Just a reminder that the next Wine 2.0 meetup is on Tuesday evening at 9pm EST/6pm PST/2am (Wed.) GMT/1:00 pm (Wed.) AEST. Everyone interested is invited, just click on the Lingr link, below.

Less Preliminary Agenda:
1) Introductions
2) Define “Wine 2.0″
3) Current Wine 2.0 sites: what works, what doesn’t?
4) Mashup ideas
5) Marketing discussion
6) Future; what’s coming next?
7) Q&A/Brainstorming
Tech geek-out (microformats, anyone?)

Post your ideas to the comments; see you in a couple days.

Don’t forget that Tempranillo is the wine of the evening!

Alder has just posted an update to the wine prizes for “A Menu for Hope.” Check out all the great stuff still available with no donations so far (I’m going after that bottle of Martha’s Vineyard). The drive ends December 22nd at midnight… Diggers, please digg the story!

read more | digg story

Another Quick Picks podcast highlighting two outstanding values from Spain’s Bodegas Borsao.

Show Notes:
00:13 - Bodegas Borsao background
00:51 - Bodegas Borsao, “Red Wine� 2005 ($8)
01:29 - Bodegas Borsao, “Tres Picos“, Garnacha (Grenache) 2004 ($15)
02:01 - Next show theme

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2006 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Direct mp3 Download
Direct aac Download

 

 Standard Podcast [2:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Culinary Fool has worked overtime and produced not one, but two summaries of this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday; in near record time, as well. Lots of great sparklers were tasted but the winner of the most tasted and interesting selections goes to fellow podcaster Bill Wilson of Wine for Newbies. Way to go, Bill! With six notes posted and a podcast, it makes my four sparklers to be presented on Winecast 72 look pretty meager

Check out part one and part two of the coverage and look for WBW 29 to be announced any day now.

Sitting in the outer suburbs of the Twin Cities, I don’t usually get involved in local politics thousands of miles away, but an email this morning from Spain caught my attention. According to this website, a new law passed by the government of Spain threatens to change forever the terrior of the Ribera del Duero appellation.

In a nutshell, projected growth in the area has created the need to increase the highways in the area from 2 to 4 lanes. Although this sounds modest, the environmental impact is that vineyards will need to be ripped out in order for the roadway to be expanded. Several other proposals were made that have less impact to vines now in the ground, but for purely political reasons, the most undesirable option from a wine lover’s perspective was voted in. It’s the Spanish equivalent of turning Hwy 29 in Napa Valley into a freeway (I wonder what Tom would say about that?)

Join me in adding your voice to a petition to potentially change this outcome by clicking here. I’ll keep you posted on further developments as they happen.

Let’s prove that the international wine blogosphere can change the course of this local issue.

It’s Wednesday and (fairly) early in the month, so it must be time for another edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday. This time out, Culinary Fool is hosting and has chosen the theme of sparkling wine. Avid readers will remember only a couple of months back we sampled Champagne for this event. This month the only rule is the wine has to be sparkling and can’t come from France’s Champagne region. I really like this because December is a very festive month where most sparkling wine is sold and consumed. And, on the occasion I pop a cork of bubbly, 90% of the time it’s from Champagne (the other 10% from California, mostly Roederer Estate).

So if the theme is to explore the world of sparkling wine outside of my normal places, I wanted to really think different. I looked for Sekt from Germany or Austria, but couldn’t find a bottle I thought would be a good choice. Then I looked for sparking Shiraz from Oz but didn’t find one example in the stores I visited (I know there is some in town, because I’ve seen it before). So after briefly considering Prosecco, I decided to revisit Cava, the sparkling wine of Spain.

Cava and I go way back to my early days of wine geekdom. In fact, right after I graduated from Korbel Brut, there was always a black bottle of Freixenet in reserve at Casa Elliott. This inexpensive sparkler provided many of the same flavors of California wines at a fraction of the price. But like many other wines, my palate developed and only Champagne or higher end California sparklers would do. To make my final choice for this evening, I ventured into Solo Vino and asked for their recommendation.

The bottle I ended up with was Cava Avinyo Brut Reserva made by the Esteve Nadal family of Avinyonet del Penedès in Spain just outside of Barcelona. This Cava is blend of Macabeu, Parellada, Xarel-lo grown with biodynamic and organic methods (although not certified as such). These three grapes are native to Spain and the only that are legally permitted to be blended into Cava (some producers are now lobbying for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to also be approved). The wine is made using the méthode champenoise with 18-22 months of bottle aging before disgorgement.

Tasting Notes:

Cava Avinyo, Brut Reserva, Penedes, Spain NV ($14) - Light straw with a green tinge and medium-sized bubbles. Aromas of green apple, grapefruit and the slightest hint of yeastiness. In the mouth, there is the initial impression of citrus and bracing acidity, then nice and dry with some peach on the finish; very fresh and satisfying. A fairly complex sparkler at a bargain price; highly recommended.

11.5% ABV
Natural cork closure
Score: 90

Thanks again to Culinary Fool for a great seasonal theme and a nice discovery just in time for the Holidays and New Year celebrations. It will be interesting to see what other bloggers came up with this time and if founder Lenn resisted his temptation to taste a New York sparkler

If and when I get the chance to make my own wine or own a winery, the two varietals I’d start with are Riesling and Pinot Noir. I don’t know if it’s the purity of the fruit or terroir or that both these have some sort of x-factor that most other wine varietals don’t, but these are the wines that I hold in the highest regard (along with sentimental favorite Zinfandel).

So it was great to find two podcasts on my iPod this week that are both about Riesling and feature Ernst Loosen. Excellent listening if you are a Riesling-ofile like me

Check them out here:

Oz Wine Show - Ernst Loosen Interview

Grape Radio - The Riesling Shootout

PS: Just to make sure nobody takes this before I get started, I registered a new domain inspired by another blogger

Someone submitted “Menu for Hope III” at Digg (not sure why it’s in “Political News” but they don’t have a proper food & wine category). So if you are a Digger, please add your vote to raise this story to more people not in the food & wine blogosphere (my Digg is #2 as I blog this).

Just checked the donation page and we’re up to $8,360 already; w00t!

read more | digg story

I just noticed that this blog is the City Pages MN blog of the day today; cool!