The Wine Curmudgeon

Tuesday tidbits 39

• Top winemaker has had enough of overdone wine: And the winemaker is none other than Tom Eddy, one of Napa’s leading cabernet sauvignon producers. "After 35 years of making wine I still can't tell the difference between a 91 and a 92 score, but I can tell the difference between a balanced wine and an overripe, raisined cabernet with 16 percent alcohol," he says. "Come on, if I really wanted the alcohol, I'd rather have a Cognac.” This is news – Eddy is not an outsider criticizing the industry, but an insider who has had enough.

• We’re drinking less: The Wine Curmudgeon can never get enough of alcohol consumption surveys, mostly because most of them contradict each other. But I did notice something intriguing in this one. There's been a gradual decrease over the past 50 years in the average amount of alcohol people drink, and more people today don’t drink than did five decades ago. Alcohol consumption among men has gone from about 2 1/2 drinks a day to 1 1/2.

• New Zealand wine exports: The standing joke about New Zealand is that the country has more sheep than people. Now, you can add wine to the punch line. The Kiwis expect to export about US$700 million by 2010, which works out to $170 worth of wine for each resident. By comparison, wine exports in the U.S. in 2007 were $951 million.

Technorati Tags: Tom Eddy,New Zealand wine,wine consumption in the U.S.

Expensive wine alert

How does $1,500 for a bottle of Salon Blanc de Blancs Le Mesnil-sur-Oger 1995 sound?

It was on the wine list at Salum, a well-respected Dallas restaurant. Did the Wine Curmudgeon order it?

What do you think?

Wine review: Lockwood sauvignon blanc 2007

The Wine Curmudgeon, who comes from a long of retailers, loves to guess the price of wine. And I’m quite good at it. Drives the wine producers crazy.

So as I sipped this Monterey County sauvignon blanc, I figured it was a $15 or $18 wine. It had classic California sauvignon blanc varietal character – some grapefruit, but some tropical flavors as well. It had three flavors – something in the front, middle, and back. Usually, less expensive wine only has one or two flavors.

The third flavor was a long mineral finish. And, though the wine was only bottled in May, it was ready to drink, another good sign.

So when I checked the price, I was more than pleasantly surprised to find a suggested retail of $10.99. This means, when the wine hits store shelves in a month or so, it should be $9 or $10. This is a $10 Hall of Fame candidate. Serve it with shellfish or grilled chicken.

Technorati Tags: wine reviews,Lockwood sauvignon blanc,cheap wine

Wine of the week: Cristalino Rose NV

The high temperature here has been 100 degrees or more for most of the past month, which makes the Wine Curmudgeon even crankier than usual. Which is pretty cranky,

So what do I do on a sun-blaring, lawn-scorching Tuesday evening after a long, trying day of dealing with editors? Open a bottle of Cristalino’s rose (about $8), of course.

First, it’s cheap, which always cheers me up. Second, it’s bubbles, which cheers me up even more. Third, it’s well-made, delicious, cheap bubbles, which cheers me up most of all. The rose is bone dry, refreshing and brisk, with low alcohol, a bit of strawberry and caramel, and lots of fizz. I’m not exaggerating: It’s amazing how much better this wine makes me feel.

And I’m not the only who feels that way. Cristalino sparklers have won just about every award possible from those of us who care about good cheap wine, from my $10 Hall of Fame to the New York Times to the Wine Magazines (as difficult as that is to believe). Drink this well-chilled, and serve it with everything from those Tuesday night leftovers to Indian or Thai (it’s more than fruity enough for the spice) to big salads.

Technorati Tags: Cristalino,sparkling wine,rose

Alamosa Wine Cellars

This is one of an occasional series detailing Texas wineries. The complete list is here.

Look at the wine list at Alamosa Wine Cellars, and one thing stands out. Winemaker Jim Johnson doesn’t make cabernet sauvignon, merlot, or chardonnay. In fact, he is one of the first in Texas to use grapes more suited to the state’s unique climate than those three.

Tuesday tidbits 38

• McPherson winery will open soon: Kim McPherson, who makes some of the best wine in Texas, will soon be making the wine in his own facility – a state of the art building in Lubbock in an old Coke bottling plant, set to open later this year. "It's not like I've never built something like this," says McPherson. "This is something I'm doing on my own and I think it will be incredible."

• Texas Sommelier contest:: One of the Wine Curmudgeon’s favorite events is the annual Texas sommelier contest, in which a couple of dozen of the state’s top wine types compete to be named the best sommelier in Texas. They do blind tastings for vintage and location and are tested on service. My only regret is that these are one-on-one events. It would be so much more fun to do the blind tastings in front of an audience, hollering and screaming like a football game.

• Italian wine in boxes:  Italy, which has mostly frowned on boxed wine, has decided to approve its sale. This is big news, since it will allow some of the country’s finest wines – those that get a DOC designation – to be sold in boxes. There are quality box wines, mostly from Australia, but the the Italians have always been hesitant to cross that line.

Technorati Tags: box wine,Italian wine,Texas wine,Kim McPherson,Texas sommelier contest

Texas wine harvest notes

A few observations based on a weekend visit to the Hill Country. I’ll be in west Texas in a month or so, and should have a solid overview of what’s going on with the 2008 harvest.