Wine and the economy

posted by John in Wine Industry, Wine, Guest Bloggers

This past Sunday I was at Loxton Cellars working at the tasting bar as I usually do.  It was the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend.  Typically the Sunday of a long weekend is the busiest day of the three day weekend.  So mentally, I had prepared myself for a little bit of chaos.  Philip and Mark can attest that the tasting room at Loxton is not that big.  Well, the space is big but the space is also used for 256 barrels, the winery office, the winery lab (which doubles as the kitchen) and the winery restroom.  If you get more than 10 people in this space it gets busy.

The everything room @ Loxton Cellars

What happened was not pure chaos but peaks and valleys of visitors.  While not ideal, we did manage to see a lot of people and the best part, for us, was that we sold a bunch of wine.  In those valleys of calmness it gave me an opportunity to think about and discuss with my coworkers for the day, Chris the owner and wine maker of Loxton, and Barrett, part-time Loxton guy like me and training to be a sommelier, what the impact of the current economic state has had on the wine industry.

What I am going to say is based on observation of my time at the winery and what I see when I’m in wine country.  I didn’t do any hard research.  So what effect has the slowing of the US economy had on the wine industry?  By my account, not a whole lot.  In fact, I would argue that there isn’t much of a change at all.

Again, I’m speaking based on my perspective.  We’ve seen less people at Loxton compared to this point last year.  However, the winter this year was especially long and wet in Sonoma.  People just don’t like going out in wine country when it’s wet and cold and this includes the locals.  Weather is a huge factor to us both to the number of visitors and the quality of our product.  Good weather is something we pray for.

The real determination for us, as a business, to whether the weak economy is affecting us is our sales.  It is true that first quarter sales were lower than last year.  However, if we factor in that we saw less people because of the weather then we need to look at another measure to really compare.  That figure would be average dollar amount per purchase.  When we looked at this it wasn’t very different.  In fact it was a single digit difference from last year.  So it appears that when people did visit us and made purchases they were purchasing the same amount of wine they were the year before.

What about sales to date?  The total number of purchases?  It can be easy to rationalize events.  View them in a way that makes them seem normal maybe even look good or optimistic.  However, when you look in your bank account the truth will hit you.  Is there money there or not?  For us, we can’t complain.  Sales are a little bit off from last year but that can be attributed to the slow start to the year.  This, as I stated earlier, was due to the crappy weather.  People are still buying our wine.

This brings me back to the Memorial Day weekend.  While we did have time to talk about some these topics the fact is we were pretty damn busy.  We saw a lot of people and those people were buying wine.  We had to turn away a van of twenty, twenty-something women, we just didn’t have enough staff to serve everyone.  Sales wise, we were right on target with last year.  While I can’t say for sure that the slow economy US is not affecting the wine industry it doesn’t seem to have as much an effect on us.

Monterey Pinot Noir

posted by philip in Wine

Hands up if you’ve had a wine from Monterey.

Of the 850 wines that I’ve rated on Snooth, I’ve had around 15 from there. Pretty poor considering the size of the region and the quality of wines made there: 40,000 acres of grapes farmed, across 9 AVA’a along an 85 mile long valley with over 80 wineries calling the county home.

Monterey was originally flat, until plate tectonics forced the landscape into the mountains of today. This led to all the fertile top soil collecting in the valley, making that area incredibly fertile (lots of lettuce is grown there). The wineries are generally situated along the narrow band between the fertile valley floor and the inhospitable upper reaches of the mountains.

If you look at the image below, you can see that the valley acts like a wind tunnel. Hot air rises and moves out to see, where it descends and then the cool (wet in the morning) air gets blown onto the land as a ‘land breeze’. By mid afternoon its a solid 30 miles an hour, before it calms down at night. These cool winds keep the temperature around 65 degrees up by the bay, where the growing season is incredibly long: wineries are often harvesting into November.

Thanks to Brad Martin of Morgan Winery for allowing us to use this image.

Down in Arroyo Seco it doesn’t rain much. Around 6-8 inches annually in common (compare that to 30-40 in Napa). Due to this, and the alluvial soils, irrigation is a necessity. However, as a result, wineries can control exactly how much water the vines receive.

Because of the cool conditions and the long growing season the resulting wine is very Burgundian: high acidity, lots of minerality. However, different than Burgundy, the wines tend to have a more youthful fruit forward, clean fruit expression.

I attended a Monterey Pinot Noir tasting recently and here are the four wines I tried:

Morgan Winery Double L 2006 Pinot Noir ($62) - A real family owned winery, founded in 1982 they didnt event have a tasting room until 2007! Made from 11 year old vines, this is the only organic winery in the appellation. The grapes come from 12 clones across 8 rootstocks giving them a lot of diversity. Its grown on poor soil, with dense plantings. Rich powerful nose of cherry and leather, very fruity in the nose. A very powerful wine, firm tannins, still young and tight, but with a lot of potential. Very mineral, very acidic. (Snoothrank: 4)

J. Lohr Fog’s Reach Vineyard 2006 Pinot Noir ($35) - J Lohr originally planted pinot noir in the 70’s, but ripped them out after 5 years. Apparently they were old clones and back then no one really knew how to grow pinot too well. In 2002 they replanted 4 dijon clones on 2 rootstocks giving 8 different combinations. This is their first release of this wine, so i was excited to taste it. Yields were 3 tons per acre, and they did an early morning harvest, the grapes were indoors by 10am, and then they did individual berry (rather than whole cluster) sorting. The wine opens with a slightly hot nose, but its very fruity too: cherry and pomegranite. Starts slowly on some very soft tannins with some minerality. There’s more body on the finish, including some minerality and raspberry. Still its a softer pinot than the nose suggests. Finish is nice, if a tad tight. (Snoothrank: 3.5)

Carmel Road Monterey 2006 Pinot Noir ($19) - 30,000 cases made. Estate grown coming from 4 vineyards east of highway 101. Opens with a touch of alcohol on the nose, followed by lots of leather and cherry and a surprising amount of minerality. Its very Burgundian in style throughout. In the mouth this wine has notes of cherry and a hint of spice and lots of nice tannins on the finish, with a hint of vanilla. What intrigued me most was the persistent minerality throughout - from the nose to the finish. Pair with spaghetti bolognese. (Snoothrank: 3.5)

San Saba Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir ($28) - The grapes come from the 4 major dijon clones (115, 667, 777 and pommard 4) which were planted 5 years ago. Opens with a light elegant nose, with some light earth. Its very fruity too - bright strawberry tase. Ultra light wine that has soft persistent tannins. The strawberry persists to the finish. A bright youthful, yet elegant wine. Aged 9 months in 50% new oak. 600 cases made. (Snoothrank: 4.5)

Music and Wine

posted by Adam in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers, Music

The concept of pairing wine and music has been gaining in popularity especially as a result of two recent news items. A paper published by Heriot Watt University, proves that music can “enhance” the taste of wine by an average of 36%. Another enthusiast for the concept is Clark Smith, of California based Vinovation, who has successfully tested his wine and music pairing theories on NPR with Day to Day’s Alex Cohen.

If we are passionate about our personal “taste” (as most of us are), when we experience something we like, we are naturally inclined to want to know more about it. In my 17 year music industry career, I have listened to a lot of music. I’d estimate I hear 40-50 new products per week. It was not until four years ago, when l I moved to California, that I truly experienced a “love” of wine. Being new to wine, I have a much more developed sense of my own taste in music and much more of an ability to articulate my likes and dislikes. As I taste new wines, I have by instinct included music in my tasting notes. I include detail on music that I would associate with the tasting experience or on the specific music that was playing at the time of the tasting. I find that associating something I know (music) with something I don’t know (wine) is a natural fit, and that it makes discovery of the less familiar product easier to archive and therefore more retainable.

I estimate that there is an infinite choice opportunity in pairing wine and music and that such opportunity welcomes everyone into the conversation from expert to novice. A lot of purists might argue that ONLY classical music can be paired with wine but I tend to disagree. Music has been proven to make wine taste different, not necessarily better, and therefore our interpretation of the effects is a matter of personal taste. With the abundance of choice available in music as a result of digital distribution (Music 2.0), and in wine as a result of direct-to-consumer sales (Wine 2.0), it is a natural step to have the two become more familiar with one another from a relational perspective.

When pairing wine and music, I find that this enhanced experience is as much about context as it is about “taste”. Wine and Food pairing catch phrases such as “if it grows there, it goes there” also can hold a certain relevance in pairing wine and music, but there is much more to consider. The overlapping commercial details for both Wine and Music are REGION, LABEL, YEAR, STYLE and PRODUCER.

With each post, I will include a pairing of wine and music. In each case, the musician(s) will have provided their permission to offer a free song as part of the pairing so that we can all share in the experience. Special thanks to Philip for the opportunity to share my ideas with Snooth, and thanks to the musicians for letting us use their music for this purpose.

Wine: 2006 Blicks Lane Sauvignon Blanc

Wine Region: Marlborough, New Zealand

Wine Label: Blicks Lane / Walnut Block

Wine Year: 2006

Wine Type: White: Sauvignon Blanc

Wine Description: From the sun drenched fields of Marlborough, New Zealand, Blicks Lane Sauvignon Blanc is a crisp and full bodied white with flavors of spice, mango and tropical fruit. Blicks Lane, a product of Walnut Block, is produced by brothers Clyde and Nigel Sowman. Walnut Block is a “boutique winery producing high quality wines” and is located in the Wairu Valley - an ancient dry river bed which has created a prime growing area for great wines.

Music: The Weather Underground

Music Region: Los Angeles, California

Music Label: ReapandSow

Music Year: 2008

Music Type: Rock: Soul/Blues

Music Description: From the sunny coast of Los Angeles, California, The Weather Underground is a 4-piece rock band with great hooks and insightful lyrics - an exciting and original sound incorporating both soul and blues. The Weather Underground’s website lists revolutionary influences from the 60s and 70s such as Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone and Jack Kerouac. The band’s label ReapandSow uses the slogan “planting music in your mind”. The Weather Underground is currently touring the United States with artists such as Delta Spirit and The French Kicks, and is performing at Bonaroo.

Included at the end of this post is the song “All Ye People” performed by The Weather Underground. This track is from their latest EP “Bird in the Hand” and is mellow and soft (complimentary of whites as per Heriot Watt University) with a beautiful chorus and refreshing lyrics. This song has a gentle touch of slide guitar and a great and vibrant hook that culminates with a full arrangement of instrumentation that is profound and powerful. I find that the track pulls the flavor from the wine, really bringing out the fruit.

Tasting Notes:

The music and the wine are both of great quality. In context, the region of Marlborough, New Zealand could be compared to what LA is to the US Music scene - many international stars come out of both regions, and there is plenty of competition to stand out and be noticed amongst the crowd. Many positive characteristics of The Weather Underground are shared with the Blicks Lane, which has a tinge of spice and tropical fruit with a great length and an explosively pleasant and full bodied taste that plays to the taste buds. The entire EP “Bird in the Hand” is a good mix with this wine, but the track All ye People really stands out as a perfect companion to a glass of this Blicks Lane Sauvignon Blanc.

The music of The Weather Underground is insightful and whimsical in a way that is lacking from modern pop radio- much in the way the Blicks Lane avoids any of the modern formulaic and passion-free wine making tactics. Walnut Block claims it is “dedicated to vineyard management and careful winemaking” and it shows. Both products stand out amongst their peers with a gleaming sense of innovation and integrity. There is no lack of passion or willingness, rather strong and time tested methods with a clear sense of purpose.

In each case, the product is fresh and crisp - aspects which I tend to enjoy from my white wine and my music. Both the Blicks Lane, and The Weather Underground are great expressions of what their region’s do best, and are a perfect match for the long Summer days ahead.

The Weather Underground - All Ye People - all_ye_people.mp3

Adam Rabinovitz is Senior Director of Retail Marketing at IODA, the global leader in digital distribution, marketing, and technology solutions for the independent music industry. IODA distributes music from over 4000 labels, representing over 50 different countries and over 170 different genre styles.

London Calling

posted by Robert in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

Trade fairs, no matter the trade, are a Darwinian exercise in survival of the fittest; specifically survival of the flashiest. I am often reminded of Bourbon Street in New Orleans with its lineup of colorful hawkers trying to separate the unwary tourist from their vacation budget. Trade fairs for the wine industry are really no different but the intrepid traveler can find bits of wisdom strewn among the flash, after all you can find a good cocktail for a reasonable price on Bourbon Street, it just shouldn’t be your first choice of locales if that is your goal.

The London International Wine Fair should be different, it isn’t, but it should be. The English drinks trade prides itself on being sophisticated, erudite and staid and how this translates into two women in lingerie cradling a bottle of pink vodka and a whip I am not sure. However, having just returned from this annual festival of lights I thought I might share with you some of the more interesting items that I managed to pick up amongst the bright lights and shiny baubles.

The world drinks industry is somehow only now realizing that women purchase wine & spirits (how you get to be a multibillion dollar industry without noticing this is a discussion for another day) and have turned their mighty marketing energy to tap this significant portion of the population that currently purchases almost 60% of all wine and half of all spirits. Yeah, I know, I am confused too, seems they are already doing a good job of marketing to women and that it is men they need to be focused on. This discrepancy won’t be a problem much longer if the trend in marketing to women that I saw in London is any indication. Beside the aforementioned lingerie models and pink vodka there was a host of other standard wine & spirits bottles that were either curvy, painted pink or as the vodka dyed pink directly all culminating in my favorite example - a pink-bottled (ala Pepto-Bismol) liqueur called Girl. Women of the world unite. Note to the drinks industry, unless you are willingly courting the 6-8 year-old girl crowd I would re-think your strategy.

There was one interesting wine product that I am not sure how I feel about yet. It could be a great way to introduce people to wine and understanding wine or a great opportunity to combine kitsch and embarrassment. I-wine is a bottle of blind wine with the actual grape variety hidden under the bottles main label and revealed by pulling this label off. To further aid you along in this journey you are provided with two scratch-n-sniff aroma strips. Yes, I said scratch-n-sniff. Take that Bordeaux classification of 1855 with your “no scratch-n-stiff” AOC regulations.

Overall the fair this year had few highlights; however, I did manage to speak to various different producers from Italy to get their opinion on the ongoing situation in Montalcino. The general consensus is that any commercial blowback will be limited to this section of the boot. Wishful thinking? Maybe but the producers made a good point that the Italian wine customer is very broad based and ticking off Brunello customers shouldn’t affect other high end Italian wines and certainly not the bread and butter value wines that Italy is famous for. It may take years for Brunello to recover but the state of Italian wine is still fairly healthy. I hope they are right as I would hate to see this one hiccup disturb the great work that has been done in Italy over these last few years. Now I have to go and review this new vodka designed for men, it is dyed blue, called “Macho Beast” and the bottle is shaped like a…no, that can’t be.

Robert Scibelli is a lecturer and administrator at New York’s premier wine school, International Wine Center.

Chocolate and Wine?

posted by Kirstin in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

While its rumored that the gods (Zeus in particular) devoured chocolate and wine every hour, on the hour, I’ve never been a huge fan of the combo. In fact, it wasn’t until recently that I relatively enjoyed the two in the same bite. The countless other times I tried them as one, the acid was off, the chocolate was too sweet for the wine, or the wine was too full of itself to submit to the chocolate.

Then I had a Madiran and chocolate together. Mainly Tannat based, the Madiran had the stuff to lull the chocolate into submission. Dark and creamy, the chocolate was a sucker for the wine. Fierce and strong-headed, the tannic wine coated the chocolate from the harsh outside world (my tongue).

Since then, I’ve had a few other wines that I’ve liked with chocolate. The other was a big Cahors, also from Southwest France, but Malbec, instead of Tannat based. For the life of me, I can’t remember the other one, but I know that it was not a California Cab or Merlot, like what so many suggest is the best pairing with cocoa.

So in preparation of my weekly post on my wine and food pairing blog, my question is, what are the best chocolate pairings that you’ve had? The worst? And please, don’t just give me pairing suggestions that you’ve heard tastes good. I want to hear what you’ve liked and what made you want to throw the chocolate out of the window (but close to the house still so that you can claim it and eat it after your fit).

I’m asking because most of my wine and chocolate consuming pairing attempts have been failures, and with chocolate, I want happy conquests.

Kirstin Jackson Ellis works as a wine bar manager and wine and food consultant in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about wine and food pairing at Vin de La Table, her luxurious and lighthearted blog.

Summer Time Reds 101

posted by Callie in Wine, Guest Bloggers

It seems with the turn in the weather, a lot of people are up in arms about what they “should” be drinking. Lately, a lot of my customers have been asking about summer time wine etiquette, and I’m a firm believer in just drinking what you like. Rules are made to be broken. However, I can understand that as the weather heats up, the thought of drinking a full bodied, super Tuscan may be just as unbearable as the L train in July (or for that matter, August as well).

If you like that big robust red, then for heaven’s sake don’t be afraid to pull it out, even if it is August. However, if you want a couple of pointers on what to look for in a good summer red, I’ve taken the liberty to list a few basics you can take with you to your local wine shop.

1. Summer reds tend to be a little bit more fruit forward with less tannins. Ask your local wine spot for something light bodied and easy drinking. If you’re unsure, go for a red from a New World country, like the USA or New Zealand. These wines tend to be made with more juice and use steal barrels which keep the wines super fresh and zingy.

2. Don’t be afraid of rosé. Rose wine gets a bad rap but for spring and summer it’s the perfect balance for antipasti, salads, and seafood. It tends to have more body than a white but less body than a red with strawberry fruit notes and flowery aromas. What’s not pretty about pink?

3. Lastly, in a last ditch effort, or if you just want to pick something up and go, Pinot Noir is my no fail wine of choice. I’m not going to lie, I really love this grape, even if it is renown for it’s high maintenance, (as I think about it more, maybe I like it because I can identify with it). That aside though, from the hills of Burgundy to those in California, well made pinot noirs share a sweet fruitiness with delicate tannins that in my opinion go unmatched against any other summer time beverage.

So I’ll leave you with a couple of my own suggestions for summer reds from around the world. I hope you enjoy.

1. Palmina 2005 Dolcetto: Approachable, fun, and easy-going are typically associated with this red varietal, however Palmina’s version takes Dolcetto to the next level. Sourced from the Honea and Zotovich vineyards, the end result bursts with intense fruit flavors, and combining with a smooth texture, makes it a perfect accompaniment to a variety of summer foods from grilled meat to meaty fish.

2. Anne Amie 2005 Pinot Noir: This a great light bodied, easy drinking wine, that still has a lot of earthy, mushroom notes to it that can compliment smokey, and charred flavors of summer foods or also stand alone. “The best thing about this wine is that it speaks to the fifth sense umami,” Rob Allen, New York Wine Co.

3. “R” Wine 2005 Little R Cabernet Sauvignon: This wine opens up a little party in your mouth. It starts out with a little spice but still has lots of fruit at the back end. For those who love their medium to full bodied reds in the summer, this would be a great choice. It’s smokey and spicy, but still has enough fruit to cool you down in the heat.

4. Ata Rangi 2005 Pinot Noir: This is a no frills pinot noir with clean, crisp and vibrant fruit. Plain and simple good even if it isn’t summer.

5. Braida 2006 Brachetto d’Aqui: Fermentation takes place in stainless-steel tanks and is stopped in order to leave some sweetness in the sparkling wine. At just 5.5% alcohol, Brachetto d’Aqui makes for the perfect aperitif or end to a meal.

What’s Next?

posted by mark in Website Updates, Snooth

At Snooth headquarters we’ve spent the past week or so doing a bit of Spring cleaning. In addition to our ongoing data work we’ve been going back over the codebase we have, dusting and preparing it for the weeks ahead.

That said, we’ve still managed to roll out some new features. Recently we added the ability for users to tag wine reviews with whatever tags they would like. Peppermint stick, flower pot, clump of dirt: all of these can now become your custom tags for describing the wines you drink.

We also modified the ratings over time graph on the detail page. Before it showed a breakdown of ratings by year, but if all of the ratings came within one year it wasn’t as easy to see the breakdown. Now that’s changed and you can see ratings by quarter or even by month depending on what is appropriate.

We’ve got some more exciting features planned, so stay tuned. And have a good weekend.

Quality Kosher Wine: No Longer an Oxymoron

posted by Josh in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers

I have to be honest with all of you up front. The name of my web site, Wine Rabbi, may have in it the word “Rabbi,” but it doesn’t focus on kosher wine. At Wine Rabbi, our role is, rather, to filter down all of the overwhelming information available in the world of wine so that busy folks out there like yourselves will have at your disposal the information you need to make informed decisions about the bottles you purchase, the wine-related events you attend, and the wine country travel on which you embark. The word “Rabbi” is meant merely in the secular sense - i.e., we’re the advisor that looks out for your best interests in the wine world.

Ok, so I’ve disclaimed any expertise on kosher wine that you might have expected of me when you started reading this piece. How could that be a good fact, you ask?

It is good if you consider my independence from every part of the wine business - I don’t sell wine, I only drink and enjoy it. I’m in it for the pure pleasure. If you’ve read my blog before, you’ve likely noticed that I don’t write anything negative about any wine-related item or activity. If I don’t like something, I simply ignore it. But, I am also very selective about the wines, wineries, and events about which I rave.

That ought to tell you something about the fact that I volunteered to write a piece about the merits of kosher wine. I’m going to give you the straight talk, and the straight talk is very much that the days of people’s associating the word “kosher” with lousy wine are numbered. And there’s a very simple reason for this, which can be conveniently summed up in two words: flash pasteurization.

Up until very recently, koshering a wine required pasteurizing - or, quite literally, cooking - it. If you know anything about the winemaking process, you can just imagine how detrimentally this would affect the wine. But thanks to modern technology in the form of flash pasteurization, the process of koshering can now happen in almost an instant, without in any way harming the wine’s quality. In fact, non-kosher Chateau Beaucastel flash pasteurizes its wines, which are considered some of the world’s finest.

So it’s all very simple:the word “kosher” or כשר on a wine label means observant Jews can drink what’s inside the bottle, but no longer necessarily means that the rest of the wine loving public should avoid it at all costs. And while the kosher wine industry is mostly still getting up to speed in terms of quality, the playing field is now level in terms of how the wines can be made, and kosher wines are being produced in many well-regarded regions throughout the world (e.g., France, Italy, the U.S., Australia, Chile, Argentina, etc.) in addition to Israel.

To give you just one example of a kosher wine worth trying, see my recent review of the kosher La Velona Sant’Antimo 2003, a Sant’Antimo Rosso that was delicious and cheap, by clicking here.

I also wrote a piece not long ago about two wines I had from Israel that were absolutely phenomenal. Click here to read it.

Josh Anzel, with his wife Christina, are the founders of Wine Rabbi, a wine mentorship website based in San Francisco.

Art and Music and Wine

posted by Dan in Snooth, Wine, Guest Bloggers, Music

Last week in the Snooth forums, Philip linked to a BBC news article that reported on a recent University study that claims background music has an impact on how we taste (or appreciate) wine. The study was commissioned by Aurelio Montes who makes Cabernet, Merlot, Syrah, Chardonnay and other wines in Chile. Montes has an entire jukebox of song recommendations for the different wines he creates and is said to pump music into his barrel cellar as the wines are maturing.

Music, to me, is an integral part of winemaking, when you are racking a lot of wine that can consist of anywhere from four to 184 barrels it is a time consuming process that entails significant amount of time in set-up (sanitizing equipment) and break-down (sanitizing equipment) and the racking itself, either by pump or bulldog (argon or nitrogen gas racking) will take upwards of five minutes per barrel. This is patient work and a background melody can make the slow movement of wine that much more enjoyable. I’ll kid myself to think that the music will have an impact on the wine’s development, but making wine is like making art and art needs inspiration, and the best inspiration comes from other artistic media that I, or you, have an affinity to (or believe that is representative of the art/wines I am making). Typically I reserve our best wines for my favorite band, Interpol, which I have written about previously. But the dawn of the day had a different feel and my thumb circled the iPod in search of the right songs for a reserve racking.

A to Z. Bloc Party (edgy, Sauvignon Blanc); Cat Power (melodic, Chardonnay); The Last Town Chorus (haunting, Pinot Noir); The Libertines (adolescent, Beaujolais); The New Pornographers (imitative, Merlot); Morrissey (wistful, Syrah); Mozart (profound, Nebbiolo); Ryan Adams (desperate, Marsanne); Silversun Pickups (restless, Cabernet); Soul Coughing (cynical, Sangiovese); Tom Waits (dark, Zinfandel). I circled back thinking about this one time, the one moment I experienced while eating and drinking in an Italian enoteca in December 2005. I was in Milan to see the exhibit “Caravaggio and his European Influence” at the Palazzo Reale. The catalog opens with the savage description of his life:

“His was a violent life. An agonizing, seductive violence, written by the sword and redeemed by the brush. A sword with which he brought death, a brush with which he traced his path to eternity.”

Caravaggio’s (regrettably) short life was epitomized in his dramatic Baroque paintings. He shunned traditional models for his friends from the messed-up milieu of Naples and Southern Italy. He brought realism into the hugely popular Mannerist style that ended the High Renaissance of Italian art. If I had to compile a soundtrack to his life, it was made clear to me the night after the exhibit in that dark and degenerate Italian gastro-pub that spewed watered down beer from three taps underneath a chalkboard with an assortment of made-to-order panini. The wine list was underwhelming, predominantly red with a local North Western Italian whites section that was two or three glasses long. I settled my order quickly. Grilled eggplant with mozzarella and basil, drizzled inside and out on the bread with an aged, viscous balsamic vinegar. Sided with a roasted tomato quartered. The food on the plate was black and red and white. Seared, dripping and savory. I ordered an Aglianico by the glass and the black liquid was overflowing with concentration and tannin. The inky wine was dark and brooding, as if poured directly from the master’s self-portrait, Bacchus.

As I chewed my food and swilled my wine, looking at the tortured souls huddled in the back of the bar chain smoking and writing hopeless novellas. Memories full of Caravaggio paintings, mouth full of savage Southern Italian wine, I strained a glimpse into their desperate eyes while my ears were filled with the complex moodiness of Radiohead.

You are the sun and moon and stars, are you
And I could never run away from you

You try at working out chaotic things
And why should I believe myself, not you?

It’s like the world is going to end so soon
And why should I believe myself?

You, me and everything caught in the fire
I can see me drowning, caught in the fire

The earlier version finishes with the following:
Hey the sun and moon and stars are yeah…

But I won’t share myself with you
You to me.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.

It Might Be Your Fault

posted by mark in Wine

This post in Snooth Talk encouraged me to read up a bit more about wine faults. What caught my attention most in the Wikipedia article was the mention of how most faults are incorrectly pegged as cork taint. I realized that every time I detected an off-bottle I did attribute it to TCA. Incidentally, before I knew wine could be faulted I used to drink every wine, and I amuse myself thinking about how many bottles of faulty wine I might have consumed, simply thinking that it was a poor quality wine or not even noticing. Next time I find an off bottle I’m going to try and do a bit more sleuthing. The two “other” faults that I want to point out here are Light Strike and Cooked Wine.

Light Strike has the coolest name by far. When a wine bottle is exposed to excessive amounts of UV light it can become damaged, tasting of wet wool or wet cardboard. This is usually how I hear a corked wine described, but there’s an extra piece to the TCA which for me is usually a moldy taste and aroma. Wine that is bottled in green or brown glass and red wine is less likely to be afflicted with Light Strike.

A wine becomes cooked if it is exposed to high temperatures. Cooked wine becomes lifeless at a low level, but also will age faster. This doesn’t mean that you can expose your fine Bordeaux wines to heat and speed up their aging to drink them for your party next week. Aging faster is going to mean a less graceful aging process. Think of that friend that looks like he aged 10 years in 2 years. That’s not a pleasant thought.

Why do I point out these particular faults? Once you have the bottle of wine in your possession, it’s your turn to take care of it. If you store it outside or in a hot car you’re asking for a faulty bottle. By the way, there are some great suggestions in Talk if you’re in the market for a wine fridge. Then at least it wouldn’t be your fault.