Yao Ming Retires

It hasn’t been often that I’ve either written about sports in this space as of late, or frankly updated this blog. That has a lot to do, of course with being largely responsible for writing our official company blog over at Uncorked Ventures. While I certainly enjoy the work, it isn’t easy to write two [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/649

Nichole Robinson Nicky Hilton Nicole Richie Nicole Scherzinger

On Family and How I Came to Understand that Location Matters

My Dad, Lawrence F. Lefevere, died on Saturday, July 9th and was laid to rest on Wednesday, July 13th.

He was young, just 64 years old.

The last 10 months (to say nothing of the last couple of years), have been hard.  My brother, sister and I carried principal responsibility for ensuring appropriate care for my Dad as he slid into full vascular dementia, the accumulation of brain damage in stroke patients, with the same needs as those with Alzheimer’s.

Accordingly, regular readers of this site have probably noticed that my writing output has dropped off precipitously this year; the result of the increased responsibility with my Dad’s care, which itself coincided with new and demanding responsibilities at work.  I prioritized appropriately, and in so doing my creativity and inveterate curiosity in wine slowed to, if not idle, at least first gear, as did my available time. 

This public acknowledgement of the private challenges I’ve been experiencing should not be mistaken for a eulogy to my father.  I’m not able to quantify in mere words what the loss of my Dad means to me.  In fact, I haven’t come to grips with his mortality yet, still dealing with an open wound and flowers hither and yon around the house. 

image

No, instead, this is a brief rumination on wine and, more specifically, what I’ve recently come to understand about wine and the importance of place.

Over the last week or so more than a few people said to me, “Your Dad was ‘Old School’” and “They don’t make them like Larry anymore.” Or, “He was definitely his own man.”

They’re right.  He was “Old School” and damn proud of it thankyouverymuch; he was very much a throwback to a different era, a product of where he came from, the kind of guy that can’t be popped out of a cookie cutter mold and dropped into the suburbs.  My Dad grew up in a place that scarcely exists anymore – a Midwestern post-World War II middle-class clapboard neighborhood with both a tavern and a Catholic church within a stone’s throw of the front stoop.  He was raised by two working parents, one a laborer and the other clerical, neither of whom was educated beyond high school.  He was a Baby Boomer who went to Vietnam raised his family and worked 60 hour weeks for nearly my entire life.

My Dad smoked and drank and cursed; he was stubborn, principled, self-possessed, he spent little, saved a lot, paid tuition for all 16 years of his kids education (Catholic schools through high school and then college), was funny, loyal, loved Notre Dame football and was a complete and utter technophobe, never advancing beyond hunting and pecking on a typewriter.

And, to my knowledge, he never saw anything I’ve written about wine, much less understood my interest in something that didn’t come from Stroh’s brewery.  I am a “New World,” contemporary counterpoint to my Dad’s traditional ways.

Yet, my Dad has helped me come to a new appreciation about wine, at least wine that speaks of where it comes from—in sensibility and stridency.

Over the last several years, The Office of Champagne in the US has been on something of a long-term sustained warpath(Center for Wine Origins) in protecting the value of origins in naming i.e. Champagne comes from Champagne, France and nowhere else. Likewise, in this sensibility, Port wine can only come from Portugal. 

When it comes to this Champagne “Location Matters” campaign, I’ve always played both sides of the fence; never too with the Champagne and Port campaigns nor too against.  Kind of right down the middle, but leaning towards an arched eyebrow and the notion that there are more important things to do and spend money on then marketing and bleating about how, “Champagne only comes from Champagne, France.”  Especially when trying to undo 30 years of ingrained consumer habit.

As I celebrate my Dad’s life and fondly recall what a unique person he was, where he came from, what he lived through, how he was a distinct product of his time, place and environment—unmistakably unique in personality and ethos based on his roots and his life experiences, and ultimately buried just miles from where he was born, I’ve come to realize that location does matter.

I realize that he is the result of a confluence of circumstances that are unique to him, and not able to be duplicated.

As I’ve thought about my Dad’s life, as unique as he was, indeed, he couldn’t have come from any other place than South Bend, IN, just as I now see that dammit, yes, Champagne comes only from Champagne, France.

I get it.

My dad may have been an “Old School” guy that didn’t know anything about wine, but he posthumously taught me to appreciate the, “Old World,” as well.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/on_family_and_how_i_came_to_understand_that_location_matters1/

Katherine Heigl Katie Cassidy Katie Holmes Katy Perry

On Family and How I Came to Understand that Location Matters

My Dad, Lawrence F. Lefevere, died on Saturday, July 9th and was laid to rest on Wednesday, July 13th.

He was young, just 64 years old.

The last 10 months (to say nothing of the last couple of years), have been hard.  My brother, sister and I carried principal responsibility for ensuring appropriate care for my Dad as he slid into full vascular dementia, the accumulation of brain damage in stroke patients, with the same needs as those with Alzheimer’s.

Accordingly, regular readers of this site have probably noticed that my writing output has dropped off precipitously this year; the result of the increased responsibility with my Dad’s care, which itself coincided with new and demanding responsibilities at work.  I prioritized appropriately, and in so doing my creativity and inveterate curiosity in wine slowed to, if not idle, at least first gear, as did my available time. 

This public acknowledgement of the private challenges I’ve been experiencing should not be mistaken for a eulogy to my father.  I’m not able to quantify in mere words what the loss of my Dad means to me.  In fact, I haven’t come to grips with his mortality yet, still dealing with an open wound and flowers hither and yon around the house. 

image

No, instead, this is a brief rumination on wine and, more specifically, what I’ve recently come to understand about wine and the importance of place.

Over the last week or so more than a few people said to me, “Your Dad was ‘Old School’” and “They don’t make them like Larry anymore.” Or, “He was definitely his own man.”

They’re right.  He was “Old School” and damn proud of it thankyouverymuch; he was very much a throwback to a different era, a product of where he came from, the kind of guy that can’t be popped out of a cookie cutter mold and dropped into the suburbs.  My Dad grew up in a place that scarcely exists anymore – a Midwestern post-World War II middle-class clapboard neighborhood with both a tavern and a Catholic church within a stone’s throw of the front stoop.  He was raised by two working parents, one a laborer and the other clerical, neither of whom was educated beyond high school.  He was a Baby Boomer who went to Vietnam raised his family and worked 60 hour weeks for nearly my entire life.

My Dad smoked and drank and cursed; he was stubborn, principled, self-possessed, he spent little, saved a lot, paid tuition for all 16 years of his kids education (Catholic schools through high school and then college), was funny, loyal, loved Notre Dame football and was a complete and utter technophobe, never advancing beyond hunting and pecking on a typewriter.

And, to my knowledge, he never saw anything I’ve written about wine, much less understood my interest in something that didn’t come from Stroh’s brewery.  I am a “New World,” contemporary counterpoint to my Dad’s traditional ways.

Yet, my Dad has helped me come to a new appreciation about wine, at least wine that speaks of where it comes from—in sensibility and stridency.

Over the last several years, The Office of Champagne in the US has been on something of a long-term sustained warpath(Center for Wine Origins) in protecting the value of origins in naming i.e. Champagne comes from Champagne, France and nowhere else. Likewise, in this sensibility, Port wine can only come from Portugal. 

When it comes to this Champagne “Location Matters” campaign, I’ve always played both sides of the fence; never too with the Champagne and Port campaigns nor too against.  Kind of right down the middle, but leaning towards an arched eyebrow and the notion that there are more important things to do and spend money on then marketing and bleating about how, “Champagne only comes from Champagne, France.”  Especially when trying to undo 30 years of ingrained consumer habit.

As I celebrate my Dad’s life and fondly recall what a unique person he was, where he came from, what he lived through, how he was a distinct product of his time, place and environment—unmistakably unique in personality and ethos based on his roots and his life experiences, and ultimately buried just miles from where he was born, I’ve come to realize that location does matter.

I realize that he is the result of a confluence of circumstances that are unique to him, and not able to be duplicated.

As I’ve thought about my Dad’s life, as unique as he was, indeed, he couldn’t have come from any other place than South Bend, IN, just as I now see that dammit, yes, Champagne comes only from Champagne, France.

I get it.

My dad may have been an “Old School” guy that didn’t know anything about wine, but he posthumously taught me to appreciate the, “Old World,” as well.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/on_family_and_how_i_came_to_understand_that_location_matters1/

Monica Potter Monika Kramlik Moon Bloodgood Mýa

You can?t call it that ? Budini edition

I just got an email from the importer of a 17,000-case Argentine malbec called Budini, which will now be called Bodini. Here’s why: Vine Connections recently made the decision (or should I say that we were strongly advised by some attorneys to make the decision) to change the name of the wine formerly known as [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/EEKH1Jnt-YE/

Kim Smith Kim Yoon jin Kirsten Dunst Krista Allen

Five from Stepping Stone

We?ve enjoyed pretty much everything that our friends at Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley have sent us to sample over the past few years, from both their flagship Cornerstone label and their second, Stepping Stone. Recently, we took possession of five of the current Stepping Stone offerings, and tried them over a series of evenings. [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/xuy1y4Xfl_o/five-from-stepping-stone

Sarah Gellman Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Mutch Sarah Polley

2007 Sauternes & Barsac

Here you find the ratings of the 2007 Sauternes and Barsac wines from Robert Parker, Decanter and Wine Spectator: Sauternes & Barsac Decanter Wine Advocate WineSpectator Price Chateau d’Yquem ***** 19 96 - 98 97 - 100 Chateau Guiraud **** 17,5 92 - 94 91 - 94 Chateau La Tour Blanche **** 18 86 - 88 90 - 93 Chateau Lafaurie-Peyraguey **** 18 91 - 93 91 - 94 Chateau de Rayne-Vigneau ***** 19 91 - 93 92 - 95 Chateau [...]

Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/41/2007-sauternes-barsac/

Kristin Cavallari Kristin Kreuk Kristy Swanson Kylie Bax

Emilio Lustau, Sherry Dry Amontillado, ?Los Arcos? NV

Like a lot of American wine lovers, Sherry is a personal blind spot. It’s not that I haven’t had good or great Sherry ? in fact the only wine I have ever rated 100-points is a Sherry ? it’s just the style is hard to get your head around.  For starters, many Sherries are intentionally [...]

Emilio Lustau, Sherry Dry Amontillado, “Los Arcos” NV originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/nOPwDNjwl78/

Rozonda Thomas Saira Mohan Salma Hayek Samaire Armstrong

Aug. 18, 2011 Florida Jim Cowan?s 2011 Tasting Notes Archive-Part Two

The 2011 archive part 2 is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Part 1 may be found here. Prior year’s tasting notes may be found here. Aug. 18, 2011 1999 Hirtzberger, Grüner Veltliner Honivogl: 13.5% alcohol; precise and compact on both the nose and palate with perfect balance and an underlying stony [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/0axCLMWIxfU/jim-cowans-2011-tasting-notes-part-tw

Pink Piper Perabo Poppy Montgomery Portia de Rossi