The Wine Curmudgeon

Regional wine and the Wine Curmudgeon in Palate Press

The Wine Curmudgeon's take on what's going on with regional wine and what it all means is currently the lead feature in Palate Press, the on-line wine magazine. The article is the magazine story version of a regional wine blog post I wrote about six weeks ago.

One quick quote from the article, from the great Glenn Bardgett at Annie Gunn's restaurant in St. Louis on the growth of regional wine: "Twenty years ago, this would have seemed impossible. But the wine business isn’t going to be able to ignore what has happened forever. They’re going to have to start paying attention."

Winebits 192: Private labels, wine critics, Decanter awards

• What's in a private label? We've had discussion here over the years about the difference between national brands and store brands and private labels. This article, from an Alabama newspaper, is a sound, easy-to-follow explanation of private label and who makes the wine for retailers like Walgreen's, Wal-Mart, and Costco. And, notes wine columnist Pat Kettles, Dollar General is going to have to find someone to make the wine it wants to sell.

• When critics collide: Eric Asimov in the New York Times has the story of two influential critics and their reaction to Chateau Pavie, a hip and with-it red Bordeaux blend that is usually well received. Robert Parker calls the 2010 Pavie brilliant, while John Gilman calls it, believe it not, bad and unpleasant. Which is, of course, one of the great things about wine, that two such reputable critics can completely disagree. The Wine Curmudgeon has actually tasted Pavie, and while it wasn't the 2010, I can see where Gilman was coming from. Which means I can also see where Parker was coming from.

• Love that cheap wine: Decanter, the British wine magazine, has released its annual wine awards. Many of the award winners will be difficult to find in the U.S. or too expensive or both, but one of them is a favorite around here -- the French chardonnay, Cave de Lugny, which sells for abut $10 in the U.S. It was not only the least expensive among the top 10 chardonnays, but it shared the list with some high-dollar white Burgundies from Montrachet and Chabilis and an $80 Aussie label.

Memorial Day 2011

The blog is mostly off today, as the Wine Curmudgeon prepares to judge the Colorado Winemaking Competition and to scout locations for DLW 2012: Colorado. Enjoy the holiday and this video, which puts a new twist on food and wine pairings (courtesy of captbrooke at YouTube).

Mini-reviews 25: Moet, El Coto, Martin Codax, Pecorino

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month. This month, a couple of roses to close out rose week.

• Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé 2002 ($80, sample): Classic in style, with lots of acid and fantastic bubbles. Could probably age for a couple of years more to give the fruit a chance to show. A fine gift for someone who appreciates Champagne.

• El Coto Rioja Rosado 2010 ($10, sample): Much more New World than Spanish in style, with lots more fruit (strawberry) than a Spanish rose would have. Having said that, it's still dry and a fine, simple, fresh rose for summer.

• Martín Códax Albariño 2009 ($15, sample): Spanish white had lemon fruit and was a little fresher than usual, which was welcome. But it's still $2 or $3 more than similar wines.

• Cantina Tollo Pecorino 2009 ($16, purchased): This white was bright and Italian, which means not that much fruit (pears?), balanced acid, and long mineral finish. Highly recommended.

Memorial Day and rose, 2011

Memorial Day weekend means it's time for the annual rose post -- where you won't have to spend much more than $10 to have a good time.

Surprisingly, despite the weak dollar and the passage of all that time, that price point hasn’t changed since the Wine Curmudgeon started writing an annual rose piece almost 10 years ago. There are still dozens of terrific roses that cost $10 or so from all over the world. The one thing that has changed? The quality of rose keeps getting better, and it’s unusual to find a poorly made rose (something that wasn’t necessarily true 10 years ago).

What you need to know about rose -- after the jump:

Wine of the week: Toad Hollow Pinot Noir Rose 2010

The Wine Curmudgeon appreciated this wine the first time he tasted it, in those long ago days of newspaper wine columns. It's cheap, it's consistent, and it comes from a producer that cares about the quality of its inexpensive wine. What's not to like?

However, I have neglected to review the Toad Hollow ($10, purchased) in the blog's three-plus years of existence (though it is an original member of the $10 Hall of Fame). So let's remedy this now as we celebrate rose wine on the blog this week; my annual rose preview will run tomorrow.

Look for lots of strawberry and acid to complement the fruit, which has always been a Toad Hollow trademark. The wine seemed a bit sweeter this vintage than in the past couple, though that may have been because it had not been in the bottle long enough for all of its bits to come together (a wine geek would describe a young wine like that as a little shocky).

Update: I did a little checking, and the wine is noticably sweeter than usual this year. That's disappointing, because this has always been one of the great dry roses produced in the U.S. It probably won't stay in the Hall of Fame.

Winebits 181: Rose, Madoff, screwcaps

• French gulping down rose: The French, who have cut wine consumption by more than 20 percent over the past decade, like rose more than ever before. Journee-Vincole reports that 1 out of 4 bottles of wine sold in France is rose, up from 1 in 10 bottles in 1990. Apparently, the French see rose as a lighter and healthier alternative to red wine, and it appeals to the younger audience that doesn't drink as much wine as their parents or grandparents.

• Bernie Madoff's wine collection: The serial swindler liked wine, but wasn't very discriminating. That attitude didn't help the federal officials who are selling Madoff's assets to re-pay his victims. They raised just $41,000 when they auctioned Madoff's wine. How pitiful is that? I've probably got a couple of thousand dollars worth of wine in the house, and I never swindled billions from anyone.

• Green screwcaps: Today's shoutout to our friends in the cork business comes from the San Francisco Chronicle, which notes that screwcaps are the most environmentally friendly wine closure. Says a San Francisco recycling official: Screwcaps "are relatively easy to recycle and can be made almost infinitely back into metal screw-tops." Plus, as we all know, you don't need a corkscrew.