Michigan Wine Competition
I attended this event and it was a great experience. The thing that struck me most about it was the complexity of flavors coming from the wines. I drank a number of Chardonnays (I was just into the Chards by the end of the night), and it wasn’t like drinking just another Chardonnay. It was almost as if I could taste winemakers personal passion from producer to producer. There were well over 300 wines and my palate did not tire, nor did I get the feeling that I was drinking the same juice/different vineyard.
American wines are really rocking, I’m talking Michigan, Virginia, New Mexico. I really need to make that trip to New York to see what it’s all about up there. Believe it or not, there are a couple of wineries here in the Nashville area that produce serious juice (Chateau Ross and Arrington Vineyards I attest).
Anyway, I’m overjoyed about what’s happening in the vineyards here in the Land of the Free.
Here’s the link. Check it out… Michigan wine competition is full of surprises
Robert Parker Speaks
And I listen, because I like his picks, and I’ve been drinking 05 white Bordeaux for some time now. I was working in my favorite wine store - The Wine Shoppe at Green Hills - when the 05 white Bordeaux’s arrived. Josh and I were completely amazed by what we tasted in the $19.99 - $29.99 range, so we sold all we could to customers coming in looking for good white wine. Anyway, here are a few of Robert Parker’s picks
Here’s the link. Check it out… Bordeaux: The Other White Wine
Mutineer Magazine
Alan Kropf, editor of Mutineer Magazine sent me a link to his website to take a peek at. Well, I did, and I like it. As a matter of fact, you’ll find it on my LINKS page along with the other websites I visit on a regular basis. I’ll be visiting the forums for wine and beer discussions. Here’s an example from what I found in the wine discussion from Mary:
Question -
My husband bought a bottle of wine for me because it has a picture of a sheep on the label. (I collect sheep.) It's called "Barking Sheep" from Mendoza Argentina 2006 Malbec. Is it any good?
Answer -
Well, whether it is good or not is a question you should probably be asking yourself. Forget prices and cult status, if you like a wine, then it is "good", if it cheap, you can officially call yourself savvy. To avoid appearing to avoid the question, I can tell you this about that wine:
It is from the Mendoza region of Argentina, arguably the leading wine region in Argentina. It is a Malbec, the leading Varietal of the Mendoza region. You'll find red and purple fruit: cherries, plum, cassis. I also think of smokey earth when I think of Mendoza Malbec. There is some nice oak on this wine, I've had it before, easy drinking good wine.
Good answer! Be sure to visit Alan’s site
Here’s the link. Check it out… http://www.mutineermagazine.com/blog/
Take Care of your Stemware
Here’s a very informative article on how to properly care for your Riedels. Personally, I’m going to start rinsing my stemware with distilled water as suggested, so that I’ll have more wine to drink.
Here’s the link. Check it out… There's no excuse for stemware abuse!
Climate Change in your Glass
Is it possible to go from 2005, greatest vintage of the year to 2100, year of the fruit bomb? Absolutely. Global climate change may wind up being the culprit for this phenomenon. What’re perfect conditions for wine growing in the states of Oregon and Washington right now may be impending doom for future winegrowers in those regions. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but you better buy 05 while it’s available. Cheers!
Here’s the link. Check it out… Meltdown in your wineglass?
What Goes Around, Comes Around
The margin between beer drinkers and wine drinkers is increasing in the favor of beer drinkers. In 2004 – 2005 the gap had been narrowing in favor of wine drinkers in the overall population. This new finding shows drinkers between the ages 18 – 29 are drinking more beer, while 50 year olds and above are increasingly drinking more wine.
Here’s the link. Check it out… Beer Back to Double-Digit Lead Over Wine as Favored Drink
Out of Control
Like the readers that responded to this article, I don’t understand what the French government is thinking. Evidently, they are ignorant about how the Internet works. How can wine and alcohol sites be limited to specific times on the Internet? Someone should explain to the French government that the Internet is, for the most part, a free flowing entity that has taken on a life of its own, at least up to this present time, and cannot be controlled... yet.
Here’s the link. Check it out… Leaked French wine law proposals to treat alcohol like porn
What Taste Good To You
This research proves that what Michael Shaps told me in 2004 was right. The only thing that matters when consuming wine is how the wine in your glass taste to you.
“Many factors, such as peer consumption and marketing actions, can influence how a good is experienced. Price may in itself be such a factor. Recent research has shown that individuals appreciate the same wine more when they think that it is more expensive (Brochet, 2001; Plassmann et al., 2008). In other words, the price of a good a¤ects the experienced utility derived from that good. Thus, to test the conjecture mentioned above, we need to examine the enjoyment of wine when individuals are unaware of the price.”
Read it for yourself. Here’s the link. Check it out… DO MORE EXPENSIVE WINES TATSESBETTER? EVIDENCE FROM A LARGESAMPLE OF BLIND TASTINGS