Craig Camp

Sometimes I'll eat McDonald's for dinner. I don't consider that "nice", do you? And certainly not appropriate (in my mind) to open a bottle for. Why in the world not? A nice slightly chilled Beaujolais or a fresh young rose improves the Quarter Pounder experience greatly. You are already punishing yourself by eating at McDonald's why double your punishment by denying yourself the pleasure of a glass (or 2) of wine? not in the drive through or at work. for most of us anyway. There is a difference to not having some wine because it is not allowed and not having it because you think your lowly meal is not worth it. By the way, if I remember right the French drink a lot of wine with ham sandwiches.

White Zinfandel is a wonderful thing. Americans who are not brought up on the taste of dry table wines, but Coca Cola and Kool-Aid need an introductory wine and White Zinfandel has filled the bill nicely. Many thousands of consumers who love fine wines made their first step with White Zin. My first steps were with Lancers's and Mateus Rose. These had the additional benefit of making fine candle holders for my dorm room. Another important benefit of White Zinfandel is that it kept many wonderful old vine Zinfandel vineyards from being ripped out. Today some of those fines make some of the finest red wines you could want to taste. DeLoach White Zinfandel is not half bad with some really HOT Thai food.

Sometimes I'll eat McDonald's for dinner. I don't consider that "nice", do you? And certainly not appropriate (in my mind) to open a bottle for. Why in the world not? A nice slightly chilled Beaujolais or a fresh young rose improves the Quarter Pounder experience greatly. You are already punishing yourself by eating at McDonald's why double your punishment by denying yourself the pleasure of a glass (or 2) of wine?

Biodynamic does not translate to organic. Click here for information on Biodynamics

Costco is the largest wine buyer in the US and has low mark-ups. This, of course, makes for some good prices. I have actually never shopped at one, but I have always wondered how their storage conditions are for wines like this.

The choices are somewhat limited in English. Here are some good reference works: A Mediterranean Feast: The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean from the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs by Clifford Wright The Art of Eating Well by Pellegrino Artusi, Kyle M., III Phillips (Translator) The Food of Italy by Waverly Root - old but interesting The Cambridge World History of Food For a look at how recipes looked in the early 1900's visit: Pellegrino Artusi, "La scienza in cucina e l'arte di mangiar bene Sorry this is only in Italian. Click here for Italian Food Museums

The vineyard is in Moulin-a-Vent, the winery is in Chenas. Is is common for Beaujolais producers to own vineyards in more than one Cru. They are still estate bottled.

Chiarlo makes good solid wine. Not great, but they represent the DOC's well making clean and honestly made wines. $32 for Barolo is a good price. I think 97's should be consumed young (5+ years old is young for Barolo) and you can be sure that Chiarlo made this wine in a forward style.

Watermelons are EXTREMELY common and popular in Sicily. In the summer Sicilians drive trucks as far north as we are (almost in Switzerland) and sell them on the roadside. They are delicious, but no I have never made that tart. Sounds worth trying!

I believe it relates to a 'flight of stairs' - each wine being one step. WARNING: this comes from a fuzzy memory from a tasting many decades ago. I do not bet the farm on the accuracy of this statement.

OK here you go...

tip of the tongue, eh? I will have to focus on that next time. I always sense a gritty chalkiness that brightens fruit, and there is some dull a** fruit sometimes out of these regions. Still not my favorite wines but the BYOB customers love em so... ...aahhh - that's right. You are right across from Tango Sur - the best steak BYOB in Chicago. You know with that garlic sauce they have you need a bit of ZIP in your red wine.

Perhaps you are not familiar with them, but Jolly Hotels are a famous and reliable group of hotels. See the link below: Jolly Hotels

This is absolutely true!!!!

Bastardi! Solo pescatore!!

I am sure they can do what ever they want - not many legal restrictions as you can imagine. One of my biggest problems with South American wines is that strange... tip of the tongue acidity that seems to come from getting your acid from bags instead of nature.

No nothing happens even with famous names. I think they went out a little too fast. I wrote them looking for more information and will let you know.

Overproduction disease - what do you think Carema?

Bravo Carema - Carmenere is also getting renewed attention in Italy where it was mis-identifed as cabernet franc in Veneto and Friuli. There are many interesting wines coming from this varietal in Italy - and South America.

Signor Dottore Vino, I suppose it depends which direction you are facing. I just don't taste these wines enough. When I am in Italy they are not generally available and when I am in the US I am concentrating on other wines. In my experience the wines from Argentina are clearly superior. Do you think this is a function of vineyards and climate or winemaking ability?

Today, a new crop of wineries is striving for a position among the current cabal of Napa Valley’s elite Cabernet producers. The challenge for these newcomers is to make great wine, and make great wine consistently. These new contenders will need to show they’ve got the staying power of their predecessors. I feel charging a $100.00 for a first release is a bit arrogant to say the least. Paying $100.00 a bottle for a first release is another thing altogether. With so many fine wines being produced in the wine today how do wineries convince people to pay so much money for an unproven wine?

I would never say not to do it. Just don't go into it with any illusions. It is damn hard work that people outside the industry often see as more glamorous than it is.

"The term Meritage is increasingly part of America's wine lexicon," said Rodeno, citing the increase in association members, the recent seminar on Meritage wines at VinItaly, and the steady stream of Meritage tastings around the country. Additionally, she added, "it's amazing how many streets, restaurants, and new housing developments are named Meritage!" With much hoopla the Meritage concept was launched in California. This category for wines made of various blends of the classic Bordeaux varietals was named by contest. The winning name, Meritage, was a blend of the two words merit and heritage. Thus the correct pronunciation is the short hard ending sound of the last syllable of heritage not the soft Frechified way everyone says it - meritaaaaagggg. As they note on their own website: Does this name really mean something 15 years after it was created? Does anyone look for the name Meritage on a bottle?

To say this is a difficult time to start as a new importer that would be an understatement. There is a glut of wine in the market right now. There are fewer distributors to represent wines and all the distributors have too much wine to sell anyway. The bad dollar exchange rate with the euro is making foreign wines more expensive and on and on.... That being said there are always new up and coming distributors and a few of them will be famous someday. Besides a great palate you need a LOT of start up cash and the willingness to travel constantly. Visit Joe Dressner.com to get some 'other' viewpoints.

That is true, Craig. I went back to delete my post, but found it had been quoted too many times. Let me apologize to all for the stridency. No! thank you! - it gave us Italian wine nuts to get on our PG pulpit for a few minutes!