Branding Tip: Gravatar

A big part of branding is consistency: making sure that when you leave comments and links around  the web, you do it in a way that creates a trail of similar information. When we consult new wineries who want to get online, we tell them to make a special folder that they keep on their [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/SPW0Km-y_xw/

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Oh, Canada:  With Glowing Hearts We See Thee Rise

Other emerging regions are getting the publicity, but Niagara is delivering the goods. 

Our neighbors to the north, about an hour and ½ from Toronto (as the crow flies around Lake Ontario) and just 45 minutes from Buffalo, NY are seriously delivering world-class wine.

Prior to a recent visit to the Niagara wine region in southern Ontario, my Niagara frame of reference was a clichéd familiarity with ice wine and an incessant mental replay of a quote from the 80s movie, “Breakfast Club.”

BENDER
(to Brian)
When have you ever gotten laid?

BRIAN
I’ve laid, lotsa times!
                 
BENDER
Name one!
                 
BRIAN
She lives in Canada, met her at
Niagara Falls.  You wouldn’t know her.

My virginal perspective has changed now and my frame of reference for Niagara wines are those that are, “Of the Place” – pure, vital and expressive with ice wine a distant third in quality behind Pinot Noir and Riesling.

In fact, instead of being hampered by unpredictable cold weather and hanging their hat on ice wine, Niagara vintners use the climate to their advantage teasing out a palpable tension in the wines with a terroir-based honesty that is omnipresent.  When you taste wild strawberries, tar and rose petals in Pinot Noir from a number of different vintners in the same appellation, you know you’re on to land-based virtue.  If that’s not enough, just look and smell—the color of the wines are not extracted and plumped up; the aromatics are pure like a newborn nestled in your bosom.

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Yet, what strikes me the most after having spent recent time in Michigan, the Finger Lakes, and now Niagara isn’t palate-based, it’s political. 

“Terroirista’s” with their focus on Biodynamic and natural wines are way off base in trying to fight an ideological battle with the West Coast whilst cozying up with diffident Frenchmen.  Instead, they should embrace the brio of what’s under their nose.  Some of the most honest and interesting wines in the world aren’t coming from the spun and micro-ox’ed left coast, nor are they imported from the avant-gard garagiste’s in France – they’re coming from humble, hat-in-hand vintners in improbable places like Niagara and other cool climates.

Make no mistake, Niagara wine isn’t inexpensive, not with the Canadian government getting their fair share, but a number of wineries are worth seeking out, especially if you’re the type of wine enthusiast who appreciates cool climate wines and has a sense of discovery.

Fortunately, a web site creatively called, “Canadian Wine Shop” based in New York state can help you get a fix.

Some wineries to look for:

Coyote’s Run
Flat Rock
Peninsula Ridge
Tawse
Thirty Bench
Vineland Estates

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/oh_canada_with_glowing_hearts_we_see_thee_rise/

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Losing the plot

It seems so obvious from the outside. Winemakers and wineries in a region should cooperate to promote the region and give consumers a clear idea of what that region offers to encourage them to give their wines a try. Yet in practice, when you delve into any region or country, what you see are arguments, [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/ZDyUxTJ8kSw/

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Academy of Wine Communications-FLX: February Meeting this Thursday, 2/25/10

Update: February meeting canceled due to winter storm warning for the region.  We’re working on setting up our next meeting for Thursday, 3/18/10.  Watch here for more details. February’s meeting of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Academy of Wine Communications will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at Three Brothers Wineries & Estates [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/awc-meeting-this-thursday-22510/

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Congressional Wine Caucus sips under the radar

The New York Times ran a front-page story on Congressman Mike Thompson recently. Thompson’s district includes Napa and he is also a grape grower; the article made this seem like a conflict of interest. I’d dissect the story and its shortcomings but Mike Steinberger has already done that on his blog, thus saving me the [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/IqB-4DYCRYA/

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WBW 71 Wrap-up: (Mostly) New World Rhones

It has been nearly three years since I last hosted Wine Blogging Wednesday but my choice of theme was easy. Wines made from Rhône varieties are among my personal favorites and I was hoping to learn about many more new wines from participants this month. There were 25 bloggers posting reviews from all over the [...]

WBW 71 Wrap-up: (Mostly) New World Rhones originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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