Craig Camp

Thanks, I most certainly will!

Yes, it breaks Jim's. However if you wish to post purchase prices, please do.

This is a big question. First you have to find a good store with an excellent selection that goes beyond commercial producers like Antinori or Ruffino. Although they make some good wines, they are not likely to excite. You could get hundreds of excellent suggestions here and then not be able to find them. Find a reliable Italian wine merchant and put yourself in their hands.

Frankly I think they're great and extremely durable. I have Riedel glasses going on 20 years old. I have many and almost never break one and when I do it's my fault.

The meeting produced several measures including the restructuring of vineyards and re-examination of the Beaujolais classification, a review of new grape varieties, changes in production and distribution as well as a focus on increasing wine quality. Other measures include the possible creation of a Vin de Pays and premier cru status wines.

The Hussards (French mounted soldiers of the Napoleonic era) started this tradition. It seems they carried more sabers around than the average person and it is also reasonable to assume that Champagne corks were probably harder to get out in those days. Put the two together with the urgent need to celebrate a victory and you get the tradition of sabering champagne. Unless you happen to carry a saber to work every day there are other, albeit less colorful, methods recommended, unless macho chest beating seems appropriate at the moment.

tenuto/tenuta is a farm, an estate

I could not agree more. This wine offers incredible complexity for the price. There are some great wines from the Etna zone, also give the wines of Tenuto Sicilio a try.

Craig, you're probably right. My local wine store plays dirty then. I wonder if the sign was inadvertant. They have enough "wine experts" on staff to make me think they should know that RP was writing about a different wine. Maybe they sold out of the Forli and forgot to take the sign down.

I thought the 2000 Campaccio was an outstanding job for such a vintage. Take everything you liked about the the 2000 and turn it all up a couple of notches and you have the 2001.

First there seems to be some confusion here. Terragens makes (at least) 3 sangiovese wines under the Romio name: Romio Sangiovese di Romagna Romio Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva Romio Forli (100% sangiovese) At a quoted price of $30 the wine reviewed would have to be the Forli as they other two wines sell for much less. At $7.99 the wine you purchased had to be the regular Sangiovese di Romagna. It is a pleasant wine and is a good bottle for that much money, but it is not the wine the Wine Advocate rated 90 pts. Honestly I would rate it a best buy at the price and it's in line for a Sottodieci selection in my newsletter.

Careful here, both of your forum hosts are mid-Westerners

The operative question here may not be if it is right for American producers of fine American sparking wines to use the name champagne on their labels, but why in the world they would want to? American "champagne" has the worst of reputations. Is seems the best producers understand this and almost none use that pirated designation on their labels anymore. How about a quick survey. Who of the serious American sparking wine producers (champagne method only please) still use the word champagne on their labels? ...and we are not here to discuss French/American politics, but the right to use geographical designations of other countries on wines not from those zones. Further forays into that area will result in a locked thread or deleted posts.

The name of the French region where Epernay and Reims are located is Champagne. It is the name of a place, not an idea. By this logic you would have to change the name of Burgundy also. The word Champagne comes from the type of soil you see in this region and in the Cognac zone (which is why the word Champagne appears on Cognac labels). The name was in use before the wine as we know it today was created. Dom Perignon did not say, "I'm drinking stars. Let's call it Champagne." The wine was named for where they made it, not how they made it.

The Germans have a nice one word name Sekt. The Itallians Prosecco. New Yorker's have their own Language. We Californians and other American's, untill we find a one word name for it that we like better call it Champagne. To repeat once again though, I (and I feel many others) call it Champagne due to its style of wine. That the particular style comes from that region is just how it happens to be. If this is so odd, then why, oh why do people say something like "I had a nice French Champagne....." and don't tell me you haven't heard the terminology "French Champagne" used on many occasions. Prosecco is the name of a grape. You can buy still, sparkling and grappa called prosecco. Metodo classico or metodo tradizionale is the name of Champagne method sparkling wines in Italy. Also, sparkling wine labeled Franciacorta can only be made from the metodo classico so usually don't mention that on the label.

The differences between decanters is not as important as those between wine glasses. If you are decanting just to remove sediment anything is fine. If you are decanting to let the wine breath you want a design that maximizes the surface contact between the wine and air. In other words, a wide decanter. When it comes to actually functioning those cheap liter carafes work as well as many expensive crystal decanters. It is a questions of personal preference and your budget. If I was on a budget I would spend my money on the wine glasses and make do with a basic decanter.

The Jordon and Silver Oak A.V. wines may have some sediment so should be decanted. I would not give them much breathing time as these wines are quite soft to begin with. By the way I would recommend drinking these up as I do not see them as long agers. Rhone wines cover a broad range from the syrah wines of the north to the grenache based wines of the south. Both have the potential to throw sediment as they age and will benefit from breathing. The amount of time depends on the age and the quality of the vintage. I would see no reason to decant (or age) commercial grade Australian shiraz like Rosmount or Hardy's. These wines are ready to drink upon release and do not improve. In fact, as they are probably used micro-oxygenation they are kind of "pre-decanted". Small estate syrah/shiraz wines from California and Australia are only medium-term agers. The can throw a sediment as they age (especially bottles marked unfined and unfiltered). Breathing time once again depends on the quality and style of the wine. In general, when it comes to breathing: Traditionally styled wines need it more than internationally styled wines Tannic varietals (like cabernet sauvignon, nebbiolo) need it more than low tannin varietals (pinot noir, gamay)

The Campaccio is more open. Campaccio always seems ready to drink. The prices I quote are a high average of what I see the wines being sold for and you can most likely find them at lower prices. Sometimes much lower at discounters.

This is the regular. The 2001 Campaccio Riserva will be released next year.

Jacob's Creek Chardonnay, Merlot, Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet will be seen on the shelves in over 300 Wal-Mart Stores spanning 22 states. Wal-Mart is the largest corporation in the US and has over 4,800 stores worldwide.

The 2003 Dry Riesling, from the Rivendell Winery in the Hudson River Valley, near northern Manhattan, won the 19th annual New York Wine and Food Classic yesterday. The competition is seen as the definitive contest limited to New York state wines.

The energy crisis in Argentina will cause an increase in wine prices of up to 15% according to sources in the industrial sector.

Yes, In a past life I was an importer when I lived in the USA. This is a great wine made by great people. I doubt they are currently available in the USA as Colline Lucchesi wines are not exactly a hot item. You need to find crazy people like me to go out and do the missionary work to find people like you. Unfortunately there aren't many people like you so a lot of great wines just can't find their way through the anti-small producer and retailer three tier system.

VinoCibo.com Cellar Selection 2001 Perticaia Sagrantino di Montefalco, DOCG, Umbria (92) Dense, brilliant ruby with purple highlights. Firm, concentrated ripe and bitter cherry aromas with touches of iodine, butcher shop and sweet oak. Smooth and voluptuous with dense sweet dark wild raspberry flavors balanced by an intense bitter cherry that dominates the sweet fruit and oak. The clean bitterness continues to balance the sweet cassis finish. Under all this fruit you can still find some firm tannins that suggest a few years of bottle age to get rid of all this baby fat. This is one big wine, yet shows breeding. ($40) A Jens Schmidt Selection-Imported by Montecastelli Selections. VinoCibo.com Sottodieci - good wines for around $10 2003 La Carraia Sangiovese, IGT, Umbria (87) This fresh, crisp sangiovese is the work of super-star enologist Riccardo Cotarella and is a tremendous bargain for everyday drinking. It is a brilliant light ruby and both the aromas and flavors are packed with delicious ripe cherry fruit laced with a bitter tobacco touch. I wish more Italian restaurants would get rid of the thin commercial Chianti wines they pour and use wines like this with real sangiovese varietal flavor. A Leonardo LoCascio Selection-Imported by Winebow.

Click below for the Raccolta Report: "The designs are still modern and innovative, but they are not exaggerations designed mostly to shock. Fortunately there are modern-style winemakers with this sense of touch. Fortunately there is Terrabianca."