Craig Camp

Confused by whom? And in what way? It was mislabeled and propagated under the name of cabernet franc by nurseries throughout the 1900's in Italy - much the same as pinot bianco and chardonnay. It is only in recent times the differences have made any difference to producers.

Carmenere is often confused with Cabernet Franc in northeasten Italy. There is a great example of Carmenere bottled under its own name by Inama in Veneto.

Click below for Raccolta: A weekly Italian wine harvested by Craig Camp Villa Calcinaia, Conte Capponi, Chianti Classico Riserva, 2000

BD, I like your thinking I must say. Though I would ask one thing: isn't the point of tasting the wine to check it's condition, not whether 'you liked it'? Scott,. That is exactly right. People are funny about this, though. I remember once, years ago, I opened a bottle of Dom Perignon for some boob with the proper "pet de nonne" and he refused the bottle only because there had not been a loud pop. How in the world do you maintain your cool?

I love the title of this thread - "that chi-chi beverage" because Sherry is in fact probably the greatest fine wine bargain in the world today. It is easy to find profound wines for under $20 and for just over $30 you enter the realm of the sublime. Great Fino/Manzanilla sherry can be found for around $10 making it the best value apertif on the planet. Chi-chi for ten bucks - what a deal!

I'd like to meet your purveyors. Most food distributors don't sell Kobe beef and most wine distributors don't pay the bills selling DRC Le Montrachet. Nice window dressing, but not serious dollars for anything other than small specialty companies. The question is not out of stocks or incorrect vintages, but the actual taking control of wine list production by suppliers.

It is common practice for wholesalers and importers to print wine lists for restaurants free of charge. Of course, there is always a quid-pro-quo of some sort - as they say nothing is free. While I do not think this is an issue for the local corner joint with 5 or 6 wines - it is a real issue for larger establishments. Is this fair to consumers? How would you feel about a restaurant where the local meat and fish purveyors set the menu for the day based on what items they had to move? In these days of easy desk-top publishing is there any reason for a restaurant not to print their own wine list?

On another thread the situation concerning out of stocks on restaurant wine lists has come up. In these days of computer printed wine lists is there an excuse for extensive out of stock selections? Is there a bait-and-switch issue by restaurants just trying to "look" like they have a more extensive wine list than they actually have?

Now that's what I call a tasting note!

Darn' Right Capitalistic (Domaine de la Romanee Conti)

According to the figures for the four weeks to November 22, it has now grabbed a 33.2 per cent share of the Australian category, almost double the share of Lindemans and nearly three times Rosemount's, two of Southcorp's flagship brands.

Mike Bonaccorsi, a rising star among California winemakers, was found dead in his apartment in Buellton, Calif., on Jan. 15. I met and tasted with Mike many years ago during his Spago days. He was truly nice fellow with a great palate and big dreams. Our sympathy to his wife and family.

I am not sure why you think Pinot Grigio or American wines like Pinot Gris made from the US grapes are lousy. Perhaps some of them are - but a lot aren't. And they don't - like most of the over oaky Chardonnays that are on restaurant menus these days - overpower the food you're eating. I - unlike a lot "wine people" - have a funny philosophy about stuff you drink with food (whether it's alcoholic or non). It should complement it - not dominate it. I don't know much about zinfandels - but I wound up drinking a riesling which I wouldn't have ordered on my own (it was recommended by staff) at Alain Ducasse - and it was fabulous (at $130/bottle - it should have been fabulous). I will reserve the more dominating wines to be drunk alone - or perhaps with a bit of fruit and cheese. And some really extraordinary wines - like some really big whites - should only be had on special occasions like when you're eating the best appetizer in the world in a 3 star restaurant in Paris. In more pedestrian circumstances - please tell me what's wrong with a King Estates Pinot Gris? Robyn Robyn, I'm sorry but you seemed to have missed the thrust of this thread. No one is arguing that there are no good wines made from these grapes, but rather why restaurants choose to remove them from the list because there is too much demand for bland commercial examples like Santa Margharita Pinot Grigio. Demands for wines like Santa Margherita make it hard to sell excellent examples of other Pinot Grigio wines. I glad you enjoyed the riesling at Ducasse, but the unappreciated riesling is the opposite of the over-commercialized wines we are discussing here. However congratulations for squeezing a mention of Ducasse into a Pinot Grigio/Whit Zin discussion. What brands does he pour?

...and Australia and potentially NZ, South American and South Africa and probably Georgia too. It is also grown in Slovenia and Ticino.

A grape with many names- Italy: Pinot Grigio France: Tokay d'Alsace (being replaced with pinot gris) Loire: Malvoisie or Pinot Beurot Germany/Austria Rulander Grauer Burgunder New world: Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio

Is this "outsourcing" or "abdicating"?

If you would like to hammer out the worldwide nomenclature of pinot grigio/gris lets start another thread as it is taking this one off topic. I think it is interesting enough for its own thread.

The name is used interchangeably outside of Italy and France.

Agreed and there are been a dramatic improvement in some small estate Italians.

I often hear restaurant wine buyers exclaiming that they won't sell this or that (see the off-topic chat HERE) wine because they feel customers will simply buy these wines and ignore other good wines. For instance, should the restaurant make the choice not to carry a pinot grigio because unthinking consumers will just order it OR should they be taking the time to find a great pinot grigio so their customers can learn the difference? Should a restaurant be a white zin and pinot grigio free zone or should they just find better examples of these wines?

We have a load of threads on Pinot Grigio let's try to keep this one on the actually topic of sexism in wine service. The short answer to both of you is that there are excellent, good, bad and indifferent Pinot Grigio wines. The excellent ones deserve respect just like other excellent white wines.

John Hegarty is a name that is whispered with awe by those in the European advertising business. Described by his peers as "an iconic megacreative," this chairman of the London-based ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty now has a global business. Once he had set up a branch in New York, he managed to win not just the account of San Francisco's Levi Strauss & Co. in 2002, but also an agency of the year award -- as have each of his five agencies worldwide, simply because they have scaled unusual heights of creativity.

So I surprised myself last week when I tasted a wine that is priced at $1,170 per bottle and I thought it was actually too low in price. And so did a number of my wine-writing colleagues, one of whom actually suggested that it would be better if the wine had a price of about $1,500 per bottle.

"Women are not getting the menus. They're ordering the wine and then the taste comes back to the fella," said Cecile Giannangeli, president of online wine source FineWine.com and owner of two wine stores in the Washington, D.C., area.

Joy Sterling, a principal at Iron Horse Vineyards, in Sebastopol, said the "frenzied demand" from distributors recalled the extraordinary sales of sparkling wine in fall 1999, leading up to the millennium celebrations. After a drop in 2001 and 2002, Iron Horse's sales are moving back to levels near those of 2000, Ms. Sterling said, noting that they were 25 percent higher last November than in November 2002. New York Time article - free registration required.