Two things you can do about H.R. 5034

Stop H.R. 5034

In the last month, an insidious piece of proposed legislation has been introduced for discussion in the House of Representatives.

H.R. 5034, the “Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2010” (cynically: “CARE”) is being sold as a Public Safety/Health and State’s Rights bill. It is not. It is an economic power grab by the National Beer Wholesalers and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America.

The reason why this bill is important to all wine lovers (and to those who care about Central Coast wines) is that this bill will absolutely kill the small-production wineries which make up a large part of the Central Coast wine landscape. With that will go jobs and economic stability (or what ever semblance of it the Central Coast wine industry currently has). Read More

What’s good for Riesling is good for Syrah

Consumers find comfort in graphic indicators of style.

Riesling and Syrah have much in common. Not genetically, of course, but in that they both vary widely in styles. Perhaps Syrah producers should take a cue from the International Riesling Foundation, which introduced the Riesling Taste Profile, as a device to “help consumers predict the taste in a particular bottle of Riesling“.

Not too long ago, I was privately asked for ideas on how to improve Syrah’s image (and, thus, sales). It’s painfully difficult to move Syrah these days. The winemaker who sought out my input attributed this to the variety’s stylistic variation. I’m inclined to agree with him. A broad spectrum of choices can lead to confusion and subsequent reluctance on the consumer’s part. Read More

The next stage of my two careers

Discovery Health

I remember listening to Drew Pinsky on Loveline on KROQ, back when he sat opposite Poorman. I never thought that, years later, Drew and I would be working together on a TV series, set to air on Discovery Health Channel next season.

On the recent season of Drew’s show, Celebrity Rehab, two of his patients underwent functional brain scans as part of their evaluation and treatment (videos here and here). I reached out to Drew after the shows aired and we struck up a wonderful conversation discussing our respective fields of work. It turned out that we live quite close to each other. One thing led to another, and we are now filming our show. Read More

Ratings, serendipity and selling wine

97 points.

Today, on PalatePress.com, Ben Simons thinks out loud about the place and utility of wine rating. I did a very light edit of this well-written piece. The day after I received the assignment, my Google alerts notified me about an article in a seemingly obscure journal in which the wine rating scale I had developed for redwinebuzz.com is compared to some pretty formidable contenders. Read More

Young and old

Young and old

I recently wrote about a wine brand out of the Central Coast which is designed to be a line of non-vintage wines. In the conversation I had with winemaker Austin Hope, Austin was very enthusiastic about the idea of making all of his company’s wines as non-vintage wines.

This is not a novel idea. Not all that long ago, almost all California wines were made in this manner. It was a way to make good wines, optimally consistent with the house style. Historically (and probably all over the world), it seems, vintage designation was used to mark exceptional wines from a single year in which the wine needed no help or tweaking. Other years, wine was blended from various lots. Read More

Guigal & El Pollo Loco

Necessity is the mother of compromise.

Funny how necessity and desire can come to a convergence sometimes. It makes for unexpected pairings and some food for thought.

The other night, I cleared the towering stack of work, the kids were done with homework and dinner time was nearing and I did not have time to cook. I decided to run out for some EPL: low effort, and most harmless (and least expensive) of all the take out options in the vicinity.

I NEEDED to eat because I’d skipped lunch. I WANTED a drink because after a day of work craziness, the kids’ squabbling was pushing me over the edge. Read More

Illegitimi: Germino!

Illegitimi: Germino!!!

Growing a plant from seeds is equivalent to Assisted Fertility: it takes a lot of time and resources and is often not going to work.

Much of the success (of IVF and germination of seeds) depends on the quality of the eggs/seeds. It’s now been a week since I prepped and planted my grape seeds. I’ve been keeping the tray in a warm place and watched the soil moisture. Read More