Daily Wine News: Consider the Wine Blog

Posted by | Posted in Wine News | Posted on 08-10-2021

Tom Wark reconsiders the wine blog category. “Segregating out wine blogs from other types of publishing vehicles made sense for a time. There was a time, such as when the Wine Bloggers Conference first was held in 2008, when blogs and the independent voices they supported were not just novel but something worth gawking at…Thirteen years later we know the answer to that question. Not only is the utility of the blog well-established, but they have also become an integral part of the wine mediaverse. And if I’m right about this, then it begs the question, what is the value of identifying an article running in a blog as anything other than simply an article?”

In the Drop, Jeff Siegel delves into the history of Merlot’s unpopularity. “Merlot was in trouble even before the movie Sideways finished it off in 2004. In 2000, the New York Times reported that a sweet pink wine called white Merlot was becoming popular, mostly to “give California winemakers something to do with a glut of merlot grapes.” There were so many grapes, in fact, that the price of Merlot had dropped in half between 1995 and 2000.”

In Wine Enthusiast, Amy Zavatto reports on the new era of Cognac that’s emerging. “Many smaller Cognac producers now farm organically, reject additives and embrace variation in vintages, be it through single-vintage bottlings or blending. Some use grapes beyond Cognac’s workhorse, Ugni Blanc, and experiment with various types of wood in aging. And, perhaps most vital, many explore new ways to commit to sustainability.”

Elsewhere in Wine Enthusiast, Kerin O’Keefe highlights the rising winemaking stars of Etna.

In Decanter, Hugh Johnson makes the case for drinking more half bottles.

Alder Yarrow offers his thoughts on what makes a good BBQ wine on Coravin’s site.

Comments are closed.