• What's in a wine name? A lot, apparently, according to a study conducted at Canada's Brock University. Consumers were given three wines, and asked to pick the most expensive. The winner was the wine with the name that was most difficult to pronounce. This should not be surprising, given the way the wine business educates consumers, cnfusing us at every opportunity. It may also be the reason, says Tom Johnson of the Louisville Juice blog, why more wine blogs aren't more successful -- it's too easy to pronounce the names of the blogs and their proprietors.
• Now that's a value meal: McDonald's in Argentina's wine country are serving local wine with one of their value meals. South Africa's Winetimes reports that diners can order a Sabores Mendocinos -- a double patty burger, two beef empanadas, and a 187-milliliter bottle (about 1 1/2 glasses) of Santa Julia malbec for $11. Two things are worth noting here -- first, that the wine is not only local, but quite well made. Santa Julia has long been one of my favorites. Second, it doesn't appear that there's enough fat and cholesterol for this to be a U.S. quality value meal. Hopefully, this trend will not catch on in the states. What would we do if McDonald's served similar items here?
• Calling out local restaurants: Leslie Brenner, the restaurant critic at The Dallas Morning News, has done the unthinkable (behind a pay wall) -- she criticized a Dallas-area restaurantthat serves local food for not sellng local wine -- and that is owned by a celebrity chef, to boot. The News, before Brenner, was not known for making waves with its restaurant reviews, and it rarely criticizes someone as famous as Kent Rathbun, whose company owns the restaurant in question. Many of Dallas' best-known restaurants refuse to serve Texas wine, so it was heartening to see Brenner take a stand. And it seems to be doing some good. I've been told that a number of local restaurants, apparently fearful of being similarly criticized, are calling Texas wineries and distributors to see if they can add a local wine or two.
Really, how hard is it to put a regional wine or two on the list? Start small, add as necessary.
Posted by: bburnsey | March 13, 2012 at 12:41 PM