Over the past year, I have been following the Stormhoek meme over at gapingvoid (where the drawing to the left comes from). The winery is now entering the U.S. market and has an ambitious plan to supply their wines for 100 (wine) geek dinners across the country. I have volunteered to host one here in the Twin Cities on May 4, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. From my Frappr listener map, I see there are several local listeners who might be up for a nice evening of wine, food and conversation. Since I don’t know exactly how many to plan for, I am asking everyone to drop me an email so I can get a rough headcount before announcing the restaurant (but I have two restaurants picked out in St. Paul that would be great). We’ll be paying for our own food, but the folks at Stormhoek will be providing the wines. You don’t have to be a tech or wine geek to attend, but there will be a high proportion of local bloggers, podcasters, vloggers and wine lovers in attendance

More details to follow in coming days…

UPDATE: Very cool, even perhaps, “groovy”; Hugh has linked to my humble wine blog. Better have a very blogable wine dinner now (he said as the pressure increased

OK, so maybe I’m a wine geek and this shouldn’t make me so mad, but BusinessWeek has a story about how French vintners can now use wine chips the “flavor” their wines. Of course they use language that most consumers would find incendiary like, “In the end, we are going to make wines like we make food at McDonald’s.” I can’t wait until I read about late hang time and watering back in the popular press. Some context please, guys.

My blogging buddy Lenn, of Wine Blogging Wednesday fame, has just announced his intention to taste and blog about wines made in all 50 states in a period of just 50 weeks over at the new Wine Sediments blog. Since I have been podcasting and blogging, I have tasted wines from just six states (CA, OR, WA, NY, MN and AR). It is with great admiration and excitement that I view Lenn’s commitment and have pledged to help him find the best vino coming out of the upper midwest. So I will be visiting as many Minnesota wineries as possible over the spring and summer with the goal of putting the best foot forward for my adoptive state of residence. I’ll also be posting my impressions and tasting notes here as I taste my way through the wines of the land of Lake Wobegon.

Best of luck on your quest, Lenn!

I was over at Solo Vino this morning picking up some wines for WBW 20 and Chuck cracked open a just received case of Chilean Pinot Noir for me to try. I’ve had some interesting Pinots from their selection in the past, so I was keen to give this one a try tonight:

Undurraga, Pinot Noir, D.O. Central Valley, Chile 2005 ($9/sample) - Clear, light ruby in color with aromas of wild cherry and watermelon. Tart bing cherry and strawberry fruit flavors with light tannins and a nice acidic edge on the finish. A good everyday red in a light and fruity style that is more reminiscent of Gamay Noir than Pinot. Score: 8/10

Thanks, Chuck; another good call!

Trinitas Cellars, Mataro (Mourvèdre), “Old Vine”, Contra Costa County 2003 ($25) - Dark ruby in color with pronounced aromas of black raspberry, plum and vanilla; rich blackberry and plum fruit with black pepper, chocolate and spices. Pretty big tannins under the thick mouthfeel, but becoming integrated. Give this one another year or two, if you can wait that long Score: 9/10

Chateau de Maligny, Chablis Premier Cru, “Fourchaume�? 2001 ($19) – Golden straw in color with aromas of citrus and minerals. Lemon, tart green apple and mineral flavors finishing with nice acidity. A well balanced food wine that will age for a couple more years. Score: 8.5/10

Eric Asimov of the New York Times wrote a nice piece on Robert Parker yesterday that attempts to get a bit deeper than most newspaper articles about the controversial wine critic. What I found the most informative, however, is the post he made to The Pour, his new-ish wine blog. Sort of like the special features on DVD’s, this continuation of the story told me more about the subject than the original print story and most everything else I have read about Mr. Parker. I hope that more wine journalists pick up this blogging thing for the additional insights afforded by the medium. Kudos to Mr. Asimov and Mark Fisher for showing the way (Eric is also podcasting, for good measure).

In the continuing advance of science in the wine industry, I see that wine grapes can be genetically altered to produce more vitamin C. My response is “why” since I can just take my daily supplement or drink some OJ with breakfast. The last place I need to think about vitamin intake is in the wine I drink…

Unlike almost every St. Patrick’s Day, I picked wine to match with my Irish stew. Instead of the normal pint or two of Guinness, I opened one the samples sent by Concannon, their Petite Sirah from 2004. While Guinness was still involved as an ingredient to the stew, it was great to match one of my favorite varietals with the meal. Here’s my tasting note:

Concannon Vineyard, Petite Sirah, Central Coast, “Limited Release�? 2004 ($15/sample) - Dark purple/black in color with aromas of blueberry and black cherry; Bright blueberry fruit flavors with some vanilla and silky tannins. A rich mouthfeel completes the package nicely. Drink now to fully enjoy the exuberant fruit. Score: 8.5/10

The wine matched well with the earthiness of the stew, bringing pure fruit as a counterpoint while not overpowering it. I think the Heritage Pet, while a better wine overall, would not have matched as well here.

Brian from The Frank Truth podcast has wrapped up my latest show with his introduction and closing and sent it in for his normal Wednesday night slot on Sirius satellite radio as part of Adam Curry’s PodShow program. I’m really excited to be “on the air�?, at least for North American Sirius subscribers. So if you subscribe to this service, tune in new channel 102 tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. CST for the show.

Thanks, Brian!