Uploaded to flickr by Croft Port Wine Cellars.

In the Wall Street Journal Europe, a wonderful essay on Tokaji — and the remarkable progress that’s been made there since the fall of communism.

The Port industry has “withstood foreign and domestic wars, economic depressions and a 19th-century plant blight that wiped out many of the continent’s vineyards.” And according to the Associated Press, the “21st century is no less challenging.” The past decade has seen a “slow but steady decline” in worldwide Port sales.

In Slate, Mike Steinberger wonders if Americans can save German Riesling. On Steinberger’s blog, David Schildknecht dissects the piece.

In Food & Wine, Robert Parker “makes 12 bold predictions about seismic changes that will influence how we’ll shop, what we’ll buy and how much we’ll pay.” I think all his predictions are spot-on.

Elsewhere, in Meininger’s Wine Business International, Parker sits down for an interview – and as @ItalianWineGuy observed, appears “tired, bored and angry.” (H/T: The Wine Curmudgeon.)

In the Wall Street Journal, Lettie Teague pens a “simplified guide” to Bordeaux – and recommends “some surprisingly affordable offerings.” On her blog, Lettie digs deeper into why some sommeliers shy away from Bordeaux – and highlights wine importer Daniel Johnnes’ efforts to change that.

Each week, as regular readers know, Terroirist poses 16 questions to a winemaker. This week, we’re featuring Chris Carpenter, the winemaker at Cardinale, the acclaimed Napa Valley estate that creates a single Cabernet Sauvignon-based wine from each vintage. Carpenter is also the chief winemaker at Lokoya Winery and La Jota Vineyards

A Chicago native, Chris ended up in Napa Valley because he saw wine as a way to combine his “love of the sciences, restaurants, food and wine” and tap into his creative side.

His first position in the world of wine was at Domaine Carneros, where he worked as a harvest enologist. He went on to work as a vineyard intern at Domaine Chandon and a research intern at Tenuta Antinori, Santa Cristina Estate in Montefiridolfi, Italy. In 1998, he received his MS in Horticulture from the viticulture and enology department at UC Davis, and quickly joined the team at Cardinale as its enologist. In 1999, he was promoted to assistant winemaker, and in 2001 was named winemaker.

In addition to his work at some of Napa’s top wineries, Chris bartends about once each week at the Rutherford Grill and is the board chair at Slow Food USA, an organization that seeks to link “the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.”

Check out our interview with Chris below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff Siegel has seen the future of wine, and it's name is not Bruce Springsteen.

“Head spinning, still wet and sticky from the winery, but feeling incredibly alive. I’m exhausted, but there’s no way I could even lie down let alone sleep…” Hardy Wallace finishes the first harvest for Dirty and Rowdy Wine.

“The misguided belief that the CARE Act promotes constitutional principles explains why it has gained some momentum. But lawmakers should not be fooled by the language in the bill. The wholesaler campaign for the CARE Act is an investment for which they expect a big return.” In the Washington Times, an excellent op-ed from Angela Logomasini on the need to stop HR 1161.

In response to the news that Sea Smoke has decided to put “California Grand Cru” on its labels for its 2009 vintage, Mike Steinberger wonders if “California should have an official pecking order.” His answer? “No way.” I agree with Mike.

Ever wonder how wine writing differs from food writing? W. Blake Gray has the details.

Jeff Siegel “has seen the future” of wine, and he’s very optimistic. He envisions a world without wine snobbery, where those who love wine convince others to appreciate it by demystifying it.

Jon Bonné expands on his recent column where he looked at California’s 2011 harvest, and wonders if wine styles can adapt when “vintages diverge from the theme of bountiful sun and warmth that California has long promoted.”

“It is the must-visit event of the year for serious collectors of top Burgundy: a three-day bacchanalia where attendees vie to see who can provide the rarest, most exquisite bottles from their favorite region.” In The World of Fine Wine, Alice Feiring goes behind the scenes at La Paulée de New York 2011.

Alder Yarrow’s column debuts on Jancis Robinson’s Purple Pages.

Yesterday, we reported that W. Blake Gray is excited about California’s cold, wet growing season — as he’s hopeful the cold, wet vintage will result in lower alcohol wines. Adam Lee, owner/winemaker of Siduri and Novy, was “pissed off” by Blake’s post, as it missed the “humanity” of a winemaking. So he wrote a strong rebuttal. Check it out!

Meanwhile, 2011 might be the “most challenging vintage ever” in the Finger Lakes.

Ever wonder how a wine is certified as biodynamic? On the blog for First Vine Wine Imports & Sales, Tom Natan lays out the details.

In the Chronicle of Higher Education, a wonderful article on David Benzing, a retired professor of biology at Oberlin College who decided to launch a winery in northern Ohio. “‘I never got into this business thinking I was going to make any money — I wanted something that was going to keep me alive,’ he says. Besides, he adds, the venture would keep him out of his wife’s hair during retirement.”

Just getting into wine? Matt Kramer thinks you should go for wines with an “edge.” I agree.

On Palate Press, Lisa Strid explores the Sonoita AVA in southern Arizona.

Uncorked DC! Click the photo for details.

In 2003, eight friends got together to taste wine and share a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The event started growing, and just a few years later, 23 people were packed into an apartment for a sit down Thanksgiving feast and 7-flight wine tasting.

The original dinner guests then realized they could turn the event into something bigger – so in 2007, they launched Uncorked, an annual event that would raise money for So Others Might Eat (SOME), a Washington-DC based organization that helps the poor and homeless.

The fifth annual Uncorked DC is just one month away. The event – which includes a silent auction and a Thanksgiving dinner served with six different wines — will be MC’ed by Washington Post wine writer Dave McIntyre

And I’m serving on the host committee – so please come! Discounted tickets are available until THIS FRIDAY, October 21. After you buy your tickets, be sure to also RSVP on Facebook.

If you can’t make it to the event but still want to help out, let me know! We’d be happy to take your money, of course, but we’re also looking for silent auction items. Whether it’s tickets to sporting events, gift certificates, or rare bottles of wine, we’ll take them! Uncorked DC is also looking for sponsors.

I hope to see you on November 17!

Two weeks ago, thanks to our friends at Second Glass, we launched a contest on Terroirist. The prizes? Two pairs of tickets to Wine Riot DC!

Last night, we selected a winner at random.

Tickets for Saturday’s daytime event were won by Amanda Bogden, and tickets for the evening event went to Eugenia Izmaylova.

Huge Congratulations to Amanda and Eugenia! To everyone who didn’t win, thanks enormously for entering. If you were really itching for the tickets, it’s not too late to buy them!

Some exciting news in the blogosphere: Alder Yarrow, founder and editor of Vinography, will be authoring a monthly column called “Alder on America” for Jancis Robinson’s Purple pages.

“This really sucks,” said Fetzer winemaker Dennis Martin. “I’ve been in the business for 36 years and this is one of the worst vintages I’ve ever seen.” In Wine Spectator, Tim Fish and Augustus Weed report on the 2011 harvest in California. W. Blake Gray is thrilled – as he’s hopeful the cold, wet vintage will result in lower alcohol wines.

Zephyr Adventures announces the details of the 2012 Wine Bloggers’ Conference. Looks like it’ll be quite an event!

On VinTank’s blog, Paul Mabray looks at The Slow and Sad Death of Mobile Wine Apps.

OpenTable announces its 2011 Diners’ Choice top 50 best wine lists in the country.

Yesterday, an English-language version of Drops of God, the Japanese graphic novel “that transformed millions of casual wine drinkers throughout Asia into Bordeaux- and Burgundy-obsessed oenophiles” debuted in the United States.

In Spain, the Penedes region – where 95 percent of Spanish Cava production takes place – is preparing for a major overhaul of its appellation system.

“Greece today has become a hotbed for interesting, previously-unknown wines made from grape varieties that are mainly indigenous to Greece.” Fortunately, Ed McCarthy can tell us all about them.

The vineyards of Tabali winery in Chile.

Wine students are taught that the red wines of Bordeaux can rely on five grape varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. The truth, however, is that six grapes are allowed. It’s just that one grape — Carménère – virtually disappeared from France in the mid-19^th century.

The grape was “rediscovered” just 15 years ago, and in the past few years, it’s become Chile’s signature grape. And it could be on the verge of taking off.

When the Phylloxera plague hit Europe in 1867, most vineyards were destroyed – and Carménère was hit so hard that it was presumed extinct. French growers literally couldn’t find any, so focused on replanting the other five grapes.

Before Phylloxera, though, winegrowers in Chile brought cuttings of Carménère over from Bordeaux, and confused the grapes with Merlot. The Carménère in Chile remained healthy – free from the diseases that plagued it in Bordeaux. And for nearly 150 years, the grape was harvested and processed with Merlot – giving Chilean red wines markedly different flavor profiles.

In 1994, a French oenologist, Jean-Michel Boursiquot, came to look at Chile’s odd Merlot grapes – and concluded that they were, in fact, Carménère. In 1998, his discovery was officially recognized by the Chilean Department of Agriculture.

Within a few years, the industry started making a concerted effort to promote its “signature grape.” As Hernan Gras, owner of Vina MontGras in the Colchagua Valley, told the Los Angeles Times back in 2006, “We make extremely good Cabs in Chile, but so does California and Australia and there are always the French. Carménère is a symbol for the country, like Malbec is for Argentina and Zinfandel is for the United States.”

This effort makes sense. Read the rest of this entry »

Tyler Colman (aka Dr. Vino) reports that Sea Smoke — located in the western end of Santa Barbara’s Santa Rita Hills — has decided to put “California Grand Cru” on its labels for its 2009 vintage. The move is perfectly legal, but it’s “the most audacious packaging move” Tom Wark has “ever seen” by a California winery. And he thinks the decision was a mistake. What do you think?

Pia Mara Finkell thinks that drinking local should be part of the “eating local” craze. I agree! But too rarely practice what I preach.

Too many consumers still think of Australia’s wines as an “over-processed, over-marketed and over-discounted, thoroughly industrial product.” But according to Jancis Robinson, Australia is now “teeming with small-scale, well-travelled vignerons who are much more likely to take a Burgundian domaine as their model than to follow blindly the high-tech strictures of an Australian oenology degree.”

In Argentina, according to Andrew Jefford, “The red wines are better than ever.” In his latest Decanter column, Jefford argues that Argentina is home to “one of the greatest red-wine terroirs in the southern hemisphere.” The white wines, though, are still struggling.

In California, 2011 wasn’t the year of “endless sun and ripe bounty.” As Jon Bonné explains, “grapes were delayed first by frost, then by rain and cool weather throughout the spring.”

For the past two years, Copenhagen’s Noma has been named the world’s best restaurant in San Pellegrino’s Best Restaurant in the World competition. And the wine list, shockingly, doesn’t include a single bottle of Bordeaux. On the Wall Street Journal’s wine blog, Jay McInerney investigates.

“There’s something undeniably electric about a room full of people who are all deeply passionate about great wine — it’s an experience that’s impossible to duplicate on the Internet.” That’s why, this Friday, Lettie Teague will attend a Zachys auction at Gotham Bar and Grill.

A reminder: Terroirist is giving away two pairs of tickets to Wine Riot DC on October 22. Today is the LAST DAY to enter the contest!

The three-day wine event costs $2,900 to attend.

Speakers include Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, James Suckling, Angelo Gaja, Jaime Araujo, Michel Rolland, and plenty others. Francis Ford Coppola is the “guest of honor.” And there will be three Grand Tastings, where “some of the world’s finest wines” will be poured.

Pancho Campo, host and organizer of the event, will lead the first tasting, entitled “The Diversity and Passion of Spanish Wines.” The second, called “Beyond Bordeaux,” will be led by Jancis Robinson, where she’ll showcase 15 wines from 15 different countries. The final tasting – called “The Magical 20” – will be headed up by Robert Parker, where he’ll highlight 20 different Bordeaux wines from the 2009 vintage.

An event for the fabulously wealthy in Napa Valley? Nope. A big wine to-do for Europe’s upper crust? Think again. A first-of-its-kind event in Bordeaux, aimed at collectors across the globe? Wrong again.

This is the lineup for Wine Future Hong Kong, because the future of wine in Asia, it seems, has nothing to do with Asians, Asian wine, or those without stratospheric wealth. Read the rest of this entry »