Rebel Rose

Well, that's entirely accurate, since there's no such thing as a "buzz" unit. I just thought it was funny to look at it that way, but then I have a warped sense of reality. (Last night I took our 12-year-old to see Shrek 2, which he enjoyed but he assured me seriously later that there is no such thing as a "spell." May be hereditary. ) And you're right--the whole "protection of minors" argument is ludicrous.

Yep, Amarone is great. Also California syrahs and Rhones, and late harvest syrah. I used to enjoy Rieslings with Gorgonzola when it was a girls' night kind of thing. Now Stilton is more of a late evening snack with red-wine-loving couples, and we gravitate toward smoky reds.

Another note on cork taint (sorry, can't help you with the rabbits!) . . . Chlorine has traditionally been used to sanitize corks before packaging them for shipping, but it somehow contributes to the trichloroanisole (pronounced "corked") problem. Cork producers are now offering corks that have been sterilized with potassium metabisulfite or by ozonation. The new methods don't have a track record yet, but look promising.

So that's why the poor kid fainted. It's been on all the sport shows this morning as an example of eXtreme pressure! "aut-atch-non-us, no, awe-toch-ton-oos, no . . ." I better practice a lot more so I don't hyperventilate.

We give samples of wine in our winery, of course, but the things people do sometimes . . . like the gum-chewers who ask for a napkin and when I hold one out they want to spit their gum into my hand . . . now I just tell them there are paper linens in the bathroom. (No oral refuse in my hand, thank you!) At a trade tasting in Monterey, the setup staff gave each table two clear plastic pitchers--one for water and one for a dump pot. The winemaker and I were both busy answering questions at opposite ends of our table, and although I didn't see this happen, WM tells me later that he saw a man come up to our table and pour the spit wine into his glass. He swirled it, sniffed it, drank it, then poured some more in his glass and wandered off to offer it to his female companion! I practically shrieked (between gasps of laughter) at WM, "Why didn't you STOP him?" WM just shrugs and says, "What was I supposed to do, run after him in a crowded room yelling 'sir, you are drinking our swill?'"

"In a Supreme Court petition, 36 states argue that they need these laws to prevent drinking by minors and to collect taxes. " -- From the NY Times editorial (which supports shipping) Some basic math: One six pack of beer = $4.99 / 72 fl. oz. = $ 0.07 for 6% alcohol = $0.01 penny per buzz One large bottle of vodka = $15.99 / 1.75 liter (60 oz.) = $0.27 for 40% alcohol = 7/10 of $0.01 penny per buzz One bottle of premium wine unattainable in your local markets = $20.00 + 7.99 UPS shipping and signature tag + $2.50 wine shipper (no charge for handling) / .750 liter (26 oz.) = $30.50 for 12% alcohol = $2.50 per buzz So let me get this straight. Interstate wine shipments will corrupt my state's youth. It has the potential to be a widespread problem. My state's youth must have the disposable income to finance a wine buzz. Children with disposable income generally have well-educated, employed parents, so I am probably well educated and employed. However, the above math is junior high level stuff, elementary in good schools, and any average kid can do it. Therefore, my state's youth are rich, illiterate dumbshits. That makes me the parent of an illiterate dumbshit. And people actually vote for legislators who are insulting them?

Lemon vodka, pepper vodka, and now . . . cork vodka!

Meow. A lot of fur and feathers over the Wine Spectator here. Interesting. However, the original point of this thread as posted by Craig is about Wine Angels and their "scientific analysis" of the WS scores. Would you pay $95 for their report? And they're selling a "Wine Marketing Companion" to wineries for $495! Boy, I can tell you, if someone's got hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars into grapes, barrels, buildings and equipment, they'd better know more about marketing than what James Laube had for dinner this week and how it affected his palate. But for the sake of a healthy rant, which no good thread can survive without, let me delicately point out that in this business, as in any business, schmoozing is part of marketing. It's expected, it's done, it's received. It's not always successful, and sometimes businesses that eschew the schmewze get high scores, but it does happen, and frequently. However, many writers, and among them are WS' Matt Kramer, Daniel Sogg, and James Laube, are often turned off by gifts of large format bottles and personal tours, stays at four-star winery B&B's, etc. They'll explore new territory when it's brought graphically to their attention, but they're suspicious of Geeks Bearing Gifts, as they should be. Writers are people, however, and a warm smile and an offer to have dinner with the family will open the door for curiosity and loyal appreciation. A lot of the wines that these fellows rate highly are wines that they have encountered in situ, and they have a deeper understanding of the family and terroir behind the wines.

Oh boy! My pepper glands are salivating. What's "injeera"? Is that an Indian condiment? And do you make your own habanero-tequila sauce?

I recommend starting at WineAccess.com When you register, the site memorizes your zip code and then when you search for a wine, the site will pull up an online retailer that not only has the wine in stock, but can ship to you. WineAccess doesn't yet have an extensive list of wine merchants, and most of the ones they do have are east coast, but their merchant list is growing, and they do have over 35,000 wines listed, so it can be a good place to start.

Yep, "cheesy" rock songs and a cup of Starbuck's keep me rollin' on late night drives. Seth, your blog has been so much fun!! I was inspired to make some bread along with you, although not brave enough (and not enough time) to make a real loaf. Still, I made some coriander bread with whole coriander seed, which I really like, although one tasting room customer was concerned the the little bolas were mouse turds. She wasn't much happier when I said it was coriander seed. I'll be watching for your pictures before you sign off!

((Sshh, the BATF might hear you.))

We prefer reds that are 3.6 to 3.8. The Villa Creek Avenger 2001 that recently scored 93 in the Wine Spectator has a pH of 4.06. While a wine is fermenting, it can be a point or two lower than it's finished pH, so it's not surprising to see the pH climb slightly after primary fermentation, and perhaps again during malolactic, but that doesn't always happen, so no, pH has nothing to do with the finished sweetness of a wine. When we harvest, we expect the pH to be 3.4 to 3.5. pH and acidity have more to do with the elements of fruit in a wine. A 3.4 to 3.5 wine would be like a squeeze of lemon, which is desirable in whites like Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio. A 3.5 to 3.6 wine would have a pleasant, crisp acidity, generally desirable in wines from tank-fermented Chardonnays through mid-weight reds. A 3.6 to 3.8 pH in reds indicates a rounder mouthfeel and probable malolactic conversion, which is customary in reds anyway, but a summertime crispness to the fruit--an acidity that will help the flavors survive years of cellaring. Wines with a pH higher than 3.8, the 3.9 to 4.3 range, have super-soft mouthfeels, and the subdued fruit flavors and gentle acidity blend seamlessly into oak and tannin flavors, but tannin does not preserve fruit flavors by itself--acidity actually balances out the tannic components, and both are needed for a wine to have balanced longevity. So, I guess the rule of thumb would be: red wines with a very high pH are beautiful wines to be drunk now. Well-crafted reds with a lower pH, 3.6 to 3.8, will not be as fulsome, but they will cellar longer, and appeal more to drinkers who like fruit in their reds. What do you like? (Edited because I type faster than I think.)

Hey, Pan. Most wines are between 3.2 and 3.8. White wines are generally a little lower than reds. 3.8 would be the "pHat" end of the spectrum.

Hey, this place can use a few good rants. We also need some more gross stuff. I'll keep your comments in mind when I start re-designing our website next week. :groan:

Sorry, I should have been more specific. By "buyers" I meant retailers. I think of the end-user as a "consumer." (Because, I guess, they consume!) Retailers and reviewers used to be more interested in this information, to the point they'd insist on getting it, and frankly, I'm glad they've loosened up about it because there are so many other factors that influence a wine's character. It's just interesting (to me, at least ) that retail buyers are either less interested in, or less educated about, what pH and TA mean, and this trend coincides with a rising popularity of wines with a hefty pH. Hmm. (We still print pH, T.A., and other data on our wine profiles, but a lot of local producers don't.)

This is cool. Some of these I've tried or heard of, but quite a few are new to me. I'm going to print this out and go shopping!

What a great combination! I can't wait to see it. (The extent of my baking skills would fit in my bread machine, and I've been known to dump the ingredients in without checking to make sure the pan was inserted first .) I'm learning a lot!

Great blog, Caryolyn! Are you guys lacking rain this year as much as we are?

No need to worry about winemakers changing their styles because Wine Angels suggests it . . . Wine Angels is not in a position to "teach" winemakers anything, and in fact they got the idea from us. We've been yellow-highlighting reviewer's remarks for decades. Winemakers and principals routinely scope out reviewers to see what their tastes are like, and where their wines would be a "best fit." It's just common-sense marketing. We're not the Wine Angels real market. And yes, I have noticed that the 'Tater goes through reporting fashions, tending to focus exclusively on certain regions of the world for a while, but they change it up every few years. As far as collecting goes, I think they've really tried in recent years to get back to featuring tiny and new producers in small features, which is all to the good for people seeking out the hot new wineries. The down side is that their submission protocols are geared entirely toward large producers. They want the wines before or (gasp, we can barely tolerate it) upon release. But tiny productions are often released fresh off the bottling line (post-shock, of course), and sell out immediately, even though they may not be tasting as well as they would after six to eight months of bottle age. And now there's a new phrase on the submission form: "We never guarantee the review of any unsolicited wine." Why not just . . . wine?

Yes, they do, and it's an issue that Dan and I struggled with earlier this year. After all, we're already planning how to style the 2004 vintage (no time to think during harvest), and we have three vintages in barrel. We finally decided to stick with our signature style. It has less oak and more vineyard presence that the current pHashion, but we've decided that at our level of production it's more important to be consistent and loyal to ourselves and our customer base than to chase higher scores in the lifestyle wine mags. (Parker gives us consistent compliments, and who can't be happy with that?) Besides, the Wine Spectator's submission sheet has been changed to read that unless they actively "solicit" your wines, you probably won't get reviewed. But back to the pHacts, I see quite a few informal wine reviews in this forum, and whenever I taste a wine I think, Nice Now, Nice Later? and pH vs. acidity is a big part of that.

Who's your favorite tiny artisan producer? Dover Dan and I were introduced to Old Wave by a local restaurateur who had three vintages on his list, and I think over a couple of months we drank his entire cache. The wines are made from old vine Sonoma grapes, and feature a surfing cork on the label. (Every once in a while you'll pull out a bottle that has a label colored in with colored pencils, done by his kids.)

Has anyone noticed a trend in California wines toward a much fatter pH style? A softer mouthfeel with tons of oak that make young wines fresh off the bottling line seem rich and succulent. My beef is that although this seems to be what many consumers (and writers) desire, the longevity of the wine is compromised because there's not enough "high fruit" and crisp acidity to carry the wine out for even 7-10 years. Wines with a high pH get flabby fast in the cellar. Do wine buyers still ask for pH information? Does anyone read it? Does anyone understand what it means? Does anyone care?

Seth, I'm laughing my head off already, and I'm not even through my first cup of coffee. I'm so glad you're it! and that we can share your last week of culinary freedom! How about a bouillabaisse to go with your crusty bread?

Our Sunday night pizza project . . . first Dan makes a saute of caramelized onions (duh duh duh) with some syrah port wine added at the end. It sautes down into a nice reddish-brown color. He purees an 8 oz. can of crushed tomatoes with some herbs and adds it to the base. He simmers it until it's thick and dark, about 15 minutes. Dough is prepared in the bread machine and spread over an iron pizza pan. Dan likes a "stuffed crust," so he pulls a flap of the pizza hem out and over, tucking plenty of cheese into the crimped hem. We add thick slices of salami, and a few asparagus tips from my farmers' market trek. Finished pizza . . . Is it done yet? See you over at Seth's blog!