Shake it, shake it, shake it up. Shake it up!

Did you know that some Australian wines need to be shaken first before you can serve them? Well, I didn't believe this either. But here's the You Tube Video:

"...when we bottle our wines we bottle them using nirogen to help them, to prevent oxidation. And what happens, the nitrogen goes into the wine and sits in there. When you want to drink them you need to get the nitrogen out. So what you need to do is pour a little bit out into the glass and put the lid back on and then just shake very gently - well, not quite - and this is to get the nitrogen out of the wine. 'Cause what happens, the nitrogen sits in there and flattens the fruit and so we need to get the nitrogen out so you can taste the fruit properly. So, give it a good shake, take the lid off and do it again. You can see the nitrogen sitting here in the mousse on the wine. When the nitrogen disappears and the mousse goes away the wines are ready to drink..."

Shake it, shake it, shake it up!

Cheers!

TN: Zidarich Vitovska 05, Malvasia 05, Prulke 05

Az. Agr. Zidarich
"There is an expressive purity to Beniamino Zidarich’s wines that I adore. Zidarich works out of a small cellar carved out of the dramatic rock formations that are the dominant terrain in the Carso mountain range. The vineyards were planted beginning in 1988 with densities ranging from 8,000-10,000 plants per hectare. The wines are fermented with natural yeasts in open-top wood vats where they see contact with the skins for eight to ten days. Aging takes place in mid-size Slavonian oak casks and the wines are bottled without fining or filtration. Zidarich’s wines are cloudy in color, but that is simply the result of wines that have been made with a bare minimum of intervention. Like all whites macerated on the skins, these wines should be served at cellar temperature in large glasses. Even in the weaker 2005 vintage Zidarich has crafted wines that are well worth seeking out."
-- The Wine Advocate, Online Review, October 2007

89 Vitovska 2005
The 2005 Vitovska represents the purest expression of varietal in its spices, pears, jasmine and flowers. This delicate wine offers notable elegance although the finish is a bit short. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2010.
-- The Wine Advocate, Online Review, October 2007

91 Malvasia 2005
The 2005 Malvasia is focused on entry, then expands onto the palate with a compelling array of earthiness, minerals, pears and spices, with superb persistence and a lingering note of sweetness on the long finish. It comes across as more expressive in both its aromatics and flavors than the Vitovska. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2010.
-- The Wine Advocate, Online Review, October 2007

91 Prulke 2005
Varietal Sauvignon aromatics dominate the profile of Zidarich’s 2005 Prulke (Sauvignon, Vitovska, Malvasia) which opens to reveal a sexy core of fruit and a long, caressing finish. It is another terrific effort made all the more notable considering the challenging nature of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2007-2010.
-- The Wine Advocate, Online Review, October 2007

See also Eric's Asimov's blog: Vitovska, That's Right, Vitovska

More > Az. Agr. Zidarich / Wineday.com > Zidarich

Of Balls and Asses

A couple of days ago I received the following "serious" inquiry via e-mail:

"If you thought [the] French had no sense of humour... Big Balls is a brand new wine not sold in US yet! If you could be interested by Big Balls: prices and samples please do not hesitate to ask!!"

Thanks, but no thanks!!

I find these kind of names as wine brands tasteless - irrespectively what urban meaning has been attached to them.

I guess it all started with the "success" of the 'Big Ass' wine brand.

But leave it up to a company in France to try to top this.

Sorry, but no bottle of 'Big Ass Zinfandel' or 'Big Balls Cabernet Sauvignon 2006' (Quote from their web site: "Key values of Big Balls wines are friendship, wine love and humour.") will ever be standing next to my dinner on my dining table or making it into our wine portfolio.

I can't see myself calling on restaurants or retailers with wines called "Big Anything". That's supposed to be funny?

What's next?

Big ........

The possibilities of tasteless brand name are endless.

Will someone please try to put the (cellar) cat back into the bag before we see any more of these "Jerry Springer" wine brands?

Urban Dictionary:
Big Balls
Big Ass

More embarrassing news and web sites:
- A glass of Big Ass wine is not just any big-ass glass of wine, and two vintners are going to court to prove it.
- Big Balls Wine (Offical Web Site)

Over. Oaked. Buttered. Rated. Done.

Wine #2:

"...Let me take you to any isle of any wine shop in America and I am going to give you two bottles of wine that will cost you less than $17.00 that are going to give you this artificial crap, bull crap, overoaked Chardonnay action which I got to be very honest with everybody at home right now, I'm kind of tired of.

I do not understand, by any stretch of the imagination, how something with a crapload of butter and throw me a crapload of oak and give me a 91 point wine that has no structure, no acidic balance, no mid-palate, and nothing but a palate-ender, a finish, that only makes me want to crave for H2O.

I am never going to understand how people can score these wines 91 points - insanity - and think that they are giving somebody out there who's reading their magazine, any kind of value what so ever...

I'll give this wine a major pass...

I don't understand how people can think that this is good wine...."

Gary Vaynerchuck, Wine Library TV, Episode #319

One more voice and vote for REAL WINE. Thanks, Gary.

Political $1.45 or The end of quality imported wine

On my flight back home from Italy I came across the following news item in the "International Herald Tribune":

"Currency watchers from Nobel Prize laureates to the world's biggest bond investor say that the Bush administration has reason to cheer the dollar's slide to historic lows. The currency has lost 13.2 percent since January 2001, when George W. Bush took office, the most under any president since at least Gerald Ford, who left the White House in 1977...

A weaker dollar is helping the economy and may bolster voters' confidence in the Republican party as the United States heads into a presidential election year. Rather than causing foreigners to flee U.S. securities, the depreciating currency is making U.S. goods less expensive abroad and helping offset the worst housing recession in 16 years...

Treasury Department data going back to 1978 show that every administration except Bush's entered the foreign exchange market to buy dollars in an effort to support the currency...

The decline in the dollar has also helped trim the U.S. trade deficit...

OppenheimerFunds...and Pacific Investment Management Co...both say that the euro may reach $1.45 this year...

The dollar's "trend will be down over the next couple of years," said...a strategist at Pimco..." (Monday, July 23, 2007)

In other words (wine) importers are being used to subsidize the California/US (wine) industry and pay off the (Chinese) trade deficit.

No cheers here, Mr. Bush. Not even a single one. America get ready for many more industrial strength wines from Europe which will be the only ones that can still be sold for under $15.00. Thanks to vinification advances they are "drinkable" but certainly not enjoyable.

Puglia or Apulia

Report to follow.

Taste!

We received the following e-mail the other day:

"I was out looking for some Lambrusco and actually bought quite a few horrible kinds which made me realize why some people have a bad idea about Lambrusco.

I went to a restaurant that served a Lambrusco which I really liked.

I asked to purchase a bottle of it. It was Medici Ermete.

I am getting in touch with you because I would like to find out where I can get some more."

I love this inquiry! It was TASTE and not some fancy TV commercial or a 'bargain price', etc. that initiated the writer to get in touch with us.

John Saladino, who was quoted in the New Yorker in 1999, has come up with one of my favorite quotes: "Everynight I pray, that people with money get taste, and people with taste get money."

Here's to...taste!