“If we sip the wine, we find dreams coming upon us out of the imminent night”
― D.H. Lawrence
“One should always be drunk. That's all that matters...But with what? With wine, with poetry, or with virtue, as you chose. But get drunk.”
― Charles Baudelaire
“Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.”
― Paulo Coelho, Brida
“Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know.”
― John Keats
As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
“Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing.”
― Ernest Hemingway
“his lips drink water
but his heart drinks wine”
― E.E. Cummings
"She spoke my name like a french whore calling for laudanum, a raspy anxiousness- and in that moment I reached out for the wine, and in her haste she reached for, and tasted myself"
Igor Trumble- Thus I sat
“Beer is made by men, wine by God.”
― Martin Luther
“We all need something to help us unwind at the end of the day. You might have a glass of wine, or a joint, or a big delicious blob of heroin to silence your silly brainbox of its witterings but there has to be some form of punctuation, or life just seems utterly relentless.”
― Russell Brand, My Booky Wook
“[I]t is the wine that leads me on,
the wild wine
that sets the wisest man to sing
at the top of his lungs,
laugh like a fool – it drives the
man to dancing... it even
tempts him to blurt out stories
better never told.”
― Homer, The Odyssey
“Aw I don't wanta go to no such thing, I just wanta drink in alleys.'...
But you'll miss all that, just for some old wine.'
There's wisdom in wine, goddam it!' I yelled. 'Have a shot!”
― Jack Kerouac, The Dharma Bums
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Hong Kong is officially the world's leading wine market
China,the red viper of pseudo communism, has taken hold of it's most precious prey: the world's wine market.
This is the most terrifying news I've received since learning that the Republicans allowed a second god damned Mormon to run for president. I've said it before and I'll say it now: the only thing worse than the inane puritan gobbledygook of Mormonism is the repulsive hypocrisy of a wine collecting communist!
And yet, The city has become so attractive as a wine auction center that (the clearly inept and delusional) chef Ferran Adria has chosen to sell the 8,807 bottle cellar from the now-defunct El Bulli restaurant here and in New York. Unheard of less than a year ago, where New York would have hosted the entire collection.
In January of 2013 the cellar of the coward Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Cats,” was auctioned off in 748 lots. It included two cases of Château Cheval Blanc 1982, each case valued at HK$95,000 to HK$160,000, and two magnums of Romanée Conti 1990, Domaine de la Romanée Conti, estimated at HK$160,000 to HK$240,000 each.
*you can view his interview with Sotheby's who hosted the auction- on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmqMJkrGywc
And this shameful china mongering prompted the ususally level headed Food and Wine to posit: "Will Hong Kong Drink Up All Our Wine?" It was an irrepresible thought piece that raised more than a few eyebrows. http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/will-hong-kong-drink-up-all-our-wine
The fears are real, and the world's elite seem to "drinking the cool aid" more than imbibing on thier own god dammned wines. Call me old fashioned- but I'm from a time when people collected wine to actually drink it- not sell it to the single greatest threat to our beloved country.
Forget Snowden, I say we go after Webber, and with everything we have. The bastard.
More to come on my revenge on RED CHINA... Chin- Chin.
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Masters of Wine Celebrates 60 years
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Japan's Hakone Kowakien Yunessun Wine Spa Resort
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Love My Wines: The Miracles of Wine Clubs
Love My Wines: The Miracles of Wine Clubs: There are so many Miracle's awaits a future Wine Club Member and I can start with shipments showing up every month or 3 months whicheve...
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Murder of one of Switzerland’s most notable wine experts (reprint)
Murder of one of Switzerland’s most notable wine experts (update)
Update Monday 22 August ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – It’s with a very heavy heart that I write of the death of Barbara Meier-Dittus, age 47, the former editor of Vinum, European wine magazine based in Zurich. She was murdered Thursday night by her former companion Rui A, 43, a Portuguese chef and owner of the Pagoda Restaurant in Baden Zurzach, who then killed himself.
The deaths took place at her apartment in Baden, canton Aargau. Her three daughters, under age 20, were asleep in the apartment but were awakened by the shots, and they found the bodies.
Aargau police say they had been phoned in the past for domestic violence; the pair had been a couple for several years, but had recently split up.
We all imagine that such “crimes of passion” happen only to people we don’t know, to people who are not in charge of their lives. We don’t think domestic violence will take the lives of women who are smart and savvy, with successful careers. Barbara was very much in charge of her life, or so it appeared to those (and we are many) of us who knew and admired her professionally.
I’ve just spent three days as a judge at the Mondial du Pinot Noir wine competition in Sierre, Valais, to which Barbara had been invited, as a wine taster par excellence. She had declined, saying she wanted to spend more time with her children this summer.
Sunday morning the 50-plus wine experts stood for a minute of silence, for our lost colleague, but she was never far from the minds of the many who knew her, throughout the weekend.
The three girls, in their teens and early twenties, were awakened by the gunshots after midnight and discovered their mother’s body on the veranda of their apartment, according to Blick, which mentions that Barbara was recently known as a writer of a Coop wine column. The daughters are being provided with counseling and care by Aargau police.
Barbara Meier doing what she loved best, talking with an up-and-coming Val d'Aosta winemaker, Didier Gerbelle, in July: Barbara, always keen to know more, asked about his family's history
Barbara was far more than just a wine writer and editor: her knowledge of wine was rich and deep, she had a real passion for sharing her knowledge and she was excited about a number of upcoming projects.
I for one saw her as a fine example of what women can contribute to the wine industry. In addition to her very good understanding of wines, she was chic and elegant at all times, well spoken and she spoke several languages. She trained as a sommelier in France and she frequently served as a judge at international wine competitions.
About a month ago I spent a day with Barbara exploring a couple vineyards in Italy on the fringes of the Cervim European mountain wines) competition in Val d’Aosta, where we were both judges. We had ample opportunity driving around in her car to discuss wine, her resignation from Vinum, her future projects and the balance between motherhood and a professional life. I was particularly struck by her enthusiasm for teaching women more about wine, and for courses she was planning to organize. She talked about working as a wine magazine editor, but also about leaving in order to have time and energy to do more creative work.
We visited a beautiful vineyard in Val d’Aosta and talked at length with the energetic young winemaker whose products we both admired enormously. Her comments on his wines were so astute that I appreciated the day as time spent with a master.
What a great loss she is, to more people than she could ever have realized. My heart goes out to her daughters: may they know all their lives that she would never have chosen to leave them.
Update Monday 22 August ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – It’s with a very heavy heart that I write of the death of Barbara Meier-Dittus, age 47, the former editor of Vinum, European wine magazine based in Zurich. She was murdered Thursday night by her former companion Rui A, 43, a Portuguese chef and owner of the Pagoda Restaurant in Baden Zurzach, who then killed himself.
The deaths took place at her apartment in Baden, canton Aargau. Her three daughters, under age 20, were asleep in the apartment but were awakened by the shots, and they found the bodies.
Aargau police say they had been phoned in the past for domestic violence; the pair had been a couple for several years, but had recently split up.
We all imagine that such “crimes of passion” happen only to people we don’t know, to people who are not in charge of their lives. We don’t think domestic violence will take the lives of women who are smart and savvy, with successful careers. Barbara was very much in charge of her life, or so it appeared to those (and we are many) of us who knew and admired her professionally.
I’ve just spent three days as a judge at the Mondial du Pinot Noir wine competition in Sierre, Valais, to which Barbara had been invited, as a wine taster par excellence. She had declined, saying she wanted to spend more time with her children this summer.
Sunday morning the 50-plus wine experts stood for a minute of silence, for our lost colleague, but she was never far from the minds of the many who knew her, throughout the weekend.
The three girls, in their teens and early twenties, were awakened by the gunshots after midnight and discovered their mother’s body on the veranda of their apartment, according to Blick, which mentions that Barbara was recently known as a writer of a Coop wine column. The daughters are being provided with counseling and care by Aargau police.
Barbara Meier doing what she loved best, talking with an up-and-coming Val d'Aosta winemaker, Didier Gerbelle, in July: Barbara, always keen to know more, asked about his family's history
Barbara was far more than just a wine writer and editor: her knowledge of wine was rich and deep, she had a real passion for sharing her knowledge and she was excited about a number of upcoming projects.
I for one saw her as a fine example of what women can contribute to the wine industry. In addition to her very good understanding of wines, she was chic and elegant at all times, well spoken and she spoke several languages. She trained as a sommelier in France and she frequently served as a judge at international wine competitions.
About a month ago I spent a day with Barbara exploring a couple vineyards in Italy on the fringes of the Cervim European mountain wines) competition in Val d’Aosta, where we were both judges. We had ample opportunity driving around in her car to discuss wine, her resignation from Vinum, her future projects and the balance between motherhood and a professional life. I was particularly struck by her enthusiasm for teaching women more about wine, and for courses she was planning to organize. She talked about working as a wine magazine editor, but also about leaving in order to have time and energy to do more creative work.
We visited a beautiful vineyard in Val d’Aosta and talked at length with the energetic young winemaker whose products we both admired enormously. Her comments on his wines were so astute that I appreciated the day as time spent with a master.
What a great loss she is, to more people than she could ever have realized. My heart goes out to her daughters: may they know all their lives that she would never have chosen to leave them.
Wine Drinkers of the World, Unite- You have nothing to lose but inflated bills and interrupted anecdotes.
The other night, I was having dinner with some friends in a fairly decent restaurant and was at the very peak of my form as a wit and raconteur. But just as, with infinite and exquisite tantalizations, I was approaching my punch line, the most incredible thing happened. A waiter appeared from nowhere, leaned right over my shoulder and into the middle of the conversation, seized my knife and fork, and started to cut up my food for me. Not content with this bizarre behavior, and without so much as a by-your-leave, he proceeded to distribute pieces of my entree onto the plates of the other diners.
No, he didn't, actually. What he did instead was to interrupt the feast of reason and flow of soul that was our chat, lean across me, pick up the bottle of wine that was in the middle of the table, and pour it into everyone's glass. And what I want to know is this: How did such a barbaric custom get itself established, and why on earth do we put up with it?
There are two main ways in which a restaurant can inflict bad service on a customer. The first is to keep you hanging about and make it hard to catch the eye of the staff. ("Why are they called waiters?" inquired my son when he was about 5. "It's we who are doing all the waiting.") The second way is to be too intrusive, with overlong recitations of the "specials" and too many oversolicitous inquiries. A cartoon in The New Yorker once showed a couple getting ready for bed, with the husband taking a call and keeping his hand over the receiver. "It's the maitre d' from the place we had dinner. He wants to know if everything is still all right."
The vile practice of butting in and pouring wine without being asked is the very height of the second kind of bad manners. Not only is it a breathtaking act of rudeness in itself, but it conveys a none-too-subtle and mercenary message: Hurry up and order another bottle. Indeed, so dulled have we become to the shame and disgrace of all this that I have actually seen waiters, having broken into the private conversation and emptied the flagon, ask insolently whether they should now bring another one. Again, imagine this same tactic being applied to the food.
Not everybody likes wine as much as I do. Many females, for example, confine themselves to one glass per meal or even half a glass. It pains me to see good wine being sloshed into the glasses of those who have not asked for it and may not want it and then be left standing there barely tasted when the dinner is over. Mr. Coleman, it was said, made his fortune not from the mustard that was consumed but from the mustard that was left on the plate. Restaurants ought not to inflict waste and extravagance on their patrons for the sake of padding out the bill. This, too, is a very extreme form of rudeness.
The expense of the thing, in other words, is only an aspect of the presumption of it. It completely usurps my prerogative if I am a host. ("Can I refill your glass? Try this wine—I think you may care for it.") It also tends to undermine me as a guest, since at any moment when I try to sing for my supper, I may find an unwanted person lunging carelessly into the middle of my sentence. If this person fills glasses unasked, he is a boor as described above. If he asks permission of each guest in turn—as he really ought to do, when you think about it—then he might as well pull up a chair and join the party. The nerve of it!
To return to the question of why we endure this: I think it must have something to do with the snobbery and insecurity that frequently accompany the wine business. A wine waiter is or can be a bit of a grandee, putting on considerable airs that may intimidate those who know little of the subject. If you go into a liquor store in a poor part of town, you will quite often notice that the wine is surprisingly expensive, because it is vaguely assumed that somehow it ought to cost more. And then there is simple force of custom and habit—people somehow grant restaurants the right to push their customers around in this outrageous way.
Well, all it takes is a bit of resistance. Until relatively recently in Washington, it was the custom at diplomatic and Georgetown dinners for the hostess to invite the ladies to withdraw, leaving the men to port and cigars and high matters of state. And then one evening in the 1970s, at the British Embassy, the late Katharine Graham refused to get up and go. There was nobody who felt like making her, and within a day, the news was all over town. Within a very short time, everybody had abandoned the silly practice. I am perfectly well aware that there are many graver problems facing civilization, and many grosser violations of human rights being perpetrated as we speak. But this is something that we can all change at a stroke. Next time anyone offers to interrupt your conversation and assist in the digestion of your meal and the inflation of your check, be very polite but very firm and say that you would really rather not.
No, he didn't, actually. What he did instead was to interrupt the feast of reason and flow of soul that was our chat, lean across me, pick up the bottle of wine that was in the middle of the table, and pour it into everyone's glass. And what I want to know is this: How did such a barbaric custom get itself established, and why on earth do we put up with it?
There are two main ways in which a restaurant can inflict bad service on a customer. The first is to keep you hanging about and make it hard to catch the eye of the staff. ("Why are they called waiters?" inquired my son when he was about 5. "It's we who are doing all the waiting.") The second way is to be too intrusive, with overlong recitations of the "specials" and too many oversolicitous inquiries. A cartoon in The New Yorker once showed a couple getting ready for bed, with the husband taking a call and keeping his hand over the receiver. "It's the maitre d' from the place we had dinner. He wants to know if everything is still all right."
The vile practice of butting in and pouring wine without being asked is the very height of the second kind of bad manners. Not only is it a breathtaking act of rudeness in itself, but it conveys a none-too-subtle and mercenary message: Hurry up and order another bottle. Indeed, so dulled have we become to the shame and disgrace of all this that I have actually seen waiters, having broken into the private conversation and emptied the flagon, ask insolently whether they should now bring another one. Again, imagine this same tactic being applied to the food.
Not everybody likes wine as much as I do. Many females, for example, confine themselves to one glass per meal or even half a glass. It pains me to see good wine being sloshed into the glasses of those who have not asked for it and may not want it and then be left standing there barely tasted when the dinner is over. Mr. Coleman, it was said, made his fortune not from the mustard that was consumed but from the mustard that was left on the plate. Restaurants ought not to inflict waste and extravagance on their patrons for the sake of padding out the bill. This, too, is a very extreme form of rudeness.
The expense of the thing, in other words, is only an aspect of the presumption of it. It completely usurps my prerogative if I am a host. ("Can I refill your glass? Try this wine—I think you may care for it.") It also tends to undermine me as a guest, since at any moment when I try to sing for my supper, I may find an unwanted person lunging carelessly into the middle of my sentence. If this person fills glasses unasked, he is a boor as described above. If he asks permission of each guest in turn—as he really ought to do, when you think about it—then he might as well pull up a chair and join the party. The nerve of it!
To return to the question of why we endure this: I think it must have something to do with the snobbery and insecurity that frequently accompany the wine business. A wine waiter is or can be a bit of a grandee, putting on considerable airs that may intimidate those who know little of the subject. If you go into a liquor store in a poor part of town, you will quite often notice that the wine is surprisingly expensive, because it is vaguely assumed that somehow it ought to cost more. And then there is simple force of custom and habit—people somehow grant restaurants the right to push their customers around in this outrageous way.
Well, all it takes is a bit of resistance. Until relatively recently in Washington, it was the custom at diplomatic and Georgetown dinners for the hostess to invite the ladies to withdraw, leaving the men to port and cigars and high matters of state. And then one evening in the 1970s, at the British Embassy, the late Katharine Graham refused to get up and go. There was nobody who felt like making her, and within a day, the news was all over town. Within a very short time, everybody had abandoned the silly practice. I am perfectly well aware that there are many graver problems facing civilization, and many grosser violations of human rights being perpetrated as we speak. But this is something that we can all change at a stroke. Next time anyone offers to interrupt your conversation and assist in the digestion of your meal and the inflation of your check, be very polite but very firm and say that you would really rather not.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Looking for the perfect wine?
There’s a violent debate going on in the wine world about the pros and cons of high alcohol wines.
Some sommeliers berate them for being unwieldy and unmatchable at the table (often true) and some critics and hedonists love them for their rich, powerful flavors, (often true too) whether they play nicely with food or not.
I think the debate is a bit too simplistic and misleading. In my tastings, day after day, I find different wines with the same levels of alcohol, high or low, can taste hot or balanced. Perceived heat and balance in a wine is far too complicated of a sensory/chemical/environmental matrix to reduce down to one factor, namely alcohol.
It’s always best to judge individual wines on their own individual merits, tempered by your own likes and dislikes, and maybe most importantly, how you will be drinking them. Will you be enjoying the wine on its own–as a trophy polishing session with fellow wine buffs, a conversation starter with someone special, or simple sipper on your own–or with food where other factors like acidity and residual sugar may have an even greater role than the alcohol in successfully pairing with a particular dish. I find that context is the key to deciding on the right wine. Once you know the context, its just a matter of finding wines that you like for each context and what distinguishing characteristics that those wines have so that you can search out other wines with similar characteristics.
Having said all that, I do really enjoy wines in the categories we refer to as “summer whites” (riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris/grigio, Muscat, etc.) where the level of alcohol is usually well under the “critical” 14% mark. They tend to be a great compliment to carefree warmer weather sipping and spicier, Latin and Asian cuisines–three of my favorite “contexts”. Below are some recently tasted domestic summer whites for you to explore and delight in.
They will help you lighten up this Spring, no debating that.
Some sommeliers berate them for being unwieldy and unmatchable at the table (often true) and some critics and hedonists love them for their rich, powerful flavors, (often true too) whether they play nicely with food or not.
I think the debate is a bit too simplistic and misleading. In my tastings, day after day, I find different wines with the same levels of alcohol, high or low, can taste hot or balanced. Perceived heat and balance in a wine is far too complicated of a sensory/chemical/environmental matrix to reduce down to one factor, namely alcohol.
It’s always best to judge individual wines on their own individual merits, tempered by your own likes and dislikes, and maybe most importantly, how you will be drinking them. Will you be enjoying the wine on its own–as a trophy polishing session with fellow wine buffs, a conversation starter with someone special, or simple sipper on your own–or with food where other factors like acidity and residual sugar may have an even greater role than the alcohol in successfully pairing with a particular dish. I find that context is the key to deciding on the right wine. Once you know the context, its just a matter of finding wines that you like for each context and what distinguishing characteristics that those wines have so that you can search out other wines with similar characteristics.
Having said all that, I do really enjoy wines in the categories we refer to as “summer whites” (riesling, gewürztraminer, pinot gris/grigio, Muscat, etc.) where the level of alcohol is usually well under the “critical” 14% mark. They tend to be a great compliment to carefree warmer weather sipping and spicier, Latin and Asian cuisines–three of my favorite “contexts”. Below are some recently tasted domestic summer whites for you to explore and delight in.
They will help you lighten up this Spring, no debating that.
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Mineral Sexiness of Petit Chablis
I am soaring I tell you, absolutely soaring.
For the last hour I have been immersed in a transcendent, sublime bottle of Petit Chablis. I have got to say- it is moments like this that I treasure my position as a renowned wine critic, judge and collector. I get to taste this: the 2008 Petit Chablis from Jean-Marc Brocard/ Domaine Sainte Claire.
This Chablis, is quite simply the best I have ever had.
This chablis starts out gently and proceeds to embrace with a stronger grip- listing through flavor notes that capture the soul of the soil. This is a complex Chablis with dryness and bite and a firm backbone of acidity. The typically brazen vinters at Domaine St. Claire allowed this wine to age perfectly and develop the characteristic gout de pierre à fusil, the mineral sexiness of stony gunflint. This is an expressive masculine wine, with the shoulders and balls to make you a believer.
Even with all of the fruit highlights: a bit of spring pear, a note lavender- it is the mineral flirtiness that truly bring this bottle to life, and keeps me coming back for more.
A tip of the hat to you Jean- Marc, old friend. You have outdone your self.
Chin- chin!
For the last hour I have been immersed in a transcendent, sublime bottle of Petit Chablis. I have got to say- it is moments like this that I treasure my position as a renowned wine critic, judge and collector. I get to taste this: the 2008 Petit Chablis from Jean-Marc Brocard/ Domaine Sainte Claire.
This Chablis, is quite simply the best I have ever had.
This chablis starts out gently and proceeds to embrace with a stronger grip- listing through flavor notes that capture the soul of the soil. This is a complex Chablis with dryness and bite and a firm backbone of acidity. The typically brazen vinters at Domaine St. Claire allowed this wine to age perfectly and develop the characteristic gout de pierre à fusil, the mineral sexiness of stony gunflint. This is an expressive masculine wine, with the shoulders and balls to make you a believer.
Even with all of the fruit highlights: a bit of spring pear, a note lavender- it is the mineral flirtiness that truly bring this bottle to life, and keeps me coming back for more.
A tip of the hat to you Jean- Marc, old friend. You have outdone your self.
Chin- chin!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)