Dan Berger on Wine from Creators Syndicate

Tough Times Call for More From 'Restaurant Service' for 05/02/2009

Sat, 02 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

With the economy in free fall, with millions of people on a budget, and with wine moving from an optional purchase to a luxury, a number of once-treasured lifestyle events are now hard to justify.

Dining out is one of them.

It's not that we can't afford a couple of $13 entrees, two $5 salads, and a shared $7 appetizer. By themselves, that would get us out the door for well under $ ...

Updated: Sat May 02, 2009

Savvy Wine Consumers Making Most of Sour Economy for 04/25/2009

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Sadly for many in the wine industry, the worldwide weakness in the economy is having a calamitous impact. Consequently, smart consumers are cashing in. Or should that be caching?

The news this past week was that prices for most expensive, and even moderately priced, red Bordeaux wines from the vaunted 2008 vintage, which aren't even released yet and won't be for at least a year, have dro ...

Updated: Sat Apr 25, 2009

What Do You Trust More, Medals or Scores? for 04/18/2009

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The most widely used marketing tool for wine is the score.

In just about every wine shop you'll find tags on the shelves stating that the above wine got a score from some self-anointed wine expert that supposedly indicates its quality.

But have you ever asked: On what was the score based? Is a wine with a score of 88 really 2 points better than one getting an 86?

Or, more i ...

Updated: Sat Apr 18, 2009

Hess Wines are Quietly on the Move for 04/11/2009

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

NAPA, Calif. — The drive up Redwood Road from the center of Napa is deceptively steep because you drive many miles, and when you reach the winery, you are literally on the slopes of Mount Veeder, high above the valley floor.

At this property, once the home of the Christian Brothers winery called Mount LaSalle, Hess Collection has made its home for the past 25 years. Over that time, ...

Updated: Sat Apr 11, 2009

Hard to Explain the Lack of Appreciation for Rose for 04/04/2009

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Rose is a wine that typically generates sneers from wine snobs. Even white wine comes in for some denigration, so you can imagine how disrespectful some people can be about pink.

Once, during a very hot luncheon with a man who makes a rather high-alcohol chardonnay, the conversation drifted to rose. I asked him if he ever considered making one.

“Rose?” he virtually shrieked. “I ca ...

Updated: Sat Apr 04, 2009

Clearly, Not All Winemaking Procedures Are Necessary for 03/28/2009

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Fine wine is a product of two disciplines, growing grapes and turning their juice into a more sublime potable.

To maximize the quality of the wine, each task must be done with a degree of precision. And to many wine people, each requires an opposite action.

To farm grapes you need to know what to do to maximize quality. And to make great wine, you need to know what not to do.

...

Updated: Sat Mar 28, 2009

Bigger: Is it Better? for 03/21/2009

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Back in the early 1980s, the common wisdom was that wines with 14 percent alcohol or more were considered high in alcohol. Some even thought 13.5 percent alcohol was a bit too much for a dry red wine aimed at the dinner table.

I haven dozens of wines in my cellar from the 1970s that say 12.5 percent alcohol on the label and the wines are all fine to this day.

Winemakers have long ...

Updated: Sat Mar 21, 2009

Santa Rita Hills Has the Right Kind of Cool for Pinot Noir for 03/13/2009

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0700

With pinot noir on the lips, literally, of most wine lovers, prices for this most difficult-to-make wine have skyrocketed.

For decades, this light red wine — perhaps the complete opposite of today's cabernet sauvignon — was known to be the offspring of petulant grapes that didn't take kindly to being grown in warm areas. In the last 20 years of so, most warm-climate pinot noi ...

Updated: Fri Mar 13, 2009

Port: A Capital Idea for 03/07/2009

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The chill of winter isn't the only time to consider a warming glass of Port, the stuff with a capital P. But I can think of few other wines that so befit the climate.

The British love their Portuguese Port year-around, so much so that many of the great Port houses now have English names because they were bought by wealthy Englishmen. The names include the six owned by the house of Syming ...

Updated: Sat Mar 07, 2009

A Primer on Wine Snobbery for 02/28/2009

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Some people drink wine as a beverage and don't care that it's a beverage of conversation in some quarters.

The culture that revolves around knowing wine very well is one that can be populated by snobs who are prepared, at the drop of a cliche, to say the right thing.

I have been accused of this, and I know that anyone can play the game. You don't have to know much about wine if yo ...

Updated: Sat Feb 28, 2009

Angove Takes Australian Wines to a New Height for 02/21/2009

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Australian wine, once seen merely as a good quaff for about $10 a bottle or less, is flexing its muscles and offering U.S. wine lovers some vintages that sell for $30, $50 and more.

While the vast majority of Australian wines are still value priced, a lot more of them are being produced by small, high-quality vintners who can charge a bit more for their limited-release gems.

Newco ...

Updated: Sat Feb 21, 2009

Passionate Old Farmer Regains Control of His Crop for 02/14/2009

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Paul Draper of Ridge Vineyards and Joel Peterson of Ravenswood were the featured players in a book some years ago about zinfandel, that most American of wines.

The book, “Angels' Visits: An Inquiry into the Mystery of Zinfandel,” was published in 1991 and became a sort of an unofficial bible for the growing cult of zinfandel lovers who have since grown into a mighty force.

Last mo ...

Updated: Sat Feb 14, 2009

Well-Trained Wine Servers Earn Their Tips for 02/07/2009

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Training young people to be great wine servers is a thankless task, restaurant owners tell me, because “the good ones leave for better jobs.”

I've heard this repeatedly, in one form or another, for the last two decades. But I usually later learn that the speaker was rather naive about this almost untouchable subject. Those using this defense don't usually do much staff training.

W ...

Updated: Sat Feb 07, 2009

Nothing Comes Easy for Pinot Noir for 01/31/2009

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Pinot noir, one of the most difficult wines to make well, seems to be the new darling among many wine consumers, most of whom know little of the drama behind this little rascal of a grape.

Persnickety and easily prone to fits of pique, pinot noir is hard to grow, hard to make into fine wine, ages erratically in the bottle, can change from ugly colt to stalwart stallion without warning (a ...

Updated: Sat Jan 31, 2009

Brunello: Italian Red Wine Tastes Best With Age for 01/24/2009

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

A diner who was charged with ordering the wine for a table where everyone had ordered meat dishes asked the waiter for a wine suggestion.

The waiter suggested a Brunello.

The diner asked, “Is that red?”

Andrea Gamon, hearing that little tale, was aghast. “Brunello?!” she asked. “Doesn't everyone know Brunello?”

No, Brunello is not a household word in the United State ...

Updated: Sat Jan 24, 2009

Australian Wines Deliver Value and Variety for 01/17/2009

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Those who seek good value in wine seem to have found that Australia and Chile both deliver nicely balanced wines at fair prices.

Indeed, with the U.S. economy struggling, all wine producers are keenly aware that wine is generally an optional purchase. And as a discretionary purchase, they have been sensitive to keeping prices as reasonable as they can.

Yet it has always seemed, si ...

Updated: Sat Jan 17, 2009

There Are Guidelines for Decanting Wines for 01/10/2009

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The art and ritual of decanting very old red wines is such a classic image, but one fraught with pitfalls.

The general idea is to let that red wine “breathe,” as if without decanting the wine would suffocate. Older red wines are cooped up in bottles for decades, and letting a bit of air into the liquid breathes a bit of life into it, allowing the wine to expand and deliver its complexiti ...

Updated: Sat Jan 10, 2009

Icon Estates Seeks to Make More of Blackstone Label for 01/03/2009

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Wine brands can be mystifying, especially when the “regular” bottling of something is $5.99 and the “special selection” bottling of the same wine company is $7.99 — and especially when the cheaper wine is actually better.

Part of the reason for this is that large wine companies often have more than one winemaker for the various brands they make, and each winemaker has his or her ow ...

Updated: Sat Jan 03, 2009

Tough Times Threaten New York Wine and Grape Foundation for 12/27/2008

Sat, 27 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Governmental budget trimming with a rusty ax appears to be a grand sport these days, what with the economy tanking and all manner of worthwhile programs being lumped in with those that are unworthy.

What is really needed is a scalpel wielded by a surgeon who has the skill to delete what is truly unnecessary and the wisdom to continue the funding for those programs that in effect pay for ...

Updated: Sat Dec 27, 2008

It Smells When Champagne is Exposed to Light for 12/20/2008

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 00:00:00 -0800

With the economy in shambles and New Year's Eve approaching, inexpensive bubbly is going to replace real Champagne, the stuff with the capital C, at most parties.

Champagne is the real deal, of course, a sublime and alluring sort of sparkling wine that's hard to replace. Many countries make sparkling wine, but lovers of Champagne argue vociferously that only the ambrosia from the Champag ...

Updated: Sat Dec 20, 2008