Craig Camp

http://www.winecountrywashington.org/

Tucked into the volatile southern Caucasus, it's where viticulture supposedly was born. It's where Georgians still stomp grapes with their bare feet after thousands of years, and every other home proudly ferments its own juice.

While we were all popping the cork on New Year's Eve, a dubious milestone was quietly passing: The United States and Europe wrapped up their 20th year of failed trade talks on wine. Bilateral negotiations began in 1983, under the Reagan administration.

I think the fact that the two wines recommended above (both excellent) don't taste a bit alike shows what a broad range of styles that tempranillo is used to produce in Spain. As in most great European wines there are both modern (Pesquera) and traditional (Muga) producers. Also as tempranillo is produced in so many Spanish regions the varied micro-climates also create diverse styles.

Tunina continues to be one of my favorite Italian white wines. It has tremendous aging potential and I have had bottles ten and more years old that were exceptional. Jermann helped change white wine making in Italy.

The Lustau is fantastic. Incredibly complex. However, when they say dry they mean DRY. This is not a dessert wine, but a lovely "meditation" type wine with some nuts and a good book or movie.

so i can expect bracing acidity and bright grapefruit and honey flavors? You can expect to pay two bucks. (or more outside CA.)

for real? that's my biggest complaint with cheap wines. maybe i'll try to get my hands on this stuff to give it a shot. Tommy - we're not talking about cheap wines we're talking about 2 Buck Chuck. Not a chance of even a chip in this stuff.

...or they just made lousy wine. Natural selection applies applies to fine wine production too. Not EVERY varietal needs to be saved for production purposes. For historic and scientific reasons certainly, but not always for wine. I don't believe they are doing this for quality reasons, but only in a desperate attempt to get some public relations.

I don't think "over-oaked" or even "over chipped" is a complaint you will ever hear against 2 Buck.

I don't know, but you can bet it will be more than it should. There was a reason winemakers stopped using this grapes.

Champagne Moutard is about to release the first blend of all six permitted Champagne grape varieties for over 100 years.

It's the last day of the grape harvest in California's golden wine country, and Tom Larson is at the wheel of a belching forklift. He's hoisting crates of pinot noir grapes onto a conveyor belt, where they'll roll through a stemmer and crusher, soak in cold water for four days and then ferment in a tank. Watching him work is bittersweet, though, because Larson has been through the crusher himself over the past year. Like a half dozen other California wineries and vineyards in 2003, Sonoma Creek Winery, the 19-year-old family operation he started with his dad, sought bankruptcy protection amid the worst industry slump in decades. Sporting dirty leather cowboy boots, a company jacket and a quick but slightly desperate laugh, Larson laments the carbonated atmosphere of the '90s that lured many wineries into unsustainable growth rates. "It was blind ambition," he says. "Now it's about survival."

The spin doctors in Washington would be proud Robert Mondavi Corp. announced today that Michael Mondavi has stepped down as company chairman, freeing him to refocus energy on wine sales, rather than the details of corporate management.

Europe is full of "2 Buck Chucks" that perhaps the majority of wine drinkers never go beyond. They just drink it and don't think about it instead of going through all these back flips to somehow justify it. You can find a lot of people that will prefer the simple fruity flavors of 2 Buck Chuck and it cousins to a fifty dollar bottle of wine that is either too complex for their palates, too assertive in distinctive flavors or not intended to be drunk for many years. Two Buck and wines like it are wines made to wash down a meal without getting much attention. Why this obsession (can't 60 Minutes find a more meaningful issue) with everyday plonk that is just like the everyday plonk sold in grocery stores all over Europe? My neighbor buys bulk Barbera by the demijohn for under a Euro a liter. It's a quite drinkable, zesty fruity wine, but best not thought deeply about - it never sees Riedel or any type of stemware. You can buy even better wines in bulk from the south. Although I have to admit I haven't seen them being compared by culinary students on TV yet. The fact that wines like this have to be put in 750 ml. bottles and sniffed, swirled, debated, and compared only shows how much wine is not a part of American culture and how disastrous our wine distribution system is for consumers.

Why in the world would they use culinary students to judge wine - Bud perhaps, but not wine. Other discussions on this topic below: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry206796 http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...=0entry409009

This is great. It's like arguing baseball statistics with your buddies in a bar. Where else can you do this but eGullet!

You're right. Pitiful isn't it? However this does not make the Italians any happier.

That Michelin coverage of Italy sucks.

It's humor. Exaggeration to make a point.

Even with the exchange rate it is still cheaper to eat well in Italy than it is in the USA. That is unless you only think eating well is Sassicaia at Gambero Rosso. With a little detective work it is easy to find excellent trattorie/osterie serving antipasti, primo, secondo and dolce for under Euro 40 a person - even under Euro 30.

Because they won't be able to eat there while they are in jail. Parmalat is not being covered well in the USA?

click here for 2002 Torre Quarto, Primitivo, Tarabuso

Where? I think bag in box wines are often similar to coloured water. Does anyone know a good European bag in box wine? ...uuhhh, let me think -- wait No.

Once again the comments are headed towards the personal. Please don't go down that road. The topic is too interesting to screw it up.