Pear drop is a term often used by wine writers to describe the flavor of Beaujolais Nouveau. These writers would all be British since pear drops are virtually unknown in North America. They’re a traditional type of candy that the British call boiled sweets and Americans call hard candy.

They get their flavor from isoamyl acetate, an artificial flavoring commonly called banana oil. Yes, pear drops taste mainly like bananas but also like ripe pears as well. Beaujolais Nouveau gets its pear drop/ banana candy flavor from carbonic maceration, a process where whole bunches of grapes are fermented without crushing. The process produces isoamyl acetate, the pear drop flavor compound.

The Wine Century Club - now 590 members strong - celebrated its 4th birthday last Thursday. To mark the occasion, members worldwide tasted 159 different grape varieties. The list included serious obsurities such as Himbertscha, Incrocio Manzoni and Bukettraube.

The club has also started a new level of recognition: Doppel Members, for those who have tried more than 200 different grape varieties.

pu⋅ri⋅ty [pyoor-i-tee]
1. the condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.: the purity of drinking water.
2. freedom from any admixture or modifying addition.
3. ceremonial or ritual cleanness.
4. freedom from guilt or evil; innocence.
5. physical chastity; virginity.
6. freedom from foreign or inappropriate elements; careful correctness: purity of expression.
7. Optics. the chroma, saturation, or degree of freedom from white of a given color.
8. cleanness or spotlessness, as of garments.

“This wine has great purity and elegance.”
-fake generic wine note

Purity is a wine term you will most likely hear more and more of. It’s one of those terms that can be easily misused by BS artists but has become an established term in wine vocabulary, especially by the proponents of real wine.

Yesterday, at the Caves de Pyrene Real Wine show in London I was struck by how many time I heard the terms ‘purity’ or ‘pure’. The seemingly incongruous part is that many of these wines are funky, cloudy and completely the opposite of purity in the hygienic laboratory sense of the word. The Château du Cèdre Cahors Héritage which was mentioned in my previous post was there, this time the 2007 but still with a whiff of bretty earthiness. In this way purity a strange wine term since it doesn’t apply so much to the immediate tasting experience as the ideas behind the wine. Wine is pure or real because it is unadulterated.

The terms real and pure in the wine world actually refer to the same thing: wine that has minimal intervention in the wine making process; wine that is as natural as can be without succumbing to the natural forces that would make it vinegar.

The best description I know of real (or by extension, pure) wine is by Louis/Dressner Wines in 1999. It’s not an accident that these terms have grown in popularity since the wines they describe are some of the most delicious and interesting around.

Brettanomyces ‘Brett’ is a yeast with many strains that imparts a wide range of flavors. Fairly common, especially in red wines. Considered by some to add desired character to wines when at low levels.
Telltale aromas: earthy, horsey, barnyard, sweaty-saddle, manure, leather, smoked bacon, cheese, band-aid, antiseptic (from De Long’s Wine Tasting Guides)

I came across the term “brett bomb” when I was researching a seriously delicious wine that was also a great value at approx. $10 - the 2004 Château du Cèdre Cahors Héritage. I googled it an found an interesting range of opinions that pretty much sum up the differences in old world and new world tastes in wine.

Representing the Old World, Jamie Goode liked it:

. . . drinking Chateau du Cedre 2004 Cahors, which is inky, dark, tannic and gravelly. Yes, I’m back on wine, and I’m really enjoying it. Lying in bed, with a TV show on a laptop and a glass of wine in hand is like flying business class. Especially when the wine is authentic, too.

Representing the New World, Ray Johnson didn’t:

The nose combines the rugged side of wine-love, with horse blanket, cheese and ripe berry fruit. In the mouth the wine is quite tannic and strongly reminiscent of the horse, certainly too much so for many drinkers. This is the negociant wine from the famous estate. Eleve et mis en bouteille a Vire-sur-Lot 13% $10.99 at Bottle Barn. Yes, this wine is just too rustic for most consumers of New World wine. What is disappointing is that it doesn’t have to be such a brett bomb. Cedre has a great reputation but this wine is not in that league.

Funny enough, their notes are very similar except for their tolerance of brettanomyces. Jamie makes a nod to it as gravelly and authentic, while Ray finds it a cheesy horse blanket (yuck!); indeed, a BRETT BOMB! To be honest, I really didn’t notice the brett on my first tasting, noting just earthy leather which could be a lot of things. On a re-tasting - after reading Jamie’s and especially Ray’s notes - I did notice the brett more and with a little antiseptic band-aid flavor to it as well. Such is the power of suggestion.

If you’ve ever been curious or not exactly sure of what Brettomyces tastes like, try to track down this wine. The 2004 is getting harder to find, but the 2005 illustrates this point as well, although with more fruit and less aggressive tannins. Since the wine is 90% Malbec, comparing it with a new world brett-free Argentinian Malbec - like Alamos - is an interesting and enjoyable comparison. Especially with a few steaks on the BBQ.

George Brett One of the greatest hitters in modern baseball history. Batting for the Kansas City Royals in Game 2 of the 1980 World Series, he left in the 6th inning with severe hemorrhoid pain. After minor surgery, he returned to hit a home run, leading the Royals to victory in Game 3. Although the Royals eventually lost the series to the Philadelphia Phillies, Brett became a hemorrhoids hero.

Robert Parker, Andrea Immer Robinson, Jancis Robinson and Gary Vaynerchuk hanging out at the Playmobil wine bar.

If you’ve noticed your 5 year old swirling and sniffing his/her juice glass, you may want to pay attention to this story.

Playmobil Wine Bar, one of Playmobil’s best sellers since it was introduced last fall, has hit a nerve with parents and trade groups nationwide. The Zirndorf, Germany-based company has previously courted controversy with Bank Robbers and Gangster play sets but may have taken it a bit too far this time.

The set includes miniature bottles, glassware and figures based on wine personalities Jancis Robinson, Andrea Immer Robinson, Gary Vaynerchuk and Robert M. Parker, Jr. in a relaxed wine bar setting. The details of the licensing deals are unclear, however, since none of the parties were willing to disclose terms.

While the wine industry has increasingly been targeting Millennials, who of course are above the legal drinking age, the Playmobil set has some community leaders up in arms. Not missing an opportunity to look good and lead in the outrage has been spokesperson Bruno Ashwip of the powerful Wine and Spirits Wholesalers Association (WSWA).

“We’re really concerned about this one since they’re using wine celebs to get to the kids. The likenesses are pretty uncanny, I mean, the Robert Parker figure is a lot thinner than the real one, but they totally nailed his hair. Don’t tell me that children don’t know this. It’s just another reason that we shouldn’t allow state to state shipping of wine.”

The WSWA has gone so far as to propose legislation that would block interstate shipping of this toy. “We already have WSWA-friendly UPS drivers confiscating this item,” added Ashwip.

The calm at the center of this controversy are the wine celebrities themselves. They all seem to be oblivious to the outrage and much more concerned with advancing their personal brands.

Reached by phone at her London home, Jancis Robinson’s only apparent worry is that Immer Robinson and she are erroneously listed as the “Robinson sisters” on the packaging. “We are not sisters” was the terse response from the usually gracious Brit wine maven.

Immer Robinson initially laughed off the sister error has “good PR” but later admitted in a long-winded explanation that they were indeed not sisters. She was then off to teach a class of toddlers juice and cheese pairing at the French Culinary Institute where she is Dean of Liquid Studies.

Vaynerchuk, who proudly displays toy action figures in his popular Wine Library TV webcasts was ecstatic almost to the point of incomprehension. “This toy has the thunder^TM! My man is wearing his Vayniac^TM wrist band! Link it up, Mott^TM! We’re going to Digg^TM this baby to #1 on Amazon^TM!”

The situation is probably best summed up, however, by the towering Parker. Over the phone he simply offered a boozy refrain from a Bob Dylan song: “The times, they are a changin’.”

I’m pretty sure that Paul Masson did not say that over a century ago, but the words do apply here. After many production delays our Wine Map of California is finally available. Thank you for your patience!

In the spirit of shameless marketing and selling more maps, I’d like to share a few more ways to use them:

California Wine Travel Planning

Mount the map on foamboard and use it to plot new adventures or to remember where you’ve been. You can also attach it to your windshield as a crude form of sat-nav (not recommended by the California Highway Patrol).

Wine Map Wallpaper

The wine map wallpaper idea is the favorite of our marketing department since it involves purchasing a serious amount of maps.

Wine Map Drinking Game

This is my favorite and the most fun. It was sent to me by Cathy Jones who snapped this shot from her husband’s recent birthday celebration. In Cathy’s words:

He had taken up drinking an occasional Rioja after we traveled to Spain a few years ago. And he really liked your wine table that I bought for our anniversay last summer. Since then we have been trying to sample different varietals whenever we can. After getting your map, I made an impulse trip and purchased as many bottle of Spanish wines as I could find from the different regions. On his birthday, as he pulled each bottle from the box, we placed it on the map in the appropriate location. In this way, we were able to refresh our knowlege of Spanish geography and expand our repertoire of Spanish wines. We had quite a party after that. In fact, a couple of bottles “disappeared” before I thought to snap this picture. Needless to say, we are looking forward to your next map…

Thank you Cathy!

If you have any other creative ways to use these maps, please feel free to share them.

On behalf of our crack map team, I apologize for the delay in releasing our California Wine Map. It will now be available March 24th. The saddest part is that the map’s been 99% done for the past month and a half . It’s as if we’re trapped in Zeno’s paradox. Or more aptly, that we’ve checked out but can never leave. . .

In the meantime, here’s a small chunk of the map around Ventura Highway. It may come as a surprise that Malibu has two official wine regions - Saddle Rock-Malibu and Malibu-Newton Canyon. Was this the result of Malibu Ken and Malibu Barbie splitting up?

To help the cause, all you need to do is buy a $10 raffle ticket at First Giving - Menu for Hope and enter the prize code for prize you would like to win. The raffle runs between now and Christmas - please see below for more detailed instructions.

Here’s the prize we’ve donated (that you can bid on - hint, hint):

Giant Wine Map of California

California is the second in our series of wine maps. The regular retail size of this map is 24 x 36 inches, however, this one will be custom printed at a giant 4 feet wide by 6 feet tall. We’re finishing the artwork right now, so be the first on your block (actually on the entire planet) to have a Giant Wine Map of California. To get a better idea of the style and quality, please take a look at our map of the Iberian Peninsula. The map of California will be just as obsessively accurate, up to date and - all importantly - suitable for framing (if you can find a frame that large). This item can only be delivered to US addresses. Estimated Value: $400. Prize Code:WB12

You can see more wine-related prizes at Vinography

or the complete list of prizes at Chez Pim

It’s a tough year financially for so many people - especially the very poor - so if you can give please do.

First Giving - Menu for Hope

Donation Instructions:
1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at http://chezpim.com
2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope5 and make a donation.
3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you’d like in the ‘Personal Message’ section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.
For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02
4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.
5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Wine

Sweet wines are the perfect wine gift. Practically everybody loves them but either can’t admit it or won’t buy them for themselves. How did dryness ever become the popular standard of sophistication? Humans have a natural preference for sweet things – our positive response to them is our bodies’ primitive way of telling us what we’re eating or drinking has nutritional value. Back to basics: caveman and cavewoman need sweet wine.

Another great thing about sweet wines is that they’re cheaper than dry wines of similar quality. The easiest way to find excellent value sweet wines is to go to your favorite wine shop and ask for a recommendation. You may be amazed at the amount of geeky enthusiasm you’ve unleashed. Proceed with caution but go with their advice. Otherwise, here are a few excellent value suggestions:

Kourtaki Mavrodaphne of Patras NV $9 find this wine
Mavrodaphne of Patras is a Port-like Greek dessert wine from main wine region of the Peloponnese. Named after the indigenous grape variety, Mavrodaphne, that it’s made from, it has the spicy warm holiday flavors of English Christmas pudding. A cheap, cheerful and delicious way to toast Tiny Tim.

PEDRO ROMERO Moscatel Sherry NV $13 find this wine
In direct defiance of the wine press, wine drinkers worldwide ignore the great wines that are Sherry. What does that mean for Moscatel, one of the less regarded Sherry grape varieties? Quite simply, it means bargains. Also known as Muscat of Alexandria, Moscatel was probably more popular back in Cleopatra’s time. Deliciously raisiny, peachy with orange peel and toasted almonds but with the old world oxidized flavors that will get the nod from hard core wine geeks. Smiles and nods all around- this one is hard to beat.

2004 Coyeux Beaumes de Venise $15 /half find this wine
Guaranteed to cheer even the meanest Grinch’s tiny heart, it’s made from Muscat Blanc. Muscat Blanc à Petit Grains, which is the grape’s full name is the most acclaimed variety of Muscat. Fresh peachy, grapy and floral this has always been one of my favorite dessert wines. It’s made like port – alcohol is added to stop the fermentation of the grape’s sugars, preserving a nice balance of sweetness.

Alois Kracher Beerenauslese $22 to $40/half find this wine
The great Alois Kracher tragically died just over a year ago and the Kracher winery is now run by his son Gerhard. If you’ve never had a Beerenauslese wine, where the grapes are picked late in the season and have dried on the vine to concentrate their sugars, the Kracher wines are a great place to start. Not because they’re beginner wines, but because they’re amazingly good value for some of the world’s finest Beerenauslese - try any one you can find.

2005 Château La Tour Blanche Sauternes $32/half find this wine
This is a spectacular bargain especially since its more illustrious neighbor, Château d’Yquem, goes for $400 to $500 a half bottle in the same vintage. Decanter magazine recently had a blind tasting of Cru Classe Sauternes and preferred the 2003 Château La Tour Blanche (5/5 Stars) to the Château d’Yquem (3/5 Stars). The 2005 vintage is considered even better than 2003. This intensely aromatic and sweet wine is perhaps the greatest bargain in the wine world today. It’s delicious now but really should use a decade or 2 to develop into something amazing.

Glasses

If I could have only one wine glass it would be the 13.6 ounce Schott Zweisel Forte (known in Europe as the Viña). We use ours almost every day for both red and white wines. It’s also the official glass of the San Francisco Wine Competition http://www.sfwinecomp.com/, which make sense since it’s like an enlarged version of the official INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) tasting glass. The INAO glass was developed in France in the 1970’s and has long been regarded as the perfect tasting glass except for one critical thing: it’s too small. The Forte is also made from titanium crystal which makes them more durable than regular crystal. They’re not cheap but they don’t cost the world either.

Find them in the US
Find them in the UK

If you can’t force yourself to spend more than $10 on a glass you may want to go the IKEA route. They’re especially handy if your parties end with everyone throwing their glasses into the fireplace. Don’t let the funny names and umlauts distract you, it’s the shape we’re interested in. We want the sides to taper up to concentrate the aromas as the Forte does.

These are good choices:

IKEA 365+ IVRIG $2.99 each

OPTIMAL $1.99 each

Here’s a mediocre choice and the equivalent of an old wooden tennis racket. This style of glass is often used in fine wine shops and tasting rooms but that doesn’t make it good. Why handicap yourself with your equipment when you don’t have to?

SVALKA $4.99 /6

To Elvis, drinking his liquor from an old fruit jar was a high insult. These glasses show a similar level of contempt for any wine:

PRALIN $2.99 each

RÄTTVIK $2.99 each

POKAL $7.99 /6

Books

When times are tough it’s time to get real. The wine books recommended here all have a strong dose of reality as they all have a strong sense of context. Two are wine travel guides and one is a guide to drinking with the seasons.

The Wine and Food Lover’s Guide to Portugal, by Charles Metcalfe and Kathryn McWhirter, will make anyone who enjoys wine and food want to get on a plane to Portugal. It’s organized regionally from the Minho and the wines of Vinho Verde in the north down to the Algarve on the south coast. Beautifully illustrated with tons of photos and useful maps, it would be great if every country had such an incredibly in-depth guide.

Hey another country does have such a guide. The UK isn’t usually regarded as a wine country but its wines have benefited greatly from rising temperatures. A Guide to the Wines of England and Wales
by Philip Williamson, David Moore and Neville Blech is another exhaustively in-depth and beautifully illustrated wine travel guide. It’s from the people who make the excellent Wine Behind the Label series.

A Year of Wine is probably the first wine book to be organized entirely by season. It’s an approach that makes a lot of sense; just as we eat seasonally it follows that we drink that way as well. Written by super wine-blogger Tyler Colman of www.drvino.com in his easy going humorous style, it makes an excellent gift for anyone interested in wine. It’s the kind of book you can read cover to cover or easily browse with Dr. Vino showing you how to “Drink Different.” His unique approach includes shopping and travel advice as well as tips on installing a home cellar. The sommelier surveys – interviews with some of American’s best sommeliers – throughout the book reflect its casual conversational tone and high level of insight into the world of wine.

Wine Guides

Dude, I thought it was Wine, glasses and books. Period.

Okay, I can’t help meself, I need to hawk me own wares (as well as speak like a pirate). If you want a really special gift, divers right into our online shop. Here are a couple of excellent stocking stuffers:

Wine Tasting Pocket Guide

Hardbound Wine Tasting Notebook

Contest! Prizes!

In the spirit of holiday giving, Dr. Vino has offered us a signed copy of his excellent A Year of Wine as first prize, second prize is a copy of our new Hardbound Wine Tasting Notebook and third prize is a Pocket Wine Guide.

To enter, just let everyone know what your favorite sweet wine is in the comment section below (even if it’s Manischewitz Extra Heavy Malaga). Winners will be chosen at random Wednesday, Dec 17th, 2008 at 12 noon EST.

An expanded hardbound version of our Wine Tasting Notebook will be in stock this coming Tuesday, December 9th. It has 160 pages with the Wine Tasting Terms as a pullout in the back of the book and will retail for $14.95. If you would like advanced notice that this is available as well as a 20% discount, please drop a line at our contact page.