For the past several weeks my blog theme has not displayed correctly in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or 7. For some months there have been minor issues that have not been more than an annoyance but now the site is almost unreadable. I have decided to abandon my efforts at fixing my current theme after several hours of fiddling and switch to a completely new theme later tonight. There should be no display problems with this new theme on any web browser.

I apologize to readers who use IE to view the site. Firefox, Opera, Safari, Camino, Flock and SeaMonkey users are unaffected.

Update 2/1: It took a bit longer than expected but the theme is now in place and seems to display fine across all browsers and platforms. There is still a bit of tweaking to go and navigation to add, but enjoy.

Update 2: Safari on the Mac is not displaying correctly; I am working on it…

Editor’s Note: This is a listener submitted tasting note for Wine Blogging Wednesday from Lucas Hendrich. If you don’t have a blog and would like to participate, just email your notes to me and I will post them here and include them in my round up post for this event. You have one week from today to pick up a New World Syrah/Shiraz. Thanks for being early, Lucas!

I’m no blogger, but this is my first stab at WBW. I’m writing from Tigre, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

My New World Syrah is a Bodegas Nieto Senetiner 2004 Syrah.

Syrah seems to be taking hold in Argentina as a third option to Malbec, whose fame domestically is only rivalled by Cabernet Sauvignon. That said, this is a country where jug wine ruled until very recently (partly because the jug wine isn’t that bad), and it is not out of the ordinary to see people put ice cubes in their wine (the lesson: don’t bring your best wine to the asado), so the whole varietal thing is kind of new in terms of popular wine culture.

I chose a mid to lower priced wine at 18 pesos, which is like 18 dollars in terms of buying power but with the exchange rate at 3 to 1 it comes in at around 6 dollars. Bodegas Nieto Senetiner has a more boutique/lower production line called Don Nicanor, but I didn’t have time to look for it.

So here are the notes:

The appearance of this wine is a deep ruby color with a rosy tinge around the edge. Good but not great legs.

The nose is earthly, with tabacco, leather, black pepper, then hints of blackberry fruit and violets.

On first taste, this is a seriously earthy wine, with garden herbs and black pepper and surprisingly little fruit; on second taste, the medium tannins and a lasting blackberry/blueberry fruit provide a good but not altogether smooth finish - the mouthfeel is a little jagged. The lingering black pepper and blackberry are satisfying.

Overall impression: This is a tough, chewy wine, and it has a kick (14.5%). The persistent black pepper and blackberry fruit make up for its rough finish. I served this wine with a marinated skirt steak and it went deliciously; I think it would be even better matched with venison, rabbit or goat. 8.75 out of 10, mostly because despite its roughness, I’m intrigued with the Old World-ness of this New World wine, as it is less fruit-forward than I expected.

I hope this is in the spirit of WBW!

Editor’s Note: This is the first of at least 52 posts for the Good Grape blog over the next year.

While tasting at yesterday’s Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) Festival, I came across an interesting new brand that is targeting their wine squarely at the Millennial Generation. Muse Winery has launched this wine as “Mingle” and not the more expected “Zinfandel” because the Millennial buyer is looking for different wine taste experiences and is more tolerant of unconventional blends than their Baby Boom parents. Mingle delivers on the different blend front with Zinfandel being joined by Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the more common Petite Sirah and Carignan. The result is quite nice with forward black cherry fruit, a touch of black pepper and smooth tannins. I rated it a very good 86 on the 100-point scale. It’s not just the wine, but also the packaging, that will appeal with this demographic as Muse has created a colorful label, unconventional bottle shape and “Peel, Pop and Pour” cork closure last seen on inexpensive sherry and port.

For readers not familiar with the Millennial Generation, I’ll back up and give you some background. Born between 1979 and 2002, Millennials follow GenX and The Baby Boom in the generations since WWII. Now coming of drinking age in large numbers — they are 100 million strong in total — this generation is the first to get into wine in a big way since their parents Baby Boom cohort. Unlike their parents, they are not looking for status wines or cellaring, preferring instant gratification. Wine should be unpretentious and just good to drink with Millennials who also look for food friendly wines. They are also squarely in the value category from a price perspective with the sweet spot being between $10 and $15 USD a bottle.

From a marketing perspective, Millennials present several opportunities for wineries. Since they are really just looking for a pleasant beverage for enjoying with food, scores and awards are not important. This means no brand building in the pages of Wine Spectator, Decanter or Wine Enthusiast magazines. Millennials are also the most wired generation, never knowing a time without the internet. This presents the wine marketer with the opportunity to market online and add social media to the mix. I’m currently working with a consulting client on launching a brand to this generation and a My Space presence and podcast are key elements of our marketing plan. We are also spending time on simple, colorful and attractive labels, unique bottles and Stelvin twist-off closures.

So it’s not business as usual selling wine to Millennials but it is pushing the state of the art for wine marketing forward. Anything that compels wineries to embrace blogs, podcasts and online communities is alright with me.

I’m back across the street at Starbuck’s after 6 hours of tasting and wanted to post a short note on my first impressions of this years ZAP tasting.

I had high hopes that my new strategy of tasting on the floor during the trade tasting then switching to the media lounge would allow me to taste over 100 wines like uber wine blogger Alder of Vinography (who, unfortunately, missed the tasting sick with the flu; get well soon, man). That proved not to be the case as I tasted and reviewed “only” 70 wines today. I think this was due to my pacing, longer conversations at the tables and how crowded it was but overall I’m very pleased with the result, as I didn’t taste any marginal wines this time. In fact, nearly all of them were very good or excellent with styles ranging from elegant to hedonistic fruit bombs.

In order of tasting, here is my first cut at standouts; full reviews later in my full roundup:

- Chase Family Cellars, Zinfandel, Hayne Vineyard, Reserve 2004 ($75)

- Carlisle Winery, Zinfandel, Pietro’s Ranch 2005 ($38)

- Robert Biale Vineyards, Zinfandel, Grande 2005

- Benessere, Zinfandel, Black Glass Estate Vineyard 2004 ($40)

- Ballentine Vineyards, Zinfandel, Pocai Vineyard, Block 11 2005 ($25)

- August Briggs, Zinfandel, Napa Valley 2004 ($30)

- Downing Family Vineyards, Pelissa Vineyard, “Fly by Night” 2004 ($30)

- Dashe Cellars, Zinfandel, Louvau Vineyard, “Old Vines” 2004 ($28)

- Dashe Cellars, Zinfandel, Todd Brothers Ranch, “Old Vines” 2004 ($28)

- Hendry, Zinfandel, Block 28, Napa Valley 2003 ($30)

- Turley Wine Cellars, Zinfandel, Hayne Vineyard 2005 (Barrel Sample/$75)

- Trinitas Cellars, Zinfandel, Russian River Valley 2004 ($26)

- Edmeades Winery, Zinfandel, Perli Vineyard, Mendocino 2004

I’m sure I missed a couple wines here but will present my full notes and scores for every wine I tasted in tomorrow’s post.

Now it’s off for dinner and hopefully some Pinot Noir

It doesn’t seem possible that a year has passed since I made the trip to San Francisco for my first Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) tasting, but I’m here again to do my best at tasting 125 Zinfandels (I did 90 last year and have a few new strategies this time). Unlike last year, I’ll be covering the event much more here on the blog and on my podcast. If there’s WiFi access in the media lounge, I’ll post some notes during breaks; if not, I’ll come back to the Starbuck’s across the street and post (where I’m posting this right now).

I’m meeting some other wine bloggers, podcasters and Wine 2.0 folks at the tasting and if you are there, send me an email to meetup. I’ll be in town until Tuesday, so much tasting and many meetings are on my schedule.

My second turn hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday has come a bit sooner than I expected, but I’m pleased to announce the theme for our 30th edition of this virtual tasting event. You will remember last summer I chose the theme of Lite (alcohol) Reds and we had a great turnout and some interesting wines were tasted and blogged. This time I thought of going a bit in the other direction and selected a theme that would not be difficult for participants to find great wines and provide some warmth for those of us with snow on the ground.

So the theme of WBW 30 is New World Syrah/Shiraz.

The only rule here is the wine needs to be made from at least 51% Syrah or Shiraz and come from the New World. That leaves quite a bit of freedom to find great examples from Australia, South Africa or the United States. Other places to check out are Chile and Argentina where some interesting Syrah is being produced. Your wine can be 100% Syrah/Shiraz or a blend. It can be a simple $5 Washington State bottling or Penfolds Grange. Whatever expression of the classic grape of The Rhone made outside of it’s Old World home is what I’m proposing.

Join me on or before February 7th by posting your tasting notes on your blog and sending me an email with your name and blog URL. If you don’t have a blog, just email your notes to me and I will post them here. Incidentally, Lenn and I chose February 7th since the next 2 Wednesdays are Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday.

Hope you can find a wine in 2 weeks or less and join the fun!

Today is Great Grape Day over at Wine Sediments and they have selected my favorite red variety, Zinfandel, to feature (yea, they also threw a bone to Primitivo, too). So I looked into the ol’ cellar to see what Zin I had on hand that I hadn’t yet blogged and a St. Francis “Old Vines” Zin caught my eye.

St. Francis is an old brand, at least for me, from Sonoma County. When I first got into wine, I used to drink a fair amount of their Zin and Merlot and always found it a good value. Started in the late 1970’s, the winery is named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi and specializes in mostly red wines (they also make a Chardonnay). Unlike some brands, St. Francis takes the “Old Vines” designation seriously with vines at least 50, and sometimes over 100, years of age. The result is a concentrated wine with firm tannins that suggests a year or two in the cellar might be in order.

St. Francis, Zinfandel, “Old Vines”, Sonoma County 2004 ($19) - Dark purple in color with aromas of brambles, pepper and vanilla. Bold and concentrated blackberry, licorice and black pepper flavors finishing with a touch of raison and firm tannins. A very solid Zin at this price point, but the fruit is almost out of balance with the alcohol. Drink over the next year or two.

Synthetic cork closure (easily removed)
15.5% ABV
Score: 89

Buy this wine online

Jeff from Good Grape has decided on what subjects he would like me to write about for his personal blog feed won on the recent Menu for Hope campaign. As I posted to his blog, I will be writing a weekly article on one of three subjects: Wine 2.0, Italian wines and wine marketing. Many of those posts will be cross-posted here but sometimes I’ll just point you to his blog for the weekly entry.

I’m looking forward to collaborating with Jeff for the next year guest blogging at Good Grape. We are also working together on a new podcast we’re calling “Unfiltered” which will make it’s debut tomorrow; stay tuned.

I’m back and starting my third year of podcasting with the longest Winecast yet, a discussion and tasting of four wines from the Iberian peninsula with Ryan Opaz of Catavino.

Show Notes:

00:21 - Welcome and introduction
01:10 - Your Iberian wine questions with Ryan Opaz
26:17 - Don Olegario, Albarino, Rias Baixas, Spain 2004 ($19)
30:27 - Sociedade Agrícola Casal do Tojo, “Lisa”, Terras do Sado, Portugal 2004 ($11) +
36:07 - Bodegas 3 Suenos, “Sexto”, Terra Alta, Spain 2004 ($10)
41:39 - Caves do Salgueiral, “Andreza”, Douro, Portugal 2003 ($14) *
46:22 - Save The Duero and wrap-up
51:49 - Contact Details
52:04 - Next show theme

* = Best of Tasting
+ = Best Value

(Production Note: Unfortunately I set the gain too high on this recording and could not filter out this background noise out due to GarageBand’s ducking feature. I recommend listening on speakers and not headphones as a result. Lesson learned; my apologies.)

Feedback: winecast@gmail.com
Copyright 2007 Acan Media, Inc. Licensed to the public under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

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The theme this month for Wine Blogging Wednesday is biodynamic wine, chosen by Jack and Joanne from Fork and Bottle.

When I first read about the theme, I really didn’t know much about biodynamic agriculture or how it differed from organic practices. A quick read of an excellent series on the subject by Jamie Goode brought me up to speed. Without getting to far into the details, biodynamic farming is a philosophy as much as it’s a process. Quite similar in many ways to organic farming, biodyamics is based upon the teachings of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner who outlined a method for the farm (or vineyard) to be a self-sustaining ecosystem in the 1920’s. Chemicals are not permitted and a series of steps, known as preparations, are employed to get the soil ready to sustain the crop. There’s also some business about the “rhythms of nature” that reminds me of some Jerry Brown speeches back in the day. So it’s kind of like organic farming on steroids with some new age philosophy thrown in for good measure.

As it relates to wine growing, there are many vineyards around the world who subscribe to the philosophy of biodynamic agriculture but not necessarily pay the fees to be officially certified as such. One of those vignerons is Helen Durand who is the owner and winemaker of Domaine du Trapadis in the Southern Rhone and follows a 200 year family tradition. Longtime readers will remember I reviewed a wine made by this producer back on WBW 19, but I thought I would try the latest vintage here and elaborate on how the grapes were grown and the wine produced.

M. Durand believes in letting the vines and land speak for themselves, so no chemicals or artificial fertilizers are used in the vineyard. This philosophy extends to the winemaking process where the grapes are hand harvested and not destemmed before fermentation. Cultured yeast is not used, preferring the wild yeast of the vineyard. The wine is fermented and aged in individual variety lots before blending and bottling without fining or filtering. No oak barrels are used in the aging of this wine so the maximum expression of the fruit and site is preserved. I know of no better definition of terroir than these practices.

Domaine du Trapadis, Cotes du Rhone 2004 ($15) - A blend of 60% Grenache, 13% Carignan, 10% Syrah, 10% Cinsault and 7% Mourvedre.

Garnet in color with aromas of black raspberry, licorice, earth and cloves. Rich and rustic black cherry and raspberry fruit flavors with black pepper, tar and firm tannins. A typical Rhone blend for everyday drinking that presents a lot of complexity for the money.

In short, a real wine made by real people.

14.5% ABV
Composite cork closure
Score: 87