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Craig Camp

eGullet Society staff emeritus
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Everything posted by Craig Camp

  1. I just opened my last bottle from this producer and it was tired.
  2. 'Impact of storage position on oxygen ingress through different closures into wine bottles,' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 54(18), 6741-6746, 2006. ← IMO reduction issues under screwcap are a function of winemaking errors not closure issues. If enough oxygen is in solution the wine will not go into a reductive state. There are certainly plenty of examples around of severely reduced wines in cork finished bottles. I don't believe the amount of oxygen they are referring to in this and other studies can make the difference when it comes to reductive issues.
  3. Craig Camp

    TN: Aside

    I think that not only will the wine age under screwcap, but remain fresher longer. I would not hesitate to age them.
  4. Bordeaux is a prime example of why AOC often has little to do with terroir. It is an economic not terroir driven system. For example, Chateau Latour is not a fixed place as it could be anywhere within Pauillac. In fact it doesn't even have to be composed of contiguous vineyards, but could be a blend of vineyards from anywhere in the Pauillac AOC. It is the opposite of the terroir driven system of Burgundy where La Tache is a place and the grapes have to come from there. You can't expand the size of La Tache, but Chateau Latour can expand as much as it chooses.
  5. What does an AVA, AOC or DOC have to do with terroir? In a individual AVA there may be hundreds, or even thousands of terroirs. Within a AVA there are many soil and exposures that make unique terroir, but the AVA itself is exceedingly general. For a French example, what does the AOC Bordeaux mean as far as terroir. Obviously nothing because it covers too large an area. There are a few controlled place names that qualify as terroir like Burgundy Grand Cru, Chateau Grillet, but they are the exception. In general AVA, AOC or DOC designations refer to regional agricultural areas and are put in place to aid producers in using broad regional similarities to create a useful marketing program. What all of these wine laws have in common is that they are created for the use of producers and not as a consumer protection system. All vineyards have terroir, be that terroir good, bad or ugly.
  6. Plato thought there were only four elements in the world, fire, water, air, and earth. As good as he was in his day, science has moved a bit beyond him. This certainly does not mean that he should not be studied or revered. You ask who? How about 30 years of research by scientists in Geisenheim, Bordeaux, Davis, Fresno and other great wine research institutions. There is also the fact that, because of this research, no one that is making great wine is making wine or growing wine they way they did 30 years ago because of that research. The advances in viticulture alone have revolutionized the world of wine. Moot this argument is, because anyone who tasted wines made thirty years ago, when they were young, and who has tasted today's wines knows there are huge differences.
  7. There may be a reason this book is out of print. That reason may be 30+ years of new research. Wine science has come a very, very long way in the last 30 years.
  8. Craig Camp

    Sam's Wine-Sold

    I was purchasing Bordeaux futures for the 1970 vintage in 1971 while living in Palatine, Illinois from a now defunct retailer in Palatine so I don't agree with your statement "Leo also led the retail charge on the 1982 Bordeaux futures campaign, before Americans ever thought of futures." I alternated between that store, Zimmerman's, Gold Standard and Sam's. Between all those stores I acquired some mighty fine wines over the years. -Dick ← Obviously futures were sold before the 82 vintage, but it was the 82 vintage (also fueled by a new writer by the name of Robert Parker) that turned the Bordeaux futures market into a big deal in the USA. Leo was a leader in that movement. This is a fact that was well recognized in the trade. I also bought plenty of 70 and 71 Bordeaux, but not on futures. What was the point? The wines were cheap and any Chateau you wanted was easy to find and that included Petrus and the 1st Growths of the Medoc. You could still buy those vintages at reasonable prices in the late 70's. The Bordeaux market today little resembles the market of the 70's and 82 was the turning point that not only led to a change in the market, but in the way the wines were made.
  9. Wines bottled using gravity flow experience bottling shock too. I think it takes pinot noir a few months to fully recover. I can't tell from your post, but are you inferring that someone thinks bottle shock does not exist?
  10. Craig Camp

    Sam's Wine-Sold

    While owner Fred Rosen possessed the energy and work ethic that built Sam's to what it is today, it should not be forgotten that it was the late Leo Silverman, followed by his son Howard, that built Sam's into a fine wine institution. In the early 80's Leo introduced many wine names that no one knew at that time that have become industry standards. Besides being one of the first to champion Spanish wines, Leo also led the retail charge on the 1982 Bordeaux futures campaign, before Americans ever thought of futures. Leo was a true fine wine pioneer and without his efforts I doubt Sam's would have become the wine powerhouse it is today. I remember the original Sam's that sold half pints to derelicts upstairs while the seedy and dangerous basement contained vinous treasures unheard of in those days. Today's Sam's has little in common with the adventurous and pioneering spirit of that dumpy old store, but the juggernaut that it became would not have happened without the vision and passion for fine wine of Leo and Howard Silverman.
  11. I don't know Mary; I always thought that alcohol was perceived as sweetness when tasting a wine (as well as its textural attributes). I don't think leaving RS behind would "balance out" the alcohol but rather amplify it (both texturally and in sweet taste). Best, Jim ← True to a point. But at high enough levels that sweetness is overwhelmed by heat in the finish. Higher levels of RS offset some of that heat. ← Craig, How high would it have to be before the RS is helpful? Or is that a variety by variety thing? Best, Jim ← I see it as not only variety, but vintage by vintage. Balancing of all these facets is specific to the individual wine. I think you would be hard pressed to find a wine over 14.5% that seems in balance where there is not RS there to counter the alcohol. For some wines it's lower than that, for some higher. You just have to taste to taste each wine to decide.
  12. I don't know Mary; I always thought that alcohol was perceived as sweetness when tasting a wine (as well as its textural attributes). I don't think leaving RS behind would "balance out" the alcohol but rather amplify it (both texturally and in sweet taste). Best, Jim ← True to a point. But at high enough levels that sweetness is overwhelmed by heat in the finish. Higher levels of RS offset some of that heat.
  13. Craig Camp

    Winery Tasting Rooms

    So far I've only used dripless pourers, however if the bottom drops out of the pinot market we may have to consider a change. There is actual talk of a wine train from Portland to McMinnville, where I guess they would be met by an army of limos.
  14. Craig Camp

    Winery Tasting Rooms

    if you don't think people are visiting tasting rooms to get drunk, just give a call to Duckhorn and ask them why they went to "by appointment only". ← Our biggest problem is not those that get drunk here, as we watch that closely, but those that arrive already drunk after visiting a bunch of other wineries.
  15. Craig Camp

    Winery Tasting Rooms

    I'd say most construction projects cost more than most bottles of wine. ← So then we are willing to take up someone's time to work up a detailed construction estimate (wine production) and then expect it to be added to the cost of the construction (wine)? Aren't most marketing costs built into a product (construction/wine)? ← I bet most sharp ones do build it in.
  16. Craig Camp

    Winery Tasting Rooms

    A small winery could literally give away a huge percentage of their production through samples used in their tasting room. The number of bottles used is staggering. A small tasting fee simply covers the costs of sampling people who don't buy or are just there to get a cheap drink. We charge $5 for five wines, but refund it on purchase. As we are not far from the highway and have a great view, we constantly have unannounced limos show up with groups out for birthdays or bachelorette parties (no bachelor parties yet, but that's probably another thread) and, as Rebel Rose noted, these are the worst customers. We also have a good number of our Riedels disappear into limos every year. The vast majority of visitors are polite and interested, but a small percentage just out for the party do change the experience for all.
  17. Craig Camp

    Winery Tasting Rooms

    I'd say most construction projects cost more than most bottles of wine.
  18. Craig Camp

    Castello Banfi

    What fun would that be?
  19. Craig Camp

    Castello Banfi

    Banfi is a great place for American's to visit as it was conceived by Americans, not Italians. Going there is more like going to Mondavi in Napa than going to an Italian winery. It is very, very slick, well run and a little Disney-like. Therefore Americans feel at home there. Most Italian wineries are not set up to receive tourists in such a way as they are more real working farms than tourist trap. The wines are technically perfect modern-style Tuscan wines, which means I never drink them except for professional reasons.
  20. Linda, a Wine Camp Blog reader, recently sent me this email about “corky” wines and Costco: “Hi Craig. I read your interesting article about corky wine on the web and I hope you will give me some advice. I recently purchased a bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio at Costco which turned out to be corky. When I returned it to Costco here in Georgia (I had my receipt), the manager said that he would let me do a “one-time courtesy return” and made a notation on my account. Here in Georgia we can return a bad bottle but only in exchange for the same brand, and that rule is fine by me. He said that they store the wines properly and that there was cork in the bottle and that was why it was corky, implying that I had not opened the bottle properly. I have had over 30 years as a flight attendant working in first class and am quite accustomed to opening a bottle of wine as well as recognizing a musty, corky odor. I am quit aggravated with his “one-time courtesy return” and would ask your advice on how to return a bottle should this happen again. ” What should Linda do?
  21. And like sheep you are to follow the very few....and chase the price up of grape juice...yep the best wine starts as grape juice... and the cost is the same. So if you follow the winepress you are now at the mercy of that critic. Now have you or the market gained any freedom ? No, you only no have one voice or so and they are the new standard. How myopic a system that all wine can't be treated and judged and information given to the masses. Now we are down to a system that is totally broke and the sheep can't be any happier. Yet science has proven each of us has a different taste 96% of us, so how is this being expressed if we only follow a few voices. So I say to you go out and taste some wine that is not rated and go find something good , but for much less than a rated wine that may be over rated at that. Remember you are your own wine critic, so don't be a sheep and enjoy the wine world. ← Rant away as much as you want, but this is the reality of the market - especially a commodity market like Bordeaux. Bordeaux prices are now driven far more by Robert Parker than the 1855 Classification. Bordeaux in 2007 has little to do with Bordeaux in 1855 except location. Even the climate is different.
  22. The Classification of 1855 is not broken, it's just ignored and irrelevant. Most consumers have never heard of it. The only classification that counts is that of Robert Parker. The idea of such a classification is from another time and the conditions that led to its creation no longer exist and any thought of redoing it is just a waste of time. Now it is only a bit of Bordeaux history suitable only as a museum piece. It is the wine press that now sets the value and status of a wine.
  23. I vote for 2, the Champagne glass. No contest.
  24. We ,and many of our neighbors, have vineyards that are too steep for machines. At this time, no machine harvesting system exists that is gentle enough to harvest pinot noir grapes in a condition to make exceptional wine.
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