wine sooth

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…)

It’s been a rough week and I’ve really indulged tonight. The wine I am drinking is helping keep the distractions in my mind at bay. And that’s a good thing. There is a lot going on in my life and in my head. The common thread through it all is: “legacy”.

This weekend, I was reading an L.A. Times piece about the AP coming to a head with bloggers over copyright issues. This reminded me of a conversation I had at the time of J.K. Rowling’s law suit against the operator of a Harry Potter fan site. For me, this all ties in with the resurgence of interest in and discussion of organizing the wine blogging world and the legacy that will forge. (more…)

In discussions elsewhere, I have stated my support for a region-based (rather than variety-based) appellation and labeling system in the US. I firmly believe that greater wine quality (and global standing of American wine) can be achieved through matching grape to site.

Dan Berger, in his recent piece on Appellation America, says that due to the “spirit of the free-enterprise system” and the lack of a “legal model that mandated which grapes could grow where and still carry the regional name, a regional-naming system was doomed“. The system was embraced by the consumer who now drives and propagates it. Worse, though, this drive to satisfy mainstream preferences and demand seems to be affecting a trend towards soulless wine. (more…)

A few days ago, Mark Fisher wrote in his blog, Uncorked, about Ohio’s new Quality Wine Program.

This program, sponsored by the Ohio Grape Industries Committee and the Ohio State University Agricultural Research and Development Center’s Viticulture and Enology Program, is intended to elevate the status of Ohio’s wines made from Ohio grapes. There is also more detail here.

Part of this includes creating a “rating system based on industry standards to identify the best estate-grown wines in Ohio”. A mark would be applied to those wines meeting or exceeding the criteria set forth by the program. While I commonly support standardization and certification endeavors, my purpose here is not to defend the practice. (more…)

After reading this story on CNN, I thought about the upcoming Wine Bloggers Conference and the challenges and opportunities facing wine bloggers.There is an ironic parallel between the lay of the land in today’s TV and wine blogging: While television is seeking to move its entertainment content past the conventional and traditional medium and into the digital ether, many bloggers are looking to expand their brands, presence and visibility to the off-line realm and monetize in both spheres. In both mediums, though, there is an overabundance of choice, and the CNN piece suggests TV viewers may be feeling overwhelmed. Perhaps the same is true for seekers of online wine information.

This boom in wine blogging will undoubtedly be followed by some sort of settling or involution and (as discouraging as it may sound) a weeding-out process. That can have good and bad consequences. One argument would be that diversity of thought and opinion would be lost. Another would be that those left standing were “fit” enough to survive. I personally believe that there is strength in numbers and the loss of those who are currently minor players will be a detriment of the wine blogging genre. (more…)