It’s only fitting as the year closes out that we finish up with a brief look at dessert wines. For people less interested in champagne, toasting with port as the new year begins may be just as satisfying…and definitely sweeter.
In the below video clip, The History Channel’s Modern Marvels series takes an in-depth look at the history of port wines from Portugal’s Duoro Valley, with help from Rupert Symington of Symington Estates Winery.
Remember, however you choose to celebrate, drink responsibly and make sure you have a safe way of getting home. Happy New Year!
New Year’s Eve is just two days away, and there are many questions you might still need to answer: “Where am I going?” “Who am I going with?” “What are my resolutions for next year?” High on the list of a wine enthusiast’s questions, however, will be: “Which champagne will I pop the cork off of before midnight?”
Your answer to this question will depend on a few factors. Are you buying one bottle for an intimate evening or several bottles for a larger party? Are you more concerned with affordability, or are you looking to impress others with your selection of a fine, pricey bottle?
Below are a handful of links to help you try and solve this conundrum. Work quickly, though—the year is almost over!
With the end of the year comes year-end best-of lists…if there is a topic on which people have strong opinions, you can be sure that every magazine or journal on that topic is busy compiling their lists and defending their opinions. Wine, as you can guess, is no exception. Here are links to the lists painstakingly crafted by some of the industry’s top tastemakers:
None of them agree on which of wine of 2010 was the best—so if you have the time and resources, you might want to try them all yourself and come up with your own final decision. (Or, you may decide that none of the big magazines got the #1 selection right at all!)
Level-2 sommelier Anne Strand is a far cry from the stereotype of the stuffy, pretentious wine expert—her alter ego, Wino Woman, has been steadily building a loyal audience using her disarming irreverence and occasional flair for flamboyant costumes. Don’t let the mannerisms fool you, though—she knows a thing or two about wine, and is only too happy to share her expertise.
You can catch up with her past few months of videos at her website … and below you’ll find her recommendations for this Christmas weekend and a self-composed version of a classic Christmas song just for wine enthusiasts.
One thing you can count on over the holidays is that you will probably find yourself surrounded by an abundance of fine chocolate, gifted to you or opened and waiting for you at the holiday parties you’re attending. But you have no ordinary sweet tooth—you probably know that chocolate, like cheese, is one of those foods that goes very, very well with wine. What you might not know is how you should create those pairings.
Luckily for you, the fine folks at The Nibble, a specialty food magazine, have produced a handy chart that gives you a variety of suggestions for each kind of chocolate you could come across this weekend. It includes not only the different types of solid chocolate—dark, milk, white—but also wine suggestions for chocolate that includes caramel or other nougat.
Go ahead and indulge for both the chocolate and the wine…New Year’s Eve, and its traditional resolutions, are right around the corner!
Christmas is this coming Saturday, and although you may already have plans for how you’ll be spending this traditional family holiday, you might still be at a loss as to what you’re doing on New Year’s Eve, just around the corner. Have no fear! Here’s a list of New Year’s Eve destinations tailor-made for the wine enthusiast:
Volo Restaurant Wine Bar This moody, well-established Roscoe Village wine bar happily opens its doors—with no cover!—to wine lovers looking to share an intimate evening with close friends.
Paramount Room The Paramount Room also offers a no-cover evening, with decorations, complimentary party favors, and festive music to help ring in the new year.
WineStyles of Schaumburg If you’re out in the northwest suburbs, and looking for something to do with your evening before your real New Year’s Eve party, you can stop by WineStyles between 3:30 and 7 pm to loosen up with some fine wine tastings.
Geja’s Café A pricier option for revelers looking to enjoy the company of only one other person, Geja’s offers a “romantic” option for New Year’s Eve, including wine and carefully prepared dinner items.
For all of the above, remember that there are dozens of other wine lovers trying to figure out their plans as well. Reservations are strongly encouraged, if not completely necessary, for any event. Good luck finding your perfect evening!
In the Midwest right now we’re currently experiencing a frigid and stormy winter, causing all sorts of difficult conditions and a high-profile incident involving the collapse of the Minneapolis Metrodome. So it might be hard to believe that parts of the Earth are warm right now, and getting even warmer as a result of global climate changes. Winemakers, however, have a particular need to keep track of these climate conditions, as certain varieties of grape can be very delicate and respond poorly to change. If you’re a wine collector, you’re probably going to want to keep informed as well.
Global news agency AFP recently produced this report on the state of French vineyards in several popular wine regions, and the ways that winemakers are trying to adapt their grapevines to survive in their new climes:
Climate change is a highly politicized topic, of course, with passionate debate regarding its science and effects. For winemakers and wine enthusiasts, however, the situation is simple and personal—if the current state of the weather hinders the growth of the wine grapes, then both the winery and the consumer will suffer.
Just in time for the holidays! We’re pleased to invite you inside Strongbox for a tour of our self-storage facilities. Join host Colleen McGinty McNaulty as she surveys our services and meets some of our friendly staff – and learn about the many things you can store at Strongbox!
It’s perfect place to stash those less-than-stellar gifts from your in-laws – take that pyramids!
If you’re a wine enthusiast who also has a passion for foreign films and documentaries, we’d like to let you know about a recent film, released in it native Argentina just last month, so you can keep an eye out if and when it’s released in the United States. The film is titled El Camino del Vino (or, The Way of Wine), and deals with the incredible true story of world-class sommelier Charlie Arturaola, who suddenly and inexplicably suffered the loss of his palate. Obviously, such an affliction would be devastating to any wine collector, so you can imagine how deeply painful it was was Arturaola. The story of his fall from grace in the wine industry, and his quest to recover his palate, is documented the film. To whet your own cinematic palate, check out the trailer, and if it grabs your attention, keep an eye out for the title in the near future here.
As any discerning wine enthusiast understands, the sense of taste is especially complex and profound, capable of detecting thousands of individual flavors. For the past ten years, scientists at the University of Texas in Austin have been trying to produce a chemical system that can mimic this natural one…and now they believe they have succeeded, using wine as the test subject.
Dr. Eric Anslyn began his work with a team of undergraduates, and initially the idea of using wine as a focus had not occurred to them. It was seven years into the project that they realized wine’s cultivated variety of tastes provided an excellent template to continue their research, and they partnered with Dr. Hildegarde Heymann, a wine sensory specialist from the University of California in Davis. For the next three years, the team devised an elaborate array of chemicals that works like a wine litmus test—certain areas change color depending on the type of tannins and flavonoids present in the varietal. The team successfully used the array to mimic the skills of a master sommelier, blindly identifying Pinot Noir, Beaujolais, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Shiraz.
While the researchers’ ultimate goal is to use this array to identify the lifecycle of a living cell—a breakthrough that could aid in cancer research—the current chemical system can be useful to the wine industry in helping to verify the quality and authenticity of certain wine varietals. Counterfeit wines are an insidious problem, and can be hard to combat without constant vigilance. This new tool, which the researchers believe can be calibrated to work with both white and red wines, may be very useful for wine labs in the future.
This time of year brings with it a number of familiar traditions and trappings, and the music is possibly the most recognizable of them all. Whether you love or hate being inundated with the carols from radio stations and shopping centers, you know these compositions within the first few notes and even well after the season has passed they’ll make you think of the holidays.
Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite contains some of the most beloved of holiday-related musical works, and many musicians have used all sorts of instruments to play versions of these pieces. Italian musician Robert Tiso is a virtuoso of the “glass harp,” an instrument carefully assembled and calibrated by filling wine goblets with fluid to produce a specific pitch when rubbed with wet fingers. For your enjoyment, here he is performing “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy”:
An experienced wine collector will probably have good ideas already for gifts to give to their equally-as-knowledgeable wine collector friends. But what could one give to that friend who has just begun transitioning from a casual interest in wine into full-fledged passion? A bottle you would recommend is a decent option, but something such a friend might appreciate even more is a way to increase their own acumen for wine.
Games, besides being entertaining, are also an excellent means of learning new information. Cork Jester, a game company that caters to wine lovers, has produced the trivia game Wine Teasers to both test the brains of longtime wine enthusiasts and help educate those new to the hobby. It can be played with a small or large number of players, and also features game play that’s about more than asking trivia questions.
The website includes a couple of sample quiz questions to give you a taste of what Wine Teasers has to offer. Give a copy to your novice friend, however, and by next year you might be having fascinating, in-depth conversations with a new peer…which is a bit like getting a gift in return.
Now that the winter chill has finally started to creep in, it’s time to start warming your bones with some mulled wine. Mulled wine, if you’ve never had the pleasure, is a drink made by infusing wine with spices and serving it warm. Many countries around the world serve it as a traditional holiday treat, and it’s easy for you to make your own.
Noted Food Networkpersonalities Alton Brown and Ina Garten share their different recipes and methods…and perhaps with their guidance to start with, you’ll be able to come up with your own!
Gluten, one of the key components of wheat, can be found in dozens of staple food products. Gluten sensitivity or allergy afflicts people indiscriminately—and that includes wine collectors. Restricting one’s food choices for health reasons unfortunately also means that a discerning wine drinker has to carefully consider which wines they can consider for pairing with their food.
You can also find out more about gluten-free holiday foods through this post, written by the entire website staff. Even if you’re not suffering from gluten allergies, one of your guests might—and a really generous host will take these guests into consideration this holiday season.
As we enter the last month of the year, let’s take a moment to salute the tasters (and, consequently, taste-makers) whose reviews and scoring help establish the hierarchy in the culture of wine collection. Each year these discerning journalists examine thousands of wines and offer expert opinions for consumers to consider when they’re buying their next bottles.
Wine Spectatoris one of the most known and trusted names in the business of wine critique and lifestyle. Each year the magazine’s panel of tasters offers opinions on over 15,000 different bottles, and they hold themselves to a number of standards to maintain their critical credibility. This short video, produced earlier this year, gives you an inside look at the care and professionalism that has kept the magazine thriving since its inception in 1976.
After seeing their process, it’s easy to observe that Wine Spectator takes seriously both the tasting of wine and their own reputation as a cultural connoisseur. Whether you’ve agreed with their reviews or not, you have to respect their clear and efficient methods.
Today is Black Friday, the day when everyone seems to buy lots and lots of new stuff. Delicious wines, to be sure, but also other stuff.
In honor of the day – and the inevitable need to store all that stuff – we’re launching a new music video for Strongbox Wine and Self-Storage. Yes, that’s right, a music video.
Maybe it’s not such a great idea for a wine storage company to show you ways you can store your own wine at home…but we absolutely had to tell you about these trapdoor wine cellars we’ve come across, with their elegant spiral staircases, because we’re just that impressed with the concept.
Trap doors and winding stairs both have a certain irresistible mystique, cultivated from decades of mystery thrillers across all mediums, so the idea of having one in your home might make it worth the high price it takes to install one. And of course, having a chamber that not only functions as conversation piece but also as wine bottle storage…that might be just too perfect for our wine-collecting clientele.
You can find out more about these here. If you do decide to add one of your own and leave Strongbox behind…we’ll miss you, of course, but we could hardly blame you. These trapdoor cellars are just way too cool!
As everyone continues the countdown to Thanksgiving—either with delight and relief, if you’re a guest, or with delight and panic if you’re a host—we’ve been discussing the difficulty of pairing wine with the bounty one usually finds on the table. Although they may not necessarily solve all of your problems on this front, a few places online have produced widgets that offer suggestions with just a few easy clicks of the mouse button.
Wined In doesn’t have the most elegant-looking engine, but it does give you a long list of options and allows you to add your own suggestions for other users.
Wine Web Central has a unique “slider” mechanism, lets you search by type of food and type of spice, and also gives you suggestions on a scale of Good/Better/Best.
Canadian wine writer Natalie Maclean produced this widget using eight years of wine pairing advice and research.
Hello Vino uses a forking pathway style, asking you questions as you go along to try and narrow down the best wine for any occasion. It’s downloadable for use on your own website … and it even opens up a seasonal feature for Thanksgiving dinner!
Even the most talented of wine-and-food pairing experts find themselves perplexed by Thanksgiving dinner. After all, in most cases one is only trying to pick a bottle that goes with two or three items, and only one main course…whereas a traditional Thanksgiving might find the dinner table covered with heaping mounds of very different foods. When this feast rolls around, all bets are off—wine experts find themselves recommending reds and whites, trying to narrow it down to just a few different varietals.
We’re here to help you as best we can. Or maybe you’re fortunate enough to be going to somebody else’s house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Still, it might be very generous of you to send them the following articles to help them solve this annual conundrum.
For fans of French wine, there are few more exciting days in a year that the third Thursday of November—Beaujolais Nouveau! For those uninitiated, this traditional rite of the wine world marks the release of the new wines from the Beaujolais and Lyons regions of France, and has a character completely unique from any other celebration of new wine. What began as simply a local custom of trumpeting the new bottles slowly grew into a worldwide phenomenon, and today the release has even become something of a competition among wine merchants and distributors. Tomorrow just happens to be Beaujolais Nouveau, so here’s a quick summary of the hustle and bustle that’s about to happen in France.
At 12:01 AM in France—possibly by the time you read this post!—over a million cases of new Beaujolais wine will be leaving their wineries en route to Paris, where they will then be sorted and shipped immediately throughout the wine-drinking world. It has become something of a friendly race among all distributors to get their allotment of the wine to their customers first, and for those customers to be the first in the world to taste it. This means that these wines are being transported by any means necessary to get them to their destination first. Stories of transport by balloon, by world-class distance runners, even by elephant have abounded throughout the history of Beaujolais Nouveau. As you might expect, eventually the French government stepped in to try and control some of the chaos of the day, but they manage to maintain the joy and spirit of competition engendered by the unofficial holiday—by French law, in fact, one may not pour a drop of Beaujolais until the third Thursday in November.
For Chicago celebrants, there will be (at least) three tasting events in the area tonight and tomorrow:
Vertigo Sky Lounge at the Dana Hotel and Spa will celebrate Beaujolais starting tonight at 10:30 pm and going well past midnight into the official Beaujolais Nouveau. Bistrot Zinc will celebrate with both dinner and wine for a reasonable price: just $29.95 plus the price of the Beaujolais. Bistro 110 hosts a tasting from 6 pm to 8:30 pm featuring not only the new Beaujolais, but four other wines from the region and a sample of head chef Dominique Tounge’s pumpkin menu.
However you celebrate, make sure you celebrate soon: Beaujolais is a wine that must be opened and enjoyed within weeks of its bottling, so curious wine lovers should jump on their chance now, or they’ll be waiting until the next Beaujolais Nouveau!
With the fight to pass HR 5034 heating up again in the wake of this month’s dramatic election results, it’s a good idea to examine the positions of both sides more closely. We’ve devoted quite a bit of space to discussing the chief concerns of wineries and other retailers interested in relieving restrictions on direct shipping, but it’s important to also understand why wholesalers are fighting just as hard to see the new legislation passed.
At the heart of the wholesalers’ argument is the idea that the current three-tier system of the alcohol market, which has been in place since the end of Prohibition, is still relevant and beneficial to all parties involved. Although wineries and wine collectors have protested that the current paradigm has made it difficult to fully explore the vast array of wines available for consumption in the United States, wholesalers point out that part of their function is to help small and mid-size wineries onto retail shelves where they might not otherwise have the resources to market themselves.
Wineries do concede this point but counter that HR 5034 goes too far in protecting wholesaler interests. Since the law would, in effect, make it harder to challenge state laws against direct shipping, it has the potential to establish the current system as permanent. Wholesalers believe, however, that the challenges—such as a ballot initiative in Washington state that was defeated on November 3rd—only serve to dismantle the three-tier system entirely, with the ultimate goal of removing wholesalers from the equation. In that sense, then, the wholesalers are fighting for their very survival. Direct shipping does not pose nearly the threat to their business, they claim, as nationwide deregulation of alcohol sales could. Individual states, after all, will still be responsible for writing their own alcohol laws after HR 5034 passes. Wholesalers are trying to make sure that these laws, once written, can stay on the books.
While HR 5034 opponents say that it may indeed be time for the three-tier system to be revised or done away with, wholesalers argue that the superiority of the three-tier system is in fact why it has survived for so long. In a series of recent interviews with Wine Spectator magazine, wholesalers acknowledge that there is some consumer frustration due to volume cap laws and others, but maintain that these are necessary difficulties that accompany what is possibly the most safe and effective system for alcohol sales the world over.
One thing is for sure: the debate is far from over, and in fact may finally be about to truly begin. If you have a strong feeling one way or another, now is the time to make your voice heard.
Wine lovers know that when you’re hosting an evening at your home, the presentation of the wine bottle, glasses, and the atmosphere of the room are just as important to the evening as the vintage and varietal of the wine itself. You are, after all, trying to establish a proper mood.
Depending on the type of atmosphere you’re going for, you might consider going a step farther and trying out these charming LED Glassbulb Lights, which combine a comforting glow with the elegant wine glass design you’re already so familiar with. As you’ll see in some of the photographs, just a few of them can add a romantic, whimsical, or possibly even eerie quality to the room. It all depends on what you want your evening to accomplish.
Winemaking and wine enjoyment can both be complex arts, but sometimes it’s a good idea to look at one’s passion in simpler terms. Winery owner Joel Peterson and friends spent some time this summer talking to a variety of different wine enthusiasts in Paso Robles, California, and asked them to perform one simple task: complete the sentence “Wine is…”
The short film they produced from their answers is funny and inspiring, and may remind you of exactly why you’re a wine enthusiast yourself.
How would you answer the filmmakers’ question? What is wine to you?
Pennsylvania state liquor laws are notoriously restrictive compared to liquor laws in other states, and have long frustrated the state’s wine aficionados. All wine is sold at Wine and Spirits shops that are owned and regulated by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, and supermarkets are prohibited from selling wine off their own shelves as they would be able to do in other states. For some time now, supermarkets have been trying out ways to circumvent these laws. One way has been to build an in-house restaurant attached to the store itself, which operates under other regulations but still permits the sale of wine. A new way, just now rolling out in Pennsylvania, is the automated wine kiosk.
Simple Brands LLC, a Pennsylvania company, has devised the “Pronto” kiosk, what amounts to a wine bottle “vending machine.” It stocks a variety of different bottles at prices ranging from $5.99 to $39.99—most of which one could readily find at supermarkets anywhere else in the nation. A customer will select his or her bottle, and then be required to go through the following steps in order for the machine to grant them their purchase:
You scan your driver’s license to prove you are 21 years old.
A Liquor Control Board employee, via high-resolution video communication technology, makes sure that the photo on the ID matches the person standing at the kiosk screen.
The customer blows at a sensitive breathalyzer sensor to prove their legal sobriety.
After passing these tests, only then may they retrieve their selected bottle. Additionally, and notably, the wine kiosk also charges a $1 “convenience” fee.
While some wine buyers praise the opportunity that the new wine kiosks will afford them, others find the system convoluted and unappealing. The video screening in particular strikes them as something out of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, and the idea of paying an extra “convenience” charge on a process that seems inconvenient seems ridiculous. The ideal situation for these consumers, of course, would be to change the liquor laws of Pennsylvania entirely.
What do you think about the wine kiosk? Is it an idea that could work, with slight differences based on local liquor laws, in other states? Is it even a good idea, in your opinion for your fellow wine drinkers in Pennsylvania? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Even if you aren’t particularly enamored of politics, chances are you’re aware of the massive shift that just took place in our nation’s capital: Republicans claimed a majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats barely held onto their own majority in the Senate. With several new faces and voices set to begin debating policies, it’s worth examining what might be in store for HR 5034.
Within the last Congress, HR 5034 found itself stymied in the House, particularly within the House Judiciary Committee and from the podium of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Congressman John Conyers, who had chaired the Judiciary Committee, felt no great motivation to push the bill to a floor vote, and even if he had, Speaker Pelosi—who owns a winery in the Napa Valley—had vowed to never let the bill be given that vote. With the results of this week’s election, however, both Conyers and Pelosi’s power has declined substantially, and their successors, as it turns out, may be more apt to shepherd the bill through the House.
Lamar Smith (R-TX), as ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, is expected to ascend to chairman. Smith was also an original co-sponsor of the bill, so it’s safe to presume that he is more motivated than Conyers to move it out of committee. John Boehner (R-OH) will presumably be the next House Speaker, and counts among his financial backers a number of alcohol wholesalers and distributors who have an interest in seeing the bill passed.
On the other hand, there are a number of major problems still facing the nation that require more immediate attention, so the emergence of new allies for HR 5034 won’t necessarily make its passage either certain or speedy. Tom Wark of the Fermentation blog notes today that one major potential hurdle to the bill’s fate is that 40 of the bill’s 151 co-sponsors were voted out of office in this election cycle.
We’ll be keeping track of the bill’s progress – especially if it finds its way out of the judiciary committee – and keeping you informed.
If you’re past the point of just starting to practice wine collecting, you’ve probably met a lot of different and interesting people who share your passion. Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time at an online forum conversing energetically about a recent vintage of shiraz, or spent a half hour longer than you expected at your local wine shop getting a crash course on the best white wine to serve to your dinner party. Through wine clubs and wine tastings, you may also have met a number of people who are involved in direct wine shipping, who have as much to say about the business of wine as they do about the aesthetics and taste of it. If you have such friends and acquaintances, you might want to send them a heads-up about a useful seminar occurring next week.
Shipcompliant is a software company that caters specificially to the needs of wine-shipping businesses, providing programs that make their work more efficient, effective, and profitable. They also offer virtual seminars for industry professionals a few times per year. Their next such “webinar,” Direct Shipping Updates and Compliance Best Practices, will be taking place this coming Monday, November 8 from 1-2:30 pm PST (3-4:30 pm CST). Among the topics being discussed are state-by-state compliance changes and the current status of the legislative battle being fought over HR 5034.
With free registration and the ability to attend just a few clicks of a mouse away, this is one of the most convenient ways to learn more about the state of the direct wine shipping business today. You might not necessarily be interested in the particulars yourself, but chances are that somebody you know is—and their knowledge is likely to help your own wine experience the next time you come to one of their events. So pass it on!
Wine collectors know and accept that their passion can be an expensive one, but they pursue it in part because they believe in living life to the fullest. One of the nice things about such a personal philosophy is how easily it leads to philanthropy—many wine collectors would be only too happy to make the lives of others better while pursuing their own love of wine. This Thursday, November 4, Chicago Lighthouse gives you the opportunity to do just that with their annual Uncorked wine tasting benefit.
Uncorked promises to be an enjoyable and fascinating evening of wine and food, with special celebrity guests. For $125 per ticket (or the discounted group rate of ten tickets for $1000), guests will enjoy a robust Italian meal and dessert bar, complemented by an impressive selection of fine wines. The guests for the evening will be local on-air news personality Ginger Zee from NBC-5 and Fernando Beteta, the highly regarded Master Sommelier who made a splash last year by ranking as the number two sommelier in America (as well as one of Crain’s Top 40 under 40) .
For over a century, Chicago Lighthouse has provided social services to people in need. While focusing primarily on the concerns of those who are blind or visually impaired, they also reach beyond that mission to help children with multiple disabilities and military veterans throughout the country. The event helps generate funds both for Lighthouse programs and for other organizations with similar concerns—this year’s proceeds are to benefit the Illinois Association for Parents of Children with Visual Impairments (IPVI) and Seeing Is Believing, a Lighthouse program that works in Chicago Public Schools to help identify vision problems in young students and correct them.
Many wine lovers are some of the most generous people one could ever hope to meet, willing to donate time and money for no other reason than for the satisfaction of helping others. Uncorked allows these people to get something in return, by bringing them a delightful evening with their favorite pastime. If you are or you know somebody who would have a great time at this event, make sure to get tickets now.
It might not seem like the most natural fit to combine wine enthusiasm with the sensibilities of independent rock music, but for almost twenty years Garagiste, started by Seattle native Jon Rimmerman, has been doing just that. Taking its name from a subculture of passionate French winemakers who create limited production, artisanal wines—sometimes within their own garages—Rimmerman’s unique and somewhat controversial business model has focused on being a friend to the wine consumer above all else. The company has no investors or board of directors, puts no money into advertising, and maintains no physical storefront. It operates within the three-tiered model but is not beholden to wholesalers or other retailers, essentially cutting out most of the middle-men.
Rimmerman views wine as “an adventure,” and true to that philosophy, he seeks out smaller and little-known wine producers, many with innovative approaches to organic farming. Rather than maintain an online store or catalog, Garagiste members will receive an email offer for his discoveries. The offer can sometimes sell out within minutes, and once it is gone it may never return…fortune favors the swift! Wine shipments occur twice a year, and Garagiste is very particular about making sure that all wines (and food, which they also sell) are stored properly until they can be sent to customers.
Beyond its retail system, however, and its penchant for finding new wine, Garagiste also aims to be an online community of aesthetes, discussing not only wine and food, but also arts, culture, and philosophy. Rimmerman loves wine drinkers as much as he loves wine; he relishes the opportunity to converse with them and wants Garagiste to be a place where they can all speak to each other.
If the community and passion of Garagiste excites you, give them a closer look and see if you’d like to join in…they would love to have you not just as a customer, but as a participant!
Last week we told you a bit about the large groups standing on either side of the big HR 5034 debate, representing wineries, retailers, and wholesalers. What you may have noticed was that there didn’t seem to be much advocacy on the side of the wine consumer—quite possibly the largest and most integral part of the wine market. To that end, California-based wine blogger Tom Wark has started up a group on Facebook called the American Wine Consumer Coalition, which currently boasts nearly 1,400 active supporters.
Unlike other wine lovers’ forums, the AWCC is built specifically around the goal of amplifying the opinions of wine consumers to a level that they can affect state and federal policy changes. Current regulations and the expansion of those regulations under HR 5034 severely restrict interstate commerce, frustrating wine consumers by limiting their access to the thousands of different wines currently sold in the United States. The AWCC is determined to change that system. And besides the political activism, the AWCC Facebook page’s wall is also a great place for members to post interesting and informative links, such as “Weird Wine Laws” and articles that spotlight the entities fighting to maintain the status quo.
If the aims of the AWCC match up with your own feelings about wine commerce laws, you might find that the rapidly expanding Facebook site could be a regular online stop for you. Simply by “liking” this group, you’ll be able to join in the conversation with other wine consumers…and hopefully help make your own voice heard by Congress.
Founded in 2004 as an innovative hybrid of wine retailer and auction house, the Chicago-based Hart Davis Hart Wine Company prides itself not only on its ability to locate and offer fine and rare wines, but also on its personalized service. Owners John Hart, Michael Davis, and Paul Hart have spent decades in the wine industry as fine wine sellers and auctioneers, and HDH was their opportunity to create a dynamic business that would cater to wine collectors with discerning tastes. This Friday and Saturday, October 29/30, HDH will be holding their Auction of Finest and Rarest Wines, their largest such auction of the year. The auction will be held at their usual venue, Tru Restaurant, and features over 1800 lots from cellars across the United States.
Of special note at this auction will be a library collection from Harlan Estate, the renowned California winery whose reds have been singled out by Wine Advocate as “the single most profound red wine made not just in California, but in the world.” Harlan Estate practices winemaking by living in harmony with the robust and thriving land around them, and expresses a drive to produce wines that enrich their patrons’ lives. Wine collector Park B. Smith once declared in Food & Wine that Harlan Estate wines are “the most passionately made wine in America.” Harlan Estate’s compelling and human philosophy is instilled in the character of all Harlan Estate wines, and HDH proudly offers a vintage from each year between 1990-2006, including a bottle of the 1990 Imperial—the very first wine to be commercially released by the winery.
Bidding has already opened online if you’re interested in getting a head start on your wine-buying competitors. The auction is free and open to the public, but HDH strongly recommends pre-registration. You can also make reservations for lunch while you sign up to attend the auction.
Best of luck to any of our clients who plan to win one—or all—of these coveted Harlan Estate wines!
If you’ve been following this blog for a few weeks now, you know that we’re keeping an eye on House Resolution 5034 (or the CARE Act), which would drastically reduce the ability of consumers to purchase wine directly from the wineries. As with any such resolution that would affect the transactions of a multi-million dollar industry, a significant amount of effort and money has been spent lobbying Congress, both to support HR 5034’s passage and to defeat it. Campaign donations to key members of the House have cut across party lines to try and influence the final fate of the bill. Today, we’ll take a look at a few of the businesses and organizations that have firmly staked their tents in either camp.
Among the prominent players supporting passage of the bill are groups who act as representatives of wholesalers. As we previously noted, the current model for alcohol sales offers a significant advantage to wholesalers, so it is no surprise that the National Beer Wholesalers Association and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America are placing a priority on supporting the bill. Both also make a point of noting that their organizations create thousands of jobs, with the implication that any bill that aids their growth can only aid the job market during a particularly difficult economic time. The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association has long been an organization concerned with alcohol commerce regulation, so their presence in this debate is also unsurprising. The American Trauma Society and law firm Farella, Braun & Martell do not explicitly spell out their positions on the bill, although it is noteworthy that FB&M is located within Napa Valley and counts among their clients a large number of wine industry entities.
We all know how political discussions can sometimes ruin an otherwise pleasant dinner and wine tasting, but when the subject of the debate is your access to those wines, we imagine that you might have an opinion. Feel free to share it with us in the comments!
A few months back, we took a brief look at the artistry of wine labels and how often just as much care and character was put into these labels as you’d expect of the wines within the bottle. Now, thanks to a brand-new iPhone app, the hundreds of unique wine label designs can be even more practical than they were before.
Thanks to Snooth Wine Pro, searching for a particular bottle has just become so easy that you’ll marvel how you ever got along without it. The way you use the app is simple—you snap a photo of the wine label, and then Snooth Wine Pro uses photo recognition software to identify the bottle in their comprehensive database. After identifying the wine, Snooth Wine Pro will then examine your GPS coordinates and tell you the nearest locations—and even give you driving directions—where you can pick up another bottle! The app will also give you a price comparison among all of these locations, or, if you’re not in the mood to go out, allow you to order a bottle for delivery directly from Snooth.
And no worries if your memory of the wine you found a few months ago is hazy: the app will also store in its memory every wine you’ve tried, so you will always be able to find it again whenever you’re in the mood. For the sheer amount of functionality you can get from this one little app, it’s sure to become your trusted companion any time you decide to go wine-hunting.
Don’t let the provocative name mislead you: Lincoln Park’s Poison Cup is the exact opposite of a toxic environment. Although they have a fine selection of wines for sale, from fine bargains to pricier bottles, The Poison Cup aims to be more than just another wine shop. The owners, Erica Feldkamp and John Witte, aimed to establish a place where all sorts of people can come to “fall in love with wine.”
The walls are adorned with art from noted locals, the atmosphere is unpretentious and comfortable, and you can also pick up chocolates and cheeses that will complement whatever you decide to pour into your glass. In addition, The Poison Cup proprietors know that the surest way to love something is to know it, so they will occasionally hold classes designed to give even the newest wine enthusiast an educated perspective on their hobby.
In fact, this coming Sunday you can show up at The Poison Cup for the Oregon Pinot Class, which will take you on a journey into the growth of Pinot grapes, and the many different types of wine they can produce in the American Pacific Northwest. You’ll taste a couple of different wines and learn why their differences occur—which will help you understand not only the nuances of Pinot, but also of your own palate. And as you continue on with your lifetime of wine experiences, knowing your own taste is just as important of knowing how wines taste.
The worldwide economic crisis affected nearly every industry worldwide, and wine was no exception. In the wine market today, you don’t have to look very hard to find discounts on all sorts of wine varietals from wineries in every region. What many people might not realize, however, is that these discounts aren’t only to be found in the lower and middle classes of wines, but also in the premier, high-end bottles. At the end of last month, it was reported that one of the most coveted Burgundy wines, Domaine de la Romanee Conti, would be marketed in the coming months at nearly half its previous selling price. While the bottle would still cost a pretty penny—$3,600—this is a steep cut from the usual $5,000 – 10,000 consumers would have expected to pay.
All markets fluctuate, of course, so it would be reasonable to expect that this wine discount window should be closing any day now. Possible…but also possibly not. The recovery of the world’s economy is a slow process, and in the meantime, new business models, designed to be successful in this environment, have sprouted. Daily Discount sites—some of which we have highlighted within this blog—are plentiful and thriving, as wine enthusiasts looking to maintain a tight budget find that just because a wine costs less doesn’t mean that it’s “cheap.” What could have been a brief sales phenomenon turned out to be a genuinely sound practice, and the end result is that consumers and some wine sellers are seeing an advantage to maintaining a culture of discounts. Certain entrepreneurs have even taken to buying a winery’s overstock and relabeling them, then selling those wines at cut-rate prices.
Not everybody is pleased with the rampant discounts. In Bordeaux last month there was a very public protest over low wine prices, in which bottles were bought and smashed with hammers, to declare that selling wines at discount ultimately damaged the reputation of Bordeaux wines. The protesters further argued that inferior wines were flooding the market under the prestigious distinction of being labeled Bordeaux, and that the situation would not get better as long as prices remained low. Such public displays of indignation could very well rally support to end the low wine prices, and hasten the closing of the discount window.
A true wine enthusiast never really stops hunting for great wines at great prices, but right now the opportunities are as plentiful as they’ve ever been. Although this current state of the market could last for several months, or even years longer, it’s a good plan to keep on top of the latest deals now, just in case.
Everybody has their own rituals when it comes to uncorking and serving a bottle of wine at home. Over time, you might develop a particular flourish in your pour, or decide how you’re most comfortable with a corkscrew, or even lay claim to a favorite wine charm when you have guests over. Tradition and etiquette are a large part of wine’s enduring role in societies throughout the world, and throughout history. Here are a few notable examples.
Portuguese Pride — All wine-producing regions are proud of their bottles, of course, but Portugal enjoys a particular reputation for self-esteem when it comes to their vineyards. Since the Portuguese have an (under-recognized) history of winemaking that goes back as far as the ancient Greeks, they make a point of enjoying their own wines with their meals. To show up to a dinner in Portugal with a gift of wine from another country is considered an affront not only to your host, but to the nation as a whole.
For The Departed — In the European nation of Georgia, it has long been a tradition to spill some wine on the earth as a sign of respect for those who have passed away. This action has passed beyond Georgia to other regions, and is perhaps most visible in the United States through hip-hop culture—the practice of pouring beer or other liquor on the ground for one’s departed friends. Serving wine to the dead goes back even further than this tradition, however. When the kings and queens of ancient Egypt died, their tombs were traditionally stocked with five large jars, each containing a different type of wine, for their journey to the afterlife.
“Trust Toasting” — Today, the act of clinking glasses together creates a calming and aesthetically pleasing sound, but the practice pre-dates elegant modern stemware and has a more cynical origin. When wine was served in sturdier wooden or metal goblets, the act was performed with greater gusto, such that the wines from each goblet would spill and intermingle with each other—thereby discouraging any party from poisoning another’s wine.
Naval Regulations — Toasting is a tradition connected uniquely with wine, and its different affectations are not limited only to those cultures defined by national borders. The United States Navy, true to any military institution, has instituted specific guidelines, in manual form (!) on how a proper Navy toast is to occur. One specific norm of a Navy toast is that water must never be used, under penalty that the person being toasted will die by drowning. Another is that all toasts at a naval “dining in”—what was once referred to as a “mess night”—be conducted with port wine instead of champagne or another type. Especially interesting is that Navy traditions of toasting dictate special toasts for specific days of the week, as follows:
Sunday: “to absent friends”
Monday: “to our ships at sea”
Tuesday: “to our men”
Wednesday: “to ourselves”
Thursday: “to a bloody war or a sickly season”
Friday: “to a willing foe and sea-room”
Saturday: “to sweethearts and wives”
A little over a week ago we informed you about HR 5034, or the CARE Act, which would, if passed, severely restrict the ability of direct market transactions between wine collectors and wineries or distilleries. This new bill did not, however, emerge from a vacuum—its provisions are based on advancing and further codifying many older laws. In this post, we’ll take a look at the origins of HR 5034 and the current paradigm of the wine industry, and why legislators seem deeply attached to fighting for the status quo.
To understand current state laws dictating wine sales, one needs to look back at the era immediately after Prohibition, when sales of all alcohol was illegal. After this amendment was finally repealed, states were given the power to regulate their own interstate alcohol commerce. However, the forces that had first instituted Prohibition to begin with—temperance advocates—remained a strong and influential lobby, and across the country they demanded a structure mandating a middle entity. This structure, they argued, would keep producers from exercising a stranglehold on the market. In the past, certain producers had had so much control over certain regions’ liquor stores and restaurants that they could often dictate that their product, and not their competitors, were allowed to be served.
However, the current state of alcohol commerce has not eliminated this power from the system, but merely transferred it to wholesalers, who wield a sort of “gatekeeping” strength not found in most other industries. A wholesaler will decide whose product to stock and sell to retailers based largely on their confidence in selling that product. For wine collectors, this means that a significant amount of the wines to be found in retail stores are from the largest companies—bestselling wines such as those by Kendall Jackson, Sutter Home, or Beringer, all of whom spend millions each year on making their brands more visible to consumers. As a result, the system encourages a “big get bigger” mentality in the wine industry, and other producers must fight for wholesalers’ attention through positive press in an industry magazine or an award—the sort of marketability that tells a wholesaler that they are more likely to sell that stock.
Unfortunately for wine collectors with more eclectic or eccentric tastes, these laws currently make it very difficult for the citizens of certain states to seek out more obscure wineries and sample their product—rather than order a bottle directly, they must go to the winery themselves. Indeed, such wineries show that a vast majority of their sales come from tasting events. And it is important to note that even if you make the effort to travel to a winery far away from you, interstate transport laws will regulate exactly how much you can bring back with you…no stocking up all at once!
Wholesalers, then, have a vested interest in the passage of HR 5034, not to mention keeping the current state as it is—and so they are very active in making sure their local government officials hear their demands and champion them on the floor of Congress. Those who oppose the measure will need to organize and follow the same channels in order to push back against the entrenched lobby.
The name Mondavi is one of the most famed in the wine industry. Family patriarch Robert (who passed away in 2008) was renowned for his technical innovation and marketing savvy, qualities that helped not only his own wines, but the entire Napa Valley region, gain world recognition. This Thursday evening, Robert Mondavi’s children and grandchildren are continuing in his tradition by hosting a unique wine event at not only one location, but, through simulcasting technology, over 50.
The event, called “Celebrating the Legendary Blend,” has been organized as a partnership with Morton’s The Steakhouse, a national chain of upscale restaurants whose wine lists include some very high-quality bottles. For $175 per person, one can go to any Morton’s and be seated in the private dining room—where they will be linked via broadcasting setups to several other Morton’s restaurants and to the Charles Krug Carriage House in Napa Valley, where the Mondavis will host. All guests across the nation will then be served the exact same meal of food and wine, creating a sort of virtual banquet for over 2,400 people. There are six locations in the Chicago area, including the original near State and Rush, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find one near you. Check out the menu for the evening, and try to pretend you’re not intrigued.
The ticket price may seem steep, but there is an additional dimension to this event. Although the dinner is in part being held to honor the Mondavi family’s near-century of winemaking, the true motive for the event is to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which works to comfort children suffering from life-threatening illnesses by granting them their heart’s desire. So not only does one have the opportunity to partake of a rare wining and dining event, one would also be working to help this vital organization continue its mission. There will also be a silent auction starting at dinner and going until the end of the month, which includes a trio of premium wines from three esteemed Napa Valley wineries.
To make a reservation, and learn more about what you might expect from the evening, go to the Morton’s The Steakhouse “prime events” page. We hope you have the opportunity to check out this unique and noble-minded adventure!
The vast majority of table wines today are produced by grapes grown on the vitis vinifera, the common (or European) grapevine. Viticulturists often cross-pollinate these grapes among the same species to strengthen crops, and such crossings can occur naturally. However, there are also a number of varietals that are produced by artificially cross-breeding certain grapes. Some examples of these hybrid grape wines include De Chaunac and Baco noir.
Much of the science of creating hybrid grapes was a direct response to an epidemic of phylloxera lice that destroyed many European vineyards in the late 19th Century. The louse first traveled across the Atlantic from North America, when grape growers in Europe decided to try their hands at growing native North American vines. Interestingly, these North American vines were both the cause of and solution to the phylloxera epidemic; since the louse was native to North America, those vines had long since developed a resistance. Viticulturists on both sides of the Atlantic worked to develop a European vine with grafted rootstock from North American vines, which did not interfere with grape production but discouraged the lice from breeding (at one of the insect’s life cycles, it secretes a toxin that kills the vine).
Today, there is a renewed focus on this type of “inter-specific” breeding in Europe, and the new varietals that occur from hybrid grapes provide a new adventure for wine enthusiasts. There are a number of qualities of such wines that have been considered undesirable for European palates, such as a high level of acidity or a distinctive “candied” aroma. However, the concern over another phylloxera scourge has made many vineyard owners at least consider the use of hybridization—a dead vineyard is likely a far more frightening prospect, after all, than a less popular wine varietal. Pest menace is not the only foe to be beaten back by hybridization. Some of the more recent hybrid wine grapes include Rondo and Regent grapes, which were designed not to fight phylloxera, but against winter frost and downy mildew.
Is there a hybrid grape wine you’ve experienced that you’d recommend to your friends, or even one that you have in storage in our cellars? Let us know, so we can share your find with our readers.
For the past few months, the wine community has been buzzing about HR 5034 (also known as the “CARE” act), which is a Congressional bill proposing new alcohol regulation to advance state laws mandating that alcohol be sold through wholesalers – effectively replacing existing retailer-to-consumer transactions from distilleries, breweries and wineries.
In other words, HR 5034 would make it illegal for specialty wine retailers and vineyards to operate directly in the alcohol beverage market.
Whoa!
Last summer, CNN ran the following piece detailing the potential effect of this legislation on small family business and mid-sized wine producers:
There’s a heated debate in which many Strongbox clients are taking sides, as one of the joys (and conveniences) of wine collecting is the great variety available when you can ship directly from the vineyard. Dr. Vino recently ran an editorial about the bill and upgraded his legislative threat meter alert to a “high shoulder” threat level. HR 5034.org outlines a detailed “fact vs. fiction” document including co-sponsors of the bill from the State of Illinois.
Wednesday’s press release from WineBusiness.com details events and opinions surrounding the House Judiciary Committee’s recent hearing on the proposed legislation, quoting WineAmerica COO Cary Greene’s opinion that this is “pure special interest legislation that will harm wineries and consumers.”
We’ll be keeping you updated on the latest news as the bill makes its way through Congress, and as Chicagoans weigh in on the debate. What do you think?
In recent weeks, we’ve spotlighted a number of websites that offer regular discounts on wines. Although the world wide web certainly opens up a number of possibilities for your bargain hunting, it’s also smart to remember that wine deals are also happening out in the real world, too—sometimes right in your own backyard. We’ll be taking a look at some local establishments in the future where you can find a physical bottle and take it home then and there, instead of waiting for delivery.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t alert you to the Wine Discount Center’s monthly flyers of excellent and affordable bottles. This month, they feature a selection of eight different 90-Point wines, an exceptional rating, all for under $10 a bottle. The group includes a trio of 2009 Sauvignon Blancs, a 2008 Shiraz, and a 2007 Reserve Merlot.
Pick up a bottle tonight and let them know that we gave you a heads-up about these exciting low-cost, high-value wines!
Wine Discount Center
1826 N Elston
Chicago, IL 60642
(773) 489-3454
So let’s say you’re an experienced wine enthusiast now. You’ve trained your nose to savor the aromas and your tongue to separate the notes in each glass. You’re able to suggest the proper bottle to go with any meal being served, and you know how long to wait before serving it. You know which wines you can keep on your rack in the dining room and which you needed to place into storage, and you keep a very detailed database (perhaps at Cellartracker) to let you know where you put all of it. With all of those experiences behind you, maybe it’s time to try the next frontier, and make your own wine?
Making your own wine doesn’t necessarily require the optimal conditions you find in the wine countries of the world—you’re not likely to produce a new varietal that takes the market by storm and becomes a legend of the industry. Home winemaking is primarily about using your knowledge and particular tastes to create something that’s maybe just for you and your friends over a special dinner. To that end, remember to have fun with your experiment—and if you don’t succeed the first time, don’t be afraid to try again. You might even try making several different kinds of wine at the same time to see if you discover something you hadn’t expected.
Here are a handful of links to get you started.
- Homemade Wine, a comprehensive resource on the subject
In any American restaurant with even a basic wine list, you are likely to find a bottle of Pinot Grigio available for your enjoyment. What you might not realize, however, is that as recently as 30 years ago most Americans were unaware that such a varietal even existed. The presence of Pinot Grigio in our marketplace today can be credited to the discerning palate of Anthony J. Terlato, a longtime Chicagoan and a pioneer in teaching America to appreciate the nuances of fine wine.
Terlato first experienced the wine industry through his father, who owned Chicago’s Leading Liquors wine retail shop, one of the city’s first self-service liquor establishments. After learning about the finer European wines through the merchandise his family sold, Terlato set about revolutionizing his family’s wine import business, specifically spotlighting the underrepresented wines of Italy. In 1979, on a trip to Italy, Terlato discovered the Italian’s Pinot Grigio varietal, sampling several bottles in one evening and then choosing one, the Santa Margherita, as the best of the bunch. He negotiated with the winery to import their Pinot Grigio to America, and it steadily caught the public’s attention, becoming an extremely popular imported wine.
Today, Terlato Wines International runs a number of California wineries and continues to tantalize American wine aficionados with imports of fine European varietals. Terlato himself maintains a hands-on presence—no doubt spurred by his passion for the art of wine—and his company works constantly to shape tastes by releasing, each month, ratings for new vintages.
The next time you open a bottle of your favorite Pinot Grigio, you might want to take a moment to toast the man who made that bottle’s purchase possible. To Anthony Terlato!
Since 2004, Tom Thornhill, Tim Thornhill, and Paul Dolan have run the Mendocino Wine Company, a California vineyard notable for its dedication to environmentally sound and sustainable wine production. The three men had come together from worlds of organic horticulture and preservation, and their vision of a truly green winery was realized when they purchased the Parducci Wine Cellars, the oldest winery in Mendocino. Today, their business practices and philosophies serve as an example and inspiration to other like-minded wineries the world over.
Check out the below video for a look at the wine production process at Mendocino. Winemaking may be an ancient art, but as these men are proving, one can always find ways to innovate.
In the United States, California enjoys a particularly robust reputation as a wine producer…but what many Chicagoans might not realize is that there is a burgeoning wine country just across the lake, in Michigan.
As one of the leading fruit producers in the nation, Michigan has largely focused on producing sweet fruit wines, and is especially well known for wines made from their famous cherries. However, Michigan has also recently been developing more vineyards that grow a healthy variety of different European grapes—some of the varieties produced include Chardonnay, Merlot, and Riesling. You can learn quite a bit just by visiting the official site of Michigan’s wine industry, which offers you a stunning gallery of its vineyards, a calendar of upcoming wine events, and more. Or, if you’d like to check out where others find the best Michigan wines, you can check out reviews and tasting profiles over at Cork’d.com
There are well over 100 wineries operating in Michigan today, and recent estimates show that they produce nearly a million gallons of wine yearly (425,000 bottles). With that kind of output, it’s hard to ignore Michigan’s contribution to the American wine industry. If you are already a fan of Michigan wines, let us know your favorites, and we’ll share your recommendations with the rest of our readers.
One of the great things about advances in social media networking is that it’s become incredibly easy to locate like-minded individuals on any topic you can think of—including, of course, people who love wine. Twitter, with its real-time interface and “hashtag” grouping system, is one such ideal networking environment for wine enthusiasts—at least, those who don’t mind sharing their thoughts at 140 characters per “tweet.”
WineTwits uses Twitter as a platform to create a centralized forum for its users, allowing them to converse at will on any number of topics. If you’re on Twitter already, follow @WineTwits to learn more about what discussions are currently happening. If you haven’t tried Twitter because you’re a little intimidated by the onslaught of conversation, this might be a good place to ease yourself in…surrounded by people who have the exact same passion for wine as you.
WineTwits also has its own “deal” site for users at WineTwits Deals. Instead of being a “daily” deal, however, WineTwits offers one bottle of wine at a 30-80% markdown rate until that wine is sold out…and then they put another one up on the sale block (no more than six per day, though, so pace yourself!).
Great conversation and good deals on wine—isn’t that part of why you enjoy wine in the first place?
We hope you had a great time this past weekend at The Windy City Wine Festival or 2nd Story…or perhaps both, if you’d been so adventurous. If you have any stories from either event you’d like to share, please tell us all about it in the Comments section.
Coming up in the rest of the month, we’ll profile some more daily deal sites for you, and introduce you to some other interesting wine personalities from around the Chicago area.
For today, though, you should just enjoy this amusing bit of wine-related cartoon history—an animated short featuring The Beatles visiting a French winery. Hijinks, and a rock concert, quickly ensue:
One-time Chicagoan Kevin Lynch and his partner Amber Share are on a mission. Combining their years of expertise as restaurateur, sommelier, and culinary specialist with a cultural curiosity, the pair created Native Food & Wine, a site where they post stories of their travels around the world, examining the means of producing the food and wine that you might be enjoying in your own home. Since spring of 2009, they have been regularly spotlighting innovative ways that certain regions manufacture their culinary specialties, focusing not only on unusual methods but also environmentally conscious ones.
Native Food & Wine is also uniquely interested in sharing stories of the people involved, and the history they have to share. Take a look at this short interview with Sofian Himeur, owner of Gruet Winery in New Mexico, about how his family first began to produce their line of sparkling wines:
More recently, Lynch and Share have been exploring Tuscany, and reporting on fascinating aspects of its food and wine culture such as the renowned Tuscan bistecca cattle and—of particular interest to our readers—the Vernaccia di San Gimignano winery, owned and operated by Tuscan royalty and with a past that includes noteworthy connections to the Renaissance.
Follow along at their website…it may inspire you to follow them along in real life!
As you might expect, the owners of the simply-named wine.com have some experience in the field of online wine commerce. Their site, which began as eVineyard in 1998 and transferred over to its current web address in 2001, has steadily grown into the #1 online wine store by annual revenue. From the home page, you can access several wine deals and sign up for a number of wine clubs.
Wine.com is set up to help the novice make informed decisions about their purchases. However, for more knowledgeable clientele, the site also offers their secret, members-only Wineshopper section, where the extra special deals can be found. Don’t let the members-only label intimidate you, though—membership is completely free and takes less than a minute to set up. In fact, to give you a full report of what awaits you behind the Wineshopper door, we signed up ourselves.
What you’ll find on Wineshopper are a number of daily deals and limited-time offers on all sorts of wines, including both wines for casual dining and those for special occasions. At the moment, you still have four days to pick up a bottle of Chateau Ste Michelle 2008 Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon, a 90-point rated wine, for the low price of $12.99—and you can be sure that other such deals will be coming in the future. The best part about the membership system, though, is that you don’t have to check back all the time…the day’s events are emailed directly to you, and you can then decide if you want to partake of the offers.
Are you a current Wineshopper member? How have your experiences been? Let us know in the comments.
After you’ve sampled the seven-course meal that is The Windy City Wine Festival, you might want to save some room on your palate to check out this weekend’s installment of 2nd Story, happening on the evenings of September 12 and 13 at Webster’s Wine Bar. Serendipity Theatre Collective’s popular storytelling and wine tasting event has been enchanting connoisseurs of both fine wine and fine art for several years now. If you haven’t checked it out, you owe yourself the experience.
Although the evening is undoubtedly theatrical, 2nd Story isn’t the sort of event where you buy a ticket and then sit watching a blank stage, waiting for the show to start. Each evening is dedicated to the sense of honesty that can be found in a pleasant night out with your friends in a relaxed environment. You’ll slowly imbibe a quality wine, snack on cheese or other small items, and engage in the art of conversation. A few times in the middle of your evening, however, the lights will dim, and somewhere else in the room, a talented performer will share a true story about themselves, enhanced by expert light and sound design. When the story is over, perhaps what you just heard will inspire you to share something of your own with your table.
This weekend you’ll be regaled with stories from such performers as 2nd Story mainstay Megan Stielstra, among others. You’ll also get a chance to sample wines from Maysara, Seven Hills, and J. Bookwalter. If you have to miss this weekend, though, don’t worry—2nd Story happens a couple of times a month at various locales, and changes all the time. For a sample of the sorts of stories you might hear told, check out some of these 2nd Story videos and podcasts.
As nice as it can be to open a new bottle of wine in a carefully set indoor environment, there’s something to be said for enjoying wine in the fresh, open air…especially at an iconic sight in Chicago. Unfortunately, law and propriety will tend to prohibit you from pouring yourself a glass at most such outdoor attractions.
This coming weekend, however, you should check out The Windy City Wine Festival, which will give you the opportunity to experience not only one bottle of wine, but dozens, while relaxing by Chicago’s beautiful Buckingham Fountain.
You can check out a full list of wineries and the bottles they’ll be bringing for your enjoyment here. All of these wines will also be available at a special discount price, so if you happen to find that wine you didn’t know you were always looking for, you can buy yourself several bottles to uncork in the future. More than simply an elaborate wine tasting, The Windy City Wine Festival also features seminars and classes taught by wine experts from all across Chicago and live music events in the evenings. But most importantly, it’s a chance to join one of the largest gatherings of wine enthusiasts in the Chicago area at a gorgeous locale, and share the atmosphere.
Two days only and tickets are on sale now! We hope to see many of our customers there, soaking up the afternoon and evening as the summer begins to transition into fall. And remember—if you do find that bottle of wine you need to buy a dozen of, don’t forget us when you’re trying to figure out how to store it!
This week we’re spotlighting the reliable “Daily Deal” site Cinderella Wine, which distinguishes itself from many other similar sites through its partnership with Wine Library. This partnership allows Cinderella Wine to find the best quality wine you might not have heard of, and then offer it to you for one day only at a beautiful price.
Cinderella Wine is the brainchild of that charming rogue of the wine world, Gary Vaynerchuk, who has made a career out of sharing interesting wines with his audience. The site encourages open dialogue about the wines offered, the better to build an online community of people just as passionate about wine as Vaynerchuk is himself.
Today’s deal is on a two-pack of Syrahs, one a 2007 Rasa QED and the other a 2006 Neyers Syrah Cuvee de Honor. You save over $40 on this wine deal and get a pair of wines rated higher than 90 points. But remember: like any Cinderella, this deal only lasts until the stroke of midnight…so get on it right now!
Some of our regular readers know that blog surfing can be addictive, especially considering how many people may have blogs devoted to a singular interest in wine. If our regular features aren’t enough for you, but you’re wary of seeking out other bloggers, allow us to make one recommendation for you—you should be reading Maggie Bernat Smith’s posts at the Chicago Examiner.
A wine buyer at Just Grapes in Chicago, as well as a continuing oenology student, Maggie is quickly becoming an excellent resource for wine enthusiasts looking to find out more about specific varietals. Check out her posts on the distinction between Syrah and Shiraz wines, for example, or her defense of Merlot—a rebuttal, of sorts, to the film Sideways.
Maggie’s background allows her to approach wine both from the perspective of passionate aficionado and practical purchaser, so often you’ll get a great mix of discussion about the qualities of the wine as well as what you should be paying for a bottle of it. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, you’re likely to get some useful information from her posts.
If you’re the sort of person who loves to talk about wine and wine-related topics, but can’t always find your way out to a tasting or other event, you can still get in on the global conversation using the online open forum at Wine Berserkers. With over 3,500 users, this easy-to-use message board has generated almost 30,000 topics and new conversations are happening all the time.
Almost every topic is fair game — you can discuss wine varietals or wine bars, retail stores and vineyards. There are even sections named “Wine 101” to help rookie wine drinkers explore their new hobby, and a section to discuss non-wine beverages such as beer and spirits.
Our clients might be particularly interested in the recent discussion of how one organizes their personal wine cellar. Sign up, and then and join the conversation here!
Hunting for deals on great wine can be exciting, but it can also be frustrating—you’re only one person, after all, and you might not have the time or energy to search everywhere you wish you could. But what if you had a team at your disposal, whose sole mission was to seek out the best bottles of wine and then bring it to your attention?
You’d have The Wine Spies, that’s what. Every day, a new Daily Deal shows up on the Spies’ website, sought out by one of the undercover “agents” and then placed on the front page along with a “confidential dossier” that gives you all the information you could possibly ask for regarding that particular wine. Not only the origin of the bottle, but also a report on the taste and possibly even an interview with the owner of the vineyard—The Wine Spies believe that the more you know about the bottle the more assured you can be of its quality if you decide to buy it. And if you do, you’ll have the added satisfaction of knowing what a great price you paid for it.
But there’s more to The Wine Spies than just good deals on fine wine. The site is also set up to encourage you to become a special “operative,” and offer your own comments about the wines being highlighted. You’ll be taking part in a gigantic discussion with wine enthusiasts worldwide, and active participants will earn “Spy Rank” points. These points will gradually build your “rank” on the Wine Spies website, and will open up exclusive deals only available for the best operatives.
Are you an operative already? Let us know if you’ve enjoyed your Wine Spies experience, and what sort of deals you may have been lucky enough to come across.
We’ve mentioned entrepreneurial sommelier Gary Vaynerchuk a number of times in this blog, in part because we love the way he’s found innovative, web-based ways to share his passion for wine with the masses. We also enjoy his playful and disarming attitudes about wine. Although he clearly knows what he’s talking about, he won’t condescend to the novice wine drinkers—a refreshing tone that has created a diverse fanbase from all walks of life.
Vaynerchuk’s about to embark on a brand new venture for his style of wine appreciation: a new show on satellite radio. Starting tomorrow, August 26, you can catch Wine & Web with Gary Vaynerchuk, a two-hour call-in show that merges his interest in wine and in social media, at 9 pm CST on Sirius channel 108/XM channel 139.
From the press release:
Gary will welcome guests from the wine, social media and tech industries and take calls from around the country. Weekly features include “Wine of the Week,” on which he will try a new wine for the first time on the air, and “Site of the Week,” on which he’ll riff on the latest gadgets, websites, and social media trends.
Whether you’re a die-hard “Vayniac” or just a casual fan, if you have access to satellite radio you should give Gary’s show a chance. (It kicks off with Gary interviewing Opus One Winery CEO David Pearson.) It’s sure to be filled with the same energy and sense of humor you’re able to find in any of his video clips.
Now that Strongbox has broken through the WiFi barrier at both of our locations, we’re excited to tell all of our gadget-savvy customers about other tech advancements that will help them pursue their passion for wine.
Wine Spectator, THE wine magazine read by wine enthusiasts worldwide, has just released a new app for iPhone users! The Vintage Chart+ app puts the WS vintage chart—a handy tool that lets you know which years of a particular wine are considered the finest—in the palm of your hand. Unlike the magazine’s standard vintage chart, however, app users are also able to access a whole bevy of new and helpful features that take advantage of other functions of the iPhone.
If you download the app, tell us about your experiences with it. Did it help you while you were shopping? Did you decide to go after a particular vintage based on the scores and drinkability recommendations the app gives you? We’ll post a follow-up with your comments to serve as a testimonial. Happy hunting!
In just four short years, New Zealand’s wine-searcher.com has become the comprehensive resource for wine sellers and buyers, with literally millions of listings and a functionality that has revolutionized the way the wine market operates. With its simple interface and vast stores of updated data, any consumer can search for wines by name, vintage, or even country of origin; find comparative price listings; and purchase the bottle then and there. Its influence is so widespread that other notable wine websites, including Gary Vaynerchuk’s own “Daily Deal” site Cinderella Wine, readily link to it for consumer convenience.
Check out this short video for a glimpse of the site and its features, and then give it a glance yourself. If you’re a wine enthusiast who has never experienced wine-searcher, you’ll probably walk away from your first visit wondering how you did without.
Take note that wine-searcher works on a tiered membership system: the free version will still find you some great deals on particular wines…but will spotlight wine-searcher’s sponsors at the exclusion of other stores. If you purchase the yearly “Pro” membership for $29.95, you will receive all results for any search, and will also have access to other options, such as the ability to search by bottle size and a way to view a particular wine’s price history. If you know what you’ll need from the site, you’ll know what level of membership you should have.
If you’re a regular eBay shopper, you know all about its online auction system, and the thrill of winning a great deal on a coveted item. For a wine enthusiast, eBay often has a wide array of racks, glasses, charms, and other such accessories. The one thing eBay doesn’t seem to have, though, is wine.
Fortunately, there’s The Cellar Exchange, an online auction house exclusively for wine buyers and sellers. Developed by Chicagoan Michael Weiner—a well-traveled wine enthusiast in his own right—The Cellar Exchange states as its mission a desire to focus on its visitors, and to give them the power of commerce that other sites often maintain for themselves. There is no membership fee to join The Cellar Exchange, no fee to list wines for sale, and no buyer’s fees. Wine trade is direct between seller and buyer, rather than requiring the wine to go to Cellar Exchange itself. Site users are encouraged to interact with one another, and are able to assign each other open ratings and feedback, so that all members can see who has a good reputation as either buyer or seller. You can learn more about how the site operates by checking out its FAQ.
As with any auction, timing is key! You never know when a bottle you’ve been searching for might appear online at auction, so it’s always a good idea to check back often. If you’ve used Cellar Exchange before, or you decide to use it for the first time based on this post, let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear about any exciting finds or deals you managed to win at auction…and if you need a place to store that find, you know how to reach us.
Correction: Michael Weiner is the developer and owner of the Cellar Exchange. The site was originally conceived and founded by Doug Parsons. Thanks for the catch, readers!
The rise and the development of the Internet has changed many things about the way people live their lives, and especially the way they engage in commerce. Wine markets are no different than other such specialty markets in this regard— where once wine buyers and sellers were limited by region and time, today the Internet grants both wineries and wine aficionados around the world the ability to interact with each other almost instantly.
In recent months, wine buyers may have noticed that discounts have been appearing everywhere online. A global wine surplus, along with the unstable world economy, has shifted the wine market on the side of buyers. Forbes magazine reports that selling bottles of fine wine at reduced prices has become a “budding sector” in the market—as demonstrated by the appearance of several “Daily Deal” sites. The Chicago Tribune noted last week that the wealth of information available gives buyers the power to compare one seller to another, and thus leads to a sort of “democratization” in the way wines are priced.
In the next few weeks, the Strongbox wine blog is going to profile a few of these “Daily Deal” and buyer-oriented sites, including Wine-Searcher, Cinderella Wines, and Wine Spies. We’ve also added a handy twitter feed of the latest daily wine deals onto our sidebar, so you can check out today’s deals!
If you’ve spent any time scanning these sites or others for your own daily deals, let us know what your experience was like. Is the website the sort of destination that you frequent or has it failed to impress you at all? Are the deals generally very enticing, or merely ho-hum? Do the sites respond well to customer feedback? Give us your opinions and we’ll share them with other readers here.
Part of the experience of wine appreciation is in the hunt. Somebody may have told you about an exciting young Pinot Noir that they tried while on vacation in New Zealand, and you’ve been obsessed with finding it ever since but without much luck. When you do finally find it, though—it may be all the more wonderful on your palate because of the effort you put into tracking it down.
Wine auctions can be a place where you discover that wine you’ve always wanted…or possibly the wine you didn’t realize you’d always wanted. The Chicago Wine Company, located in Wood Dale, Illinois, has been operating since 1974 and in the business of auctioning fine wines since 1977, making it the second-oldest wine auction house in the United States. They conduct around 20 auctions per year and also hold special dinner events, including an annual celebration of the newest Bordeaux vintage. Due to the longevity of their operation, The Chicago Wine Company has an extensive network of European contacts, and as such are often able to obtain wines for auction that many other auction houses would be unable to find.
If attending a wine auction sounds like an opportunity for you to discover something new and exciting—or even something familiar but beloved—see if you can attend one of the upcoming auctions. The August 25 auction catalog has just been posted and features a number of remarkable lots, including several bottles of Chateau LaFite Rothschild 1998 and 2000. You can download the entire catalog here.
Chicago Wine Company Auction
August 25, 2010 – 11 am
835 N. Central Ave.
Wood Dale, IL 60191
The Chicago Wine Company is also a great place to go if you’re looking to sell lots from your own wine collection. They offer a number of perks to collectors who choose to sell their wines through them, including that they don’t charge lotting or insurance fees. If you have a few fine wine bottles that you could stand to profit from, it’s definitely worth considering putting a few of them up for auction. (The next deadline for submitting your lots is September 9th, or check their site for future auctions.)
Although the Chicago area could never be mistaken for “wine country,” it is nonetheless home to many knowledgeable and committed wine enthusiasts. The Chicago Wine Company would be an invaluable resource for any wine buyer, but we’re lucky that it’s local!
Tyler Colman doesn’t call himself Dr. Vino just because it’s a catchy nickname—he did in fact earn his doctorate with a dissertation about the politics of the wine industry in France and the United States. He has published two books and regularly teaches classes about wine at New York University and the University of Chicago. Since 2002, his blog has served as both a fount of fascinating wine information and a hub for spirited wine conversation, and has even been nominated for a prestigious James Beard award.
For local wine explorers, the good doctor has taken the time to create a comprehensive map that doesn’t just spotlight wine shops in your neighborhood, it also allows you to see which shops he recommends, and which ones have just recently opened up. Go ahead and bookmark this invaluable resource now—you never know when you might find yourself nearby one of Dr. Vino’s favorite wine shops, and you’ll definitely want to experience for yourself what sort of establishment has earned his coveted recommendation.
In the meantime, keep checking back at his blog to see what new and off-beat wine stories have been posted, and join in the conversation yourself, if you wish. As you can see from this post about the riddle of pairing wine with pulled pork sandwiches, the comments can get pretty exciting!
When you hear the phrase “wine enthusiasts,” do you imagine an exclusive club? And does that image make you feel less likely to develop your own love of wine? If so, then you need to meet Gary Vaynerchuk.
Since 2006, Vaynerchuk has been the host of Wine Library TV, a daily video-cast that allows him to express, in his own irreverent style, his passion and knowledge of wine. Vaynerchuk takes wine appreciation to a level akin to professional sports commentary—he speaks his opinions clearly and plainly, while making even high-end wines accessible to the novice wine drinker. We like him for his lack of personal filter, his clear expertise with wine, and the fact that he spits into a custom-made New York Jets helmet.
Check out this recent episode, featuring Vaynerchuk giving a thorough tasting of three pricey red wines. By the end of the episode, you may be as charmed by his no-nonsense approach to wine as we are…and after watching more of his episodes, you might yourself become something of a “Vayniac,” as his fans call themselves.
We have an exciting announcement for all of our clients!
Last month, we posted a short entry talking about Cellartracker.com, a service that would help you keep track of your wine bottles in storage. Robert Pollard-Smith, one of our clients, saw the post and decided to leave us a comment, requesting that we add WiFi capability to our wine cellars, so that he could use Cellartracker while he was actually in the storage area.
We’re sure that Robert wasn’t the only person experiencing some frustration, but thanks to his comment, Strongbox was able to take steps to meet his suggestion. Our Lakeview location on Irving Park now has WiFi access and our Lincoln Park location on Orleans will be outfitted by next week!
So keep in mind: Strongbox will read all comments posted to this blog, so if you have a suggestion for how we can make your experience with us better, please let us know the same way that Robert did. We’ll be happy to see what we can do!
The names of many winemakers often go unsung, hidden behind the names of the wines they have crafted. Others are celebrities of the wine world, and their work is sought after by true aficionados. And then there are those wines that bear the name of more “conventional” celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment. In many cases, these celebrities are merely allowing their image and name to be licensed as a marketing tool; in others, the art of winemaking is as much a passion for them as the arts for which they are better known. Here is a short list of some of these celebrities and the wines they either produce or promote.
Film & Television
Francis Ford Coppola (director of The Godfather trilogy and Apocalypse Now): Coppola has long been as respected in wine circles as he is in film circles, producing several well-regarded wines from the Niebaum-Coppola winery in Napa Valley.
Olivia Newton-John (actress/singer, Grease): Since 1983, Newton-John and her partner Pat Farrar have produced a number of Australian table wines under the Koala Blue label.
Sam Neill (actor, Jurassic Park): Neill, a native New Zealander, produces wines under the Two Paddocks label in his home country.
Gerard Depardieu (actor, Cyrano de Bergerac): One of France’s most celebrated film actors has also been a winemaker for over 30 years, having held ventures in a number of wine regions in the French countryside.
Music
Mick Fleetwood: The legendary Fleetwood Mac drummer has been the proprietor and winemaker of the Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar since 2001.
Sting: Former frontman for The Police, and an incredibly popular solo performer in his own right, Sting turned his passion for organic farming into a multi-acre estate in Tuscany, which as of 2007 has been producing red wines.
Maynard James Keenan: The lead singer for hard rock/metal bands Tool and A Perfect Circle, Keenan is somewhat notorious among his fans for centering many aspects of his music career and touring schedule around the wine harvest at his own Caduceus winery in Sedona, Arizona.
Sports
Greg Norman, Arnold Palmer, Ernie Els: These three golfers, each of whom have carved their own noteworthy careers on the professional circuit, have also applied their focus and drive to wineries in their native countries. Norman, an Australian, has wine holdings both in his homeland and in the United States. Palmer—who, interestingly, is also the namesake of a non-alcoholic beverage—has his own winery in the Napa Valley. Els, a South African, produces wines in the Stellenbosch region.
Although one probably shouldn’t base a serious wine selection simply by the dazzling name behind it, it can certainly be fun to try the wines of various celebrities such as those above, and see if their abilities with grapevines match their abilities with their other arts.
If you’re just beginning your foray into wine appreciation, one of the first things you’ll notice is that there are distinct differences between the glassware used for red wine and that used for white wine. Perhaps when you were handed your first glass, you simply believed that these differences were traditional or merely a matter of aesthetics. In fact, the differences in each type of glass are about careful design that is meant to enhance your enjoyment of the wine within.
Wine glasses can be made in three ways: from fused or cut glass, from blown glass, or from lead crystal. Most experienced wine drinkers discourage the use of fused or cut glass stemware, as the qualities of the glass will often damage the flavor of the wine, and the lip of the glass is often gritty and unpleasant. Blown glass creates a more acceptable goblet, with a thinner lip. Lead crystal is used to make truly high-quality wine glasses—such glasses refract light through the wine in ways that maintain the wine’s flavor, and the rougher nature of the glass gives the wine a better chance to breathe. Although there are stemless wine glasses, generally a wine drinker prefers one with a stem, which allows one to avoid altering the temperature of the wine with their own body heat.
A red wine glass will tend to have a wider, rounder bowl, which allows a red wine to breathe more fully. Red wines respond to oxidation with subtle enhancements to their aroma and flavor, and as such these wine glasses are built to achieve those enhancements. Additionally, specific types of red wine glasses will direct specific types of wine to the parts of the mouth where their flavors may be best appreciated. For example, a Bordeaux glass may be employed when drinking a full-bodied wine such as a Merlot, as the glass will direct the wine to the back of the mouth.
White wine glasses, on the other hand, may have several different shapes and sizes, to accommodate the various behaviors of different white wines. Some white wines are also well-served by the full oxidation given to a red wine, and these glasses will appear similar to the red wine glasses mentioned above. Lighter white wines, however, may have a delicate bouquet and taste that is spoiled by too much breathing, and as such the glasses will have a smaller mouth. Champagne flutes are distinctive for their tall, thin appearance, which not only slows oxidation but also preserves the bubbles desired.
As you’ve probably been learning, the creation, preservation, and even the enjoyment of wine is often marked by precise details and tasks. The wine glass is no exception to this—it is not only an elegant form from which to enjoy your elegant drink, but it also helps serve the purpose of making your wine experience the best it can be. The next time you have a glass of wine in your hand, make sure that you appreciate the glass as much as the wine!
When you think of wine, it’s most likely that you’re going to think of grape-based wine, which accounts for most wine produced in the world. Grapes are certainly the substance most conducive to producing wine, but it’s possible to create wine out of non-grape materials. Here are a few examples:
Fruit wines
Any fruit can be used to make wine, but grapes are the only fruit that naturally have the proper combination of sugar, water, tannins, and acid to naturally ferment into wine. For all other fruits, the fermentation requires some extra adjustment in order to produce a potable alcoholic beverage. For acidic fruits, such as citrus, the winemaker will add sucrose, which allows the acids to develop the fermentable sugars fructose and glucose. This process is known as chaptalization. Due to a lack of natural yeast in these fruits, the winemaker may also add potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorus to encourage yeast growth.
Some popular types of fruit wine include Ume (Japanese plum wine), Maui Blanc (Hawaiian pineapple wine), and Kijafa (Finnish cherry wine).
Flower wines
Some flowers, notably the hibiscus, elderflower, and dandelion, can be used as the base of easily produced homemade wines. In the case of flowers, significant additives are required, including sugars and acidic fruit juices, as well as yeast and possibly chemicals such as sodium metabisulfite. Dandelions are at peak bloom during the spring and summer months, but when one takes the time to prepare it properly, the wine isn’t ready for uncorking until the following fall or winter! If you live in an area where you know you can gather plenty of dandelions, you might enjoy the experience of making your own.
Rice wines
Extremely popular in east Asia, rice wines are unlike most other wines for a few reasons. Firstly, the average alcohol content of a rice wine may be up to 15% higher than one could expect from a grape-based wine. Secondly, the process of making a rice wine is significantly different than that of a fruit-based wine…the wine does not form as a result of fermenting sugars, but rather of fermenting starch, which is then converted into sugar. Japanese sake is an internationally known and respected type of rice wine, but other Asian countries, such as Tibet, South Korea, and Thailand also have their own varietals.
Creative and adventurous winemakers continue to try and create wine out of all manner of things, including such unusual materials as carrots, turnips, fish, and marijuana. A particularly offbeat winemaker from Minnesota has even produced a favorably reviewed wine out of army worms! Although it’s unlikely that you’ll ever taste every grape-based wine in existence, perhaps the next time you’re feeling the urge to try something new, you’ll give the grape a break and try a bottle of something altogether different.
As you know, Strongbox wine cellars utilize state-of-the-art technology to limit and maintain temperature, humidity, light exposure, and vibrations, keeping your precious bottles safe from harm. But before such modern storage techniques were developed, there were your basic wine caves—underground caverns, either natural or manmade, that did an excellent job of preserving wine without the benefit of technology.
Some of the earliest wine caves were not wine caves at all; they were the catacombs of the Roman Empire, which were used primarily for their convenient location. The Romans seemed to have discovered the possibilities of wine storage as an accident, using the caves left behind from mineral excavations—the first wine caves in France, most likely, were former limestone mines dug by the Romans. It didn’t take shrewd winemakers very long to hatch the idea of building caves with the sole purpose of storing wine, and soon caves were being dug throughout all of Europe.
Although the United States was still over a century away from establishing its presence in the world wine markets, immigrants to the New World brought with them the skills and ingenuity to make their own caves in American soil as well. The Brotherhood Winery in Washingtonville, New York, is the United States’ oldest surviving winery, and makes use of caves and cellars that go back as far as the mid-1800s. Other long-surviving wine caves in America include those belonging to the Schramberg and Beringer wineries, which were dug in the late 1800s by Chinese laborers who had just finished the transcontinental railroad.
Prohibition ended the first wave of wine cave excavation in the early 1900s, but by 1970, new construction tools and the rise of California’s vineyards created a demand for new ones. The wine caves of today have decided to do as much with form as with function, creating lavish underground areas in which wineries not only produce their wine but also hold tours, weddings, and even the occasional concert!
The next time you’re in wine country, remember that for as scenic and exciting as the wineries are above ground, there is even more to experience if you’re willing to go underground. Several companies dedicated to wine cave design operate today, and much of their work is available for viewing via wine cave tours. It will certainly give you a great perspective on the long, long history and the effort it took to come up with the perfect wine storage environments we have today.
The world of wine comes with its own set of uniquely dramatic politics, of course, but it’s rare to think of wine in relation to the major political arguments taking place in society today. Climate change, occasionally mislabeled as “global warming,” is one of a number of hot-button political topics currently inflaming the passions of pundits and legislators alike. No matter which side of the debate you happen to be on, if you care about the future of wine, it’s worth considering any changes in the world’s climate may have on the delicate art of growing wine grapes.
Eduardo el Calvo, a California teacher and wine enthusiast, has put together a short video discussing what he sees as the dangers of climate change on Napa Valley wines. Go ahead and give it a look, and consider whether you agree or disagree with Mr. El Calvo’s warnings.
If you’re just starting to discover the joys of tasting wine, you might have found yourself confused by a lot of the terminology being tossed around by more experienced wine drinkers. These are some of the more common ones, used to describe the many different components of a wine:
Body — The body of a wine is how it feels when you hold it in your mouth. The lighter it feels across your palate, the less body it has. In contrast, a full-bodied wine feels heavy and seems to take up the entire interior of your mouth.
Bouquet — Also known as the aroma or nose of a wine, the bouquet is the scent or combination of scents that you observe when you put your own nose into the wineglass. Bouquet is generally the preferred term when describing a wine that is considered complex, or one having many different smells.
Finish — All wines have some sort of aftertaste that lingers after the liquid has gone down your throat. This aftertaste is called the finish. Wines with a good finish will have pleasing tastes that linger for just long enough to make you think about having another drink. A wine with a short aftertaste or with an aftertaste full of unappealing flavors, has a bad finish.
Structure — A wine’s structure is a general term to describe the taste and feel of various qualities of the wine. The wine could have a lot of acidity, for example, or be especially heavy on alcohol content. A properly structured wine will carefully balance these qualities against each other, creating a wine that has a distinct character but not a single overpowering quality.
But these aren’t the most exciting adjectives to be found at a wine tasting, not by a long shot. You will regularly hear sommeliers spout such terms as earthy, oaky, jammy, chewy, or musty to describe the wine’s taste. Although taste is subjective, and you can probably use whatever descriptive word seems best to you, it’s both useful and fun to learn the adjectives more experienced wine drinkers will use when discussing the wine’s taste.
You can download a common list of white wine character descriptions from here and a second list of red wine descriptions here. Learn how to use them properly, not just as a way of sounding smart! You’ll appreciate your newfound ability to communicate.
You may have heard in passing that a glass of wine a day is “good for you.” The use of wine in medicine dates as far back as the ancient Greeks, who understood wine’s properties as an antiseptic and anaesthetic despite their lack of hard scientific data. For nearly two decades now, modern researchers have been testing whether wine does indeed impart some health benefits…and thus far, the research seems to offer great news for wine drinkers.
Red wine, in particular, has been shown to be a positive force against heart disease, ulcers, the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, and other maladies. The key ingredient is a compound known as resveratrol, a flavonoid found in the skins of red wine grapes. Resveratrol works within the body to reduce “bad cholesterol,” also known as LDL, while promoting “good cholesterol,” HDL. The results—fewer incidents of heart disease caused by clogged arteries, as well as fewer incidents of stroke. In addition, the antioxidant properties of wine have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer, although many scientists currently agree that the powers of antioxidants have been overstated somewhat.
One thing all of these researchers agree upon is that moderation is the most important element when it comes to enjoying the possible health benefits of that fine merlot or syrah. One or two glasses of red wine a day may do your body good, but more than that causes you to run the risk of even more dire health problems, such as obesity and liver disease. Just remember: it’s always possible to have too much of a good thing.
Although most wine marketing will focus on the taste and mystique of the bottles, you can be sure that wineries are only too happy to spread the information far and wide that red wine is not just delightful, but also medicinal. It’s certainly a comforting thought that red wine might keep you alive and healthy even longer…giving you more time to try out other wines, of course!
The world of wine and winemaking is one of deep passion and romance—so it’s not surprising to hear all manner of fables and legends related to the art. Whether you’re discovering the mythology of wine gods or stories of rare wine bottles from the bottom of the sea, you’re bound to find something intriguing that has nothing to do with the taste of the grapes on your tongue.
Many people may not realize that Dom Pérignon, that most famous and respected of sparkling wines, was named after an actual person. Those who did know about the real-life Pérignon may have a number of misconceptions about him and his role in producing the first sparkling wines. Here’s a short list of fact and fiction about the noted champagne pioneer.
Dom Pérignon was a Benedictine monk.
TRUE. Dom Pierre Pérignon entered the order of Benedictine monks at age 19, and gradually rose to the position of cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers. During his tenure, the Abbey’s vineyards doubled in size and production—an accomplishment that so impressed the order that, upon his death in 1715, he was buried in a section of the Abbey typically reserved only for abbots.
Pérignon invented Champagne.
FALSE. In fact, Pérignon’s life’s work was involved in removing the bubbles from the fine wines of Champagne. The same process that caused the bubbling to occur had also, during Pérignon’s time, made the bottles likely to uncork or even explode, causing a dangerous chain reaction that injured workers and destroyed an entire cellar’s worth of wine. Pérignon was not the first person to intentionally make sparkling wine, although his research into the nature of such wines would allow later winemakers to perfect the process.
Pérignon made most of his own wines from white wine grapes.
FALSE. Pérignon declared that fine wine should only be made from the red grapes of Pinot Noir. Due to the tendency of white wine grapes to enter the refermentation process that produced bubbles, he discouraged their use in winemaking.
Pérignon was a passionate advocate of “natural” winemaking.
TRUE. In addition to Pérignon’s rules against the use of white wine grapes, he also established a number of rules against using “foreign substances” in the making of wine. Among his other strict rules of cultivating a vineyard: all grapes were to be harvested in cool, damp conditions such as those to be found during early morning. All vines were to be aggressively pruned, and not allowed to grow more than three feet high. Pérignon also frowned upon the tradition of “trodding” grapes into wine, preferring to use multiple presses instead.
Pérignon was blind, but capable of determining simply by taste the origins of a wine’s grape.
FALSE. This particular story about the talents of Dom Pérignon does have its roots in truth. Although it is most likely that Pérignon’s powers were exaggerated by monks looking to gain prestige for the Abbey, he did believe in not knowing where a grape came from before it was pressed into wine. Pérignon’s intentions were to remove his own bias for certain regions and simply taste the wine that was offered. The myth that he was himself blind is probably a misconception of the idea that this practice was known to his fellow monks as “blind” tasting.
Winemakers are constantly attempting to achieve a type of perfection in their wine production, and although Dom Pérignon was merely a man, his legend, both fact and fiction, may be just the sort of inspiration that a winemaker needs.
Have you been to a wine tasting for the first time and found yourself feeling confused and out of place? That’s understandable. Wine tasting is a ritual, comprised of many different activities and attitudes, and a novice in that world is bound to experience some anxiety.
Frank Mangio is a noted wine columnist and host for TasteOfWineTV.com. In the below video, Frank gives you a quick primer on the four steps of tasting wine, walking you through everything you’ll need to follow along with the aficionados in the room—and start you off on the path to becoming an expert yourself.
Looking to enjoy a film about wine and winemaking? Here are a few movies for you to check out the next time you’re at the video rental store or updating your queue.
Sideways (2004, dir. Alexander Payne)
One of the most critically acclaimed comedies of the past decade, Sideways won multiple awards for its screenwriters, director, and stars. Set during a single wild weekend in the Santa Barbara wine country, the film follows the misadventures of a lovelorn English teacher and wine aficionado named Miles and his scoundrel best friend. The film was so widely seen and acclaimed that it even had a measurable impact on wine sales in countries where it was shown. Characters within the film speak admirably of Pinot Noir and disparage Merlot—after the film was released, sales of Merlot dropped 2% and sales of Pinot Noir rose a significant 16%!
Bottle Shock (2008, dir. Randall Miller)
Bottle Shock dramatizes the 1976 “Judgement of Paris,” a tasting competition that shook up the winemaking world’s prevailing wisdom that French wines were inherently superior. The film stars Alan Rickman as internationally reknowned sommelier Steven Spurrier, who first set up the competition.
Autumn Tale (Conte d’automne) (1998, dir. Eric Rohmer)
The final installment of Rohmer’s “Four Seasons” cycle, Autumn Tale follows the life and passion of a widowed winemaker named Magali, played by Beátrice Romand. It is set and filmed within the Rhône Valley wine region of France. The film has been described by various critics as “sensuous,” “sublimely warming,” “beautiful, witty, and serene,” and a film that “elegantly seduces us.”
A Good Year (2006, dir. Ridley Scott)
Possibly the least well-received film on this list, this Russell Crowe/Marion Cotillard romantic comedy does at least boast some stunning visuals—from a filmmaker famous for stunning visuals—of the Provence wine country. And Crowe and Cotillard, as well, are also pretty easy on the eyes.
Mondovino (2004, dir. Jonathan Nossiter)
We finish up this list with a celebrated documentary—it was nominated for the Palme d’Or, the Cannes Film Festival’s highest honor—that takes a look at the economics and politics of wine in a global economy. Nossiter, a trained sommelier, casts his critical eye on the battle between large winemaking corporations such as Robert Mondavi and the smaller, single-vineyard wineries. Originally planned as a small, two-month project, Nossiter ended up spending significantly more time interviewing dozens of wine personalities in seven countries, across three continents, and five different languages.
You may wish to watch these films with a bottle of your favorite wine, but be careful—you may finish the film even thirstier than you were when you started!
A truly adventurous wine drinker won’t be content to simply purchase a bottle and enjoy it in the privacy of their own home. Atmosphere is as much a part of the wine experience as anything, and trying out a new wine bar can be an exciting element of a night trying new wine.
There are dozens of wine bars in the Chicago area, and sometimes the best way to decide where you’d like to go is to check out the online buzz from everyday customers like you. Metromix is an excellent resource for finding out which wine bars are receiving accolades and which are receiving complaints.
To help you out, Strongbox is happy to give you this starter list of highly rated wine bars in the city of Chicago, according to users of Metromix. Check them out for yourself and see if you agree or disagree with other customers. If you find a bottle of wine you really like, make sure to pick one up for yourself…and if you need to store it for awhile, you know where to find us.
Considered the best wine bar in Chicago by a majority of Metromix users, Webster’s offers a conversational atmosphere and knowledgeable staff, as well as featured regional wines each month.
Eno 505 N Michigan Ave (Location #1) and 200 N Columbus Drive (Location #2)
Not just a wine bar, but a wine, cheese, and chocolate bar, Eno’s gives you the opportunity to experiment with taste combinations.
As the name would imply, this bar prides itself on the variety of wines available…but it also has an extensive food menu of items that are designed to be paired with the wine. A perfect spot to make a full evening of your wine adventure.
Just as you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, you shouldn’t judge the quality of a wine by the attractiveness of its label—although it’s true that many novice wine buyers will be drawn to pick up a bottle with an eye-catching design. Still, it’s clear that some winemakers care as much about the image they present on the bottle as they do about the contents within, so let’s take a moment to appreciate the artistry of wine labels.
In the United States, the federal government requires certain information to be present on every bottle of wine sold. This information includes the brand name, location bottled, and alcohol content, as well as the standard Surgeon General’s warning about the effects of alcohol on pregnant women and operating machinery. Certain types of wine, such as those that wish to be labeled “organic,” must also meet a certain set of standards maintained by the USDA. Beyond these standard regulations, however, a wine label may contain all manner of buzzwords and adjectives. These “unregulated terms” include such enticing phrases as “Special Selection,” or “Limited Release” — phrases that may not in fact mean anything at all!
The imagery of a wine bottle may not tell you much about the taste of the wine, but it will surely give you a sense of the winery, which may influence your enjoyment of their product.
Perhaps you appreciate a wine label with a classical vintage look, something that impresses as part of the décor as well as part of the meal:
Or maybe your own events are low-key and casual, just an excuse to have a good time. You and your guests might enjoy bottles of wine with labels that entertain and inform:
Whether you prefer elegance or excitement, it’s likely that you can find a wine label that fits your mood…and if that label is attached to a wine you love, even better. There are a number of online galleries that offer photographs of several different wine labels, which you might enjoy browsing even if you could never see yourself purchasing the bottle. Here are a couple to get you started on your career as a wine label aesthete:
It’s a kernel of wisdom so ancient that it first appears in Latin: de gustibus non est disputandum. “There is no disputing about taste.” While this maxim holds true for all art, with wines it holds an especially literal connotation. With so many varietals and so many different palates to sample them, it is unlikely that you will ever find a room full of wine enthusiasts who agree on which wines are superior. Of course, many wouldn’t have it any other way—part of the fun of tasting new wines is arguing with your friends about them!
Despite the extremely subjective nature of the art, scales have been developed to try and standardize a rating system for wines. However, even the rating systems are the center of controversy…do you use a 20-point system or a 100-point system? What do the point totals on each system even mean in terms of wine quality?
Here’s a quick look at two of the most widely used wine rating systems.
A truly scientific system, the University of California (Davis) 20-point scale was first developed by Dr. Maynard Amerine, esteemed professor of Enology and Viticulture. In 1959, the university was known for its experiments in winemaking, and in order to quantify the successes or failures of their experiments they needed to develop a consistent method of measurement.
The UC Davis scale looks at the following characteristics of a wine: appearance, color, aroma and bouquet, volatile acidity, total acidity, sweetness/sugar, body, flavor, astringency, and overall quality. Each of these characteristics is assigned a score, most of them from 0-2. On the UC Davis scale, truly excellent wines achieve a score between 17-20, with anything below 8 points being considered below commercial acceptability.
In direct contrast to the UC Davis scale, this 100-point system developed by influential wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr. relies heavily on the emotions and personal preferences of the wine taster. Although it is loosely based on the grading system of American schools, very little about the system is hard-and-fast. A number of reliable publications, including Wine Spectator and Vinquire also use a similar, 100-point methodology.
Although Parker insists that his wine scores are based on a number of utterly random and subjective observations, there does exist a set of guidelines for less experienced wine tasters to utilize.
Begin with 50 points after you’ve opened the wine for the first time. Add up to 5 points for color, 10 points apiece for nose and finish, 15 for taste, and 10 for an overall impression of the wine. A perfect score is rare indeed—Parker himself has only given out 150 or so out of the thousands of wines he has tasted.
On this scale, scoring anything below an 80 is considered a grave insult, and a wine that scores below 70 is only suitable, possibly, for cooking.
As with the wines they rate, both systems have their proponents and detractors, not just for the methodology but also for the ways that rating systems as a concept have affected the wine industry. For the beginner, however, the ratings can be an excellent tool for the wines you intend to experience. Just remember: don’t let the ratings bully you. Your taste in wine is yours alone…be proud of it, even if wine professors and critics disagree.
To appreciate wine you have to appreciate the creativity that goes into making it. The delicate arts of growing and picking the right grapes, the precision of blending and aging; every step of the process requires a keen aesthetic sense to accompany the technical know-how.
The good folks at Wine Spectator know that interest in creative pursuits isn’t the sole domain of winemakers—the ranks of wine drinkers are also flush with artistic types from all fields. To give these artists a chance at the spotlight, Wine Spectator launched an annual video competition that asks for short films from people passionate about wine.
These films can be on any topic, and produced in any style or genre, as long as it relates to the filmmakers’ love of wine. Past winners have included a Sex and the City-styled light comedy about screw-cap wines…
…and a funky rap video about the rivalry between the east and west sides of the Paso Robles, California vineyards.
If you have a story or special report about your favorite wine experience, or something else you’d like to share with the global community of wine drinkers, gather up your friends and a video camera, and enter! You will receive a prize just for entering, and the finalists can win prizes that include tickets to the 2010 Wine Spectator Wine Experience event, this year being held in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We know that it takes patience to enjoy wine, but this contest has a deadline, so there’s no time to waste if you want to enter. The deadline for contest submissions is August 31st. Good luck to all of our blog readers!
Noted wine variety expert Steve De Long has estimated that there are over 10,000 different varieties of wine being sold in the world today—and that the true number may never be known, as new varieties of wine are often being created and other wines, for various reasons, pass into history. Still, 10,000 different kinds of wine is an intimidating number for even the most adventurous palate. If you were to have one different bottle of wine every day, it would take you nearly 28 years to try them all (and of course, by that time, other wines will have been developed)!
Still, some wine enthusiasts are up to the challenge of trying as many different varieties of wine as time and money will allow. Strongbox is a perfect place for such prolific collectors to store their vast caches, but there’s another important detail to consider when you own that much wine: how do you find it again?
Luckily, there’s Cellartracker.com, a free database website designed just for such collectors. Not only can you use Cellartracker to accurately track your wine, you can also maintain comprehensive information on each bottle, and compare tasting notes on each bottle with other wine collectors.
Scott McDonald, a Strongbox client, offers this short testimonial for Cellartracker:
You don’t have to own a hundred different bottles of wine to use either Strongbox or Cellartracker… but wine collecting is an exciting hobby and it’s easy to get carried away by it. In anticipation of your obsession, it might be a good idea to start tracking your bottles now!
Winemaking is among the oldest surviving art forms, dating as far back as 6000 BC. It has been a part of nearly every major civilization since that time, and wine is still, today, a cultural centerpiece for many regions and religions, including Catholicism and Judaism.
Many ancient societies held wine in such regard that their mythologies often included a god or goddess who was considered the overseer of wine. Here’s a look at few of these classical deities:
Dionysus—The Greek god of wine was known to the Romans as Bacchus, and is arguably the most famous such wine god. He was also known as a god of agriculture, fertility and theater. The Greeks considered Dionysus the purveyor of ecstasy, which could occasionally slip into outright madness. As the story was most often told, Dionysus was the child of the thunder god Zeus and a mortal woman, Semele. Semele had been tricked by Zeus’ jealous wife Hera into requesting that Zeus appear before her in all his glory—the vision utterly consumed Semele, leaving behind her son. Dionysus appears in a number of well-known stories, most notably the tale of King Midas.
Osiris—The Egyptian god of the dead was also credited with teaching the Egyptians how to raise grapevines, and therefore make wine. Believed to be an early king of the Nile, Osiris led his people to adopt agriculture instead of their previous savage behaviors, which included cannibalism. The legends of Osiris tell of how he was killed and torn to pieces by his brother Set, but then resurrected by the gods as lord of the underworld. Although Osiris was the god of wine, wine itself was occasionally referred to as “the tears of Horus,” (Osiris’ son, god of the Sky) or “the sweat of Ra” (the sun god).
Sumerian Goddesses—The Sumerians, not content with one god to watch over their wine, worshipped a number of deities—all female—with poetic titles to accompany their given names. Some of these goddesses included Nin-kasi, “Lady Who Fills The Mouth,” and Geshtin, “Lady of the Vine.”
Aegir—Uniquely, the Norse pantheon included no specific god of wine, but wine was nonetheless a significant component of Norse mythology. Aegir, a giant nature spirit, was the feared and respected king of the sea. He was also especially known among the Norse gods for his lavish parties, at which the gods would be permitted to partake of his especially excellent mead.
Mythology was often invented by societies to explain the wonders of the unexplainable. It’s no surprise, then, that ancient civilizations considered wine an important enough product to merit its own gods and goddesses.
At Strongbox Wine Storage, we’re always trying to provide better service and better resources for our clients. So we want to know: What gets you going about collecting wine? Is it discovering a great wine bargain, or learning about the stories behind that wine? Do you like to explore wine in the company of friends, or do you take care to provide your customers with excellent choices in your store or restaurant?
Our passion is to be the caretaker of your prized wine collection. Whether we’re maintaining the ideal controlled conditions for aging your wine, helping you connect with great tools for wine collectors, or giving you a heads up on a can’t-miss deal with a local wine merchant, we want to make sure we always have your needs and convenience in the front of our minds.
Where do you go to talk and taste wine in Chicago? Let us know in the comments.
How knowledgeable are you about the wide world of wine? Below are a list of famous wineries and the nations in which those wineries were established. Can you match the vineyard with its home nation?
Guess as many as you can correctly – one random entry with the most number of correct guesses at the end of the month will receive a $50 gift card from Binny’s Beverage Depot! Send your email and your answers to us at info@winestorage.com and you may get a chance to try something from your favorite wine country.
Strongbox Wine Cellar wants to take this opportunity to celebrate Binny’s Beverage Depot, a haven for connoisseurs of all kinds of fine alcohol. Many of our own wine storage clients are loyal customers of Binny’s, who not only have an incredible selection of wines but who take care to have on-site a wine expert, capable of helping you choose exactly the bottle you need for any occasion.
Binny’s has 24 superstores located throughout the Chicago area, but they’re not just a place for you to browse and purchase liquor. Binny’sworks very hard to establish a community of enthusiasts, almost like a club atmosphere. They reward their loyal customers by offering numerous discounts to store cardholders, and sell a wide variety of amusing gift basketsto share with other fans. Check out their Events Calendar — there’s often something exciting happening at many of their stores…really, the only problem is trying to attend all of the events you’d like!
Also, whether you’re an experienced oenophile or just starting to discover your palate, Binny’s wine blogis an excellent educational resource, offering advice and information about all types of wines.
Our clients are both particular and trusting—they know what they want in a wine and they know they want us to take good care of it for them. On the same note, we trust our clients’ choice of wine sellers…and many of our clients choose Binny’s.
For hundreds of years, there was no controversy at all—a wine bottle was sealed with a natural cork, and that was that. Recently, however, the rise of synthetic corks and screw-top bottles has led to impassioned arguments about which type of seal was best for the wine.
Although the screw-top has typically been considered a sign of cheap or inferior wine, there have been a number of well-evaluated wines in the past few years that are proudly bottled with the screw-top. Screw-tops are the predominant wine closure in wines from New Zealand, and have also caught on at other major wineries. Still, the mystique of the natural cork remains strong, with some countries specifically forbidding the use of any other wine closure. Spain, in 2006, outlawed all but natural cork in 11 of their wine-producing regions.
Share your opinions in the comments—you may be surprised how many different viewpoints there are on the subject of sealing wines!
Here are some quick pros and cons about the three main varieties of wine enclosures.
Natural Cork
Pros: Creates a dependable seal due to its ability to conform to any bottleneck. Environmentally friendly (biodegradable, and can be harvested without killing the tree).
Cons: As much as 20% of wine sealed with natural cork may be spoiled by oxidation, caused by faulty cork seals. Natural cork may be difficult to remove, and the cork may fall into the bottle when removed, tainting the wine.
Synthetic Cork
Pros: Prevents cork taint, and a plastic cork is recyclable. Cheaper than natural cork to produce, and not subject to humidity concerns.
Cons: If not recycled, plastic corks are actually worse for the environment. Not a dependable seal for wines you intend to store long-term, as plastic corks will eventually lose their elasticity.
Screw-tops
Pros: Create a perfectly airtight seal, eliminating problems of cork taint and oxidation. Cheap and easy to remove, and not subject to humidity concerns.
Cons: May cause sulfidation in wines because the seal is too airtight. Environmentally unfriendly, and also not a dependable seal for wines you intend to store long-term.
Perhaps by now you’ve developed a very discerning palate. You know which wines you serve with dinner and which ones you serve when you’re just entertaining your friends. You have a sense of what you prefer to taste in a white or a red wine. You know what you desire in a good port.
If that describes you, then now might be the perfect time to go adventuring for new wine! Below is a list of summer wine-tasting events in the Chicago. You never know if you’ll find a brand-new wine that you prefer even to the one wine you always thought would be your favorite…at the very least, you’ll probably have a nice time meeting other wine enthusiasts out for the thrill of discovery.
Let us know how your experience went—and remember, if you find a new wine that you need taken care of, you know how to get in contact with us.
Think pink when you drink this summer! Explore the world of dry Rose. Find out why it’s not only the perfect wine to keep you cool, but also the perfect accompaniment for your BBQ or picnic. $15 W/Binny’s Card / $20 non-members. Call (773)935-9400 for reservations.
The folks at Que Syrah pair up ripe, full-bodied, reds with spicy beef briskets, pulled pork, baby back ribs and all the snappy, savory whites that match up with smoked chicken and all the sides.Seating is limited. Call 773-871-8888 or visit the shop to RSVP.
It would be like a scene from any wine enthusiast’s nightmare. Imagine that by chance you have encountered a bottle of an especially enjoyable wine. You invite your friends to come share in your find. You prepare an excellent meal to accompany it. You establish a festive mood in your backyard, on a cool summer evening, the sun just starting to set. You display the bottle, reveling in your friends’ admiration. You prepare to serve the wine.
But you have no corkscrew. Somehow, it has gone missing. You search your kitchen, your wine rack, anywhere it could possibly be (and a few places it couldn’t possibly be), but have no luck locating it. The wine is trapped and the atmosphere is ruined.
It doesn’t have to happen that way. In the below video, Pascal Berthoumieux, proprietor of Evanston’s Bistro Bordeaux, teaches you how to open a wine bottle without a corkscrew.
In most cases, of course, it’s better to have a corkscrew handy. But in case of emergencies, all you need is a shoe, a hard surface, and a little patience.
What’s the most you’ve ever spent on a single bottle of wine? What made you decide that this particular wine was worth the investment? Did you happen to find it by accident at an auction, or sitting on a shelf in some obscure wine store, or was it a bottle you hunted down for months or even years?
Let us know in the comments your story of how you acquired your most prized bottle! And here’s a look at some of the most legendary wines ever—sort of a wine hall of fame:
This coveted and controversial Chateau Lafite 1787 Bordeaux once allegedly belonged to founding father Thomas Jefferson, purchased when he was ambassador to France. Were you to ever uncork the bottle, you would likely discover that the wine has since turned into an undrinkable vinegar—Bordeaux doesn’t last more than 50 years—but the mystique of owning this bottle is really its own reward. This bottle sold at Christie’s auction house of London in 1985 for $160,000, and was recently at the center of controversy when it was claimed that the wine was a forgery (last year, the former director of Christie’s wine department won an apology in court from his accusers).
The most expensive bottle of champagne in history, this 1907 Heidsieck Monopole isn’t just valued because of its advanced age, but because for 80 years of its life, it was on the bottom of the Baltic Sea along with the shipwreck of the Jonpoking, which had been carrying the bottles to Tsar Nicholas of Russia. Recovered by divers in 1997, these bottles fetch an asking price of $275,000 apiece and can only be enjoyed at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow—finally having arrived at their destination.
Another wine connected to Thomas Jefferson, a bottle of this Chateau Margaux 1787 has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive bottle of wine ever broken. Destined for the auction block, the bottle met with its tragic end at a restaurant, when a waiter accidentally bumped into the bottle with a coffee tray and knocked it to the floor. Fortunately, the owner had had the foresight to insure the bottle for $225,000 beforehand…which was probably a more satisfactory conclusion to the whole affair than it would have been to garnish the hapless waiter’s wages for the next hundred years.
Let us now take a moment to appreciate the little guy, the unsung hero—the cork in the wine bottle.
Until the mid 1600s, nobody understood the incredible sealing abilities of the bark from the cork oak (Quercus suber), instead relying on oil-soaked rags as stoppers. Today anywhere from 60-80% of the billions of wine bottles sold each year rely on a natural cork seal.
Some quick facts about cork and the Cork oak:
On average, a single tree can live about 200 years. Over the course of its life, the bark of the oak may be harvested 12 times.
Cork oaks occur naturally in Europe and Northern Africa.
Cork forests provide habitats for a number of endangered species, such as the Iberian lynx (the most critically threatened cat in the world).
Besides being lightweight and insulating, the bark of the cork tree helps protect the branches of the tree in case of fire. While other burned trees have to start regenerating from seeds, the cork tree is able to regrow from a more mature stage.
Besides wine stoppers, cork is also used in office bulletin boards, floor tiles, and musical instruments. It also makes up the core of a baseball (although using cork in the center of a baseball bat is a good way to get thrown out of the game!)
Everybody knows that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and Alexander Graham Bell invented the first telephone. But how much do you know about the inventor of the modern wine bottle?
Surprisingly, the wine bottle as we know it today was developed in England, rather than in one of the major wine-producing regions of the world. Sir Kenelm Digby (1603-1665) was a philosopher, courtier, and diplomat, among other pursuits; he has been referred to as a quintessential “Renaissance Man.” His technique for manufacturing wine bottles was revolutionary, using a coal-based furnace with a wind tunnel that could get hotter than other furnaces, and a different sand mixture used as the foundation of the glass. Digby’s bottles were sturdier than previous wine bottles, and the tint of the glass blocked natural light from degrading the wine.
He authored a number of scholarly books in his lifetime, but was also known, after his death, for The Closet of the Eminently Learned Sir Kenelme Digbie Kt. Opened, a 17th-Century cookbook containing many of his personal recipes ranging from meat to mead.
Strongbox Wine Cellars are designed with four core factors—temperature, humidity, vibration, and light— in mind. We believe in creating the best possible environment for the storage and maturation of your wine, applying principles of both science and winemaking tradition.
Maintaining the temperature and humidity of the wine cellar takes a reliable climate control system. Ours runs on its own independent and dedicated power, separate from the rest of the building, to keep the temperature at a stable 55° year-round. The system is checked externally through electronic monitors that connect directly to our management offices—we call it “constant temperature surveillance.” We would gladly issue a certificate attesting to the dependability of our climate control, if requested.
Additionally, not only are our cellars kept underground, far away from natural light, they are also built structurally to dampen external vibrations. Trucks rumbling by, loud music thumping through bass speakers, a thousand marathon runners on the street above—none of these vibrations will make it through to disturb your wine.
Besides these storage concerns, we’re also conscientious about the security of your investment. When you store your wine, you drive up to our dock, pass through a guarded security checkpoint, and can then proceed to your locker. We also allow an arrangement where your wine supplier can deliver directly to our location, and we will then keep the wine in a secure area of our cellar until you are ready to pick it up or store it yourself in your locker.
So why use a wine storage facility? We know that you’re particular about your wine, or you wouldn’t even be considering professional wine storage. The simple truth is that you buy wine for enjoyment, or for status, or because it is a good investment. You don’t buy wine so that you can worry about it. You can store your wine with us, instead, so that we can worry about it for you.
As wine enthusiasts understand, wine is not just a fine drink but a fine art—it has the power to captivate the imagination and provoke the senses. However, like many other works of art, it can be delicate and in need of careful handling to preserve its beauty. Proper storage of a wine bottle takes into account four important factors: temperature, humidity, vibration, and light. Any of these elements can damage your wine before you even get a chance to taste it.
Temperature – Wine experts generally agree that the optimal storage temperature for both red and white wines is about 55° F. Wines age too quickly at higher temperatures, which will damage the quality of the wine. The 55° temperature comes from historical precedent—the underground caves in which French winemakers would store their wines tended to achieve this temperature naturally.
Humidity – Maintaining a constant humidity is key to preserving the taste of your wine. Generally, a humidity of 60-70% will discourage mold growth but will also keep the cork from drying out. A dried-out cork will allow air to enter the bottle, gradually oxidizing the wine into a bitter, acidic mockery of its true self.
Vibration – Part of the natural maturation process of wine involves sediments within the wine. If the sediments are allowed to settle at their own pace, the wine matures properly. If stored in an area hit by constant vibrations, either from appliances or traffic, this sediment will settle incorrectly, causing the wine to degrade.
Light – The glass of a wine bottle is already designed to block natural light from hitting the wine itself. However, the bottle alone cannot keep all light at bay, and sunlight will break down many of the complex molecules that give a wine its unique flavors.
While you may not need to store every bottle of wine you purchase, a serious wine collector knows that certain bottles will need special care before that day they can be fully savored. In our second part, we’ll take a closer look at our wine cellars and how they provide the ideal environment for wine storage.
New Year’s Eve is just two days away, and there are many questions you might still need to answer: “Where am I going?” “Who am I going with?” “What are my resolutions for next year?” High on the list of a wine enthusiast’s questions, however, will be: “Which champagne will I pop the cork off of before midnight?”
One thing you can count on over the holidays is that you will probably find yourself surrounded by an abundance of fine chocolate, gifted to you or opened and waiting for you at the holiday parties you’re attending. But you have no ordinary sweet tooth—you probably know that chocolate, like cheese, is one of those foods that goes very, very well with wine. What you might not know is how you should create those pairings.
For fans of French wine, there are few more exciting days in a year that the third Thursday of November—Beaujolais Nouveau! For those uninitiated, this traditional rite of the wine world marks the release of the new wines from the Beaujolais and Lyons regions of France, and has a character completely unique from any other celebration of new wine. What began as simply a local custom of trumpeting the new bottles slowly grew into a worldwide phenomenon, and today the release has even become something of a competition among wine merchants and distributors. Tomorrow just happens to be Beaujolais Nouveau, so here’s a quick summary of the hustle and bustle that’s about to happen in France.
Pennsylvania state liquor laws are notoriously restrictive compared to liquor laws in other states, and have long frustrated the state’s wine aficionados. All wine is sold at Wine and Spirits shops that are owned and regulated by the 
Even if you aren’t particularly enamored of politics, chances are you’re aware of the massive shift that just took place in our nation’s capital: Republicans claimed a majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats barely held onto their own majority in the Senate. With several new faces and voices set to begin debating policies, it’s worth examining what might be in store for 
Lamar Smith (R-TX), as ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee, is expected to ascend to chairman. Smith was also an original co-sponsor of the bill, so it’s safe to presume that he is more motivated than Conyers to move it out of committee. John Boehner (R-OH) will presumably be the next House Speaker, and counts among his financial backers a number of alcohol wholesalers and distributors who have an interest in seeing the bill passed.
A few months back, we took a brief look at the 
Not everybody is pleased with the rampant discounts. In Bordeaux last month there was 
Naval Regulations — Toasting is a tradition connected uniquely with wine, and its different affectations are not limited only to those cultures defined by national borders. The United States Navy, true to any military institution, has instituted specific guidelines, in manual form (!) on how a proper Navy toast is to occur. One specific norm of a Navy toast is that water must never be used, under penalty that the person being toasted will die by drowning. Another is that all toasts at a naval “dining in”—what was once referred to as a “mess night”—be conducted with port wine instead of champagne or another type. Especially interesting is that Navy traditions of toasting dictate special toasts for specific days of the week, as follows:
In any American restaurant with even a basic wine list, you are likely to find a bottle of Pinot Grigio available for your enjoyment. What you might not realize, however, is that as recently as 30 years ago most Americans were unaware that such a varietal even existed. The presence of Pinot Grigio in our marketplace today can be credited to the discerning palate of Anthony J. Terlato, a longtime Chicagoan and a pioneer in teaching America to appreciate the nuances of fine wine.
Vaynerchuk’s about to embark on a brand new venture for his style of wine appreciation: a new show on satellite radio. Starting tomorrow, August 26, you can catch Wine & Web with Gary Vaynerchuk, a two-hour call-in show that merges his interest in wine and in social media, at 9 pm CST on Sirius channel 108/XM channel 139.
If attending a wine auction sounds like an opportunity for you to discover something new and exciting—or even something familiar but beloved—see if you can attend one of the 
When you hear the phrase “wine enthusiasts,” do you imagine an exclusive club? And does that image make you feel less likely to develop your own love of wine? If so, then you need to meet Gary Vaynerchuk.
Luckily, there’s 
Dionysus—The Greek god of wine was known to the Romans as Bacchus, and is arguably the most famous such wine god. He was also known as a god of agriculture, fertility and theater. The Greeks considered Dionysus the purveyor of ecstasy, which could occasionally slip into outright madness. As the story was most often told, Dionysus was the child of the thunder god Zeus and a mortal woman, Semele. Semele had been tricked by Zeus’ jealous wife Hera into requesting that Zeus appear before her in all his glory—the vision utterly consumed Semele, leaving behind her son. Dionysus appears in a number of well-known stories, most notably the tale of 
Osiris—The Egyptian god of the dead was also credited with teaching the Egyptians how to raise grapevines, and therefore make wine. Believed to be an early king of the Nile, Osiris led his people to adopt agriculture instead of their previous savage behaviors, which included cannibalism. The legends of Osiris tell of how he was killed and torn to pieces by his brother Set, but then resurrected by the gods as lord of the underworld. Although Osiris was the god of wine, wine itself was occasionally referred to as “the tears of Horus,” (Osiris’ son, god of the Sky) or “the sweat of Ra” (the sun god).
Sumerian Goddesses—The Sumerians, not content with one god to watch over their wine, worshipped a number of deities—all female—with poetic titles to accompany their given names. Some of these goddesses included Nin-kasi, “Lady Who Fills The Mouth,” and Geshtin, “Lady of the Vine.”
Aegir—Uniquely, the Norse pantheon included no specific god of wine, but wine was nonetheless a significant component of Norse mythology. Aegir, a giant nature spirit, was the feared and respected king of the sea. He was also especially known among the Norse gods for his lavish parties, at which the gods would be permitted to partake of his especially excellent mead.
