this heaven gives me migraine

Hell has frozen over in Pennsylvania

Pardon my French, but holy shit!

The new guard

SFGate is now on the Holus-Bolus tip, a bit about all the winemakers involved with that effort and what they do besides Holus-Bolus, in a larger article about Santa Barbara county winemakers. I noticed K&L now has some Piedrasassi, which I might try, although it is pricey for someone about to make big life changes like move away. Articles like this make me a little sad at the thought of leaving CA.

Fred Franzia, empire builder

I don't know why I didn't think of it in online form, but in paper form I have been reading (in several installments as I cook or wait for laundry or something) this interesting article on Fred Franzia that was in SF Weekly last week. I have to say, no matter what you think about the man, he is very shrewd. It's interesting that he will threaten to sue someone for, say, using a name that is similar to a nickname for one of his own wines, and then turn around and needle the Napa Valley Vinters Association by trying to trademark their initials (essentially, he does the same things for which he threatens people with lawsuits).

There is also an interesting brief bit about the Charles Shaw phenomenon and who Charles Shaw really is. And it has reminded me I need to pick up some Napa Creek wine to investigate it and maybe pit it against some other Napa wines.

Cookie cutter wine

Last week, the New York Times had an interesting article about Enologix, a consulting company you can hire who will get you a 90-plus point wine (registration required, use Bugmenot if you need to). Well, a 90-point wine in the Parker style. Once I finally got a chance to read it, I thought it was pretty interesting, since I am reading David Darlington's book Zin, and McCloskey just popped up in that book, albeit back in the late 1980's. McCloskey was touting the same wine science back then, and pitted (in the book) against Ravenswood's Joel Peterson, who has a completely different idea of wine (less scientific, more traditional).

I admit to being on the "let the grapes do what they will" side of the winemaking fence, and think less (meddling) is more, and it makes me sad that there is an entire company out there devoted to making a "Style 4" wine. I guess it doesn't really make me sad, but I don't get it. But then I don't get fans of fabricated bands, either. I find that the type of wine I like and drink varies depending on the situation and my mood, and if I were relegated to a world of high alcohol, overextracted, fruity wines, I would be very unhappy. It isn't that I never drink these wines or sometimes don't enjoy them, but focusing only on those types of wine to make a buck is probably pretty boring for the winemaker (it's like telling a painter "you will paint this painting, over and over, exactly"). Luckily, there are a lot of people out there who are not forcing their grapes into a particular mold, and I applaud them.

I guess I think of winemaking as more of an art than a science, and while I don't argue that a lot of science is involved, I wouldn't want to remove all art from it, either.

Watch out, Two Buck Chuck...

...your forefathers are not gone, or forgotten.

It requires registration (you can use Bugmenot) but the Sacramento Bee has a good article today about forgotten wines of yesteryear that are still hanging around. Thanks to Beth for tipping me off, since I am not always up on my Sac Bee reading.

I actually spent a good bit of time Googling Boone's Farm a while back, wondering what happened to it, since I drank my share in college (ugh, I know). I couldn't find much info, but then the other day when I was in our corner liquor store picking up Diet Coke, I saw some, and it looks like Boone's is now in the mixer business (there was only one bottle of wine there, but a whole array of frighteningly-colored mixers).

War of the worlds, Napa-style

Fred Franzia is back (I know, again,) and has a bottle of Four Buck Chuck from Napa in tow. He recently released this four-dollar bottle under his Napa Creek label, and claims it can hold its own with other Napa wines in a blind tasting. I have to say, this really makes me want to do a blind tasting with the stuff. I get the idea that he is mostly doing this to prove his point or thumb his nose at the Napa vintners, but it will be interesting to see how this wine fares, and I wonder how it tastes in comparison with Two Buck Chuck (which, admittedly, is inconsistent, since the grapes are sourced from various places). I also wonder how it tastes compared to the fuel that the French are making with their excess wine.

I mean, don't get me wrong... I think Napa is oven overhyped and ridiculous and too much like Las Vegas in a lot of ways (I am going up there tomorrow and trying to find interesting and not ridiculous and horrible-in-that-fake-riches-way places to go taste, and it's not easy), but I think Franzia is just as silly with his fake "I am doing this for The People" schtick.

Pink out!

Put down your rosé predjudice and pick up a glass! RAP, the Rosé Avengers and Producers, will be holding a their first-ever tasting at Butterfly restaurant here in SF on July 18. This is an excellent chance to jump on the pink wine bandwagon, if you haven't already. I am very interested since I have been enjoying a lot of rosé lately and recently missed what sounded like a great tasting at K&L, and this should make up for that. I have had a couple of offerings (some this year, some last year or before that) from wineries on the list, and am looking forward to some comparison tasting.

(I am also working on getting Golden Glass written up, even belatedly, and hope that I will finish it this weekend. Transcription is tiring and studying is killing my brain.)

Wine Misadventure

The latest onslaught of insipid and insulting wine assistance for women is headed our way in the form of a magazine called "Wine Adventure", which promises to talk about wine in an unintimidating way that we ladies can understand. I am sure now I will find out what lipstick goes best with Merlot and if I can drink Chardonnay after Labor Day.

Actually, a glance at the website shows me that this magazine will tell me important things such as "how you store your wine really matters" and I will be informed of some "Vin-ovations" (I am mentally taking away points for the serious-seeming use of that terrible pun) wherein I can buy and carry a wine tote with "pizzazz".

You know, I was thinking I should include a standard disclaimer that I could be eating my words when I check this out next month and it isn't that bad (believe me, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy), but then I saw the word "pizzazz" on the website and now I am thinking I don't need a disclaimer.

You can get the bullshitty PR version of the release here or you can read a better short commentary about the idea at Decanter (thank god for Decanter; the fact that they titled the article "Women's wine magazine "unintimidating"" is killing me).

CA SB 118: Just when you thought it was safe...

I missed an email I got from my favorite wine shop, K&L, last week; one that wasn't a regular update, but news of a much scarier nature, as I realized when I saw the message they sent out today. I guess I thought California was safe from all this crap, but we aren't. Anyway, it's a bill that's been passed by the CA Senate and is in front of the Assembly now. I guess it is expected to pass there and then it will go to Schwarzenegger, and he will probably sign it and then we are all in trouble. The passing of this bill will mean that retailers will be prevented from shipping wine in or out of state. It means that you, the consumer, might not be able to order wine from a retailer anywhere. To be blunt, this would suck.

The most recent K&L letter pretty much sums it up (I put it below) and if you live in CA and care about this you should definitely take action (information on what to do is in the letter below). You can see the actual text of the bill (in all its confusing legalese glory) here. I am not a politician or a lawyer, but if K&L is worried, I am worried.

Last week we interrupted you with a note about SB 118, a bill that we are deeply concerned about. We received a huge response and many questions of "what can I do" as a result of our message. K&L apologizes for this second political email, but we believe this bill has the potential to inflict serious damage to our company and your ability to receive wine shipments. It is for those reasons that we're sending this second email.

Part One: Reintroduction to SB 118
Part Two: What You Can Do
Part Three: Contact Links

Part One: Reintroduction to SB 118...

The CA Senate passed a bill on June 17th (SB 118) that is now before the Assembly and soon will go to the Governor. The new law will PROHIBIT direct shipment of wine from California retailers (and retailers anywhere) to California consumers.

California law currently allows ANYONE (including the anti-alcohol forces and the wholesalers) to ENFORCE the prohibitions of the ABC Act, which would include the new law. This new law endangers the ability of every merchant in the state (over 70,000 retailers) to sell wine for shipment to consumers and could in one fell swoop send the industry back to 1935. It cuts off consumer wine shipments from licensed and respected wine merchants all over the United States; that is as anti-consumer and anti-business as one can get. The recent amendment to SB 118 seals off California from interstate commerce in wine from the retailer tier of the industry.

Part Two: What You Can Do...

Cut and paste the template below (or create your own message) and send it to your legislators. At the end of the template we've provided contact links to your State Senator, Assembly Person, the bill's committee members, and Governor Schwarzenegger.

Dear [ name of legislator ] and Governor Schwarzenegger:

We have been told about SB 118, which makes it a crime in California to ship wine direct to a consumer unless the shipper has a direct shipping permit, which are ONLY issued to wineries throughout the US. We are not opposed to permits, but the fact is that retailers in California and elsewhere in the US are PROHIBITED from getting a direct wine shipper permit by this bill. That is WRONG.

This new law takes away our right to receive fine wines from wherever we can locate them. This new law seals off the California consumer from wine merchants in the rest of the country, and potentially from wine merchants in California because the new statute says that California retailers can't ship wine to consumers either. Wine merchants are the only source of older vintages and all of them are reputable and licensed and would be willing to pay California taxes, register with the state and assure that no wine is delivered to a minor.

We support the amendments to SB 118 proposed by the California Grocers Association. If this bill doesn't get fixed, we urge Governor Schwarzenegger to VETO the bill. This is anti-consumer and anti-business. If the system needs to be fixed, we urge you to fix it right and not to harm the entire wine industry in the process.

Sincerely,

[ your name here ]

Part Three: Contact Links...

Your Senator (there is a link on that page to a map that will help you find your State Senator if you are unsure)

Your Assembly Member (use the "Find My District" link on that page to help you find the appropriate person, or the "Member Directory" link if you already know)

SB 118 Committee Members

Governor Schwarzenegger

Wine and cheese, on the rocks

There is an old saying about wine... buy with apples, sell with cheese. Meaning that if a wine tastes good after having an apple (which can easily kill a wine's flavor with its malic acid), you have a keeper, whereas cheese is very flattering to wine and will enhance the flavors.

UC Davis is challenging that theory, reporting that cheese doesn't really go with wine all that well, after all. This is kind of non-news in that it comes down, again, to "eat and drink what you like," but at the same time, there is some pretty damning evidence that cheese not only reduces a lot of unpleasant wine characteristics, it also muffles a lot of the good characteristics. And it's all in our heads, probably.

The study took a bunch of people and trained them in a common wine language, then had them taste wines and rate them on certain points (at least twice, in varying orders). Later on the participants had the wine with the various cheeses and rated the wines' characteristics once again. In each case, even with milder cheeses, the wines suffered from muted characteristics as the tasters experienced them. The study explains that decreased astringency is expected (the layer of fat between your taste buds and the wine will dull that) but that the diminished perception of oak or fruit can't really be explained well. It could be expectation (I know that if you give someone two glasses with the same wine in each, and announce that they are different wines, the person will often come up with differences that are not there), it could be something else.

I think the study was about as logical as it could be, but it's all so subjective, this tasting thing, that I don't know how you can do a foolproof experiment. Also, wine and cheese pairing is subjective on top of that... some people love blue cheese with Cabernet Sauvignon, some hate it. I guess the study tried to get beyond liking or hating and delve into specific points, so it will be interesting to see if more investigation goes into this.

I also wonder if any other studies have been done, studies about fish and tartar sauce, or french fries and ketchup. It makes you ask why we eat things with other things. Does it really matter that cheese doesn't enhance wine, if we just enjoy having them together?