September is finally upon us!  As much as I love the spring and summer, no other season captures my heart more than autumn.  Boxes of pencils, the smell of turning leaves, cool crisp evenings, college football, light sweaters, corduroy, fully engaging in wine studies, busy restaurants, blazers with elbow patches and wines from Cornas, Bandol and Barolo are a few of my favorite things.  The weatherman tells me that today is going to be July-like 93 degrees here in the Garden State.  Some of my favorite things will have to wait.  In the meantime, grab a bottle of your favorite summer rose and enjoy the upcoming holiday weekend responsibly as the first weekend of college football kicks off.  The Scarlet Knights with be taking on a lesser foe in Norfolk State tomorrow night, but everyone needs a tune up.

What’s ahead for us here at the Wine Culture Project?  As of yesterday, I am the Jersey City Food and Drink Examiner for Examiner.Com.  It is an exciting project that I can’t wait to jump into head first.  The Sixth Borough is full of exciting restaurants and wine bars.  Look for my first article in a couple of days.  As far as other projects – look for the next installment of the Wine Culture Project Tasting Series at Uproot Restaurant coming on September 30^th as we feature the wines of Chateaneuf du Pape.  If there is a wine region that should be celebrated as a seasonal wine, CdP is it.

Thank you all for reading and supporting the Wine Culture Project as we continue to grow and find our way in ever changing landscape of wine writing.  I look forward to continuing the adventure with you as we uncover new and exciting wines, wine makers and regions around the world.  With hard work, a bit of luck and a glass of two of inspiration, the WCP will continue promote and preserve wine’s sense of place.

-John
 

Celebrate Fall With Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Many wine regions around the world remain in relative obscurity as many American wine consumers drink single varietal wines from recognizable appellations.  This wine buying strategy works for many as Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough and Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley have become staple selections on wine lists and shelves of fine wine shops.  What many consumers might be overlooking however is a multitude of high quality blends from around the world.  Regions such as Bordeaux, Ribera del Duero and Valpolicella represent some of the most interesting and sought after blends in the world.  However, there is one region that, in this wine drinker’s opinion, stands head and shoulders above the rest.  I present to you, Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the Southern Rhone Valley of France produces some of the most highly regarded wines on the planet.  The reds, produced from up to 13 different varietals, attest to the notion that the best wine in the world is not made from one variety alone.  And not only do CdP’s express a sense of place or terroir, but the best wines from Avignon have a sense of style that is graceful, powerful and seductive.  Really?  Yes, I am not just waxing poetic, the best wines from Chateauneuf-du-Pape realize the potential that winemakers from around the world aspire to produce.  And in the words of Robert Parker, wine critic and most importantly, wine lover, “like hunger, fear, and lust, Chateauneuf-du-Pape , when it’s great, has an almost addictive attraction to one’s basic instincts.” 

As always, we will be pouring great wines that will not only appeal to your basic instincts, but to your wine loving soul.  Jon Ross and I will be selecting the wines over the course of the next couple of weeks with one goal in mind – to bring you some of the best bottles that the winemaking world has to offer.  This class is not one to be missed – the fall will be upon us and the nights will be a touch crisper as the leaves begin to turn. 

When is the class?  Thursday, September 30^th.

What time?  7:00 pm.

Where?  As always, Uproot Restaurant (latest reviews here)

How much?  $79 plus gratuity.

I have been in the lovely little town of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania for most of the weekend attending the Livestrong: Philadephia event. And after being swallowed by the couch and waking up from one of the most satisfying naps of my life this afternoon, I caught up with all of my social media – Facebook, Twitter and what seems like an endless amount of wine related stories that come through my RSS feeds each day. One post on Facebook, by Harmon Skurnik caught my attention. It was posted as follows:

Why is seemingly everyone in the wine biz a blogger??? Is it just a way for people to make themselves seem more self-important than they really are??? Don't get me wrong - there are some GREAT blogs out there (not that I have time to read em all) but it seems these days ANYONE can pass themselves off as some sort of expert, no? It's still the wild wild west in cyberspace, I guess.

I understand what Harmon meant by his comments, I am simply tired of hearing it.  Not as a wine blogger defending his hobby, but as someone who is tired of the negativity that surrounds an emerging and more important form of media.  I think Harmon hits upon a point that has been discussed ad nauseam since wine blogging has become more mainstream. And by mainstream I mean readership as well as the number of blogs being published. Are there too many wine blogs? Well, let’s think of it this way – are there too many wines out there? Are there too many professional sports teams? And are there too many brands of tooth paste considering they all are made of the essentially the same ingredients but sold in a countless number of glittery packages? The answer is to all of these questions, save for the first regarding bloggers is yes. However, when it comes to intellectual curiosity and the attempt to relay that curiosity in a manner which the reader can understand, I say no, there can never be enough.

Each morning I come across roughly 150 or so stories related to wine (twice that on foodie Wendesday). Many of them I glance over and I only actually read a few dozen stories. Like Harmon (and most other professionals who have to run a business), I simply cannot find enough hours in the day to accomplish everything . However, all of these blogs are essential to the development of my personal awareness of what’s happening in the world of wine. Whether it be a review of a wine, a breaking story on a new scandal or a story that covers a wine lover’s trip to a far away and unusual wine region, these stories are crucial to understanding a craft that is too often misunderstood. If more wine drinkers understood the craft that went into a bottle of wine, many wine professionals like Harmon would reap the rewards as his company and a handful of others in the NYC area distribute some of the finest wines on the planet. And many consumers, whether they be fluent in the language of wine or simply looking for a cheap glass of Merlot, need seasoned, professional writers as well as some of the insight that is offered by other, less experienced writers who simply write for the love of writing.

I didn’t intend to write much tonight, but then I read Matt Kramer’s column, “Let’s Make it Simple” in the Wine Spectator that landed in my mailbox this afternoon.  I was fired up after I read one of the first lines:  “Everytime somebody insists on making wine ‘simple,’ wine loses.”  Amen.  When I was on FOX Business News a few weeks back, I tried to convince Middle Americans that buying branded wine in the vending machines being installed in Pennsylvania was a terrible idea because they would never have the opportunity to enjoy good wine.  I am certain that many viewers that day and readers of today’s issue of Wine Spectator think that Matt Kramer and I are snobs.  I can live with that – I know what I am. 

I am someone that couldn’t agree more with what Kramer has to say in column.  He believes that brands lead to dead ends – that the wine buying public won’t use branded wine as bridge to learning about and drinking better wines.  Instead, they will stick with their $6.99 bottle of South Australian sweet water and only change to another brand when a new billboard pops up on the freeway advertising an equally abominable bottle of schlock.  Wines like Bitch and Evil really aren’t wine, Kramer points out.  I couldn’t agree more.

Kramer goes on to give two of the most prominent examples of how brands have nearly destroyed the reputation of two winemaking centers – Australia and Beaujolais.  There is an ocean of soulless, bland juice flowing out of Southeast Australia.  It is essentially all the same product from a super zone in South East Australia that is roughly a third of the size of the United States.  How can wine blended from such vast expanses produce anything of quality?  It doesn’t.  And the only two things that are different about each brand from Down Under are the equally neon and mind-numbing marketing campaigns behind each and the manipulation techniques that take place in the factories that spew out these “wines.” 

As for Beaujolais, the Nouveau campaign bastardized by Dubeouf and Co. is at the very heart of manipulation – the wines are doctored to add flavors that aren’t inherent in the grapes and then the banana-juice they turn out is marketed in pleasant looking flowery bottles on the third Thursday in November.  Wine educators should be teaching consumers that Beaujolais doesn’t equal bananas and bubblegum, instead, many are using doctored Gamay from one of the most misunderstood wine regions on the planet as typical examples.  Both of these crucial winemaking areas produce amazing wines that represent incredible value.  However, much of the wine drinking public doesn’t get a chance to explore these true representations of place since they open up their Sunday supplements to find “professional” wine writers extolling the virtues of mass-produced wine (Dubeouf and Co. is sneaky like that).

And Kramer hits a romantic part of my heart as he rightly eschews branded wine because they do not seduce us.  We all want to be seduced.  And I don’t think I am waxing romantic.  Our lives are short enough as it is.  We want to be seduced by wine, John Keats, our lovers and everything else in between.  Most consumers don’t know that wine can seduce, they only know that their bottle of Yellowtail, Little Penguin or Purplish Swill keeps for a couple of days in the fridge.

I begrudgingly use critic’s scores from time to time when selling wine.  I really don’t like doing it, but for some buyers and consumers this is the only way to differentiate certain wines from others in the Great Worldwide Wine Lake.  If it’s between me and the other guys for shelf and wine list space – the scores are coming out.  My friend and boss, David Bowler, has taught me to follow up with a priceless line– “make sure you tell them it’s a good wine despite the score!”  And I use it every time.  It’s competitive out there and gaining a slice of the shrinking pie can be difficult. 

Scores, when used as a guide to learn about a winery or introduce oneself to a new producer, are effective.  However, simply buying wine on scores is lazy.  By doing so, the consumers trust their purchases to someone else’s palate.  They are, in effect, are taking a similar leap of faith when they walk into a wine shop or restaurant and leave their selection up to the wine shop manager or sommelier.  The distinction between the two is clear – the clerk or sommelier doesn’t base their advice on their own palate, but on what the customer desires.  When a guest in a restaurant asks for a Chardonnay from the New World, light on the oak and within the $75-$100 price range, the sommelier still makes the choice, but based on the guest’s palate.  Scores added bonuses to an already very good bottle of wine – the icing on the cake as it were.

Today, I was sent an email that recommended I purchase a few wines from a brand that labels their wines according to the scores that wine received.  However, the wine is not packaged by the winemaker – it’s branded as a wine with a score of over 90 points.  Why do winemakers do that, you ask?  In the current economy (and also during the best boom years), winemakers often put their extra stock into private labels and drop the price so they can move inventory.  I support that business plan.  Winery stays open, wine is more easily distributed and the consumer receives a huge value. 

My issue with the wines recommended in this email is that I am supposed to buy the wine just because other more seasoned, experienced and revered palates gave the wines two thumbs up.  I respect most of those writers – many of them have integrity and a wider base of understanding of wine than me.  What I don’t respect is selling wine by points only (and throwing hideous labels on them) which in effect contributes to an apathetic wine buying public.

Perhaps I am a bit of curmudgeon or old-school, but wine should be sold on stories, not scores.  Even if you don’t mention the winemaker, put the wine into a new type of packaging that doesn’t look like a chic bottle of motor oil and tell the story!  Instead, people buy wine on analytic bullshit – “this bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, co-fermented with Semillon in Bordeaux was aged 22 months in new French oak and received the following ratings…”  Tell me what makes the wine great, not why other people love it.

•  Have a specific price range in mind. This is the easiest way to whittle down the list. If you want something between $15-$25, then you have eliminated  hundreds of wines that don’t require your investigation. If your budget is more flexible, be prepared to take a bit more time.
•  Understand grape varietals. Most wine is made with one varietal and understanding the difference between grapes such as Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay is the first step. Some wines (Pinot Noir, Barbera, Gamay) are light while some (Merlot, Grenache, Tempranillo) are medium-bodied and others (Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Red Zinfandel) are heavy handed.
•  Understand wine regions. Wines that come from specific regions generally are of better quality than those from larger regions.  For instance, a bottle of Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley is more than likely going to be of higher quality than labeled Sonoma County and most certainly of better quality than one labeled simply as California.
•  Enjoy youthful wine. 90% of the wine producer in the world is meant to be consumed within the first year. Now, most fine wine is ageworthy and the finest wines can age for decades. However, if you want a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley that is full of rich fruit, supple tannins and jumps out of the glass – the younger the better. A wise man once said a bottle of wine is better drunk a year too soon than a year too late!
•  Check for condition of wine. Check out the bottle of wine before you buy it. Is it full? Is the label and cork in good condition? If the wine is white, has it turned a few shades of gold? And if it’s red, does it appear more brick in color than it should? Chances are the wine has seen better days. Some of the best wines I have ever opened have had old, moldy corks and have lost a bit from their fill level. However, they were meant to be aged and were stored in pristine condition. Chances are the golden-brown 6 year old Viognier from California you have in your hand has seen better days.
•  Use the label. Many of the finest wines (especially those from the New World) have a little story on the back. Read the back label for information regarding time in oak, sweetness level and/or other tidbits regarding its origin. Some of the cheapest and most undesirable wines on the planet read have “fresh and sweet fruit on the nose that goes perfect with meat, fish, cheese or any other choice for dinner.” Look for sophistication and be wary of BS.
•  Check for importer. By law, all importers have to be listed on the back label of a bottle of wine. Sometimes I walk into a store and choose an unfamiliar wine from an unfamiliar producer, but I buy the wine because I recognize the importer. If the wine is imported by “John Doe Importing, Small Town, New Jersey” you probably don’t want it. The best importers to look out for: Louis/Dressner, Kermit Lynch, Rosenthal Imports, Eric Solomon and Becky Wasserman are a few to keep you busy for awhile.
•  Trust your merchant. The best wine stores (and restaurants) have professionals that will work within price range, level of knowledge and desire to learn about new, exciting wines. Any merchant worth their salt will put your desires and needs first while working within an inventory that best suits your needs. If you feel like you have not been given the best guidance, simply find a different store – there are plenty of them.
• REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED! This is by far the most important lesson one can learn when trying to buy wine. Start with a region or grape and learn as much as you can about that region through tasting different selections. If you start to better understand a region or grape, the move onto a particular producer and taste through their wines. Inevitably, you are going to buy a bottle of wine you don’t like – remember that one as well and learn from your mistakes while enjoying a bottle of something different that satisfies your appetite and soul. Once you have developed that pattern – learn it and love it.