On line at Ashland’s Noble Coffee for a refill, I was talking to a friend about filming our first ‘ConsciousWine and a Movie’ episode. A guy standing next to us blurts out, ‘What should I drink with Rambo 2? After a short pause, I bust a vocal move and say, ‘something bold, intense, strong and strongly flavored, a straight forward in your face kind of wine…. I’d go for a California Zinfandel. For under $15, you can find Sobon Zinfandel.” He was fairly sure I was full of it and just bs’ing, but then said, ‘wow that was great. Where do I go find that wine?’
Chatting with literary & film maestro Kevin Davidsohn can be an ordinary moment (well not really), but one very specific particular moment birthed ‘ConsciousWine and a Movie’. Kevin and I will offer you movie reviews paired with wines to enhance your movie watching experience (and vice versa). We rate each film using ConsciousWine’s ’10 Point Wine Scoring Scale’, then offer ideas on ConsciousWines to enjoy while watching that movie.
Welcome to Episode 1 of ConsciousWine and a Movie: Inception.
The West Coast (particularly speaking of Oregon and Northern California) saw a cool wet spring, followed by a cool beginning to summer. After a number of vineyards cut back their greenery to expose vines to the sunshine that finally arrived, heat settled in, and in some cases too much. Nature’s climate cycles, that often lead a grape vine to an excellent harvest, have been challenged this year in the western USA. This is not the case everywhere. Least of which, New York, where nature presented a completely different scenario.
Heres’s some notes I received in an e-mail from a good wine buddy and friend in regards to NY State’s 2010 grape harvest:
-New York anticipates a larger and much earlier harvest this year than it had in 2009.
-The New York Department of Agriculture predicts the total crop (including table and wine grapes) will be 170,000 US tonnes, up from 2009′s relatively low 128,000 tonnes.
-Growers across the state estimate they will start picking anywhere from one to three weeks earlier than last year.
-’This could be our best vintage in a decade or more,’ said Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation.
-Producers like Peter Martini, vineyard manager at Anthony Road Wine Company on Seneca Lake, point to outstanding weather.
-’It has been a great year to grow everything, the fruit is looking wonderful,’ he said.
-’We are in a “la Niña” year, which means we will have some good hang time which we rarely get. Now the problem is how to keep the birds off and the disease away.’
-Bob Madill, general manager of Sheldrake Point Vineyard on Cayuga Lake, is cautiously optimistic.
-’It’s always a temptation in a year like this to call it a “great red year” because of the notional opportunity for the fruit to hang longer,’ he said.
-’We definitely have the have the potential for great quality across the board. The white aromatics also seem to do well. But this is a critical period, and we still have to make it through September.’
-Rich Olsen-Harbich, winemaker for Bedell Cellars in Cutchogue, on Long Island’s North Fork, said the number of growing degree days (a measure of heat accumulation) – 300-500 more than usual – is unprecedented.
-’We’ve had warm years that were not very sunny, but this year we’ve had much more sunlight than ever,’ he said.
-Olsen-Harbich also noted that early-ripening grapes such as Chardonnay, destined for sparkling wine, would be picked particularly early – but that picking of reds would depend on conditions over the next few weeks.
The information above comes from an article published in Decanter Magazine.
From a ConsciousWine perspective I am particularly intrigued to visit a winery I have heard much about, but have not yet had the opportunity to experience personally: Shinn Estate from Long Island’s North Fork. If you’ve been there, tell us about it! The people, the place, the wines…
That’ll be one thing on my agenda for my next trip from Oregon to the great state of New York!
Let’s toast to a good harvest on both East Coast and West. Cheers!
My ears perked up… like a deer. What I was listening to was the thought in my mind for a particular taste in wine. As I moved in the direction of action, I realized my wallet was not in sync with the thoughts spreading from my mind to my taste buds. The $18 for the bottle of wine I desired was beyond my budget for the day. What to do? Who to call?
I’ll confess that on dry wallet days, I’ve satisfied many urges by trips to Grocery Outlet. They get national closeouts at very low prices and pass them on at low markups. It makes for a very happy moment, but… that’s not ConsciousWine.
As this buying pattern continued for several months, it disturbed me more than I knew, and I didn’t enjoy the cumulative effect. Knowing that monoculture (one crop agriculture) is neither natural nor a good thing from a sustainability standpoint, it was hard for me to continue this pattern regardless of the condition of my wallet.
My dad, in the early ’80′s first taught me that a good bottle of wine should cost around $5. $3.99 was his favorite price. If it was more, it was marketing. Today, I think the starting point for a quality product that is grown organically and sustainably farmed is around $15. It doesn’t mean that wines offering quality and a conscious approach can’t be found for less. What it does mean is that living products, that are full of life force, coming from a living soil, where natural processes rejuvenate the land’s vitality after harvest, will cost more. And $15 in today’s world is a good starting place.
French wines from Southern France and the Loire Valley in particular are often grown organically, sustainably, and available in diverse variety between $12 and $20. Many folks love Chilean wines for their value, but most often they do not meet the 4 Principles of ConsciousWine (although this is increasing). American wines tend to cost a bit more, but they have reduced shipping footprints and support local economies.
West coast ConsciousWineries that have multiple offerings under $20 and some around $15 include Oregon faves Maysara, Evesham Wood, Cooper Mountain, and Montinore. California’s offerings are abundant in the low/mid 20’s with a few spots in the teens. The cost of quality done sustainably is just no longer $5 a bottle. It’s an interesting challenge to have our choices support vital farmland for our kids’ kids and beyond. It can be hard on the wallet, especially considering what we’ve become used to on our supermarket, discount box store, and wine store shelves. But lets get back to that wallet! How can I make my dollars go further???
One of my favorite things about natural wine, and ConsciousWIne, is that they unwind once exposed to air. They don’t taste best when you first open them. They unfold like a good book unfolds. The cover of the book got you interested, but the really good stuff showed up at various points along the way. These wines often unfold like a good book or flower for 2 or 3 days. Sometimes even more. This is one of the benefits of a living vital wine (that’s well made from a healthy soil and a strong immune system).
A bottle of wine enjoyed over 5 days is a great way to experience wine (25.4 ounces in a bottle would give you five, 5 ounce servings). Many folks ‘gas’ open bottles of wine to preserve them and keep them fresh. For this adventure you can leave out the gassing. The idea here is to see how the wine changes when experienced ‘au natural’, and at what point you like it best. You’ll very possibly surprise yourself.
Once opened, the ‘good taste’ within a $5 bottle probably won’t last real long, but a $25 bottle (that’s five, 5 ounce glasses to enjoy) could provide a lot of pleasurable experiences, and some fun flavor diversity all from a single bottle. Go to a restaurant and have two $10 glasses of wine, plus leave a good tip, and you’ve spent $25. Those two glasses of wine probably came from a bottle that would’ve cost you $15-$18 had you bought it in a retail store. Getting some new ideas on where real value lives?
When I think of ways to experience wine without laying out lots of money, I think of creating or being part of a potluck with a theme. The key is getting folks to chip in so you can get a few nicer bottles then your wallet might choose on its own. Theme examples: Italian Night, local food & drink (all foods and drinks from within 300 miles), wines you’ve had sitting around over a year, wines you’ve never heard of before, …
One of the beautiful things about wine is sharing it with friends. The experience of tasting different things is a great way to learn, be in community, and have fun. Plus it often gives you great stories to tell. One minute you’re sharing a story, and in the next you’ve gotten yourself invited over to someone’s home to participate in something fun and delicious.
Here’s an idea to play with. In your mind as you peruse your wine shopping destination, stretch your wine budget by 20%. This will get you looking with new eyes as you consider what to buy. Then take a risk! It’s fine if the final price you actually pay stays in your original budget, but look with an extension of your normal max. Let the kid in you have some fun!! Consider buying the bottle with the ugly label. The big tip of the day: If you’ve never heard of it, buy it!
And before you know it… you’ll be telling your friends about fun discoveries you’ve made, and why buying those well known brands that are available everywhere just seem to be missing something, even though they’re ‘priced right’, and convenient… and about all the ways you’re budget is getting you tasting and experiencing interesting flavors and wines. Happy exploring!
Foods and flavors can alter one’s experience of a wine, sometimes dramatically. Last week I posted a video with fellow wine lover all-star Beverly McKenzie, who runs the wine department at Ashland, OR’s Chateaulin Restaurant. We tasted bread with goat cheese and later in the video, olives, … and noticed how it changed our experience of the wine in hand (Roger & Didier Raimbault Sancerre ’07). We were busy that day and filmed another segment. Here it is!
Images from the Wine Blogger’s Conference 2010, a 3 day extravaganza, from June 24-26, that included 300 Wine Blogger’s tasting, talking, writing, blogging, tweeting, eating… and occasionally sleeping. This occurred all in one building, with the exception of several outings in and around Walla Walla, Washington. Images of wineries and vineyards visited in this video were from Figgins Vineyard (Leonetti), Seven Hills, Basel Cellars, Col Solare, Hedges, Ciel du Cheval, and Terra Blanca Winery.
If you now have an uncontrollable urge to be at the 2011 Wine Blogger’s Conference, it will be in Charlottesville, VA in July 22-24, and it’s not yet sold old out!
Want a little bit more from the Wine Blogger’s Conference? All who attended received a very full bag of goodies in Walla Walla. I resisted temptation to unveil its contents til I got into the comfy confines of my own back yard. Join me to see what was inside the 2010 Wine Blogger’s Conference Schwag Bag!
Wherein we give you 10 tidbits about the topic dujour – factoids & ideas, sometimes a specific winery, region, conference or workshop. But always something to get you thinking.
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Here we start with 10 things (nuggets and personal take aways) from a workshop on bees taken at a biodynamic farming program at the Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, CA just east of Sacramento. I attended a program that consisted of one day a month from September thru May then finished with a 5 day intensive in June. This forum will cover much from that experience as it gave me oodles to chew on that are supportive to the very foundation of ConsciousWine.
The honey bee was the focus in May. Any class led by Harald Hoven at the Steiner College dedicates lots of time and conversation to how the specific topic of the day relates back to the whole, to the bigger picture. I like to think of it like he is creating a new perspective for us to consider around that topic. David Basile is the beekeeper at the Steiner College and helped us get our hands into the bees, literally. Ready for 10 things about bees from a biodynamic perspective?
1. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants & healthy animals… leading to healthy food, healthy products and healthy people.
2. We have to realize plants & animals belong together & have evolved together. The more they are together the less problems (or stress to the environment) we have. Especially when they are paired properly in harmonious ways. This is why we’re excited when there’s animals on the farm, especially when the farm is creating our food!
3. Harmonious relationships:
-roots (plant) & worms (animal): If no roots, no worms & worms bring nutrients to the roots.
-grasses & grazing animals: They eat & nibble & stimulate more growth. One supports the other & vice versa.
-flowers & the honey bee: The higher part of the plant is the land of the insects–amongst them the honey bee.
-a seed & the earth: On the surface a seed won’t sprout. In the earth it sprouts, and out of the seed a root grows, then back to the worms…
4. The plant grows leaf, leaf, leaf… til it exhausts itself, then flower bud, then can’t go anywhere else so busts forth… & then the fragrance… which touches you in a completely different way… and whose there to help?… the honey bees.
5. Very key is a systems approach–a self regulating approach.
6. 4000 native species of bees in the US. 1500 in Califronia. Honey bees are a European native. Hive products include honey, beeswax and propolis (which is antiviral).
7. One out of every three bites of food comes from the work of the honey bee.
8. If stung, do not pull the stinger out. It has venom attached to it & by squeezing & pulling, we put more venom in to ourselves. Scrape it out! The venom of a bee smells like bananas. It’s the same ester. Don’t eat banana’s before hangin’ w/the bees if you don’t want to get stung and they don’t like the smell of horse.
9. A queen honey bee in season will lay an egg a minute, it’s body weight worth in a day, and 200,000 eggs in a season. Lemon balm is a scent of the queen bee. A big hive will have 60-80,000 bees.
10. Strange about honey bees in the hive… no fighting, no disease, they nurse their young, strong sense of order, work together smoothly, working for the wholeness of the hive… In the honey bee, do we have a creature that is more than the sum of all of its parts? You can’t see that wholeness, but you can think it!
So what’s this all about? The power of relationships where relationships are supported, and the system’s vitality thrives as a result. A strong immune system, in ourselves and in nature is encouraged thru biodiversity. A healthy system includes a collection of elements co-existing and thriving together.
A biodiverse vineyard farmed with attention to relationships within that farm is a key to making ConsciousWine. Where natural relationships that exist in nature are encouraged, and animals and bees are included and integrated into the farm supporting a strong, vital immune system for that place and the products from that place. A few of the many Conscious Wineries that have integrated bee hives into their properties are Paul Dolan Wines, Benziger Family Winery, Tres Sabores, and Araujo Estate.
On a hot’s summer’s afternoon, on the bustling streets of downtown Ashland (home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival), I strolled into local dining mecca Chateaulin to meet up with a favorite local wine & foodie, Beverly McKenzie. I asked her if she would do a quick video with me and off we went onto the big screen. In this case it was actually a very little screen, but those little cameras these days are amazing.
If you can’t wait and need more ConsciousWine video, here’s The Pleasure In the Glass. This is our introduction to tasting wine from a winemaker’s point of view without all the technical stuff in the conversation. Cheers!
Three days of running around with 300 passionate, witty, wild and crazy wine bloggers (at the 2010 Wine Blogger’s Conference in Walla Walla, WA) with hardly an exhale …and I was cooked! Honoring a pre-conference enthusiasm that didn’t know the definition of enough, I had signed up for a post-conference excursion. In the moment, thoughts traveled thru my head on how to avoid this encounter, but the cards fell in such a way that my Sunday afternoon/evening were destined to have me included in The Red Mountain AVA Post Wine Blogger Conference Excursion.
I had planned to stay in Walla Walla Sunday night not realizing that we’d be dropped off at 10pm 90 minutes away from the poetically named Walla Walla. The Marcus Whitman Hotel was extremely gracious and I easily escaped my extra night of financial commitment with them, got in my 2006 Silver Honda Fit, turned on the A/C, some good tunes, and followed 2 buses holding the 60+ folks to Terra Blanca Winery.
Many personal highlights that day, including lots of investigative conversations around sustainability issues in Washingon’s grape growing practices, a comparative tasting at Hedges, meeting Jim Holmes (owner of Ciel du Cheval vineyard) in his vineyard, tasting multiple older vintages in the cellar at Terra Blanca, and a Red Mtn AVA Grand Tasting with a dozen plus wineries showing their wares. Taking the cake as the day’s top highlight was dinner on the deck at Terra Blanca, prepared byChef Frank Magana from Picazo 7Seventeen, which I truly loved even though I missed the cake cause I was filming this video. Cheers!
The Wine Blogger’s Conference 2010 was a whirlwind. A delightful, delicious whirlwind of wine, people, laptops, twittering, clicking cameras, great food, networking, and more. I learned a lot, probably even more than I know, and had a ridiculously good time. I’d say the only thing that was missing was time to exhale. I say that as I’m sitting in my motel room in Richland, WA with a door to a small balcony opened wide yielding views of the Yakima River, sounds of boats and me exhaling.
To give you a taste of what it was like to be here, and what I learned, here’s a few things that pop to mind:
1. 300: As in 300 wine bloggers in one place is quite the experience. The uniqueness we each brought combined with the passion that lives in all of us. Holy schmolly!
2. Jackpot Bus: To those in the know, it’s actually #jackpotbus, which is a Twitter hashtag and a way that folks can find each other on Twitter. Saturday morning was outing time. Each of 300 got on a bus not knowing where they were going except that it was to 3 wineries over 5 hours and included a vineyard tour (and wine tasting), a panel at a winery with 3 wineries present (and wine tasting), and a winery visit with lunch (and wine tasting). Our first stop was Figgins Vineyard as in Leonetti. Yes we were visiting, walking around and tasting Leonetti with one of the Washington State wine pioneers Gary Figgins and his son Chris. To say we felt blessed would be an understatement. All this excitement led to feeling lucky and the creating of group talk on Twitter in the form of #jackpotbus. After arrival back at the hotel, it led to a short group walk to a nearby market for purchase of … lottery tickets! We didn’t win, but the feeling lucky part lives on.
3. Chef Jeff: Presentations throughout the weekend covered writing, video, how to blog, wine & food, … Chef Jeffrey Saad presented on wine & food combining and rocked it. Animated, running around, passionately ranting delicious ideas of pairing wine and food kept the room zoomed in. In the name of pairing possibilities, a wine & food tasting of a dozen delightful pairings followed the talk . Jeffrey was the runner-up on last year’s The Next Food Network Star. I like his energy, style, ideas, and of course his first name.
Speed Tasting, being interviewed by Luke from WineCountryBC (posted in the not too distant), and meeting Lynette from probable ConsciousWinery to be Solena were amongst highlights of an action packed weekend.
The 2011 Wine Blogger’s Conference will be in Charlottesville, VA and I’m already looking forward to reconnecting with so many new friends. Cheers!
Friday afternoon at Wine Blogger’s Conference 2010 had a dozen white wines come flying by in the form of speed tasting 101.
Fingers are stretched, positioned over the keyboard, and the wines are coming fast and furious… Here’s the scoop: A winery shows up at table (7 folks at mine… 300 folks total in the room). The winery’s representative has 5 minutes to talk to us, taste us, answer our questions, and then they move to next table… and then we’re introduced to the next winery/winemaker.
Today’s deal is just white wines and we’ll back tomorrow for reds!
Side-note to ConsciousWine fans… These are not ConsciousWines! There’s aspects of ConsciousWine in some of these, but this is practice in tasting, listening, composing and typing. Grammar, never my strong suit, will possibly form new dialects in the paragraphs to follow. I hope you enjoy these ramblings on the 12 wines presented in rapid fire fashion.
’08 aMaurice Columbia Valley Viognier, $25, 314 cases made
Spiced floral nose; crisp and clean, very nice linger and length that asks for food. Ideas: dungeness crab and advocado salad; would stand up well to king salmon.
… a bell rings and the next winery is… Cadaretta Winery from Walla Walla…
’08 Cadaretta SBS (79% Sauvignon Blanc, 21% Semillon) $23, 1000 cases made
All stainless steel fermented. Big fruit, nice and juicy but a little hot (high alcohol) for me though the fruit comes thru in the lingering. The alcohol might make it better enjoyed as a nicely flavorful white with a touch of zing. Best food possibilities with spicy foods which have some weight to them.
’08 Le Chateau Chardonnay, White Bluffs Vineyard, Columbia Valley, $25, 150 cases made
50% new oak then goes thru full malo lactic which gives the wine a toasted buttery quality; 10 months ‘sur lie’ (aged on the lees) which adds a textural richness and nice mouthfeel. Enjoyable complex nose but a touch light on acidity for me. Very easy to drink on its own.
’09 The Crusher Rose (Pinot Noir) from Don Sebastiani, $12, 1400 cases… from just south of Sacramento… no Walla Walla here. Co-fermented with 13% Viognier which adds a nice aromatic. There’s 4% Malbec in here too… adds a touch of boldness. Very nice fun wine that’s easy to drink. Sausages on the grill would pair up nicely here. I’ll have to confess to loving French rose and being spoiled by my love of ConsciousWines… but for the price this is certainly an enjoyable drink!
‘09 Cornerstone Napa Valley Talcott Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc, $25, $700 cases
From Calistoga area in Napa Valley. This is a warm climate Sauvignon Blanc which makes it a touch richer than norm. From a dry farmed vineyard (YEAHHH). Extended lees contact (rounds out the flavor and gives a broader mid palate along with lifting the aromatics). Dry farming might help with the beautiful combo of aromatics and crisp acidity. I’m getting happy! Complexity with acidity. Fyi acidity supports a wine liveliness…. very nice long lingering and a great label!!!
’08 Concannon Chardonnay ‘Conservancy’ Livermore Valley, $15, 6000 cases
Oldest continuously operating winery under the same label! Even made ‘alter winer’ during prohibition. Winery started in 1823. 127 years old in September. Working towards organic and yes… biodynamic certification. They’re almost halfway to being fully solar powered. They do a great job as a winery in providing consistently good value… typing as fast as I can… they’re using american oak (lower footprint since barrels don’t have to get on a boat) which adds a certain style that I can’t say makes my palate sing happy songs, but for the price and as a basic taste. Good for them for the value per dollar.
’09 Neethlingshof Unwooded Chardonnay, South Africa (Stellenbosch), $15, 4000 cases
Pesticide free vineyard from South Africa! Really clean, nice flavors & body. Nice citrus, bright flavors, touch of tropical fruit flavors with a wonderful balancing backbone of acidity. Really nice summer salad wine (the lack of oak makes that work), that would delight with lots of chicken and fish dishes…. on to the next wine…
’09 Molly Dooker Verdlho, Australia, $25, 1300 cases
Molly Dooker means left hander… Flowery and fruit driven nose, nice acidity. Reminds of Rhone Valley whites from France, although the history of this grape type is from Spain. Super fun flavorful lingering. These guys do their label right. Besides how cool it looks, they have a pull off tag to help you remember what you just had.
’08 ‘House Wine’ Magnificient Wine Company(78% Chardonnay, 11% Riesling, 5% Muscat Canelli, 5% Gewurztraminer, 1% Pinot Gris), $13, 50,000 cases
Totally drinkable wine for the masses, and even though there’s 1.3% residual sugar in the wine it doesn’t come off sweet. The grapes are from Columbia Valley and the wine is made in Walla Walla. For a party wine for the price this will make a mixed crowd quite content.
’09 Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc, $12, 11500 cases made
This winery’s 38th vintage of making Chenin Blanc (longest I’ve heard of in the US). The grapes are not from Dry Creek, they are sourced from the Clarksburg area (south of Sacramento). Thai food, Asian food in general, curries will work great with this wine. At 12.5% alcohol it’s a super friendly food wine. Fruit forward, but very nice acidity. This is a picnic wine crowd pleaser.
’08 L’Ecole 41 Semillon, Columbia Valley, $14, 4000 cases made
This comes from a winery I’ve loved for many years from the Walla Walla area. The owners are sweathearts and the same family has owned and run the winery since 1983. Barrel fermented which creates a creamy richness to this wine and the nature of Semillon is very food friendly. Great combo of fruit, flowery and minerally flavors. Will pair well rich seafood dishes, oysters, cornish game hen, … The winery is an old schoolhouse that’s part of a great visit.
and YES YES we finish with a real live ConsciousWine from an on the ConsciousWine List ConsciousWinery!
’08 Parducci Sustainable White, Mendocino County California, 41% Chenin Blanc, 38% Sauvignon Blanc, 12% Viognier, 9% Muscat Canelli, $11
Parducci is committed to sustainability and has won an award for being Carbon Neutral as a Winery! Bright and clean with nice acidity. This wine is on the fruity side with a touch of residual sugar but thanks to good acidity it finishes clean with some crispness. Hot weather picnic special!
