The Wine Curmudgeon

Tuesday tidbits 52: Wine scores, Beaujolais nouveau, red wine popularity

• Wine score uproar:  Steve Heimoff, a major U.S. wine writer, has lashed out at those of us who don’t like scores. “Just once, I’d like to meet someone who bashes wine magazines and doesn’t seem to have an ulterior motive — making money. Hasn’t happened yet.” Mr. Heimoff, give me a call. I’ll be happy to introduce myself and explain why scores are the wrong way to review wine. And no, I don’t make any money by saying that. In fact, it probably costs me money. But no one ever accused the Wine Curmudgeon of being a good businessman.

• Beaujolais nouveau: The 2008 edition will be released on Nov. 20 (that’s a week from tomorrow), and I’ll have a review here on Nov. 21 (no scores, of course). I don’t have high hopes for this vintage, mostly because the past several have been quite ordinary. But, as I always tell my wine students, drink the wine before you criticize it. It generally works better that way.

• More red wine? We likely drank more red wine than white in 2008, the first time that has happened in 32 years, according to a study from Impact Databank, which tracks wine sales. Among the projected big sellers? Pinot noir, expected to advance 12 percent; chardonnay, which should remain the most popular white wine; pinot grigio, which should increase 7 percent; and sauvignon blanc and riesling, where imports will rise at double-digit rates. The study attributes this change to two things – the decline in sweet pink wine sales and red wine’s supposed health benefits.

Technorati Tags: wine scores,Beaujolais nouveau,red wine sales,wine news,Steve Heimoff

Wine terms: Corked

It can happen to any wine, regardless of price. It doesn’t make any difference what kind of wine it is, where it’s from or who makes it. Cork taint, or corked wine, will spoil any wine at any time.

Know two things about corked wine. First, it’s caused by the presence of a chemical compound called TCA (2,4,6-trichloroanisole for any chemists in the audience), which occurs in the cork and work its way into the wine. TCA can also be present in the winery, a chemical reaction waiting to happen. Research has shown that using chlorine cleaning products increases the chances of TCA presence, and most wineries don’t use them any more..

Second, TCA changes the flavor and aroma of the wine. Sometime it’s subtle, and sometime it’s as obvious as a wet puppy -- literally. That’s one of the descriptions of the way corked wines smell and taste. Among the others: Moldy, musty, wet newspaper and dank basement.

Election 2008: The wine report

Yes, there is wine news related to Tuesday’s election and Barack Obama. The biggest is that the new first family apparently drinks wine. A People magazine article disclosed that the Obamas had some Kendall-Jackson chardonnay in the house. No snide comments, please, given that the White House inhabitants over the past eight years didn’t drink wine at all.

Among the other wine-related news worth noting (none of which has anything to do with the corny, wine-inspired PR that crossed my desk during the campaign):

Wine review: Sebeka Chenin Blanc 2008

The Wine Curmudgeon thinks chenin blanc is one of the world's great unappreciated grapes. When it is made well, it’s a fine alternative to chardonnay –- dry and fruity in the New World style or dry and steely in the French style.

The catch, of course, is the phrase “if it’s made well.” Too much chenin blanc is tasting room sweet or sour and green. Fortunately, there is the Sebeka (about $10), a South African wine from the Gallo empire. It’s a solid Tuesday night with Chinese takeout wine – a bit sweet, but not unpleasantly so, with lots of tropical fruit. I wish it had had more of an acid backbone, but that doesn’t detract from its value.

Technorati Tags: chenin blanc,South African wine,Sebeka,white wine,cheap wine,$10 wine,wine reviews

Wine of the week: Saint Clair Vicar's Choice Sauvignon Blanc 2008

New Zealand sauvignon blanc is so well made and so inexpensive that some wine drinkers are starting to take it for granted. If it doesn’t cost $10 and taste like $35, they get upset.

That’s their problem. The Wine Curmudgeon is just happy to find wines like the Vicar’s Choice (about $12) – balanced, with the fruit and acidity playing off each other the way they should, and with more than just the usual New Zealand grapefruit up front. Look for tropical flavors in the middle, and even a bit of a stony finish.

Drink this as an aperitif, or with the usual sauvignon blanc entrees. It wouldn’t be out of place with a cheese course featuring harder, nuttier cheeses, either.

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: sauvignon blanc,New Zealand wine,white wine,Saint Clair Vicar's choice

Tuesday tidbits 51: John Mariani, wine prices, drinking laws

• Mariani sounds off: No, this was not written by the Wine Curmudgeon, but by John Mariani, one of the most sensible and well-respected wine critics in the world. “This is a wine designed to win awards, the kind of cabernet that California cult wine faddists say will ‘blow your doors off.' It tastes more of the lab than of the individual vineyard. … I left half the bottle undrunk while having a simple dinner of grilled pork chops and white beans.” The review takes an Argentine wine, Andeluna Grand Reserve Pasionado, to task for being everything that’s wrong with modern wine: “It is too big, too rich and too alcoholic. … There is a lot wrong with a world of wine where attempts are made to have every varietal taste more or less the same and where hugeness and over-ripeness are seen as a virtue as much as they are a marketing strategy.” Well spoken, Mr. Mariani.

• Whither wine prices? I was lucky enough to taste a 1997 Château Cos d'Estournel the other night, and it was an impressive wine: Dark, interesting, even still a bit rough. It’s also about $100; the current vintage will run about twice that. That’s a lot of money for a second growth, by the way. Will those prices hold up over the next 18 months, as the economy does what it looks like it’s going to do? I’m going to write more about this later this month, but some people aren’t convinced we’ll see a slump. This includes a fellow who has started a fund that will invest in wine. HIs theory: A “wine-price-ratio,” which suggests that certain fine wines increase in value over a four-year to eight-year period.

• French drinking laws: The French government, in an effort to crack down on teen-aged drinking, has proposed raising the legal age for buying alcohol to 18 from 16. It also wants to ban sales of alcohol at highway filling stations and to ban all-you-can-drink "open bar" evenings at French high schools. Needless to say, this has caused an outcry among the French: “We are going to keep on explaining that our aim is not to sell wine to people in order for them to get drunk as fast as possible," said one wine industry official.

Technorati Tags: John Mariani,wine prices,French wine,drinking laws

Wine terms: Tannins

One reason so many people don’t like red wine is because they’re overwhelmed by the tannins. They sip the wine, and then taste something bitter and astringent just before they swallow (or spit it out, as the case may be). Then they shake their heads and go, “No more red wine for me.”

But tannins don’t have to be that way.