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Daily Wine News: New Master Somms!

Flickr, martinvarsavsky.

The Court of Master Sommeliers has welcomed four new masters to its ranks! Huge congratulations to Christopher Bates (Hotel Fauchere, Milford, PA), Carlton McCoy (The Little Nell, Aspen, CO), Emily Pickral-Papach (Chappellet Winery, Napa, CA) and Christopher Tanghe (RN74, Seattle, WA). 

“Not so long ago, a sure-fire way of generating a heated argument between winemakers in Champagne (as in Chablis) was to talk about the virtues and pitfalls of making their best, purest wine in oak.” How things have changed. In The Drinks Business, Michael Edwards writes a fantastic piece about the use of oak in Champagne. 

“Accept your role, like Hemingway (without the looniness, hopefully). There are an almost infinite number of wine writers who wish they were in that position.” Jeff Siegel writes a letter to Robert Parker.   

“The social media definitions are a clarification that some in the industry think is overdue, but this does not mean it’s without its problems.” Sonoma News reports on the TTB’s new social media guidelines 

“Bambino Party is natural juice — apple, peach or raspberry — made sparkling… and sold in essentially the same packaging as Hubert’s regular lineup. ...

Raspberry Mousse

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May is the month for pink! Even the air smells like pink and the flowers are in bloom  with vibrant colors. In California the whole year feels like an endless summer, yet in the month of May the market is full of fresh juicy berries that are just waiting to be taken home. A few days ago at the Farmer's Market we found fresh organic raspberries and immediately thought to make this Raspberry Mousse recipe that grandma used to make in spring and summer. 

Daily Wine News: Honoring Bloggers

From Wikimedia.

Jon Bonne is Joe Roberts is Robert Parker is Jim Laube.” Tom Wark wonders, “seven years into the Wine Blog Awards, if there is any value or good reason in honoring ‘wine bloggers’ with these awards.”

“When they were three minutes out of my tummy they had some JCB rosé‎. Jean-Charles insisted. I didn’t get an epidural, so I almost said, ‘Give me that bottle!’” On Wine-Searcher, Tyler Colman chats with Gina Gallo. 

“Some of the most exciting wines being made in Oregon today are Chardonnays. These are not your grandma’s butter bombs; they’re taut, lean wines with terrific mouthfeel.” On Palate Press, W. Blake Gray goes searching for Oregon Chardonnay. It’s rarer than you’d expect. 

“Memorial Day is not the time to overanalyze your wine. Save that for a first-growth tasting or the next natural wine seminar. Summer is finally here, so just relax and enjoy.” On WineSpectator.com, Tim Fish offers some thoughts on Memorial Day wines. 

In Wine-Searcher, Claire Adamson profiles “an enterprising French copmany [that] has set out to supply [the] ever-growing demand for wine crates.” 

“People here drink like crazy. A ...

Toilet Frogs And Whale Tails (Alto De La Ballena Recent Releases)

One could go their entire blogging life and never be fortunate enough to use the phrase “toilet frog.” And yet… here I am, able to use the term from personal experience.

I need a moment to revel in this, people. Please, indulge me a moment, for I have met them, in person.

T-o-i-l-e-t   f-r-o-g-s…. As in, frogs that live in a toilet. Yes, seriously, and for realz, as the youngins say these days.

The toilet frogs moment comes courtesy of Alto de la Ballena (literally, “height of the whale [hills]”), a relatively small producer (about 55k bottles) with a relatively small vineyard area (about 20 hectares) in a relatively small country (Uruguay) who are making relatively excellent wines that are not yet available in the U.S. (though they are working on it; it’s a situation I sincerely hope changes after this, and not just because they showed me their toilet frogs).

The story begins in the Sierra de la Ballena, a stretch of hills that begin at a whale-watching peninsula near the seaside resort town of Punta de Este, a spot where the seafaring mammals stop during their August/September migration to Patagonia. Taking their name from the ...

More Santa Barbara Deliciousness: Longoria and Rusack

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Bordeaux varieties planted at Rusack’s Ballard Canyon vineyard

Two more Santa Barbara County producers I visited last month whose wines greatly impressed me possess winemakers who are highly respected by their peers. Both winemakers–Longoria’s Richard Longoria and Rusack’s Steven Gerbac–are modest, low key, high achievers who constantly experiment, searching for ways to improve their already excellent wines.

As it happens, Longoria and Gerbac’s careers intersected long ago: Gerbac’s eighth grade science project involved studying malolactic fermentation with Longoria.

Richard Longoria has been making wine for nearly 40 years. He’s a self-described product of the Sixties counterculture, who graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1973. He feels this led him early on to a “non-establishment” kind of career, winemaking.

Longoria is gentle and soft spoken, and seems to have a boundless interest in new techniques and experiments going on in the winemaking world: from ocean-submersion wine aging experiments to the Italian Ganimede fermenter, which utilizes the CO2 gas that builds up during fermentation to gently percolate the grape must. Longoria now employs a Ganimede for a portion of his Pinot Noir and Tempranillo.

Longoria, known as Rick in Santa Barbara’s winemaking community, found his first job in wine at Sonoma’s ...

Stone Tower Plans for Continued Success

This past weekend was quite gloomy with dense fog and constant rain and drizzle; however, that did not dampen our enthusiasm to visit Stone Tower Winery to catch up on the latest developments. We attended the groundbreaking ceremony at Stone Tower last year, so we were eager to discover the latest happenings there. We met with Bryan Toy, the General manager at Stone Tower Winery, this past Sunday; we were treated to a tour of the winery and vineyards and then a tasting of current releases.
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Bryan’s warm welcome made us feel right at home at Stone Tower Winery, and he conducted a tour of the vineyard as well as the winery’s new construction site via golf cart. (I had never been on a golf cart, so I was excited!) Owners Michael and Kristi Huber own over 200 acres of property on the Stone Tower Winery site, and over 20 acres are currently planted as vineyards. Chardonnay and Viognier make up at least six acres of the vineyard with plans to expand white varietals to include Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. Red grape plantings include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot. Vineyard practices favor tight spacing to manage ...

BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon

Our last post was about an outstanding cabernet sauvignon, so let’s check out another.

This one, from BenMarco, comes from the Mendoza region in Argentina.

Every time I taste a wine from Argentina I ponder whether to call it “Argentine” or “Argentinian.”  It turns out both are acceptable.  Argentinian tends to be used more by Europeans, which of course makes it fancier.  And while I appreciate European culture, I’m all about concision. Argentine has two fewer syllables and therefore it gets my vote.  I’ve also heard somewhere that the correct usage would be Argentine wine, made by Argentinians.

But we’re not here to debate nuances of language, we’re here to taste wine.  And this is a really good one.

BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon

The nose of this wine is just lovely, with powerful vanilla, dusty blackberry and black currant aromatics.  It’s quite good on the palate too, offering well-concentrated blackberry, cherry, plum and currant flavors that are harmoniously balanced.  The acidity is great too, giving the wine a vibrant liveliness.  Soft tannins add a slight texture to the mouthfeel.  This is a very tasty and extremely drinkable cabernet.

Wine: BenMarco Cabernet Sauvignon
Variety: 90% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc, 5% merlot
Vintage: 2010
Alcohol: 14%
...

Wines of British Columbia to Host Live Wine Blogging

When the decision was made to hold the 2013 Wine Bloggers Conference in Canada, a unique opportunity presented itself, and that was to feature only wines of British Columbia during the Live Wine Blogging sessions of the conference. Thanks to a lot of coordination and support from the Wines of British Columbia, this opportunity is becoming a reality, and attendees of the conference will have a chance to taste a selection from 30 different B.C. wines during each Live Wine Blogging session!

There are 5 main wine growing regions within British Columbia: Okanagan Valley, Similkameen Valley, Fraser Valley, Vancouver Island, and the Gulf Islands. Over 60 varietals are planted on more than 9,800 acres of land across the Province, and of the 214 total grape wine wineries licensed in British Columbia, 132 of them are members of the BCWI representing 95% of wines sold.

The Wines of British Columbia website is a fantastic resources for anyone looking to learn about the regions, the varietals, planning a trip to the area, and exploring what B.C. wines are all about. The site is beautiful and expertly put together and organized. Here are some quick facts from the website based ...

Daily Wine News: Juice Box Wine

If Dave McIntyre’s dog were a French winemaker, “he’d be at home in the Languedoc.” The reason? The region offers “adventurous wines for adventurous palates.” 

“We must learn to transmit the message that drinking wine or beer with dinner, or a cocktail before, is a part of a healthy, adult lifestyle.” W. Blake Gray comments on the proposal to lower the legal drinking limit. 

“Is juice box wine possible — wine pretty much stripped of variety and place of origin?” With Gallo’s Barefoot Impression, we’ll soon see how the market reacts. Mike Veseth, the wine economist, has the details. 

In the Wall Street Journal Asia, an inside look at ASC Fine Wines, “a five-story mansion in Shanghai’s leafy former French Concession area dedicated to wine connoisseurship.” 

The Institute of Masters of Wine has announced three new Masters of Wine. in the US and Australia, including only the fourth-ever double Master. 

On WineSpectator.com, Ben O’Donnell looks at all the millenial winemakers in Bordeaux and wonderfs “where will the next generation” will take the famous region. 

“The grape does indeed appear to thrive in Paso Robles.” The ...

Vote In The 2013 Wine Blog Awards

The time has come once again for you to give your digitus secundus (that’s your index finger, by the way… you creep!…) a momentary workout by using it to click on your favorite finalists in the Wine Blog Awards voting, this being the 2013 version thereof.

I’ve got a long (in Internet time) history with the WBAs: I’ve been a winner, a criticizer, a judge, and an improvement-committee-member (yeah, I know, that last one does not quite roll mellifluously off the tongue, does it?). This year, I’m a finalist in the Best Overall Wine Blog category (thanks to the judges, and most especially to you for that!).

Please consider voting, as the recognition of hard work and efforts well-spent probably means a great deal to those who are among the finalists. Also, it’s the easiest way to fill your good karma quotient fit the day. And if you don’t vote, then the fleas of one thousand camels might infest your armpits [ editor's note: this may not actually be true ].

You’re under no obligation to vote for me, of course, unless you want Ron Washam to lose a bet in which he ...