Those of you playing along at home last week probably noticed the attempt to hold a Twitter Taste Live event meant to coincide with the culmination of Pinot Days.  The idea was to taste four California Pinot Noir wines, and (of course) ‘tweet’ about the experience of tasting them live on twitter and… ah, c’mon, do I really need to explain the TTL concept again at this point?  It’s wine, on twitter, it works, and it’s taking off like mad.

Anyway…

The Universe had other plans that day, and the unfortunate passing of Michael Jackson (r.i.p.) nearly dragged twitter to a grinding halt and caused us to abort the scheduled formal tasting.

[  I should note at this point that I’ve nothing more to add to the multitude of tributes to MJ that have flooded the ‘global interwebs’ over the last week, except to say that he was of course a member of the Jackson 5 which automatically makes him awesome. At least, it made his childhood stardom persona totally awesome.  Especially when he hit the high notes at the end of One More Chance (alllll I WANT!… All I NEEEEEEED!).  That stuff is THE BOMB, baby! ]

Anyway…

We did manage to hold a bit of a less structured tasting of the same Pinots the following day on twitter, during which I noted that while the wines on the whole were tasty, maybe they just weren’t meant for me:

Which got me thinking… if those Pinots aren’t my style of Pinot, then what is my style of Pinot?

Those of you who aren’t interested in knowing (way) too much about 1WineDude may want to stop reading at this point.  Because things are about to get a little… risqué.  Maybe even odd.  Maybe even oddly risqué…

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Will a lack of diversity hurt the winemaking industry in the future?

Hey wine lovers and winemakers – Let me tell you a little about you.

Chances are, you’re white.  Or, I should say, chances are you’re not black – especially if you’re a winemaker in the U.S.

In fact, if you’re an American winery owner, there is a 99.9% chance that you’re not black, because African American winery owners represent roughly 1/1000th of the total number of wineries in the U.S.  That’s a staggering misalignment with the diversity of the American population.  If American winemakers held a dance party tomorrow, it would be a clinic in the world’s worst overbite-sporting dance floor moves, because it would be lilywhite.

Based on the numbers above, it’s not a stretch to say that the state of African American representation in winemaking is pathetic.

And frankly, given the racial divides that have been crossed in recent years, the American winemaking community should consider that an embarrassment.

It’s an embarrassment nearly on the same level of the U.S. space program, which spends billions sending people into Earth orbit (using a craft that is run by three 286 CPUs) to conduct experiments, circle the Earth a few times and come back – which one could argue is a huge waste of money and people potential when there is so much more we could be doing in terms of space exploration than basically duplicating what Sputnik did in 1957.

As for why we’re in this situation, I blame the winemakers – black, white, and every color in-between…

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et·y·mol·o·gy

Pronunciation: \-jē\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural et·y·mol·o·gies

Etymology: Middle English ethimologie, from Anglo-French, from Latin etymologia, from Greek, from etymon + -logia -logy

Date: 14th century

1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language

2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies

I’m not sure exactly when I fell in love with words.  I think it happened in high school; though I’ve been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember, I distinctly recall a time in the early Summer during the middle of high school where I became fascinated by the English language, obscure words, and their histories.  I vividly remember devouring books like The Endangered English Dictionary.  It just sort of… happened, not terribly different from how I fell in love with wine, actually.

Mind you, my love affair with wine happened well after high school, since I was of course too young to legally drink alcohol back them… ahem…

Anyway…

I was recently contacted by Charles Hodgson, an author and podcaster about receiving a review copy of his latest book, History of Wine Words – An Intoxicating Dictionary of Etymology and Word Histories from the Vineyard, Glass, and Bottle.  I’m sure that Charles wanted to send me a copy because of the blog (mine, I mean), and not because of my closet desire to be an etymologist, since there’s no way he could have known about that unless he’s also a clairvoyant (to the best of my knowledge, his podcast is about etymology and not long-distance cross-border mind-reading).

Anyway…

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• Planeta 'Segreta' Nero d'Avola/Merlot (Sicily): 'Warrior needs food, badly!' And so does this wine. Why isn't Nero more popular Stateside?!? #
• 07 Honoro Vera Merlot (Jumilla): Seasons52 exclusive Monastrell blend. Very approachable red fruit & spice. VERY ymmy with lamb & potatoes. #
• 06 Retromarcia Sangiovese (Chianti Classico): Good balance btw 'Old' (woody, citrus peel) & 'New' (ripe red fruits) styles. Drink it now (?) #
• 06 selbach-Oster Bernkasteler Badstube Riesling Auslese (Mosel): An embryo. Acidic – like, Alien's blood acidic! Needs decades to open up. #
• 07 Lingenfelder Riesling Kabinett (Pfalz): The operative word is Lovely – as in lovely green apple & lime, lovely taste, & lovely with food. #
• 07 Macchia 'Oblivious' Old Vine Zinfandel (Lodi): eXtreme Zin. The X Games of Zin. Port-like prune & blueberry, and a massive Port-like abv. #
• 08 Martha Clara Vineyards Riesling (LI): A balanced offering with citrus, yellow apple & hay. Germany it ain't, but bad it ain't, either. #
• 06 Buena Vista Pinot Noir (Carneros): Good, if a bit rough around the edges. Red fruit, a little too jammy, but will stand up to heavy food. #

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Some of you out there reading this who may be in the wine trade will already know some of what I’m about to unfold here on the virtual pages of 1WineDude.com.  To those people I say this: chime in with some comments to help those who are soon to step into danger’s path.

Some of you, who are new to the trade, or are eager and enthusiastic consumers who are planning to attend a wine tasting event during which you may have the opportunity to taste upwards of 100+ wines in a short amount of time.  To those people I say this: read on and pay attention – it just might save you some pain.  Some real pain.

As the bards AC/DC said, “For those about to Rock – We Salute You!”

Anyway… I’m not talking about the fact that you need to pace yourself when tasting dozens and dozens of wines, or the hazard of your judgment becoming impaired due to absorbing alcohol through your mouth even if you spit all or most of your tastings.

I’m also not talking about the potential staining of your teeth from tasting a ton of red wine (though that is certainly an occupational hazard, though a temporary one).

Nope – I’m talking about something more… insidious…

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Frequent 1WineDude.com readers may have noticed a sharp-looking widget over in the sidebar titled “3 Wine Picks.”  This little bugger comes courtesy of winecliQ, the brainchild of AmericanWinery.com, which I helped to test during their private beta.

winecliQ has now moved out into public beta, which means that you can jump into the winecliQ fun if you’re so inclined.  The idea behind the program can be summed up (in the words of AmericanWinery.com) as “Drink Wine, Get Paid.”  A summary / overview from the winecliQ website:

Select your favorite wines at AmericanWinery.com. Add ‘em to your winecliQ. Promote your picks through email, Facebook, your blog, website, etc.

People who dig your style buy the wines you recommend direct from the wineries through a secure checkout.

Wineries handle shipping and customer service.

You get cash just for talking about the wines you like.

Now your wine “hobby” can pay for itself!

There are new FTC regulations that could end up throwing a wet blanket on the winecliQ party, but as far as I’m aware there’s nothing stopping you from joining and possibly profiting from it in the short term if you have a blog or website.  In addition to the sidebar widget, you can also get a customized landing page for your wine picks, and an “individget” that can be used to highlight individual wine picks (if they’re available for sale on AmericanWinery.com, that is).

There’s also been a Ning.com social network set up for winecliQ users at social.winecliq.com.  Can’t say I’m making a mint from this, but I do like the idea of supporting American wineries that I think are making good juice, and possibly cashing in on that… someday…

Anyway – worth checking out especially if you’re blogging about U.S. wine.

Cheers!

(images: winecliQ.com)

“Some people spit…. I don’t…”

Words that will, no doubt, come to define my on-line “brand”… and come back to haunt me… (Epitaph: “Didn’t Spit” ?).

French Oak Media has posted their video coverage of Boston’s recent Wine Riot! event, which frequent 1WineDude.com readers will recall was taken over for the multi-country / multi-timezone / biggest-ever Hospice du Rhone Twitter Taste Live on-line tasting (which is given ample coverage in the vid).

I make a short cameo appearance towards the end of the vid, as does TasteLive! creator Craig Drollett.  I think Craig was more sober than I was, so pay more attention to him.

You can watch the vid below, or here after the jump.

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The Wine Riot – Taste. Learn. Love. from French Oak on Vimeo.

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Cheers!

Here in the U.S. Upper Mid Atlantic, we’re growing more accustomed to muggy weather, short but severe thunderstorms, and vastly increased road construction. Which can only mean one thing.

Summer has arrived.

For those of you on the Left Coast, this Summer also includes the 2009 Pinot Days event, which will be held in San Francisco at Fort Mason from June 24th – June 28th.  For those unfamiliar with Pinot Days, it’s an event that brings together over 200 Pinot Noir producers from four countries, with 20 food vendors and more than 500 Pinots to taste.  Some info:

“Pinot Days brings together pinot producers representing every California appellation, style and price point, as well as a few from Oregon and Burgundy. It is our sincere hope that Pinot Days will enable you to explore new producers, find wines you love and can afford, and become a pinot devotee if you are not one already.”

As a precursor to the San Fran event, 1WineDude.com friends Twitter Taste Live are throwing a Pinot Days event that will run from June 18th through June 25th, and you could win some primo Pinot from them just by tweeting!…

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• 06 Petanque Syrah (CA): Very solid 1st effort 2nd label from Michel-Schlumberger. Maybe not a home run, but a fruity double for sure. BBQ! #
• 07 Pétanque Sauvignon Blanc (CA): Quaffable & tasty, but you can't take the CA out of the SB. Hits the mark for the price point, though. #
• 07 Pétanque Cabernet Sauvignon (CA): Some jammy dark cherry fruity smokey decently-priced goodness. Needs food to really shine, though. #
• 07 Pétanque Chardonnnay (CA): Suprising amount of citrus & balance, like that lemonhead guy tightrope walking. Ok, that visual is weird… #
• 07 Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett (Mosel): Crisp green apple & minerals. Classic blue slate soil profile. Not that I've tasted blue slate. #
• 08 Indaba Chardonnay (West Cape, SA): VG balance of tropical fruit & cream, & enough acid to stand up to dinner. Just a ridiculous value. #
• 06 Selbach-Oster Weissburgunder (Mosel): About as big as Pinot Blanc gets, but also about as yummy-fruity & food-friendly as PB gets. #
• Marques de Monistrol Cava Rosé Brut Reserva Selección Especial: Pink grapefruit & hints of toast. At these prices, why would you NOT try it? #
• 07 ZaZin! Old Vine Zinfandel (Lodi): A jammy, blueberry, jammy, spicy, jammy, raisiny, jammy, jammy, jammy, jammy monster of a wine. #

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