RedNek glasses, Vinturi tested, duty free shopping ? sipped and spit

SIPPED: anti-snobbery What might just be the best-selling wine glass this holiday season? Why, the RedNek wine glass, a Mason jar on top of a candlestick holder as a base. Launched this year, sales have hit $5 million already. Good thing it comes with the lid, making it the travel mug of wine glasses. [CNN] [...]

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Better Wine Blogging 101 ? Using links effectively

Continuing on with our goal to help improve your wine blogging, we want to tackle an important strategy that is often avoided, typically because many people are under the false pretense that it will hurt them, but it’s quite the contrary. This simple strategy can not only bring more traffic to your site, but will [...]

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Best 2009 California Pinot Noirs Under $30

In my prior post about Wine Spectator's 2009 California Pinot Noir ratings I mentioned I'd be talking more about the best values under $30. I'll get into that in today's post, but before going further I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Wine Spectator.

I truly enjoyed reading through this Pinot Noir issue in particular. There's something unmatchable about taking a break from staring at the computer monitor and thumbing through glossy pages while enjoying a glass of wine. The issues arrive with higher frequency this time of year, covering the most interesting categories for the upcoming holiday buying season, so it's a great time to subscribe.

You can even use airline miles (here's how) and once you have a print subscription you can get an online subscription for 50% off. I constantly refer to their ratings database. Not just for the scores but for production levels, prices, and historical rating trends for a given winery.

But the thing I like best about the magazine is how it turns me on to new producers.

If we look at the top rated 2009 California Pinot Noirs they've rated so far, cap the price at $30, and sort based on the WWP QPR (what's that?) we find a select group of wines:


Price Rating WWP QPR
 Loring Pinot Noir Russian River Valley $29 93 2.07
 Loring Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands $29 93 2.07
 Siduri Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands $29 92 1.64
 Chasseur Pinot Noir Sonoma County $30 92 1.59
 Alta Maria Pinot Noir Santa Maria Valley $28 91 1.35
 Siduri Pinot Noir Russian River Valley $29 91 1.30
 Siduri Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast $29 91 1.30
 Laguna Ridge Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast $20 89 1.19
 Sarapo Pinot Noir Carneros-Sonoma County Donato $20 89 1.19

I touched on Loring and Siduri in my prior post. I consider them to be cornerstones of value in California Pinot Noir and once we get past them we see a few names that might not be as familiar.

First - Chasseur. Their $30, 92 point 2009 Sonoma County Pinot Noir is one to seek out. I've tried two bottles of the wine and each time I've been impressed (91-92 points). The CellarTracker median for this wine is currently 90.5. They produced 562 cases of the 2009 Sonoma County and distribute to the east coast so there is still an opportunity to buy this wine at retail. I bought mine at Grapes the Wine Co in White Plains, NY (review of the store here - I think he still has some). Consult Wine-Searcher for retailers with availability near you.

The next producer is new to me - Alta Maria. They've got a tasting room in Los Olivos and although they've submitted wines to Spectator for review previously none have been rated 90 or better. Spectator rated their 2009 Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir 91 points and The Wine Advocate's Antonio Galloni rated it 92 points so there's multiple critics praising this vintage for them. The CellarTracker median is currently 89.5 and with 1,660 cases produced we see some availability across the country at retail with prices as low as $22.94. Might be a good mailing list to get on as well.

Strangely, it's hard to get excited about 89 point rated wines (c'mon, admit it - it is). But given the $20 price point of the last two wines on the list they're worth discussing:

Laguna Ridge is a second label from Lynmar who produces Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from (mostly) the Russian River Valley in Sonoma. Lynmar's Pinots range in price between $40 and $120 and Spectator rated their 2009s between 88 and 94 points. 492 cases of the 2009 Laguna Ridge Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir were produced. No CellarTracker ratings yet. Scarce availability at retail so far.

Sarapo resells small lots of wine from artisan wineries. It's run by Eric Kent's winemakers and deals mostly in the grape varieties Eric Kent is known for: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah. The 89 point 2009 Sarapo Pinot Noir Carneros-Sonoma County Donato can be found at retail for $19.99 and eligible for mixed case discounts which would bring it down to $16.99 or so. One to consider on the more affordable end of the spectrum. There's even some availability in Massachusetts.

Conclusion

While there are a few new names to discover here, we haven't seen any mindbending QPRs revealed - at least not yet. It's been mostly a "get what you pay for" vintage as notable for the highly regarded producers who were snubbed (more on that another time perhaps) as it was for the reliable producers who delivered great wines in a great vintage.

That doesn't mean it's a bad vintage to buy from - far from it. It just means that for the most part we'll have to pay $25 and up to get an outstanding bottle of California Pinot Noir.

But that doesn't mean there's not a few gems out there Spectator didn't rate. Or that we just don't agree on. Check back later this week and I'll share my tasting notes for the 25+ 2009 California Pinot Noirs I've tried so far. I think there'll be some gems in there worth discovering.

Click here to subscribe to the Wellesley Wine Press

Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite affordable California Pinot Noir producers?


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Flash Sale Retailer Lot 18: Now Shipping to Massachusetts

Good news for Massachusetts wine deal hounds - national flash sale retailer Lot 18 is saying they can now ship to Massachusetts. Those of you familiar with Massachusetts wine shipping laws will rightly wonder - how can this be?

Have a look at an example of some of the offers they're currently running that qualify for shipment to Massachusetts and tell me if you see a pattern. Two of the wines are marked "Not available in your state" (Massachusetts):

It looks like most (but not all) of the imported wines are available for shipment to Massachusetts and hardly any of the domestic wines are available. What's going on?

It appears they've established a relationship with a Massachusetts retailer which will fulfill orders in Massachusetts for wines that are distributed here. A few weeks back I took advantage of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape offer which was fulfilled by Corporate Wines in Woburn. Corporate Wines has a reputation for fulfilling straight case orders at aggressively low prices - but with a spotty fulfillment track record. Since they often sell from virtual inventory they can't always get the wine.

Separately from this, we sometimes see a domestic winery claiming to be able to ship to Massachusetts. A few wineries do indeed have the ability to ship to Massachusetts - but they typically need to ship via carriers other than FedEx or UPS if they're doing it on the up and up due to remaining legislation that needs resolution in order to establish reasonable guidelines for domestic winery to consumer deliveries in Massachusetts. Here's a brief history of Massachusetts wine shipping laws if you're interested.

Roll this all together and I can't see how this is bad for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts. Another channel to purchase through. If you can get past the occasionally far-reaching email offers, Lot 18 can be a decent place to purchase wine from. 

Check 'em out if they're not already on your radar screen

Or refer a friend if you're already on to them. 

Question of the Day: What do you think of Lot 18?

PS They're running an offer on the WWP blind tasting favorite Soiree wine aerator with premium travel-friendly packaging for $10 less than Amazon.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/n-GrzV7OC3Y/good-news-for-massachusetts-wine-deal.html

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Academy of Wine Communications:Twitter Basics Immersion for Wineries

Our next meeting of the Academy of Wine Communications here in the Finger Lakes will be followed by an interactive Twitter Basics Immersion for Wineries for AWC members.  The meeting and seminar will be held at Ravines Wine Cellars on Keuka Lake thanks to their offer to host us and let us utilize their wireless [...]

Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/01/12/academy-of-wine-communicationstwitter-basics-immersion-for-wineries/

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Flash Sale Retailer Lot 18: Now Shipping to Massachusetts

Good news for Massachusetts wine deal hounds - national flash sale retailer Lot 18 is saying they can now ship to Massachusetts. Those of you familiar with Massachusetts wine shipping laws will rightly wonder - how can this be?

Have a look at an example of some of the offers they're currently running that qualify for shipment to Massachusetts and tell me if you see a pattern. Two of the wines are marked "Not available in your state" (Massachusetts):

It looks like most (but not all) of the imported wines are available for shipment to Massachusetts and hardly any of the domestic wines are available. What's going on?

It appears they've established a relationship with a Massachusetts retailer which will fulfill orders in Massachusetts for wines that are distributed here. A few weeks back I took advantage of a Chateauneuf-du-Pape offer which was fulfilled by Corporate Wines in Woburn. Corporate Wines has a reputation for fulfilling straight case orders at aggressively low prices - but with a spotty fulfillment track record. Since they often sell from virtual inventory they can't always get the wine.

Separately from this, we sometimes see a domestic winery claiming to be able to ship to Massachusetts. A few wineries do indeed have the ability to ship to Massachusetts - but they typically need to ship via carriers other than FedEx or UPS if they're doing it on the up and up due to remaining legislation that needs resolution in order to establish reasonable guidelines for domestic winery to consumer deliveries in Massachusetts. Here's a brief history of Massachusetts wine shipping laws if you're interested.

Roll this all together and I can't see how this is bad for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts. Another channel to purchase through. If you can get past the occasionally far-reaching email offers, Lot 18 can be a decent place to purchase wine from. 

Check 'em out if they're not already on your radar screen

Or refer a friend if you're already on to them. 

Question of the Day: What do you think of Lot 18?

PS They're running an offer on the WWP blind tasting favorite Soiree wine aerator with premium travel-friendly packaging for $10 less than Amazon.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/n-GrzV7OC3Y/good-news-for-massachusetts-wine-deal.html

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Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works

Preserving an open bottle of wine is one of those things wine lovers don’t talk a lot about. For many of us a bottle is not open long enough for the exposure to air to spoil the wine. But there are those times when you open a special bottle or, in my case, 4 or [...]

Wine Shield: A Simple Idea That Works originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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