The Wine Curmudgeon

The Cajun wine scoring system

What wine goes with crawfish? Whatever wine you want.

The Wine Curmudgeon has made a breakthrough in wine scoring systems.
Forget points and stars and thumbs up. Forget controversy. Forget Parker. Never again will we have to argue about whether a 90-point wine is any good.

Welcome to the Cajun wine scoring system, based on years of extensive research eating and drinking in south Louisiana; my tenure
as the sports editor at the Houma, La., Daily Courier; and the wit and wisdom of the inestimable Lynne Kleinpeter, a native of Thiboduax, La., and a descendant of Rousseau's and Boudreaux's.

Why Cajun? Because few cultures understand food and drink as well. It's not about pretension or celebrity chefs, but about the freshest possible ingredients and what tastes good. I've had dinners at someone's home in Acadiana that would put pricey restaurant meals to shame. In addition, it's a culture that has little patience for foolishness, and what's more foolish than the 100-point scoring system? 

Plus, Cajuns understand that you don't put tomatoes in gumbo.

After the jump, the Cajun scoring system:

Easy ways to learn more about wine

Yes, she's drinking white wine, but why not try a red?

Wine drinkers are creatures of habit. We tend to drink the same wines and shop in the same places for those wines. Which, frankly, doesn't do much to expand our wine horizons.

This is an especial problem for beginning wine drinkers, whose lack of experience is compounded by the intimidation factor -- wine can be a scary place for newcomers, who are overwhelmed with labels, names, terms, and the like.

Hence this post, part of my New Year's resolution to write more items for people just getting started with wine. And a big tip of the Wine Curmudgeon's fedora to Dave McIntyre, who has written about some of this and jarred me into action.

After the jump, four easy things anyone can do to boost their wine savvy:

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:

Winebits 204: Thanksgiving 2011 wine suggestions

Thanksgiving wine wisdom from around the cyber-ether. My Thanksgiving wine suggestions are here.

• Food & Wine: The magazine's website offers a variety of categories (Thanksgiving box wines!) worth checking out, though navigating the Flash-handicapped site may make you give up before you find anything. Especially useful: 10 top Thanksgiving bottles, including an old favorite, Acrobat pinot gris (which almost showed up on my list).

• Jon Bonne in the San Francisco Chronicle: Once again, heads up advice (including another Wine Curmudgeon recommendation, Pacific Rim riesling). Says Bonne: "Drink whatever you like." There is lots of Inexpensive wine, including a Dibon cava, which I need to find, and even regonal wine (maybe we should invite him to the next DrinkLocalWine conference).

 • Eric Asimov in the New York Times: An almost Python-esque look at wine for the holiday (The Argument Clinic) , since Asimov and several members of the tasting panel had completely opposite ideas of what they were looking for. Nevertheless, some fascinating wines: Regional wine (again -- what's going on here?), a $9 wine from Hungary; and a chinon, a cabernet franc from France's Loire, which is a kind of wine that many of us are enjoying these days.

Book review: A Toast to Bargain Wines

Buy this book. "A Toast to Bargain Wines" may not be everything you need to know about cheap wine, but it's close enough. George Taber, the author of several acclaimed wine books, including the legendary "Judgment of Paris," has nailed cheap wine in a way few others have -- or have cared to.

More, after the jump: 

Wine clubs and what their success says about the wine business

The one thing that has seemingly not slowed, despite the recession in the wine business, is the growth of wine clubs. Everyone, it seems, is offering them: Wineries, of course, but also newspapers and magazines, wine retailers, discounters, and even non-profits and charitable causes. Zagat, the restaurant guide, has a wine club, and a club even advertises on the blog. And, believe it or not, there are sites that rate wine clubs.

The Wine Curmudgeon did a post several years ago about what to look for in wine clubs, and most of that advice still holds. Clubs, by themselves, are neither good nor bad; it's up to the consumer to figure out whether they're getting a deal or not. Are the shipping charges fair? Do the wines seem to offer value? I miss the old Virtual Vineyards wine club, while there are several others that I don't want to even get junk mail from.

Most importantly, read the fine print. That's where you'll learn that the New York Times' wine club is run by another company, and doesn't really have anything to do with the newspaper or its wine critics. Or that the wine club rating site noted above may make recommendations based on whether it is "compensated" by the wine club it reviews.

Having said that, the growth of wine clubs raises a larger question. What's going on, and why is it going on now? More, after the jump:

Buying wine for dinner

One of the things that too often confuses consumers is buying wine for dinner. They get hung up on pairings, they're flummoxed about whether to serve red or white, and wine pricing makes them nervous.

The Wine Curmudgeon has seen this many times, including an especially sad case several years ago when a youngish man stared helplessly at a liquor store employee and begged for advice on "buying wine for pasta." When someone needs help buying a cheap bottle of Italian red to have with spaghetti, we're all in trouble.

Though this confusion is understandable, given the way the wine business treats consumers, it's not necessary. Buying wine for dinner should be fun, and not approached with the same enthusiasm as mopping the floor. It's actually one of my favorite things about wine -- going to the store, even a grocery store, and trying to see what I can find (and spending as little money as possible, of course).

After the jump, some tips on buying wine for dinner: