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What's the Real Deal?

Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Winery Blogs


Well, in case you haven’t already heard after the busy weekend, France has outlawed all Internet advertising and promotion of wine. ANPAA, France’s National Association for Prevention of Alcohol and Addiction, really pressed the issue in court. For the sake of comparison, the ANPAA is like MADD (Mother’s Against Drunk Driving), and when heard by the right people, can have quite an influence in the courts and amongst the authorities.

My thoughts on this decision: ABSURD! France is, as most of us know, a global wine competitor. So why would a country that is so in love with wine and that cherishes it so much not want their companies to be able to get the word out about their products? Especially through mediums that most people use on a daily basis? And let’s all ask ourselves one question…when they banned cigarette advertisements did it really make everyone stop smoking? So do the French think that taking away the advertisements is going to help their country’s alcohol problems? Perhaps the problem lies somewhere else, eh?

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Not the rose of your misspent youth!

Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Winery Blogs

Chef Scotty came over on Sunday, and he recounted a banquet he threw for a bunch of good ol' boys, in the awl bidness. He had paired the wines with the courses, and he greeted the execs at the door with a glass of chilled rosé.

Eyebrows were raised. Looks were askance. "Gotta beer?" was a typical response. He held firm. But Texas boys of a certain age are just going to have that reaction to rosé. In our misspent youth, we guzzled saccharine sweet rosé like it was kool-ade. What was it called, Mateus? Boone's Farm? I think it came in a cute bottle, always a prerequisite for wine selection.

Even until recently, I have personally been biased against rosés. When Gladys and I visited Napa in January, we went o the Sattui winery, and the tour host offered a glass of this rosato, the 2006 North Coast rosato. Gladys and I both had to be talked in to trying it.

Really spectacular! Chef Scotty's story reminded me we had this in our "cellar" (no one really has cellars in Houston, we have wine rooms). I am going to chill it and savor it. I remember that it was crisp, dry, just a hint of sweetness, and a delicious slightly acrid flavor like the dusty residue of crushed grape pips. I notice that the winery took the precaution of putting the word "dry" on the label.

Chef Scotty says the awlmen loved the rosé. He said the topper though was when he told them that all the wines he served were CostCo's proprietary line of meritage wines, Cameron Hughes, which are all priced around $10 or so. Even in these flush times, awlmen love a bargain.Even in these flush times, awlmen love a bargain. - Posted by Enrico Hale

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Charles de Fère Blanc de Blanc

Date: Fri, May 30, 2008 Winery Blogs



It’s Friday so I thought I would write about something that will kick start all of our weekends…a “value-priced” bottle of Chardonnay. Less than $10 that is. On top of that, it tastes rather fantastic. You might be thinking to yourself, well what is the name of it…the suspense is killing me! Well wait no longer my friend, it is Charles de Fère Blanc de Blanc. This sparkling Chardonnay has profound, rich flavors of apple, spice, and butter, with a smooth texture and intricate finish. I love to start out my night with this or drink it with my appetizers. So go ahead and get your weekend started with a refreshing glass of wine without worrying about breaking the bank! Cheers!

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2004 Fife Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon

Date: Thu, May 29, 2008 Winery Blogs


In the blind tasting we had at our office the other day I had the opportunity to try a fantastic Cabernet Sauvignon. I sampled the 2004 Fife Spring Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. 420 cases is definitely not enough for this wine, as it impressed all the staff here at Personal Wine. Much of the credit should be given to the fantastic climate that the Fife Vineyard is located in. The Cabernet grapes grow in well-drained soil with good sun exposure, in a moderately warm climate. This means excellent Cabernet Sauvignon! The wine has a long abundant finish, with aromas of dark chocolate and dark berries. An excellent wine with steaks or just by itself.

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2006 Truchard Chardonnay

Date: Wed, May 28, 2008 Winery Blogs


Yesterday I gave you a little lesson on Chardonnay. Today, I am going to review one particular California Chardonnay to show you how to use some of the skills that I taught you yesterday and apply them. The wine I will be looking at today is Truchard’s 2006 Chardonnay. Many California Chardonnays are either crisp and refreshing, or filling and satisfying, depending on the climate where the grapes are grown. You might have figured out that crisp Chardonnays grow in cooler climates and filling grow in warmer climates. What is unique about Truchard’s Chardonnay is it is a unique blend of satisfying and refreshing because of the Carneros region where its grapes are grown is cool for much of the morning and rather warm throughout the day. It has a consistent and harmonious flavor that is pleasing to many palettes. I would recommend this wine with seafood dishes or poultry because of the ripe fruit flavors that are mellowed out by the vanilla and spice. Cheers!

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Chardonnay 101

Date: Tue, May 27, 2008 Winery Blogs


Even for the somewhat knowledgeable, Chardonnay’s can be a difficult wine to decipher. Chardonnay comes in many variations, depending on what region it comes from, and has the ability to blend smoothly with a variety of other grapes. Chardonnay can be a component of French Chablis, Champagne, and more commonly Burgundy. Because Chardonnay is used in so many other wines it is often difficult for wine drinkers to recognize its flavor. When drinking Chardonnay it is important to note how to recognize the quality of your wine. High quality Chardonnay has the ability to be served at just below room temperature and remain tasty. An average Chardonnay needs to be chilled quite a bit more, and so on and so forth. Chablis goes well with seafood, particularly delicate fish, because it is the driest. California and Australian Chardonnays are much fruitier, so I wouldn’t try them with seafood unless you are cooking it with a lot of flavors. I think that California Chardonnays are even great with some meats on the grill. Just give it a go! Cheers!

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Morgan Double L Vineyard Chardonnay - Dynamite!

Date: Sat, May 24, 2008 Winery Blogs


Yesterday I held a blind tasting with three chardonnays that I consistenly can attest to being outstanding year after year. I sampled Bernardus, Truchard and Morgan's 2006 Double L Vineyard Chardonnay. The Morgan took the vote with their select grapes from their organically grown Double L Vineyard, their choice lots. The Chardonnay is a knock out, exhibiting minerals, hints of apple, pear with a hint butter making the finish crisp and rich texture. Although I recommend all three highly, I say the Morgan is an absolute dynamite chardonnay. - Alex Andrawes, Wine Blog Board Member

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2000 St. Mary's Cabernet Sauvignon

Date: Thu, May 22, 2008 Winery Blogs


A case of 2000 St. Mary's Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia mysteriously ended up on my lap yesterday. The perfect excuse for an afternoon blind tasting at the office for the folks at Personal Wine. The reviews of this wine don't do it justice. Perhaps 8 years has provided ample time to turn this wine into the shining star it is today. It opens up with a well-balanced fruit bouquet. It has hints of vanilla, pepper, and wild berries. Its not too dry, which shouldn't be surprising since the tannins have had plenty of time to break down and dissipate. All in all during the blind tasting this afternoon, this wine won. I quickly made a phone call to my supplier and bought the last 14 cases in the state!

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Tom Wark's Daily Wine Blog

Date: Thu, May 22, 2008 Winery Blogs


I love when I meet someone or see somewhere that someone is as passionate about wine as I am. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I was browsing the net, doing some internet research, when I came across Tom Wark's wine blog. It drew me in because of his choice of offbeat topics, yet he still knew when he needed to just stick with the basics. I mean anyone can just go and write a blog on how they think wine tastes and other nonsense, you just have to do a little internet research. However, Tom really puts his heart into it, and I love that. I urge you to go check out his blog and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Cheers!
http://fermentation.typepad.com/

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Toast to Robert Mondavi

Date: Mon, May 19, 2008 Winery Blogs


As most of you know by now, Robert Mondavi, Napa and America's Ambassador for Wine, recently passed away at the age of 94. Mondavi changed the course of the U.S. wine industry which, in 1966 (when he started Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville) was made up primarily of generic jug wines.

In 1968, Mondavi introduced Fume Blanc (1966 vintage) as a varietal. It (Sauvignon Blanc) is the grape of Pouilly-Fume and Sancerre in the Loire Valley, France, but Mondavi's rendition revealed a unique, gorgeous ripe fruit quality that was exciting to experience, and which was the forerunner of the great Sauvignon Blanc wines now coming out of California and other parts of the new world.

His reserve Pinots and Cabernets rivaled the greatest early Napa wines such as Heitz Martha's Vineyard and B.V. Private Reserve. He was an indefatigable visionary and marketing genius. I remember numerous occasions in the late '70s and throughout the'80s when he or his son Michael would open one of these great reds alongside a Grand Cru Burgundy or a First Growth Bordeaux, not to obtain flattering remarks, but to see what I thought about how they were doing by comparison. Proof of their success came when we entertained Isabel and Michael Mondavi in our home in the '90s, and among other wines served Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir Reserve 1985, Robert Mondavi Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 1985 and Chateau Margaux 1985. Although very different wines, all agreed there was no perceptible difference in quality!

The next time you have a glass of wine with a friend, please raise a glass to toast Robert Mondavi. There may never be another one like him!

Written by Denman Moody, President of CorporateEventWines.com

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Fall Creek Meritus 2004, by Denman Moody

Date: Thu, May 8, 2008 Winery Blogs


Fall Creek Meritus 2004—Susan and Ed Auler are proprietors of Fall Creek Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country. Even though Ed had been making wine for years, he asked me around 1987 who he should get to do some serious wine consulting to improve the already high quality of his wines. I arranged an introduction to my friend and top wine consultant in the U.S., Andre Tchelistcheff, a man who fled Russia just before the 1917 revolution, and kick-started the entire California wine industry in the ‘30s and ‘40s with his B.V. Private Reserve Cabernets. Unknown to most—even other Texas winemakers—Andre helped Ed for several years. Zooming to the present, Ed asked me to taste a wine blind recently. I guessed it was the 2004 B.V. Private Reserve Cabernet. Ed was proud to unveil the bottle and it was the 2004 Fall Creek Meritus!! The student learned from the master!

-Denman Moody, owner of CorporateEventWines.com & acclaimed wine writer

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St. Supery Dollarhide Cabernet Sauvignon

Date: Sat, May 3, 2008 Winery Blogs


I tried the 2003 St.Supery Dollarhide Cabernet,a limited edition estate cabernet from Napa from the famed Rutherford region. They have an impressive estate winery growing Bordeaux reds including Merlot, Cabernet and Petit Verdot. Their wines are quite impressive with the pinnacle being the Dollarhide cabernet. It opens with an impressive bouquet, just the right amount of fruit, with hints of blackberry currants and a mineral but pleasantly rounded finish. Definitely one for the cellar. Here are the winery notes:

A rare 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley. Selected from some of the original plantings on St. Supery's estate, Dollarhide, this wine has voluptuous aromas of plum, crème de cassis and tobacco. Flavors are rich and intense with blackberry and truffle with espresso notes. It drinks well now with sizable tannins but has the balance to age for the long haul. Drink now – 2013.

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An Interesting Events Coordinator Website and Blog

Date: Thu, May 1, 2008 Winery Blogs


Every once in a while a unique and catchy website comes along and strikes my eye. I was surfing the internet the other day and landed on www.thepartygoddess.com/blog site. Marley runs the Party Goddess, a company that specializes in event coordinating. Last night, in the middle of my restlessness, I decided to try out her recipe for the Milky Way Martini. It was excellent and put me to sleep after a few giggles.

Ingredients
6 ounces of freezing Absolut Vanilla vodka, 1 Milky Way candy bar sliced into smallish pieces, 1 tablespoon of sweet chocolate shavings, 2 slightly chilled Martini glasses, A well chilled, stylish martini shaker.

The mix:
Put the sliced candy bar into your microwave oven and heat until it melts.
Pour the vodka into your cocktail shaker, which is half full of cracked ice.
Shake, shake, shake. A good dozen vigorous shakes should do the trick.
Let your shaker rest while you prep your glasses.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of the gooey candy bar into the bottom of each glass.
Strain the vodka equally (make mine a bit heavier--of course).
Top each glass with some chocolate shavings.
Spin the cool tiki beats of King Kukulele & the Friki Tikis...sip and enjoy!

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Denman Moody's Wine Blog Report

Date: Mon, Apr 28, 2008 Winery Blogs


Tom Jordan has silently turned over CEO duties for his Alexander Valley winery to his son John. To his credit, it doesn't seem that John has changed anything. I imagine his theory would mirror mine: Why **** up a good thing? I'll be visiting John this summer to get a little more in-depth on this issue. I was actually one of the first writers to rave about the first release, 1976. Most California Cabernets were around $4 or $5, and were not very good. The better ones, like Heitz Martha's Vineyard, were over $20, but needed some bottle age. The fabulous '76 Jordan, which I served blind to change Francophile's minds into the early '80s, was gorgeous, ready to drink and about $10 at Spec's in Houston. One writer said I overscored it because he didn't think it would age well. My response, "So don't age it--drink it now--it's fabulous!" The '78 was even better, and for the last umpteen years, Jordan Cabernet has been in the top 5 (usually top 2 or 3) Cabernets sold in fine restaurants in the U.S.

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