River of Wine, & Beer

I found the following at the website of an importer, Sevier Wines (http://www.sevierwines.com/about.htm). It is an unusually direct comment.

"Throughout the world today, corporate winemaking (think of Yellow Tail, Kendall Jackson, and George DuBoeuf) follows the Coca-Cola model.  At giant facilities, grapes from everywhere in the world are assembled, manipulated to eliminate any natural characteristic of the grapes, then sugared and given flavor enhancers, perhaps even some oak chips, to arrive at just the desired flavor and color. Year to year, the flavor is the same because irrigation and flavor enhancers disguise the impact of climate and vintage.  This is not wine, it is a beverage.  Generic and uninspiring.  These beverages and corporations own the market. "

Two recent samplings, both in 22 oz. bottles.

Arrogant Bastard comes from Stone Brewing company, out of San Diego. It has the rowdy beer vibe, with a devilish character on the label and the tag line “You’re not worthy”.  Unsurprisingly, it is quite intense. I would go so far as to say it would be the last beer of the night: not many other beers could follow it effectively. It has a rich, deep colour, a powerful aroma, and full flavor. Plenty of malt and hops. I found it a trifle wearisome. It is aged in barrel, and you definitely get wood in the aroma. It carries 7.2% alcohol, but it seems stronger than that. At the website, the hops variety used is listed as classified. I’m not a brewer but I like checking the stats (just as I used to like reading baseball cards). I don’t think we need trade secrets.

Baby Tree Abbey Quadruple is made by Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project, Westport, Massachusetts. Where Stone Brewing takes the rowdy route, Pretty Things chooses whimsy. The label shows the baby tree, which maybe alludes  to an odd song by Rosalie Sorrell. Reddish brown, it has a rich, fruity aroma. It is in the abbey style, with plenty of malt. Perhaps there’s a stronger hops  element than the European model. It carries 9.0% alcohol, but it doesn’t seem that high. I would serve it with dinner, burgers, meatloaf, and stews. Arrogant Bastard probably would be best with a chunk of strong cheese.

Dogfish Head beers leave the store quickly, even tho they are pricey. I haven't had their intensely hopped brews, 60 Minutes, 90 Minutes, and 120 Minutes. I expected something intense with Raison d'Etre. Instead, it proved lusciously rich and delicious. Okay, I'm easy when it comes to beer. Works well with burgers with its full, somewhat fruity flavours. Made with green raisins and Belgian sugar.

I've met a few winemakers, and a few more winery reps. Some are evangelistic, some find it a chore, the usual spectrum. Obviously they meet a lot of people and it is not a job for everyone.

Altho the store I worked for did much to promote wineries, most wineries prefer to woo restaurants. The wisdom is, once you get on a restaurant wine list, you're locked in vintage after vintage. Retailers might skip disappointing vintages.

Anyway, long ago, I met Luciana and Alfredo Currado, who owned the Piedmont winery Vietti. Luciana spoke in English, translating for Alfredo on technical points. She spoke well  enough but her accent and her vocabulary sometimes made communication difficult. At one point, she started talking about eels. Eels? My colleague and I were momentarily baffled as Luciana tried to explain. Finally she resorted to Italian:colli. Oh,hills.

I told them that a customer was drinking up his bottles of just released Barolo from the winery. They were shocked. "Oh no," said Luciana, "it should be aged 10 years, at least." The customer in question was one of the few who enjoy tannins, which I think is akin to those who enjoy the desperately hot hot sauces. He told me got got drunk on Vietti's Barolo at the Harvard-Yale game, a fact I did not offer the Currados.

Fess Parker came to town to promote his new winery. The whole company wanted to meet him. A couple  of older women in the office were downright giddy at the prospect. I unfortunately could not attend the meeting because I had a newsletter deadline to meet, working in another part of the building.

The major American beer brands do not seem distinguished to me. Not to be a beer snob about it. I will drink Bud, Miller, Coors, and the like, if handed to me. I just won’t think too much about the experience. If Coors can make a virtue of how cold its beer is—not an intrinsic value, after all—then it is clear I need not exert my critical faculties on the stuff.

How these brewers package their products fascinates me. Just thinking offhand, these are Bud’s main bottlings:

·         12 oz bottles

·         12 oz cans

          16 oz bottles

          16 oz cans

·         24 oz cans

·         40 oz bottles

Budweiser packages the beers in these ways:

·         6-pack

·         12-pack

·         18 pack

·         24 pack

·         30 pack

·         36 pack

Serving, it would seem, the precise necessities of beer drinkers. Savings occur incrementally. The point would seem more to place additional facings of product before you. It’s all more than I want to worry about. I mean you have to decide several thigns to make this important purchase:

How many will be drinking the beer?

What is storage capacity?

How much money available for the purchase?

I do not know much about Errazuriz except that I have enjoyed what I have tasted from the winery. This Chilean winery offers an extensive line up of wines. I have only tasted its single-vineyard offerings. None have disappointed me.

I am struck by how well balanced this wine is.Maybe that's not an exciting way to describe a wine--Robert Parker hails intensity over all--but this carmenere tastes so pleasingly well-knit and complete, I do not know what more to ask for.

In colour, it still has a deep purple-tinged ruby hue. The mixing of oak and fruit in the aroma is seamless. The flavours extend from the aromas, deep without heaviness. The label states a hefty 14.5% alcohol, but it doesn't taste that high. Tannins are of the soft, dusty kind. You feel them as structure, not as antagonists. Nothing in the wine seems out of balance. The price was $17.99, which I have no argument with.