Amusing Musings From the Wine Road

Wine Damaged by Extreme Temperatures - An Interesting Test by FedEx!

Thursday, February 26th, 2009
The wine industry gathered in Napa on Tuesday to share tips on how to sell more wine directly to wine-lovers. It was thought-provoking and worth the time and money.  And today there are a hundred more wine marketers leveraging FaceBook and Twitter to attract the "Millennial Wine Lover".

One of the sponsors of this well-organized event was the venerable FedEx company, which has dedicated tons of resources to our industry.  If you've ever ordered wine from me or any other online merchant, odds are good your package was delivered by FedEx.  Along with UPS and Golden State Overnight, the three companies account for virtually 100% of the wine shipped directly to consumers.

So it was with great interest that I learned from a charming FedEx representative about an interesting and valuable test.  She indicated FedEx has tapped a new technology that monitors the temperature of a package every few minutes as it travels from point A to point B, recording each update in a centralized computer.  I presume the updates are sent via a wireless network, but I'm unclear on the communications technology.

Regardless of the inner workings, I was intrigued by the idea.  My company has lost lots of potential profit on damaged wine, and since this is a thin-margin business I was very interested in whether the temperature monitor could tell me when to hold my wine for more weather-friendly days.  I hoped FedEx would publish the results in real time, so our industry (and wine lovers) as a whole would know when it was safe to ship.

But the FedEx Rep believed the technology would prove it was safe to ship wine in all seasons, regardless of temperature.  My skepticism was evident, apparently, as she asked if I was willing to bet dinner on the outcome.  As I told her then...

...Yes I am!

But only if we can structure a meaningful test.  I thought I'd open the discussion to those with a vested interest in its outcome - other retailers, wineries and the wine lovers we serve.  I invite input to see if we can structure an unbiased test, and ask that you encourage FedEx to make the results public - preferably in real time.  Here's what I suggest as a foundation. 

To be tested - Can wine be shipped during periods of extreme temperatures without affecting the long-term life of the wine?

1. The test should be conducted using packages sent via regular ground service as well as 2-day and overnight air.
2. In each of these three service levels, both Styrofoam and recycled packaging materials should be tested.
3. Both the outside temperature and the package temperature should be reported.  Ideally, a monitor would be set up inside a re-corked bottle to measure the actual temperature of the wine and not just the termperature surrounding the cardboard package.
4. We must agree on maximum and minimum temperatures at which the long-term life of the wine is affected.
5. Anything Else?  Please reply via comment or directly to me at the email address below.

The results of this test will impact millions of dollars worth of shipping, and even more in the value of wine being shipped.  Let's give FedEx kudos for applying the technology and also encourage them to give transperancy to the real-time results via the internet and the wine blogosphere.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"Accept challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory"

~ General George S. Patton

Box Wines to the Rescue?

Monday, February 23, 2009
A lot is being made of boxed wines lately.  This is largely because wine lovers are seeking value in their every-day quaffs.  Fortunately for the value-minded drinker, more drinkable wines are finding themselves inside boxes than just a few years ago.

Now I know that serving wine from a plastic spigot isn't glamorous.  And no, I don't have a box of wine sitting in my refrigerator - call me a hypocrite if you must.  But I'm neither offended by nor opposed to the idea as long as the wine is good. I'm not opposed to inexpensive wine, but life is too short to drink BAD wine, no matter what the price.

But I predict this will be the year the wine-buying public will embrace boxes for wines under $15/botle.  We may not see the rush to value that was the $2 Chuck of 2002, but I think alternative packaging will be the fastest growing area in the wine business.  I know I'll have those who challenge my contention - after all, boxed wines have been waiting their time in the spotlight since the 1980's.  But I think now is the time to throw one's predictive hat into the ring for Boxed Wine acceptance.  Here's why.

Why Boxed Wines Will Take Off
- Not all boxed wine is Franzia.  Thank God.  Decent wines are beginning to find themselves inside boxes these days. As a rough guide to quality, plan to spend more than $20 for 3 Liters in order to get wines you can enjoy for the life of the package.  Check out Black Box Wines, if curious.

- Boxed wines are already commonplace in Europe (see photo above, taken in a Loire Valley grocery store).  Just as they are in South America.  And Australia.  And Canada.  And virtually every wine-loving country except ours.  So much for the American pioneer spirit, eh?  Whoulda thunk WE'D be the traditionalists when it came to new wine ideas?

- Some of the newer packages are damned sexy (photos)

- Wine in a box is easier to carry to a picnic, and to smuggle into rock concerts.

- Wine stored inside a Mylar bag remains undamaged by oxidation for 3+ weeks after first opening.  (Click here to see the results of trials indicating a six week life for bag-in-a-box wines).  After opening a glass bottle, even when well preserved, wine lasts no more than a day or so before noticeable oxidation sets in.

Though the bag-in-a-box is not a good option for wines intended for cellaring, 95%+ of wines are intended to be consumed within 12-18 months.  And since 90%+ of American wines are from the West Coast, and many wine drinkers are East Coasters, a large part of our industry's carbon footprint comes from schlepping.  It seems increasingly clear that transporting heavy glass is a luxury we can no longer afford with inexpensive wines. Imagine the added burden on imported wines.

A standard wine bottle holds 750 milliliters and weighs just over 3 pounds when full.  Trucking three pounds of anything from the West Coast to NYC creates over 5 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions.  Because a 3-liter box of wine replaces four glass bottles with less than a half pound of cardboard and Mylar, it generates about 80% less CO2 during its cross-country trek (www.aboutboxedwine.com). 

Now, since 97% of wine on the market today is intended for consumption within 12 - 18 months, our nation could eliminate the emissions-equivalent of 400,000 vehicles (about two million tons of CO2) by packaging such wines in a box instead of glass bottles.

Tetra Paks?
To help overcome consumer resistance to alternative packages, producers have adopted solutions that are less utilitarian than the Mylar bag inside a cardboard box, but which are more acceptable or attractive (see photo).  Such packaging comes in a wide variety of sizes, offers an impressive canvas for graphic options and is far lighter than glass.  But it still allows oxygen to contact the wine upon opening, and in that sense offers no benefits over its glass brethren.

The Glass Industry Strikes Back
I've run out of space and research time today, but I'm very interested in recent news headlines about lighter-weight glass bottles.  This new package might give alternatives a run for their money while offering a solution for wines to be cellared as well.  A topic for a different day.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"What a decent boxed wine lacks in daily variety and prestige, it offsets with affordability and eco-friendliness.  Over the coming decade I think it will become the standard package for wines under $15."

~ Dave the Wine Merchant 

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Win a Free "Bottle Shock" DVD!

Monday, February 16th, 2009
The movie Bottle Shock is finally out on DVD.  Actually, it came out on February 3rd, after premiering in theaters last summer. 

Since its August release, I'd been asked many times for my opinion.  One friend was even kind enough to send me a logo T-shirt - they're quite nice, actually.  But I hadn't found time to see the film until a promotional copy arrived in January.

I have to say, I was negatively pre-disposed to the movie, based on its reviews and inevitable comparisons to my own licensed entity - the movie "Sideways".  But selecting your movies based on reviews may be as misleading as buying wine based on a Spectator rating.  I found the movie entertaining, despite its (seemingly inevitable, Hollywood) characateur-ation of a well-known Napa family.  Not to mention a few discomforting enophilic inaccuracies.

If you're reading these words right now, you qualify as a wine geek.  And, like me, you consider your geekhood a badge of honor.  As such, you are likely well familiar with this movie's plot.  But jut in case you're a wine geek who's been living under a rock...

...The movie follows two merging story lines - the first is that of the Barrets, a dysfunctional father-son team who own Chateau Montelena - then a struggling winery.  During the course of the movie (and no, this isn't giving away a mysterious ending), their Chardonnay rises to fame when it beats the best from France in the 1976 blind tasting now known as "The Judgment of Paris" (See George M. Taber's book by the same name). 

The second story line follows Steven Spurrier (portrayed by Alan Rickman), a British ex-pat wine merchant whose Parisian shop is empty of customers.  To increase revenues, Spurrier decides to visit Napa so he can select wines to be tasted against the best of France in a blind tasting he was organizing as a promotional even for his store/wine school.  He'd invited some of the most respected palates in France to participate, though he had no idea it would become the most famous blind tasting in the world.  In fact, Taber (writing for Time magazine) was the sole journalist who deemed the event worthy of coverage.

All told, Bottle Shock is an amusing movie that will appeal to many wine lovers, despite a few scenes that will invoke slaps to the head.  And the wine country scenery makes it well worth watching (and Taylor/Dushku don't hurt, either).  Now, on to the contest.

How To Win Your Free DVD
Enter before the end of the week.  We'll randomly draw three entries from those getting the correct answers and contact you for mailing instructions.

Sorry Entry Deadline Was Feb. 20, 2009!

	In what year did this famed tasting occur?*		Select10271776181218551969197619791984
	Who was the only journalist in attendance at the tasting?*		SelectWilliam SafireCalvin TrillinRuth ReichlJames LaubeGeorge M. TaberKingley AmisSteven SpurrierJancis RobinsonHarvey SteimanRobert Parker
	What was the name of the Wine Merchant who staged this famous tasting?*		SelectDave the Wine MerchantKermit LynchSteven SpurrierGary VaynerchukRichard Dawes Fine Wine LtdChambers Street WinesTailleventParis Wine MerchantAlan Rickman
	Whose Chardonnay did the French judges place #1?*		SelectCharles ShawStags LeapBeringer BrothersChateau MontelenaScreaming EaglePahlmeyerMondaviGrgich HillBeaulieu VineyardSutter Home
	Whose Cabernet Sauvignon did the French judges place #1?*		SelectCharles ShawStags LeapBeringer BrothersChateau MontelenaScreaming EaglePahlmeyerMondaviGrgich HillBeaulieu VineyardSutter Home
	What was the most notable repurcussion of the contest's outcome?*		SelectThe disgruntled U.S. replaced the term "French Fries", with "Freedom Fries"The disgrunteled French boycotted all American productsNew World wineries gained prestige worldwideWaiters in Parisian cafes abandon their well-known charm and became rude to American tourists"Joe" (Eliza Dushku) rode bartending fame to star in the new TV show "Dollhouse"
	Your First Name*
	Last Name*
	Email Address*
	I don't care to receive email specials from Sideways Wine Club.
	What Type of Wine do you drink most often?		Cabernet Franc Cabernet Sauvignon Chardonnay Merlot Pinot Gris/Grigio Pinot Noir Sauvignon Blanc Viognier I prefer more obscure varietals!

Good Luck!

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"I'm not really an asshole.  It's just that I'm British...and you're not"

~ Alan Rickman as Steven Spurrier in the 2008 film "Bottle Shock" 

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Kudos to Two Wineries! One Big, One Ant-Sized.

Friday, February 13, 2009
The wine business is a business just like any other.  Sometimes people are just people, barely meeting the definition of civility towards others in the business.  But then there's the winery that rises above the rest, either through their hospitality or their pluck.  Let me tell you about two such wineries today - one a well-funded behemoth, the other an under-funded, rising star fueled by a big dream and a lot of talent.

The Big One...
We recently invited Eileen and Jeff over for a special celebration dinner.  My wife and I had planned the meal and dug through our cellar to find the right wine for the evening.  We knew our friends were big fans of the Rubicon Bordeaux blend from Neibaum Coppola, and we'd been looking for a reason to open our 1994, so we decided that night was the perfect occasion. 

Imagine our disappointment when the bottle had a flaw inherent to it manufacture, but which Coppola could not know about until the wine had aged a bit. It was not drinkable.

Now, as a wine merchant, I don't carry a lot of Napa Cabs and am virtually unknown in those parts, I daresay.  But I still don't like to approach a winery flashing my industry badge, so to speak, because I'm always curious to see how a winery will react to an unadorned consumer.

So I filled out a form on the Neibaum Coppola website as an anonymous customer using my personal email address.  Though the content of my message indicated I was familiar with the problem behind the flaw, and had correctly identified it, I did not indicate my industry association in any way.  So when the winery representative replied within a day, pleasantly offering a very amenable resolution to our ruined bottle (replacement with the current vintage), I felt it was worth sharing with you.  Kudos to Coppola!

...And The Ant-Sized One
If you've visited this space on a regular basis (thanks Dad!) you may recall past articles featuring our association with the three young guys behind Anthill Farms winery (2007 Harvest photos and article on 2006 harvest.)  Anthony, David and Webb are no strangers to our olive orchard in Boonville, which is situated next to a very small vineyard owned by the delightful Donna Abbey and Dan Harris (the best neighbors one could hope for!)

But this week I finally got around to reading Anthill Farm's well-deserved feature story - Making a Mountain Out of [an] Anthill" - that appeared in the wine section of the S.F. Chronicle two weeks ago.  It is an inspiring story.

At the opposite end of the spectrum from Coppola, Anthill Farms has yet to pay its partners a dime, and was started a few years ago with less than $10,000.  But they can take comfort in the consistency of their short track record - consistently high scores from Burghound and the Chronicle (as well as from yours truly, for what that's worth!)

Though I can't get enough of their wine to include it in a club shipment, you deserve the chance to taste it before it's all gone.  You can buy some here.

It was a good week in the wine industry.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"These guys are the overwhelming underdogs."

~ Yogi Berra (1925-?)  Baseball Player, Manager, Hall of Famer, and

delightful mangler of the English Language

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Paraskavedekatriaphobia - A Wine for Friday the 13th

Wednesday, February 11, 2009
It's a good word, paraskavedekatriaphobia.  It refers to someone with a fear of Friday the 13th.

Even as a kid I had fun with the superstitions surrounding Friday the 13th.  That's when I began to notice most of the unfortunate occurrences attributed to superstitions were normal events that simply stood out when one's mindset was predisposed for disaster.

This "pre-disposed mindset" was the subject of an amusing short story I recall from my youth.  It featured a young Midwestern boy (much like myself, at the time) named Homer Price.  In this particular short story, a snake oil salesman by the name of Professor Atmos P. H. Ear (a wonderful play on words) blew into town, and then just as quickly, left town, as is the wont of such salesmen.  This particular charlatan was selling shakers filled with a lifetime supply of an odorless, weightless, tasteless and invisible flavor enhancer called "Ever-So-Much-More-So". 

When sprinkled on a common doughnut, the fried ring was suddenly the BEST doughnut ever tasted.  When added to a common cup of diner coffee, the bitter brew suddenly transformed into a transcendent morning eye-opener and mood-enhancer.  Of course, the salesman was simply able to bring his customers to focus on what they were tasting, and in so doing, they re-appreciated the flavors they'd bome to take for granted.  And in so doing, he also sold a lot of cans filled with air.

This story appealed to me because it's an amusing and well-told tale.  But also because it helped me see the human foible - that everything tastes better when we pay attention to our food.  You know where i'm going with this, I suspect.  Sometimes we discover anew an old favorite, just by focusing on it at the expense of everything else.  A partner, for example.  Or our kids.

Or a good glass of wine.

One of the exercises I lead at the beginning of my wine classes might be called "Ever-so-much-more-so".  It focuses our attention on each wine's unique aromas and flavors and it's always an eye-opening experience, if you'll allow me to mix my sensory metaphors to make a point.

Our noses and tongues were once critical to our survival - indicating which food sources were safe and which were deadly.  Now that we buy food at a store, and most of it is safe (peanut butter aside!), we have less to worry about.  So food scents and flavors have faded into the background noise of our busy lives, and we're content with rather bland, salted, sweetened, and processed foods that fit nicely into our hectic lives.

So on this Friday the 13th, I invite you to slow down and smell the wine.  Enjoy a meal, perhaps following the old meditative practice of preparing a meal in silence, with no TV, radio, phones or conversation, paying attention only to the aromas and flavors of your ingredients.  If it sounds weird, that's because it is, but you'll be amazed at the amplification that occurs in your senses.

Or maybe I'm just superstitious.

"Ever-So-Much-More-So" Wines

Tarrica Wine Cellars, 2007 Pinot Noir, Monterey ($16.50) -

This is a surprising wine that offers true Pinot pleasure at a fraction of the cost for most pinot noir hailing from Monterey county.  This prestigious pedigree normally justifies a price two or three times this amount, and while this wine would have difficulty standing up to its big brothers in a blind taste test, it offers a lot of value for not a lot of coin.

Torbreck, 2008 Cuvee Juveniles, ($24.50)

I happily discovered the Torbreck wines over a year ago.  An Australian producer that pulls fruit from all over the Barossa Valley, this particular wine is a blend of the classic Rhone varietals, with Grenache in the lead.  The fruit comes from old vines, and I mean really old - some having celebrated their centenarian birthdays years ago - which lends a depth and intensity to this young, un-oaked wine.  And no, the 2008 vintage is not a typo, but keep in mind the Southern Hemisphere harvests during our spring, so this wine is almost a year from its harvest so don't worry about bottle shock - it's been in bottle for many months now.  Drinking very nicely right now!

Cima Collina, 2006 Pinot Noir, Tondre Grapefield Vineyard ($48)- This wine is at the other extreme from the affordable Tarrica, offering a truly transcendent wine made even more so with even the most feeble of attempts to shut out the world and focus on its aromas and flavors, which evolve and develop for as long as you can resist finishing the bottle.  Not a wine for everyday drinking - at least, not for most of us - but a wine that makes a any celebration ever-so-much-more-so.

Any or all of these three wines will suffice as proof of the ever-so-much-more-so phenomenon, with flavors and aroomas that evolve over the course of an enjoyable evening.  But if you decide to test the theory this Friday, I mean, just in case, don't do so while sitting under a ladder, or looking in a mirror, or with a black cat in the room, or with an umbrella open indoors, or the number 13 anywhere in view, or...

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"The root of al superstition is that people observe when a thing hits, but not when it misses."

~ Francis Bacon, Sr.  (1561-1626) 

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Fighting Vainly The Old Ennui - Wine and Valentines?

www.zwani.com

 

Monday, February 9th, 2009 - "Fighting vainly the old ennui" - as I write this I hear Jamie Cullum's voice singing that phrase from the Cole Porter song "I Get a Kick Out of You".  And after two weeks of being bombarded by thousands of of pink-and-red heart-themed ads for everything from tires to premium membership at Marketing Profs, I find myself battling a Valentine's Day ennui.  Which is not good for an online wine retailer.  I should be jumping into the fray, unleashing my own barrage of cupid-born messages.

I'm still a big fan of celebrating love in all its various and sundry forms, as long as the celebration is sincere.  But really, how many red-heart-infused ads can we see before the words "I love you" fail to conjure the sense of excitement that is their birthright? 

So today's posting contains no heart images.  No flying babies with bows and arrows.  No doilies.  No pink or red typeface.  Just the news that West Coast customers who order by noon on Wednesday will still receive wine in time for weekend festivities, whatever you have planned.

Click here to see my most recently recommended wines. 

Or click here for my recommended sweet wines.

And what better way to express your love for someone than through a languorous evening of great food, wine and conversation?  In that spirit, I've copied here a recipe from my February shipment to club members.  It compliments a wide range of red wines, and warms the coldest of hearts on a winter night.

Salt-Roasted Porterhouse

This recipe was inspired by Govind Armstrong at “Table 8” in Los Angeles.  If you’re like me, you'll worry that smothering a steak in salt will yield tough, dry meat similar to beef jerky (or shoe leather, but then I repeat myself).  Fortunately, nothing could be further from the truth.  By forming a hard barrier, the salt seals the meat's juices inside.  You then crack open the salt crust and discard it before carving - sort of a low-cost version of clay pot cooking that rewards the home chef with a moist and tender steak. 

The spice rub takes a leaf from the playbook of our pulled pork recipe that was so popular last summer, producing another meal you’ll long remember.  Add a great bottle of pinot and a loved one and this just may form a perfect winter memory.

Ingredients
2 Bay leaves, crushed
1 Tbsp whole peppercorns
2 tsp Whole coriander seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp dried rosemary (or t Tbsp chopped fresh)
½ tsp dried crushed red pepper
1 ½ Cups (plus 1 tsp) coarse kosher salt
2 large Porterhouse or T-Bone steaks

Procedure
Mix the first seven ingredients well.  Transfer 2 Tbsp of the mixture to a spice grinder and grind well – to a fine powder, then mix in 1 tsp of the salt, keeping this ground mixture separate from the whole spice mixture.  Rub the finely ground spice mixture all over the steaks, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours.

Preheat your oven to 475.  Mix the remaining “whole” spice mixture with 1 ½ Cups kosher salt in a medium bowl.  Add a scant ¼ Cup water and stir to moisten the spices.  Unwrap the steaks and place them in a large roasting pan, then pack the salt-spice mix over the top and sides of each steak, leaving the bottom (pan-side) unsalted.

Roast for about 25 minutes or until the internal temperature registers 130 degrees.  Remove from oven and place on a cutting board, cover loosely with a tent of foil and let sit for 8-10 minutes. 

When ready to serve, crack open the salt crust and discard.  Turn the steaks over (to the more tender, un-salted side) and slice into ½ inch thick slices.

Enjoy with loved ones old or new.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"Without love, what are we worth?  Eighty-nine cents!  Eighty-nine cents worth of chemicals walking around lonely."

~ Hawkeye Pierce, in the TV show M*A*S*H

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Tudor's Anderson Valley Pinot rated 90 Points

Thursday, February 5th, 2009
I received an email this morning with news from Winemaker Dan Tudor that four of their pinots were granted scores of 90 or above in the most recent Wine Spectator reviews by James Laube.  Dan was among the first wineries we featured in the all-Pinot version of our Sideways Wine Club sampling program back in 2005.  Back then, I thought the Tudor's were producing some very fine pinots, and I'm glad to see other palates recognize the same thing.  (Click Here to see all our Tudor Pinots)

In his article, Laube mentions that the Tudor's have improved their wines.  I spoke to Winemaker Dan Tudor, who took umbrage at that - "Our wines have always been this good.  It's just that 2006 was a bit of a difficult vintage, and I think we coaxed more from our grapes than many other producers did, so perhaps it just seems as if we improved more than the rest" 

Ah, so that's it.  Dan commented on the wide variation in scores some of his wines were given, with other notable palates scoring the same wine very differently than did Laube.  Which brought us to the question about whether scores are a reliable indicator of a wine you're going to enjoy or not!  "Not really" he said "unless you enjoy the same sort of wines a reviewer does on any particular day.  It's more useful to read a description and understand whether a given wine is made in a style you enjoy, regardless of its score"

Dan also shared one of his company's secrets for assuring every bottle tastes as they intended it when bottled - their use of the the Diam Corks from Oeneo.  These are composite corks that many consumers perceive as being cheaper and inferior to a whole, natural cork.  According to Dan, nothing could be further from the truth.  The Diam corks begin as natural cork bark, are ground and sieved to a uniform consistency (and any impurities eliminated), then purified of over 150 contaminants (including the offending TCA that leads to cork taint and ruined wine, such as the treasured bottle of 1994 Rubicon we had to dump last month!)  In addition to removing TCA, the process reduces other harmful compounds behind such offensive cork-based aromas as rubber, petroleum, mushroom and sulfur.  Note, the mushroom mentioned here is not the natural mushroom ("Forest floor") aromas found in many good pinots - one of the reasons pinot and mushrooms have a natural affinity at the table!

This purification process is accomplished using "Supercritical CO2" - the scientific description for the change in gaseous properties under specific pressure/temperature conditions.  In this case, CO2 is at its Supercritical phase at temperatures above 88 degrees and pressure in excess of 71 Bars.  (Note, I found no mention on the Oeneo website about whether the CO2 is released into the atmosphere during the purification process - does anyone know?  Please leave a comment)

After purification, the cork "dust" is molded into the shape of a cork using a food-grade binder (I believe this to be urethane, but can't find confirmation).  Two levels of permeability are available to the winemaker, a basic version for standard wines and a more permeable version for very delicate wines.  But the best news for winemakers is that the company guarantees against cork taint, and I know of no other wine closure that offers such assurance.

Dan, "Amusing Musings" extends our congratulations on your good ratings, and thanks you for the time on the phone today.

Cheers!
Dave the Wine Merchant
[email protected] 

Quote of the Day:
"Crap"

~ My wife, Leslie Durschinger, upon tasting a corked bottle of 1994 Rubicon

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