“…and even if he’s a lazy man, and the Dude was certainly that – quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County… which would place him high in the runnin’ for laziest worldwide…”

The Stranger, from The Big Lebowski

Yes, this is a lazy post. But while it certainly qualifies for being labeled as lazy, some interesting insights can be gleaned from it so I’d challenge those who’d also try it qualify it as lacking any value. Note that I didn’t say it delivers a lot of value, just that it doesn’t lack for any value. Aw, f*ck, why am I doing this to myself again? Just deal with it, I need a break after putting together the last top ten list (which was a butt-load of work).

What am I blathering about? I’ll tell you what I’m blathering about, man! I’m gonna give you another annual top ten list – this time, it’s the top ten most popular 1WD articles of the year.

In the 2010 incarnation of this list, I mused that a) 1WD readers love wine topic controversy, and b) I would no longer be able to use the 2010 method of determining the most popular articles (counting comments) again. And both pieces of dime-store philosophizing insight proved to be true in 2011. Controversy in the wine world was, once again, no stranger to these virtual pages, and it got your collective wine geek blood pumping – particularly when it came to the uber-geeky topics of wine yeasts, how wine critics rate (or don’t rate!) the wines that they taste, and the always-religious-level-debate-inducing debate around Biodynamics.

In terms of measuring engagement, the days of folks dropping in with a quick comment to say “nice job” are now far behind us; those thumbs up are now given as re-tweets and/or Facebook “Likes” (which I think we should also be doing for wines themselves, but that’s another story entirely…). So instead of counting comments as in previous years, I opted to have PostRank.com report back what it thought were the most engaging 1WD articles of the year, since their calculation appears to take into account comments and social media reach through sharing on platforms such as twitter. It’s NOT perfect, as it misses key metrics such as video views (which surely would have put my video interviews with rocker Les Claypool and social media maven Gary Vaynerchuk at the top of the list), and because of a three-way tie at the #9 spot, there are actually 12 posts listed and not 10; but it’s got more positives than negatives so let’s go with it.

I’ve excluded giveaways requiring comments for reasons that should be obvious (if they’re not, just keep drinking!). And as in previous years, the list doesn’t really include the articles I consider my personal faves from 2011 – but the list isn’t about me, it’s about you. And for those just recently tuning into 1WD, this is as good a way as any to catch up on the content that stirred the most discussion during the past twelve months.

And so… here they are…!

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…This.

No, I’m not kidding.

The fact that the Australian Wine Research Institute researches have sequenced the Brettanomyces genome is, potentially, the single most important piece of news to hit the wine world since it was discovered that malolactic fermentation could be controlled. In terms of newsworthy impact, it makes Scarecrow’s busting of the Premiere Napa Valley auction record look like the equivalent of your regional free paper running a headline like “Local Youth Paves Driveways.” And for me, it makes the recent Pancho Campo/JayMiller/Wine Advocate pay-for-play tasting controversy taste like small beer.

For those wondering what the hell I’m on about here, last week I was sent a link to a Decanter.com article titled “‘The enemy’ at bay: scientists crack brett gene code” by a fiend via email (the subject line: “Finally, some good news! What will Bobby P. do??”).

The story, in a nutshell, is that Brettanomyces – the spoilage yeast responsible for creating aromas in wine that range from a hint of smoky meat to horse sweat to downright pungent, mousy-barnyard-droppings-wrapped-in-Band-Aids – has had its genetic code cracked by a team of intrepid Aussie-based scientists.

Why the big deal? Because it means the wine world is closer than ever to finding a way to control Brett yeasts – and until that day comes, I stand fast in my resolve when I tell you that Brett is not terroir, and is not really an element of added complexity; it is a flaw (and if someone’s wine happens to have the relatively inoffensive meaty kind of Brett, they’re not necessarily uber-talented winemakers or viticulturists adding a dash of complexity to their final product; odds are they’re just lucky)…

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What do you do after you’ve more-or-less totally conquered the R&B/Pop and Jazz worlds, and have become so successful in the music biz that one of your backup bands goes on to become a multi-platinum-record-selling act?

In Boz Scaggs’s case, you start up a wine brand. Of course!

Many of you…, uhm… younglings reading this may not be intimately familiar with Boz’s tunes, or his soulful crooning, but chances are very, very good that your parents think he’s the shiz. In 2000, smooth-soul-rocker Boz and his wife Dominique released the first wines made under their Scaggs Vineyard label. Their plantings were started on a bit of a lark in the late 1990s, when a friend suggested they try growing grape vines on their Napa Valley property (and gave them some leftover Syrah he had on his truck). Turned out that friend was onto something – Scaggs Vineyard 2008 Mt. Veeder Montage is a stellar Mourvèdre / Grenache / Syrah blend that’s packing as much soul as any one of Boz’s numerous memorable grooves.

Judging by his responses to my interview questions, award-winning singer/songwriter Boz Scaggs may be a man of many infectious grooves but he’s also a man of relatively few words. When it comes to his wines, however, little embellishment is needed for those who have had the opportunity to taste them.  Boz might “Speak Low,” but his wines carry a pretty loud bang (for the buck).

A quick interview with Boz (who took some time out of a busy and active touring schedule to answer my questions) is below, along with some further thoughts on two recent Scaggs Vineyard releases (tasted as samples).  I suggest listening to the live version of Lowdown while reading it (if that song doesn’t get your booty moving at least a little bit, then you might not have a pulse…).  I’m not sure Boz “gets” my sense of humor (actually, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t get my sense of humor), but I sure “get” his wines – of all of the rock-star-turned-wine-producers that I’ve interviewed, Boz’s releases are certainly among the best (if not the best).

Enjoy!…

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“That’s just… man, that’s just… NOT right!”

The above quote is from a friend of mine, in reaction to learning that some of his favorite wines – and, in fact, probably most wines – are made with grapes purchased from growers. As in, grapes that did not come from a patch of land directly behind a winery building on a farm somewhere, tended with care by the winemaker’s own hands.

Imagine how he would have felt if he’d seen the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau’s list of “Materials authorized for the treatment of wine and juice.”  While it’s not quite as bad as the list of additives that are used to “enhance” our processed foodstuffs, it certainly feels a lot more “McDonald’s” than “Old MacDonald.”

As consumers, lacking evidence to the alternative we have a tendency to assume (naively) that what we consume is fundamentally natural, or that a “natural” product is somehow a superior one.  This premise – that the natural is always the better – serves as a driving force behind award-winning wine journalist Alice Feiring’s new book, Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally ($10 eBook, or about $15 in print – I received an advanced review copy).

Feiring is a self-proclaimed polarizing figure in the wine world, and if her intention with Naked Wine was to solidify her controversial status, she could hardly have chosen a better cement than the topic of “natural wine”…

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