How to Find the Wines I Feature.
May 8, 2012
Quite easily the most frequent question I get asked is: “How can I find the wines you feature in your reviews/articles?”
I wish I had a simple remedy to the problem, after-all it would make my life a whole lot easier……but I’m sorry to say I do not. Well, actually I do, but you’re probably not going to like the answer!
In reality, the easiest way to get your hands on any of the wines I feature is to buy them online. Normally I’ll drop in a link to the e-commerce/winery website site that enables you to do so.
Trust me, I’m under no illusion as to the way the vast majority of wine drinkers buy their vino, and online isn’t it (yet)!
Since the wines available in each State varies, and the fact that no one document/website tells you which retailers are carrying which wines, there’s absolutely no possible way any blog/website will only be able to feature wines that you can readily find in and around your zip code.
In case you weren’t already aware, this website is part of a larger network of websites, all owned and operated by my good-self. BlogYourWine.com, JacksonvilleWineGuide.com, MiamiWineGuide.com, OrlandoWineGuide.com and TampaWineGuide.com all pretty-much feature the same material, however “city-specific” content is featured on the four city sites. I did it this way as I was sick of seeing wine websites post events that were completely irrelevant to me, based on their location. Therefore, if you live in one of those fine cities, follow that website. If you don’t, follow BlogYourWine.com
So with all of that being said, it stands to reason I should primarily only feature wines that I know are available in the state of Florida, since that’s my main focus, right? I guess that should make sense, but it doesn’t…
Interestingly, the highest traffic sources for JacksonvilleWineGuide.com are (in order) California, New York, Texas, Illinois and then Florida (based on my Google Analytics). In fact, just last week I got a call from a lady in San Francisco looking to try and get her hands on one of the wines I’d featured on JacksonvilleWineGuide.com. That’s the Internet for you!
Santa Ema “Barrel Select” Carmenere, Cachapoal, Chile.
May 7, 2012
Grape
100% Carménère [car-min-YEHR]
Facts
- Oh, Carmenere! What happened? You had such potential and there were such high expectations for you!
There’s no doubt that Chile hedged their bets on Carmenere doing well, but I think it almost turned into a “novelty grape”, much in the same way as Pinotage in South Africa. As much buzz as their was surrounding Carmenere (as recently as a few years ago), the hype seems to have fallen off, and none of Chiles plans for the grape seems to have come to fruition (at least that I’ve witnessed). Not that the Santa Ema “Barrel Select”Carmenere isn’t a decent wine; far from it in-fact, it more than over-delivers for the price, but it’s one of the few wineries that can boast this claim.
- Carmenere has quite the story behind it and quite the story behind it!
Clippings of Cabernet and Merlot vines were taken from Europe to South America in the 1800’s, to plant new vineyards and avoid the grape vine plague “Phylloxera” [Fill-lock-seh-rah] which almost wiped out their vineyards. What they didn’t know was that Carmenere had snuck along for the ride!
It wasn’t until as recent as 1994 when a French ampelographer (identifies and classifies grapevines for a living) discovered that what the Chileans thought was Merlot (and were labeling their wines as) was actually Carmenere!
- Since Carmenere is reputably quite a pain in the arse to grow, Bordeaux hasn’t been too hasty to replant it. Now the majority of Carmenere vines can be found throughout the vineyards of Chile.
- Make sure you check-out some of the other wines from Santa Ema, including (my favorite) their Amplus One, an intense Carmenere, Syrah, Carignan blend with excellent aging potential. It will totally change your mind about Chilean wine, and indeed Carmenere!
Matthew’s Neil Ellis Winemaker’s Dinner–May 15th
May 5, 2012.
Brad Pitt Set to Star in The Billionaire’s Vinegar Movie.
May 4, 2012
It was just announced this week that the long awaited movie The Billionaire’s Vinegar is to be released in cinemas this year.
Will Smith bought the rights to the book as part of a Hollywood consortium and has been named as one of the producers. The New York Times has some guy named Brad Pitt listed in the Acting Credits.
The movie is set to be directed by David Keopp, the screenwriter for such mediocre films such as Men In Black III, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, War of the Worlds and The Taking of Pelham 123).
Based (and I’m sure it will be very loosely “based”) on Benjamin Wallace‘s book: The Billionaire’s Vinegar – The Mystery of the World’s Most Expensive Bottle of Wine, it tells the story of William Koch, a billionaire Florida wine collector, who in 2005 bought four bottles of 1787 Château Lafite engraved “Th.J” (allegedly bottles owned by Thomas Jefferson). The bottles were sold to him by German wine dealer Hardy Rodenstock for around half-a-million dollars.
Posted in News | Tagged Bordeaux, Brad Pitt, Brad Pitt new movie, Brad Pitt wine movie, Chateau Lafite, The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Will Smith | 2 Comments //Wine and Spicy Food: How to Pair When the Heat is on!
May 4, 2012
Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner, and right about now you’re probably all stressed-out wondering which wine to pair with your Mexican fiesta feast, aren’t you!?!?
Okay, maybe not! You’re probably just going to reach for a Corona or Margarita and call it a day…
When it comes to spicy foods (no matter the time of year) most people tend to steer clear of vino, for the simple reason that a wine which drinks just totally fine by itself can end up being completely destroyed when paired with fiery foods. For this reason, I decided to put together a few tips to help temper those flames:
- Avoid oak where possible, whether it’s white or red wines you’re dealing with. Spice and oak are not best buddies!
- In general, reds are less successful than whites for spicy pairings, unless they’re more fruit forward and less tannic and maybe even served with a light chill. Think about red grapes such as Gamay (Beaujolais) or Grenache etc.
- Bubbly can quite often work as well as beer if you’re pairing with foods where the spice has been kicked up a notch. Reach for Prosecco, Cava, California sparkling or French Cremant.
Are Wine Apps a Dead and Dying Breed?
May 3, 2012
Paul Mabray (owner of Vintank) writes in Palate Press:
Why are wine iPhone and Android apps not succeeding when other niche apps like Foodspotting are doing so well?
Over the last year and a half we have seen the most tragic case of inertia for wine apps, with many going out of business and most of the stars stagnating and wasting screen space on our phones. We watched as apps shot into the scene (Crushd) only to quickly burn out. We have seen apps that gained the attention of mainstream wineries (Blush) but never answer requests from a few major wineries to do something to accept revenue.
SO WHY DON’T PHONE APPS SUCCEED?
Too Niche
Wine itself is very-much still in the minority. When you look at the people who drink wine vs. talk about wine, you drill down to approximately 10 million social wine customers. Of that group only 2 million journal about wine, and most do so with pictures. We estimate that in the U.S. market there are only about 250,000 über-oenophiles who write detailed tasting notes.
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