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An alcohol limitation bill written by the beer wholesalers and supported by wine and liquor distribution industries (and nicknamed “the wholesalers’ monopoly protection bill”) took some hefty blows in a Congressional hearing on September 29th. Read more: HR 5034 alcohol limitation bill in Congress takes a hit Each year, the venerated wine mag Wine Spectator invites its readers to get their inner vinous juices flowing with a 3-minute video contest. The finalists are chosen by the Wine Spectator editors, the winners are chosen by votes. Watch the three best. Read more: Wine Spectator 2010 video finalists – what you should watch Last March, beer wholesaler lobbyists presented a bill… er, I mean, legislators presented a bill in Congress entitled HR 5034 or the CARE Act. It now has the support of 139 congressmen and might threaten consumers’ choice of wine or beer. Read more: HR 5034 bill that will effect our wine choices heats up in Washington A growing “controversy” in the wine world is the raised alcohol levels in domestic wines. Whether it’s due to global warming or a way to entice famous wine writers (read: Robert Parker) to give them a glowing review, winemakers are caving, leading to wine descriptors like “hot”, “burning” and “high alcohol”. Tyler Coleman, aka Dr. Vino, wrote an interesting Read more: Alcohol levels growing in domestic wine Seems to me there’s a “day” or “month” for everything: Official Macaroni and Cheese Day, National Cow Day and each calendar month has a disease attached to it. Some designations make sense to me (Cancer Awareness Month, although to not be “aware” of cancer would require hermit-level ignorance) and others, not so much — National Waffle Month (??). Read more: Governor Schwarzenegger declares September California Wine Month n the world of wine, the Court of Master Sommeliers rules the school. There are only 106 Master Sommeliers in North America (171 worldwide) who have passed the four levels of exams needed to gain this prestigious title and it literally takes years of practice (and many tries, so I hear) to pass the dastardly blind tasting section. Of these 106, Kathyrn Morgan from Washington DC, is now the 16th woman. Girl power! The bane of most winemakers is not knowing what their creation will taste like in your glass. These creative beings spend countless hours babying a wine, only to have the distribution system muck it up somehow. Despite every earnest effort along the way from winery to table, high temperatures (especially in summer) can, and often do, ruin a perfectly good bottle of wine. Read more: eProvenance tracks a wine’s temperature from the winery to the cellar A few months ago, I wrote a column about how Bordeaux is no longer relevant to general American wine drinking public. Sounds like the NY Times has caught on to this sentiment. An excerpt from Eric Asimov’s column last week: “The hyperbole over 2009 Bordeaux began building even before the harvest last fall. Ripples of praise grew into waves this spring as critics and the trade descended on Bordeaux for the annual ritual of tasting the most recent vintage from barrels. Their ecstatic reviews reverberated through Britain, which takes its claret extremely seriously. They rang out in Hong Kong, the leading edge of what Bordeaux hopes will be a huge Asian market. Read more: NY Times echoes Americans’ lack of Bordeaux wine enthusiasm I suppose it was bound to happen. That partytrain known as wine sales had to arrive in Generica, stopping at the Sam’s Club station. Like the last guy at a party to realize his fly is open, Sam Walton’s masterminding crew has released its own private wine retail label. I should’ve expected it… I should’ve sensed it in the air. But the moment the press release entered my inbox offering up a sample of this new Spanish red blend, I HAD to try it. Read more: Sam’s Club releases its own wine label: Infinite 2008 Spanish Red |
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