Archive for May, 2010
What’s The “A.P” Number on German Wine?
German wines carry an “A.P. number” which can give you a lot of information if you’re so inclined to parse the number and do the research.
Frankly, I’m not.
BUT if you must know, the AP number is like an Internet IP address, but with five sets of numbers rather than four, separated by spaces rather than dots.
The first number indicates the region, the second the village or town, the third number is the estate, the fourth is the barrel or bottling, and the last number is the year that the wine was tasted before bottling.
Of course, you have to know what all these numbers mean, or else it’s like E.T. looking at a can of beer. And we know what happend to him.
Free the Garden State Grapes!
New Jersey is the fifth largest state in the union for wine consumption (source: Adams Wine Handbook 2007) but one of only 13 states that continue to ban winery to consumer shipments.
More than 80% of the U.S. population already has access to direct shipments of wine and New Jersey residents should, too.
BUT two bills, NJ Assembly Bill 1702 and NJ Senate Bill 766, may pave the way for dramatically improving access to wines from across the U.S. AB1702 is identical to SB766, which passed the Senate on March 11, 2010.
Both bills are based on the model direct shipping bill, now the legislative standard used by most U.S. states for legal, regulated direct-to-consumer shipments of wine. These laws satisfy consumer demand and safety requirements, and create a new source for state tax revenues.
CLICK ON THIS LINK and tell your legislators to give us the rights enjoyed by residents of dozens of other states!
Help Liberate the Grapes!
House Resolution 5034, introduced by the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA), is supposed to be heard in June before the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Michigan’s John Conyers. If you don’t know, Michigan was the losing plaintiff in Granholm v. Heald, the 2005 case that liberalized wine shipments, and the NBWA was one of Rep. Conyers’ top five donors in the last two elections.
HR 5034 would exempt anti-competitive and discriminatory state alcohol beverage laws from most federal review, including capacity cap laws. In other words, states could freely write laws making it difficult or impossible for consumers to get direct shipments of wine from wineries within and outside their state.
If it passed, HR 5034 would be a complete reversal of the Granholm Supreme Court decision, that emphasized: “The 21st Amendment did not give States the authority to pass nonuniform laws in order to discriminate against out-of-state goods, a privilege they had not enjoyed at any earlier time.”
According to most news sources, the NBWA and the Wine and Spirit Wholesalers Association, WSWA, are lobbying aggressively for the bill on Capitol Hill. In fact, the WSWA took out a print ad on May 12 in Politico, a newspaper/website read by DC legislators and staffers, encouraging legislators to co-sponsor HR 5034.
My view? Wholesalers and the 3-tier system are important, and represent many jobs and a system that works well for many producers. BUT-it doesn’t work well for many others, and for some, not at all. Wineries should have the right to sell direct to consumers if they choose, and consumers of legal age should have an unfettered right to buy wine from any producer, anywhere. Anything else is, well, un-American if you ask this Marine.
For a backgrounder on the bill, go here. For a shortcut to send your legislator an email on the issue, go here.
Hammer Time? No. Rosé Time.
Mulderbosch Rosé
For years, I thought that rosé wines were kids’ stuff – sweet, with no body or character. This probably came from memories of drinking Mateus Rosé in my early 20s—that famously cheap, commercial wine in the familiar flask-shaped green bottle, invented to appeal to everyone. Too sweet to pair with food and lacking sufficient acidity to refresh, Mateus is fizzy but it’s not really a sparkling wine. I also remember drinking Lancers, Rosé d’Anjou, and under full disclosure I’ll even admit to having tasted white Zin from time to time. Hey, my Aunt Mary liked it and brought it to the house.
The result of those youthful indiscretions was that for a long time I though all pink wines were sugary, nasty stuff and almost never tried any of the many wonderful and bone-dry rosés on the market. They’re actually great food wines, made from many grape varieties including Grenache, Malbec, Merlot, Sangiovese, Syrah, Pinot Noir and yes, even Zinfandel, which when fermented dry makes a lovely drink that you will never confuse with Sutter Home’s sweet stuff.
Among wine snobs, Rosé has been “uncool” and that is unfortunate, because that’s kept a lot of folks from enjoying this wonderful wine that looks more beautiful in the glass than any other. And there are plenty of wine-savvy places where drinking rose has always been in style.
How Rosés are Made
A lot of people believe Rosé wines are made by mixing a bit of red wine with a white wine. Generally, nope, with the exception of some Champagnes. Most Rosés begin life just like red wines; red grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and then placed in a fermenter. But instead of spending two or three weeks with the grapes skins in contact with the juice, the skins are removed after a brief period, a few hours to maybe a couple days depending on the type of grape and the style the winemaker’s going for. This relatively brief skin contact allows just enough color to turn the wine pink (or salmon or orange or coral). It also adds a tiny bit of tannin, and some complexity.
Another method is to just drain off some of the juice from a red wine during its very early stages of fermentation, then place it into own fermenter and finish the process. The process is called saignee (“to bleed”) and it also nicely concentrates the original red wine.
Rosés are known for their strawberry and raspberry aromas and flavors, and their versatility; in fact, this is one of the few wines you can drink out of a tumbler on ice and still fully enjoy. And while a lot of wine writers say that these aren’t “serious” wines, I say hooey. Wine is supposed to be fun, to bring pleasure and to complement food and in my view, no wine does these more than a good Rosé.
Some of my favorites:
- SoloRosa Russian River Valley Syrah Rosé
- Château Miraval Rosé Côtes de Provence
- Monte’s Cherub Rosé of Syrah
- Marques de Caceres Rioja Rosé
- Domaine Lafond Tavel Rosé
- Mulderbosch Rosé (made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon)
- Chandon Rose NV (Sparkling wine from Domaine Chandon USA)
Some great food pairings:
- BBQ burgers and ribs
- Canneloni and lasagne
- Charcuterie
- Grilled or broiled salmon
- Ham
- Lobster
- Omelettes
- Pizza
- Pork tenderloin
- Tandoori and Thai chicken
Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier: Best Chefs, Northeast!
Well – those people at the James Beard Foundation FINALLY figured out what’s what and recognized my cousin Mark Gaier and his partner and co-owner/Chef Clark Frasier of Arrows Restaurant of Ogunquit, Maine as Best Chefs – Northeast!
Many more!
Read what the Portland Press Herald says.
Seacoast Online says.
And check out Guyot-Top 40 Restaurants in the Country.
Guys, heartiest congratulations, and Christine and I had a great evening.
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