The Wine Curmudgeon

See you after the Super Bowl

Monday update: Same thing this year. Sunday was the slowest day on the blog since October. During the game, fewer than 100 people visited the blog. I wonder: Can I turn the blog off next to save cyber-ether?

The Wine Curmudgeon, after four years of poring over blog statistics, has discovered an odd yet interesting fact. Not many people come to the blog on Super Bowl Sunday; in fact, the day gets fewer visitors than almost any other day of the year, including Christmas.

I assume this is because, if anyone is using a computer on Super Bowl Sunday, it's to check out the game. On Christmas (and even New Year's, with its glut of football), the numbers are actually pretty good. That may be because so many people get computers as Christmas gifts, and are busy trying them out by visiting the blog.

Whatever the reason, the number of visitors on Super Bowl Sunday is about two-thirds of normal. So, for all of you who read this post, but won't be back until Monday, enjoy the game. And did I ever tell you my Archie Manning story?

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:

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:

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:

The 2012 $10 Wine Hall of Fame

Yes, wine prices may be in flux, and the wine world may resent cheap wine more than ever. But that didn't stop the Wine Curmudgeon from adding a near-record number of wines to the 2012 $10 Wine Hall of Fame. Eight wines were inducted, and only four dropped out. Click on the link above for the entire list, or the $10 link on the upper left of this page.

In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of cheap wine last year, and there were some dozen wines that almost made the Hall. Two in particular are worth mentioning -- the Picada 15 red blend from Argentina, which was delightful but doesn't seem to be available in much of the country, and the Montecillo crianza, also wonderful and also limited in availability.

Call this year's Hall the world tour -- wines from Washington state, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain and even California made it. I was especially pleased to see California in the mix, given last year's California disappointment. One other disappointment: The Toad Hollow pinot noir rose dropped out this year, the first time it hasn't been in the Hall since I started it for a Dallas magazine 10 years ago.

The ground rules for this, the sixth annual, Hall of Fame: The wines have to cost $10 or less (Dallas prices, though I will make an exception if prices seem to be higher here) and be generally available. That means no wines like Trader Joe's Two-buck Chuck, which are only sold at one retailer. The final decisions are my own, and take into account what I think wine should be: varietally correct, balanced, and interesting enough to buy again.

I do take suggestions and input from dozens of people -- blog visitors and wine drinkers (who sent more suggestions than ever this year), people I know in the wine business, and other wine writers. Thank you for your help.

2012 $10 Hall of Fame coming on Jan. 6

The 2012 $10 Hall of Fame will be announced on Jan. 6, and the posts that week in the runup to the Hall will all be about cheap wine. That's a little different than in year's past, when I posted the Hall on the first day after the New Year's holiday.

But I wanted to build a little excitement about the Hall this year, as well as give you a chance to offer your thoughts. Eligibility rules are simple: the wine has to cost $10 or less and it has to be generally available. That means no private labels, like Trader Joe's Two-buck Chuck, or obscure one-off wines. Otherwise, it's eligible.

The 2012 Hall is mostly compiled, but there's still time for changes and emendations. Leave your suggestions on the comments here (or in any post up to Jan. 4) or send me an email.

Wine Spectator is hiring; is this my big chance?

The Wine Spectator is hiring. One of the most important publications in the Winestream Media needs "a highly motivated wine lover for an entry-level position in its New York tasting department."

I can't say I'm not tempted. I would be rid of the responsibility of running the blog, the constant deadlines and worries. I would no longer have to care about wine that people actually drank, but instead would know what wine they should drink -- whether they liked it or not. And I would no longer have to bother about educating consumers about local wine, because I would know that it was inferior -- without even having to taste it.

I would be able to luxuriate in the knowledge that whatever wine I drank was absolutely, positively correct, because I worked for the Spectator. And the respect I would get, wherever I went. Ah, the respect. I would no longer be the Wine Curmudgeon, shunted off to a corner because I wrote about -- shudders and gasps -- cheap wine, but someone with an entry-level position at the Spectator. Can't you already feel the goose bumps?

Sadly, however, I have always been a lousy businessman. I have regularly passed up opportunities to advance my carrer in favor of doing things I that I wanted to do, that I felt passionate about. So I guess I'll pass this one up, too, and remain at my lonely keyboard to fight the good fight. Bring on the next windmill!