The Wine Curmudgeon

DrinkLocalWine visits Denver, and Denver is thrilled

One of the difficulties with trying to figure out where regional wine is in relation to the rest of the wine world is the Wine Curmudgeon's natural curmudgeonliness. Yes, the National Restaurant Association can say, for the second consecutive year, that local wine is a top priorty for restaurants. But I'm the kind of guy who looks at that and tries to decide if the survey was rigged. In other words, I'm not only waiting for the other shoe to drop, but expect it to hit me on the head.

So what happens when I'm in Denver last week doing some groundwork for DrinkLocalWine's fourth annual conference, set for the Colorado capital at the end of April? Almost complete and total enthusiasm, not only for what we're doing but for local wine. More, after the jump:

Barefoot, flipflop, and the wacky, wonderful world of wine trademarks

Regular visitors here know how the Wine Curmudgeon feels about wine companies that sue other wine companies over similar labels and similar names. Curmudgeonly, of course.

The most infamous lawsuit of recent years was the faceoff between the company that owns Cristal, the mega-pricey Champagne, and the $7 Spanish cava, Cristalino. But there have been a fair number of others, including Anheuser-Busch vs. an Argentine wine producer called Budini, and YellowTail vs. the Wine Group, who were fighting whether a kangaroo looked like a wallaby.

As much fun as these were, they pale in comparison to what could be the next big trademark and tradedress lawsuit in the wine business -- if E&J Gallo and the Wine Group square off over two fabulously successful brands, Gallo's Barefoot and Wine Group's flipflop. More, after the jump:

Expensive wine 35: Beaulieu Georges de Latour Private Reserve 2006

Beaulieu Vineyard is one of the most important wine producers in California history, and Georges de Latour is one of the most important figures in that history. Without the winery and the work de Latour did there before World War II, the wine business in the U.S. would not be what it is.

Hence, any wine from Beaulieu that carres de Latour's name should be special. Sadly, the winery suffered through a series of problems in the late 1990s and early part of this century -- ordinary wines, scathing reviews, and even wines infected with cork taint. It was as sad as it was surprising.

The good news is that Beaulieu's corporate parent saw that something needed to be done, and invested millions of dollars to do so. The efforts have worked, and Beaulieu's wines are once again, as wine geeks say, showing well. The de Latour ($125, sample) is a well-made and surprisingly traditional style of Napa cabernet sauvignon, which made the Wine Curmudgeon quite happy.

It's a long, long wine from first sniff to finish, with aromas of cedar and dark fruit, more dark fruit in front, a solid middle, some rich oak on the finish and much welcome tannins to balance all. It's not hot despite being 14.8 percent alcohol, though it does need food -- lots of red meat -- to show its best. I had it with prime rib and Yorkshire pudding, a classic pairing.

Decant this wine for an hour or so to get the most out of it. And be glad that someone went to the trouble to save a historic brand. A price note: When I got the sample two years, it was listed at $80; the increase, even during the recession, shows how much Beaulieu has improved.

Wine of the week: Château Font-Mars Picpoul 2010

The Wine Curmudgeon has always enjoyed picpoul, a white wine from southern France made with the picpoul grape that is grown, believe it or not, in the Picpoul region. Which is a weird naming convention even for the French. Picpoul is cheap and food friendly, one of those wines that you can keep around the house in case you want a glass of wine and don't want to have to worry about what you're drinking.

The catch, of course, is that it's difficult to find quality picpoul in Dallas. Those that I've had have mostly disappointed -- either sweet or too citrusy or overpriced. Hence my delight in finding the Font-Mars ($10, purchased), which is everything picpoul is supposed to be. And I did I mention that it's only $10?

It's a simple wine, but not in the way that too many cheap wines are simple, with one flavor or characteristic dominating all. Look for apricot and stone fruit in the front and a very nice stony finish with acid to balance all. I drank it over the New Year's holidays when I wanted something for dinner that wasn't overwhelming, and I was truly surprised at how well made it was. It's one of the early contenders for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame, and highly recommended.

A personal note: The Wine Curmudugeon does not write about politics here; that's what political sites are for. But I do want to mention the controversy surrounding two proposals in Congress that would limit Interent speech, the SOPA and PIPA legislation. Copyright is one thing, and as a writer I certainly understand that. But free speech is even more important than copyright, especially as the Internet changes the way the world communicates. The New York Times explains what's going on today here. If you'd like to support those of us who believe that SOPA and PIPA are wrong-headed, you can sign this on-line petition.

Winebits 212: Wine scores, grilled cheese wine, regional wine

• Score jiggling: Lots and lots of wine score news in the cyber-ether. Blake Gray has done some number crunching, and sees score inflation. Shocking news, no? My favorite was this article in the New York Times, in which the writer thinks he may have discovered how to buy really nice wine for less money -- wait until Robert Parker lowers the wine's score, after Parisian retailers lower the price. It's the equivalent, he writes, of a Moody's downgrade. And any article on scoring that includes a reference to "Spinal Tap's" infamous 11-level sound system is well worth reading.

• Wine with grilled cheese: Food & Wine's Ray Isle, who knows his way around cheap wine, has some intriguing wine pairings for grilled cheese. And not just the classic white bread and American cheese version, but several more esoteric sandwiches, including one with Italian robiola cheese and mortadella sausage. Oddly, enough, the Wine Curmudgeon made croque monsieur, the French version, and tomato soup a couple of weeks ago, pairing them with the Chateau Bonnet red. Who knew I was on the cutting edge?

• Chefs love regional wine: Local wine, for the second year in a year, is one of the top 10 restaurant trends, says the National Restaurant Associaton. It's right up there with healthful meals for kids and ahead of culinary cocktails -- pretty impressive, given how much ink the latter gets. I was skeptical when local wine made the list last year, but I'm beginning to see a trend, especially as we travel the country for DrinkLocalWine and see how enthusiastic so many chefs are. (Shameless plug for DLW 2012: Denver on April 28 -- tickets on sale soon through the website.)

Does wine make food taste better?

Norton thinks Chianti makes all the difference in the world

Usually, when the subject of wine and food comes up, it's about pairings -- what goes with what, and often in such nuance that it scares the hell out of beginning wine drinkers. Which may be one reason why wine and food pairings are becoming increasingly less important to many wine drinkers.

The Wine Curmudgeon has been pondering this for a good while, trying to figure out a way to write about pairings that wouldn't drive new wine drinkers crazy (as part of my resolution to make the blog more accessible to people who are new to wine).

Which led to the thought: Are we putting the cart before the horse? We're telling people to pair certain wines with food under the assumption that the food will taste better. Is there any evidence to support this?

In other words, when I'm drinking an unoaked chardonnay with roast chicken, does the chicken taste better than if I had been pairing it with sweet tea or a soft drink (something I see very often in Dallas, where restaurant diners seem to drink more of the last two than the first). The answer: No one knows for sure. More, after the jump:

Test your wine knowledge

This test, called The Wine Game, is courtesy of Berry Bros. & Rudd, the British wine merchant. It's not especially easy, and making it more difficult is that it asks some very British-oriented questions; we don't, after all, deal much with sherry on this side of the Atlantic. Click on the Wine game link to start.

Having said that, it's fun to do, and even has a snooty English butler to guide you through it. Which, of course, is yet another reason why there will always be an England.

A perfect score is 120. I've done it a couple of times, and haven't come close. This may not be as much a relection of my wine knowledge as it is my inability to click the proper links to answer the questions correctly. And a tip o' the Curmudgen's fedora to Olivia Wilder, who sent this my way.