This Week In Wine–11/20/11
November 20, 2011
Georgia Allowed to Start Selling Alcohol on Sundays.
Early poll results had voters in most of the 51 metro Atlanta jurisdictions giving a resounding yes to continuing the slow dissolution of a blue law dating to the late 1800s, one of the last restraints on Sunday consumption.
But at least two cities have said no — Palmetto in south Fulton and Clayton County’s Forest Park.
"That’s the Lord’s day, in my opinion," said Corine Deyton, a Sunday school teacher whose son is a Baptist music minister. "If you can’t do without alcohol one day a week, there’s something bad wrong with you."
But, for the most part, voters in metro Atlanta sided against Deyton.
“The results of today’s election,” Georgia Food Industry Association lobbyist Kathy Kuzava said, “have shown that the vast majority of voters overwhelmingly support the opportunity to purchase all of their groceries, including beer and wine, seven days per week.”
Click here for the full article.
My Thoughts
About bloody time! I certainly don’t think it’s a sin to buy alcohol on Sunday; it’s what you do after you’ve bought it where the problems start occurring!
In my opinion, more emphasis needs to be placed on responsible drinking, rather than limiting when people can purchase, if people really want to stay in “Gods good graces”.
Study Looks at What Motivates Wine Shoppers
According to a recent study of wine retailers, most consumers are buying wine in the $10-$20 price range. But when given the opportunity to try before they buy, consumers will spend more.
Napa Technology, developer of the WineStation Intelligent Preservation and Dispensing System, commissioned a survey of 40 top wine retailers nationwide on wine purchasing trends and best practices for increasing bottle sales.
Respondents, which included grocery stores and wine shops, agreed that today’s consumers are willing to pay more when given the opportunity to sample wine before they buy. More than three-fourth of retailers agree that wine buying customers are savvier than they were four years ago. When it comes to wine, consumers are more adventuresome; 84% of retailers say consumers are demanding a wider variety of wines than they have in the past.
Consumers are paying less for a bottle of wine than they were four years ago, agreed 58% of the retailers. Try-before-you-buy sales tactics can increase sales and the amount spent per bottle. Loyalty programs, daily wine tastings and events designed to engage the consumer in sampling higher-priced wines are some of the successful marketing techniques.
Click here for the full article.
My Thoughts
This survey is fine all well and good, but what I don’t think it takes into account is that most people simply just don’t have the time to taste wine before they purchase.
I have no doubt that you may be able to break someone’s purchasing habits after the “wine pourer” has given a full background on the story behind the wine; but as a long term sales strategy, most novice drinkers and impulse buyers (the majority wine-market share) are going to buy based on either previous purchase history, price, or label.
It goes without saying that people will have more confidence in a wine after they’ve tasted it! I could have told you that for free!
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My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #5
November 20, 2011
#5 History.
In wine you’re actually drinking history!
Ok, maybe not with the bottle of Yellow Tail that you just purchased from the grocery store! But as a general rule, red wine needs at least a little time resting in a barrel, and then time in a bottle before it can be released. Very few drinks can boast the beneficial results that are achieved of a well cellared wine. Wines such as Port, Barolo, Amarone, and select Californian reds (to name but a few) can be cellared for 10+ years without even batting an eyelid, and often without making a huge monetary investment.
I’ve just finished a wine review on a bottle of Alvear 1927 Sherry, with a good proportion of the juice used in the bottle dating back to 1927. 1927! You’re drinking juice from 1927!!! Doesn’t that blow your mind!?!?
Let’s also not forget that wine is one of the most historical beverages known to man, with the history of winemaking estimated to date back to between 5,000-6,000BC!
My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #6
November 19, 2011
#6 Collecting
You don’t have to be a millionaire to collect wine, and you don’t even need to have a huge amount of space available in your home. I’m what you call a “wine geek” (not to be confused with a wine snob) and even I don’t have a formal wine cellar! I simply possess a small closet located in the coolest part of my house. I’ve taken the doors off, and bought a stainless steel 60 bottle wine rack (on sale from a store that was closing down) et voila! Wine cellar! You just need somewhere that is out of direct sunlight, away from any amount of vibration, and located in the coolest part of your house.
More than 95% of wine sold each day is consumed with 48 hours of purchase, so don’t feel bad if you don’t already have a vast collection. I, however, truly believe that everyone needs a least a few bottles of “something” tucked away for that “special occasion”. If you manage to stumble across a wine that would be considered age-worthy; a fun experiment to play is to buy a few bottles, and drink them over the course of a few years, taking notes along the way. You don’t have to be a millionaire to do it, and it’s a great way to experience what even just a little bottle age can do to a wine. Plus, you can now brag to your friends that you’re a “wine collector”!
My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #7
November 18, 2011
#7 It Makes Food Taste Better
I propose that wine is the ultimate “condiment” to further enhance the flavor of any meal. A spicy-rich Syrah finds a perfect home when paired with Lamb Chops. A Stilton with a decent Port can be compared to chocolate-covered popcorn (the saltiness of the Stilton matches perfectly with the sweet-flavor of the Port). In fact, the number of flavor enhancing wine pairing are endless!
The old school rules state that red wine is to be paired with with red meat, white wine with fish. However, rules are meant to be broken! People sometimes mistakenly believe that they will ruin an entire meal if they make the wrong wine choice. In actuality it’s extremely difficult to ruin a meal through selecting a wine that isn’t a perfect match. Just always follow your own tastes, and don’t be afraid to experiment!
High Note Malbec, Uco Valley, Mendoza, Argentina.
November 18, 2011
Grape
100% Malbec
Facts
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The name of “Malbec” supposedly comes from the surname of a Hungarian peasant who is attributed with being the first person to spread the variety throughout all of France.
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If you were to ever check-out the big nerdy wine book that is The Oxford Companion to Wine, you’ll find that there are over 400 different names for the Malbec grape! This proving that the grapes’ popularity isn’t just a recent phenomena! In Bordeaux, it’s also known by Côt or Pressac, in the French Alsace and Cahors regions it’s called Auxerrois, Argentina sometimes gives it the name of Fer, and Portugal refers to it as Tinta Amarela.
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Malbec was originally a very common grape in the Bordeaux wine region of France, where it is one of the “big five” grape varieties. These “five” being the main red grapes that make up Bordeaux blends, namely; Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
Over time, the French started to get a little tired of the troublesome Malbec grape, which has a tendency for bunch rot and mildew. To make things worse, the phylloxera epidemic of the 1860s wiped out the majority of vineyards in France, with Malbec being one of the hardest hit.
The final straw came in 1956, when a frost throughout the country wiped out more than 80% of Malbec plantings. The French cried “sacre bleu!” in unison (I’m guessing), and most growers didn’t replant Malbec in their vineyards, preferring the other four more popular Bordeaux red grape varieties. Malbec is still found in small quantities in Bordeaux, where it’s used to add color and tannin to their blends.
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The High Note is probably one of the more “available” that I’ve ever reviewed, with it being available from most grocery stores. It’s worth noting that recent vintages of the High Note Malbec have received close to 90 points from the Wine Speculator.
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Vista del Sur is a new state-of-the-art winery in the Uco Valley, high in the Andes foothills of Argentina’s famed Mendoza wine-making region. Wineries throughout the world generally use the same equipment for each wine that they produce. However, Vista del Sur designed their winery around only producing Malbec.
My Top 10 Reasons to Love Wine (If You Don’t Already) – #8
November 17, 2011
#8 Wine is about as culturally rich and diverse as a “product” can get
Wines tend to have very strong ties to the regions from which they hail. Arguably in Europe more than anywhere else, winemakers are greatly influenced by the local culture and cuisine, and tend to put special emphasis on the ability for their wines to pair with local foods. For these reasons, alongside terroir, wines tend to mirror very strongly where they come from; and once you’ve tasted just a few wines from the same region, you’ll start to recognize it in the wine.
In the same vein, it can also be stated that every bottle of wine has a story to tell, no matter where it originates from! Wine therefore represents a vast amount of International styles, and is about rich and diverse as any agricultural product can get.
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