Each week, as regular readers know, we pose a series of questions to a winemaker. This week, we’re featuring Anthony Biagi, who was just hired as the winemaker at Hourglass Wine Company.

Tony joined the wine industry while earning a degree in fermentation science from the UC Davis. While there, he worked at a high-end retail shop; interned at both Dry Creek Vineyard and The Hess Collection; and did a research project on grapevine clonal variations for Gloria Ferrer.

Upon graduation in 1995, Tony landed a job at Duckhorn and its then-new offshoot, Paraduxx. By 2001, he was the head winemaker at Paraduxx — but then moved onto Neal Family Vineyards, where he helped establish the company as both the winemaker and general manager. In 2003, Tony joined the Plumpjack Group, where he headed up winemaking for both Plumpjack and CADE.

Check out our fantastic interview with Tony below the fold! Read the rest of this entry »

“If Karl Marx were alive and trying to buy Schnapps today, he might reconsider aspects of Das Kapital after dealing with our central alcohol planners.” In USA Today, Jonathan Turley contends that the “continued existence” of state liquor control is nonsensical.

Patrick Chapman, who manages consumer relations at Screaming Eagle, is aghast that some customers flipped the winery’s $250 Sauvignon Blanc. “The original purpose was for the direct-to-consumer channel… for their personal use only,” he told Wine-Searcher. “[But] people are turning it over for profit, for their own selfish greed.” The irony isn’t lost on Tom Wark.

Tyler Colman suggests that “heat damage might be the biggest silent killer in the wine industry — more even than corked wine, which has much greater renown.”

In his latest Playboy.com column, Joe Roberts profiles Tusk Estates, the producer of “Napa’s soon-to-be newest ‘cult’ Cabernet.”

“Red wines, by and large, are winter warmers. But if it just has to be red, here’s to the reds of summer: soft, smooth, juicy reds that you’ll want to gulp rather than sip. Even reds that can take a chill.” In the Chicago Tribune, Bill St. John lays out some rules for those who insist on drinking red wines when the weather is scorching.

In WineReviewOnline, Ed McCarthy writes a primer on Rosé Champagne.

WineBusiness.com profiles Domaine du Tariquet, which recently celebrated its 100th birthday.

W. Blake Gray comments on the news that Lot 18 is severely scaling back. As Gray reports, “the site laid off its entire editorial staff last week, dropped from nine to four procurement specialists, and dumped the food and travel businesses to concentrate on wine.”

In photos, Lily-Elaine Hawk Wakawaka visits Angela Osborne of A Tribute to Grace. (If you’re not familiar with Angela’s wines, she makes some of California’s most interesting Grenach.)

In SeriousEats, “20 Rules for Bartenders.” (H/T: Eric Asimov.)

The east coast is sweltering. Here in Washington DC, temperatures are expected to top 100 degrees today — and things aren’t expected to cool off anytime soon. So get your grills and ice chests ready, because Old Man Summer is knocking at the door.

I’ve been in DC for a number of years now, and I’ve seen people use all sorts of heat-blocking devices to stay cool — ranging from the cheap and silly to the gaudy and outrageous. My solution to the heat comes from just over 4,000 miles away, from a sleepy town of 2,580 people.

There live the people of Chablis, who can ease our summertime sweltering with their native elixir. Winemakers there battle fierce winters and worrisome autumns to craft bottles of citrus and mineral-laden potations that ought to be cracked en masse anytime that thermometer hits three digits.

Chablis has something for everyone — from its cheap, ready-to-drink Petit Chablis, to its standard Chablis, to its Premier Cru and Grand Cru bottlings.

Chablis is an ethereal place, thanks largely to the stark white Kimmeridgian soil, on which the region’s finest vineyards sit. This prized soil is an amalgamation of chalk, limestone, and clay where one can easily find the fossilized remains oyster shells and marine creatures. The soil has a bleached look to it — so much so that “at twilight,” according to Karen MacNeil, “you feel as though you’re on the moon.”

The grapes in Chablis need more than just great soil to thrive, of course. The aspect of the vineyards is more important here than perhaps anywhere else in France — and possibly all of Europe, save for a few spots in Germany. All of the Grand Cru and highly regarded Premier Cru vineyards lie north of the town with a southern exposure, with eastern exposures also making fine wines.

Once upon a time, the wines of Chablis were the top whites for many Parisian restaurants. In the late 19th century, however, vintners in Chablis fell on hard times thanks to oidium and phylloxera. This was compounded when the Paris – Lyon – Marseille railway was built, bypassing Chablis altogether and making wines from the Midi cheaper and more accessible.

Fortunately, Chablis was too unique to fall completely off the map — and today, it’s experiencing a resurgence of sorts. The region’s more simple wines are firm and refreshing, and the better bottles leave even the best palates searching for appropriate descriptors.

Below the fold are my tasting notes from a recent Chablis masterclass presented by Jay Youmans CWE, MW. Please note that all wines listed pair well with 100-degree heat, raw oysters, and a battery powered fan attatched to a spray bottle. Read the rest of this entry »

“Burgundy… has been in an uproar since news emerged last week that four executives of one of the largest wine producers in the region, Labouré-Roi, had been detained on suspicion of falsely labeling hundreds of thousands of bottles of wine.” Eric Pfanner reports in the International Herald Tribune.

In Wines & Vines, Dan Berger writes a fascinating piece on the wine industry’s secret ingredient, Mega Purple.

“In a business largely built on selling vast quantities of inexpensive mediocre wine… small, like-minded sherry shippers are offering a ray of hope by bottling tiny quantities of extraordinary sherries that can challenge preconceptions.” In his latest column, Eric Asimov looks at the many changes in “sherry country.”

How much we spend on booze hasn’t changed much in the past 30 years. But according to NPR, the percentage of our booze dollar that goes to wine has increased dramatically.

Wine Spectator offers harvest reports from South America and South Africa.

Richard  Jennings offers his tasting notes from the eighth annual Pinot Days grand tasting.

Christian G.E. Schiller writes about “the annual grand gathering of the Rheingau Weinkonvent,” which took place earlier this month.

In Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews, Lily-Elaine Hawk Wakawaka profiles  New York City sommelier Levi Dalton. (H/T: Eric Asimov.)

Steve Heimoff writes about the problems with big wine competitions.

In San Joaquin Valley, wine grape growers and vintners are looking for a “breakthrough” variety.

Mike Veseth, the Wine Economist, appears on “Well Read,” a show that appears on public television throughout Washington.

Our next stop in the Douro was Quinta do Vale D. Maria. After getting lost (again), we arrived at the winery and were greeted by an excited group of bouncy puppies and Joana, a winemaker on the property. Joana’s English was absolutely perfect and she is one of those people with whom you immediately feel comfortable joking around. She led us on an unrushed and friendly tour of Vale d. Maria, before going to her lab where we sampled several wines:

• Van Zellers Branco 2010: Stainless steel fermented, a mouthful of flavor – citrus, herbal, grapefruit. Both satisfying and refreshing. From Wine Advocate, “Clean, fresh, tight and focused, it combines steely minerality with bite on the lingering finish. It made me think Chablis…If you can track this down, it’s a no brainer.”
• VZ 2010:Barrel aged for nine months in 90% new barrel. Rabigato is the most predominant grape in this blend, which has great acidity, smoky oak, tropical and green apple notes.

  

  Lagares at Vale D. Maria

• Quinta do Vale Dona Maria Douro 2009: ~15 grape varieties; in the lagares through fermentation; 60% new oak. Hot tamale candies and balsamic vinegar on the nose (normal combination, right?). The palate had loads of deep black fruits and powerful tannins, that I think will give the wine amazing aging potential for 10+ years.
• CV 2009: Grown on the property’s north-facing vineyards and made of 20+ grape varieties. Violet flowers, granite, minerality, dark fruit. Only 6,000 bottles produced.

The perfect way to end Day 1 in the Douro was a dinner at DOC Restaurant. The food & service were excellent. If you go, sit on the deck, right on the water and order the Vinha Dos Deuses 2008 Quinta Dos Frades. It’s grandiosely served in a sleek, curvy decanter (which made me worry I’d ordered the wrong wine, i.e., one a lot more expensive). The profile of the wine is perfectly fitting for a warm evening at this restaurant: it’s spicy, dusty brimming with red cherry, and a slightly Pinot-like. Totally hit the spot and enlightened me to the diversity of Portuguese wines.

It’s not easy to find many Portuguese wines here in the U.S., even in NYC. If you can find them, of course, snatch up the high-quality Douro reds, particularly the Reserva and old vines. They are incredible values for the money, especially in comparison to French or even Spanish equivalents. The whites are also very refreshing, simple good values. Let me know if you’ve discovered spots in your city where they serve or sell Portuguese wine. First on my list is Aldea Restaurant in NYC. Any to add?

This is part of a three-part series. You can see the first post here.

Add Doug Barzelay’s exceptional essay to the growing stack of must-read articles on the Rudy Kurniawan saga. Doug, who authors the blog Old Vine Notes, had firsthand experience with Rudy’s counterfeiting.

“One of the most absurd aspects of the current fine wine market is how expensive young wine is by comparison with mature vintages.” In her latest column, Jancis Robinson brings attention to value of mature vintages.

Matt Kramer wonders if “brand now more powerful than land.”

“This year’s en primeur campaign began with a bang, but after that it was pretty much whimpers all the way in what turned out to be arguably the most desultory on record.” In the Financial Times, John Stimpfig reports on this year’s futures market.

Elsewhere in the Financial Times, Maggie Rosen covers the debate over whether Robert Parkers “still sways palates and prices.”

Tyler Colman urges the Institute of Masters of Wine to “make available not only the titles of the 10,000-word research papers that candidates must pass to become MWs (called “dissertations”), but also the papers themselves.”

In Wines & Vines, Jane Firstenfeld writes about the breakup of the Mendocino Winegrape and Wine Commission — and takes a look at what might come next.

CBS News reports on the growing efforts to legalize grocery store wine sales in Oklahoma.

“I’m a wine snob.” So proclaims W. Blake Gray, proudly.

For Pride Week, the Daily Sip chatted with Tracey Mason,executive vice president of Global Marketing for Goelet Wine Estates, an “’out loud’ member of the LGBT community.”

It’s funny. While the Portuguese have been out exploring the world, discovering pristine new lands and uncharted seas, the rest of the world (including the wine world) has largely not discovered the country of Portugal.

Indeed, when I asked many of my well traveled friends and business school peers for travel tips, many of them had not been to Portugal. And if they had, they’d visited the more touristy southern coastline, which has a European resort-like, Spring Break feel. I decided I wanted something more raw and authentic for my visit in as much as a tourist can have that experience. And, of course, I wanted to center the trip around wine as much as my liver and travel companion would allow.

I learned that Portuguese wines are endlessly discoverable – there are hundreds of indigenous grapes, “field blends,” that are still being understood, appreciated, and perfected for wine. Of course, the best known wines from the country, aside from Ports, are Vinho Verde and those made of Touriga Nacional. My over-generalized observations about Douro wines are below: Read the rest of this entry »

Decanter.com reports that “one of the worst hailstorms in recorded Champagne history has hit the southern Côte des Bar region, destroying this year’s grape crop.”  It all happened in just 15 minutes.

In the summer, Eric Asimov loves gin. That’s why he convened the spirits panel to sample “20 bottles of gin, all made in the United States, mostly by distilleries that have started in just the last few years.”

In the Wall Street Journal, Jay McInerney discovers the “Beautiful Blends of Paso Robles.”

According to Wine Industry Insight, CrushPad is closing its doors. Crushpad denies the story on Twitter.

Wine Enthusiast’s Roger Voss has “seen the future of wine buying in America.”

In the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Cathy Bussewitz details the move by some higher-end wineries toward “boxes, bags, cans and pouches designed for on-the-go consumers.”

In Bloomberg News, Elin McCoy writes about “the growing number of American entrepreneurs focused on bringing mid-priced, boutique quality California wine to China’s rapidly changing market.”

Yellow Tail is moving into the beer market.

You’re fired! Last week, Donald Trump fired socialite Patricia Kluge from her own former winery.

If you’ve ever met Jed Steele, you’ll know he’s humble, approachable, and distinctive, like most winemakers. One could describe Jed’s wines with the same words.

Jed has been making wine in California for 44 years. He started his career at Stony Hill, where he worked in the cellar. He then went to UC Davis, where he earned a master’s in Enology, and soon landed a position as the first-ever winemaker at Edmeades in Mendocino, where he spent a decade. He next helped launch Kendall-Jackson, as the wine juggernaut’s first winemaker. He made KJ’s first nine vintages, and left when production hit one million cases.

He launched his own label, STEELE Wines, in 1991 — and today makes wine under four different labels: Shooting Star, Writer’s Block, Steele, and his reserve line, Steele Stymie. The grapes come from across the West Coast — from  California’s Lake County to Washington’s Snipes Mountain. And the grapes are unusual. As you can see by the wines I tasted (notes below), Jed and his team are thinking outside the box when it comes to grape varieties.

The Shooting Star Aligote comes from a vineyard in the Snipes Mountain, Washington’s second-smallest AVA. The Burgundian grape has been grown there since the 1970s. Jed attributes the Chardonnay boom of the 1980s to the availability of Aligote, and thus, this wine. I’d love to try this one side-by-side with the A. & P. Villaine Bouzeron, an Aligote from its ancestral home that both Jed and I adore.

Sticking with the odd-ball varieties, the second wine I tasted with Jed was his Blaufränkisch. This grape hails from Austria, and famously has a number of synonyms. It’s called Lemberger in Germany, Kékfrankos in Hungry, and Frankovka in Croatia — and those are just a few of its names!

Blaufränkisch is often called the “Pinot Noir of eastern Europe,” as it’s light and marked by high acid and non-assertive tannins, and it exhibits flavors and aromas dominated by red berries. Blaufränkisch will stray into the spice, smoke and game territories faster than Pinot Noir. Oak is generally used sparingly in Blaufränkisch production.

Perhaps the wine I was most excited about tasting with Jed was his Writer’s Block Lake County Counoise. Counoise is traditionally a blending grape in the wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and an excellent compliment to Mourvèdre’s weight. It’s brings a ton of aromatics and lift; I’d love to see more of it planted in ht United States. Jed gives his Counoise a bit of a backbone by incorporating a small amount of Syrah and Grenache (approximately 10 percent of the total) into his final blend. My only other experience with domestic Counoise has been a positive one as it is blended into the Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel.

I was also eager to try Jed’s Tempranillo, as the grape has found a comfortable home in parts of California and Washington. Tempranillo is synonymous with the great Spanish regions of Rioja and Ribera del Duero, and when made well, it creates wines that are fruity, savory, smoky, and lush.

Check out my tasting notes on these wines below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

In Food & Wine, Ray Isle writes about “The New DIY Wine Movement” – and heaps enormous praise on two of my favorite wineries, Matthiasson and Massican.

In the Financial Times, Jancis Robinson explains how Twitter is impacting the wine world.

Wine Spectator provides more details into the “investigation of Labouré-Roi, one of Burgundy’s largest négociants, for fraud involving 1.5 million bottles of wine.”

Tom Wark highlights some big news from last week’s ShipCompliant DIRECT 2012 Conference: “The winery to consumer direct shipping market now represents 8.6% of the total U.S. wine retail market.”

The Wall Street Journal reports: “A storm in a decanter is emerging in Brussels over the European Union’s policy on winegrowing that is pitting EU institutions, national governments, and farmers against one another.”

In the Wall Street Journal Europe, Will Lyons selects “16 wines for summer drinking.”

“Nothing tops terroir. Except hype.” The HoseMaster takes on the natural wine movement.

“In certain areas of southern England,” reports the Financial Times, “vineyards are replacing fields of oilseed rape and wheat.”

Oklahoma Republican Sen. Tom Coburn doesn’t think taxpayer dollars should help fund the Wine Institute’s “trips to London, Denmark and Dublin for various wine festivals and tastings.”

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Bonné writes about the “summer season of wine books.”

On Reason.com, Baylen Linnekin explains why Washington DC should lift its Sunday liquor sale ban.

In the Aspen Business Journal, Catherine Lutz profiles Ben Parsons, the “crazy winemaker” behind downtown Denver’s Infinite Monkey Theorem winery.

In the Baltimore Examiner, Michael Cavanagh chats with Susan Glass, the general manager of Bin 604. (As regular readers know, we interviewed Susan back in November.)