Since we’re in the business of selling I don’t usually go around advertising the fact that there is some quality free stuff on the site. If you’re feeling a little strapped this holiday season (or just miserly) have a look. All it takes is the ability to download a pdf, letter size-paper, an inkjet printer and possibly a letter sized frame and you’ve got yourself an appallingly cheap yet high quality gift.

If your French is better than mine (a fairly low bar), I would be eternally grateful if you could explain the title to me!

Win a Shiny New Spittoon!

Even if you don’t have a clue, any comment (a simple “sorry, dude” or “Je suis désolée, dude” will do) posted will automatically enter you into the drawing for a shiny new spittoon!

Drawing takes place Monday, December 12th.

Bonne chance!

Merci beaucoup!

It’s easy to get worked up into a shopping frenzy today, however, I’ve developed a fail-safe way to avoid anxiety:

1. Don’t shop.
2. Crack open a bottle of black wine: a Negroamaro (from Puglia) or the most famous of the black wines, Cahors.

I was excited about the Cahors but sadly we didn’t have any in the cellar. There was a bottle of its new world cousin, Argentinian Malbec, so that would have to do. It was also Mexican food tonight, so we also grabbed another Argentinian, Torrontes, the ultimate Mexican food wine. The wines are both by Susanna Balbo – Crios. I swear, I don’t have any connection to the winery but am a sucker for a great label (the same label the stodgy clerk said was “dodgy”).

Sorry, but I’m a social media skeptic. I’ve been online for a while, but only tentatively in facebook and twitter. I have my reasons not to fully plunge into the toxic swamp when there seems to be plenty of fresh air everywhere else:

1. Depositing all of our experiences in a vast database will cause a catastrophe. For God’s sake didn’t anyone see Forbidden Planet?
2. All of the perverts in our neighborhood park seem to have disappeared in the facebook era. Obviously, that means that they all migrated to facebook.
3. To use twitter properly, you really need tweetdeck.
4. People who use tweetdeck are either in the media or insane.
5. Narcissism isn’t a flattering trait. Remember Gaddafi?
6. ashton kutcher and demi moore
7. Speaking with people is better than typing into a screen, except in cases of fiendish halitosis. But mild to moderate halitosis is still preferable to the dead eyes of a screen junkie.
8. Nobody likes “joining the conversation” just to get tracked, marketed and spammed. No kidding.
9. My Klout is not only low, they can’t even copy/past my name correctly. Depressing.
10. Everyone is on facebook and twitter. Every company is advertising facebook and twitter. What the f**k has happened to the world?
11. THE WORLD IS NOW MEDIATED THROUGH BLUE BORING WEBSITES!!

But it’s not all bad. There are some positive aspects:

1. I’ve been able to get in back in contact with old friends.
2. It’s nice to see what your friends are up to.
3. I’m a persona non grata to Eric Asimov, but his friend on facebook.

So I’m not entirely convinced, but still ready to take a belated plunge. Why?

1. Everyone says I should.
2. I’ve been wrong about things before.
3. The entire web is shifting to facebook and twitter.
4. Everyone with a company needs to be there or they will disappear. Holy sh*t!

Social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk strongly believes that the entire world will be transformed by social media (as social media gurus tend to do). At the Wine Future conference this month he said:

Consumers that are heavily engaged in online activity will soon be rewarded by being offered “social coupons” via brands and retailers based on their online recommendations and social media rank.

He envisaged a time when people would stop “swiping cards” to pay for and receive goods, but would do so via social media sites.

(read the rest in Harpers)

It sounds like a nightmare dystopia to me – a meritocracy of power shopper/marketers. But if it indeed comes to pass I want to be on the ground floor of this important movement.

Please like my company on FACEBOOK! Thank you!

“I know it when I see it”
-Justice Potter Stewart, 1964 on how to define pornography

No one can agree on a term for “natural” wines. Some say that all wines are natural, so “natural” is too vague. Others say that left to nature, wine becomes vinegar, thus no wines are “natural”. “Real” and “authentic” seem arrogant, implying that all other wines are fake (aside – where does sherry fit in?). “Naked” sounds alright but very brand-like. Indeed, it’s the brand name of a big online wine company in the UK.

“Organic” and “biodynamic” are legal terms that were devised to help codify these wines but are problematic as well. Organic only applies to grape growing and not wine making and is subject to abuse, especially by large winemakers. Biodynamic wines are actually the embodiment of the natural/real wine movement, but not all natural/real wines are biodynamic.

The titles of two new books on the subject by leading wine writers, Alice Feiring and Jamie Goode reflect this uncomfortable state of affairs. I’m looking forward to both of them soon. Still, they’re not going to solve the problem of what to call these types of wines.

Regardless of what to call them, the best definition of natural/real/naked/authentic wine I’ve ever read was written by wine importer Joe Dressner – who sadly passed away last weekend.

If you were living in New York from about 1995 to now and interested in wine, it was (and still is) impossible to escape the influence of Louis/Dressner Selections, the importing company set up by Joe and his wife Denyse Louis.

This definition of natural/real wines was written over 12 years ago and codified Louis/Dressner’s ideas about what wine should be. Its relevance only increases with time:

from the Louis/Dressner website:

The following techniques and guiding principles are what we believe is winemaking with integrity and respect for the traditions of the native region. This is fine winemaking at its purest, most fundamental level.

Wild Yeasts:
All wines are made with the natural yeasts on the grapes, in the vineyards and in the cellars. Cultured yeasts to rush fermentation or add “enhancing” aromas and flavors are unacceptable. We look for wines that express their terroir. No enzymes, no hormones.

Hand Harvesting:
Growers harvest by hand, not machine. We want the ripest fruit to be brought carefully and lovingly into the winery.

Low Yields:
The growers want low yields for greater concentration. We look for growers with holdings in old vines.

Natural Viticulture:
We encourage growers to plow their vineyards to keep the soil an active eco-system, and to use natural methods in tending their vines.

No or Minimal Chaptalization:
We do not want an artificially high degree of alcohol produced by adding sugar to the must. Non- or slightly chaptalized wines are more enjoyable and healthier to drink.

Non-Filtration:
Wines are either not filtered or minimally filtered. We also encourage low levels of SO2.

Non-Interventionist Winemaking:
We prefer a harmony, not an imposed style —wines should showcase their place of origin and varietal character. We are not looking for oak flavor, particular fruits or overly done aromatics. Minimal use of S02 is encouraged.

Enjoyment!
Lastly, our most important “principle.” Because, the overblown world of overdone wines is fundamentally tiresome. We’re not looking for tasting specimens, but for wines that are great fun, and a great pleasure to drink.

We aren’t big fans of wines that are…

Over-Manipulated:
The over-handling of wine is one of the fundamental caveats in winemaking. Repeatedly pumping wine from one vat to another and moving wine or grape must by truck affects the freshness and flavors of the wine. Of course, chemical adjustments can be made to cover up any faults….and Velveeta is delicious!

Over-Flavored:
In almost all parts of the world it’s common practice to use cultured yeasts and extra grape sugars to enrich the flavors of the grape juice during fermentation. Not to mention the foolish winemaker that keeps a shelf of flavor extracts on a shelf directly above the vat…WHOOPS!

Over-Acidified:
Did you know it was common practice in most areas of the world to do “acid adjustments” by adding citric acid, tartaric acid and, less frequently, malic acid to adjust the acidity levels of a wine?

Over-Harvested:
Restricting the number of grape bunches on a vine is the simplest, most basic technique for achieving greater concentration and flavor. The majority of wine-grape growers harvest at levels high above the norm to increase the number of bottles that may be sold…the simplest, most basic formula for increasing profits.

Over-Filtered:
Sterile filtration is a method of forcing wine through microscopic screens that basically strip the wine of particles which may include materials that give wine a unique flavor. It is commonly used throughout the winemaking world.

Over-Oaked:
While oak can be a good and interesting thing, there are excesses. The overuse of new oak is a departure from traditional winemaking techniques that, apart from being prohibitively expensive and greatly accelerating the deforestation of France, has created a new consumer demand for oak-flavored wines. So much so, that some disreputable wineries in certain parts of the world go so far as to add oak chips and oak extract flavors to wine!

Over-Rated:
Let’s not kid ourselves, folks! The great majority of the wine press throughout the world, with notable exceptions, is wholly influenced by advertising and perceived glamour.

We’ve even found ourselves incredulous at some of the stellar ratings our own wines have received!

Over-the-Top:
Any number of the above-mentioned factors and others (such as fancy bottles, postage stamp labels, etc) can put a wine over-the-top. There are also wines that burst out of the bottle due to added flavors and overextraction and are the “blockbusters wines” of the press and tastings, but inevitably can’t hold up to aging or are completely incompatible with food.

©1999 Louis/Dressner Selections

It’s a great pairing! September has great sunsets and the weather is still warm enough for rosé. We’ve had a few dud rosés lately so it was great to splurge on a bottle of Domain Tempier. It has the richness and intensity that would easily pair with sunsets throughout the fall as well.

From this. . .

No, the real power of twitter is in collecting and broadcasting news, events and ideas. It’s really an ultra powerful global version of the police radios that journalists used to use (like Burt Lancaster in the Sweet Smell of Success), but one where everyone can broadcast as well. It played an instrumental part in the Arab Spring. Sadly, your breakfast, what baby got into, announcements of free shipping, catty observations, etc. are not news or ideas. Unless, of course, you’re Ashton Kutcher. What is wrong with us?

Anyway, this is a post about how twitter helped a twitter skeptic like me. On June 27th David Gissen posted a first draft of his wine metro map of France on twitter. I didn’t see it, but Dr. Vino did and forwarded me a link to it. One of the reasons Dr. Vino’s site is the best wine blog is that he uses twitter as a true hunter-gatherer of information relating to wine.

to this in 52 days!

It was my first foray into editing and publishing someone else’s work, and I must say that I’m very lucky that David is so talented. I don’t think it always works this way. The suggestions that I made – adding grape varieties, additional regions, etc – were realized in a way better than I could have imagined. I’m proud of being a part of this fun and interesting project.

It went through about 5 major iterations before reaching its final form, all in the span of 52 days from my initial contact to having the final proof approved at the printers. This must be some sort of publishing record! David is brilliant and I look forward to seeing more great projects from him.

Now that it’s published, twitter has generated a bunch of sales and media contacts, most prominently by the re-tweeting of a post by Dr. Vino after the map was published.

Thank you @100aocs, @drvino and twitter.

We’ve improved our Wine Tasting Notebooks, both softbound and hardbound, for their second edition. Perhaps the most important improvement is in the bindings. The softbound version was 60 pages with a single saddle-sewn binding but is now 96 pages with a Smyth sewn binding that’s both more durable and lies completely flat when opened. The hardbound version was 160 pages, but is now 240 pages Smyth sewn, with rounded corners to make it easier to slip into a pocket or purse.

Both versions now have an expandable pocket to hold the wine-resistant Wine Tasting Terms/ How to Take a Wine Tasting Note reference guide.

We’ve also made minor improvements to the note forms as well:

It’s important to note that both notes have the same wine, Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche Red, but from different vintages.

1. Very minor change: COLOR HUE and COLOR DEPTH are switched to grammatical order. The original idea was that the first thing that you perceive is the hue and then the depth, but was more awkward than helpful.

2. Minor change: fresh replaces lively as a term for a medium level of acidity. Fresh suggests the sensation of slightly more than smooth or lowish acidity. Lively just seems like too much of a jump from smooth. Many wine writers also use the term “good acidity” for this level of acid on the palate, which always strikes me as vague, especially when nobody says “bad acidity”.

3. Additional descriptor category: BALANCE Balance was mentioned in the old form as part of the conclusion, which may have been a little too open ended for our multiple choice approach. The new format reflects the specificity originally intended.

BALANCE: Keeping the alcohol, acids, tannins and sugars in perfect balance is the wine maker’s goal. Note here if any of the elements are excessive. Excess alcohol feels hot, excess acidity is sharply tart, excess tannins are very rough and excess residual sugar is cloyingly sweet.¹

Note that the sample wine in our note has slightly hot alcohol (for my taste – your results may be different!) but is not excessive so overall balance is just fair, instead of good.

4. Additional descriptor category: STYLE Style has been an important aspect in winemaking for many years, but there is much more discussion of it. W.R. Tish has advocated using it in published tasting notes for many years. Mike Steinberger has an excellent article on the difference between traditional and modern winemaking that appeared in the World of Fine Wine and is available online here.

STYLE: In general, modern wines are fruitier, more concentrated, more alcoholic and often highly oaked, while traditional wines are more restrained and subtle. Modern wines are also called “international” since they tend to be more about the winemaking style than the place that they come from. The many wines that fall between the two styles, are obviously in-between.¹

The updated wine tasting note forms are available for download here, but please feel free to purchase the softbound or hardbound notebook here! They’re both also available at amazon.com.

¹from the 2nd Edition Wine Tasting Notebook, De Long, 2011

The dark arts of advertising. . .

I can now safely say that we’re a proper wine map company. In retrospect, this should have been our first map, but we were under the erroneous assumption that France was already well covered by other map makers. There are many excellent regional wine maps of France, but the overall maps all seem to fall short either in clarity or accuracy. This map fills that gap and we’re very proud of it.

To get a closer look or to download the map’s index (the most complete listing of Appellations currently available), go to: Wine Map of France