Why U.S Wineries Still Have Some Work to do in the U.K
August 30, 2011As you some of you may or may not know, I recently spent 10 days back home in good old England. The reason for my visit? Well, it was really more of an obligation than it was a vacation. It’d been a couple of years since I’d been back, and in that time my younger sister had given birth to a bouncing baby girl.
How time flies! We were just playing hide-and-seek last Wednesday…or that’s what it seems like!
Obligations aside, I of course used my time over there as effectively as I know how; and already had a mental list of all the restaurants that I wanted to visit; as well as the unique delicacies that would grace my palate. Culinary delights that you can only find on the small-island of England, (i.e. Fish & Chips, Black Pudding, Pork and Crackling, Bangers & Mash, Yorkshire Pudding, Spotted Dick; the list of delicacies could go on for……well….maybe another few words…).
Truthfully I was never that well-versed in wine when I was living in England. I’d worked in hospitality over there since the age of 15 (I’m 30 now), and somehow managed to navigate the many intricacies of wine, via an age-old method employed in restaurants around the world, commonly referred to as “blinding people with bullsh*t”. It’s not a new technique, and I certainly didn’t invent it!
No matter. Back to the original reason for this post!
It probably comes as no surprise to you that the wine lists in the U.K place a very strong emphasis on European selections. In that respect, it’s nice being able to walk into one of the many large grocery stores, and have multiple-choices of Brunello, Amarone, Port, Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Rioja (which, for some reason they pronounce Ree-or-KA) lay before you .
However; when it comes to U.S. imports, the selections leave a little to be desired. Ok, that’s maybe a slight-understatement. They’re terrible².
Take the wine list in the photo below for example, which I happened to snap at one of the better wine bars that I stumbled upon, in the nearby bustling metropolitan city of Leeds.
For this particular establishment, Blackstone Merlot, it appears, serves to encompass everything that’s great about U.S. wine: all in a single bottle! Not to pick on Blackstone, but that’s kind-of disappointing!
This isn’t an isolated example. I could have taken any number of photos during my time in England at restaurants large and small, which showed many of the same injustices done to the U.S. wine industry.
Now, from a logistics stand-point, it’s obviously way more cost efficient to bring in wines from the plethora of wine-producing countries in Europe. That could certainly serve as one reason why you don’t see many American brands. But hang-on: Australia and New Zealand are one of the largest wine imports into the U.K.! That kills that argument.
Maybe it’s just that the English hate America and everything that it produces; labeling every one of you as obese-gun-totting-war-mongering-maniacs!?!?
But wait! There’s no problem with French and German selections in restaurants / retailers! Plus, even if that was true (which I promise you it isn’t…well not entirely…), the English can’t stand the French; and let’s not even get started on Germany! As a country, I’m not too sure when Brit’s will stop playing the “WWII card”; but I would probably give it at least another 50 years…
So What’s the Reason for Such a Poor Selection of U.S. Wines in the U.K?
Truth be told, I’m not too sure; and this post could have quite easily have been turned into a much lengthier one if I were to examine the plethora of possible reasons. However in my eyes, I can only blame U.S. wineries themselves. I concede that they can probably see a captive audience of over 307-million people in this country an ample size market, that sending their product overseas seems like a “big hassle”.
That just seems like a short-term business plan to me; and as the economy over the last couple of years has shown, it’s probably not wise to put all your wines in one basket!
Hogue Genesis Columbia Valley Riesling 2008
August 29, 2011
Grape
100% Riesling
Facts
Let’s get this out of the way before we start! Riesling, by most standards, is considered a sweet and almost dessert-style wine. Quite often begin shunned by most “serious” wine drinkers, with ridiculous rhetoric like “sugar water” and “soda pop”! But let me tell you a quick story that hopefully might cause you to think about Riesling in a different light!
Many moons ago (2006), after I sat my Certified Sommelier exam, I got chatting with a few of the adjudicating Master Sommeliers over a casual glass of Champagne. Imagine how stunned I was when after I asked “…which styles of wine do you have the greatest quantity of in your personal cellars at home?”. They all unanimously answered “Riesling.”
Who would have thought? Not Bordeaux, or Burgundy, or some secret wine-producing country that only Master Somm’s know about. No. Riesling was their wine of choice!
The Hogue family has been farming their little hearts out in Washington’s Columbia Valley for over 60 years. Riesling were the first vines planted there in 1979.
Posted in Reviews | Tagged Columbia Valley, Hogue Genesis Riesling, Riesling, Washington State | Leave a comment //
Gluten Free Wine Dinner at Bistro Aix.
August 29, 2011
I only found out about this today, otherwise I would have posted it earlier!
Join Bistro Aix on Wednesday, August 31st for their first ever “No Gluten Added” (NGA) Wine Dinner at Bistro AIX!
As the interest and demand for NGA menu items continue to grow, Bistro AIX are very pleased to announce this special dinner, hosted in conjunction with Gluten-Free Jacksonville.
The dinner, held in their private dining rooms, will include:
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Local Grape Tomato & Watermelon Salad, Micro Basil & Parmesan Crisp with Solo Pinot Grigio from Italy.
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Local Grilled Fish (to be determined based on the day’s catch) with Chanterelles, Local Sweet Corn, Pole Beans & Paprika Butter with CHUCKER (Red Blend), Happy Canyon appellation, California.
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Dessert will be a beautiful Banana Pineapple Cake with Vanilla Cream.
Tickets are just $45 (plus tax and gratuity). Dinner begins at 6pm, Wednesday, August 31. Contact Natalia Lupas, Catering Coordinator at 904-398-1949 or aixcater@bistrox.com for details.
Posted in Events | Tagged Gluten Free, Jacksonville | 2 Comments //This Week In Wine – 8/28/11
August 28, 2011
“Garcon, could you please recommend a wine to pair with the worst tragedy this country has ever seen…”
As we approach the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the nice folks at Long Island winery Lieb Family Cellars are issuing a "commemorative" Merlot and Chardonnay released "to benefit the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum”.
The wines have approval from the 9/11 Memorial Foundation, with "6% to 10% of the sales" of each bottle, sold at the inevitable price of $19.11 a pop (if you buy directly from the winery), will go back toward the memorial.
Gary Madden, the winery’s general manager, stated that the wines are "just another tool for the memorial foundation to use as they fundraise," and claimed that they’ve drummed up $8,000 for the foundation in under a month. In 2004, they introduced a cheaper bottle, the $9.11 September Mission merlot. They donate 9.11 cents for every bottle sold to the September Mission, and estimate that they’ve raised $25,000 off that wine already.
Click here to read the full article.
My Thoughts
Tacky. The only slightly redeeming quality is that part of the proceeds are going to the 9/11 Memorial Foundation. But 6-10%!?! Really!?!? I understand you have a winery to operate, but if you want to make a good-will gesture, produce a limited quantity, make sure it’s a decent quality, and jack-up the price!
Napa Vintners Wait … and Wait … for Harvest
Late and light is the prediction for harvest 2011 in the Napa Valley.
The kids are back in school, September is just around the corner, but the harvest has yet to begin.
“Even sparkling wine grapes, the first to be harvested, are still on the vine”, said Hugh Davies, president of Schramsberg Vineyards, one of the valley’s major sparkling wine producers.
“In a typical year, the harvest for sparkling wine varietals is under way by Aug. 14, Davies said. But this year, as last, grape ripening has been slowed by the mild summer weather. They began harvesting sparkling wine grapes Aug. 27 last year,” he said.
Click here to read the full article.
My Thoughts
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; I’m going to punch Al Gore in the face when I see him next!
Posted in News | Tagged Gallo, Moscato, Moscato d'Asti, Napa, Wal Mart, Wine News | Leave a comment //My 10 Days in England: A Photo Journal
August 26, 2011Only because I took so many photos do I think it necessary to post a journal of my recent trip back to the Mother Land. It will however give you a nice little insight into my former-life in England. Photos are in no particular order.
The food hasn’t changed since I was there last!
Haworth and Worth Valley Railway, and not Disney Land as I’m sure you’re thinking! Haworth is about a 30 minute drive from where I live, and because I hadn’t ridden it since I was about 8 years old, in true Harry-Potter-style, I booked us in for a quick trip on the steam train. 
Posted in Funny, News | Tagged Amarone, Brighouse, Cohors, England, Stowells, Yorkshire | Leave a comment //
Infographic Guide to Eco-Wine
August 23, 2011
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