Rebel Rose

Oh yeah. Just to make the frustration factor clear: we don't usually decide precisely what our releases will be until two, maybe three months before bottling when we do the final barrel tastings and blending trials. Then we write the labels, and ask the printer to prepare proofs which we can then submit to TTB. It takes them 6-8 weeks to respond. Our printer requires a minimum three week lead time.

Very true, Carolyn! We enjoy our FedEx discount, and so do our customers. As you know, Fedexing something as heavy as wine can add up, but with a discount this significant it's much more affordable. Actually, while I'm thinking about it, anyone here can visit the Wine Institute website. They have brief descriptions of each state's shipping regulations, information on where to get wine permits, a list of each wine appellation by size, information on what's required to apply for a sub-appellation, and other totally fascinating subjects. The new director is Bobby Koch (pronounced Cook, as he likes to point out), Gdub's brother-in-law. He's interesting--charming, dynamic and a great sense of humor. With the power of the alcohol distribution lobbies aligned against us it's great to have an org like WI in our camp. We have ongoing label headaches because we produce small releases of vineyard designate wines, and each back label contains specific information about the vineyard, microclimate, and winemaking techniques. The current struggle involves the phrase "picked at full ripeness." "If this is a late harvest wine you must disclose Brix and sugar and comply with all other late harvest labeling requirements." "It's not a late harvest wine! It was picked at full ripeness! All grapes are picked at full ripeness!" "You must disclose Brix and sugar if it was late picked." "It wasn't late. It was great! The wine is dry. It's not even high in alcohol!" :tearing hair emoticon:

JParrot, here's a link to the Code of Federal Regulations. Click on Labeling and Advertising of Wine. I would also recommend that you save it as a file on your hard drive for handier reference. The BATF site had clear links to this information, but now it's stored offsite and not even maintained by the TTB. The BATF also, back in the day, used to provide each new winery with a complete hardcopy manual. I guess they had to take that amenity away to support the drugs and guns section. I recommend to all new producers that they join the Wine Institute. The cost for small wineries is less than $200 a year, and one of the services they provide is your own special label reviewer, who will go over your labels and spot problems before they arise. If the application is okay, his office is right across the street from the COLA building and he just walks the apps over. The Wine Institute also sends weekly faxes with all governmental updates, including changes in the TTB regulations. This service is MUCH more effective than spending thousands of dollars on "compliance specialists." If you need help with forms and tax reporting, ask a fellow winemaker to show you how, and pay him with a box of Niman Ranch steaks. Good luck!

Ew. They're cute, but they do get into everything, don't they? I'm off to the hardware store to get a clean grill today--maybe they'll have cedar planks, too! I was planning on doing some salmon tonight. I've been pruning my herb beds and I'm soaking the trimmings in a bucket of water. My idea is to use the herb wood as a wet bed, much like the plank idea, for the salmon. If I find cedar it would be interesting to do the salmon side by side and see how it works out. Also doing a grill basket of mixed mushrooms to be basted with black truffle butter. I'll let you know how it turns out. Marlene. Girl. Where are those pictures?

I'm working on a book of wine essays, and the current chapter is "Men in Black," so if anyone has any cool BATF stories, please share them! For those of you who don't know, every single US wine label must be approved by the former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, aka the Waco Boys. They have some interesting rules. No profanity. But there's a legend, as yet unsubstantiated, that an Oregon producer called his wine "Bon Merde" for years before they caught on. No misleading information. Our 2000 Merlot back label was censored because I referred to the small berries and clusters produced in a ridgetop, high elevation vineyard. Their reason? It would mislead you, the customer, into thinking the wine was produced from berries and not grapes. I won a reversal after faxing them several dictionary printouts defining grapes as a berry of the grapevine and lecturing them on the significance to our consumers--who actually drink wine--of small berries. Our 2001 Zinfandel Port back label was censored because, although I had included all the obligatory language on Brix at harvest and resulting sugar, I mentioned that the wine was "fortified." Their reason? You, the customer, will be misled into thinking it is high in alcohol. Our conversation went something like this: "The label is not misleading. The wine is fortified." "Yes, but you can't say that, because people will think it's high in alcohol." "Well of course it's high in alcohol. It's a dessert wine!" "It encourages the perception that the wine is excessively high in alcohol." "But the exact alcohol is on the front label! It's always on the front label!" "Yes, but it's misleading." "No, it's not, because it is fortified." "Our decision stands. We never allow the word 'fortified.'" :fist thumping on forehead emoticon: I'm going through yet another annoying semantic struggle now regarding one of our zins, so this is a good time for me to work on this essay! Does anyone have any other encounters to share?

Why don't you just sharpen it on the Henckel's Birch Cutting Board?

I made a yellow barbecue sauce last night. It turned out well, I thought, especially with the grilled chicken--fruity with a smoky, spicy kick. Dan actually had some with his chicken (which validated it, I think) but this morning he's back to being suspicious of it. He keeps peering in the bowl like he expects it to crawl away or something. Has anyone else tried this or seen a recipe? If Bobby Flay made this, he'd think it was great!

I never heard the term "grilling" until recently. Back in the 50's and 60's when I was a wet river rat all summer, "barbecuing" was the manly term for building a big fire on the banks of the Newaukum River (western Washington state), hanging a steel grate over it with wires and old steel fence posts and cooking anything at hand--hot dogs, hamburgers, crawdads, trout, steelhead. Mom's idea of providing vegetables was a potato salad and a bowl of radishes. Dad also provided sweet corn ears. It was considered a hot, messy business, but served to not only feed us onsite but dry us off as well. Dad's prize homegrown, grass fed beef was never exposed to the flames, or as he put it, to "ashes and shit." Looking back in my memory, I cannot imagine the muscular loggers, fishermen, cowboys and Indians of my youth calling this a "cookout" or "grilling." It cracks me up to imagine it!

You've got a tough crowd this week. Winesonoma edited a one-word post!

Unfortunately, the only thing that acquires smoke flavor when I light the Weber is me. My hair, my hands . . . but that phenomenon has been omitted so I guess it doesn't count. Therefore, when I'm smoking only myself, I am grilling. Okay. Size and a relaxed attitude toward getting it done today seem to be key. Sauces are accessories. So the guys here who do "Santa Maria" barbecue--whole tritips slathered with chipotle cooked over medium-low heat from walnut firewood in huge drum (barbecue-like) units--that's barbecue. Our barbecue. I do prefer the term "grilling" for stuff that's quickly sizzled. "Barbecue" to me has always meant tender meat that falls off in handfuls, or fatty, tender ribs with enough sauce to cover me from nose to chest. You guys crack me up, by the way!

Allright then. I'm sitting here licking duck fat off my fingers. (No comments, you guys.) So, like, you guys can now finally answer our question? Am I like, grilling, or am I, like, baaaarbecuuuuing? Is it a time thing? A sauce thing? A si=i=i=ze thing?

I have no doubt! I'm sure you're wit and zippy writing style have brought in a lot more newbies than you know--just like me! Thanks again, adoxograph. Looks like your blog has "universal" appeal!

All good marketing, as well as business management, starts from a position of strength. And what do we have? 12,000 eGulleters (I think) access to the Internet I think a good place to start would be with culinary schools. Some students and teachers participate, they tell their students and friends . . . So, although I couldn't find an Indian culinary school, I did fire off a friendly email to this school: Baan Thai Cooking School We could have a tag thread where you're not allowed to tag someone until you've brought in a newbie from an unusual area. What would we call it? Other people to reach out to via the Internet: foreign university students, foreign exchange students, other tourist cooking classes, penpal sites, military stationed overseas . . . So Lisa, you're always up for a challenge. Why don't you go next?

I agree that the markups seem excessive, but fifi and foodie have good points. For dinner, I know I'll have time to cook, and I reach for the real deal, but for lunch, which is usually salad-on-the-run, I get boxed greens, those cute little bags of cherry tomatoes, zip bags of croutons, packaged sunflower seeds, and little plastic boxes of pre-crumbled, herbed feta. However, I can now afford to do so, and the trade off in time and effort frees me to do the work I love. What gets me for convenience vs. price are KIDS' FOODS! Aargh. Corn dogs, taquitos, cheese-and-cracker snacks, sparkling water, fish sticks, chips and salsa, whatever! We finally boy-cotted all that. We now keep flour tortillas and plenty of cheddar on hand, and we make double portions of dinner. The boy gets a microwaved but homemade enchilada of leftovers and cheese when he's hungry, and he's just as happy. He can drink filtered water or milk. Now all I have to contend with is finding room for several gallons of milk each week.

Thanks, Mayhaw. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or frightened by all these questions! Here's a quick peek into the local "land"scape. Paso Robles is equidistant between San Francisco and LA, as well as between Monterey and Santa Barbara. Home and property values have doubled in the last ten years and small (1 to 40 acre) sites are getting harder to find, due to our growing popularity as a country lifestyle area. Vineyards, however, that were selling for $2,000 an acre in the early 1990's are now going for $10,000 an acre or more. Much of that has to do with Paso's increasing recognition as a fine wine area, and so is not indicative of wine grape acreage prices overall. Until the last few years, nearly all the new wineries and vineyards were being established by long time residents of the area, by experienced viticulturists from other areas, or by local farmers who were switching over to grapes from other crops like walnuts. Most of these people are still farming grapes successfully. They have business and agricultural acumen. However, with our rise in recognition and popularity as a "vanity vineyard" destination, we are now seeing a flush of new vineyard and winery owners with more money than agri-sense. Some are excellent businessmen who dedicate themselves to learning every aspect of viticulture and what's appropriate for their site. They're also good at marketing their grapes. Some, however, think it's going to be a lark--plant some grapes, hire a consultant, and wait for your friends to visit your new casa. These are the owners who are getting discouraged--it takes at least six years before you even begin to see a return of your investment, and many more before you can begin to count on a true profit. Oh geez, the irony of this thread's title! No one here is losing their shirts on a sale, however, and many are making a very tidy profit, based on land values, property improvements, and the value of a producing vineyard. It's just a harsh financial wake up call for many people, and a lotta lotta stress if you don't have buyers for your crop. And sometimes when you do. The "big boys"--Gallo in particular--are dropping contracts and absorbing contract penalties without demur in order to acquire cheaper contracts and their own land here. So, vineyards for sale. Most buyers fall into two camps. One is the wineries and large vineyards that are looking to expand their holdings. Wineries who can grow all their own fruit have tighter control over quality and are cutting out the grower's markup. Another market are the aforesaid vanity vineyard owners who are still flocking to us like seagulls on a beach. Wanna buy a vineyard? . . . better visit Carolyn's wineblog first!

True. Money grubbing liquor producers!

Mayhaw, that's so sad, and true, it's funny. Midsize and overextended wineries are the hardest hit by the recent wine gluts. It has more to do with financial planning than size. Bucky and his friends are definitely a major annoyance. I recently attended a Winegrower's BBQ with over two hundred Paso Robles vineyards represented. Everyone brings a bottle, right? Since 80% of the fruit grown here is sold to Napa and Sonoma, here's a chance for our growers to taste a huge variety of wines made from Paso grapes. And do you know what several attendees brought? Two Buck Chuck!!! When wineries suffer from price challenges, it's ultimately the vineyards that are hardest and most immediately affected. California wine prices don't fluctuate quickly (after all, it takes us years to make the stuff--we tend to be a slow moving bunch) but grape prices can rise and fall dramatically. In 1997, growers were often getting $2200 a ton for fruit (I know, half of the Napa prices, but that's another thread) and now wineries are saying, listen, I'll offer you $500 and let you know during harvest if I have room. Vineyards are floating up for sale like dead goldfish.

Hey, Jon, how about a fourth in the series--Absurdly stupidly simple wine questions? I bet we could sweet-talk Carolyn into helping out with answers. If you can't post it here, why not in the wine forum? It would be nice to see more food forumites learning about wine, and frankly I think the wine forum needs a breath of fresh air. And some funny threads. And some gross threads . . . They're so seerious! Or how about a raid on the wine forum? Ala Amazon.

Yeah, but none of those threads address two other pertinent and restaurant-based issues: 1) There's a lot of food waste in the restaurant business, and plate markups cannot be large. Restaurant wine markups are high because they help offset the slim margins and losses on food. 2) Wine will not keep well once opened, like hard liquor will, and there are the occasional corked bottles to discard, so wine by the glass has a much higher markup. Even using a popular wine preservation system does not work well during operating hours because the bottle is opened and closed all the time. Still, some restaurants really take it to the max. We have a few local restaurants that have reasonable markups on local wines, exciting by-the-glass programs, and charge no corkage fees for wines you want to bring. That's very friendly, and encourages customers to try new wines. I appreciate their support of the local wineries and so if I bring wine, I always pour some for the waitstaff and chefs, or bring a library bottle for the owner. Eh, then there are the places with the huge markups. A $40 bottle is suddenly $75. When I see our wines priced so high I first get a little flush that last for about five seconds before I think but, who's going to try a new wine at that price?

Thanks for an exciting and funny blog, adoxograph! Last year I bought a pile of books I didn't get to read, but I've decided they will be my summer treat this year . . . "The Elegant Universe," "The Fabric of the Cosmos," "Surfing through Hyperspace," and of course, "Astronomy for Dummies." This weekend I'm going to make grilled burgers in your honor. I think I'll call them Brown Dwarf Burgers--piled high with caramelized onions. Or maybe Red Dwarfs, with grilled red peppers! Yeah! I'll think of you every time I look at the stars! Edited to ask: Any other astral burger ideas?

JPW, pregnancy is the key issue here, because for many couples this could be a critical turning point, nutritionally. I'm amazed the instructor didn't start with a discussion on proper nutrition. Many people are brought up in households where these eating habits are considered normal and healthy, but they'd be happy to try something new for the sake of their baby, and themselves, if they were given a nudge. For the sake of the mother's comfort alone, the instructor should advise her to lay off potato chips and white bread buns. As you probably know, hemorrhoids are a BIG possibility here, and less than optimal, uh, digestive efficacy, will result in some painful and perhaps recurring discomforts! Also, the extremely high salt content in fast and processed foods will contribute to water retention (and who needs those bowling ball ankles?) and hypertension, which will not only make mom uncomfortable, but could threaten the baby--and make it much harder to lose the weight afterward! It would be cool if the instructor not only discussed nutrition, but handed out a bibliography of good books and websites on natal nutrition, so the couples can continue their education and enjoy the excitement of discovery, practice, and community!

Smoked ham hocks in lentils are cheap and so, so good. Addictive and hearty. Even though I have a food budget now that's hundreds of times larger than my college budget I still buy beef bones for $1 or $2 a package. Brown them in a frypan, then simmer patiently in water, stock, tomatoes or whatever you have (if your produce gets soggy, throw it in for flavoring and nutrition). Remove the bones and use the meat and the cooking stock to cook your lentils. Get several kinds of rice, preferably brown and basmati. Brown rice acts like little scrub brushes for your, um, digestive tract, which will help on a carb-heavy diet, and it's high in vitamin B. Take it easy on potatoes. They're cheap and hearty, fast to fix in a microwave and can be dressed up with any vegetables and some olive oil, but they're a pasty fiber, like wallpaper in your intestines, and you'll put on weight if you rely on them. Buy good bread with plenty of nuts and seeds in it. More expensive, but on a carb-heavy diet you'll need the healthy fiber. Also, one slice of a heavy grain bread is more filling than 2-3 slices of cheap white bread. Never throw bread away. Carve off the mold and make croutons, bread pudding, bread crumbs, etc. Save all your vegetable ends and trimmings and freeze them for vegetable stock. Even if it tastes like celery water, it'll be nutritious and free! Celery ends, carrot tops, potato peels, garlic bits, outer leaves and hearts of cabbage. . . when your freezer bag or Tupperware is full, just simmer them up with salt and pepper. Actually, I read somewhere that the most nutritious part of a carrot is the neck, right below the greens. Let us know how it's working out for you!

I know. I went to the VC website, and I fantasized. I thought about it. But I'm in love with my Weber, I really am. So tomorrow I'll rub him down with some Citrus Solution, and light him up. Pics would be good. Show us the beef!

It's always messy, but it can be entertaining. You can lay down a napkin to catch wax bits if you want to open it at the table. Depending on the composition of the wax, if it's soft enough you can cut around the lip as Boris_A suggested and pull the cork out, leaving wax on top, or, if the wax is hard as a rock, just whack around the edge with a heavy waiter's friend and use the knife on the waiter's friend to pop the wax off the top. The second method is messier, but sometimes the wax is petrified.

Oh, Lordy. In one day you've hit on rainbows, rolls, and cardamom--all things I love! I'm just checking in after missing a few days of foodblogs, and bouncing back and forth between here and nessa's blog. What torture!