Dr Vino

I guess the WS annual top 100 list is out--I just got three emails from wine retailers touting their availability of wines from the list. While I haven't seen the whole list, I was interested to see from one retailer that Beaux Freres 2003 Pinot Noir, partially owned by Robert Parker, was #17. The big question: will Bob use a WS score to promote the wine?!?!?

Lest anyone think we were taking this too seriously, how about one wine prize for each of the existing prize categories? Here's my list: Wine physics: the inventor of the spinning cone Wine chemistry: Leo McCloskey, Enologix. Medicine: well, you might think Dr Vino but alas I am a PhD, not a medical doctor...So it would have to be for wine and health generally and the winner is: the French for giving us the Mediterranean diet Wine literature: hmm, a wine writer...Kermit Lynch? Nah, writing is not his main activity. Frank Prial actually wrote professionally about wine for three decades. But I guess in the end it would have to go to Robert Parker. Wine peace: Jonathan Nossiter of Mondovino fame? Just kidding!! Hmm, how about Bob and Peter Mondavi for burying the hatchet? (a la Sharon - Arafat) Wine economics: Jess Jackson? Or all those "suits" driving corporate mergers? I would give it to the Bank of America for their 1972 report that spurred investment in California vineyards.

I just came across this news item about Beaujolais producers enthusiastically embracing the vin de pays. It's hard to imagine them having a whole lot of success marketing wines as "gamay" but maybe that is the low to which "beaujolais" has fallen thanks to nouveau... http://www.decanter.com/news/57289.html The point about high levels of defection in AOCs in Languedoc presents a puzzle. Because the Languedoc has been a hotbed of AOC activity over the past two or three decades, you would think that there would be greater support and thus compliance. But perhaps the shift toward quality has opened up several paths and AOC defectors see another way as better if indeed it is an area where producers are doing their own thing (although the above comments make it seem like the Loire is more of an area of defection!).

Thanks for scratching your heads, Jon, Brad and Carswell--those are good names. I also remembered Ch. de St. Cosme in the Rhone (Gigondas) has a vdt--Little James Basket Press. So it is interesting that as bad a rap as the AOCs get in the english-speaking world, there is so little defection from the producers (or perhaps political will to change either). I'll have to try to find a bottle of the je m'en fiche!

With all the Nobel prizes announced recently, it made me wonder...what if there were a Nobel prize for wine? Of course, Alfred Nobel may have been a teetotaler for all I know but still, a wine geek can but dream. Who would you nominate for such an honor? (Nobel grape they might call it)

Which French wine producers have "quit" the AOC system and make at least one table wine? I can only think of Aime Guibert at Domain de Daumas Gassac in Languedoc but there are undoubtedly others (I think Michel Rolland has declassified some of his wines and have vague notions about Northern Rhone producers too). Are there any other appellation geeks out there who can help me come up with anything more specific? Cheers, Tyler

Can a switch in time improve wine?

I'm just curious what are the best bookstores for foodies in NYC? I'm actually looking for a copy of the Art of Eating but it occurred to me that the more general question it might be better. Cheers.

..and this for a taster who specializes in wines under 5 pounds!

That's reassuring to hear about the grace period (a delay is as good as a victory)... Do you have any news on the lobbying thus far? Or tips for any consumers who would like their voice heard?

Indeed! Someone should alert Homeland Security!!

Next Friday (Dec 12) new regulations will go into effect that make foreign wine producers perform bureacratic filings with the FDA. Why? In the prevention of bioterrorism of course. Here are two links to stories on the issue, one from Agence France Presse and the other from Wine Spectator These new regs threaten to take our good, cheap wine imports away as smaller producers may not be able to handle the administrative load. With the dollar hitting new lows against the euro every day, this is the last thing we need!! What will we be stuck with--oaky California Chardonnays?!?

I am a wine enthusiast. And a fan of Indian food. If you can bear the thought of setting aside beer for an Indian meal, I'd be interested in hearing what are some favorite wine matchings with Indian food?

Thanks for your replies. I guess the dreaded three-tier system of the US makes it so that a bankruptcy on the winery side does not mean that the consumers benefit. Perhaps we have to wait for somebody closer to our end--such as a dsitributor or a retailer--to go out of business. But do distributors ever go out of business? Seems like they just get eaten up by another one. Anyway, we can console ourselves with good sales at many wine shops this month! Cheers.

DeLoach Vineyards of Sonoma filed chapter 11 earlier this year. Others have too (Liparita Cellars, Sonoma Creek Winery and Buchanan Cellars to name a few from the north coast). DeLoach wines are currently on sale for as much as 60% off at a nearby shop. Are bankrupt wineries your ticket to California values? Seen any other good discounts?

Susana Balbo (Crios) is definitely a good producer in the mid-range. The Torrontes is very nice, as is the Syrah-Bonarda in the reds. The Alamos line is also a good value from Argentina. The frustrating thing to me about Argentine wines is not the winemaking, which is excellent in the exported wines, but rather it is that the prices did not fall while the peso was crashing! Pegged at one to the dollar until late 2001, it fell to 4 to the dollar in 2002. Were these tremendous cost advantages passed on to the US consumer? No! This was a huge missed opportunity for the producers to gain recognition and market share. Now the peso has rallied against the dollar (indeed, which currency hasn't!) so the window that the currency dip provided is closing somewhat. Winot, did you stay in the Park Hyatt Mendoza when you were there? Cheers.

A web site for Argentine wines claims that they are from the "right" side of the Andes. Do you agree? What are your favorite wines from the region? Any good picks under $10? Cheers, Tyler

Wine under $10? I have a whole web site devoted to it! Check it out at Dr Vino (including Castell del Remei) Along with affordable wine picks, I also have light-hearted discussion of wine politics. The current story in this area is entitled "Coalition of the Swilling." Cheers, Tyler www.DrVino.net