in Northern Rhône
A1: Roussanne.
Q2: True or False: Plantings of Marsanne in Australia far exceed Marsanne plantings in France.
A2: True. Actually, about 80% of worldwide plantings of Marsanne are located in Australia
Q3: Solve the riddle and explain: Part of 8, but not part of 18
A3: Marsanne is one of the 8 white grapes officially allowed in the Rhône appellations. At the same time, Marsanne is not a part of the 18 grapes officially allowed to be used in Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation
Q4: Marsanne is known in Switzerland under the name of …
A4: Ermitage [blanc]
Q5: Name major wine producing country which doesn’t make any Marsanne wines of notice
A5: Italy. Yes, Italy makes no wines out of Marsanne – at least no wines which can be easily accessible or found on the internet.
I’m glad to report that we have a winner! Jeff of the drunken cyclist fame correctly answered all 5 questions, so he is our uncontested winner and he gets the coveted prize of unlimited bragging rights. Well done!
And now, to the interesting stuff around the web and the vine!
First of all, we have a winner for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #3! The Wine Kat wrote the winning story, which you can find here. Congratulations to the winner! Now we are all eagerly waiting to learn the theme for the challenge #4 – hopefully it will be announced soon…
Do you know that the way you pour the wine affects how much you drink? Here is the link to the post on the subject. Weather you hold the glass, tilt the glass, pour red or white – all of this factors affect the amount you consume – according to this study, of course.
Wondering about the connections between US Government shutdown and wine? I had no idea there is one, until I read this post by Dr. Vino. TTB, the government agency which approves all the new labels, is part of the shutdown. On one side it makes perfect sense as it is seemingly not-essential. At the same time, as opposed to many other parts of the government, this one actually makes money… Anyway, read the article for more details.
Actually, there is another small post by the same Dr. Vino, which I want to bring to your attention. Before you read it, I have a question for you. Which country do you think might request to put the words “wine kills” on the labels? No, it is not United States. Interestingly enough, it is France, which is concerned with the fact that people drink wine, so this was one of the proposals as a way to reduce wine consumption. Another, similarly bright proposal, was suggesting to ban all the internet writing about the wine – brilliant, isn’t it? You can read the post here – it is short and interesting.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC3 Vote, Greenwich Food and Wine Festival, [In]decent Wine Labels, and more
Meritage time!
First, let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #74, grape trivia – Trebbiano.
In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about the white grape called Trebbiano (known in France as Ugni Blanc). Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Ugni Blanc is a main grape in the production of what famous spirit?
A1: Cognac.
Q2: Name the wine, in which Trebbiano was a required part of the blend, and it was considered to be the reason for a bad, flabby quality of that wine (it is no longer required to be used in that wine).
A2: Chianti. For the long time, Trebbiano was a mandatory part of the Chianti wines, rendering them dull and uninteresting.
Q3: Trebbiano is often a foundation for the popular food product (containing no alcohol). Do you know what food product it is?
A3: Balsamic Vinegar! Yes, of course when you look at the literally a black-colored balsamic vinegar, it is hard to imagine that it is made out of the white grape juice – but all the color comes from the ageing in wood. Trebbiano is a popular choice due to its neutral taste characteristics.
Q4: Contrary to the name, Trebbiano di Lugano is not considered to be a part of the Trebbiano family, but rather related to another Italian grape. Do you know what grape is that?
A4: Verdicchio. Based on genetic analysis, it is established that Trebbiano di Lugano is a close relative of Verdicchio grape from Marche region in Italy.
Q5: When used for the wine production (as opposed to the distilled spirits), Ugni Blanc is rarely used on its own – it is typically a part of the blend. Name 3 grapes, traditional blending partners of Ugni Blanc.
A5: Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle, Sémillon. While other combinations are possible, I was looking for classic Bordeaux lineup, which are these three grapes.
Now, when to comes to declaring the winners (or not) of this quiz, the becomes somewhat of a challenge. Both Michael (who has no web site) and Eat with Namie answered first 4 questions correctly, and provided a different answer to the question #5, compare to what I was looking for, but I can’t fully disqualify their answer. So we don’t have an absolute winner this week, but both Michael and Namie get an honorable mention. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First and foremost, 3rd Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (#MWWC3) concluded with 15 entries, taking on a difficult theme “possession”. Now it is your time to chose the host for #MWWC4, a.k.a. The Winner of #MWWC3. Here is the post from Sally, the winner of #MWWC2 and the host of #MWWC3, which summarizes all the entries. Your job is simple: 1. Get glass of wine. 2. Read. 3. Vote. Yes, don’t forget to vote!
Now, if you live in a close proximity of Greenwich , Connecticut, or plan to visit the area, here is the event you don’t want to miss – Greenwich Food and Wine Festival, taking place over 3 days, October 3 – 5. In its third year, the festival brings together more than 90 restaurants and vendors, chefs, musicians, sommeliers. You will find great food, great wines, cooking demos by celebrity chefs such as Duff Goldman, live music, BBQ, beer, competitions (had enough?) and more. For the schedule of events and tickets please click here.
Next – do you think some wine labels are going too far? Too suggestive, too sensual, simply indecent? May be some are. Take a look at Tyler Colman’s, a.k.a. Dr. Vino, blog post on the subject. Make sure to check the link to his article in the Details magazine – you will find some interesting labels there.
And the last one for today – another installment of Wine in China is available for your reading pleasure on the Wine Economist blog. This time you can learn about Chinese government involvement and its role in shaping up the Chinese wine industry.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Chinese Terroirs, #MWWC3 Last Chance, [again] Wine Reviews and more
Meritage time!
First, let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #73, grape trivia – Sémillon.
In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Sémillon. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Name a grape, primary blending partner of Sémillon
A1: Sauvignon Blanc. While Muscadelle is also allowed as part of the blend in Bordeaux, the most popular combination worldwide is Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc.
Q2: Below is the list of years. There is something common between all of them (and of course it has a relationship with Sémillon) – do you know what is common among those years?
1930, 1952, 1964, 1974, 2012
A2: This is a partial list of years when Château d’Yquem Sauternes, the most famous Sauternes wine, was not produced. Since 1825, there were only 10 years when d’Yquem Sauternes was not produced: 1910, 1915, 1930, 1951, 1952, 1964, 1972, 1974, 1992 and 2012.
Q3: Ture or False: Sauternes produces only sweet wines
A3: False. Dry wines are also produced in Sauternes, under a designation of Bordeaux Supérieur. Example – “Y” by Château d’Yquem, 50% Sémillon and 50% Sauvignon Blanc.
Q4: Name a key factor for the great tasting dry Sémillon wines
A4: Bottle age. While acidity is important, dry Sémillon wines, such as those produced in the Hunter Valley in Australia, are known to fully develop and really blossom after about 10 years of age in the bottle.
Q5: What is Semageddon?
A5: Semageddon is a new annual event in Napa Valley, created to celebrate Sémillon grape. You can read more about the event here.
This was somewhat of a difficult quiz. We don’t have a winner, but we have three people who get an honorable mention – the drunken cyclist, EatwithNamie and Vinoinlove.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
What do you know about wine in China? Do you think China will be able to produce the wines we will all crave? Well, can’t tell you about the craving yet, but the hard work already started. Here is an interesting blog post from The Wine Economist blog, talking about the Chinese Terroir quest which is already under way.
Another interesting post is coming from the Joe Roberts of a 1WineDude fame. Joe is bringing up a well beaten subject of the wine reviews, relevance of the wine critics, collective wisdom of the crowd-sourced wine reviews (yep, of course the CellarTracker) and more. You can read the post here, and of course please make sure to read through all the comments. I personally don’t understand why is it so popular and necessary to return to this subject over and over again. I might respond with the rant of my own – if I do, you will be the first to know.
Next important subject: Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #3 is almost over! You need to make a final effort to convert your obsession into possession, and finally publish that blog post. Submission deadline is September 23rd, and for more details please check this formal announcement with all the rules and dates.
As I mentioned last week, Spanish Wine Festival is coming to New York City. If you love Spanish wines and want to taste something amazing, don’t miss this event! For more details and tickets please click here.
And one more event I want to bring to your attention. If you love (or at least like) whiskey, this is the right event for you. WhiskeyFest is coming to New York on October 11-12. For more details and tickets, please use this link.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Oh No, Don’t Lose The Bottle, Wine Prices, Reminders and more
Donna Paula Torrontés
Meritage time!
First, let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #72, grape trivia – Torrontés.
In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Torrontés. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Name three varietals of Torrontés growing in Argentina
A1: Torrontés Riojano, Torrontés Sanjuanino, and Torrontés Mendocino
Q2: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 90-94 range Outstanding. True or False: there are no Torrontés wines with Outstanding rating?
A2: True. The highest rated Torrontés from Bodega Colomé has a rating of 88 points.
Q3: As established by DNA analysis, Torrontés is a cross of two grapes. One of them is Muscat of Alexandria. The second grape played an important role in the early days of winemaking in the United States. Do you know what grape it is?
A3: Mission. Torrontés is a cross of Muscat of Alexandria and Mission grape, which used to be widely planted in California in the 1800s.
Q4: Most of the Torrontés is growing in pretty unique conditions, for most of the plantings being at a high altitude. Name one problem which needs to be controlled for the production of the high quality wines.
A4: Overproduction. Torrontés enjoys almost ideal growing conditions, with dry mountain air, no diseases and plenty of water – but that doesn’t allow grapes to concentrate the flavor and produce high quality wines.
Q5: True or False: Torrontés produces both dry and dessert wines
A5: True. Santa Julia, Susana Balbo and number of others produce Late Harvest Torrontés wines.
Talking about the results, I was glad that there we people who said that they had Torrontés before and they like it. And of course there were those who said that they never had it before – I hope this quiz will make at least one person curious enough to go and find a bottle of Torrontés to try – this shouldn’t be difficult at all. We have only one person who attempted to answer the questions – while Linda from Foxress didn’t answer all the questions correctly, she definitely gets an honorable mention for attempting to solve the quiz.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
Boy, there are lots of things to talk about. First, I came across an interesting article by Chris Kassel, who writes an outstanding blog called “Intoxicology Report” – if you enjoy the high level of language sophistication almost to the point of reading challenge (for me it is), read Chris’s blog, I promise you will not regret. In this article, Chris shared his view on the latest series of commercials themed “Lose the Bottle” and produced by Black Box Wines. I don’t want to take away from your pleasure of reading Chris’s hilarious comments, so I recommend you will read the article first, and then watch the commercials.
Next, Steve Heimoff ponders at the high prices of the brand new wines in their first release (here is the link to the blog post). Steve is talking about new Central Coast wine made by Raj Parr (famous sommelier at RN74 in San Francisco) and released at measly $90/bottle; he is trying to figure out the logic and reason behind such a high introductory price. My personal view on the price of wine is that any price is possible, but in the free market, you have to have enough people willing to pay the money, and if you do – good for you, and if you don’t – you are out. The post is definitely an interesting read, and make sure to read through the comments, some of them being quite interesting.
Another post from Steve Heimoff is an excellent set of instructions for the perfect day in Napa Valley. I like his take on the tasting at the most of Napa vineyards nowadays (“slurp 3 of something for $25”), so if you are planning a Napa getaway, make sure to read this post which will help to improve the experience.
Now, a friendly reminder: you need to possess your possessions – the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #3 with the theme “Possession” is still on, with the deadline for submissions on September 23rd. Get possessed and write. All the rules and other important information can be found here.
Do you like Spanish wines? Do you live in New York City or in a close proximity of? Don’t miss Spanish Wine Festival 2013, taking place on October 4th at The Metropolitan Pavilion. This will be your great opportunity to experience Vega Sicilia, Emilio Moro, Clos Mogador, Clos Martinet, multiple Rioja verticals and many other outstanding wines. Click here for all the details.
And the last update for today. I changed my Top Wine Ratings page ( I mentioned it in the post yesterday), and I also added the menu links for my top dozen wines for 2010, 2011 and 2012 – for all of you who likes the lists, these are a few more to play with.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Economics of Wine Collecting, Wine in Numbers, WTSO Marathon, and more
Meritage Time!
Today we don’t have the quiz to talk about, so let’s get right to the interesting stuff around the vine and web.
An interesting article by Mike Veseth, who writes an excellent Wine Economist blog, is on the subject of wine collecting. Mike just started writing a new column for Wine Searcher online wine magazine, analyzing the world of wine collecting. While the article is pretty technical, it still makes a thought-provoking read, whether you are the wine collector or not.
W. Blake Gray published interesting numbers regarding volume of wine imported into the United States from different countries. Which country do you think is a number one importer? And then which country will take lead if you will disregard “big brands”? Check it out here.
Believe it or not, but the Wine Til Sold Out (WTSO) is doing it again! Free up some space in your cellars, and get ready for next Tuesday, September 10th – WTSO Cheapskate Marathon is coming! The rules have not changed – starting 6 AM Eastern time, WTSO will be offering new wines every 15 minutes or sooner if sold out. The only notification mechanism is Twitter (no e-mails), all the wines are priced in $7.99 – $18.99 range, free ground shipping on the orders of 4 or more. Marathon will continue until 11 PM Eastern time. Featured wines will include (among many others) Maroon Cabernet 2010, 2009 Red Blend from Shadowood, 2010 Valley Gate Chardonnay, Diamond Ridge Pinot Noir, Redheads Moonlight Cabernet, Sacoya Sauvignon Blanc. Make sure your account has all the right information ready, as the wines will be gone in a blink…
Steve Heimoff ponders at an interesting question – what will happen with the wine writing going forward? While he doesn’t offer any radical predictions, I’m sure many of you have the same question in mind from time to time. Check it out for yourself.
Last but no least – an article by Alder Yarrow talks about name protection gone too far. As you might know, the new Apple iPhone line will include new colors, one of them being champagne. Now the Interprofessional Committee for Champagne Wine (ICCW) is now getting concerned with Apple’s use of the word Champagne as a color descriptor and wants to have them stopped. Talk about complete waste of money and lawyers not having anything better to do…
And I think we are done here. Happy Rosh Hashanah to those who celebrates, and happy Wine Wednesday to all of you! Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, #MWWC2 Winner, #MWWC3 Theme, Cabernet Day and more
Mar de Frades Albarino
Meritage time!
First, let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #71, grape trivia – Albariño.
In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Albariño. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Explain the origin of the name Albariño
A1: The theory is that the Albariño was brought to Spain from Germany’s Rhine region and it is a relative of Riesling. Thus Alba-Riño stands for “white from Rhine”
Q2: What kind of food is typically expected to be paired with Albariño?
A2: Seafood! Rias Baixas, the region where Albariño strives, is fully embraced by the Atlantic ocean, so seafood is a local specialty, and Albariño is known to perfectly complement it.
Q3: When Albariño was first planted in California?
a. 2000, b. 1996, c. 1992, d. 1988
A3: b, 1996. In 1996, Kathryn and Michael Havens of Havens Wine Cellars visited Rias Baixas and fell in love with Albariño. They brought it back to the US and started the first plantings. Albariño was officially registered in California in the year 2000.
Q4: For the long time, winemakers in Australia thought that they are making Albariño wine – until it was recently found that due to the mistake, what they thought they planted as Albariño is not Albariño at all, but a totally unrelated grape. Do you know what grape it was?
A4: Savagnin.
Q5: Val do Salnés is one of the sub-regions in Rias Baixas, making wines from Albariño grapes. True or False: to be labeled Albariño Val do Salnés, the wine must contain 100% Albariño grapes
A5: False. Interestingly enough, for the wine to be labeled Rias Baixas DO, it should be 100% Albariño, but for any other sub-regions, it is enough to use only 70% of the Albariño grapes.
I’m glad to report that we have a winner this time! Linda from Foxress is taking home the unlimited bragging rights today. Well done!
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
I’m sure you’ve seen this already, but our Monthly Wine Writing Challenge has a new Queen! Sally from My Custard Pie won the #MWWC2 with this blog post. Congratulations!
Let me ask you a question. How possessive you are? Do you possess your wines, or maybe your wines possess you? Or may be your wines are possessed? If I were you, I wouldn’t go down to that cellar…yeah. Why am I all of a sudden so possessed with the possession? Because Possession is the theme of the #MWWC3! Here is the formal announcement with all the rules and dates. Sharpen your mind and your pencil, blow the dust off your keyboard – and write, write, write! The submission deadline is Monday, September 23rd.
Last minute reminder – tomorrow, August 29th, is 4th annual Cabernet Day! Open the bottle of Cabernet and join the festivities. Hope you will enjoy whatever you will be drinking, and if it will be extra good – let the world know about it – blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest – there are so many ways today to let the world know that you are happy!
I also have two articles to share with you. Interestingly enough, I just realized that these two articles are essentially completely opposite to each other. In the first article, Harvey Steiman, Wine spectator’s Editor at Large, talks about scientific advancements in the world of wine. He talks about DNA testing being used to detect faults in wine, and then he also talks about micro-oxygenation, that makes the wines more soft and round. Fault detection might be good, but do you want your wines to be soft, round and … the same? I personally would prefer the wine with character over the dull and round, but of course you can decide for yourself.
Second article talks about the archaeological project in Italy, where the group of scientists it trying to recreate the way the wine was made thousands of years ago – no chemicals, no reverse osmosis, no micro-oxygenation – just the pure goodness of nature. Somehow, I like this. But again, read the article and decide for yourself.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, Don’t Forget to Vote!, 2013 Harvest Started in France, and more
Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer
Meritage time!
First, let’s start with the answer for the wine quiz #70, grape trivia – Gewurztraminer.
In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about white grape called Gewurztraminer. Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: Where Gewurztraminer was supposedly originated? Name the grape which was a precursor of Gewurztraminer
A1: Gewurztraminer is a result of genetic mutation of the grape called Traminer. Traminer grape takes its name from the town of Tramin, located in the South Tyrol in Northern Italy (Alto Adige).
Q2: Explain the meaning of the name Gewurztraminer
A2: “Gewurz” means spicy in German. But the “spicy” reference here is for the extreme aromatics of the grape and not to taste of the grape itself, so in the direct translation Gewurztraminer stands for Spicy Traminer.
Q3: Unlike many other grapes, if the French wine is made out of Gewurztraminer, you can easily know that just by looking at the bottle. Why is that?
A3: Alsace, unlike any other AOC in France, requires the name of the grape varietal to be shown on the label. While most of the Alsace wines are typically bottled in the tall narrow bottles called vin du Rhin, one look at the label will tell you exactly the type of the grape the wine is made out of.
Q4: Which area in California produces best Gewurztraminer wines:
a. Monterey County, b. Alexander Valley, c. Russian River Valley, d. Anderson Valley
A4: Anderson Valley (“best” is subjective, but I seem to find a number of sources pointing to Anderson Valley)
Q5: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 95-100 range Classic (the highest and the most prestigious category). True or False: there are no Gewurztraminer wines with Classic rating
A5: False. There are couple of Gewurztraminer wines with 98 ratings, and in excess of 30 wines overall in the Classic rating range.
Now, when it comes to the answers, we have an interesting situation. All the respondents answered all the questions correctly, except for the Q3 – typical answer was based on the unique shape of the bottle, but the problem is that most of the wines from Alsace share the same bottle shape – however, nobody pointed to the label and the major difference in the labeling laws between Alsace (based on the grape) and the other AOCs (based on geographic location). Thus we don’t have a winner in this weeks’ quiz – but hey, there is always another quiz.
Now, to the interesting stuff around the vine and the web!
First and foremost – please don’t forget to cast your vote for your favorite post in the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #2! The theme of the challenge was “Trouble”, and despite the initial troubles with the trouble, quite a few bloggers took a stub at the theme. ArmchairSommelier was hosting this month’s challenge, and she will announce the winner on August 24th. To read all of the submissions, and most importantly, to vote, please use this link.
Another interesting opportunity to “vote” for you – W. Blake Gray asked his readers to vote on what country which makes their favorite wine. You don’t have to think to hard about “the one”, as you can vote for up to 3 favorites. So far based on the voting results, the clear leaders are France, USA and Italy – but you should definitely vote and see for yourself – here is the link to the blog post.
While it sounds way too early (it is still an August!), the 2013 harvest already started in in Roussillon in France. An interesting fact is that this year actually has a late start due to the cold spring, and the picking usually starts 10-15 days earlier. Here is a link to the article where you can find all the details.
That’s all I have for you for today, folks. The glass is empty – but refill is on its way. Until the next time – cheers!
Wednesday’s Meritage – Wine Quiz Answer, New Life at Mayacamas, Few Reminders and more
Field Recordings Chenin Blanc Jurassic Park Vineyard
Meritage Time!
Let’s start with the answer to the wine quiz #68, grape trivia – Chenin Blanc. In the quiz, you were supposed to answer 5 questions about Chenin Blanc grape.
Here are the questions, now with the answers:
Q1: True or false: South Africa grows (area-wise) twice as much Chenin Blanc as France
A1: True. Chenin Blanc plantings in South Africa take a bit less than 25% of all grape plantings in the country, and it exceeds plantings in France by at least two times.
Q2: Do you know how Chenin Blanc is typically called in South Africa?
A2: Steen. Chenin Blanc is South Africa was traditionally called Steen, but as many wineries are improving quality of their Chenin Blanc wines, they also use the traditional “Chenin Blanc” name on the labels more and more.
Q3: Based on DNA research, Chenin Blanc might be a parent of:
a. Pinot Blanc, b. Sauvignon Blanc, c. Marsanne, d. Ugni Blanc (Trebbiano)
A3: Sauvignon Blanc.
Q4: Wine Spectator calls wines rated in 95-100 range Classic (the highest and the most prestigious category). True or False: there are no Chenin Blanc wines with Classic rating.
A4: False. While there are only 14 Classic Chenin Blanc wines to the date (all from Vouvray region in France), Domaine Huët Vouvray Cuvée Constance 1997 scored even perfect 100 points.
Q5: One of my all time favorite Chenin Blanc wines is made by the company called Field Recordings in California. It is a single-vineyard wine, coming from the vineyard which has the same name as one of the blockbuster movies of the 90s. Do you know how this vineyard is called?
A5: Jurassic Park! I’m really curious what would give such a name to the vineyard, but hey, this is how it is called. And Jurassic Park Chenin Blanc I had was spectacular.
I’m glad to report that we have lots of winners this time! Emil, SheWinesSometimes, VinoinLove and TheDrunkenCyclist answered all 5 questions correctly, and they get the coveted prize of unlimited bragging rights!
Now, to the interesting stuff around vine and web!
I have a few interesting things for you to read. First, an article by New York Times‘ Eric Asimov, talking about new life of Mayacamas Vineyards in Napa. Mayacamas is one of the historical vineyards in the region, originally built in 1889, and owned by Bob Travers and his wife since 1968. I experienced Mayacamas Cabernet Sauvignon only once, and it was a spectacular wine, done in very restrained and elegant style. Now the winery is acquired by Charles Banks, who owned Screaming Eagle in the past, and he brought in Andy Erickson, a past Screaming Eagle’s winemaker, to make wine at the Mayacamas. How Mayacamas will change is a big question for all of its fans, so you should read the article to learn more.
Here is an interesting read for you from W. Blake Gray, on the subject of [yeah, here we go again] wine tasting notes. Before you read the article, test yourself – do you know what gunflint is? You do? Great, do you know how does it taste like? My personal answer is “no” for both questions, but you go read the article to learn something new and get entertained.
The last article for today on the subject of Georgian wines, talking about new and interesting wines coming from the “cradle of winemaking”, as Georgia often is referred to. Go find the bottle of Georgian wine to enjoy while you will be reading the article.
We are getting closer to the few important dates (deadlines, rather) so here are your reminders:
August 14th – Wine Blogging Wednesday event, #WBW80 – Dry Rosé. All you need to do is to write a blog post pertinent to the subject, and submit it to the host. For all the details please click here. Let’s make it a success!
August 16th – deadline for submission for the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge #2, with the theme called Trouble. You can find all the rules here. I finally made my submission, so I sleep much better now. There is still time, get your trouble under control and write! Side note – if you are using twitter, I recommend using #MWWC hash tag for all submissions and discussions.
August 29th – Annual Cabernet Day 2013. Grab the bottle of your favorite Cab and join the festivities – here is the link to the invitation I received for this Cabernet Day, in case you want to state your participation officially.
That is all I have for you, folks. The glass is empty -but the refill is coming. Until the next time – cheers!
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