French Wine Industry Takes a Beating for Selling Fake Pinot to Gallo

As reported by the AFP, a French judge has convicted 12 industry executives for their part in selling millions of bottles of wine that was labeled as Pinot Noir but in actuality was other grapes entirely, or at the very least had less than the legal allowable percentage of Pinot in them. These wines went to the Gallo company where they were bottled under the Red Bicyclette label. According to an article on Decanter.com, the other grapes blended into the wines included Merlot and Syrah. Sentences included suspended jail sentences and fines of up to 180,000 Euros. In total, the conspirators are estimated to have made about seven million euros of profit while apparently defrauding Gallo.

Here's where I get curious. How does Gallo, the biggest winemaker in the world, not know they're getting wine that isn't Pinot? I would expect them to have professional tasters and winemakers look at what was coming in, taste it, analyze it, ensure it's up to their standards before releasing it into the market. That seems reasonable right? Any good company that cares about it's brand and image has checks built into the system to ensure their product integrity. Well, Toyota apparently doesn't but that's another story, people died there. To my knowledge, no one was hurt in any way by the wines, and from what I understand, no one complained. Apparently the consumer really liked the blended wine, since the Red Bicyclette brand is a huge seller, accounting for millions of cases over the past six years or so. Back on topic, I do not buy the Gallo side's argument that they had no idea this was happening, not for one moment. They posted a statement about how disappointed they were, but it's all boilerplate material put together by their PR machine. Now, I don't drink Gallo wines and have only tried the Red Bicyclette a couple of times so I cannot say that the "no harm no foul" rule is in effect, since I'm not a consumer of their brand(s).

My point is this, I do not for one second believe Gallo was ignorant of what was going on. I happen to agree with an excerpt from the Decanter.com article: "Writing in today's Guardian newspaper, Decanter editor Guy Woodward labelled the episode a 'comedy' saying that this was Gallo's 'clumsy attempt to ride the post-Sideways Pinot Noir craze by peddling Red Bicyclette as an authentic French Pinot.'

'The world's biggest single wine producer being hoodwinked by a group of errant French vignerons is funny and depressing at the same time.

'It doesn't say much for Gallo's professionalism that its buyers couldn't tell the different between Pinot, Merlot and Shiraz,' he said."

It's more than that to me though, it's about a big company falsely representing wine to the American consumer. I feel that the industry is in a crucial position right now, getting more and more people to enjoy wine and incorporate it into their daily routines. This benefits everyone, and if Gallo foisted fake Pinot onto the consumer, that raises a lot of questions. Were they just out to make a buck? Did they feel that their consumers wouldn't care? With the Pinot craze in full swing, were they hoping to capitalize on that to the detriment of being honest with their customers? The last thing we all need is for the perception of the Wine Industry to mirror the airlines, banks or automakers, especially at this growth stage and in these economic times. Now that may sound alarmist, but this could theoretically be the tip of the iceberg, or the snowflake that turns into the snowball rolling down the hill. I don't think it will end up that way, but how many times has history shown us that a small act can easily morph into something huge. In this interconnected age, where image is so valuable (another debate entirely), the wine business needs to strive to maintain an image of openness and warmth. One that helps the consumer learn about wine, explore it, drink it and not be deceived by what's on the label. I say, shame on Gallo and shame on the French conspirators. The French winemakers, vineyard managers and estate executives put the profits before the people, which time and again just will not work. I hope two things happen, one that this blows over quickly and two, that people start demanding more comprehensive labeling laws. Gallo should also be investigated, if they haven't been already, for their role in the whole fiasco. In any case, what happened wasn't a catastrophe by any means, just something that didn't have to occur and hopefully won't (at least on that scale) in the future.


Beau Carufel 

This isn't wine but it's a beer you might want to try. Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout

In my own way, I'm gradually exploring what I want to do here with my small parcel of the information superhighway.What I thought I'd do today is share a beer with you that I've come to love over the past few months. I first visited Ballast Point in October or November of 2009, but have been drinking their superb beers for a number of years. Today, I worked early in the morning, then after I was off decided I should celebrate my weekend (I have Thursdays and Fridays off) by drinking my last Sea Monster that I'd bought in December or January. While tweeting with my friend Suzie about her new blog (coming soon!), I figured why not branch off a bit and explore what I can do with a beer review?

So here we go!
Ballast Point Sea Monster Imperial Stout

(img credit Christopher @ picasaweb)

Since this is a beer, not a wine, I think the way I describe the tastes and scents will be different. First off, it's a stout, that means it's a dark, serious beer. In the glass it's nearly impossible for light to pass through the brew. That's big beer, good stuff that's got lots of different flavors. Some of the things my nose picked out were cola, mocha, dark chocolate and maybe some super dark fruit. Maybe blackberries or blueberries, I can't be certain at this point. On the palate you get bitter baking chocolate, creamy malt, vanilla, coffee and some darker, earthy notes. In short, it's pretty awesome stuff. This beer has tons of flavor but in a complex way, that is to say that you can discern a lot of tastes. It is dark, intense, and brooding but has life to it, a vibrant, hoppy characteristic. Basically, I think it begs to be consumed out of an ice cold pint glass, to be savored, not chugged. I'm happy to admit it took me over an hour to finish off the 22oz. bottle and I savored every sip. 

If I have to use my scale to rate this beer, it would easily get an A. It was delicious, chewy beer that I enjoyed immensely. If you see it at your local bottle shop, pick up a few bottles and enjoy them through the year. If you're into pairing beers with food, like I am, try this with something spicy like teriyaki beef kabobs or carne asada. I bet you'll find it a wonderfully delicious combination of flavors and textures. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, I always appreciate the feedback.  Here's to drinking great wine and great beer.

Beau Carufel

Ever feel like you're in over your head? I do..A lot..

Since the middle of last year I've been a Twitter user. Since November I've been a blogger. For about two and a half years I've been using Facebook. I used Myspace for perhaps three years before virtually ignoring it. Since 2001 I've been a regular poster on a couple of shared interest forums. That's a rough summation of my experiences with networking via the internet.

People are going completely nuts over social media right now and have been for a couple of years. There are new websites to connect us to each other springing up every day and for every possible interest. After trying to delve into social media specifically related to wine, I come away simple overwhelmed. The amount of content is staggering, leaving a newbie like me to cry "Uncle!" after being stymied in my attempt to keep up to date on everything that's going on.

There are blogs I'm following that I have to remember to check on and thankfully Google Reader helps index them so it's almost idiot-proof. I follow 281 people on Twitter as of now and use Tweetdeck to attempt to see what's going on with them but even with such a small list (sic) it's hard to keep up. Are people on Twitter literally all day, constantly scanning for new tweets? Don't they have work do to? I'd love to write more blog entries, maybe even as frequently as once a day. The problem lies in the content, how do I stay relevant by posting more frequently? I see bloggers I follow writing commentary on various things from legislation to tastings to industry news. Where do they go to get the information that they then write about? Do you ever feel like there's some secret website people get news and information from that you don't know about, then they write a great blog entry and you wonder how they hit the nail on the head so well? I sure do!

The same goes for social media like Twitter and Facebook, I see people constantly posting new (and mostly relevant) content that must have inspiration from somewhere. Is this what Gary Vaynerchuk calls "the hustle"? Maybe that separates the pros from the guys like me, the wannabes. Hell, I don't even  know how to label this blog entry, maybe it's just me complaining cause I'm not putting in the work required to get noticed. Regardless, I just felt I had to get that off my chest. After thinking it through, I'm going to try to update more frequently and write shorter posts, all in an attempt to get more people to check me out. Keep your fingers crossed for me, I'd appreciate it!

Beau Carufel

2008 Paco & Lola Albarino Rias Baixas

Now with a shorter, hopefully easier to read format! No more commentary at the top, I'll use different, non-review posts for that. Up here you might see a little blurb about why I picked this wine or maybe a shout-out to a friend and fellow blogger. I'll try to keep the look cleaner and more accessible. To all of you with Valentine's Day plans, congrats and I hope everything goes great. For us single people, there's always next year. This year I'll be opening a bottle of wine, watching a comedy, and probably ordering Chinese food.

 

2008 Paco & Lola Albarino Rias Baixas

  

I really, really, really love Albarino. There, now you know I'm biased. However, I did pay for this wine, so that should help even things out. For $13, I've yet to have an Albarino as delicious and well put together. Just the right amount of acid which framed beautiful notes of apricot, green apple, grass and lime. Served with a decent chill on it, this stuff went great with the shrimp stir-fry I did. That apricot is fleeting but adds just enough of a lush mouthfeel on the mid palate to prevent this wine from getting too close to a Sauvignon Blanc. I'm really big on varietally honest wines, this is one for sure. When you smell it, you get a well integrated set of scents (say that five times fast!) that include perfume, grapefruit, herbs and maybe pineapple too. Did I mention how much I love Albarino? 

Since I give every wine a grade, Paco & Lola get a solid A. Earlier I'd tweeted about this wine and given it an A- but I changed that after it warmed up a touch and got more complex. Everything is so well integrated that despite the range of flavors, it never feels clunky in your mouth. You could even sip this on a hot day and realy enjoy it's refreshing qualitites. I'm going back to buy some more and thanks to Mark at San Diego Wine Company for turning me onto this little gem.

Well that was fast, I feel like I'm somehow shortchanging the reader by not writing more, but I'm willing to try this format out. Entries will be short and tight, hopefully giving the right amount of information to those seeking a new wine to try. As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments.

Beau Carufel

2007 Les Aphillanthes 3 Cepages Cotes du Rhone

I haven't written since January 18th yet no one's taken me to task for it. Then again I don't really expect anyone to. Right now I think wine fans who read blogs are probably overwhelmed by the choices out there. I know I am, and even have trouble keeping up with the ones I truly enjoy reading. What is one to do then? I guess in a sense, the onus is on the reader to actively seek out the content that he/she wants to experience. Thank goodness for services like Google Reader, so we can quickly categorize and index our preferred blogs. In any case, the Chardonnays I mentioned before (for those of you who read this blog) are coming soon. I discussed the tasting concepts with my partner in crime (my buddy Brian) and he readily agreed. It's such a maligned varietal, we felt it would be fun to sort out the various elements that Calfornia Chardonnays have.

This isn't about that though, this is about an absolutely stellar 2007 Cotes du Rhone I had the other night.
2007 Les Aphillanthes 3 Cepages Cotes du Rhone

(img credit to link)

Most of us have read that the 2007 Rhone vintage is awesome (according to the critics like Robert Parker), worthy of naming your first-born child something trendy like Villages or Cornas. Ok that wasn't too funny, sorry..I promise it won't happen (much) again. My little disclaimer should be that I've found the 2007 Rhones to be on average, way too ripe and fruit oriented. They seem to be devoid of the very qualities I love about them. Darker, earthier and perhaps more rustic flavors have traditionally made Rhone wines appeal to my palate. Of the perhaps 25 examples of 2007 Rhones, ranging throughout the area, the vast majority just aren't my style. When I went to taste this example, I expected more of the same. Overly fruity, soft, almost flabby wine that didn't reflect (to me) the real heritage of the Rhone Valley. 

Boy was I surprised! This Les Aphillanthes showed bright flavors of black cherry, leather and cigar box, but all in proportion. I also think I found notes of blackberry, mocha and definitiely some of that wonderful barnyard that marks Rhone wines.

It was only open about 20 minutes before my buddy Justin and I consumed it, but that was enough to showcase some darker scents like dark chocolate, spices and herbs. These were accompanied by that cool barnyard/wet-earth smell and even some ripe currants, which we really didn't expect to find. In case you haven't guessed it yet, this wine was something that appealed to me, one I have in fact bought again and will recommend to my fellow wine-drinkers. For $20, you really can't beat this wonderfully modern yet traditional Rhone wine. With my supremely awesome scoring system giving it a solid A, how can you not buy it! Well that might be a bit of a stretch, please forgive the exuberance. It's really an A-rated wine, one that I intend to drink multiple times and feel represents a truly great value in wine.

That's about all I intend to write, I'm thinking I'll keep future reviews shorter and more to-the-point. That hopefully benefits you, the reader. Plus it means I have to write less! In summation, buy this wine if you see it out there. Les Aphillanthes makes a couple of other examples which are very tasty too but this one just stuck with me. Next blog will be a report about a wine tasting featuring what we call "Random Reds".

Beau Carufel

Awesomeness in Wine 2010, Inaugural tasting!

Way back in 2009, my good buddy Brian and I had an idea to gather a small group of wine lovers together and taste interesting wines. Mainly we'd get people from our work whom we knew liked wine and were interested in tasting and learning. Because of various scheduling constraints, the tasting date slipped into this year finally settling on last Thursday, January 14th. We were able to get the date set and the relevant parties invited, the wines and the food. The chosen varietal was Pinot Noir, because it's popular, accessible and easy to find. Some of the constraints Brian and I came up with related to price and region. We wanted everyone coming to supply a bottle that was over $15 and from California. Beyond that, we were open to anything.

All in all, only five Pinots were tasted, somewhat disappointing because I was hoping for six or seven varieties. However, all of them were interesting and worthy of the tasting. Here's the list:

1. Joseph Swan Cuvee de Trois Russian River Valley 2007
2. Lorca Santa Maria Valley 2002
3. Talbott Logan Santa Lucia Highlands 2007
4. Robert Stemmler Nugent Vineyard Russian River Valley 2006
5. Costa de Oro Santa Barbara County 2008


All of them were purchased for less than $20, and at San Diego Wine Co. and Trader Joe's. As I type up this little report I realized I really need to do more tastings with wineries that I actually interact with, so along with my "taste more chardonnay" promise of a few weeks ago, I'll add this one. Hopefully I can find some that are in my price range.

But back on topic, here are some tasting notes about each of the wines we tried. They were opened roughly one hour before tasting began but not decanted and not tasted blind. However, only Brian and myself were aware of the prices paid. I'll also note that only Brian and myself had any kind of professional wine background.

1. Joseph Swan Cuvee de Trois Russian River Valley 2007
Definitely one of the top two wines of the night. The nose had elements of herbs, raspberry and a hint of earth, like a forest floor. Some of the flavors we found were beautiful notes of strawberry, rose petal, ripe red cherry and hints of dried cranberries. There was the barest taste of vanilla oak across the palate, giving a bit of lush character. We also felt it was very much in the traditionally elegant style of the Russian River Valley, with that wonderful acidity good Pinots should have. Overall an absolutely wonderful Pinot.

2. Lorca Santa Maria Valley 2002
The oldest of the bunch also exhibited the most faded flavors. Perhaps in 2006 or 2007 it was livelier and more drinkable. This time we tasted notes of cedar, vanilla, cherry, spices and plum. It smelled soft, like oak and a warm strawberry tart but again there was that muted quality that dimished the wine. That being said, I felt that even if it had been at it's peak, it was too oaky and perhaps had some Syrah in it. I wasn't too thrilled with it but it was a valuable tasting experience.

3. Talbott Logan Santa Lucia Highlands 2007
I had really high hopes for this one, as I think the Santa Lucia Highlands produce some stellar Pinots (when they aren't overly oaked and infused with Syrah!). It didn't really live up to my hopes, being somewhat muted and lacking the acidity I like to see. Great flavors of black cherry, raspberry and herbs, but it was a bit unbalanced and I actually felt it might have been too soft, lacking that certain "wow" factor, where your palate kicks your brain and wakes you up. To me that shows I've found something special and it just wasn't there.

4. Robert Stemmler Nugent Vineyard Russian River Valley 2006
This was my top pick of the tasting, I felt it was bright, lively, and well balanced. Lots of cherry/raspberry, some strawberry and spice along with a cool earthy streak. The flavors were in proportion, always a sign of a great wine. On the nose we got whiffs of spice, cedar, vanilla and dark chocolate. Truly a tasty and well rounded Pinot. Others also felt this was the top wine of the night, I actually went back and bought a few more bottles to save for grilling season. Should pair well with some fresh salmon from the barbeque.

5. Costa de Oro Santa Barbara County 2008
Last but not least, this was a very tasty wine that I think got overshadowed by the splendid Joseph Swan and Robert Stemmler wines. Santa Barbara can produce some deliciously rich Pinots, full of ripe strawberry and black cherry, and when the acidity is allowed to focus the flavors on your palate instead of using oak to mute everything, the results can be very tasty. This was no exception, it had a good amount of fruit but the acidity kept it in check. It wasn't really my favorite because it just didn't have the "wow" factor of the two top picks but for about $15 it was a wine I'd have been really pleased.

The question is, should I rate these wines or not? My system is pretty rudimentary but I truly hope it conveys a sense of my preferences and what I look for, so I'll give it a shot. Here's the list of wines again with the ratings in bold.
1. Joseph Swan Cuvee de Trois Russian River Valley 2007 A
2. Lorca Santa Maria Valley 2002 C
3. Talbott Logan Santa Lucia Highlands 2007 B-
4. Robert Stemmler Nugent Vineyard Russian River Valley 2006 A
5. Costa de Oro Santa Barbara County 2008 B

To sum up another really long blog post, I will say that I had a blast doing this, it inspired me to try some other things with tastings and encouraged me to keep tasting wines and writing about them. Conveying to you what and why I liked a wine has become something I thorougly enjoy doing. This was definitely not a scientific tasting, just a fun group of people who wanted to try some wine. Perhaps we'll get more technical and organized in the future but if we don't, it's not necessarily a bad thing. Thank you as always for taking the time to read my work and please leave comments if you desire, I welcome them all. If you're so inclined, follow me on twitter, I'm @UCBeau. Talk to you soon!

Beau Carufel

First Review of 2010, a Barbaresco!

Happy New Year! I hope it isn't too late to say that. It's been a week, hopefully your resolutions are doing well. Mine are plodding along. Sadly, I've currently run out of white wines, as of the time of this entry, which will necessitate a trip to the local shop to pick some up. Over the past few months I've become increasingly intrigued by Chardonnay because it can come in so many different forms. Right now I'm thinking I'll try to buy a couple of examples from California, France, Italy, Australia and maybe Washington. That should hopefully make for some interesting reading over the next few blogs I write.To give a little information to you all, I'm going to try to find some buttery Chards, some oaked and un-oaked, some acidic examples and maybe some of the fruitier styles. Since it's all coming out of pocket, expect nothing to be over 25$ a bottle. Sorry, you won't see me reviewing Cakebread or Kongsgaard here (unless someone sends me them). I'm going to throw in some of the more widely available wines out there in an effort to perhaps broaden my appeal as a budding writer but also more importantly, to help anyone who reads my blog find the wine's I'm writing about. That's a topic for a whole blog entry though, so stay tuned.

Today is different though, today is another red. It's the 2005 La Loggia Barbaresco, costs about 13$ at your local Trader Joe's. Barbaresco is up in Piedmonte, northwestern Italy. The terrain is hilly and it's a bit cooler than down south towards Tuscany. In this area and as well as in Barolo, the primary grape is Nebbiolo. I've often heard of Barbarescos being called "baby Barolos" since they seem to be made in a more accessible style, meaning you can drink them earlier than with a Barolo. Incidentally I've read and heard it mentioned that Barolo shouldn't be opened until it's at least 15-20 years old. If only we all could afford to do that! Anyways this is perhaps an "entry level" Barbaresco, as they can go past 500$ a bottle if you buy the stuff from Gaja. Let's see how it did when paired with a classic American dinner.

2005 La Loggia Barbaresco

(img from cellartracker.com)

I opened this bottle about an hour before I tasted it, and poured it 30 minutes before. Upon my first sniff, I smelled raisins and sour cherries, with some spice like a nutmeg or something. It was either that or cloves and I'm leaning towards cloves. Since I love Italian wines, this excited me and got me to expect something fun and interesting on the palate. With each passing minute you could see that more flavors were coming out, so I felt like it was going to be a good bottle. I should also note the color was a nice inky purple, it looked serious and tasty! Almost like a petit syrah (or is it sirah?). Time for the taste, excitement was building up since the nose was so interesting. That first sip was adequate, not exactly what I expected but maybe a second sip would be better because two is better than one, right? Yes, my logic is flawless, I know. On the second sip, I tasted some notes of blackberry, tobacco, cedar and dark chocolate. The tannins were firm, definitely noticeable but also had a nice silky quality. Here's where things started to unravel though. Each flavor presented itself in a blocky, un-integrated way. They didn't seem to flow together seamlessly or create a structure in the wine. At first, there was the blackberry and sour cherry, then a dollop of the spices, cloves I suspect. Right after that was an earthy, dusty element before the tannins kicked in. Now the dark chocolate and tobacco that I got faint tastes of were in there somewhere but they didn't really have much definition.There was no tapestry of flavors and not once did I feel like the wine was complex. Unfortunately that isn't what I was looking for in a Barbaresco.

Summarizing what I rambled on about in the paragraphs above, the wine was decent enough for 13$ but nothing stellar. I think for an entry-level Barbaresco it's tasty, but it definitely won't blow your mind. I paired the wine with a burger and fries, which seemed to work out very well. My score for the wine is a B-, because it's good enough to get you into Barbarescoes but is lacking integration and that is something I always look for in a wine. If you buy this, you'll probably like it and won't feel like you wasted your money, but perhaps will want more from it after finishing a glass or two. On the nose, it promises a lot but doesn't quite deliver on the palate, that disconnect just doesn't work for me.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, if you want to follow me on twitter I'm @UCBeau. Over the next few blogs I may veer away from reviewing wine, there will be some beers and some non-wine related stuff but stick with me, we're going to have fun! Here's to a great 2010 full of delicious food and wine, friends, families, travel and a Jets victory on Saturday!

Beau Carufel

Happy New Year! 2010 is going to be great, I can feel it!

Good morning, it's New Years Eve! How cool is that? I personally feel like 2009 has flown by, but luckily I'm not getting the feeling of being caught up in it, more that I've been a willing participant in the ups and downs of the past 365 days. I can only hope 2009 was a great year for everyone, and that 2010 will be that much better.

To avoid a cliche like "this has been one of the most interesting years of my life", I'll try to summarize my experiences in 2009 as those of knowledge-building. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I tried to learn from as many situations, people, things, and other resources as possible. Was it rewarding? Definitively, unequivocally yes!

So, where does that leave me and my relationship with wine? Looking back, I tried a lot of wine and finally started this blog, something I'd talked and dreamed about for a while. Also, I started to grasp the importance of using social media to connect with other people in the wine world. Perhaps more importantly, I started being proactive in seeking out wine-related content. The amount out there is amazing, and it's a lot of fun to read what other people are thinking and drinking. Looking back (hey look, a cliche!), I can honestly say that the content available is usually of good to great quality. Perhaps we can liken it to a winery like Mondavi. There are many levels of Mondavi wines, from the Woodbridge cheap stuff to the high end Mondavi Reserve Cabernet. Then again, maybe the comparison won't work so well because content publishers don't really have a price. Oh well, I really tried to fit wine into that somehow! My point is that the amount of content available is huge, the quality varies, but there's something for everyone. Maybe that can be a summary of wine in general? We all drink what we like, and I hope we all get to continue that in 2010.

To continue with the question in the above paragraph, I looked back on 2009 as a learning experience, a way to get my feet a bit wet in the massive world of wine. And seriously, it's massive. Don't underestimate what the possibilities are or what you can do within that world. I leave 2009 happy with the wines I love, eager to learn more about wine, eager to keep networking, and very eager to keep producing content...Even if only five people read it!

For 2010, I did make some wine resolutions. First and foremost, I'm going to do a better job of remembering the wines I've tasted over the year, I didn't do that this year and it's left me with a feeling of sadness. Originally this entry was going to highlight some of the best stuff I'd tasted in 2009, instead it's a somewhat rambling piece about what wine meant to me last year. Next, I need to work on this blog a lot more, adding fresh, original content that'll keep you coming back for more. Call it finding my niche, call it building my brand, but it's got to be done. Third, expanding my knowledge, taking some cooking classes and wine-pairing classes would benefit me immensely. You not only add experience and vocabulary, you add skills and perspective, two things I believe are critical in establishing your content and relevant to wine lovers. Finally, I need to visit more wineries and just do more wine related traveling this year. I've got plans for a couple of trips to the East Coast in April and June, hopefully attending the big Wine Bloggers Conference in June as well, and going to more wine tastings wherever I can. Guess the new car I want is going to have to wait till 2011!

I hope to write my first blog of 2010 tomorrow or Saturday, after tasting some more wine. Please have a wonderful, safe and happy New Year. Thank you again for reading, see you next year!

Beau Carufel

It's the holiday season...so why not go camping? Oh and drink wine too!

I just looked and it's been a ridiculous amount of time since I updated, over two weeks. What's going on here! Apparently one of my (many) 2010 resolutions will be to update my blog at least once a week.
However, it's not like I was idle, just sitting there not updating. I worked a ton, drank some wines, got some great editorial feedback on my burgeoning blog, and had a fun holiday season with my family and friends.
The editorial feedback was pretty valuable, as were the things I was able to learn from people like Gary Vaynerchuk. I watched some of his videos that didn't so much deal with wine as with what you have to do to reach out to people, create connections and build your brand. For us in the blogging world, it's critical to build that brand. Gary's approach seems to advocate building those connections, keeping your content fresh and original, and working your ass off. So what I have been trying to do is integrate that message with some other things I've learned, like creating that niche to get your voice out, the value of an original approach, and just plain writing well.
Before I go into what I drank for the Christmas Day stuff, I do want to post up something and maybe make my readers aware of it. There's a conference in June, in Washington that's called the Wine Bloggers Conference. Basically it's open to anyone who writes (blogs) about wine and features some great ways for both beginners and advanced bloggers to network, learn, taste, eat, and just get really deep into the wine world and more specifically, the ever changing wine blogging world. The reason I'm writing this out is because there are some scholarships available to people who might not be able to afford the airfare or hotels or the registration fee to this event. I know times are tough for most of us but they could really use some donations to increase the amount of scholarships and truly open the event up to as many people as possible. The link is here, and that's really about the extent of my solicitation to you. They'd appreciate any amount and you'd definitely get some press.

So, onwards to the review!
2005 Parson's Flat Padthaway Shiraz/Cabernet

(image credit to vinfolio.com)

There you have it, that's what I drank on Christmas Day, out in the Anza Borrego State Park with my Dad and younger Brother. We used to camp all the time, going back to our days in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. This year we'd planned to camp in the winter, when it was cooler, and the trip ended up falling on the 25th and 26th of December. It wasn't a huge thing, just load up the truck with supplies and a bbq and head out for the night. Our menu wasn't even that fancy, we brought burgers, stuff for sandwiches, chips, beer and wine (duh!), along with various other smaller things. This would be a big departure from the somewhat fancier Christmas dinners I was used to but it seemed fun and different, which always appeals to me.

Now I won't take a lot of time to describe the trip, because after all, this is a wine blog! I would like to share a couple of things though. First off, I was amazed at the fact that out there, the world is in basically five colors, and three of them are shades of brown/gray. The landscape is so austere, rugged, but also lonely and almost primeval. You could easily think that it's looked the same for 1000 years, maybe 10,000. We hiked through rough country, across terrain that varied from semi-truck sized boulders to soft ravines of broken granite sand. Cacti were everywhere, you really felt surrounded by desolation, that feeling pressed down on us like a giant hand. I was moved and reflective of a few things, but this also isn't a philosophy blog.

So after we retired back to camp, it was time to relax, enjoy beer, listen to the Chargers game and prep dinner. The bottle of wine, 2005 Parsons's Flat from Padthaway was opened about two hours before dinner was ready, to give it some time to breathe. As soon as I pulled that cork, I was struck by big fruity aromas, like a mixed-berry pie! Pie that maybe had a bit of blackberry and boysenberry in it, less on the strawberry. There was some raspberry too, and a dollop of vanilla, the oaky kind though. Vanilla notes always make me think, can we describe it better? I want to say it's something like a fresh cut board quickly dipped in a jar of vanilla, then held about six feet away from you. Does that make sense? You get the stronger vanilla note but also a subtle undertone of oaky-woodsey kind of smells.

Okay so enough with trying to wow you with my super-cool wine geek references. We finally got the burgers done (thanks Dad!!) and poured cups (yes I said it, cups) of the stuff. Another sniff left me with the same expression except maybe a small bit of that cocoa powder smell from really high end hot chocolate. Cool! This was going to be interesting. Right as soon as I tasted, that ripe fruit was back, but it was well balanced. What struck me as interesting was the firmness of the tannins on the palate. I suggested it was the mid-palate but my dad didn't think so, and well he's got 30+ years in the business so yea I was off the mark. What I felt though was this firm tannic streak right in the middle of the tasting procession, that is to say it broke up the lush, soft fruit notes and gave the wine a backbone. That was good because the burgers were juicy, cheesy and cooked to perfection. The finish was clean, with some lingering tannin and maybe blackberry and almost this tarry quality, which I felt was rather interesting.

What did I think of it? Well here's the thing, it usually retails for around $40 U.S. I paid $14.99 for it. Would I buy it again for $15? Yes! Definitely, at that price it gets an A- from me, a really tasty wine that pairs well with great food. Now, would I be happy if I'd spent $40 on it? No way, it was too simplistic at that price, overwrought with the juicy fruit notes, the tannins weren't as silky as they should be, and there was too much oak all through the wine. If the wine was $40, I'd give it a C+/B-. What a difference $25 can make right? There you have it, a fun Christmas experience that hopefully interweaves some nature and some wine. My dad said it was the perfect wine to have outdoors while grilling burgers, and I think he hit the nail on the head.

I hope everyone had a stellar Holiday Season and will have a great New Years, I for one am really excited about 2010 for a bunch of reasons. I'll cover that in a future blog entry. Thank you so much for reading and commenting, I appreciate it to no end.

Beau Carufel

Experimenting in Tasting Wines..2008 Sauvignon Republic Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc

After my last column where I mentioned The Good Grape as one of my preferred wine blogs, Jeff Lefevere (anyone else think that's a lot of e's in his name?) was cool enough to actually post a comment on my page. As a total novice, I was honestly floored. If you read my response to it, you'll see that I really have nothing to say in reply. What he said though was really interesting: "Second, I would encourage you to completely re-imagine the tasting note / sensory evaluation process. Blogs are great for experimentation and doing something new, unique and novel will an asset to both you and your readers."
Ok, that's REAL advice from a pro, thanks again Jeff! Luckily, today my brain was engaged and I began to think about this, and to ask the question "What can I do to re-imagine the tasting note/sensory evaluation process?"
At the risk of sounding cavalier about wine blogging, my first inclination was to screw around with the methodology of tasting, the whole "swirl, sniff, sip, spit" thing. What if I blindfolded myself? How about not sniffing the wine (kind of hard, I tried)? What if I didn't spit! (Yes, that would be actually pretty awesome)? Expanding on those concepts certainly is fun, but does it provide value to the reader, who might actually want to hear about a wine and might actually want to see if I liked it or not?
None of them appear to. So let's go back to square one, re-imagining the tasting note/sensory evaluation process. Tasting notes are just a grouping of words to describe what you taste right? Hmmm, I could use different words or references, like the always awesome Gary Vaynerchuck. But see, I'd just be copying him, not to mention doing an invariably poor job. He's crushed it (to use his words) in that department. What else is possible? Something that's out there, but not too far out there so as to be stupifyingly obscure.

Anyways I tasted a wine tonight too, the 2008 Sauvignon Republic Stellenbosch Sauvignon Blanc...

It's quite good, and ridiculously cheap at $6.99. Great acid here, it's balanced and not overwhelming (hello N.Z. I'm talking to you). Beyond that lies a happy place of ruby red grapefruit, wet grass, wet rocks (seriously!), and some passion fruit or guava, can never really tell the two apart unfortunately. It's a quick finisher (that's what she said!..wait..damn it...) but because of that balance I alluded to earlier, things just seem to work. The wine also smells pretty good because you get all sorts of floral aromas, fresh cut grapefruit, meyer lemon, almost a hint of like whipped cream too or something..like lemon meringue cream where it's not super sweet but still is sweet enough. Upon sipping it again, I detect a bit of that fleshy, almost creamy character on the mid palate too. Oh and I changed my description, it's more of a key lime pie thing going on, but one where the person who was making it got drunk off mint juleps and added 50% more limes than necessary. I even want to say there's something oddly persimmon-like, I tasted dried persimmon slices the other day and this vaguely reminds me of them.

So yea, very very solid A- for this wine. I really like it! In fact I'm probably going to buy some more. Now if you're read the other blogs I've written you know at the beginning I usually give background and detail about the wine. This time I didn't, I rambled on about something. Your background is this, www.sauvignonrepublic.com. Check it out, they are doing some really awesome stuff with a varietal that's near and dear to my heart. We're done for now, I'll post some more stuff this weekend and keep thinking about the advice Jeff gave me. As always, please post comments, questions, whatever. Let me know what you like and don't like, I deeply appreciate feedback. I also deeply appreciate free wine samples. If you want to follow me on twitter, I'm @UCBeau and will of course reciprocate.

Beau Carufel