1 Wine Dude » pennsylvania

The United Slurps of America. Also, Some Organic Wines Still Suck

1WineDude — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:56:58 +0000

Actually, let’s take those in reverse order.

Here’s the deal – I have a love/hate affair with organic wines. I love the fact that they’re organic and environmentally-friendly; I hate many of the wines because they’re not any good.

And I’m convinced that enough wine consumers have reached a similar conclusion that they actually avoid buying wines labeled as Organic, which is why many good wines that could be labeled as officially organic don’t bother to mention this on their labels (see Alder Yarrow’s take on the subject of Organic wine labeling).

It’s not all organic wines that suck, and there are many excellent, premium wines that farm organically or biodynamically. But the extreme cases have a loooooong way to go before they will appeal to the average consumer.

Take Stellar Organics for example. Amazing things they’re doing for the environment and their community. BUT… they make a line of ‘No Sulfites Added’ wines (essentially, the only sulfites in the wines are those produced naturally in the winemaking process), and the samples I tried of those wines just aren’t very good. To the mini-review tape:…

08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Merlot (S. Africa): Makes a very strong argument for the addition of at least *some* sulfites. $12 C-

08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Chenin Blanc / Sauvignon Blanc (S. Africa): Environment-friendly, but not taste-friendly. $12 C-

Fortunately, the global Interwebs are a place where the ultra-niche can have its day in the sun, and there exists an entertaining video blog that reviews primarily organic wines, and they say that the other Non-No-Sulfites-Added products by Stellar are actually pretty darn good. OrganicWineReview.com is the name and it’s a fun wine blog to check out.

Another quick tidbit for the day: I took part (virtually) in the first United Slurps Of America tasting, which is being run by the excellent Swirl Smell Slurp blog – it’s their attempt to taste wine from all fifty U.S. states, sharing tasting notes with a blogger based in the same state; a novel and fun take on U.S. wines (though when they hit NY, CA, OR, and WA they might have some trouble trying to narrow the field). Since I’m based in PA, they asked me to share tasting notes on the Penns Woods wines that they were sampling to kick off the event.

I was stoked to take part, especially because I was given my own way-cool black-&-white He Said / She Said style icon. You can keep an eye on on their wine jaunt progress through the U.S. at http://swirlsmellslurp.com/2010/03/united-slurps-of-america/.

Cheers!

Hockey or Hokey? NHL Alumni Wine Series

1WineDude — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Earlier this week, I could have had wine signed by Philadelphia Flyers bruising legend Dave “The Hammer” Schultz.

Dave’s wine, that is. The Hammer Chardonnay. Given Dave’s playing reputation as an enforcer, I’d hope that this Chard packs at least 14.5% abv and is an oak & fruit bomb that will knock you squarely on your ass after two glasses.

[ Editor’s note: I met The Hammer once. He’s a very big and imposing man and I want to make it very clear that I am not making fun of him. Thanks. ]

Dave’s wine is part of the NHL Alumni Signature Wine Series – wines that bear the picture and signatures of hockey greats like Gordie Howe (another Chard bottling), Wendell Clark (a Canadian-only Merlot) and Pat LaFontaine (a CA Cab) – the proceeds are divvied up among a few charitable causes:

“There are three charitable components to the NHL Alumni Signature Wine Series™ wine program. First, a portion of the proceeds from every bottle sold will be donated to the charity of each player’s choice. Second, each of the teams’ Alumni Associations will receive a portion of the proceeds to be further donated to the charities of their choice. Finally, a portion of the proceeds will also benefit the NHL Alumni Association’s “Hockey’s Greatest Family Fund” which helps bring together former players to support charitable causes, assist former players in life after hockey and generally promote the game of hockey.”

The wines are made by Ironstone Winery and distributed via MyWinesDirect. I haven’t tried them yet, and I’m not holding my breath over it, either – both Dave Schulz and Bobby Clarke are legends in Philly, but thanks to the Communist-like liquor sales setup in the Flyers’ home state, those living in PA won’t be able to have the wines shipped to them. Oh, the irony…

Personally, I view this as a logical guy response to Paris Hilton’s wine-in-a-can. What do you think about celebrity wine and the NHL series? Let’s hear it in the comments!

Cheers!

Pro Wrestling Takes On Wine In Legal Cage Match

1WineDude — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:00:21 +0000

I recently received a press release from the Wine School of Philadelphia, with whom I’ve been discussing taking part in their Sommelier Smackdown event series (basically, in a Smackdown event the Wine School staff take on local wine personalities and wine pros in a contest to match up wines with dinner recipes, and usually much merriment / fun / smack-talk ensues).

So far, we haven’t been able to nail down a mutually available date, and both the Wine School of Phila. and I had been lax in following up to make it happen. Their recent press release helped to clear things up, though – turns out that the reason things have been delayed (and I am not making this up) is that they’ve been issued a cease and desist order on the Sommelier Smackdown event series – from World Wrestling Entertainment!

Vince McMahon Issues Smackdown Against Wine School

Philadelphia, PA. Vince McMahon is taking on his oddest foe to date: a sommelier wine tasting. The World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., has issued a cease and desist against The Wine School of Philadelphia and its popular “Sommelier Smackdown” series of wine classes.

In a letter to the school’s owner, the WWE’s lawyers are threatened legal action if the school does not stop hosting the series of wine tastings. “I feel kind of special,” says Keith Wallace, “I am being picked on by Vince McMahon. I better start working out.”

The Sommelier Smackdown is a series of food and wine pairing events that take place in Philadelphia. The event pits a sommelier against a member of The Wine School team, and the audience gets to vote for the winner.

Mr. Wallace says he will not stop running the classes, at least for now. “They don’t have a leg to stand on. I am not going to bow down to a bully,” he says. “They claim that they own the term “smackdown” but they don’t.”

In response to the WWE threat, Wallace is calling out Mr. McMahon and the wrestler Chris Jerico to a wine-tasting double-team cage match.

Keith Wallace is the Founder and Director of The Wine School of Philadelphia. He is a contributing writer for The Daily Beast, and is currently working on his first book for Running Press.

Oh, sure, use the old “I can’t go head-to-head with you today, I’m in legal action with the WWE” excuse. Cowards!

But seriously, I imagine that you are having the same reaction that I did – as in, WTF?!?!?!

Let’s just get one thing clearer than a Loire Muscadet Sevre et Maine right now: I am NOT getting into a throw-down, folding-chair-throwing cage match with anybody over wine pairings…especially Robert Parker, because that guy is big…

Cheers!

New on Palate Press: PA Uncorks the Worst Wine Idea Ever

1WineDude — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 10:00:00 +0000

I’ve penned my first piece for Palate Press, the on-line wine magazine that is taking the global blog-o-world by storm!

Ok, maybe “taking by storm” is a bit of an exaggeration… until I showed up and the party could officially start, that is!

Ok, maybe the whole “the party can get started now” thing is a bit of an exaggeration as well.

Actually it’s a total exaggeration – Palate Press doesn’t need me, they’ve been kicking total ass since their launch earlier this month; I’m just a straggler who finally got around to writing something almost good enough to make a cut into the article rotation. (Since I’m friends with the editor and publisher, they probably let me slide. Just this once.)

Anyway, if you’re interested in my take on the idea of Pennsylvania’s godless, communist liquor control board to poison the economy of the good Commonwealth with wine kiosk machines that automatically dispense bottles of wine after doing some sort of personal scan that I think destroys part of your soul and drains the blood from innocent babies (hint: I’m not a fan of this plan), then head over to Palate Press and check it out!

Cheers!

August Edition of Chester County Cuisine & Nightlife Hits the Stands

1WineDude — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 10:00:00 +0000

A very quick blurb to let you know that the latest edition of Chester County Cuisine & Nightlife has hit the stands. This month’s issue (August 2009) includes a piece that I wrote in late 2008 on Penns Woods winemaker Gino Razzi.

CCC, masterminded by WCDish.com co-founder and irrepressible Philly-area foodie Mary Bingham, continues to improve with every issue and seems like it’s really starting to hit its stride. And best of all, it’s FREE.

So if you happen to find yourself in visiting, living in, or mysteriously waking up somewhere in Chester County, PA, be sure to grab yourself a copy or two, or hit the PDF after the jump for a tree-friendly version!

Cheers!
(images: dailylocal.com)