Craig Camp

Question 1 - starting a cellar I started my cellar with the purchase of two bottles of Bordeaux in 1978. I proudly took them home from the store and placed them in my new rack in the basement. I checked on them once a day. From there it just started to grow as I tasted things I liked. To me this is the best way to build a cellar because you tastes change over time. Certainly you want to act when certain great vintages come around, but even here there is always another great vintage and the current hyped vintage of the moment may not be the best value or the best one for aging. Rule number one is always the same - team up with a good local wine merchant who can turn you on to deals when they hit the market. It does not take a genius to jump on bandwagons like 2000 Bordeaux, but there is a lot of great wine out there in the world and a little homework can build you a cellar of interesting wines that won't break you or require you to cough up the money 2 years in advance. So some specific recommendations for now: 1996 Barolo and Barbaresco - there are great deals on these outstanding wines popping up at retailers everywhere. 1995,6, 7, 8 and 9 Bordeaux - The market is backed up on these and there are some top wines from each vintage available at a fraction of the cost of the mega-hyped 2000's Rhones from 'other' appellation like Crozes-Hermitage, St. Joseph, Cornas, Lirac, Rasteau, Sablet and others. Top single vineyard Montepulciano wines from Marche and Abruzzo. Look for wines like Inama's Binomio, Valentina's Spelt or Saladini Pilastri's Monteprandone. Ribera del Duero wines from Spain including wines just outside the DO like Mauro. Napa and Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon - scour your merchants ads and shelves for deals. Top wines are dropping their prices left and right. Avoid over-hyped wines like Opus, Silver Oak and releases selling for big bucks with less than a 5 year track record of excellence. You can never go wrong with Chateau Montelena or Spottswoode. 1999 Monsanto Chianti Classico Reserva and Riserva Il Poggio - Classic sangiovese that will more than reward your patience. 1999 Riecine Chianti Classico Reserva - incredible value, quality and age-ability. For Burgundy just check out Claude Kolm's excellent recommendations on the Who is Drinking Burgundy thread. For whites avoid most. Just buy what you can drink in the short term. I will never again age a California chardonnay. Top choices for aging: -Loire chenin blanc - check out the Louis/Dressner website for some great choices. -White Burgundy - see Claude's posts again. -Rheingau riesling -Austrian gruner veltliner Vintage Ports from interesting new producers like Cristiano Van Zeller (Van Zaeller label)

We can change it to whatever works. I suggested 'TN:' only because it seems to be the standard on wine discussion boards. if we need 3 why not WTN:?

No - just fat obvious ones with no acid and too much residual sugar. And so the Robert Mondavi Reserve wine is "fat", "obvious" "low in acidity" and has "residual sugar" ??? Is that a rhetorical question? I do not see the point is trying to establish the personality of the Mondavi winery based the the tiny output of their reserve wines as compared to the sea of neutral wines they produce under their many labels. This is like defining Chevrolet by the Corvette. Mondavi is what they are - a producer of good solid wines in large quantities. By the way the Mondavi Reserve wines are famously bad value. It is easy to find other California wines of equal quality for much less. If the wines are so great why did Tim Mondavi get canned? Why is their business going down the tubes? The reason is Mondavi offers wines that are a bad value that do not compete well in today's marketplace.

No - just fat obvious ones with no acid and too much residual sugar.

These types of tasting are pointless and tiresome. The results are always the same. Mondavi is made to taste good young and they don't worry about the future. Lafon makes wine that does not even show its best stuff for ten years. Even then I would rather drink a young Lafon any day over any wine Mondavi EVER made. Every giant winery like Mondavi can find some special barrels out of the thousands in their cellars to show well in tastings. Some people make wines for tastings other people make wines that matter. Mondavi needs the press from those few special barrels they can come up with to sell the rest of the stuff they make.

Remember that you could have halb-trocken and trocken kabinett, spatlese and auslese. These terms refer to the sugar in the grape at harvest along with the other harvesting requirements. German labels are perhaps the most clear when it come to sweetness. Once you learn the basic names and the meaning of trocken.

Right on Claude. Mondavi never made a wine that matched those. Mondavi did not invent great California wine - he invented great California wine marketing. Something I think he deserves respect for by the way.

Read your history, you owe him more than you probably think. What Mondavi did it the past cannot be denied and should be respected. However, this does not obligate us to drink or sell the bland, boring wines they make today. Laurels are not to be rested upon.

With public interest mounting, the Rutherford Hill Winery broke a lengthy silence and revealed that an unusually high number of dead bats, including at least one rabid bat, have turned up on its property in the past three weeks.

A 10-minute storm on Tuesday night has destroyed 5000 hectares of Bordeaux vineyards.

Are you referring to gelato it Italy? I have NEVER had anything like real gelato in the USA. The fruit flavor they pack into gelato in Italy is amazing. It is also the ultimate in creamy.

Tina is writing a article for a trade magazine and this is your opportunity to get your thoughts out there on the state of wine advertising today. Speak up!

1970 Chateau de Fieuzal, Graves Grand Cru, Bordeaux, France Whoever thought they should change this way of making wine was insane. The color is a brilliant ruby with a touch of orange. There is a lot more ruby than orange. Nowhere else does Cabernet Sauvignon achieve such elegance. The nose is full of spices and bright cherries without a hint of oxidation. Absolute silk on the palate with delicate fruit essences that grow and linger. Extraordinary in all aspects. I miss this type of Bordeaux.

Technically over-extracted and high alcohol are different things. However, obviously they tend to go together.

Was the 90 Jamet showing any Brett as was the 99 Jamet you tasting in your other note?

Beet green risotto??? What's that? Isn't beet risotto red? I love the Pieropan La Rocca. Was it just too rich for the dish?

Jim - you say the Jamet was full of Brett but was 'better made' than the Australian. Can you elaborate a bit on that. Thanks, Craig

CHICAGO, June 24 — It seems like the lousy weather this spring — especially on the East Coast — has taken another victim. Beer sales are going flat. It’s not just the lack of picnics and barbecues hurting beer sales. It’s the fact that people go out less in cold wet weather, and they buy less beer. But in this environment all is not lost — a few brewers are still finding ways to grow.

Chipping away at restrictions on shipping wine directly to consumers, delivery giant United Parcel Service has launched a pilot program that will make it easier to ship local vintages across the United States.

As a great lover of the wines produced by the Barbera grape. I would never dream to match it with the food at Arun's. Too much acid. I think with the food there (which I like very much) you have to go for wines with maximum fruit, minimum tannin and a bit of residual sugar does not hurt either. My top picks would be: German riesling - kabinett or spatlese Alsatian whites Beaujolais (perhaps the best red match) light pinot noir This is not a Trotter's or Trio like experience, but it is damn interesting food and certainly among my top 10 mid-west restaurants.

Canada and the European Union said Tuesday they have capped a deal to end the generic use of European wine names — including Chablis, Bordeaux and Champagne — in this country.

Yes Brown Derby is in Springfield. You can find it HERE Check in with them - the wine folks will know where to eat and shop. It also should be a good place to link up with other foodies as they have a lot of tasting events.

Sounds like a great opportunity to work on your cooking skills and save money by dining in. There should be a lot of nice farm stands in the summer. You are not that far from KC and St. Louis. I've also heard there are good wine shops in Columbia and isn't Brown Derby in Springfield?

I have not visited his estate, but the Nahe estates I have visited would not seem to have much in common with Washington St. vineyards. They must have more in common than meets the eye. I am not certain about the soil types.

The bag method works just as well as the paper towels. I like the paper towels bucause you can use them to help peel the skin off the peppers.