Hello and happy weekend. Hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy and happy. For my part, as I write this, Sonoma is still overcast with a mixture of ash and fog—that latter bit I’m actually grateful for for once, as I’m *hoping* it will help clear away the pollutants. For those of you near any West Coast fires who thought the world was coming to and end—well, so did I. The Napa Valley Register has a great piece enlightening us to the science behind that apocalyptic orange glow.
More local news: I recently wrote what (I think) is an interesting piece about how scientists can now “fingerprint” a wine’s DNA, which, in effect, can pinpoint the place of origin, thus basically making a scientific case for the idea behind terroir.
There’s quite a few pieces about the wine industry that came out this week, including the latest in wine shipping news, Pouilly-Fusse’s new premier cru status, and a notable NY sommelier announcing his retirement.
As always, there’s some great independent insight from the Blogs. This week I found a few great wine recommendations from around the world—time to stock up on those international varieties methinks.
Read on, have fun, and leave me a note to say hi. Cheers.
Wine Enthusiast: A Scientific Case for ‘Fingerprinting’ Terroir in a California AVA
For 30 years, members of the Russian River Valley Winegrowers Association (RRVWA) have attempted to quantify and qualify the different Pinot Noir profiles their American Viticultural Area (AVA) produces. Through group tastings, the RRVWA discovered six “neighborhoods” that produce unique expressions of the AVA’s most popular red wine: Middle Reach, Santa Rosa Plains, Laguna Ridge, Green Valley, Sebastopol Hills and Eastern Ridge.
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In 2015, Dr. Roger Boulton, emeritus distinguished professor of enology and chemical engineering at University of California, Davis, (UC Davis) approached the RRVWA with the opportunity to confirm their sensory hypotheses with scientific analyses. READ MORE…
Napa Valley Register: The science behind the orange, ‘Martian’ sky
A thick blanket of smoke above much of Northern California cast down the distorted daylight. Northerly winds had transported smoke from the August Complex fire burning in Mendocino National Forest, and the North Complex fire, burning to the east of Chico, according to Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The “tremendous” number of wildfires burning in Northern California had churned up a thick blanket of smoke that was now essentially trapped by wind and weather patterns, he said. …. “These particles can last for weeks.” READ MORE…
Food and Wine: The Dirty Business of ‘Clean’ Wine
Over the past few weeks, ads for clean wine have populated my news feeds, promising, among other things, hangover-free drinking. Considering last month’s launch of Avaline, a clean wine brand from Cameron Diaz and Katherine Power, it’s no wonder clean wine seems to be everywhere. Diaz and Power didn’t coin the term—there’s Good Clean Wine, Scout & Cellar, and Winc’s Wonderful Wine Co.—but with their high-profile names attached, the duo has thrust the concept of clean wine into the limelight, sending tremors through the wine world.
But let’s back up. What is it? READ MORE…
SevenFifty Daily: The New Strategies for Wine Retail Success
How savvy off-premise operators have adapted their approach to inventory management mid-pandemic
Every U.S. wine and spirits retailer will agree: The months since March have been wildly volatile. Some shops continue to record their best monthly sales ever. Others are seeing signs of sales returning to normal or didn’t have much of a bump to begin with. New challenges pop up constantly, the most dramatic being a near overnight shift to online ordering and delivery. Consumer behavior has changed, too.
Maximizing success in this new landscape means that a retailer’s approach to buying and stocking must evolve. We polled retailers around the country on their strategies for successfully managing inventory in the new normal. Here’s a sampling of their experiences and advice. READ MORE…
wine-searcher: US Wine—the Shipping News
A look at the state of play and the latest developments in the difficult world of interstate wine shipping.
Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that states cannot discriminate against out-of-state wine and liquor shops. States cannot have laws that allow local stores, but not out-of-state stores, to ship wines to customers.
But the United States today is not really a country where the rule of law works anymore. As evidence, 17 states still have such laws on the books, according to the National Association of Wine Retailers – meaning that though residents should be able to order wine from any shop in the United States, they are limited to their local offerings. READ MORE…
The Buyer: How Pouilly-Fuissé got Premier Cru recognition
22 climats in Pouilly-Fuissé have just been given Premier Cru status. The wines of Pouilly and Fuissé have long been recognised as “first class,” in fact at the start of the Nineteenth Century scholars put the wines on a par with other great wine regions like Meursault and Montrachet. But, until this week’s decision, the Mâconnais was still the only region in Burgundy that did not have vineyard hierarchy. Before lockdown LM Archer travelled to the region to find out how the thirteen-year application for Premier Cru status was progressing for a number of climats, a process that had been temporarily closed down because of the virus. READ MORE…
The Drinks Business: Michelin Delays 2021 Restaurant Guides
Michelin has put a pause on the issuance of its 2021 restaurant guides in the US in recognition of the devastation that Covid-19 has inflicted on the hospitality industry.
Michelin also said that it is extending a sympathetic hand to the stricken restaurants. “The inspection team is sensitive to the situation in each restaurant and is gradually returning to visits when it seems appropriate, based on the individual establishment and their circumstances,” the statement read. “Our inspection team is fully committed to support and promote restaurants by being flexible, respectful and realistic as recovery takes shape.” READ MORE…
New York Times: After 43 Years, the Wine Sentinel of the River Café Stands Down
Joseph DeLissio, “a blue-collar kid in a white-collar job,” saw the rise of American wine culture and put together an ever-changing, world-class list.
Until last month, Mr. DeLissio, 65, was wine director of the River Café, the glassy, glittery barge restaurant moored on the Brooklyn waterfront. The Brooklyn Bridge soars overhead, and the majestic skyline of Lower Manhattan dazzles from across the water.
Every year thousands of diners from around the world arrived to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and business deals. Some came simply to take in the view. Many enjoyed a few of the bottles Mr. DeLissio carefully accumulated over his many years overseeing the comprehensive wine list.
With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, as the restaurant industry sinks into an alarming unknown, Mr. DeLissio decided earlier this summer that he had had enough. It was time to retire. READ MORE…
Eater: CDC Finds Adults With COVID-19 Were Twice as Likely to Have Been to a Restaurant
Plus, OSHA says a number of food companies are failing to protect their workers
The question of whether indoor dining is a good idea in a pandemic with a respiratory disease is becoming more urgent as the weather begins to cool and outdoor dining becomes less feasible. Many states across the country allow it in some capacity, but naturally, both restaurant workers and customers are skeptical. “I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with indoor dining yet. I don’t feel safe,” Douglas Kim, chef and owner of Jeju Noodle Bar, told Eater NY of the city’s plan to allow restaurants to open for indoor dining at 25 percent capacity at the end of September. And there’s good reason for that worry — according to the CDC, “adults with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results were approximately twice as likely to have reported dining at a restaurant than were those with negative SARS-CoV-2 test results.” READ MORE…
Blogs Worth a Read
Taken from the list of Blogs I follow regularly, here are just a few posts from this past week I think are worth a read. Shoot me a note if you have suggestions of blogs to follow or want your blog included on that list.
Grape Collective: A Human Rights Lawyer’s Quest to Become the First Black Master of Wine
“It’s really about the journey.”
Scott had other deep interests before settling on wine. After studying Art History and Romance Languages at Dartmouth, she thought about becoming a diplomat or a curator and scored a fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. There she worked under Lowery Stokes Sims, a curator and expert in African, Latino, Native American and Asian-American artists, who was later the executive director of the Studio Museum of Harlem as well as an adviser on the memorial for the World Trade Center. READ MORE…
Jamie Goode: Visiting Vega Sicilia, one of Spain’s most revered wineries
The first vines were planted on this 1000 hectare estate in 1864, and until 1927 this was the only winery in the region (this is when the Protos cooperative was founded, which became the second). Many of the original plantings of Vega Sicilia were with Bordeaux varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malbec. Their use has diminished a little, but for a region that is 97% Tempranillo, Vega Sicilia are a little unusual in the make-up of their blends. READ MORE…
Jancis Robinson: Wine of the Week—Caruso & Minini Frappato/Nerello Mascalese 2018 IGT Terre Siciliane
The town of Marsala in Sicily may be best known for its dessert wine, but this wine of the week from Marsala is an astonishingly good-value dry wine.
A few weeks ago, I’d tasted a sample of the 2019 vintage, sent from the winery. It was such a cracking wine, like a lolloping puppy all ears and tail and tongue and lavish exuberance launching itself at your legs. I got straight online to see if I could buy some. I was gobsmacked to see it was just £8.79. But the 2019 was not yet in the UK, so I ordered the 2018 out of curiosity.
It’s every bit as good. It’s mulberry cordial and a zing-zang of raspberries and strawberries. It has dollops of vanilla cream and cinnamon and liquorice allsorts. It’s deliciously hoover-up-able and super-fun and you don’t have to get all intellectual about it, but there is absolutely nothing commercial or industrial about it.
It made me want to street dance, watch hip-hop, do handstands in the kitchen and go goofy in the rain. READ MORE…
Australian Wine Review: Rouleur McLaren Vale Shiraz 2019. Too Cheap By Far
Sourced from two vineyards at Blewitt Springs, with 25% whole bunches in the mix, the yields blindingly low (600kg/acre!), the juice wild fermented in largely older oak with extended skin contact. The result is, as ever, more Adelaide Hills than McLaren Vale, more about delicacy than impact, with finessed, fine-grained tannins a direct contrast to the rounded, voluminous fruit. READ MORE…
Fermentation: The Coming Fight Over Ingredient Labeling On Wine
A recent survey by the Wine Market Council found that consumers generally do not place much value on ingredient labeling or nutritional labeling on wine bottles when considering what to purchase.
The growing acceptance of the idea that consumers should have access to ingredients on wine bottles is surely an outgrowth of the influence of the “natural wine” movement, an extraordinarily small segment of the wine market that has been successful in driving conversations, if not sales. READ MORE…
Tim Atkins: The Good Old Days
“It is quite remarkable how Britain has gone from being a still white wine producer of declining relevancy in the world of wine to being a contender for the title of world’s best sparkling wine producer –all in the space of a generation” writes Oz Clarke in his latest book. It is indeed a remarkable story and there’s no better person to tell it than Oz, because not only does he remember the bad old days of English wine, but he can tell you exactly how they tasted. READ MORE…
Vinous: Constance Craving: Vin de Constance
In Jane Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility, one of literature’s finest works detailing the ups and downs of courtship and matters of the heart, Mrs. Jennings suggests to Elinor Dashwood that she drink a slug of finest old Constantia to recover from a fever brought on by her romantic interest, John Willoughby. Jennings counsels that the sweet wine not only cures “colicky gout,” but possesses “healing powers on a disappointed heart.” While poor Elinor might have remained distraught over her wayward and untrustworthy lover, I am sure the Constantia served as a momentary balm to her heartache.
When I attended a brief but insightful vertical tasting of Vin de Constance on what transpired to be my last day in the capital before lockdown, thankfully I showed no feverish symptoms of either COVID-19 or a disappointed heart (or, for that matter, any colicky gout). But like those characters in Austen’s novel, I do appreciate one of the iconic sweet wines of the world – one that, as I shall describe, is undergoing a quiet revolution.
Before we get to that, a bit of history. READ MORE…
Wine Industry Network: Tim Atkin MW Releases His 2020 South Africa Report, Saying “the Cape Is Facing Its Biggest Challenge Since Phylloxera”
Leading UK wine writer Tim Atkin MW has released his latest in-depth look at the South African wine sector.
His annual report, now in its eighth year and available on timatkin.com, is regarded as one of the most detailed and authoritative overviews of South African wine.
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For only the second time ever, Atkin has given the highest mark possible to a New World wine. This year, two wines, one red, one white, scored 100 points.
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Tim Atkin also awards special mention to the standout wines and winemakers of the year. READ FULL PRESS RELEASE…
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