Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Autumnal Equinox Edition

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…

The Power of Intent in Biodynamic Wine

I wrote a heady post in September about Biodynamic wine.  The story is too complicated to summarize here (link to post), but one of the things that I touched on (and that interests me on an ongoing basis) is the notion of “intent” in the vineyard particularly as it relates to viticultural quality and Biodynamic preparations.

They say that you can taste “love” in a food dish, so, while not scientifically quantifiable (at least not yet), it stands to reason that extra attention and loving preparation with BioD preps. might have a positive benefit on the vines and subsequently the wines.

This notion of intent isn’t my idea; I culled it from Voodoo Vintners, Katherine Cole’s Biodynamic-related book published earlier this year (she has a different supposition about ‘intent’ than I do).  A passage from the book notes, “The belief is that the preparations aren’t merely herbal treatments for plants; they’re carriers of the farmers’ intentions, which have been swirled into them through the powerful act of stirring.  While it isn’t a requirement for Demeter certification, intention is that little bit of witchcraft that separates the most committed practitioners from the unbelievers.”

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My point in September and my point now is that “intent” isn’t witchcraft, its science – science that is still emerging and not completely understood.

To that end, I read an incredible, eye-opening, mind-bending article in the current issue of Time magazine about a new technology device called the BodyWave.  An iPod sized device, the BodyWave is based on electroencephalography (EEG), the study of how brain activity excites neurons to emit brain waves that travel the central nervous system and can be measured.

So, here’s the thing.  Not only can this BodyWave device measure the fluctuations in the brain’s electrical activity, but when connected to a computer it can perform functions based on brain waves.

It’s a holy crap moment to realize that by focusing brain activity somebody can shut off a valve in a nuclear power plant, via computer, with the power of their mind, as elaborated on in the article.

The full Time magazine article is subscriber-protected (darn publishers that try to run a business…), but the intro. to the article is available here.

I’m a liberal arts guy, as far removed from science as one can get by education, vocation and lifelong learning interest, but I do have the ability to suspend my disbelief and it seems likely to me that in 10 years’ time the Biodynamic conversation is going to be around an entirely different set of conversational conditions than the current ‘bunkum vs. belief’ precept that we have now.

On Knowledge

I’ve never reconciled the “demystify” vs. “knowledge frees you” debate as it relates to wine.  Many will say that wine is needlessly overcomplicated for the average consumer and the arcane aspects act as a barrier to entry.

Well, sometimes you find defining wisdom in the unlikeliest places.

Scott Adams, the creator of the cartoon Dilbert, noted in a blog post recently what I’ve thought, but have never been able to say quite so eloquently. 

Indeed, you are what you learn.  You don’t have to know much about wine to drink it, but it sure makes it that much more enjoyable if you lean into the door…

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Thanksgiving Wine Recommendation

Thanksgiving is the wine world’s national holiday.  I get that.  It’s my favorite holiday, too. But, the attendant wine pairing articles are exhausting.  Does it really matter what you drink with Thanksgiving dinner?  Nope.  If it did, somebody, anybody would care that I’ll be having Sparkling Rose, German Riesling and New Zealand Pinot, but, really, nobody cares.  At the end of the day, the below picture encapsulates what really matters when picking a wine for Thanksgiving (Hint: Focus on the food).

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It Was a Good Week for Lot18

My eyes bugged out like a virgin at a nudist camp when I saw that Lot18 secured $30M in additional funding.  That money coupled with clarification from the California Alcohol Beverage Control (CA ABC) on some wonkiness in legalities, means the first week of November 2011 will go down as a watershed moment for Lot18.

Perhaps equally interesting to me is a passage noting, “Radical Transparency” in an email sent to Lot18 members from Lot18 (ostensibly founder Phillip James).  The email noted:

As Lot18 moves into its second year of existence, our goal is to ensure that, with more money in the bank and compliance questions behind us, Lot18 can continue to deliver on its responsibilities to our suppliers and to our members alike. We must hold ourselves accountable to ensure we maintain trust with everyone who produces and consumes goods offered by Lot18.

We do this through a policy called Radical Transparency, which simply involves sharing more than was once considered wise. We believe in this because it drives our focus and ensures that all of our employees and our members feel that they have a role in shaping our future. Together we can create a service that will not only help you find great value, but also encourage you to spread the word to friends and family so that they may also share in the delight.

We’re all aware of “transparency” as an online buzzword the last several years.  It’s a word that has been co-opted, commoditized and rendered meaningless, as well.  It seems, transparency is really code word for faux sincerity and empathy and that makes adding the modifier of “Radical” to transparency all the more interesting.

These days, every new business success story comes with hagiographic mythologizing and I wouldn’t be surprised if, in this area, “Radical Transparency” is where Lot18 stakes their claim.  After all, culture and customer service is already taken by Zappos.

Yet, radical transparency isn’t a new concept either.  If you’re interested in seeing how a hedge fund called Bridgewater Associates (founded by Ray Dalio) has codified a brutally honest feedback loop see this profile piece from New York magazine and Dalio’s 123 page “Principles” document (worth the read).

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

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Wine Tasting Dinner: Tawny Port

Port comes from the Douro Valley in northern Portugal. While there are port-style wines made around the world, strict use of the term Port is reserved for fortified wines produced in Portugal. Most Port producers in Portugal now label their wines as ?Porto? and the bottles bear a neck label with the Instituto do Vinho [...]

Wine Tasting Dinner: Tawny Port was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/stVPDcIgzF4/

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TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/G2HGzSDlbQM/

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$20 for $40 at Wine Enthusiast

Living Social is offering $20 for $40 at Wine Enthusiast.

Shipping tends to be pricey from Wine Enthusiast, but I don't see that the cost of shipping is explicitly excluded from this offer. It's unclear to me whether one would be able to stack this voucher with other offers, but I thought to mention this offer if you've been eyeing wine accessories from Wine Enthusiast.

Limit 1 per purchaser, up to 1 additional as gifts ? Limit 1 per person per order ? Valid only for online purchases ? Entire value must be used in a single visit ? Not valid at WineExpress.com, or for the purchases of eCards and Toast of the Town tickets

Offer ends November 12th, 2012.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/wu5OReq66iU/20-for-40-at-wine-enthusiast.html

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The Real Reason Wine Bloggers Are Not Relevant To Advertisers

Almost all of us don’t treat blogging as a business. And those few who do find building a community around a wine blog very, very difficult. Without hundreds of thousands of pageviews a month, advertising on blogs of any topic is not a viable business. Source: Typepad Via: FERMENTATION There are are a grand total [...]

The Real Reason Wine Bloggers Are Not Relevant To Advertisers originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/XmEQn_LBewI/

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Top Values in 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (and where to buy them)

Photo by wburris

With all the excitement surround 2010 Rhone as it relates to Scoop the Spectator 2012 I thought it would be interesting to pause for a moment and focus on the best actionable values in 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. When I say actionable I mean wines that can still be had at retail for at or below release price.

But determining value is a little more complicated. Sometimes when people talk about value wines they really mean wines under some arbitrary price. But the deal hound knows that value can be had at all price points - it depends on what you get for your dollar.

When scanning through the ratings and prices in Wine Spectator's recent 2010 Rhone issue I noticed they didn't have a Top Values section for 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Although they did have a Top Southern Rhone Values section (CdP is part of the Southern Rhone) it was capped at $20. That being the case there were no CdPs in the value rankings.

We can scan the Top CdPs for good Quality-to-Price Ratio (QPR) wines but I thought I might be missing some good wines because the lowest rated wine in that list is 94 points.

To determine value within a category I use the wwpQPR equation (Wellesley Wine Press Quality-Price-Ratio). There's a JavaScript implementation of this calculator on the right side of my site. Give it a try if you're interested, but I've pulled Spectator's ratings for 2010 CdP and put them through the equation:

More on the WWP QPR here if you're interested, but here's what the wwpQPR scale looks like:

Interpreting the wwpQPR's Normalized Scale:

  • >8.0 Incredible value
  • 4.0-7.99 Outstanding value
  • 2.0-3.99 Very good value
  • 1.5-1.99 Good value
  • 1.01-1.49 Above average value
  • 0.5-0.99 Below average value
  • 0-0.49 Poor value
Normally I try to obtain these wines and taste them to offer an additional opinion to consider. But these 2010s, from what I've tasted, really need time to be enjoyable. Compared to the gregarious 2007s, these 2010s are more classically styled. That being the case, I doubt I'm going to pop a lot of these in the near term, least of all before the best values have disappeared from retailers.

All of these are 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Papes, sorted by value according to the wwpQPR Calculator:

  1. Domaine St. Prefert Charles Giraud 99WS/$75/3.20 wwpQPR (Very Good Value)
  2. Domaine St. Prefert Auguste Favier 97WS/$58/2.16 wwpQPR (Very Good Value)
  3. Domaine de Beaurenard Boisrenard 97WS/$70/2.16 wwpQPR (Very Good Value)
  4. Chateau Fortia Tradition 93WS/$31/1.94 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  5. Kirkland (Costco) Signature Cuvee de Nalys 91WS/$20/1.89 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  6. Le Vieux Donjon 96WS/$66/1.82 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  7. Domaine Giraud Les Grenaches de Pierre 98WS/$105/1.81 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  8. Domaine Giraud Tradition 95WS/$54/1.76 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  9. Domaine Giraud Les Gallimardes 97WS/$88/1.72 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  10. Domaine Ferrando Colombis 95WS/$58/1.64 wwpQRP (Good Value)

    How about that Costco wine sneaking in there? Don't think I would have caught that if I hadn't done this exercise. (PS I've tried had the wine, didn't much like it. 86 points WWP)

    Some of these we've talked about before -- Four 2010 Chateauneufs that have a very real chance of slipping away -- but those four wines were more through the lens of which CdPs have a shot at winning WS Wine of the Year.

    I wanted to push a little further to find the 5 best CdP values you can still actually buy.

    So I had to press on to the next 10 wines. I started catching white CdPs - had to filter those out of course ;)

  11. Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe La Crau 96WS/$75/1.60 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  12. Domaine de la Cote de L'Ange 93WS/$39/1.54 wwpQRP (Good Value)
  13. Clos des Papes 98WS/$128/1.49 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  14. Domaine Tour St.-Michel Feminessance 95WS/$66/1.44 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  15. Tardieu-Laurent Vieilles Vignes 96WS/$85/1.41 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  16. Chateau Fortia Cuvee du Baron 92WS/$55/1.37 wwpQPR (Good Value)
  17. Domaine de Cristia Renaissance 96WS/$88/1.36 wwpQPR (Good Value)
Of these 17 wines, here are the 5 best 2010 Chateauneuf values you can still buy along with some commentary:

Domaine de Beaurenard Boisrenard CdP
97WS/$70/750 Cases Produced
2.16 wwpQPR: Very Good Value

Still available between $60 and $70 but only from a few retailers: Wine-Searcher

Best East Coast play: Empire Wine at $70
Best West Coast play: K&L at $60

Note: Beaurenard also makes a regular CdP bottling that's also a nice value (93WS/$44). RP only went 91 points on this one so this should temper enthusiasm a bit.

Chateau Fortia Tradition CdP
93WS/$31/9,000 Cases Produced
1.94 wwpQPR: Good Value

Still available between $28 and $38 from numerous retailers: Wine-Searcher

Best East Coast play: $28 at Gary's
Best West Coast play: $28 at Vinopolis

Note: There is a 92WS/$34 "Cuvee de Baron" bottling as well (also a good value) and some retailers list a Rouge bottling which I don't see a rating for from Spectator.

Domaine Ferrando Colombis CdP

95WS/$58/400 Cases Produced

1.64 WWP QPR: Good Value

Some east coast availability between $60-$90: Wine-Searcher

Best East Coast Play: Grapes the Wine Co
Best West Coast Play: None

Note: A whopping 97 points from RP on this one so I'd expect it to go quickly.

Domaine de la Cote de L'Ange CdP
93WS/$39/6,000 Cases Produced

Better availability on the east coast south of release price: Wine-Searcher

Best East Coast Play: Gary's and Wine Library both at $32
Best West Coast Play: Vinopolis at $36

Note: They also produce a pricier Vieilles Vignes bottling (94WS/$62). 93 RP as well.

Clos des Papes CdP
98WS/$128/5,600 Cases Produced

Availability beginning to diminish at favorable price points but the ship hasn't sailed yet: Wine-Searcher

Best East Coast Play: Grapes the Wine Co
Best West Coast Play: Premier Cru
Best Massachusetts Play: Gordon's (though I doubt their pre-arrival offers are still actionable)

Note: Even when the 2005 won Wine of the Year it could still be found for just slightly over retail. I wouldn't go too nuts trying to track this one down. It's out there. 99 RP.

Hope this is useful. If you haven't already, don't forget to get your entries in for Scoop the Spectator 2012! Many of these wines haven't been guessed yet. Contest ends Friday and we're playing for a $200 Amazon Gift Card. Thanks for the entries so far! I've updated each of the entries with Wine-Searcher links to make it easier to find these wines.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/gHwGuU_otEQ/top-values-in-2010-chateauneuf-du-pape.html

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Bluff Dale Vineyards

The Winery at Bluff Dale Vineyards The Grapes around Texas ©2012 Half of every adventure is getting to your destination and our trip this year was no exception. We decided to take a different route to the Hill Country this time around to check out some places we have not had the time to see [...]

Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2012/06/02/bluff-dale-vineyards/

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TMiW 1 ? Looking Back, Looking Forward

This is the premier episode of This Month in Wine, a monthly discussion about what is going on within the wine world from a consumer and insider perspective. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics What?s up with Good Grape? Is wine blogging on the decline? Wine Trends & Predictions for 2012 Value Replaces Cheap [...]

TMiW 1 – Looking Back, Looking Forward originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/G2HGzSDlbQM/

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