Following up with the theme of increased wine consumption, here is a piece indicating that Americans are drinking more beer and less wine. 

Americans are drinking less alcohol, particularly beer, according to a study published in the August edition of The American Journal of Medicine.

Interestingly enough, I had been under the impression that alcohol consumption does not decrease during troubling economic times.   People drink the same amount.  They just purchase it differently.  Instead of drinking at bars and restaurants, they but their wine (or whatever) at shops and take it home.

But most importantly, “ Americans are drinking significantly less beer and more wine, while hard liquor use has remained fairly constant.”

Happy WINE tasting!

My sincerest apologies for the lag in posts the past few days.  Things have been hectic yet fabulous.  I returned today from a wonderful yet too short weekend camping trip.  There were 8 of us on the trip and it was loads of fun.  BBQ-ing, fireworks, fishing, tubing & BIG CAMP FIRES.  Ahhh…so much fun.  I brought a bunch of wine and someone questioned whether wine was camping appropriate.  I thought it was perfect actually.  While chillin’ in a chair & fishing on the Delaware river I preferred a cold beer.  But a bottle of rose in the early evening and a cup (no glasses at the campgrounds - oh well) of red at night with a burger by the campfire - SOOOO GOOOOOD!

Quickly want to thank everyone who made it out to Le Rendezvous wine bar last Thursday night.   The turnout was great and all who made it were treated to a spectacular night (if I do say so myself).  I was able to seat almost all the guests and like a good party host I mingled with everyone while constantly filling up their glasses with fabulous wines from Yarden & Galil Mountain.  I got lots of people nice and buzzed, but more importantly the guests and wine bar staff (and owner) loved the wines and really enjoyed the evening and ambiance at the fabulous Le Rendezvous wine bar.

Finally want to share an interesting little tidbit with you.  The Beverage Information group recently released their 2008 wine handbook and announced that wine consumption in 2008 once again rose - by 3.2%.  Doesn’t sound like a lot but it marks the 14th consecutive year of “case gains”.  The full PR Newswire release can be found here.

Happy Campfire Israel Wine Tasting!

WTG

Yes, I have been tempted to write about Israeli wines a lot lately given the fabulous press they have been getting with recent articles in Wine Spectator (online version only available to subscribers) & The San Fransisco Chronicle (found online at the SF Gate).

But any post about Israeli wines will be elaborate and hopefully include some specific news/update describing progress concerning my previously discussed Israel Wine Project.

So instead, I want to bring up wines from another not-too-discussed wine region - Washington state.

Washington State, is known to produce some exceptional reds, in particular Merlot, Syrah and yes, of course, Cabernet Sauvignon (and blends including all or some of the aforementioned varietals). (more…)

The California wine industry that welcomed a wine-novice Wine Tasting Guy with open arms is under attack. Alice Feiring, a warm woman whom I met & spoke with at length shortly after transitioning into the wine industry, is under attack. Wine drinkers everywhere are seemingly under attack. (more…)

I just read a recent post by Eric Asimov of the New York Times on his blog The Pour. The post, titled “Does Your Wine Need Viagra” deals primarily with the issue of alternative sources used by wine producers for imparting the OAK flavors to wines (chips, powders & staves instead of barrels). But the article itself, as well as the myriad of comments that follows seems to be praising the old world producers, how they let the wine make itself, without the use of modern technology. While the New World producers (specifically California) are using all sorts of alternative technologies and products to make wines that lose that something special. (more…)

Got back from the West Coast this morning and I hope to write up about day 1 of my wine country trip tomorrow. But now, my long overdue summary of the wines I was able to try at the Polaner tasting. As I previously mentioned, the annual event has an amazing array of top notch wines from all over the world, but in my opinion, there are simply too many wines. Maybe given my “neophyte” status, I try to taste as many wines as possible and miss the point. Maybe I should lower my expectations and simply focus on one variety or one region. This could help to make events of this size more manageable. I don’t know. Either way, while it was overwhelming, I tasted some very fine wines and met some very personable and charming winemakers (or winery proprietors).

Of the 75 tables and several hundred wines I managed to taste 117 wines. (more…)

Friends, business partners and dates have seen me make a case out of it. While dining out, or simply sharing a bottle of wine at a food/beverage establishment, a waiter will often come over to “top off” the glasses. When I am fast enough, I will (as politely as possible) thank them and tell them “not to worry about it”, my nice way of saying don’t you dare pour another drop of the wine I just purchased into that glass. I am fully capable of pouring my own wine thank you very much.

This may sound passively aggressive, or even just plain aggressive, to some of you, but it is something I feel very strongly about (among many other things when it comes to wine service). (more…)

For the second year in a row I was fortunate to be able to attend the Polaner Selections Spring portfolio tasting.  This event has hundreds of wineries from countries all over the world, each one with at least one and at times as many as ten or more wines.  There were some great wines at this event as well as some amazing winemakers who come to the event to meet the people serving/selling their wines.

BUT, the event is simply too big & hectic.  I met a winemaker there whom I had met at a previous tasting.  The tasting he attends is a very small & varietally specific tasting.  The smaller tastings afford guests the opportunity to really taste through ALL the wines and speak with the respective winemakers.  The larger tastings, such as this one, while full of fabulous wines, are simply overwhelming.

I apologize to those of you looking forward to this post.  I’ll be leaving town within the hour and do not want to take my tasting notes with me.  I’ll post my standouts from the tasting in greater detail when I return in two weeks.  In the meantime I will post throughout my trip on other wine related STUFF.

Happy Passover, Easter or whatever you may be celebrating ( I hope you are celebrating something)!!

WTG

I attended this event for the second year in a row at The Altman Building in NY city. The event features 100+ (they say 100, but I’m told it is closer to 110) wines from Bordeaux at reasonable (sub $30) prices. So no Margaux and no Petrus, but some very nice wines for wine professionals to consider for their bar, restaurant … or blog post as the case may be.

I really like this event for a few reasons. (more…)

Hot is a descriptor used by people to describe a wine that is high in alcohol and unbalanced (there can be high alcohol wines that are balanced and soft - think some Zinfandels). But that is not what I am talking about here. I read a couple of articles today that has reaffirmed my belief that my transition into the wine industry was a wise one.

The first was an article in Decanter Magazine entitled “US Wine Purchases Soar Despite Looming Recession“. While I don’t much care for the “looming recession” part, it was really the “US Wine Purchases Soar” part that I liked. They are saying the US market for wine is now generating $30 Billion, 8% higher than in 2006, and this is key “as consumers gravitated toward premium wines from home and abroad”. I like this part too as it tells me that more people are seeking out better quality wine (a phenomenon known as “trading up”) and as a result producers are going to have to produce better wine to survive. Even the lower end producers are going to have to produce higher quality wine, which means better wine at competitive prices for wine consumers.

Other interesting facts from the article are that the US has now further cemented its position as the worlds biggest wine market dollar wise and will shortly (if not already) surpass France & Italy as the largest volume wise.

However none of this is new news as it has been anticipated for several months if not years.

What is new news (to me at least) is that we are getting an online wine video site. In what appears to be a press release sent out by the company entitled “WineTasteTV.com Unveils the Ultimate Online Video Destination for Wine” WineTasteTV calls itself “the worlds most comprehensive online television channel for wine”. They will apparently be posting wine related video’s covering everything wine, from reviews, tastings & pairings, to education and wine related events. This is exciting news and I’m sure to be a frequent visitor. Now if there were only more hours in the day…

The press release goes on to mention that “The wine business has exploded in recent years with approximately 75 million wine drinkers in the U.S. alone” - WOW, that is a big number!

All very exciting stuff for wine loving enthusiasts like myself. I wonder if WineTasteTV will hire me to do films about my wine adventures. Now THAT would be a great job!

OK, that is all for today. But stay tuned as I’ll be writing about another interesting article I read relating to French Wines…

In the meantime, happy wine video watching.

WTG