Many know of Napa Valley’s storied Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery, but unless one has occasion to wander off the beaten path just west of downtown St. Helena, pin-pointing the location of the historic property may be a bit of a challenge.

Today, there is a compelling reason to seek out Spottswoode because the winery has just completed and opened a new tasting room.

The adventure begins with finding your way there, as only a small plaque on the mail box on the street leads into a gravel driveway. If you are looking at the iconic early-20th century sign over the gate, ignore your instinct to pull in here as this is matriarch Mary Novak’s home.

The short gravel driveway off Madrona Avenue is the nexus of the winemaking at Spottswoode. There is the ghost, stone Kraft Winery, used today for barrel storage beside the more humble, yet state-of-the-art modern production winery. Pass under a stately oak and park facing the vineyard. The house’s ground-level entrance is where the visit begins. A short, easy stroll to learn about the wine production is accompanied by a vineyard walk to see where it all begins.

The winemaking areas are impeccable, and the vineyards are a model of sustainability that have been farmed organically since 1985. A restoration of Spring Creek on the property is an example of the region’s groundbreaking Napa Green Certified Land. Consider wearing sensible shoes for the walk.

Finished in February, the tasting room, designed by Napa Valley architect Karen Roberts, is an addition to the charmingly restored pre-Prohibition house located at 1902 Madrona Ave.

Each weekday at 10 a.m. wine lovers may join Nicole Knoth, Hospitality & Events manager, for a 90-minute tour and tasting. The experience is intimate with no more than 10 guests, and no more than six per party. Knoth joined Spottswoode last summer after managing Direct to Consumer Sales & Marketing at Clos du Val for the past three years. She and her husband moved from San Diego to the Napa Valley in 2008.

The tasting is $45 per person (which is credited to each six-bottle purchase of cabernet sauvignon) and is a tasting of not only the estate’s highly-regarded cabernet sauvignon, but also its Lyndenhurst bottling named for one of the estates past identities, and its refreshing sauvignon blanc.

The tour includes a very personal look at Mary’s gardens which have been a labor of love of hers for the past 40 years, from the time she and her late husband Jack brought their five children to the Napa Valley from Los Angeles. There is something imparted on the garden by each of the home’s previous owners over the past 130 years or so. It is a testament to the property’s beautiful setting that it seems each previous owner, from the early days in 1882 when it was known as Esmeralda to later when the Spotts family christened it Spottswoode, added something of note to the gardens. Those who came before the Novaks are honored in the estate’s storytelling creating a rich and layered history.

For the Novak family, the work has been challenging as well as rewarding. Not long after they arrived in St.. Helena, Jack suddenly died leaving Mary with not only five young children to raise, but a vineyard in disrepair and a winemaking venture just emerging. They pulled through, and last year celebrated their 30/40 anniversary. Forty years since they arrived to restore the property and thirty years since their first wine — a cabernet sauvignon — was produced.

A visit to Spottswoode is a special treat; even today their permit allows just 50 visitors per week. To book a tour and tasting, visit spottswoode.com or call 963-0134 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

(Terry Hall is a Calistoga resident who runs his own communications, branding and event planning company. He can be reached at thall@thnapa.com.)

Meanwhile, evidence from some of the world’s most important institutions—from the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization to the World Bank—is clear: Agroecological methods outperform GMOs, especially during drought years, improve nutritional qualities of crops and benefit biodiversity and soil health, all without leaving farmers in debt and dependent on companies for ever-more expensive inputs.

Anna Lappé

Frances Moore Lappé

Small Planet Institute

Cambridge, Mass.

Efforts to change the way foods are marketed in our country because of irrational fears of celebrity CEOs will have serious consequences in higher prices for all foods. The purpose of GMO technology is to lower production costs by reducing or eliminating costly inputs like agricultural chemicals. These savings will be lost if actions by anti-GMO activists increase food marketing costs.

As an agricultural economist (Auburn University), I am socially conscious and I have worked in charity food banks in the U.S. and abroad. Among the hungry people I have served, no one ever asked me for non-GMO food. Hungry people do not care about this information, only the well-fed do.

James Patterson

San Francisco

Mr. Paarlberg is correct in pointing out that GMO technology is a necessity to feed 6.4 billion people. We will rummage forests, destroy wildlife and natural beauty of nature by not using high-yield technology.

Look at us, it took 85 million years to evolve from the first mammals to homo sapiens. We are a genetically modified version of our ancestors, and so is the rest of the biology around us. We breed horses, cows, pigs and whatnot for a better breed without much of a problem. What is wrong with breeding or genetically modifying seeds for higher yields and healthier crops? Nature will do the genetic modification as it has done in the past, but at a very slow pace, and we will have a human catastrophe if we wait for nature to do it.

Amar Dave, M.D.

Ottawa, Ill.

Mr. Paarlberg’s assertion that labeling genetically modified foods will have “surprisingly small” impacts is insulting to the majority of Americans clamoring for the right to know what processes their food has undergone before reaching their plates. Because GMO foods contain novel genetic combinations that do not occur naturally in our food system, the least that consumers deserve is that these foods are labeled that way in the grocery store. Even if processed-food companies decide to use non-GMO crops, labeling eventually must be required for animals fed GMO feed.

Consumers want transparency and it is only fair for biotechnology and food companies to provide the market with adequate information.

Wenonah Hauter

Executive Director

Food & Water Watch

Washington

A version of this article appeared April 24, 2013, on page A14 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: GMO Food Technology Doesn’t Help the Poor Very Much.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/major-u-s-grocer-to-require-labeling-of-gmo-foods.html#ixzz2RIQ3Zget

AUSTIN, Texas – With genetically modified ingredients now deeply embedded in  the U.S. food supply, it’s a decision that many in the industry are calling a  game changer.

Whole Foods Market plans to require labeling of all GMO  foods sold in its stores by 2018, becoming the first major retailer in the  nation to do so.  The decision was led by customer demand, according to Whole  Foods executive global grocery coordinator Errol Schweizer.

“The rise of fair trade, the growth of organic, of farmer’s markets, all  point to the fact that our customers want to know where their food is coming  from, what it’s made from, who is making it,” Schweizer said. “The more  information we can give our customers, the better it is for us and them, as well  as for our producers.”

The Food and Drug Administration has deemed GMO products safe. Some are  concerned that the labeling could mislead consumers about the potential risk,  but Schweizer said the company is simply offering transparency.  “We’re not  making a value judgment, and we’re not interpreting the science one way or the  other,” he explained. “We’re just saying the customer has the right to make an  informed choice on what they are feeding themselves or their family.”

Whole Foods already sells more than 3,300 products that are verified  non-GMO.

Schweizer will be among business leaders from around the country coming  together later this month for the spring  conference of the Social Venture Network. Schweizer said his message there  starts with cooperation.  “Mission-oriented businesses of various scales, big  and small, can work together to further the values and mission of what they’re  doing. So, it’s really about partnering for the greater good and running a  business in the meantime.”

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/major-u-s-grocer-to-require-labeling-of-gmo-foods.html#ixzz2RIPnaT2Y

April 18, 2013

“In all my life I have been associated with two W’s.”  The beret clad Miljenko “Mike” Grgich is standing in front of us, a group of wine press gathered at the Grgich Hills Estatewinery in Napa Valley, to celebrate his 90th birthday.  “Guess what that is?”  One of the W’s is for wine of course.  The other?  Women.  Grgich is quite the charmer, and one of his favorite sayings is, “Good wines and good ladies improve with maturity.” He should know.  For 40 years Grgich has been making some of the best, if not the best, Chardonnay in the business, wines which have not only matured well but are still very much alive.

Proof of that ageability?  Grgich poured tastes of the 1972 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that he made, where he was winemaker and limited partner, as his inaugural vintage for the new Napa Valley winery. Today this wine is a deeper golden than it must have been when first made.  It still has a very noticeable minerality to it, and there’s still a zippiness from the acidity. Best of all, the fruit is still beautiful.  The hint of age is the caramelized finish, one that lingers and fades slowly.

Grgich wanted to show us the longevity of his wines.  This was a generous pour, from his own wine cellar, the last case of the ’72 Chard.  While Grgich is famous for the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that beat the best of the French Burgundies in the epic Paris Tasting in 1976, the 1972 foreshadowed its success. The winery operations had to be built from the ground up.  The ’72 vintage itself was as challenging as it gets in California — with spring frost, intense summer heat and rain at harvest.  The wine turned brown for about two months, then suddenly turned clear and has stayed that way (Grgich points out that the movie Bottleshock got it wrong by portraying the ’73 Chardonnay as turning brown, which it never did).  But in May 1975 the ’72 Chard won first place in a blind tasting in San Diego, beating three top French Chardonnays.

You may be surprised to hear that he considers the ’73 Chardonnay the second most important accomplishment in his life.  The first?  His daughter Violet, who has been working with him at the Grgich Hills winery for 25 years.

His is walking, living history.  He arrived in Napa Valley in 1958, worked for André Tchelistcheff at Beaulieu Vineyard in 1959  and Robert Mondavi at the fledgling Robert Mondavi Winery in 1968.  In 1976 there were 25 wineries in the valley, and now there are nearly 500. His partnership with Austin Hills in the Grgich Hills Estate Winery, founded in 1977, is perhaps one of the longest and most successful in wine country.  He returned to Croatia to open Grgic Vina Winery in 1996, making Plavac Mali (red) and Posip (white), both native varietals.  It was during this time that Grgich helped discover that the origin of California Zinfandel is Croatia.

Grgich shows no signs of showing down.  He has guided his winery on the forefront of innovation and technology.  Grgich Hills grows grapes organically, runs on solar power, ferments with native yeasts and recycles everything it can.  He tells the story of a professor at U.C. Davis, who in the 1960′s (?verify) said that one day computers would make the perfect wine. Grgich thought to himself, “why did I come to the university for this?  To learn about wine when a computer would beat me one day?  I was discouraged.” Years later that same professor declared that if ever a perfect wine would be made it would be by an artist, a winemaker. Grgich felt vindicated.  “I will not die until I make the perfect wine.”

Grgich also tells us, “I am very proud that I have something in the Museum of American History, that I have made something for American history and I hope I have made something for Croatian history.”

As you wander the aisles at your local market and now even in clothing stores, more and more emphasis is being placed on these terms…But what do they mean and what’s the difference? Well, in some cases, there are actually government regulations and standards that decide if an item can be called one thing or the other. We’ll try to explain below…

100% Organic foods and beverages carry the U.S. Department of  Agriculture (USDA) organic seal (the certifying agency must be listed). In the case of wine, it indicates the wine is made from 100% organically grown ingredients and has been monitored throughout its entire production process. Wine can contain only  naturally occurring sulfites (or sulfur dioxide, an antimicrobial substance) in  less than 100 parts per million (ppm).

Organic foods and beverages also carry the USDA organic seal. In wine, it indicates the wine contains 95% organically grown ingredients (the other 5% need not be organic). Likewise,  the certifying agency must be listed and the wine  has the same sulfite requirements as 100% organic.

Wine Made from Organic Grapes or Made with Organic Ingredients means the wine contains a minimum of 70% organic ingredients.  It can have artificial sulfites added, but it may not contain more than 100 ppm.  These bottles will not carry the USDA organic seal.

Biodynamic  is based on the precise practice and observation to create balance in nature, a concept originated by Rudolf Steiner. So, biodynamic wine is not only 100%  organic, in addition, the grower has gone beyond to try to bring the farming  process more closely in tune with nature. For instance, biodynamic wine growers may make their own compost and/or  watch the stars and planets to time what they do. In the US, Demeter certifies farms, wineries, and wines as Biodynamic.

For wines lovers, there is good news! Great tasting organic wines are becoming widely available in United States.

Starting November 1st we’ll be launching a fun, tasty, educational, wine buying club that features one ConsciousWinery per month. What’s special about a ConsciousWinery? They follow ConsciousWine’s 4 Principles: 100% organically grown grapes, sustainably (or holistically farmed), creating vital products that rock! All wineries on consciouswine.com have been ‘vetted’ in person to meet these principles. Our focus on the website and in CW’s Winery of the Month Club will be primarily wines & wineries from the West Coast of the United States.

What’s special about CW’s Winery of the Month Club?

Lots! Club Members receive a Winery of the Month 2-bottle pack either monthly, bi-monthly, or quarterly. You choose how often you want to receive a pack at time of sign up. You can change this at any time. The pack ranges in price from $50-$70 plus shipping, handling & taxes (where applicable). Shortly after each month’s packs are shipped, Club Members receive an e-mail which includes 3 main features:

1. The date, time and link to attend a Club Member Only Webinar where Jeff Weissler (aka The ConsciousWineGuy) will taste the 2 wines in the pack, introduce the ‘Winery of the Month’, share wine & food pairing ideas, take questions, and probably embarrass himself a little. The webinar will be 30 minutes in length. You can taste along at home or just gather some ideas for when you do enjoy the wines. A separate e-mail will be sent to all Club Members on the details of being part of the on-line event. If you don’t attend the actual event, it will live on YouTube & ConsciousWine’s Facebook Page.

2. A list of all the wines presently available from ConsciousWine’s Winery of the Month. If you choose to place an additional order (12 bottle minimum with mix & match allowed) within the calendar month that the winery is highlighted, you will receive a special 20% discount off the normal retail prices!!!

3. A short introduction to CW’s Winery of the Month, and links to both information on the winery & the wines in the club shipment.

 Additional Club Member Features & Benefits:

1. The Menu & The Wine List Video Series–6 videos created to help you with pairing wine & food while dining out.

2. Discounts on all ConsciousWine Dinner’s, Events & Tours!

3. You’ll be entered in a monthly drawing for a 1 hour consultation with Jeff Weissler (aka The ConsciousWineGuy) on anything wine.

4. If you’re traveling to West Coast Wine Country you can call for a 1 hour consultation (FREE only as a Club Member) to help make your trip rock! Tell us what you like in wine & we’ll tell you where to go. You’ll have a hand tailored itinerary based on ConsciousWine’s commitment to supporting vital choices to both palate & planet. Normal rate for this service is $75/hr.

How do you sign up for CW’s Winery of the Month Club?

The sign-up on the website will be available the end of the 1st week in October.

For now, you can comment on this post, drop us a note at info@consciouswine.com or call 541-531-7653 and we’ll get you hooked up!

Totally excited to be getting this together & looking forward to sharing these amazing wines with you.

Cheerio!

Jeff & The ConsciousWine-ers

We are honored to be included in the August edition of Robert Parker’s  The Wine Advocate, with seven of our wines receiving 91 plus point scores.  Out of the seven wines reviewed, two of them (2011 Spiral 36 and our 2010 Grenache 58) are currently available for purchase.  To our most loyal customers our 2009 Syrah 80, 2009 Reserve Syrah and our 2011 Marsanne Roussanne are each available on a pre-order basis.

2009 Reserve Syrah: 93 Points “Reliance on 100% whole clusters and just over 50% new barrels hasn’t resulted in any stemmy or woody extremes in the Cowhorn 2009 Syrah Reserve; on the contrary, this manages to combine explosive intensity of dark berry fruit and peat-like smokiness with seductively wafting perfume of freesia, buddleia, and violet; palpable extract-richness with near levity (at 13.5% alcohol); and vibrant fruit acids with a silken texture.  It will leave your mouth and preconceptions shaken.” Release Date:  Fall 2012

2009 Syrah 80: 92 Points “Cowhorn’s 2009 Syrah 80 smells provocatively and complexly of dark cherry, cassis, beet root, violets, black tea, peat and prickly hints of radish.  Pure-fruited; concentrated yet buoyant; and invigoratingly accented by radish and cherry pit, this brash, smoke-tinged Syrah of mere 13.5% alcohol offers a penetratingly persistent and strikingly distinctive variation on its familiar cepage.” Release Date:  Winter 2012

2010 Syrah 58: 92 Points “Cowhorn’s 2010 Syrah 58 – vinified almost entirely whole cluster – smells intensely and startlingly of black raspberry and cassis concentrates shadowed by their distilled essence; horehound; road tar; and eucalyptus.  Although palpably full of stuffing nevertheless tart, vibrant and (at a mere 13.4% alcohol) buoyant; this audacious exercise in Syrah finishes with lip licking as well as salivary gland – stimulating salinity.” Release Date: TBA

2010 Grenache 58: 92 Points “Gorgeous scents of fresh strawberry and mint mingled with hints of white pepper lead to a polished, pure fruited, vibrant palate and a finish in which saliva-liberating salinity, soothing evocations of herbal essences, and invigorating crunch of berry seeds and piquancy of pits makes for an unexpectedly unforgettable and delectable experience.” Available Now

2010 Viognier: 91 Points “Classic acacia, honeysuckle and white peach in the nose re-emerge and are joined by lusciously juicy crenshaw melon on a sumptuous, subtly oily, yet persistently juicy palate, with cepage characteristic bitterness well-integrated and in fact adding some sense of invigoration.” Sold Out

2011 Spiral 36: 91 Points “Cowhorn’s 2011 Spiral 36 – a barrel co-fermentation of slightly more Viognier than Marsanne and Roussanne – displays a fine balance of oily richness and palate polish with brightness,  Acacia, candied lime peel, and white peach follow from the nose through to a luscious finish in which piquancy of peach kernel, citrus zest, and legume sprouts add delightful and invigorating counterpoint. ” Available Now

2011 Marsanne Roussanne: 91 Points “A barrel-fermented Cowhorn 2011 Marsanne-Roussanne delivers nose-tweaking pungency of exotic flowers and white pepper allied to pineapple and quince, juicily informing a palate suffused with salinity that – along with the effects no doubt of sheer low pH – makes for gushing salivary glands and invigorating bite and ping to this wine’s protracted finish.” Release Date:  Fall 2012

The wine bloggerati are among the most influential voices in the industry: Steve Heimoff; Alder Yarrow of Vinography; and Tom Wark of Fermentation. We read, trust and know them well.

During my three days at the Wine Bloggers Conference last month in Portland, Ore., I had the pleasure of rubbing elbows with many up-and-coming wine bloggers. Few make money on their blogs. They do it for the passion and knowledge. After conversations — over several glasses of Oregon pinot noir, of course — these are the five folks who stuck with me. Read their blogs for unique spins on the swirl.

1. Ken’s Wine Guide: This blog started in 1998 as a potential Christmas list for Ken Hoggins’ in-laws. Now, it is quickly becoming one of the most reliable, comprehensive online guides of panel-reviewed wines. Quality and value are the cornerstones of Hoggins’ reviews. And, for comparison, he always runs reviews from the big critics alongside his own. He works in the insurance business and lives outside Boston. Hoggins won Best Wine Reviews on a Wine Blog during the 2012 Wine Blog Awards held at the conference. Find him at www.kenswineguide.com.

2. On the Wine Trail in Italy: I’m surprised Alfonso Cevola has not been approached with a book deal yet. His knowledge of Italian wine is encyclopedic. His voice is one-of-a-kind. Whether he’s decoding Italian wine laws or pontificating on “Tuscan Superiority Complex,” Cevola’s writing is infectious. After five years and 900 posts, he took home the award for Best Single Subject Wine Blog at this year’s conference. Find him at www.acevola.blogspot.com.

3. The Academic Wino: Becca Yeamans is a scientist at the University of Virginia. When she’s not running clinical research trials in the field of neurology, she blogs on peer-reviewed articles across the wine spectrum. Whether the subject is oenology, viticulture, or the effects of wine on mind and body, Yeamans helps us decode the geek-age. Find her at www.academicwino.com.

4. Conscious Wine: With a combined 30 years of experience in the fine wine business, Jeff Weissler and Vinny Liscio started this blog to help people understand the growing natural wine movement. They rate wines that meet four criteria: They must come from vineyards that are sustainably-farmed; the grapes must be grown organically; the wines must foster vitality, both in the vineyard and in the glass (meaning the wine is alive and not covered by additives or cellar trickery); and, lastly, they must taste great. Find them at www.consciouswine.com.

5. Terroirist: Dave White does one of the most impossible things in the wine blogging racket: He blogs every day about everything. Each week, he features a Q&A with a different winemaker. And, as the name of his blog denotes, he is most taken with wines that have a sense of place or a story to tell. Terroirist won Best New Wine Blog during the 2011 Wine Blog Awards at that year’s conference. Find him online at www.terroirist.com.

AmByth Estate is Paso Robles’ first and only winery to produce Demeter certified Biodynamic wines and are 100 percent dry-farmed.

According to the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative, dry farming is not to be confused with rainfed agriculture. Rainfed agriculture refers to crop production that occurs during a rainy season.

Dry farming, on the other hand, refers to crop production during a dry season, utilizing the residual moisture in the soil from the rainy season, usually in a region that receives 20” or more of annual rainfall.

Dry farming works to conserve soil moisture during long dry periods primarily through a system of tillage, surface protection, and the use of drought-resistant varieties.

Click here to learn more about AmByth Estate

Pity the sommelier. First, there was the push to get respect. So they sought to professionalize their métier by creating credentials such as Master Sommelier. Above all, they made theirs a serious, worthwhile vocation by being long-term professionals in their field, as opposed to out-of-work actors and actresses who offered glib wine patter.

Today’s American sommeliers are among the best in the world. They’re smart, savvy, deeply knowledgeable, ambitious and even fashionable.

They’ve effectively dispensed with the cobwebbed hauteur that once characterized (and stigmatized) this line of work. I can’t remember the last time I saw an overweight guy in a tuxedo or a black leather apron, the bling of a shiny silver tastevin hanging around his neck on a heavy chain like some wannabe wine rapper.

So bravo to the modern “somm.” Now for the sting in the tail: Your wine lists are unusable.

I know, I know. You’re killing yourselves finding really interesting wines for us to try. I’m all admiration. Hell, you made Grüner Veltliner. If it wasn’t for American somms, Austrian wine producers would still be yodeling to each other in the dark.

But now it’s time for you to accept another role, and yet more work. Right now, the typical wine list is about as useful as an old-fashioned newspaper stock market table. Who can really read them? And how are we supposed to know what to invest in?

Today’s best wine lists offer multiple hundreds of wines, the great majority of which are utterly unknown to all but a handful of—let’s be honest here—wine geeks.

It’s simply not enough anymore for wine lists to be just price sheets. Here’s the vintage, the wine name, the producer and the price. Good luck!

Sommeliers can—and do—say that clients can inquire about a wine or ask for a suggestion. But who’s kidding whom? A diner can’t ask for information about even a dozen wines, let alone hundreds.

So let’s get practical. We restaurant-goers need discreet help, and you sommeliers are the ones who are supposed to provide it. So what’s to be done?

I would like to propose several ideas, recognizing that every restaurant is different and that no single revisionist notion about a 21st-century wine list is appropriate for all restaurants.

That noted, I do think that whatever the presentation of the list, an effective 21st-century somm has to be more of an educator than ever before.

Put simply, it’s not enough to pick great wines and serve them deftly. You’ve now got to be able to write concisely. To educate diplomatically. To inform pithily. So how about these ideas:

The Showcase Short List Solution Let’s say yours is an ambitious restaurant with an extensive wine list. A simple short list, which is currently a wine fashion trend, just won’t cut it. Fair enough.

In such a situation I would compose a shorter list of, say, 30 wines that are grabbing my sommelier fancy this week, this month, whatever. This showcase short list would be included with the (much larger) regular list. But unlike the regular list, I would give for each wine on the short list an explanation of why it’s grabbing my sommelier fancy.

Recently, I visited a tiny producer in southern Oregon called Cowhorn Vineyard and Garden. (They grow vegetable crops as well as grapes.) I’ve mentioned their wines before—various Rhône grapes such as Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache and Syrah—but I’d never visited the property until recently.

In the course of chatting with the owners it became clear that in terms of a conventional wine list, they are simply out of luck, because they’re “nowhere.” (Cowhorn is 9 miles from the California border.) Outside of the area, who has a section on “southern Oregon” wines? No one. Moreover, if you’re not growing Pinot Noir, you’re not part of the “Oregon club” on a wine list. You get the picture.

So here’s a terrific producer—one of hundreds in the world—that absolutely needs to be showcased and explained in order to be sold. And that is simply not going to happen in the format of a conventional name-rank-and-serial-number wine list.

This is why a showcase short list is ideal. The modern sommelier must now educate as well as select. And that education, however brief and concise, must convey both erudition and enthusiasm. It most certainly isn’t a matter just of points. Or even of quoting someone else. We need insight, passion and a story we can drink.

The iPad Solution When I’ve raised this issue of the failure—that’s the only word for it—of modern wine lists, several readers have hustled to say that tablet computers, such as Apple’s iPad, are the answer. It offers unlimited room, they point out. And it’s easily updated to accurately reflect current inventory. (I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve ordered a wine only to be told, “We’re so sorry, it just went out of stock.”)

To me, these tablet computer wine lists seem gimmicky. But maybe I’m just old-fashioned. I do see their high-tech attraction. (And yes, I do own a tablet.) But I’m looking less for encyclopedic information and more for a concise, compelling enthusiasm. Maybe I’m missing something here. You tell me. Still, it’s clearly a viable option.

The Symbol Solution I first saw this simple idea in Venice, at one of that city’s greatest restaurants, Al Covo. Cesare Benelli, the chef-owner of Al Covo, is a great wine lover as well as, to use an old-fashioned term, a free thinker.

Mr. Benelli has a fine palate as well as strong opinions. His wine list, which changes weekly, has a couple hundred wines, some of which are annotated with a heart symbol. The list explains that the heart symbol signals “wines that, in our judgment, we appreciate for their uniqueness.”

In conversation, Mr. Benelli amplified his approach. “Those are the wines I really love. They’re really unusual wines, which, I have to say, may not be to the conventional taste.”

I like this simple annotation approach, which of course is something that the Michelin Red Guide long ago raised to a near-hieroglyphic art form.

Sommeliers could choose their preferred symbols and explain what they signify. For example, symbols signifying wines that are, in the sommelier’s opinion, cutting edge. Or a new discovery. Or unconventionally made. Or grown at a high elevation, or with an ultra-low yield. Or ideal for a certain type of food. Or a tremendous value. Or oak-free. You could really be creative with this.

One thing is certain, at least to me. Given the vast, bewildering array of wines offered to us today by the best sommeliers in the most ambitious restaurants, using the same kind of price sheet that restaurants gave their guests a century ago (when the wine selection was a simple handful of well-known wines) fails miserably.

Are you satisfied with today’s ambitious wine lists? Isn’t there a better way for us to navigate a 21st-century restaurant wine list?

Wine ratings can be seductive. What score did it get? Did it make it over the threshold that means go get it? Ratings can also be intimidating. Do you need to understand the wine the way the reviewer does to enjoy it in all its lofty pointedness?

Outside of all that lives our scoring system. This one was created to help you as the drinker of a particular wine, decide what you think about it. Specifically, based on your experience of the wine, should you go buy it again? I came up with this system as the buyer for a large wine shop to 1) help me buy wines to stock the store’s shelves, and  2) empower the consumer with a fun little measuring stick.

When I was growing up, 65 was a passing grade in school. It didn’t get your parents off your back, but it was officially passing. I used that basic idea to create ConsciousWine’s 10 point Scoring System which will help empower YOU to know when YOU like something and if it’s priced by the seller in a way that makes the whole thing sing. To utilize this system you need to know the wine’s price before you taste it. While keeping in mind the price and taste of the wine you’re working with, notice which phrase below resonates strongest, and you will have the wine’s score.

10 -You love the wine so much you’re going to tell no one & hoard it all for yourself.

9 – You love the wine so much you’ll tell all your friends about it.

8 – You like the wine enough at its price that you’ll buy it multiple times.

7 – You like the wine enough at its price to buy a single bottle.

6 – You like many things about this wine, but not enough to buy it at its price.

5 – It just doesn’t leave much of an impression.

4 – You don’t really like it, but you’ll drink it anyway.

3 – You don’t really like it, and you’re debating finishing what’s in your glass.

2 – You don’t like it, and you won’t finish what’s in your glass.

1 – Oh Waiter!

As a retailer, my focus was on filling the store’s shelves with wines scoring an 8 or better. That way if I sold it to you, chances were above a 65  that you’d be back for more.

Moving forward on ConsciousWine, you’ll see more wines with scores. If you see a “CW-8″, that means I thought it was a wine that if you bought once, you’d be back for it again.

Is a score subjective? When I give a score, there’s years of experience and subjectivity dancing together.  Mood, food, air time, having visited the winery, who you’re enjoying the wine with, the attention you put into drinking the wine, wine knowledge, and what you look for in wine overall determine your preferences in any given moment. Utilizing this system might help you remember your wine experiences, buy more things you like, and give you a fun way to think about wine and share with friends.

What’s in a score? That’s all up to you. Oh Waiter!

For a couple of wine videos to watch with a glass of wine in hand, check out:

-The Pleasure In The Glass

-The Wine & Food Experience

Several wineries received multiple awards, led by Schmidt Family Vineyards with eight medals and Troon Vineyard with six medals.  Meanwhile, Brandborg Winery, Slagle Creek Vineyard and Quady North each had five medal winning wines.  The double gold medal winning wines will be the feature attraction at the reimagined GoldRush Dinner on Friday, August 24^th.  The Jacksonville Inn will be preparing a gourmet 5-course meal specifically paired to these wines, and all nine of the double gold medal wines will be poured.  For ticket information, go to www.worldofwinefestival.com.

“This year marked some important milestones for the Festival,” noted Les Martin, Chairman of the World of Wine Festival.  “Not only is it the 10^th anniversary of the Festival, but with 19 Gold Medal winners, it represents the best showing yet by our wines.  I think this is testament to the ever improving quality of the wines and helps further solidify Southern Oregon as an emerging wine region.”

Three nationally-recognized wine professionals judged the medal competition on August 16^th and 17th in Jacksonville.  They were Traci Dutton, Sommelier and Chief Wine Buyer for the Culinary Institute of America; Sheri Sauter Morano, MW and one of the first American women to earn that designation;  and Liz Thach, MW and Professor in the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University.  The wine competition has repeatedly succeeded in attracting high profile wine judges.  In fact, including this year’s judges, it has now entertained 8 of the approximately 30 Masters of Wine who reside in the U.S.

The Grand Tasting is scheduled for Saturday, August 25, from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., at Bigham Knoll in Jacksonville.  All medal winning wines will be available to taste.  The event also features a wide array of foods from local restaurants and shops, along with live music.  A silent auction will offer unique wines, winemaker dinners, special get-a-ways, and lots of other great items.  A portion of the proceeds from the silent auction will go to a scholarship for the UCC Enology and Viticulture program and also to viticulture research at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center.  One important footnote, to help deal with the late August heat, there will be tent coolers for the first time.

From the Oregon Wine Press, August 1, 2012

Several years ago, I discovered that rockin’ wine often comes from sustainably farmed grapes. With a new-found passion for natural wine, I wanted to learn more and dig deeper. Through research — and a bottle or two — I have unearthed the following conclusions:

1. Diversity on the farm and a strong immune system go hand and hand.

2. Through observation, the farmer discovers the assets of his farm and, as a result, builds a growing, evolving, living relationship with the land. The depth of that relationship supports the ongoing health of the farm.

3. The farmer/farm relationship is what can allow the farmer to not put round pegs in square holes when making choices. This supports a set of dominoes which keep the farm’s immune system strong. The easier things fit together, the less stress on the system, the more naturally the whole system works.

4. When you take, you must give back. That’s what makes any relationship work well and sustainably. If you remove the natural vitality from the soil (because it’s been absorbed by the products harvested), then that vitality needs to be given back. Indigenous cover crops and composting — created ideally from materials on the farm — are a couple ways to accomplish this.

5. Synthetic chemicals used in farming can help in the short term but come with side effects, including nutrient and diversity depletion. Think of taking medicine for an ailment and how it affects your system, especially if you take it long-term. How do you support your overall health, and what might you do to balance or counteract the side effects of taking medicine both short and long-term.

6. Agriculture doesn’t exist in nature; its roots go back approximately 10,000 years. When a farmer takes away the natural diversity, a lot of conscious work is required to reinvigorate the soil and the environment with diversity and vitality.

7. Farm as if it were 1850. Huh? Use what’s on the farm to support the farm. Think of it like a closed loop system. If you want to build a house or wall, where does the wood and stone come from? The idea is to create a closed loop system, where the nutrients and resources needed to nourish that system come from within that system.

A commitment to move in these directions can lead to sustainability defined as: leaving the land healthier than it was before farming; passing a healthier place on to our kids and their kids; and minimizing the pull of resources from outside the farm.

Specific practices include animals on the farm, biodiversity, Biodynamic farming, energy conversation, family farming, good worker policies, natural winemaking, packaging conservation, polyculture (growing or raising different plants and animals on the same land) and water conservation.

Cheers to the wineries walking the talk while putting in the bottle wines that rock. Luckily for us here in Oregon, this trend is becoming more the norm and less of an exception.

Jeffrey Weissler writes about natural and organic wine on his blog, ConsciousWine.com. Originally from New York, Weissler now lives in Portland, via Ashland.

Hey Everyone, The weekend is coming and it looks like a break in the weather as well. We, as usual need some rain but we are not as desperate as we were a week ago. You take what you can get I guess. Corn is literally burning up in the mid west and you can’t just go make more. The government will have a very tough time “bailing” big ag out on this one. Prepare for major price jumps in the market place. The beef herd was just recovering from record low numbers and will be decimated again as the feedlots will have no choice but to drop the herd size significantly. The system is truly in jeopardy.

This will also put some pressure on the economy in the midwest as none of the big boys will be buying big equipment, just borrowing money to pay the bills. The small farmers around the country? You will probably see more farms go out of business this year than in the last ten. My buddy deals with Cargill, much to my chagrin and they told him corn is up 40% and is going higher. He has no shot of making any money at those levels. The next year will surely be a trying one all the way around. Can’t say we are too happy here as well but you can only take it as it comes. If anyone out there is looking for a farm in upstate NY, call us up here.

A lot of you have sent e-mails and I have tried to respond to them all but not something we can spend much time on. You now have to prove a gmo seed product is no good before it is removed from the market. No longer do you need to prove the safety before it goes on the market, merely because of a classification issue. Monsanto can now market any new product it wants without any sort of scrutiny or approval. The proof is on the public now to prove it is unsafe. Really good stuff. On top of that, it takes the pressure off of president Obama to not have to make a ruling on Agent Orange gmo corn. Remember that little one from way back?

Let’s stop and think. The president is faced with approving a gmo corn that is resistant to the same chemicals used to make agent orange. We all know the effects of agent orange from our illustrious past but is is still used in agriculture today. So the powers at be got together and said, if Obama approves this product it will start a firestorm in an election year and he could lose some votes. The super smart attorneys figured they would just put a rider in the farm bill, get all of the criminals in congress to go for it, and that would alleviate the president from having to approve this awful product that will be planted next year and you will get to eat in your corn flakes the year after. Pretty good stuff huh? Just can’t beat the genius coming out of the ivy league.

So chomp on that for a bit. Realize how we are being taken advantage of and yet again, I will leave you with the most staggering thing I have read in quite a while. “The United States is the only developed nation with no labeling or testing requirements on gmos.” Just can’t beat 300 million lab rats! No testing, no labeling, no choice. Doesn’t sound like America to me. After so many years of thinking my parents and the “old folks” were crazy, I fully understand their level of disappointment with our country. Sad to have lived so many years only to live with disdain….

We are continuing to put hay up and move along in this heat. No choice but to deal with what is handed to us and make the best out of it. The animals are going through an astonishing amount of water but seem to be hanging in there. We can only do the same. That all being said, we are looking forward to cooler temps and great markets this weekend.

That should cover it for now. Expect a full update Friday when I slow down a bit. I won’t get back to answer your e-mails before the end of the day, we are really busy now keeping up with the needs of the animals. Please take some time to think of the direction we are being taken in by these people in Washington. It is so wrong on so many levels. I hope to see you all out their this weekend enjoying some good clean food.

Have a great day and eat well,
John

…As early as last week someone came to my stand and asked the age old question. “is it organic?” When I tell them my stuff is better than organic they look at me with a pitiful look like I am a sarcastic teenager and need to grow up. Oh the effect of marketing. I have always slammed commercial organic farming because it is so far from it and always come up against people who think that little green label means it is safe and better. Oooops. The truth is, the only reason, and the only reason organic food is more expensive is the chemicals they use to grow it, fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides etc. are all organic and cost more to make. Oh John, how could you say that?!!! Evil farmer. No that is true.

So when the article came out in the NY Times this weekend….VINDICATION! Although it only exposed the surface of the corruption of the commercial organic industry, it showed how it was controlled by the big companies, completely changes and violates rules for profit and uh oh, allows non organic items, to be used in organic products. This can’t be? Oh yeah folks, it sure is. So all of my ranting is not without vindication and as Barlow put it “corroboration” So when you go to the supermarket, don’t feel so fuzzy about the organic stuff, just be careful and be choosy.

When I set out to farm, not knowing what I was getting in to, I had no idea I would be in the middle of one of the most perilous situations our country has faced. Our food systems. Gmos are destroying our crop land, environment and health. That is a whole other story you can be sure to hear about the end of the week. Love a new audience. I wanted to grow the cleanest food possible. After seeing what gmo’s do to animals and watching some of my friends be put out of business by using gmo corn, I quickly learned we needed to control the feed the animals were eating. We only use non gmo grains in our animal feed. Seed lines that go back to the late 1800′s. No pesticides, no herbicides. Clean grain. I then source the best livestock vitamins and minerals you can buy. Vitamins that blow away the quality of the garbage they sell for humans. A whole other issue. The animals live out on pasture and in the woods all year round. We don’t use any drugs, antibiotics, hormones etc. Just not needed. So the meat you eat is completely clean, contains nothing, zero. On the other hand, every single piece of meat, organic, free range or otherwise you buy in the store, contains 7-26 different chemicals from hormones to antibiotics, mercury, arsenic etc. You wonder why we are one of the most unhealthy countries in the world. It’s not “supersizing” It’s the garbage in the “supersize”

I am going to leave you with one of the most shocking sentences I have read in a long time, “The US is the only developed country in the world that has no regulation, labeling or testing of gmo products.” If that doesn’t scare the S98^& out of you or infuriate you, “welcome to McDonald’s, would you like fries with that?’

Hey thank you all again for coming out and supporting my little farm. We should have sweet corn this weekend at the market so we are very excited. Please remember, this whole gmo thing is just about “choice” We should have the choice whether to eat it or not and not just have it jammed down our throats. Choice is something I think we sacrifice a lot to have…. Have a great day and eat well, John

What’s in a glass of wine? The answer might be surprising. Wine is basically spoiled grape juice. (Whoever first ingested it millennia ago: hat tip.) But these days wine’s ingredients can also contain a laundry list of adds in’s: sulfur dioxide, egg whites, oak chips, water and numerous chemical additives, in addition to the base of fermented grape juice. As chefs and home cooks have turned to farmers markets for organic and small batch-grown produce, wine drinkers are increasingly seeking out natural wines, in response to the preservatives and stabilizers found in conventionally-made wine.

Natural wine is more than just winespeak or a marketing gimmick. Artisan winemakers are essentially going back to basics when making wine in a non-interventionist way, with as little manipulation as possible, avoiding mechanization in farming and production (foot stomping grapes is now in vogue), using grapes grown without chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Some words frequently used to describe natural wine’s flavor profile: alive, snappy, complex, dense and fuller on the palate. Natural wines do taste and often look differently than conventionally made wine. Turn the page to discover why.

Those in the wine world debate its definition because there is no official standard of natural winemaking in the U.S. or internationally. Here France’s morethanorganic.com provides clear terms and an authoritative philosophy on the process. Berkeley winemakers Tracey and Jared Brandt of Donkey & Goat explain their natural winemaking do’s and don’ts. Some essentials from these manifestos follow, tested in whole or part by many winemakers.

The source: Wine begins in the vineyard. Natural wines come from vineyards where the farmer has used no chemical fertilizers (“no spray”) or pesticides. Sometimes certified organic, sometimes not, the grapes might also be grown following biodynamic precepts. Biodynamic vineyard management is the opposite of industrial farming in every way. (Portland Oregon’s Brooks Wine details the care taken in a biodynamic vineyard.) Among biodynamics homeopathic practices: using crop covers between vineyard rows, supplementing soil with herbal teas and keeping owl houses so that predator birds (instead of poison) reduce a vineyard’s rodent population.

By moving away from chemicals in the field, Hank Beckmeyer of La Clarine Farm (his wines are available at downtown’s Buzz Wine Beer) elucidates on his winery’s website what these vineyard practices mean, “In essence, the farmer/winemaker/vigneron becomes the crucial link in allowing a vineyard, its grapes and the vintage to express itself,” he writes. “He or she allows a terroir to become explicit. ”

Jamil Williams, buyer and a manager at Buzz Wine Beer, punches it down: “If you had to make a hard definition of natural wine, it means minimal chemical and technological intervention in the vineyard and winemaking process.

“Yeasts from the vineyard wild. For more than 30 years California winemakers have utilized native yeasts (rather than laboratory-grown strains) to ferment wines. (Chalk Hill’s estate Chardonnay from Sonoma County is one example. Bonny Doon Vineyard’s Le Cigare Volant is another). “The micro-biology of a vineyard drives the characteristics of a bottling,” explains winemaker Greg Bjornstad of Pfendler Vineyards. Using wild yeasts is another way to express native terroir, he adds.

Once grapes are harvested and set out in tanks or bins for fermentation, winemakers typically inoculate them with yeast — this jumpstarts fermentation. As a comparison, a baker has the choice of store bought packaged yeast or a cultivated starter with the end result: Wonder Bread vs. an artisan made sourdough baguette. In a similar way, winemakers rely on airborne ambient yeasts present on the grapes and in the winery to propel fermentation spontaneously.

“Wild yeast turns out wine with soul and complexity,” contends Dieter Cronje, winemaker at Presqu’ile Winery in Santa Maria Valley. “The wild yeast comes with our terroir; if we are making terroir driven wine or sense of place, using natural yeast is essential to reach that.”

Aging, filtering and fining:Wine distributor and importer Amy Atwood finds that although the definition of natural wines is contentious, she feels there are some absolutes. Neutral oak barrels should be used for aging (they won’t import that toasty, buttery oak flavor), and no filtering or fining (adding egg whites to remove sediments) should be in the natural winemaker’s playbook. Sulfites should only be added minimally at bottling for stability purposes.

Atwood finds natural wines slightly more elegant, and definitely more food friendly than conventionally produced wines. (She distributes Andrea Calek’s yeasty low alcohol (9%) Blonde (pictured above), a blend of hand-picked Chardonnay and Viognier). “Angelenos are open and are interested in how their wines are made,” she says. Because so many now shop at the farmers market and question their foodstuff’s sources, “It hasn’t taken too long to question how wine is made and grapes grown.” She recommends reading Alice Feiring’s The Battle for Wine and Love, for a deeper understanding of the subject.

At Salt’s Cure restaurant, the almost all California wine list features natural winemakers like Donkey & Goat and Sonoma’s Scribe Winery. “We’re bringing in what is the best representation of the grape in California rather than what is commercially popular,” explains co-owner Zak Walters. He continues, “Our wine list is a direction reflection of what we doing with food, how we’re making food, and knowing where our food comes from.”

As always, there’s more to wine than what’s in the glass — more food for thought while sipping that summer rosé.

While winemakers throughout the world grapple with the difficulties of producing wine organically without risking its quality, one Oregon vineyard is quietly releasing vintage after vintage of delicious, additive-free Grenache, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. How do they do it? For Barbara and Bill Steele, proprietors of Cowhorn Vineyard, the key is careful planning, attention to detail and a qualitative approach that values a delicious bottle of vino above all else.

A certified organic and biodynamic property, Cowhorn takes its name from the biodynamic practice of burying preparations in a horn to allow them to compost. But the true secret of this vineyard’s success is careful planning and management, leading to high-quality crops that might put other producers to shame.

“Many people in the wine industry don’t get a chance to see grapes that are in as beautiful condition as they often are at a biodynamic farm,” Barbara says.

“The fact that they come in without disease problems, without mold or mildew or pests, means right off the bat, for example, we don’t have to sulfur our grapes in order to kill diseases,” says Barbara. Unlike many wines made with organic grapes, Cowhorn does not use any artificial additives in its production. And unlike many additive-free wines, Cowhorn consistently scores highly with reviewers and was included in the “Top 100 Northwest Wines” by the Seattle Metropolitan.

The Steeles didn’t start out as winemakers; they were both working in big business when Barbara decided she wanted a change. She spent a few years volunteering on organic farms, and soon the Steeles decided to get into agriculture. With their business background and a desire to create the best farm they could, they devised a plan to grow multiple crops—primarily grapes, asparagus and cherries—so their crew could work year-round, and the farm could receive a steady income from market sales. Ten years later, Cowhorn produces 2,000 cases of wine and 4,000 pounds of asparagus.

“What really drives Bill and myself is to make high quality fruit, support people eating locally and support local job creation,” Barbara says. “You’ll notice I didn’t say our burning ambition is to be famous winemakers.” Yet through their mission to create the best, most holistically-produced wine they can, they’ve also succeeded at becoming one of the West’s favorite cult wines. Wine Spectator‘s Matt Kramer calls Cowhorn the vineyard he’s “excited about”—and you should be excited too. Vineyards like this may be the new face of organic wine, and the view is lovely.

You can buy Cowhorn wines ($18-45 per bottle) directly from their website, or in restaurants and bottle shops in Oregon, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. See the full list here.

Though 80 Sips Around the World is four years old, it’s the first Houston appearance for the event series, which was inspired and created by author and Bottlenotes (a media company dedicated to educating wine enthusiasts) founder and CEO Alyssa Rapp, who wrote the book Bottlenotes Guide to Wine: Around the World in 80 Sips in 2008. The first 80 Sips Around the World events were held in San Francisco, Chicago and New York, and they have now spread to 12 markets, including Houston. Rapp was the “wine wizard” for Wine and Food Week 2012 — that is, she was the official master of ceremonies throughout the seven-day celebration.

According to Rapp, 80 Sips Around the World is a crash course in in wine for neophytes.

“The expectation is that you’re new to wine,” Rapp said.

Not quite. For a $125 cover fee, guests strolled in last Friday evening, grabbed a glass, and got to the task of tasting samples from the winemakers — there were 120 instead of the expected 80.There were also palate-cleansers – cheese, grapes and assorted vegetables. While 80 Sips was already a challenge for the uninitiated, discovering there would be 120 potential pours upon arrival was downright daunting. Getting through the event required more than a rudimentary knowledge of wine. Luckily, there was some help: each “vendor’s” table was stocked with two or three (or four or five) different wine brands and types, a cheerful assistant to help pour wine, and a representative from the company to explain each wine’s origin and flavor.

There were wines present from every corner of the globe: California, Spain, France, even some from South Africa, and it was quite a delight learning of the stories behind each. Notable “destinations” included Mt. Brave Wines, a single vineyard concoction grown on the top of Mt. Veeder in Napa Valley, California.

“We’re this little piece of land,” said the table’s wine rep, emphasizing the greater concentration of grapes and thus, the stronger potency of the resulting wines. “The flavors are a lot more pronounced.”

Brooks Winery, an Oregon-based wine institution owned by 16-year-old Pascal Brooks after the passing of his father Jimi Brooks, and managed by his aunt Janie Brooks Heuck, prides itself not only on possibly being the winery with the youngest owner on the planet, but on the purity of its wines: no additives, no sugars and no acids, said Heuck.

“They taste like grapes, they taste like the earth from where they came from,” she said, beaming.

H-E-B’s station, manned by wine department manager Sean Ballesteros, stood with quiet confidence near the front of Union Station, offering not wines, but a “food-friendly equivalent to red wines,” according to Ballesteros: a red ale beer, and a Canadian Unibroue Grande Reserve 17, a dark ale.

What was great about the event was its accessibility; starting at 7 p.m., legions of “wine-curious” parties were able to take a leisurely after-work drive on over to the baseball stadium, eventually filling the space to capacity over the span of three hours. They, in turn, left with a greater knowledge of wine: all its types, and what it’s supposed to taste like.

Just another example of how Houston culture is growing every day.

Proceeds from Bottlenotes First Annual 80 Sips Around the World will go to the Snowdrop Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating all childhood cancers.

By Altamese Osborne Mon., Jun. 11 2012, for the Houston Press Blogs