Recently at the first annual North American Wine Bloggers Conference, we had the privilege of meeting Alan Kropf of Mutineer Magazine. Mutineer is a nascent publication based out of LA, and it’s a “magazine and website devoted to beverage writing and ideas” that is aimed at a younger generation of wine drinkers.

The third issue just came out, and it largely focuses on the internet wine phenom that is Gary Vaynerchuk, of Wine Library TV. Mutineer points out that Gary is very relevant in today’s wine market, but that he’s largely been ignored by the mainstream wine media. Then, they rightly go on to question how long those at the top of the mainstream media will stay relevant, given their obvious loyalty to the old guard. Very interesting…

But what we’re really excited about is that Mutineer has included the WineEnabler.com blog their list of 12 wine blogs you should be reading. Mutineer writes that we do “a great job offering readers practical posts that they can utilize in their own wine adventures”. Given that this is largely our goal, we feel very good about this recognition. [click to continue…]

Wine Spectator’s list of top 100 wines for 2008 is out, and there are a few surprises. Perhaps the most stunning fact is that you have to look all the way down the list to number 10 before you find an American wine. Seghesio’s Sonoma county Zinfandel placed 10th with a Wine Spectator score of 94 selling for $24.

If you look over the entire list you will find only 19 wines from the US. The US wines on the list sell for an average price of $57.47 while the average price for wines produced outside the US is $50.41.

These numbers are particularly interesting if you compare them to the top 100 from 2007. The 2007 list contained 26 wines from the US with an average price of $39.50. The average price for a wine produced outside the US was about $43.25. Given that in ’08 the dollar suffered greatly against the Euro, New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollar (it has recovered some lately) the 16.6% increase from ’07 to ’08 in cost for wines from outside the US is somewhat understandably. [click to continue…]

I am continuing my slow walk toward membership in the De Long Wine Century Club. This weekend, I shared a bottle of 2006 Statti Calabria Gaglioppo ($23) outdoors at Mandola’s Italian Market in Austin. This wine is made from the Gaglioppo grape, which was light and refreshing, with plenty of fruit and a little spicy mint to boot. Modest acid and 12.5% alcohol make this a perfect drink for a fall Sunday afternoon.

My wife was so impressed that I am going to buy a few bottles to keep at the house. Once again, the De Long challenge has led me to try a grape varietal that would not necessarily have made its way into my glass, and I am a happier wine drinker for it. [click to continue…]

If you are like me, you have not bought a single Christmas present, and you’re going to be pressed for time. Fortunately, many of the people on my Christmas list are wine drinkers, and I have some gift ideas. Here are a few holiday gifts that I am considering as presents. If you are buying holiday gifts for a wine lover, this list is a great place to start looking.

Sometimes buying wine for a wine geek can be difficult or intimidating. If this is the case, consider a wine accessory as a gift. There is a lot of paraphernalia that wine lovers use, and some of the items make excellent presents.

Wine Enthusiast has a good list of
12 essential wine accessories that helps with gift ideas.

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True craftsmanship is in the details, and for me, Michelle Obama’s announcement that the future First Pooch will be a rescue dog is, while not the furthest reaching, perhaps the most fine-tuned detail of a campaign truly run to perfection. They are a family that walks the walk.

In fact, I took the opportunity offered by a brief pause in the geyser of joyful tears running down my face today to google the issue of the Obama puppy, simply to verify my instinct that the Obamas would choose to adopt a dog in need rather than support the shameful practice of breeding living things with the intent that they be paraded around in celebrities’ designer purses.

And indeed, it was true; once again in this past 24 hours I experienced the wholly forgotten sensation of vindication. Lord, I could get used to this! But I digress… [click to continue…]

When Neil and Michael proposed writing a wine blog about a year ago, my inner hillbilly reared her head. I found the term “beer snob” a delightful oxymoron, and “wine snob” just plain redundant.

As a proud member of the beer drinking class, whenever I was asked to pick up wine on the way to a friend’s house for dinner, I was happy to spend just enough time in the wine aisle to locate the Rosemount Shiraz and move on. Once in the state-run liquor store nearest the University of Utah, an effete graphic design student from the East Coast had tutored me in its pronunciation and informed me that it was “marginally drinkable”.

And indeed, it was nectar compared to the ubiquitous Rolling Rock beer stashed into the sock drawers of every other non-Mormon on that dry campus. I already felt classy enough drinking out of a glass instead of a green bottle or a Nalgene, and to my mind, fussing any further about the subject of wine was suspiciously Yankee. [click to continue…]

Our weary and alcohol-soaked traveling party of four arrived back into Austin at around midnight last night after the first annual Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma, CA. This event was a blast – a non-stop, two-day party and blogger love-fest, which Rachael has affectionately dubbed “Wine Camp”.

This was my first large-scale wine tasting ever, and like Hardy said over at Dirty South Wine (one of our new blogging friends from the weekend), the most important rule learned is to “Spit, spit, spit”. I couldn’t agree more, and blessedly it only took me one hung-over morning, not two or three, to figure it out. [click to continue…]

I have been following closure debate for many years. Several years ago, Murphy Goode began offering a valued priced, screw top series, called Tin Roof. We tried their Sauvignon Blanc and found an unassuming drinkable wine that we served several times that year.

Screw tops seem to offer a number of advantages.

First, they eliminate the problem of cork taint. After years of research and investigation, the cause of cork taint is not clear; however, what is clear is that somewhere between 2% and 8% of all wine sealed with a cork are affected. Screw tops eliminate this problem, and I for one think that is great. I have opened many bottles of wine that were corked, and it always seems to happen at the worst time like birthday celebrations or anniversary dinners. [click to continue…]

Well, as you may or may not have picked up on, Neil and I are both environmental engineers. And due to this other job that actually pays the bills, I’ll be spending the next two or three months in the beautiful mountain town of Morgantown, West Virginia (birthplace of Don-effing-Knotts). Morgantown is smaller than my hometown of Austin, but for a city of about 84,000, there seems a surprising amount of things to do. So far I’ve found one wine bar and two interesting bottle shops, in only one day of exploring.

West Virginia only has around 11 wineries, but right next door is Virginia, which currently has about 135 wineries. This seems like the perfect time to explore a new wine region in the US, because in my long nine months of serious wine drinking, I can recall having a big-fat zero wines from WV or VA. So please, if you’ve any suggestions about Morgantown or good wines from WV or VA, let me know. I also plan to visit the wineries of the best wines I taste.

Restaurant wine lists can be extremely confusing with long lists of wines that you know nothing about — in fact, many of the wines you cannot even pronounce. When the waiter comes to offer assistance, you realize that he or she does not know anymore about the wine list than you do. At this point, what do you do? If you happen to be dining at a restaurant that uses a progressive wine list, you may be able to gracefully find a way out of this situation all by yourself. Progressive wine lists are arranged in a specific way, making it easier to know something about the wines on the list without tasting it yourself.

First of all, the wines on a progressive wine list are grouped by varietal. So all the wines made mostly from Cabernet Sauvignon are listed together, Chardonnays are listed together, and so on. Within each type of wine, the wines at the top of the list have the lightest body. As you go down the list, the wines become more full bodied and generally more expensive. Adding body to wine costs money. [click to continue…]