Dr Vino's wine blog

“I immediately assume that the wine is garbage if the punniness is high,” one of my friends said recently. Fair enough, as we have discussed before. But then there is the case of Johannes Leitz.

While many European labels can be confusing for New World consumers who are more used to varietal labeling, German labels crank up the degree of difficulty by adding terms such as Kabinett, Spaetlese, and–my favorite, linguistically–Trockenbeerenauslese. Although these terms express roughly the degree of sweetness, they only do so for the wine before fermentation (aka the weight of the must), so the level of residual sugar after fermentation may not be as sweet or dry as one might expect. Throw in some vineyard names on top of those terms and it makes running for Blue Nun understandable–from a purely linguistic standpoint.

Johannes Leitz, by contrast, makes some easy reading labels as well as tasty wines. He turned the Rudesheimer Drachenstein vineyard into simply “Dragonstone”–a cool label, easy name and easy drinking Riesling that I often recommend particularly as a wine for newbies. The single site, estate bottled wine is sweet in 2007 but obtains balance with some tangy acidity and minerality (find this wine). Pair with takeout.

New for 2007 is his multilingual punny “Eins, Zwei, Dry” (find this wine) The Riesling is, in fact, dry (well, 7 grams of residual sugar, barely above the threshold of perception). Dry Rieslings often seem to only come from the New World and Leitz only first produced this dry wine in the spectacular 2007 vintage (more details from the importer, Terry Theise’s page). The wine has more minerality and verve. I’d find this one most refreshing on a hot summer day with the Dragonstone one for the spring and the fall, when I prefer more richness.

Johannes Leitz has wit. And he makes clear labels good wines. He has my vote for federallabelminister! But I also think he is a rare exception, joining Rosenblum and possibly Bonny Doon, to the rule about puns and wine quality.

Do witty labels and good wine make a good blend? Or is the wine best left to do the talking?

SIPPED: double entendre!
Unable to legally call a port style wine made outside of Portugal “Port,” Peltier Station Winery is calling their wine “USB”–you know, as in those ports on the side of your computer that you never seem to have enough of. Which European wine region will next made into a technology pun? [find this port; viaWired]

SIPPED: bling glassware!
During the GOP convention, filings now show that the McCain Victory 2008 spent $7,000 on 250 wine glasses adorned with elephant designs for donors. Had they already handed out $28 elephant-adorned beer glasses in honor of Joe Sixpack and Cindy’s beer distributorship? [HuffPo]

SIPPED: Joe Six-Pack wine
The rise of Midwestern wine is epitomized in Illinois, which has grown from 14 to 80 wineries in a decade. Marketing idea: Joe Six-Pack wine (sold in half-cases). [PJ Star]

SIPPED: herbicides
A new herbicide resistant grape variety has been developed for the Midwest. Mmmm. [Wines & Vines]

SPIT: international grape varieties
Rocked by a scandal earlier this year that involved blending grapes from outside the zone, Brunello votes overwhelmingly to stay traditional and not allow even a small amount of grapes other than sangiovese. [VinoWire]

SIPPED: ironic labels
In 2003, a French publication was fined for calling Beaujolais “vin de merde,” or, “crap wine.” Although the fine was eventually overturned, what critics can say about wines is still a touchy subject. But producers themselves can say what they want and a producer in the downtrodden Languedoc region has now rolled out a wine labeled “vin de merde.” According to this BBC video, the seven euro wine has now sold out. Goodbye critter labels, hello irony?

SPIT: anonymity
A few weeks ago we noted the power of the Japanese wine-imbued comic “The Drops of the Gods” and called for the unveiling of the brother-sister duo who actually make the picks. Today, the NYT does our bidding! Learn more about the power of Shizuku, a quirk in their 3,000 bottle cellar, and why the comic has been translated into French before English.

SPIT: vodka?!?
Poland appears to be the latest beneficiary of global warming in the wine world. [BBC]

SIPPED: Terroir de New Jersey
The latest New Jersey winery, Laurita, opened to the public on last month. Will it rise above the inevitable Jersey jokes from New Yorkers? [NYT]

SIPPED: Columbus Day
I sat down with Eric Arnold of Forbes (and First Big Crush) to taste through a Columbus Day showdown of Spanish and Italian wines. In the video, we taste two excellent, old-school wines, the Lopez de Heredia 1999 Tondonia (find this wine) and the G. Mascarello, Monprivato, Barolo 2003 (find this wine). Check it out! [Forbes]

SIPPED: prognostication
US News called with questions about wine in France and America; I answered them in a Q&A on their site. [US News]

SPIT: strong dollar
Despite the dollar now at a 14 month high against the wine producing area known as the eurozone, French producers are starting to lament the global credit crunch and its effect on wine consumers. Oh, and in Australia too.

SIPPED: bling wineries
The WSJ has a slide show of all the fancy new wineries by international architects in Spain. Will they be able to heat them in this age of declining consumer confidence? Ack, fear and bling in Rioja!

SIPPED: free wine as water!
A plumbing switcheroo in an Italian village makes wine briefly come out of faucets instead of water! But was it made from authorized grape varieties? [timesonline.co.uk]

SPIT: financial turmoil
Mike Steinberger provides some advance evidence that the financial crisis will not upend America’s fifteen year bull market–for wine consumption. But the make-or-break fourth quarter has just started! Stay tuned, and keep pulling corks. [Slate]

SIPPED: wine investment (alpacas optional)
The WSJ finds a stay-at-home dad who has sunk $120k into 400 bottles of 1996 Champagne, quoting him saying: “It sure beats looking at a Merrill Lynch monthly statement.” Um, I think he means Bank of America. But nice call on the 96 Champagne! Also, the FT also reports on individuals and funds who are socking away blue chip red wine.

SIPPED: Portugal!
British photographer and journalist David Eley has launched a site with some impressive photography and producer profiles from his travels in the Duoro. Mmm, sun-drenched hillsides, good wines.

SIPPED: JetBlue terminal
About 400 wine choices await travelers in the new JFK JetBlue terminal, half of them by the glass–let’s just hope there’s something good. And with the free wifi in that terminal already, JetBlue is on the inside track to become the unofficial airline for wine bloggers. [NY mag]

SIPPED: Tropical wine! (“for tourists”)
What do you get when you combine a stiff 170 percent tariff on imported wines, a strong tourist economy, and tropical conditions? Why, Bali, the Indonesian island and new wine frontier. But Pinot Noir, move over since you’ll have to settle for a glass of Probollingo Biru. [IHT]

SPIT: Italian wine
When Italian wine bloggers get together, they drink Mexican beer apparently! Oh okay, and Produttori di Barbaresco Barbaresco with smoked pork ribs.

SPIT: Pailn syrah!
An organically grown syrah from the Chilean producer, Palin (find this wine), was the best selling wine at Yield wine bar in San Francisco–until Sarah Palin was selected as John McCain’s running mate. The case of mistaken identity has led sales to plummet. One patron suggested changing the tasting note on the wine list to “moosemeat, salmon, hint of gunpowder.” [Serious Eats]

SIPPED: Stephen Colbert
Speaking of the election, how could we make it through without Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Even though they both won Emmys last night, only one appeared to have wine at the afterparty! [Eonline]

SPIT: federalism
Canada gets the America treatment as inter-province shipping rears its ugly head. Oh, Canada! Hey, at least Ontario hasn’t made shipping Okanagan pinot a felony–yet. [Vancouver Sun]

SPIT: financial market turbulence
Hart Davis Hart, the Chicago based auction house, sold 100% of lots for $11.2 million in a single cellar, two-day sale over the weekend. And it wasn’t even Hank Paulson buying!

SIPPED: box wine
Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, box wine gets its first New Yorker cartoon feature with an enormous “Chateau de Costco” dominating the living room. [Cartoonbank]

SIPPED: cover crops!
Antidrug officials in Washington State have discovered something other than grapes in the vineyard–marijuana plants! Yes, this budding business of cover crops had a street value of $165 million according to today’s WSJ. Fingers point at immigrant workers–someone alert Lou Dobbs! Oh, and the vineyard manager. These vineyards may soon rival Mendoza for the “highest” in the world.

SIPPED: competition!
Amazon will soon be in the business of selling wine according to the spokesperson for the Napa Valley Vintners, who spilled the beans to Reuters.

SIPPED: a smaller carbon footprint of wine!
Two producers in areas with large carbon footprints are lightening the load in the name of generating fewere greenhouse gas emissions in transit. Huzzah! Champagne house Mumm experiments with lighter glass bottles and Boisset introduces a plastic bottle for its Beaujolais nouveau.

SIPPED: French litigation
Critic Robert Parker’s former assistant sues him in a Paris court for defamation after he wrote on his site that she “could end up stagnating in prison.” Meanwhile, she fends of charges herself in a Bordeaux court. [AP]

SPIT: human wine critics!
In Japan, a 20,000 shipment of Burgundy or a New Zealand riesling can sell out thanks to even a “dreamy sigh” from Shizuku Kanzaki. The only trouble is that he doesn’t have a pulse–he’s a comic book character with 500,000 readers! He’s on a quest find the “Twelve Apostles” — a collection of wines described in his father’s will. So who is the man behind that curtain who actually writes the story and picks the wine? Actually, a brother-sister duo going by the pen name Tadashi Agi. Unmask them, Japan’s wine movers and shakers! [Times online]

SPIT: red wine substitute
Embodi, a new “health beverage” contains “a specially developed grape pomace extract made from the skins, seeds, and stems of red wine grapes.” Hmm, which vintage is that again?

SIPPED: Box wine in Italy!
From Bloomberg: “Italy’s Agriculture Ministry said that some fine Italian wines that receive government quality guarantees will be allowed to be sold in boxes.” Bravo! [via The Lede blog, NYT]

SPIT: Paul Masson!
A funny photo story about the “iconic” wine. [David Lebovitz]

SPIT: France’s new anti-alcohol campaign
French teens like the music in a new French government anti-drinking ad but dislike the oh-so-bitter end of crazy debauchery. One teen reacts to the video: ‘Alcohol doesn’t make those problems, people do.’ Can the backlash against the ads be paving the way for the NRA in France? [Decanter]

SPIT: the 800 pound guerrilla
A member of CRAV, a militant wine organization in the south of France, has his bombing campaign backfire–literally. [TIME]

SPIT: Bottle Shock, the movie
“…too rambling and unfocused to draw a crossover crowd like that darling of wine movies, ‘Sideways.”’ [Bloomberg]