Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen

Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen" might sound a little confusing? However the Berlin Tasting is a reference to a famous tasting held in Berlin the January 23. 2004. It was held by the Chilean wine producer Eduardo Chadwick from Errazuriz and he had invited 66 wine journalists from all over Europe to taste the best Chadwick wines from Chile against the supernames from Bordeaux and Tuscany. 16 wines were tasted from the vintages 2000 and 2001, among them 2000 Chateau Latour, 2000 Chateau Lafite and 2000 Chateau Margaux.

Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/37/berlin-tasting-in-copenhagen/

Sarah Polley Sarah Shahi Sarah Silverman Sarah Wynter

2009 Carlisle Sonoma County Syrah: Best QPR Ever?

Just when I was thinking "Hey it's been a while since Wine Spectator gave us a high QPR wine to chase after" they dropped a doozy on us yesterday. The 2009 Carlisle Sonoma County Syrah received a 97 point rating - and retails for just $25. Carlisle mailing list members were offered the wine for an even more incredible $19.50.

Carlisle produces Zinfandel and red Rhone varietal wines out of Sonoma. They've been cranking out high QPR wines for a while now so the name is familiar to wine deal hounds.

It's been a while since I fired up the wwpQPR calculator (what's that?) but I thought this might be the best QPR I've ever heard of. Using a baseline price of $30 (the point at which it is relatively easy to find 90 point domestic Syrah) the wwpQPR gives us a 6.05: Outstanding Value. I think that might indeed be the best value I've ever heard of.

Where to Buy

Well, that's the problem. With only 391 cases produced and mailing list that's been on to their reasonably priced high quality wines for a while this one is going to be tough. A quick wine-searcher.com search turns up a few retailers that claimed to have had it for $25 or under -- but when you click through it's all sold out.

Based on past experience with wines like these, we'll see the wine quickly evaporate at retail especially under $40. The wine will be available at high mark-up at some retailers and will be available on auction sites for $50 and up. At that point, it kind of wrecks the QPR. At $50 it's a 3.02 on the wwpQPR: Very Good. Still a nice value but not one to break your neck over.

What to Do Next

Jump on their mailing list. The pattern is clear with Carlisle - they're producing wines attaining incredibly high scores and they're holding the line on price. Sounds like the perfect mailing list to be a part of. Be prepared for a wait: I signed up a few years ago and haven't gotten an allocation.

Next, scour around wine-searcher looking for back vintages and other bottlings from Carlisle. This bodes well for their 2009 offerings and I hear their 2006s were also amazing.

It's interesting to watch the CellarTracker reviews come in for a wine like this. Prior to the Spectator rating coming out yesterday, the ratings are about what you'd expect for a $25 wine from Carlisle: 90-93 points. A note published yesterday after the Spectator rating came out? 95 points.

I've discussed this pheonomenon with friends before -- how CellarTracker is an excellent resource to consult when deciding whether to take advantage of a wine deal. But there is often a high rating/price correlation on CellarTracker since most regular wine enthusiasts like us taste non-blind. Throw in a little 97-point Wine Spectator bias and it often pulls the CellarTracker ratings up a bit.

Definitely a topic for further discussion. I'd love it if you subscribed to the site so we can continue the conversation.

And consider subscribing to Wine Spectator. You can even use airline miles if you'd like.

Question of the Day: Have you seen this wine available at retail? Any tips for buying this wine or similar offerings from Carlisle in the open market?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/TvRPZqdvWv4/2009-carlisle-sonoma-county-syrah-best.html

Maria Sharapova Mariah Carey Mariah OBrien Marika Dominczyk

It?s Time For Radical Simplification of Old World Wine Labeling

I’m a traditionalist but also a realist. And I think now is the time to shake up the centuries old wine labeling and classification systems that have stood as a barrier to selling many Old World wines to American consumers. Case in point is Germany where a tradition of bad Middle Ages typography continues on [...]

It’s Time For Radical Simplification of Old World Wine Labeling originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/O3SxpboWGf4/

Lucy Liu Luján Fernández Magdalena Wróbel Maggie Grace

Wine Politics and Silly Season Go Local in Oregon

Weary from HR 1161 and national wine politics?  Don’t look to Oregon for respite.  There, its silly season for local politics and it’s wearing the patience of the well-intentioned causing furrowed brows as an assault against reason takes place.

By nearly universal account, Ed King, founder of King Estate in Lane County in the southern Willamette Valley, has built something from nothing – with vision and moxie he has created the largest winery in Oregon.  His is an internationally renowned, sustainable, certified organic estate winery on a 1033 acre property in an area that didn’t have much going for it when he started in 1991.

Planted to 465 acres of grapes and another 35 acres in fruits, vegetables and flowers, King Estate is an exemplar of respecting the land as an ecosystem, supporting farm-to-table cuisine as a way of life (before it became trendy), job creation with a staff of over 200 and a payroll of over $5M a year (nurturing a local economy in the process) while paying heed to the so-called, “Triple Bottom Line” – the notion that a business can be profitable, people-oriented and environmentally sound (this interactive map gives insight into the management of the estate). 

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In fact, King Estate achieved what many aspire to, but few attain in the wine business:  The creation of a national brand that doesn’t compromise on its core values of agricultural stewardship.  Editorial note to Ed King:  Start name-checking obscure literature reference points, footnote your missives and hire Randall Grahm’s PR apparatus to super-size your well-deserved mojo.

Yet, despite being a beacon of light for how to run a business, King Estate finds itself in the middle of a political sticky wicket from land use advocates.

A tiny operation, the Goal One Coalition is a public interest group that serves to mobilize citizens on issues related to global warming and a “limited number” of land use issues.  My interpretation of, “limited number” means they get their knickers in a twist at least once a year on a minor issue that justifies their existence in the annual report.

Using McCarthyism as a tactic, Goal One has picked a fight with King Estate and the nexus of the issue is a case study in the pointless nature of most politics, absent reason and distinctly partisan in nature.  Let it be said that sometimes a democracy is a drawback, nothing ever gets accomplished in a committee and while all opinions are equal, some are more equal than others.

You see, King Estate had the temerity to establish a restaurant on their grounds in 2005 and pair their wines with estate-grown comestibles along with foodstuff from local farmers and food artisans.

While the restaurant wasn’t an issue for several years, the formerly lackadaisical Lane County land management division encouraged several of the larger wineries, including King Estate, to start submitting for permits for special events and restaurant activity on a volunteer basis in 2009.  King Estate did just that – submitting an application in October of 2009 and their application was approved in December, 2010, some 15 months later (Lane County officials are, apparently, very busy … ahem).

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Unfortunately, in the intervening months, the state of Oregon passed Senate Bill 1055 and, well, when it comes to politics the state and the local folks don’t much communicate (see also:  formerly lackadaisical)

Under Senate Bill 1055, newly signed into law, a winery is only allowed to sell things that are incidental to the retail sale of wine, including items that would be in a limited-service restaurant, as defined by another Oregon statute.  That statute dictates that a limited-service restaurant means, “pre-packaged” food.

So, what do you think happened when King Estate finally received its permit from Lane County?  Yup, you got it – the Goal One Coalition appealed it on the basis that the newly installed Oregon law from Senate Bill 1055 meant that King Estate’s restaurant that had just received its permit from Lane County was in violation of the new law.

Do you see where this is going?  King Estate, an all organic estate vineyard with a five year old farm-to-table restaurant voluntarily submitting for permitting, waylaid by a new law, was being poked in the chest by radical land use extremists and might have to serve pre-packaged food at its restaurant based on a small technicality…

This makes perfect sense doesn’t it; it’s completely rational, right?  Paging Bizarro Superman... 

And, of course, the land use Nazi’s realized that King Estate has been operating the restaurant for the last five years, has never had a complaint from a neighbor, serves farm-to-table food that supports the local community and treats its land like the crown jewel that it is in the Southern Willamette Valley.  Right? 

Flash forward a couple of months and House Bill 3280 is introduced to right some of the wrongs from the former Senate Bill 1055 including giving the capability for a newly designated, “Landmark” winery (a winery that produces 150K + gallons of wine per year in at least three out of five years) to operate a restaurant.

As of May 2nd, House Bill 3280 passed the House with a resounding vote of 52-3 and it moves on to the Senate for vote, as well.  Thank goodness somebody is demonstrating some rational thought even if it probably took thousands of dollars in lobbyists’ money to do so …

Signing the King Estate petition is still a valid exercise until the Senate bill is approved.  If you’re so inclined, you can do so here.  Personally, I like the notion of a national readership carpet bombing a local petition, but then I’m a benevolent anarchist at heart.

Hopefully, reason beholds the Oregon legislature giving King Estate a clear path forward in continuing to serve food and wine together at the sustainable table, as they should be, and we can turn our focus onto other nefarious activity including HR 1161.

Politics, man.  Got love it.  Or, not.

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

Saira Mohan Salma Hayek Samaire Armstrong Samantha Mathis

Coming Wine Literary Treats of 2011

What's coming down the wine literary path? That's what I wanted to know. Looking at Amazon's list of future releases in the Wine Book category we see a bevy of interesting reading material coming our way in the future. Here...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog/~3/NvIhIVM_Fko/coming-wine-literary-treats-of-2011.html

Olivia Wilde Padma Lakshmi Paige Butcher Pamela Anderson

CrossRoads Winery Bottling

All I can say is what a wonderful weekend with the wife and great friends at CrossRoads.  Last night we had the Murder Mystery dinner with a theme set back in the early 50?s with wonderful food and great wine and friends. Today the wife and I had the opportunity to yet again be part [...]

Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2011/06/26/crossroads-winery-bottling/

Lorri Bagley Lucy Liu Luján Fernández Magdalena Wróbel