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	<title>1 Wine Dude</title>
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	<link>http://www.1winedude.com</link>
	<description>A Serious Wine Blog For the Not-So-Serious Drinker</description>
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		<title>Weekly Twitter Wine Mini-Reviews Round-up for 2010-03-13</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/13/weekly-twitter-wine-mini-reviews-round-up-for-2010-03-13/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/13/weekly-twitter-wine-mini-reviews-round-up-for-2010-03-13/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine mini-reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedudereview]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[
07 Olsen Ogden Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast): Go big or go home. In this case, VERY big. And smoky. And vanilla-y. U get the idea. $32 B #
07 Sean Minor Four Bears Pinot Noir (Napa Valley / Carneros): A lot of cherry &#38; spice, but it&#39;s hidden behind the smoke screen.  $17 C+ #
07 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<ul class="aktt_tweet_digest">
<li>07 Olsen Ogden Pinot Noir (Sonoma Coast): Go big or go home. In this case, VERY big. And smoky. And vanilla-y. U get the idea. $32 B <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10083712797" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>07 Sean Minor Four Bears Pinot Noir (Napa Valley / Carneros): A lot of cherry &amp; spice, but it&#39;s hidden behind the smoke screen.  $17 C+ <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10134508291" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>07 Jaboulet Muscat de Beaumes de Venise &quot;Le Chant des Griolles&quot; (Rhone): 1 of THE best Muscats I&#39;ve EVER had. Asian pear fans rejoice. $25 A <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10134586806" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>07 Leitz &quot;Eins Zwei Dry&quot; Riesling (Rheingau): Superior to the `08 &#8211; steely, crisp with *commanding* acidity. An awesome bargain for $18 B+ <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10134734580" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Merlot (S. Africa): Makes a very strong argument for the addition of at least *some* sulfites. $12 C- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10136072500" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>07 Heron Hill Old Vines Riesling Reserve (Finger Lakes): For those who like their citrus with pith intact &amp; rinsed in mineral water. $25 B- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10138273423" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>07 Bargetto Old Vine Zinfandel (Lodi): So much sweet incense spiciness, it&#39;s like being at the spa, but soaking in blackberry booze. $18 B+ <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10139391671" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Chenin Blanc / Sauvignon Blanc (S. Africa): Environment-friendly, but not taste-friendly. $12 C- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10193694072" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>09 Jules Taylor Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough): A concentrated shot of passion- &amp; pink grapefruit-juice. Maybe *too* concentrated. $15 B- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10298855275" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>08 Jules Taylor Pinot Noir (Marlborough): Slightly awkward but promising juggling act of bright cherry, sweet oak &amp; lively acidity. $22 B- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10298914431" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>06 Ch. Tanunda Noble Baron Shiraz (Barossa): She&#39;s too smooth &amp; sultry. You&#39;ll go to bed w/ her but probably won&#39;t call her tomorrow. $50 B+ <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10300780610" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>08 Fred Loimer &quot;Lois&quot; Gruner Veltliner (Kamptal): GruVe it is, but with that light body, simple aroma &amp; short finish, groovy it isn&#39;t. $15 C <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10392311198" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>08 Stadt Krems Grüner Veltliner (Kremstal): All sultana &amp; citrus, &amp; almost all very good. Pass the Asian salad with nuts &amp; mandarins! $14 B- <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10392592158" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
<li>06 Revolver Wine Co. &#39;The Fury&#39; Cabernet Franc (Napa Valley): A fist full o&#39; flowers. And jammy blue &amp; black fruits. And some booze. $45 B <a href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10397828203" class="aktt_tweet_time">#</a></li>
</ul>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Useless California Vintage Reports: A Template</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/11/useless-california-vintage-reports-a-template/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/11/useless-california-vintage-reports-a-template/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[California wine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vintage reports]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/10/useless-california-vintage-reports-a-template/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
I get my fair share of wine samples, with a large proportion coming from California.  This is due mostly to proximity (regional wines), as well as the fact that the CA makes a the vast majority of U.S. wine, hence the large number of CA samples stopping on my doorstep.
Most of those CA samples come [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:16f20d22-13c0-4540-a7a8-2f598622ee7d" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UselessCaliforniaVintageReportsATemplate_A4C4/IMG_37228x6.JPG"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UselessCaliforniaVintageReportsATemplate_A4C4/IMG_3722.png" border="0" alt="" width="345" height="278" /></a></div>
<p>I get my fair share of wine samples, with a large proportion coming from California.  This is due mostly to proximity (regional wines), as well as the fact that the CA makes a the vast majority of U.S. wine, hence the large number of CA samples stopping on my doorstep.</p>
<p>Most of those CA samples come with some form of wine information / tech sheets, and when they do, those tech sheets almost invariably contain a vintage report.</p>
<p>An utterly <em>useless</em> vintage report.</p>
<p>The vintage report is often utterly useless because <strong>no one <em>ever</em> says anything except that the grapes ended the vintage with optimal ripeness</strong>.</p>
<p>It’s become a joke for me, a game almost, to see if any of these press release vintage reports would ever admit that the grapes absolutely <em>fried</em> on the vine this year, or that they ended up greener than an under-ripe banana. It will probably never happen.</p>
<p>So I decided to do CA wine PR folks a favor, and <strong>I’ve created a template below that can freely be used as the vintage report for any CA wine!</strong> I’ve taken some minor liberties, primarily to make the choices sexier, because let’s face it, sex sells even when it comes to vintage reports.  If you&#8217;re in PR, you can simply circle the appropriate response and not have to bother with the rest!  Anyway, you can thank me later!…</p>
<p><span id="more-1858"></span></p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: small;">California Vintage Report Template<br />
(free for public use!)</span></strong></p>
<blockquote><p>The [ <strong>insert vintage year here</strong> ] growing season started with surprisingly [ <strong>dry / wet / steamy / downright sexy</strong> ] weather, followed by a moderately [ <strong>dry / wet / sexier</strong> ] early Spring.  Ample [<strong> rainfall / sunshine</strong> ] went well into the later Spring months, providing relatively [<strong> early / late</strong> ] bloom and fruit set on the [<strong>tenderly- / impeccably- / passionately-</strong> ] kept vines.</p>
<p>[ <strong>Unseasonable / Seasonable </strong>] [ <strong>precipitation / heat </strong>] in the early Summer led to a [ <strong>cool / hot / sexy</strong> ] late Summer with a relatively [<strong> small / large / enormous</strong> ] amount of hot days.</p>
<p>At first, there was serious concern in the early Autumn [ <em>Note: do NOT use the term “Fall” - “Autumn” sounds much sexier</em> ] that [<strong> cool / cold / hot / sexy</strong> ] weather wouldn’t provide adequate [ <strong>maturation / yields / sexy</strong> <strong>vineyard encounters </strong>].  However, a long and sturdy spell of [ <strong>warm / hot / cool / sexy</strong> ] weather, coming a bit [ <strong>earlier / later</strong> ] than normal provided [<strong> ideal / ideal / ideal </strong>] conditions for our grapes to achieve [ <strong>optimal / optimal / optimal </strong>] ripeness.</p>
<p>The long growing season teased out the development of [<strong> ideal / ideal / ideal</strong> ] sugar and acid levels, resulting in a fruity, sublime, and balanced wine – we knew that we had something special on our hands, and we’re pleased to be sharing it with you shipped in environmentally unfriendly Styrofoam!</p></blockquote>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<slash:comments>34</slash:comments>
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		<title>Size Matters (Tackling A Faust 2006 Double Magnum)</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/10/size-matters-tackling-a-faust-2006-double-magnum/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/10/size-matters-tackling-a-faust-2006-double-magnum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[commentary]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[learning wine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine tips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California wine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[faust 2006 cabernet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jéroboam]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/04/size-matters-tackling-a-faust-2006-double-magnum/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Just when you think that the topic of wine is starting to make sense and really come together for you, you’ll probably encounter the convention of naming large format wine bottles.
That should put you firmly back in your lowly place, since the convention of naming bottle sizes carries on the storied wine tradition of utilizing [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:50a9fc16-68ef-43d5-b41a-3c9c6bcec9c5" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SizeMattersTacklinga3L_97B6/IMG_37408x6.JPG"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SizeMattersTacklinga3L_97B6/IMG_3740.png" border="0" alt="" width="284" height="349" /></a></div>
<p>Just when you think that the topic of wine is starting to make sense and really <em>come together</em> for you, you’ll probably encounter the convention of naming large format wine bottles.</p>
<p>That should put you firmly back in your lowly place, since the convention of naming bottle sizes carries on the storied wine tradition of utilizing differing standards in order to confuse the living hell out of you.</p>
<p>I’ve been “thinking big,” as in large format bottles, since I recently won a <a href="http://palatepress.com/2010/01/wine-for-haiti-lot-24-3-0l-faust-cabernet-sauvignon/">3L bottle of Faust 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet</a> via the <a href="http://palatepress.com/2010/01/haiti/">Palate Press Wine For Haiti auction</a>.</p>
<p>The bottle is gorgeous (see inset pic), and it’s basically a Valentine’s Day gift for<a href="http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/02/12/wine-knowledge-makes-you-sexier-empirical-evidence/"> my wife</a>, to be opened at our 10 or 15 year anniversary party (probably the 10… we’re not very patient).  The trouble is, <strong>I don’t know what to call it</strong>.</p>
<p>Before we get into that, I should tell you a bit about <a href="http://www.faustwine.com/index.html">Faust</a> itself, I suppose.</p>
<p>Faust is the brainchild of Napa legend <a href="http://www.faustwine.com/people/augustin/index.html">Agustin Huneeus</a>, who started up <a href="http://www.quintessa.com/">Quintessa</a>, owns <a href="http://www.veramonte.com/">Veramonte</a>, and had a hand in making other stalwart Napa wines like <a href="http://www.Franciscan.com">Franciscan</a>.  It’s a big wine, but balanced and tight as a drum early on due to it’s massive, dark structure.  It’s like the <a href="http://roflrazzi.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/celebrity-pictures-darth-vader-rubber-nipples.jpg">Darth Vader</a> of Napa Cabs, and is (more or less) Quintessa’s more-affordable-but-still-pretty-damned-good “second wine.” Damned-good&#8230; Get it?  Faust&#8230; damned&#8230; Ok, I&#8217;ll stop now&#8230;</p>
<p>As far as the 2006 goes, it’s 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Malbec, and 1% Cabernet Franc – all from Agustin’s family vineyards in Rutherford and Atlas Peak.  As far as Hunees goes, according to the Faust website, &#8220;He also believes that numerical ratings, as they are used today, are an  aberration.&#8221;  Strong words.</p>
<p>Interestingly (as far as the bottle size discussion goes), I first tried this Faust vintage (via sample) in a 375 ml half-bottle.  I&#8217;ve yet to have the wine from a &#8220;normal&#8221; 750 ml.</p>
<p>Anyway, on to the good and the ugly of this situation&#8230;</p>
<p><span id="more-1848"></span>The very cool thing about large format bottles is that they have a smaller air-to-juice ratio than standard 750ml (or smaller) bottles.  Theoretically, this mans that large format bottles can age longer than those smaller bottles, and in practical experience (tasting older vintages from large format bottles) I’ve found this to be the case.  So, I’m excited in a geeky way about trying this stuff a few years from now.  And, let’s face it, it’s just f*cking cool to crack open a huge bottle at a party (hence the <em>good</em>)!</p>
<p>Just don’t ask me what the damn thing should be called (that&#8217;s the <em>ugly </em>part).</p>
<p>The problem is that there are two standards when it comes to naming big bottles, neither of which &#8211; surprsie! -  is at all user-friendly.  Maddeningly, both standards – Burgundian and Bordelaise &#8211; come from the French, who presumably can’t agree with anyone on anything even within their own f*cking country.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah – and they’re named after biblical kings. Because, hey, it’s easy to spell “<em>Nebuchadnezzar</em>,” right?  What tortured soul does this sh*t to poor wine lovers?!??</p>
<p>Here’s the run-down on the (both) standard names from <a href="http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/buystorebottlesizes.shtml">thewinedoctor.com</a>:</p>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:2aa15d24-5c50-4b37-9667-eece6af1837a" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="padding: 0px; width: 395px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SizeMattersTacklinga3L_97B6/20100222_1111578x6.jpg"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SizeMattersTacklinga3L_97B6/20100222_111157.png" border="0" alt="" width="395" height="420" /></a></div>
<p>“What’s the big deal?” you might be asking yourself, “just pick one and use it, you doofus.”  Well, most folks do (actualy, most geeks do, most normal folks just don&#8217;t even think about it), and they have tended to side with Burgundy.</p>
<p>But here’s the tendency-to-over-think-things rub: in the case of Napa, the style (and bottle shape!) of the wine are, of course, much closer to Bordeaux in spirit, taste, and presentation.  So… do I call this 3L a <em>Jéroboam</em> (Burgundy style) or a <em>Double Magnum </em>(Bordeaux style)?</p>
<p><strong>I’m leaning towards Jéroboam, not because I necessarily side with the Burgundians, but because &#8220;Double Magnum&#8221; sounds like a bad Charles Bronson movie.  Or a brand of condom.</strong></p>
<p><em><strong>I’d love to hear your take on this – help a bruthah out!</strong></em></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re interested in Faust, you can <a href="http://www.faustwine.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=view">purchase their wines online (but only up to Magnum size!)</a>.</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<slash:comments>14</slash:comments>
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		<title>The United Slurps of America. Also, Some Organic Wines Still Suck</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/09/the-united-slurps-of-america-also-some-organic-wines-still-suck/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/09/the-united-slurps-of-america-also-some-organic-wines-still-suck/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:56:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Penns Woods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[organic wine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pennsylvania]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pennsylvania wine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stellar Organics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[swirl smell slurp]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Slurps of America]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/09/the-united-slurps-of-america-also-some-organic-wines-still-suck/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Actually, let’s take those in reverse order.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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 <a href="http://www.vinography.com/archives/2010/03/if_your_wine_is_organic_dont_t.html">Alder Yarrow’s take on the subject of Organic wine labeling</a>).</p>
<p>It’s not all organic wines that suck, and there are <em>many</em> 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.</p>
<p>Take <a href="http://www.stellarorganics.com/">Stellar Organics</a> for example.  <em>Amazing</em> 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:…</p>
<p><span id="more-1931"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Merlot (S. Africa): Makes a very strong argument for the addition of at least *some* sulfites. <a href="http://twitter.com/1WineDudeReview/status/10136072500">$12 C-</a></p>
<p>08 Stellar Organics No Added Sulfites Chenin Blanc / Sauvignon Blanc (S. Africa): Environment-friendly, but not taste-friendly. <a href="http://twitter.com/1WineDudeReview/status/10193694072">$12 C-</a></p></blockquote>
<p>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. <a href="http://www.organicwinereview.com/tag/organic-wine/">OrganicWineReview.com</a> is the name and it’s a fun wine blog to check out.</p>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:fbb209b4-a5b4-4bdd-955b-19fcf0ae5c23" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/e418f04901ef_6BF3/pennsylvaniaseal18x6.png"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/e418f04901ef_6BF3/pennsylvaniaseal1.png" border="0" alt="" width="254" height="255" /></a></div>
<p>Another quick tidbit for the day: I took part (virtually) in <a href="http://swirlsmellslurp.com/2010/03/united-slurps-of-america-pennsylvania/">the first United Slurps Of America</a> tasting, which is being run by the excellent <a href="http://swirlsmellslurp.com">Swirl Smell Slurp</a> 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 <a href="http://www.pennswoodswinery.com/">Penns Woods</a> wines that they were sampling to kick off the event.</p>
<p>I was stoked to take part, especially because I was given <a href="http://swirlsmellslurp.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/1wine1.jpg">my own way-cool black-&amp;-white He Said / She Said style icon</a>.  You can keep an eye on on their wine jaunt progress through the U.S. at <a title="http://swirlsmellslurp.com/2010/03/united-slurps-of-america/" href="http://swirlsmellslurp.com/2010/03/united-slurps-of-america/">http://swirlsmellslurp.com/2010/03/united-slurps-of-america/</a>.</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<title>Uncorking &#8220;Corked: A Memoir&#8221; (The Kathryn Borel Interview)</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/08/uncorking-corked-a-memoir-the-kathryn-borel-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/08/uncorking-corked-a-memoir-the-kathryn-borel-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[book reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine books]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Corked]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kathryn Borel]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine book]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[
Reading Corked: A Memoir, you may find that you don’t much like author Kathryn Borel.  And it will probably have nothing to do with her being a Canadian (sorry, Canada&#8230; just poking fun at you because you won all of those Olympic hockey gold medals&#8230;).
She is, by her own fearless admission, not the best of [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:acec29e5-fcc6-4fc1-9721-ff86e9b6967a" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/borel078x6.JPG"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/borel07.png" border="0" alt="" width="332" height="445" /></a></div>
<p>Reading <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/1win-20/detail/0446409502"><strong>Corked: A Memoir</strong></a></em>, you may find that you don’t much like author <a href="http://www.kathrynborel.com/">Kathryn Borel</a>.  And it will probably have nothing to do with her being a Canadian (sorry, Canada&#8230; just poking fun at you because you won all of those Olympic hockey gold medals&#8230;).</p>
<p>She is, by her own fearless admission, not the best of traveling companions. Neither is her father, with whom she travels to some of France&#8217;s most famous wine regions in an attempt to connect more deeply with him while they still have time together on this planet.  Even a healthy proportion of the storied French wine producers that the Borel clan visit in <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/1win-20/detail/0446409502"><strong>Corked</strong></a></em> are portrayed as, to put it mildly, <em>difficult</em>.</p>
<p><em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/1win-20/detail/0446409502"><strong>Corked</strong></a></em> isn&#8217;t about wine appreciation, but it touches on the topic frequently and views it obliquely, as if through a funky, tilted lens; it circles the topic as if both wine and Kathryn were old cats in some new territory &#8211; familiar, but with a sense of fight-or-flight caution.  Let’s put it this way: Kathryn describes her new book (also her first) as being about “wine, France, my father, existential dread, and death.”  So you <em>know</em> the viewpoint on wine is going to be different.</p>
<p>As it turns out, <strong>wine plays a minor, but important, role in Kathryn’s sometimes  hilarious, sometimes quirky, sometimes painful recounting of her journey  through French wine country – at turns a vehicle for connectivity, and  an insurmountable and intimidating barrier.</strong></p>
<p>And it&#8217;s exactly because of that unique viewpoint that I was so stoked to read<em> </em><em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/1win-20/detail/0446409502"><strong>Corked</strong></a> </em>and to interview its author (if you need further convincing of Kathryn&#8217;s unique view on life, just <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/6275339">check out how she introduces <em>Corked</em> on video</a>, or <a href="www.kathrynborel.com/blog">visit her craftily quirky &#8211; or is that quirkily crafty? &#8211; blog</a>).</p>
<p>If <em><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/1win-20/detail/0446409502"><strong>Corked</strong></a></em> reveals a truth about the human condition, it’s that coming to a shared  understanding as adults – to a place where we can truly appreciate one  another &#8211; isn’t always as simple as sharing a glass of excellent vino;  sometimes it takes a gut-wrenching rite of passage.  That probably mirrors the relationship some of us have with wine at one point or another in our lives.</p>
<p>Read on for the interview, which is mostly full of wine-related topics but, thanks to Kathryn, is totally full of <em>awesome</em> – just prepare to be entertained, a little moved, and a lot impressed by his woman…</p>
<p><span id="more-1899"></span></p>
<p><strong>1WineDude: </strong><em>First, congrats on the<a href="http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-hockey/"> Canadian Olympic hockey gold medals</a>.  I can only imagine what it would have been like if the U.S. won those gold medal games&#8230; I mean, if Canada beat us in Football, there would be a </em><em>lot of people walking around like zombies down here, questioning their own realities&#8230;</em></p>
<p><strong>Kathryn Borel: </strong>Hockey is actually referred to as &#8220;ice lacrosse&#8221; in Canada. But thanks a million for the props. We would have had to revoke the passports of the Olympic hockey players had they failed to win gold in Vancouver. They would have then had to sharpen their sticks into tantōs and committed hari kiri. We are a cruel (but fair) people.</p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>Tell the <a href="http://www.1winedude.com">1WineDude.com</a> readers a bit about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corked-Memoir-Kathryn-Borel/dp/0446409502">Corked</a>, and the role that wine plays in it.</em></p>
<p><strong>KB:</strong><em> </em><strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corked-Memoir-Kathryn-Borel/dp/0446409502">Corked</a></strong> is about a trip I took with my father around four of the major wine-growing regions in France. It was indirectly motivated by the first big trauma of my life. I had been contemplating mortality in a rather obsessive way for a couple of years because of a car accident I had. An old man had been jaywalking across a main thoroughfare in Quebec City, where my parents live. He stepped out in front of my car &#8212; I tried to swerve to around him, but clipped him on his side and killed him.</p>
<p>A few years later, my father&#8217;s knees gave out and I had that jarring moment when a parent goes from someone of endless strength and wisdom to a person who is frail. He was falling down a lot. One afternoon, he fell down the set of stairs to his wine cellar &#8212; all the way down 20 or so steps. After helping him up, I went down to the cellar to fetch the bottles of wine he was getting and had a real Class-A freakout. Looking up and around at all the bottles I realized that he would never be able to drink them all in his lifetime. There was this giant living liquid legacy that would be bequeathed to me &#8212; someone who had ignored a lot of the wine information that my dad had imparted to me throughout the years.</p>
<p>So I asked him if he might be interested in going on a wine trip with me &#8212; so that I could learn, once and for all, why wine had been such a crucial theme in his life. I thought if I could develop a language framework for the wine, I would better understand my dad.</p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:ddc91dc8-d3a3-4322-ab28-d65a0f495406" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding: 0px;"><strong><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/Corked28x6.JPG"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/Corked2.png" border="0" alt="" width="266" height="352" /></a></strong></div>
<p><strong> 1WD: </strong><em>I wouldn&#8217;t call <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corked-Memoir-Kathryn-Borel/dp/0446409502">Corked</a> a wine book, it&#8217;s squarely in the Memoir category, and in wine seems to play a background role in the overall development of the story of your trip through France.  Having said that, it seems through <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/borelcorp">your videos</a> that you&#8217;re getting more into wine?  Has your appreciation for wine developed more since you wrote Corked?  Or was it downplayed a bit when you were writing the memoir?</em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>I had one of those &#8220;oh DUH&#8221; cast-iron-frying-pan-to-the-back-of-the-head moments when I was writing the final draft of the book. I had been treating wine like a technical component of the book &#8212; a thing, as opposed to a character. Three months before my deadline, I rewrote EVERYTHING having to do with wine. I personified it. The good Pinot Noirs I drank in Burgundy became grand dames&#8230; the wines I tasted in Languedoc were these joyous, handsome young men. Once I changed my thinking and made wine MY subjective sensual experience, as opposed to something that exists in an objective realm, I suddenly had the confidence to express how I felt about it. And once you start a dialogue with anything, really, you&#8217;re bound to grow.</p>
<p><strong> 1WD: </strong><em>You do a great job in the book of capturing how scared shitless people can get when they&#8217;re attending wine tastings; I thought that your internal dialog in the book probably mirrored that of many people who find themselves stepping into wine tastings.  Do you think people in general have more fears about wine appreciation, and feeling stupid if they don&#8217;t say the &#8220;right&#8221; things about wine, than they do about existential dread and the fear of dying?</em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>That is a crazy and perfect question. I think it&#8217;s similar to the idea of people being more afraid of public speaking than they are of death. I can say with certainty that I was always more afraid of wine tasting than I ever had been of dying. People are generally not inclined to snicker at you or make derisive comments on your deathbed. Also, conceiving of your own death is far more abstract than the reality of being stuck in a room full of people who might think you&#8217;re stupid for saying the wine tastes like ballpoint pens and dirt. Abstract concepts are always the most fearful ones.</p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>You don&#8217;t pull any punches in this book &#8211; on your father, yourself, or the storied French wine properties that you visited. Madame Nudant at Romanee Conti comes off as pretty bitchy (or at least impatient). Were you concerned about how those wine personalities would see themselves portrayed in the book?</em><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>Madame Nudant was a little terse. Then again, she was in the middle of the harvest. Her hands were black with grape juice and dirt &#8212; it was obvious she&#8217;d been working tirelessly for several days. And my interpretation of her was also largely based on my own insecurities about being in one of the most &#8212; if not THE most &#8212; celebrated and revered wine region in the world. When she was standing there, surveying one of her vineyards and machine-gunning me with the structure of the region&#8217;s AOC system, and I was expected to keep up and engage her in an intelligent manner, I wanted to swallow cyanide capsules and disappear. I felt stupid and out of my depth.</p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>How pissed off were you that <a href="http://www.rush.com">RUSH</a> didn&#8217;t play in either the Opening or Closing Olympic ceremonies in Vancouver? I was livid, personally&#8230; </em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>I played <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJfId5C-DWQ">Subdivisions</a> 800 times in a row and sobbed and shaved my head. (Did you know Geddy Lee is a massive wine connoisseur and has one of the largest private wine collections in the country? Geddy Lee! Call me!).</p>
<p><em>[Editor’s note: SRO Management (Rush’s management company) has</em> <em>yet to</em> <em>respond to any of my (several) requests to interview Geddy Lee about wine.  Also, you should check out this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4vd9OVLO7Q">way-cool acoustic cover of Subdivisions</a>! Wacky!]</em></p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>Did you have a favorite among the French wine areas you toured with your father? And did any of the wines surprise you? I got the feeling from the book that you know more about wine now than you did when you were taking the trip, and you were (successfully) trying to recapture the anxiety of that time?</em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>I definitely know more about wine now. I mean, I LIKE it now. And I&#8217;m not scared of it anymore, which is key to understanding anything. I treat every open bottle as though I&#8217;m meeting someone new at a party. They&#8217;re either going to do it for me or leave me cold. My biggest happiness coming out of the trip was understanding Burgundies better. It&#8217;s my father&#8217;s favourite region and has become mine too. A great Burgundy, with all its power and romance and nuance, will leave me speechless. Not much in this life leaves me speechless. I&#8217;m a blatherer. You&#8217;ve likely noticed this.</p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>What&#8217;s been the reaction to the book so far?  A lot of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Corked-Memoir-Kathryn-Borel/product-reviews/0446409502/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&amp;showViewpoints=1">Amazon.com reader reviews</a> </em><em>haven&#8217;t been kind, and at least one of them wrote what seemed an entire dissertation on why the book wasn&#8217;t any good.  It seemed to me that they missed the point somewhat, or were focused too much on the wine angle.  Any reaction to those?</em></p>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:0cb44079-13a7-48f8-88dd-c5c1a42f29b0" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/borel2_tonemapped8x6.jpg"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/UncorkingCorkedAMemoirTheKathrynBorelInt_E492/borel2_tonemapped.png" border="0" alt="" width="249" height="340" /></a></div>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>It has only just come out in the US, but it seems as though it&#8217;s attracting positive attention from media types. I had a great response and turnout at my New York book launch, and I&#8217;m putting on what I think will be a fun event in Atlanta soon. I have a bunch of interviews lined up with NPR stations and have received good press from magazines like Marie Claire, Elle, Sherman&#8217;s Travel magazine, etc. And in Canada it was reviewed very well too.</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not paying too much mind to the amazon.com reviewers: I think the reviewers may be suffering from an expectations/classification problem. I don&#8217;t think its fair to present the book as a &#8220;wine&#8221; or &#8220;travel&#8221; book. There are certainly elements of both but if folks are expecting a wine or travel education&#8230; they may feel disappointed with what they will be reading.</p>
<p>Also, I think when a character &#8212; in this case, me &#8212; is presenting the uglier qualities in themselves, many readers want that character to have already learned their lesson. To already have identified and synthesized their ugliness so that the reader is not dragged along the difficult process of development in ugly, horrible (but funny, I think!) real-time. I tried my best to be as brave and honest as I could. I was a little hurt that the amazon folks didn&#8217;t at least see the virtue in that.</p>
<p>Also, it&#8217;s really easy to be a total jerk anonymously, on the internet.  <em>[Editor’s note: <a href="http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2008/08/23/dont-feed-the-trolls-how-not-to-respond-to-public-criticism/">we wouldn’t know anything about that</a>…]</em></p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>I&#8217;m <a href="http://twitpic.com/16e3i4">a (relatively) new father</a>, and I suppose that some day, like your dad, I will bequeath a large volume of wine to my daughter.  Any advice for me?</em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>Just don&#8217;t corner her in your cellar at age 6 and get her to recite the main varietals grown in Alsace every Sunday afternoon, as my father did with me. Get her sipping early and make sure you&#8217;re having a laugh while doing it. <em>[Editor’s note:</em> <em>deal!]</em></p>
<p><em> </em></p>
<p><strong> </strong></p>
<p><strong>1WD: </strong><em>Finally, can you teach me how to saber sparkling wine? Because that&#8217;s totally bad-ass and I am ready to unload a case of bubbly bad-ass-ness at my next party&#8230;</em></p>
<p><strong>KB: </strong>Let&#8217;s start an online funding drive to fly me down to where you are and we will have an astonishing night of Dom-sabering. If this plan goes bellyup, here&#8217;s my helpful instructional video! <a href="http://www.vimeo.com/6567397">http://www.vimeo.com/6567397</a></p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<title>Weekly Twitter Wine Mini-Reviews Round-up for 2010-03-06</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/06/weekly-twitter-wine-mini-reviews-round-up-for-2010-03-06/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/06/weekly-twitter-wine-mini-reviews-round-up-for-2010-03-06/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine mini-reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[
05 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Wild berry party spoiled by too much green, too little body, &#38; too high a price tag $100 B #
05 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Spatlese (Rheingau): Stately, clean &#38; just a *tiny* bit cloying. $40 A- #
05 Wolffer Estate Claletto (Long Island): Fab Amarone-style Cab [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<ul class="aktt_tweet_digest">
<li>05 Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Wild berry party spoiled by too much green, too little body, &amp; too high a price tag $100 B <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9788636113">#</a></li>
<li>05 Freiherr Langwerth von Simmern Rauenthaler Baiken Riesling Spatlese (Rheingau): Stately, clean &amp; just a *tiny* bit cloying. $40 A- <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9788715353">#</a></li>
<li>05 Wolffer Estate Claletto (Long Island): Fab Amarone-style Cab from stellar year. Focused black fruits = Awesome. VA = not-awesome $85 B+ <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9788831249">#</a></li>
<li>06 Hamilton Russell Vineyards Pinot Noir (Walker Bay): Would be lovely, if not for the prominent &amp; nasty burnt tire &amp; band-aid aromas. $37 D <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9788965627">#</a></li>
<li>NV Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Brut (Champagne): Red apples &amp; baked bread launched at tasty velocity towards your taste buds. $42 A <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9789035900">#</a></li>
<li>02 Domaine Des Baumard Savennieres (Loire): Touch of honey &amp; a lot of awesome. W/ that acid, this CB ain&#8217;t goin anywhere anytime soon. $30 A <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9789119547">#</a></li>
<li>08 Deerfield Ranch Los Chamizal Chardonnay (Sonoma Valley): Give it time &amp; peach &amp; apple will appear. So will the midpalate heat, tho $28 B- <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9895165053">#</a></li>
<li>06 Deerfield Ranch Red Rex (Sonoma County): Capable kitchen-sink red blend, but you&#8217;d better like black raspberry before attempting! $28 B- <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/9896505370">#</a></li>
<li>09 Grey&#8217;s Peak Sauvignon Blanc (Waipara): Like a barrel full of monkeys. Monkeys made of lemongrass, limes, gooseberries &amp; firm acids. $18 A <a class="aktt_tweet_time" href="http://twitter.com/1winedudereview/statuses/10001046152">#</a></li>
</ul>
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		<title>How To Make Money Writing About Wine (A Glimpse Into the 2010 Wine Writers Symposium)</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/05/how-to-make-money-writing-about-wine-a-glimpse-into-the-2010-wine-writers-symposium/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/05/how-to-make-money-writing-about-wine-a-glimpse-into-the-2010-wine-writers-symposium/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine industry events]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[This week, Alder Yarrow posted video coverage of the Wine Writing &#38; Social Media panel discussion that he moderated at the most recent Wine Writers Symposium held in Napa.
I was fortunate to have attended the Symposium and to have sat in on the panel that Alder moderated.  It’s great to have the video captured for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This week, Alder Yarrow <a href="http://www.vinography.com/archives/2010/03/wine_writers_and_social_media.html">posted video coverage</a> of the Wine Writing &amp; Social Media panel discussion that he moderated at <a href="http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/02/19/the-2010-wine-writers-symposium-in-10-easily-digestible-tasty-morsels/">the most recent Wine Writers Symposium</a> held in Napa.</p>
<p>I was fortunate to have attended the Symposium and to have sat in on the panel that Alder moderated.  It’s great to have the video captured for posterity, and in hindsight I’m not sure whether to laugh or to cry at the state of wine writing and its monetization possibilities.</p>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:dcf9d254-0bc3-4adc-9923-fa276d8b557e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding: 0px;"><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://vinography.streamlive.com/videos/3DpmvL"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/AGlimpseIntothe2010WineWritersSymposium_7FEC/screengrab_WWS_panelthumb500x280853.png" border="0" alt="" width="350" height="237" /></a></div>
<p>In summary, <strong>there have probably never been so many challenges combined with so many potential opportunities when it comes to writing about wine and making any money while doing it</strong>.</p>
<p>The challenge is that, as we said in the panel discussion, “the genie is out of the bag” when it comes to free content and wine: <em>people expect to be able to get high quality content about wine on the Internet, and pay nothing for it</em>.  This is putting severe downward pressure on wine writing payment in general.</p>
<p><em>The opportunity is that the market for consuming information about wine has never been larger, and the price of entry is free, for now</em>.  Personally, I fully expect that market to become saturated, after which it will become expensive to enter, and it won’t expand again for probably ten years.  If you want the details on that, well, you’re gonna have to watch my not-so-pretty face on the video!  Actually, fellow panelists <a href="http://www.ablegrape.com">Doug Cook</a>, <a href="http://www.SteveHeimoff.com">Steve Heimoff</a>, and <a href="http://www.zesterdaily.com/patrick-comiskeys-home-page">Patrick Comiskey</a> make the video well worthwhile despite my inappropriately timed humor.</p>
<p><strong>Would love to know your thoughts on this – please check out the video, and shout out in the comments; where is the future of wine writing and its monetization going?  To hell in a hand basket? Or soaring to new heights?</strong></p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<title>Radio Ga-Ga (Talkin&#8217; Premiere Napa on WineBizRadio)</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/04/radio-ga-ga-1winedude-on-winebizradio/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/04/radio-ga-ga-1winedude-on-winebizradio/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine industry events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premiere Napa Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine biz radio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine writers symposium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine writing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/04/radio-ga-ga-1winedude-on-winebizradio/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Last week, I had the pleasure of being the guest on WineBizRadio, the great Sonoma-based wine business radio program with which most of you savvy readers will already be familiar.
I always enjoy riffing with show hosts Kaz and Randy, and I had a fantastic time discussing the recent Wine Writers Symposium (Facebook fan page), Premiere [...]]]></description>
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<p>Last week, I had the pleasure of being the guest on <a href="http://winebizradio.com/">WineBizRadio</a>, the great Sonoma-based wine business radio program with which most of you savvy readers will already be familiar.</p>
<p>I <em>always </em>enjoy riffing with show hosts <a href="http://winebizradio.com/about/">Kaz and Randy</a>, and I had a fantastic time discussing the recent <a href="http://www.winewriterssymposium.org/">Wine Writers Symposium</a> (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Napa-CA/The-Symposium-for-Professional-Wine-Writers/316238072482?v=wall#!/pages/Napa-CA/The-Symposium-for-Professional-Wine-Writers/316238072482?v=wall">Facebook fan page</a>), <a href="http://www.napavintners.com/trade/tm_3_release_detail.asp?ID_News=2421054">Premiere Napa Valley</a>, and “the-wine-life-in-general” (by which I mean wine writing and, more specifically, the inability to make a decent living wage while writing about wine).  Except for that &#8220;my voice always sounds more nasally and higher pitched when I hear it on the radio&#8221; thing.</p>
<p>Anyway, I thought it would be a fun way to wrap up the coverage on the Wine Writers Symposium and the craziness of PNV (although I&#8217;m sure it&#8217;s not actually getting wrapped up totally&#8230; I&#8217;ve got tons I could talk about from those events&#8230;).</p>
<p>As an added bonus, in this episode of WBR Kaz-The-Wise explains how <em>any wine blogger can quickly make money</em>, provided they’re not too concerned about ethics. :-)</p>
<p>Enjoy (embedded audio below)…</p>
<p><span id="more-1857"></span></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="http://winebizradio.com/articles/winebizradio-20100226/">WineBizRadio &#8211; &#8220;Altitude Sickness&#8221;</a></p>
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<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LncAQR47eZo">Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga” from Live Aid 1985</a> (just because it kicks ass)</p>
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</div>
<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
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		<title>Seeing Red For the First Time (Wine Blogging Wednesday #67)</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/03/seeing-red-for-the-first-time-wine-blogging-wednesday/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/03/seeing-red-for-the-first-time-wine-blogging-wednesday/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine blogging wednesday]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine appreciation]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/?p=1882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;m thrilled to be hosting the next Wine Blogging Wednesday (#67) right here on 1WineDude.com, which will take place on Wednesday, March 24th!
I haven&#8217;t hosted a WBW event since November 2008 (WBW #51), so I wanted to make sure that I had a really cool theme for the event &#8211; and I think the one [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;m thrilled to be <strong>hosting the next Wine Blogging Wednesday (#67) right here on 1WineDude.com</strong>, which will take place <strong>on Wednesday, March 24th!</strong></p>
<p>I haven&#8217;t hosted a WBW event since November 2008 (<a href="http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2008/11/17/and-they-all-got-baked-wine-blogging-wednesday-51-wrap-up/">WBW #51</a>), so I wanted to make sure that I had a really cool theme for the event &#8211; and I think the one that WBW founder <a href="http://lennthompson.typepad.com/lenndevours/">Lenn Thompson</a> and I agreed on is pretty cool and will generate some great discussion.</p>
<p><em>The Theme</em></p>
<p>This month&#8217;s WBW theme is <strong><em>Seeing Red For the First Time</em></strong>.</p>
<p>
<div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: left; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:24026710-188c-40fb-937e-f0e35c18d81c" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><a href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SeeingRedFortheFirstTimeWineBloggingWedn_B671/redglasses8x6.jpg" title="" rel="thumbnail"><img border="0" src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/SeeingRedFortheFirstTimeWineBloggingWedn_B671/redglasses.png" width="356" height="281" /></a></div>
<p> To participate, you&#8217;ll need to <strong>pick a <em>red </em>wine that you would use to introduce a white wine drinker to red wines</strong> <strong>for the first time</strong>.&#160; Think of a person that only ever drinks white wine, and answer the question: <em>What Red Wine would I use to convince that white-wine-only person that they should also drink reds</em>?</p>
<p>Include a review of the wine, and be sure to tell us <em>why</em> you chose that style of wine, or that wine in particular (or both).</p>
<p>We&#8217;ve deliberately kept this theme open-ended so you can go as crazy as you like in your choices.&#160; <strong>ANY still red wine is eligible (including Rose wines, provided that they&#8217;re made primarily of red varieties).</strong></p>
<p>Would you ease them into the world of reds with an off-dry Rose? Or go full-bore and knock their socks off with a classic, expensive, explosive fruit bomb?&#160; You decide!</p>
<p><em>The Logistics</em></p>
<p>The way that <a href="http://www.winebloggingwednesday.org/about/">WBW works</a> (in summary): You get a wine that lines up with the theme, you review said wine, post your review and related thoughts, and send a link to the host, who will then summarize the event and write a wrap-up with a link to your review.</p>
<p>So, to participate in this round of WBW, <strong>post a comment to 1WineDude.com on or before March 24th (either comment on this post, or to my WBW post that will appear on March 24), and include the link to your review</strong>.</p>
<p>Easy-peasy-nice-and-squeezy.&#160; Please spread the word, this one is going to be fun and has the chance to introduce many of us to Reds that we might not otherwise be trying &#8211; and that&#8217;s <em>always</em> a good time!</p>
<p>I know that I&#8217;m looking forward to reading what you come up with!</p>
<p>Cheers!</p>
</p>
<p><font color="#808080" size="1">(image: matteogonet.com)</font></p>
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		<title>Premiere Napa Valley: One Dude&#8217;s Tasting Notes</title>
		<link>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/02/premiere-napa-valley-one-dudes-tasting-notes/</link>
		<comments>http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/02/premiere-napa-valley-one-dudes-tasting-notes/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>1WineDude</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[wine industry events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine tasting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1winedude]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Premiere Napa Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine events]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wine industry]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/03/02/premiere-napa-valley-one-dudes-tasting-notes/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We know that I’m not terribly fond of massive tastings.  I did thoroughly enjoy myself at Premiere Napa Valley, however, even if I didn’t get to try all 200 of the wines, mostly because the experience, with lots of people in close proximity to wine and to each other, is uber-social.  For a gadfly like [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We know that <a href="http://www.1winedude.com/index.php/2010/02/25/robert-parkers-job-is-safe-a-tasting-perspective-on-premiere-napa-valleys-perspective-tasting/">I’m not terribly fond of massive tastings</a>.  I did thoroughly enjoy myself at <a href="http://www.napavintners.com/trade/tm_1_premiere.aspx">Premiere Napa Valley</a>, however, even if I didn’t get to try all 200 of the wines, mostly because the experience, with lots of people in close proximity to wine and to each other, is uber-social.  For a gadfly like me, it’s like social crack, only with ultra-premium wines and the opportunity to catch up with friends, chill with industry folk, and ask geeky questions of winemakers.</p>
<p>In other words, it’s like <em>super </em>wine crack for me<em>.</em></p>
<p>I’ve decided not to rate any of the wines I tasted at PNV, because a) you’re unlikely to find them, and b) we are talking some of the best-of-the-best in CA winemaking here, and the scores on my cheesy A-F scale for are in the A- to A+ range for <em>all </em>of these wines; there’s no real point in sharing those subtle shades of differing scores, now is there?  I mean, I’m not getting into a 94 vs 96 points discussion, <em>thankyouverymuch</em>.</p>
<p>Anyway, following are some of my favorites among a field of very, very impeccably made wines (in PNV auction lot order):</p>
<p><span id="more-1846"></span></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Keenan (008) &#8211; &#8220;Grand Classique&#8221; 2008 Cabernet </strong>- Not what one would expect from a competition of muscular New World reds; it&#8217;s lovely, with an abundance of violets on the nose; like you passed out in a field of violets after a night of drinking Napa Cabs&#8230;</li>
<li><strong>Hestan Vineyards (009) 2007 Stephanie Selection </strong>- 80% Malbec – Just screaming good, a nuanced black &amp; brambly beauty.</li>
<li><strong>Duckhorn Vineyards (018) &#8211; 2008 </strong><strong>Three Palms Vineyard Cabernet </strong>- In a room full of wines with supple &amp; nuanced tannins, this might have been the most supple in that room.</li>
<li><strong>Rocca Family Vineyards (040) &#8211; 2008 Yountville Cabernet </strong>- A healthy dollap of Syrah (all from Grisby Vineyard) give this lot a spicy, peppery edge.</li>
<li><strong>Cornerstone Cellars (058) &#8211; 2008 Howell Mountain Cabernet </strong>- Dark &amp; brooding with extremely focused black cherry fruit. 20 yr old vines. Might need 20 years to fully reveal itself!</li>
<li><strong> </strong>
<div id="scid:8747F07C-CDE8-481f-B0DF-C6CFD074BF67:a7f11fe4-3c85-4399-9476-5f427725272e" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent" style="margin: 0px; display: inline; float: right; padding: 0px;"><strong><a rel="thumbnail" href="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/b075e9d9ef14_8067/20100222_0930058x6.jpg"><img src="http://www.1winedude.com/wp-content/uploads/b075e9d9ef14_8067/20100222_093005.png" border="0" alt="" width="359" height="432" /></a></strong></div>
<p><strong> Ladera (075) &#8211; 2008 Two Mountains Cabernet </strong>- fruit sourced from both Howell Mtn. and Lone Canyon (1100 ft) &#8211; Supple and very, very pretty.  Steep slopes = elegance?</li>
<li><strong>Terra Valentine (083) &#8211; 2008 Cabernet Franc </strong>- A standout due to its unique nose of roses, candied fruit, and a palate full of blue- and huckle-berries.</li>
<li><strong>PEJU &amp; Sullivan Vineyards (086) &#8211; 2008  &#8220;P.S. We Love Rutherford&#8221; Cabernet </strong>- joint lot that delivered a solid punch of baking chocolate &amp;, yes, dusty tannins.</li>
<li><strong>Schramsberg Vineyards (110) &#8211; 1994 reserve Late Disgorged Sparkling Wine</strong> &#8211; OMG&#8230; Like apple bread, if apple bread were made by Valkyries. As my friend Alder Yarrow put it &#8220;it showed how amazing American Sparkling wine could be if no expenses were spared&#8230;&#8221;  It may have been the single greatest expression of wine mastery in the room.</li>
<li><strong>Trefethen Family Vineyards (123) &#8211; 2008 Oak Knoll District Cabernet</strong>- Described to me by Hailey Trefethen as an “extreme farming trial.”  I think the question of whether or not Trefethen&#8217;s focus is on offering balanced wines has been answered, if this lot offering was any indication; the red &amp; black fruit combo was stunning, with the fruit and spice riding structural elements (acids vs heft, tight vs. supple tannins) so deftly balanced it seemed like some kind of a high-wire act by a fruit supermodel.</li>
<li><strong>Vineyard 7 &amp; 8 (151) &#8211; 2008 &#8220;Collaboration&#8221; Cabernet </strong>- A winning combo of Mountain (Spring Mtn) and valley (Oakville) fruit, expertly blended to combine grace and muscle. The word &#8220;wow&#8221; appeared in my tasting note (as did &#8220;focused red &amp; black cherries, with sweet spice&#8221;).</li>
<li><strong>Faust (152) &#8211; 2008 &#8220;A Faustian Bargain&#8221; Cabernet</strong> &#8211; I don&#8217;t know about being a bargain, but this wine was as dark &amp; gripping as Darth Vader (and I found it about as compelling as the first time that I saw Vader on the big screen)&#8230;</li>
<li><strong>Louis M. Martini (179) &#8211; &#8220;Premiere 254&#8243; 2008 Cabernet </strong>- A handful of the Premiere wines had an abundance of gorgeous floral notes (violets), and this one offered them up in spades.</li>
<li><strong>Mount Veeder Winery (188) &#8211; 2008 Cabernet</strong>- Not as tight as a Howell Mountain Cab, the violets and flowers on the nose belie significant tannins with tobacco and enough grip to give this wine a long future.</li>
<li><strong>Barnett Vineyards (172) &#8211; 2008 Cabernet </strong>- From Spring Mountain, this wine screamed &#8220;Napa&#8221; &#8211; gorgeous, with lush dark fruit.</li>
</ul>
<p>Cheers!</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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