Dr Vino's wine blog

In a piece entitled, “Eat Local; Drink European,” Eric Asimov of the NYT tackles the apparent paradox at the core of some San Francisco restaurants: while the menus extol fresh local produce, the wine lists are often dominated by wines from Europe.

Why? One wine director, Chris Deegan of the restaurant Nopa, says “I find myself drinking European wines most of the time and pairing European wines more successfully with the food.” Mark Ellenbogen, wine director of a top Vietnamese restaurant, says, ““At Slanted Door, you need low-alcohol, high acid wines with residual sugar, and they don’t come from the New World.”

Asimov continues the topic of the unwieldy pairings many American wines make with food over on The Pour. He writes, “the riper and riper styles of wine that have become popular in this country simply are not versatile with food, so restaurants look elsewhere.” He also notes some exceptions that he has found.

Wine style aside, I crunched some numbers for the piece based on my previous research on the carbon footprint of wine. Even though container shipping offers greater efficiency from a greenhouse gas perspective than trucking, a 9,500 mile sea journey still comes out higher than a 60 mile truck trip.

By way of an offset reminiscent of our bottle-for-bottle challenge, several restaurants in the Bay Area have discontinued serving water bottled in the Alps and now serve local, tap water, still or sparkling. And you can even try this at home.

Over at the new blogazine, Palate Press, there’s a posting about a pair of women who bare all and then jump in a tank full of warm, fermenting pinot juice, seeds and skins. No, this isn’t the recreational sport of tank diving; they did it in the name of “pigeage” or a punch down that keeps the floating bits (known as the “cap”) moist. Most wineries do this with a long tool while some use a method of taking juice from the bottom of the tanking pumping it over the top.

Here’s the photo that ran with the posting: what’s your caption? Try to keep it PG-13 or somewhat safe for work.

If we ingredient labeling on American wines, would they have to add naked woman if they do the traditional pigeage?

SIPPED: match made in a barrel room
Jean-Charles Boisset and Gina Gallo married over the weekend in a private ceremony at the San Francisco Fairmont according to winemag.com. Each is a wine scion: Boisset Family Estates is the third largest wine company in France and E&J Gallo Winery is the largest in the world. They both have wineries and vineyards in Sonoma.

SPIT: trophies
Dick Grace of Grace Family Vineyards tells the SF Chron “the pendulum has swung too far” on the cult wines he pioneered: “We have to get over what I call the trophy mentality.”

SPIT: more trophies
“If I buy a bottle for $100 from Napa Valley — and believe me, there are hundreds — I’ll mark it up to $225. But no one is buying those,” Rajat Parr wine director at RN74 in San Francisco told CNN in a piece entitled “wine buying for vultures.” As a result, Parr is “saying no to all Napa Cabernets until customers drink what’s left.”

SIPPED: a new chapter
Mariann Fischer Boell, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture who oversaw a controversial reform of the wine sector in 2007, has announced she won’t seek another five-year term. [MFB blog]

SIPPED: bigger Terroir in NYC
Marco Canora and Paul Grieco tell Grub Street that while they’re leaving Insieme (boo hoo) they will be adding a newer, slightly larger Terroir wine bar in Tribeca (yay!). We look forward to adding it to the map of the best wine bars in NYC!

I’ve wanted to visit the Dominus Estate in Napa since it was built in 1997. But it’s not open to the public. So when I was in Napa in February as a speaker at the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, I inquired about visiting and was glad that they offered me the chance. So here’s an edition of Dr. Vino inside! (And a change for trying out a new photo “gallery;” background and annotation appear after the jump.)

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher used their Friday WSJ column to blast a hole in the side of the barrel that is American Chardonnay, calling it, “simple, sweet, alcoholic and false.” Moreover, much of the pricey stuff isn’t getting discounted, as many other expensive wines are. They write:

So, did we find great bargains? No. We did not find cutthroat competition on price among higher-end American Chardonnay. It’s as if most wine stores these days are like developers who built homes on spec and now refuse to lower prices even in the face of weak demand. More important, most of the wines themselves weren’t good values at any price. They were too often disappointing, with too much oak, too little fruit and little care. Too many tasted like stagnant water, like pickling spices, or like vanilla flavorings added to water. They were not pleasant to drink on their own and would not pair well with any food…

We wondered, honestly, who they think their market is and we finally realized that many high-end American Chardonnays have become the Cadillac of the wine world. Their core audience is older, moneyed and comfortable with the names they’ve come to know. As a result, too many Chardonnay producers have decided that, as long as the bottle is just as heavy and the label is just as nice, they can take advantage of those customers by shirking on quality. But even General Motors decided, in the long run, that Cadillac needed more attention—not to mention younger buyers. We don’t believe that the current business model for most producers of higher-end American Chardonnay will work in the long run. We hope not.

Yeeow! Check out the whole article for more, including the ones they actually liked. “U.S. Chardonnay Has No Bargain Bin“

First up in this virtuous summer, Alabama banned an 1895 reproduction of a bicycling nude nymph on a wine label. Now, Maine will prohibit children from “observing” wine tastings as of September 12.

An amendment to a new law included this language: “Taste-testing activities must be conducted in a manner that precludes the possibility of observation by children.” But if they close their eyes, is it permissible to hear slurping and spitting?

The law penalizes small wine store owners as well as customers with families. One shop owner says in a story in the Kennebec Journal (via Fermentation) that she will have to install draperies to be in compliance so that no children passers-by on the street would be able to see in-store tastings happening.

The story elaborates that the author of the amendment claims it was a mistake: “There was supposed to be an exemption for small retail stores. (The negotiations) were quick with several people weighing in on how it was to be and a drafting error was made. We wound up with language that inadvertently scooped the wine shops. We’re working as fast as we can to fix that.” But the legislature doesn’t reconvene until January.

Other highlights in the state’s history of alcohol regulation:
1849: Maine enacts a law that ”punishes by imprisonment any person not licensed who should sell during any cattle show or fair any intoxicating drink.”
1851: After a long fight, led by Portland’s Mayor, Neal Dow, Maine becomes the first state to outlaw the sale of all alcoholic beverages, except for ”medicinal, mechanical or manufacturing purposes.”
1973: NOW achieves the end of sex discrimination in taverns

SIPPED: money back wine
The NYT reports on a new ad campaign from Blackstone, a Constellation wine brand, that is emphasizing “trust.” “We’re so sure you’ll enjoy the taste of Blackstone wines that if you don’t, we’ll pay you back,” the ads declare and even include a “money back guarantee“! Yes, the wine is $9.99 excluding shipping and handling charges. Call now! Operators are standing by! Actually, not all consumers can “relax, unwind, and uncork a flavor bomb,” as the Blackstone Winery web site suggests since the offer is not available in states such as California and New York. And it expires nationally on 8/31/2009.

SIPPED: Chateau Plastique
The LA Times reports on the rise of plastic wine bottles. While PET bottles are lighter and therefore welcome from a carbon reduction perspective, it bears mentioning that plastic can’t effectively be recycled (from plastic bottles to plastic bottles), only “downcycled” (from plastic bottles to park benches). [See comments for update]

SIPPED: rise of byob
A piece on theatlantic.com praises Philadelphia’s culture of BYOBs. But then adds this kicker: “For serious BYOBers, the only problem with this arrangement is that they’re better off purchasing their wine in another state.”

SIPPED: responding to critics
After Jeremy Parzen called reporting about Brunello on decanter.com “egregiously disinformational,” Decanter handed the their most recent update over to Parzen and his co-blogger Franco Zilliani. Check out the latest on “Operation Mixed Wine.”

GULP!
Michael Broadbent, founder of the wine department at Christie’s, has sued Random House publisher of The Billionaire’s Vinegar (buy on amazon). The Daily Mail writes: “The Broadbent claims the book suggests he invented a bid for another of the Jefferson wines – a half-bottle of 1784 Margaux – to ensure the successful bidder paid more than was necessary.” Random House will defend the lawsuit. The Billionaire’s Vinegar is also being made into a movie. (Image: The Daily Mail)

SPIT: sales
The NYT summarizes the effect of the recession on the California wine industry: “Brutal.” It continues: “Cash may be trickling, but anxiety is gushing forth.”

SWISHED: retail change in NY
A proposal to reform New York’s retail and allow wine sales in supermarket failed earlier this year. One state Senator has introduced new legislation that would allow not only wine sales in supermarkets but also food sales in wine stores and a “medallion” system instead of licensing. Owners could operate more than one location in New York, also a change. Time will tell whether this initiative fares differently. [LoHud]

SIPPED: ultra low prices
An (unlabeled) Australian wine is selling for $1.99 at a store in Sydney, or “cheaper than water.” Meanwhile, John Brecher and Dorothy Gaiter estimate that the value of juice in Fred Franzia’s new Down Under Chardonnay (retail: about $3) costs “about 35 U.S. cents or less.”

SIPPED: Schmoozing and blogging
Wine Business Monthly reports from the Wine Bloggers’ Conference; Jim Gordon of Wines & Vines has tips for bloggers.

SPIT: stems on Air France
Air France has introduced a new line of stemless wine glasses in Business and First (aka Affaires and La Première). Are the wines served any good? Hit the comments with your on-board experiences.