Maryland Del. Dereck Davis, who spearheaded the weakened, anti-consumer bill. Since 2006, he has received more than $17,000 in campaign contributions from Maryland wholesalers and retailers.

On the ShipCompliantBlog, a great summary of the Wholesaler Protection Act, also known as HR 1161. If you haven’t visited the facebook page to Stop HR 1161, please do so – and “like” it.

In Maryland, as expected, a weakened direct shipping bill moves forward. It looks like consumers will be able to make purchases from out-of-state wineries, but not from out-of-state retailers, auction houses, wine clubs, specialty stores, etc. If you’re wondering who to blame, see the accompanying photo.

“I don’t see prices going anywhere significantly except up.” So says John Kapon, head of auctions for world famous wine retailer Acker Merrall & Conduit. He could be right. But keep in mind that even in the summer of 2005, many thought housing prices would continue rising.

Last week, Dr. Vino reported that the U.S. had become the “biggest wine consuming country in the world!” He put it all in context by urging us to work on our “per capita consumption rate, where we’re currently below the likes of Ireland and Equatorial Guinea.” Alder Yarrow puts it all in context again with some detailed stats on per-capita consumption. “We Americans drink only 9.6 liters of wine a year per-capita. That’s less than Macedonia, and only a bit more than the United Arab Emirates, where alcohol is pretty much illegal.”

In the Washington Post, Jason Wilson ponders “the lack of awareness beyond the bubble” with Sherry, “one of the world’s most versatile, best-value wines.”

Blake Gray recently participated in a seminar at the Natural Products Expo West, where he talked about organic wine. His thoughts on the topic are worth reading.

Attention DC readers: On April 5, more than 40 Sonoma County wineries are coming to DC, where they’re holding a day of tastings and seminars at Hotel Palomar. Participants include Freeman, Hanzell, Inman, La Follette, and a host of others – and proceeds will benefit hunger organization Share Our Strength.

Courtesy of James Beard Foundation.

The  James  Beard  Foundation announces the final nominees  for  its  2011 Awards. In the broadcast and journalism categories, GrapeRadio, Jon Bonné, Lettie Teague, Terry Theise, Jordan Mackay, and Rajat Par are nominated.

In his latest column, Eric Asimov chimes in on the “Great Pinot Noir Kerfuffle” that Adam Lee instigated at this year’s World of Pinot Noir.

In Bloomberg, Elin McCoy writes about “the small band of passionate Pinot makers championing pure fruit elegance and silky-textured finesse over gross oak and ghastly levels of alcohol.”

In Palate Press, Evan Dawson writes a great piece on the frequent accusations that some Pinot Noir producers are cutting their wines with Syrah. It generates some interesting conversation on the WineBerserkers message board.

Could big, dry reds be a fad? I don’t think so, but in Wines & Vines, Tim Patterson ponders that question with a though-provoking essay.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, Jon Bonné offers up the ABCs of spring drinking, covering every letter of the alphabet.

Humanitas owner, Judd Wallenbrock, explaining the terroir of Michel-Schlumberger vineyards, where he sources grapes for Humanitas.

In the wine industry, there are a myriad of business decisions to be made. The three major ones are which types of grapes to plant, what style of wine to make, and then how to get it to the consumer. While the viticultural and oenological decisions may vary drastically from winery to winery, the last phase of the operation is pretty standard: Sell it and make a profit.

There are certainly a variety of ways to achieve the goal, depending on the scale of production and philosophy of the winery. Some smaller wineries offer exclusivity and only sell directly to consumers. Other, larger operations focus on branding their label through widespread distribution to restaurants and retail shops. Many wineries will use a mixture of both avenues. But no matter the method, once the wine is sold, the revenue goes to continuing the operation of the business and the profits are, well, profited.

At least that’s usually the case. Humanitas Wine Company is taking a different approach to the profits it makes: giving them away. Before you high tail it to Sonoma County (where founder and proprietor Judd Wallenbrock is President and General Manager of Michel-Schlumberger) for a handout, you should realize that Humanitas is quite particular about whom they choose to give seven percent of their revenues to. Latin for philanthropy, human nature, character and kindness, Humanitas has decided to make a positive social impact on the local community by making wine. Read the rest of this entry »

Greetings from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, judged for the fifth consecutive year by The Economist to be the world’s most livable city. What makes Vancouver so great? Lots of things might, but for the purposes of this blog I’ll argue its vicinity to one of Canada’s two winemaking regions.

The up-and-coming Okanagan region is a mere few hours’ drive from the city (just north of Washington State and the Canada/US border), where 190 wineries are producing fair-to-very-good-quality wines from mostly classic varieties. The region lacks a signature regional wine, but BC icewine is recognized as world class, and some Chardonnays have won international attention.

So, it’s a vibrant and thriving wine community…or is it? Not so much, according to a buzz-killing new research study conducted through Simon Fraser University and Genome Canada. Political scientist Andy Hira, Ph.D., conducted policy-motivated research on the Okanagan wine industry, and his report emerged with a laundry list of critical industry troubles. Read the rest of this entry »

Uploaded to flickr by Rev Dan Catt.

Wine Spectator covers the introduction of HR1161. Elsewhere, Alder Yarrow urges every wine lover to call his or her representative about HR 1161 and Dr. Vino raises the threat level. Tom Wark should be everyone’s go-to blog for this issue.

On his blog, Mike Steinberger reveals that empty bottles of 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild are fetching as much as $1500 in China. He concedes that “bubble-spotting can be tricky,” but believes that “China’s Lafite fetish sure looks irrational.” Agreed.

A great piece from Lettie Teague on Andy Beckstoffer, the “most powerful grower in Napa.”

Last year, billionaire wine collecter William Koch files a lawsuit against Christie’s, arguing that the auction house “induced” him into purchasing counterfeit wine. On Friday, a federal court dismissed the suit.

On his blog, Jon Bonné explains why alcohol labeling is a complex issue — and why he hasn’t made up his mind yet on disclosure.

Each week, as regular readers know, Terroirist poses 16 questions to a winemaker. This week’s featured winemaker is James MacPhail, proprietor of MacPhail Family Wines and the winemaker at Sequana Vineyards.

Like so many others in wine country, it wasn’t always clear that James would dedicate his life to making wine. After graduating from the University of Redlands in the 1980s, he decided to pursue a career in business and hospitality – so went off to UNLV where he earned dual BS degrees, in both business and hotel administration.

Shortly thereafter, though, James decided that the hospitality industry wasn’t where he wanted to spend his life – so he quit his well-paying job to pursue his passion for wine. He moved to Healdsburg, and learned to craft Pinot Noir from all-star winemakers Merry Edwards and Gary Farrell.

In 2002, James launched his own label — MacPhail Family Wines – and in 2007, he accepted the vineyard management and winemaking responsibilities at Sequana Vineyards. With both labels, James is making some stunning wines. Check out our interview below the fold…  Read the rest of this entry »

Sickening – the Wholesaler Protection Act returns. Tom Wark has more. Please write your legislators, contact the media, talk to your friends, and join the facebook page for Stop HR1161.

Steve Heimoff wonders if it’s time to sub-appellate the Russian River Valley.

Support the people of Japan. Buy some Sake. W. Blake Gray, who lived in Japan for a while, calls on all wine lovers to have sake, instead of wine, on Friday, March 25. Jon Bonné takes it up a notch — urging his readers to “buy a bottle of sake tonight… repeat on the 25th, and of course donate directly to the appropriate charity of your choice.”

Well-known wine educator Kevin Zraly has been awarded the 2011 James Beard Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Virginia Wine Week starts today! What do you plan on opening? (On a related note, please check out last week’s interview with Jim Law of Linden Vineyards if you haven’t seen it yet.)

Radio-Coteau's small winery in Sebastopol.

“For us, less is more,” explained Eric Sussman, the proprietor of Radio-Coteau, as he described his team’s winemaking style at his small winery in Sebastopol. “Letting the process take its course without intervening is challenging. Of course there are decisions to be made in winemaking — but I try to minimize them.”

Eric Sussman is obsessed with minimizing those choices. He describes his style as “non-interventionalist” – and refuses to fine, filter, or even inoculate for either the alcoholic or the secondary fermentation. (In case you’re wondering, I had to look up the definition of inoculate.)

He’s laser focused on handling his grapes carefully, harvesting most of his vineyards at night (see the video below), light pressing the reds with a basket press, and using a bladder press for his Chardonnay.

That less-is-more approach is the reason Eric named his winery Radio-Coteau. Eric first heard the phrase while in Burgundy. And although it’s colloquially used to mean “word of mouth,” the literal translation is “broadcasting from the hillside.” And Eric thought that translation captured a winemaker’s role perfectly — as his job is to “broadcast the vineyard into the bottle.”  Read the rest of this entry »

In the Los Angeles Time, Patrick Comiskey writes a feature article on James Suckling and his new website. He argues that “as Robert M. Parker Jr. edges into retirement, it seems as if James Suckling — the man, the expert, the tastemaker, the brand — is looking to claim the pole position, employing all the brashness and hubris required to get him there.”

Could Rutger de Vink bring Virginia’s bordeaux blends to the next level — and can he get away with charging $90 per bottle? Dave McIntyre thinks so. He writes more on his blog.

In Bloomberg, Ryan Flinn argues that Merlot is finally rebounding from the Miles Raymond debacle. Steve Heimoff disagrees.

Matt Kramer writes a nice piece on what newbies should know about wine.

After receiving 94 points on its 2008 Shiraz, did Schild Estate decide to simply purchase more fruit and bottle more wine under the same label?

Since Lettie Teague is “an American, [she] can (and will) drink any great Chablis that [she] can get — regardless of the vintage year.”

I’m digging Gary Vaynerchuk’s DailyGrape episodes so far — much more digestible than WLTV.

What was that wine again???

The New York Times recently reviewed Joshua Foer’s Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. In the book, the author (along with his “memory coach”) trains his brain to remember everything — from the details of the setting around him to the specific order of a mind-bogglingly long series of numbers. Over the course of a year, Mr. Foer goes from being an average guy with an average memory to a finely-tuned, even competitive, mental athlete.

This book got me thinking. We live in a world that gives us permission – and even encourages us – to forget everything. At our fingertips, we have access to on-demand directions, phone numbers, trivia, recipes, history, and wine facts. Our discipline to remember is…well, being forgotten. Read the rest of this entry »