wine sooth

Ever get the feeling some people have no perspective?

Ever get the sense that some journalists get a little shrill in their pursuit of sensationalism (and, in the process, get a little sloppy with facts and too generous with opinion or fail to see how they interject their biases into the story)?

Apparently, that is the case with the folks who run CNN’s “Political Ticker”. Now they are decrying the choice of Shafer Cabernet “Hillside Select” 2003 to be poured for “leaders of the U.K., France, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and 11 developing economies” who are in Washington D.C. to address the current economic turmoil. (more…)

Did you know there are vineyards south of San Francisco? Really, there are! Over 100,000 acres! That’s Napa and Sonoma put together. But it seems that, in some people’s mental maps, there is no noteworthy wine country outside of these two regions.

I make no contentions that Napa and Sonoma don’t produce quality wines. They do. I don’t argue that these regions don’t deserve their reputations. They do. However, when news reports about frosts and weather flukes as well as harvest updates omit mention of the Central Coast and call Napa and Sonoma the premiere wine country and when wine websites categorize Central Coast wines as “Other California Wine”, I am compelled to make a point of clarification. (more…)

(Introducing: Wine Surveys) 

Depending who you ask, the incidence of TCA tainted wines is somewhere in the 3% to 10% range.

Remy Charest started a discussion at OWC to explore this very topic. Several members brought some opinionated perspectives to the table and at one point, wine maker Nathan R. Carlson proposed that we conduct an on-going poll or survey to get a real-world sense of the incidence of TCA taint.

Serendipitously, I had created Wine Surveys just a few days earlier, intending it index wine-related surveys. (more…)

Recently, Alice Feiring, announced a re-design of her blog. She posted a mock-up of the new look and, lo and behold, there they were: UCWSs - the Ubiquitous Circular Wine Stains which adorn too many wine blogs to count.

Second in popularity only to the OTWGs (Omnipresent Tilted Wine Glasses - a sin of which I am guilty), the UCWSs are the staple design element of many wine blogs and sites. I don’t know if this is because it’s an easy image to get on iStockPhoto or if is bundled with a narrow set of master templates sourced by web and blog designers. (more…)

With a lot going on in my personal life this week, and in the coming few weeks, I am struggling daily for balance between my obligations and and aspirations. It is in thinking about that quest for balance in my overloaded schedule that I was reminded of the fact that one of the things we value most about wine is balance. But that is not always achieved.

Balance seems to be at an even greater premium when talking about wine-related research and the health benefits of wine. It seems that any sort of cautionary commentary about the benefits of resveratrol or about moderation and responsibility in alcohol consumption is invariably perceived as “preachy” or judgmental. (more…)

I buy wine at supermarkets. Not all of my wine, but whether I am doing full-on grocery shopping or if I get sent out to pick up anything from tomatoes to toothpaste, I like to poke my head into the wine section.

The two supermarkets near me - Ralph’s and Albertson’s have pretty good wine sections. Albertson’s has a good selection of Central Coast wine, so I like to see if there is anything I might like to try and possibly write about. The Ralph’s near me is one of the test stores for the chain’s Wine Steward program. The stewards are generally helpful and they taste the wines they stock. There is even a large, walk-in, climate-controlled cellar where they keep the pricy stuff. Both stores will occasionally have some obscure import for under $15 - like the $9 torrontés I found at Ralph’s (which turned out to be a dud). (more…)