A Letter from the Back Porch

Date: Tue, Jul 27, 2010 Wine Tasting

Most days I try to write something that acts as a legitimate article or an op-ed piece – usually there’s a beginning, a middle and an end, mostly with a point, too and enough facts to make my case. Today isn’t that day, though. I have other things on my mind.

I am traveling to Texas to see my Mom and Grandma at the end of this week and I’m excited about that. My Grandma will be 102 this year and she’s still sharp enough to think the economy is headed for more trouble … I think Depression-era folk have an economic rader akin to divining for water … they know. Thinking of my Grandma also reminds me of her sister-in-law, Virginia, the widow of one of my Grandma’s brothers, Glen, who passed in the early 90s. Virginia occasionally writes letters to my wife and I – in longhand, of course. I always feel bad because I have a hard time writing a birthday card anymore. I am so used to typing. My quid pro quo isn’t that great and I know I’ll be regretful at some point for not taking the time to return her gift in the form of my own letter, longer than a note card.

Virginia’s letters are usually seven or eight pages, mostly non-sequitar remembrances of times gone by—an anecdote about my Grandpa, what a kind and generous man he was, how clever he was with inventing useful things, or my Grandma, what a cook she used to be, the best in the family. Sometimes Virginia will note how happy she is that my Mom is in possession of a family antique that holds special memories, like the radio that acted as evening entertainment after supper. I’m lucky if I make it through with dry eyes. I reread them every now and again when I need to exorcise a burden that only tangential tears can relieve.

I saw some press last week about a new iPad application called the “Flipboard”—it takes all of the content from your Twitter and Facebook accounts, linked articles, photos and such, and turns it into a readable magazine of sorts. Virginia doesn’t have this in mind when she tells me about my Grandma catching a chicken for supper, life’s riches didn’t cost much back then.

Mostly, though, I have been thinking about the end of summer. I’ve been talking about going to see my Mom since earlier this year when the end of July seemed like forever away. We’ve all heard about seasonal affective disorder – the winter blues, right? Is there such a thing as the summer blues? The sadness that happens when you know the summer is getting ready to blow by you, before you even had a chance to say, “hello.”

It’s one of life’s cruel jokes – we spend January til May waiting for summer to get here and then it’s gone in a blink.

Here in the Midwest, you know August is coming furiously because corn and tomato’s are available on the side of the road, the suns’ intensity wanes in the afternoon sky, the locusts sing their symphony, the grass in the front yard starts to wither from its June greenery, football practice starts up and I count down the weekends till kick-off, trying hard not to forsake the glory of August because November will be here soon enough.

Yet, there is an internal body clock that shifts with the seasons. My fall cravings for a cheese plate with salumi, port wines and IPA beers happen subconsciously, and happened early this year, too; perhaps owing to the early spring we had, 80-degree temperatures through much of April. This past weekend I bought a mixed six-pack of bruising IPA’s and stouts, and opened a bottle of Port, all without too much conscious thought; it’s happening – fall is around the corner and I have a bunch of Sauvignon Blanc to drink, not to mention the Ros�.

One good thing about this summer has been I have not been without ice cream. Not at all. My waistline and my scale verify that, as well. I have my winter fat layer ready to go. Perhaps that is part of the reason for the Port – that 9:00 pm sweets craving can be mollified with a finger of Port instead of a big bowl of ice cream.

I like to follow the grinders of the wine business, the folks that are passionate about wine without the gravitas to make the juice, working on the periphery instead, trying to make a mark. I identify with people that start with not much and end with not much, despite the effort. There’s a nobility in the struggle.

StemGrip is one company I’m going to profile in the near future, a device that holds your glassware upright in the dishwasher. There’s always an interesting story in the development of a product. My latest inspiration is trail mix for dessert wines. Forget stinky wine cheeses.

Ports and dessert wines need a revolution – and the answer is …, well, the answer isn’t blue cheese. Who eats a hunk of blue cheese at 9:00 pm at night at home, before going to bed? Nobody, I tell ya. No, instead, the world needs dessert wine trail mixes, a delicious mix with a sipper.

My fave dessert wines are the Quady Essensia and any 10 year Tawny Port. To make a trail mix for the Essensia, or any non-Port style dessert wine, get some white chocolate baking chips, some vanilla almonds and unsalted cashews and mix that up with some dried chopped apricots, and peaches. Add in anything else that sounds like a good complement.

For the Tawny Port trail mix, Sandeman is nice, take toffee, butterscotch, and dark chocolate baking chips, mix in some dried blueberries, dried cherries, diced dried plums, maybe some cocoa roasted almonds and some unsalted cashews and nibble alongside a generously scant pour of the Port.

Heaven.

I’ve been going on too long, but I get that way when time is more of a function of operating between now and then, and not a milemarker to an unknown destination. Love to you and yours and best wishes on the rest of the summer and travels to visit family.

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The Luxury Wine Story Framework:  A Cliffs’ Notes Version

Date: Sun, Jul 25, 2010 Wine Tasting

It is no secret, and definitely not a revelation: wine business marketing is all about the story. But, what does that really mean?

A story carries value only if it’s memorable, and connects with an audience – an audience of one or an audience of hundreds, if not thousands. A litany of facts does not a story make. If a “story” does not connect then it’s merely information, soon to be forgotten like a kids’ math lesson over the summertime.

However, if a story is memorable, it becomes shareable, like a good joke that can be recalled on command. And, when something is shareable, well, that is the good stuff—that’s when a winery has other people doing their marketing for them because customers are sharing stories with their friends, and oftentimes including a dash of brand ambassadorship and a hint of positive projection all wrapped in an anecdotal, personal brand package.

I have been thinking about the nature of stories and was motivated into further research by a recent Wine Business Monthly (WBM) article (magazine only).

WBM offered a recap of the Fine Wine III conference held in April of this year in Ribero del Duero, Spain. Presenting research from U.K. based wine research firm Wine Intelligence, the research breaks down demographic data for luxury wine buyers (over $25 a bottle). The research is drawn from the U.S., U.K and Switzerland. According to Wine Intelligence, a stunning 60% of all luxury wines is based on 12% of luxury wine buyers – these are the regular high-end buyers. Put a different way, 88% of all luxury wine buyers are occasional purchasers and drive 40% of the high-end market.

In a nutshell, based on a deduction even I can make, the reason the upper end of the wine echelon has seen a protracted buying recession is because 88% of luxury wine buyers who buy occasionally, driving 40% of the market, reduced the frequency of their “occasional.” Simple enough.

However, as the market rebounds, and if reports are true that occasional trading up is by this buying segment may be stunted by the quality consumers are seeing at lower price points, how does a winery induce interest?

It’s all about the story.

The WBM article and the Wine Intelligence research went on to detail the top cues for occasional wine buyers, noting: “…Unlike their luxury counterparts, they seek reassurance in their purchasing because they are not as familiar with fine wine.” Reassurance in the form of a story.

The article continues, quoting Erica Donoho of Wine Intelligence, “It’s important for them when they are buying less frequently to have some sort of measure of safety. A well-known wine producer is a safe bet for them.” Left unsaid is the fact that “well-known” is a relative term, but “familiar” is obviously the antidote and stories can create that sense of familiarity.

However, as news articles are wont to do, they provided the list of story cues that occasional luxury wine buyers are looking for, but no larger context for what constitutes a good story.

I did some additional research analyzing two books on the topic – Made to Stick and The Story Factor. The below acts as sort of recipe book for a winery to create their own story that resonates. When viewed sequentially, the first visual offers the six fundamentals of a “sticky” idea, ending with a good story. The second visual offers the six types of stories. The third visual offers the seven types of story themes that occasional luxury wine buyers are looking for and the fourth visual, well, that’s when you know you’re hitting all cylinders.

Made to Stick: 6 Keys to a “Sticky” Idea

The Story Factor: Six Distinct Types of Stories

Wine Intelligence Research: The Seven Top Buying Cues / Story Angles for Occasional Luxury Wine Buyers

What Happens when a Story Hits the Spot?

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News, Notes and Dusty Bottle Items – Reconciliation Edition

Date: Fri, Jul 23, 2010 Wine Tasting

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of a wine glass …

Managing “The Conversation”

I have an appreciation for couples who share their wine enthusiasm. My wife Lindsay enjoys wine, but is far removed from having enough interest to be considered a wine enthusiast. My interest in wine is, largely, an individual pursuit.

Because of the gulf that can be created by passionate interests that aren’t shared in a relationship, there are situations that need occasional massaging. The act of buying wine when you have a basement full of wine is one situation that requires careful explanation. Spending a significant amount of time writing about wine, sometimes in lieu of time spent together, is another landmine that requires careful and persistent navigation.

Now, I’d be lying if said there hasn’t been a conversation in which my perspective was different than Lindsay’s perspective about how I prioritized my free time around the good grape.

In her view, there’s a sense of, “Why do you spend so much time doing something for strangers, when you could be doing something with your wife.”

It’s a rational argument, unless you’re consumed with the victory of creating something from nothing, a blank page that is soon filled with 800 words that mean something. Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus was written for a reason.

However, recent research distills the notion of conflict in a relationship into as tidy of a bundle as possible.

Dr. Keith Sanford, a professor at Baylor University conducted a research study, created a conflict assessment and determined that there are two primary issues when there is a disagreement in a relationship. According to Sanford, it all boils down to a “Perceived threat” – that one’s partner is being hostile, critical, blaming or controlling. And, “Perceived neglect” which is a perception that one’s partner is failing to make a desired contribution, commitment or investment in the relationship.

Within the realm of wine, wine writing and time spent, the biggest contributor to relationship strife has to be “Perceived threat” – as in, spending too much time with mistress wine.

Something tells me that armed with this knowledge I’m going to be more diligent going forward about taking the dog for a walk together and making sure the trash is never so full that you have to do the double arm compactor.

Another Noun to Lose its Meaning

The word “transparency” is one of those words that has transcended meaning and moved into nothingness clich�. Another word quickly traversing the same path is, “artisanal.”

A recent, lengthy piece in Details magazine discusses the cultural phenomena of “artisanal” products.

While overall, the piece is mostly a frothy first-person narrative absent much in the form of a takeaway, there was one excerpt that jumped out at me. Quoting the article:

”… We’re all agents of the artisanal movement now—call us authentivores, hungry for backstory, intrigued by provenance, hooked on the high of ever more specialized knowledge, and willing to spend to get it.”

It’s a good observation. And, it’s an observation that the boutique portion of the wine industry is well-poised to continue to capitalize on – “artisanal” for the wine industry isn’t marketing schtick to back into, it’s the reality. “Artisanal” as a word may lose its meaning, but it will be replaced by something else that really just boils down to finding an audience and telling a story.

Supertasters, So What?

In May, fueled by a “Supertaster” test released by Cornell University, there was a mini-spike online in discussion about the phenomenon of being a “Supertaster.” Tim Hanni has a test and multiple other online resources have a test, as well. They all vary slightly in form.

Related to wine, however, who cares? It really means nothing at all.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is the nature of wine reviews and palates. It seems to me that one persistent argument about the 100 point systems, critics and such is the advice to find a critic who aligns with your palate.

Well, that’s good and simple on the surface, but aside from third-party definition of Robert Parker, Jr., I’m not sure that any critic has a stated palate definition, nor would they want to. It would require them to indicate bias, and objectivity is sacrosanct to the art of being a wine critic.

I know my preference is generally cool climate. I like food-friendly New World wines, fruit forward, but with depth, structure and an acidic backbone. I enjoy New Zealand and northern Rhone wines, as well. Yet, most mainstream critics would rather be caught dead then focusing in on a stylistic preference.

Even Parker bristles against such categorizations of his palate preferences.

Going forward, however, with the explosion of wine reviews online and what that means as wine criticism becomes more democratized, yet chaotic, I think a scenario of having a wine critic, any type of wine critic, quantify their palate and palate preferences by some independent, objective means is going to occur. Think of it like a fingerprint, or a passport of sorts—validating security credentials as a credible measure for their reviews.

Having a palate tested and then quantified by bias as a known reference marker for wine reviews then becomes an important criteria for credibility that can then be augmented by embedded knowledge and wisdom – how much does a wine critic know about wine, separate from the validity of their palate profile – that then begins to separate the wheat from the chaff in an increasingly confusing world of wine criticism.

The wine world might not be ready for a quantifying benchmark in the realm of the subjective, but neither is it ready to spin into the chaos, the trajectory it’s headed with the online wine world increasingly complementing mainstream media.

Something is needed to make sense of it all.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

News, Notes and Dusty Bottle Items – Reconciliation Edition

Date: Fri, Jul 23, 2010 Wine Tasting

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of a wine glass …

Managing “The Conversation”

I have an appreciation for couples who share their wine enthusiasm. My wife Lindsay enjoys wine, but is far removed from having enough interest to be considered a wine enthusiast. My interest in wine is, largely, an individual pursuit.

Because of the gulf that can be created by passionate interests that aren’t shared in a relationship, there are situations that need occasional massaging. The act of buying wine when you have a basement full of wine is one situation that requires careful explanation. Spending a significant amount of time writing about wine, sometimes in lieu of time spent together, is another landmine that requires careful and persistent navigation.

Now, I’d be lying if said there hasn’t been a conversation in which my perspective was different than Lindsay’s perspective about how I prioritized my free time around the good grape.

In her view, there’s a sense of, “Why do you spend so much time doing something for strangers, when you could be doing something with your wife.”

It’s a rational argument, unless you’re consumed with the victory of creating something from nothing, a blank page that is soon filled with 800 words that mean something. Men are from Mars and Woman are from Venus was written for a reason.

However, recent research distills the notion of conflict in a relationship into as tidy of a bundle as possible.

Dr. Keith Sanford, a professor at Baylor University conducted a research study, created a conflict assessment and determined that there are two primary issues when there is a disagreement in a relationship. According to Sanford, it all boils down to a “Perceived threat” – that one’s partner is being hostile, critical, blaming or controlling. And, “Perceived neglect” which is a perception that one’s partner is failing to make a desired contribution, commitment or investment in the relationship.

Within the realm of wine, wine writing and time spent, the biggest contributor to relationship strife has to be “Perceived threat” – as in, spending too much time with mistress wine.

Something tells me that armed with this knowledge I’m going to be more diligent going forward about taking the dog for a walk together and making sure the trash is never so full that you have to do the double arm compactor.

Another Noun to Lose its Meaning

The word “transparency” is one of those words that has transcended meaning and moved into nothingness clich�. Another word quickly traversing the same path is, “artisanal.”

A recent, lengthy piece in Details magazine discusses the cultural phenomena of “artisanal” products.

While overall, the piece is mostly a frothy first-person narrative absent much in the form of a takeaway, there was one excerpt that jumped out at me. Quoting the article:

”… We’re all agents of the artisanal movement now—call us authentivores, hungry for backstory, intrigued by provenance, hooked on the high of ever more specialized knowledge, and willing to spend to get it.”

It’s a good observation. And, it’s an observation that the boutique portion of the wine industry is well-poised to continue to capitalize on – “artisanal” for the wine industry isn’t marketing schtick to back into, it’s the reality. “Artisanal” as a word may lose its meaning, but it will be replaced by something else that really just boils down to finding an audience and telling a story.

Supertasters, So What?

In May, fueled by a “Supertaster” test released by Cornell University, there was a mini-spike online in discussion about the phenomenon of being a “Supertaster.” Tim Hanni has a test and multiple other online resources have a test, as well. They all vary slightly in form.

Related to wine, however, who cares? It really means nothing at all.

One thing I’ve been thinking about is the nature of wine reviews and palates. It seems to me that one persistent argument about the 100 point systems, critics and such is the advice to find a critic who aligns with your palate.

Well, that’s good and simple on the surface, but aside from third-party definition of Robert Parker, Jr., I’m not sure that any critic has a stated palate definition, nor would they want to. It would require them to indicate bias, and objectivity is sacrosanct to the art of being a wine critic.

I know my preference is generally cool climate. I like food-friendly New World wines, fruit forward, but with depth, structure and an acidic backbone. I enjoy New Zealand and northern Rhone wines, as well. Yet, most mainstream critics would rather be caught dead then focusing in on a stylistic preference.

Even Parker bristles against such categorizations of his palate preferences.

Going forward, however, with the explosion of wine reviews online and what that means as wine criticism becomes more democratized, yet chaotic, I think a scenario of having a wine critic, any type of wine critic, quantify their palate and palate preferences by some independent, objective means is going to occur. Think of it like a fingerprint, or a passport of sorts—validating security credentials as a credible measure for their reviews.

Having a palate tested and then quantified by bias as a known reference marker for wine reviews then becomes an important criteria for credibility that can then be augmented by embedded knowledge and wisdom – how much does a wine critic know about wine, separate from the validity of their palate profile – that then begins to separate the wheat from the chaff in an increasingly confusing world of wine criticism.

The wine world might not be ready for a quantifying benchmark in the realm of the subjective, but neither is it ready to spin into the chaos, the trajectory it’s headed with the online wine world increasingly complementing mainstream media.

Something is needed to make sense of it all.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

The Wine Conversation that has worn out its Welcome

Date: Tue, Jul 20, 2010 Wine Tasting

Part of the beauty of the wine world is its gentle nature, which is good because the storylines move at a pace more aligned with the rhythms of nature instead of a 24-hour news cycle and not only that but the stories don’t change that often, except when they should.

Frankly, I am ready for the story on Biodynamic wine to change. If it were a TV channel, I would have long ago surfed past – and not for reasons of interest in the story itself, it has more to do with the fact that the rancor around BioD is starting to resemble our partisan political climate, including the absence of reason.

Give me a lament about wine media, wine critics, the 100 point system, New World vs. Old World, high alcohol, the three tier system, and any number of other issues that dominate a reasonably staid wine conversational climate and I can drink it all in inexhaustibly. These issues are a part of the wine world’s rich pageant and all reasonably benign. After all, most of what passes for controversy in the world of wine is a gentle disagreement along differing points of view and no more dangerous than a high school debate match.

I kind of like it like that, too.

Even Randy Dunn’s Molotov cocktail against high alcohol wines three summers ago was met with interest, but also a, “Yup, he has an opinion and he’s entitled to it” sensibility, not necessarily fawning nor fanning the flames.

Within the context of these issues that bubble, but never really reach a flashpoint, I think most wine insiders and hardcore enthusiasts take a measure of solace in the pace of the wine world, an anchor in a sea of continual change.

However, one wine topic is taking on an escalated level of verbal vengeance: Biodynamics.

By now, I think most seasoned wine enthusiasts are not only familiar with BioD, but they’ve formed an opinion on it. If you are like me, you take BioD for what it is – a belief system, nothing more and nothing less. Maybe you agree with it, maybe you don’t, but it’s like walking down a New York City sidewalk and accepting an “All God’s Creatures” point of view, instead of living like Travis Bickle.

Yet, read the comments to any article or blog post discussing Biodynamics and you will inevitably see a comment denouncing Biodynamics as the work of hucksters, crackpots and loonies.
What happened to reasonable people being able to respect differing belief systems—particularly when there is no right or wrong answer?

In a world that is striations of gray, people want to reduce the Biodynamic argument into simple black and white terms. Biodynamics is a Hoax. Biodynamics is perpetuating a fraud. Rudolf Steiner made this shit up.

Okay. Maybe so. But, what if biodynamics is not a fraud?

What if the health care bill actually ends up being a good thing, protecting the uninsured while bringing a check and balance against healthcare insurers run amuck?

What if Santa Claus is real for six year olds and he brings out the spirit of Christmas for 60 year olds?

You know, I’ve never seen a ghost, but that doesn’t mean I dismiss claims from those who have.

Yet, this is where we’re going with BioDynamics. Right or Wrong. Black or white. Right vs. Left.

It’s all very unseemly.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good argument, but Biodynamics is still so very early in its formation in our wine consciousness that I worry that the vigorous side-taking that goes on today can only lead to a divisive polarization in our little segment of the world, that, yes, acts as an anchor in a sea of change. Excuse me if I’m not anxious for name-calling politics to enter my sanctuary.

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The Wine “Reset” Hasn’t Been Long Enough or Hard Enough

Date: Sun, Jul 18, 2010 Wine Tasting

Despite reports that numerous wineries have sold or are on the market, and a recent Wine Spectator analysis indicated that 190 Wine Spectator wine award-winning restaurants have closed in the last two years, the economic struggles within the wine business haven’t been deep enough to create the kind of everlasting change that is necessary for healthy, long-term domestic growth.

And, despite the fact that a “double-dip” recession looms like gathering storm clouds on the horizon, 2010 feels like we have escaped the nuclear winter business climate of 2009, and a return to “normalcy” has cautiously crept back into our lives.

Yet, it is exactly this “return to normalcy” that is the problem.

Obviously, for the wine business, the “old normal” was not healthy in the first place. There are too many wineries growing on expensive land with a high degree of financial leverage selling wine at too high of prices with too few distribution options. When coupled with the “lifestyle” marketing that the wine business is addicted to, it makes you wonder if a harder slog is necessary to jolt the wine business into a new set of rules that run parallel with the U.S.’s ascent to the top of the heap in worldwide consumption and sales.

Simply, a wine lifestyle could be the centerpiece of genteel living and not the province of snobs, recasting the notion of the “good life” as something obtainable for all … wine as a vessel for something bigger and more profound than conspicuous consumption …

However, as evidenced by wines over $20 leading dollar volume sales growth, as reported by Wine Industry Insight from Nielsen data, I’m fearful that the wine business will continue in its current form, taking the last half of ’08 and all of ’09 as an aberration instead of seeing that a golden opportunity is within its grasp if only the fortitude existed to wean itself off the luxury and lifestyle positioning that has substituted for imaginative engagement with customers.

And, dollar volume growth in the luxury segment is not the only indicator, either. Elsewhere, I have noted that Visa Signature now has wine benefits associated with its credit card. Crushpad has set-up Napa Valley concierge-like services for its customers at other wineries, and Destination Cellars has bolstered its management team for its very high-end, membership only wine club, amongst other clues that the wine business is still planning to be in the luxury business as a rule.

Perhaps I have been running a fool’s errand in thinking that this economic crisis would be good in the end – giving the wine business a chance to collect and recast itself after a 25-year run that pinned it into being the nearly impenetrable drink of the affluent.

Maybe I was na�ve in thinking that wine could be a salve in a return to a simpler way of life and a means to reclaim our souls, a level-setting part of life that celebrates conviviality, the joy of family, friends and a good meal shared with those we are closet to, a spirit-nurturing tonic that enlivens relationships, but forsakes the importance of a wealthy lifestyle to go alongside it.

As writer Kurt Andersen said in his influential book Reset on the long-term impact of post-recession consciousness, “The new economic culture should be about proportion and function, efficiency and accessibility.”

Yet, I fear that a short-term recovery in the economy will bear no fruit in bringing clarity of purpose to the role that wine can play in our lives – there will be no reset on proportion and accessibility. I fear that a recovery in the near-term will continue to engender luxury lifestyle as the marketing vehicle for selling something that should be viewed in an entirely different light.

The Pacific Rim’s embrace of wine can act as the folly of a lesson learned already in the states – wine is a beverage in which there is a luxury segment, but for which luxury does not define the public perception of its place in our life.

Perhaps the last bit of idealistic zeal that I possess after realizing that the American dream can come crashing down in a near instant is that the mistakes of old won’t be repeated in the future.

Wine? Are you listening?

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Pennies for Palates

Date: Thu, Jul 15, 2010 Wine Tasting

Imagine a professional in any field of endeavor and then imagine that professional chronically misspelling a key word in their trade language. The offender would be dismissed as an amateur that had somehow infiltrated the ranks and everybody would continue about their business.

However, in the realm of wine there is a frequent misuse and misspelling of a word that goes unchecked, the user continuing along their merry way without repercussion.

I feel like a young, curmudgeonly William Safire even though, with a book editor for a wife and a brother-in-law who is a professional writer, I get my own share of gentle nudges based on my assault of the English language – passive voice, the possessive and a couple of other bugaboos.

Yet, I can no longer cast a blind eye to the misuse of the word “palate” and the mistaken twins of, “pallet” and “palette.”

This misuse is a noxious and pervasive stinkweed in a field of online wine writing that goes largely unchecked allowing the offender to continue blithely unawares. It’s everywhere. And, it’s more omnipresent than another frequent misuse of a word: compliment and complement.

Want proof? Sequentially Google, “wine palate,” “wine palette” and “wine pallet.” You’ll quickly see how insidious the incorrect usage of “palette” and “pallet” truly are.

What started out as a muse for me is now feeling like a compulsion to take on as a pet project. Of course, instituting the grammar Gestapo is not akin to a resveratrol fueled cure for the gout, but, hey, we all want to make our mark on the world.

With that, I am now enacting a 30-day amnesty on the use of the incorrect word for palate and thereafter I will be setting up a donation mechanism, 100 pennies per offense.

It’ll work something like this: When the incorrect use of the word “palate” is seen online, the reader will contact the offender, indicate that they have been cited by “Pennies for Palates” and then direct them to a page where they can make a $1 donation. It is like a swear jar on a large scale. All proceeds will be donated to a still to be determined charitable cause – perhaps the Sonoma County Wine Library.

Please join me as a lieutenant in the fight for protecting the sanctity of the word “palate.” In doing so, consider the following, “We tasted next to a pallet of wine. The bouquet offered up a wonderful palette of aromas and the palate offered up more of the same.” Or, “We tasted next to a palate of wine. The bouquet offered up a wonderful pallet of aromas and the palette offered more of the same.”

Thank you, in advance, for joining me in a worthy cause.

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More Adventures in Wine Advertising

Date: Tue, Jul 13, 2010 Wine Tasting

Within the canon of good advertising, the laws of, “To sell,” and “To be memorable” exist for noble men and women of character, creativity and marketing acumen to abide with sanctity. Nowhere, however, is there a law that says, “To create confusion.”

Yet, it’s “confusion” that passes for most wine advertising these days.

Regular Good Grape readers know that I like to take the occasional look at wine advertising to find the “memorable,” often times with disappointing results.

Comedian Patton Oswalt, as quoted in a Paste magazine article, has said, “Pointing out that stuff sucks is not edgy or dangerous anymore. Everyone knows what sucks. What’s better is to find the stuff that’s amazing and hold it up.”

I agree with him. But, I’ll start with the next article, though.

Herewith, a couple of examples of recent print ads from importers or producers that have appeared in major wine-related magazines in the past 60 days (with my commentary).

Ghost Pines

As seen in: Wine & Spirits

Goat or Gloat?

Ponderous, man. Ponderous. The Sub-head says, “Excellence has no boundaries.” The scant copy says, “Our winemaking philosophy will not be bound by county lines.”

I haven’t the slightest idea what this means. Fruit is sourced from both Sonoma and Napa? The winemaker lives in Sonoma, but keeps a mistress in Napa?

Is “Excellence has no boundaries” enough of a sales value proposition to support an advertising campaign, let alone live on as a platitude on the wall of a high school locker room?

I went to the Ghost Pines web site (under construction), and it offers this nugget, “Sonoma spirit, Napa elegance proving that excellence knows no bounds.”

I have no idea what this ad is about, who it might be intended for or what it is supposed to be compelling me to do. It’s like flipping on an HBO movie 45 minutes into it and realizing that your time is better spent on something that you don’t have to work too hard to figure out, which is what 99% of readers of Wine & Spirits probably did as they flipped the page past this goat of an ad.

J. Lohr

As seen in: Wine Enthusiast

Goat or Gloat?

This ad represents a new direction for J. Lohr who have been using the same campaign featuring Jerry Lohr and winemaker Jeff Meier for years.

Unfortunately, it needs work. One of the principal lessons I learned as a student of advertising in Journalism school is to never go “clever.” Clever is a crutch for those that don’t have a clearly articulated idea. And, so it is here.

The headline says, “Leave no ‘stone unturned.” I looked at this ad for three minutes trying to figure out how the headline matched up with the visual.

Ah, upon close inspection, real close inspection, the wine turned upside down in the ice bucket is the J. Lohr “Riverstone” Chardonnay. I get it, even if it’s like a bad “knock-knock” joke.

If an ad is like conducting a speech to a live audience of 500,000 people and you want to tell a joke, but at least 2/3 of the audience won’t get it, do you still tell the joke? Of course not, you say something that resonates with as many people as possible.

Not surprisingly, the sub-head of, “Flavor second to none” is a complete non sequitur from the visual and the headline.

Nice striking visual, bad concept. Overall, a goat of an ad.

Opici Wines

As seen in: Wine Enthusiast

Goat or Gloat?

Likely the first ad from this longtime importer. The copy, on the backdrop visual of a pair of rolling dice, says, “Why roll the dice? Bet on a sure thing.”

I get this ad, but the majority of Wine Enthusiasts’ readers probably don’t. Wine lovers who are really in tune with the wine world know that the sticker on a bottle of wine from certain importers is a badge of endorsement, indicating quality and thoughtful curation within a portfolio. Obviously, Opici wants to brand themselves as arbiters of quality and a correlating portfolio.

Unfortunately, most of the wine consuming world doesn’t know what Michael Skurnik wines represents, let along Opici wines.

This ad is a good idea that needs to be substantiated with some copy … overall not a goat, not anything to gloat about, either. At least it’s the only ad that will not get a potential intern thrown out of an interview with a good Creative Director.

Seen any good (or bad) wine advertising lately? Let me know in the comments.

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Wine Design, Matters

Date: Sun, Jul 11, 2010 Wine Tasting

When shopping for wine this weekend, I was nearly and irrationally compelled to buy the iconic Kenwood “Jack London” Zinfandel (a wine I have never had and know little about) when I saw its price—$21.99. The combination of the bottle as objet d’art combined with a snap emotional response to the wine as a “value” by price nearly had me tugging at my pocket book.

A calmer head prevailed, mostly because I long ago lost my 180-degree view of the consumer wine experience. However, given that I now know via wine-searcher.com that the price in between the ‘06’s and the ’07’s from Kenwood have dropped at least $5 a bottle, I’m certain that other consumers will likely have an emotional response triggered when they see the sleek, hefty screen printed bottle at its current, reduced price.

This collision of design and price is the same secret sauce that has allowed the retail store Target to elevate itself beyond that of a mass-market purveyor of commodities and into the realm of stylish design.

Target has figured out that taking everyday items and adding a little bit of panache works wonders on holding and even increasing price points. Witness: the recent announcement that, available exclusively at Target, designer Cynthia Rowley and Pampers have collaborated on designer diapers. The retail price? A 33% premium over a 10 pack of regular Pamper diapers.

Laugh if you will, but there are moms who will, without question, buy the dandy diapers.

And, of course, Chefs have long known about the value of design with artfully composed plates that allow restaurant patrons to “eat with their eyes first,” while the restaurant charges a premium in the process.

These aren’t the only examples of design commanding price premiums, either; they’re just the most apparent as I’ve considered wine sales, flattened price thresholds, brand discounting and the myriad of issues that go into creating and selling a wine.

One of the chief challenges that the wine industry is now grappling with is the fact that over the course of the last decade, prices escalated at a much faster rate than perceived value increased. This is okay in flush times, but not okay when the economic times are tighter. Thus, in a very simplistic nutshell, what the wine business is now experiencing is a narrowing in between the perceived value of what a consumer receives and what the wine costs.

If luxury wineries can find the sweet spot—where price and perceived value intersect, as in my Kenwood “Jack London” Zinfandel example, then wineries are putting themselves in a good position.

Yet, lowering price to match perceived value is a grapeshot defensive tactic and it is a lot more fun to play offense. One offensive move is upgrading wine packaging. This notion is substantiated in a recent cover story on wine packaging from Wines & Vines magazine. The article notes:

Dave Schuemann, owner and creative director of CF Napa Brand Design, Napa, concurs. “Strategically, many brands have been upgrading their product lines to be more premium and expensive looking in order to hold their price-point,” he notes.

“With this 2010 economy, showing the wine package as quality comes first,” says Patti Britton, principal of Britton Design, Sonoma, Calif. In the 1990s, she explains, “A conservative, quality wine label design with the vineyard illustration, embossing, foil stamping (was typical of the) $20 per bottle price range. Now, it’s more like the $10-$12 range.”

I think the signs point to a renaissance in wine packaging in the domestic wine business. And, frankly, it is about time. Just like vini and viticultural research, the Aussies long ago kicked our ass in wine packaging, if you have progressive beliefs, that is. Wine packaging is like politics, you have conservatives and you have progressives.

I am not here to debate left vs. right, New World vs. Old World sensibilities, but I have been watching packaging web sites like The Die Line and Lovely Packaging, amongst others. Below is an amalgamation of wine packaging examples that I have pulled from their sites and elsewhere. Pay attention to the wine aisle. Chances are good that wine enthusiasts will see a leap in domestic wine packaging innovation over the coming years, wrought by trying to match price perception to reality.

*Update* A rogue link caused the previous version of this post to have a paragraph removed. I’m republishing the entire post for clarity.

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On Tasting Pomegranates and the Next Tasting Note Sensation

Date: Fri, Jul 9, 2010 Wine Tasting

When I read a recent Wall Street Journal article that suggested the American palate was evolving towards more intense and exotic taste sensations (dubbed “adrenaline cuisine”) my first thought in viewing the article through the prism of wine was not whether this was substantiation for “big wine” over a more refined style. Instead, I immediately thought about the upcoming exotic taste descriptions that would be forthcoming in tasting notes before becoming commonplace.

Perhaps one of the most notable examples of a once exotic taste sensation made “everyday accessible” is the pomegranate.

In grade school over twenty-five years ago, my social studies teacher brought a pomegranate to class as a part of a Native American Indian diet lesson. In handling the foreign looking fruit, she was careful to peel it and gently pull out the delicate and juicy nubs and divvy out the small kernels to each of us, admonishing us not to get any of the staining juice on our shirts. It was the first and last time I saw the pomegranate until the early 2000s when scientific research surfaced touting its antioxidant properties, saving the fruit from irrelevance.

In 2002, an opportunistic California company resurrected the nationally moribund pomegranate industry and created Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice … and an entire cottage industry sprung up around the use of the pomegranate in all manner of foodstuff.

This quick anecdote would be germane to nothing were it not for the preponderance of pomegranate references that occur in wine tasting note and reviews … tasting notes that, ironically enough, start immediately after the introduction of Pom Wonderful in 2002.

To test my hunch that, indeed, “adrenaline cuisine” that brings new flavors to our consumer food pathways affects the wine world via tasting descriptors, I did an analysis of the Wine Spectator (WS) ratings database encompassing 232,000 reviews and tasting notes dating back to the mid-80s.

A search for “pomegranate” in the WS review database retrieved 546 wine reviews with “pomegranate” as a tasting note descriptor. Wouldn’t you know it, but of those 546 wines, a mere nine of those pomegranate references occurred in vintages that were released to market prior to 2002 when Pom Wonderful launched, re-igniting the pomegranate industry.

Coincidence? Surely not. However, it is not indicting conspiracy, either – it’s more of a statement on the evolution of our palates. We taste what we know and prior to 2002, not many people knew the taste of the pomegranate.

So, again, when I read the Wall Street Journal article, I’m thinking about “what’s next?” After all, before the Asian food aisle at the grocery store expanded beyond chop suey, nobody used “lychee” to describe Gew�rztraminer, either.

To find out more, I did some fruit trend research to determine what might be the next pomegranate or lychee in our tasting notes.

It seems that fruit trends come to market via three channels:

• Niche health foods and juices

• The produce aisle

• Flavorings for mass market foods

And, you can find examples for each that don’t necessarily crossover to the other. Goji berries and the mangosteen live in the health food section. Star fruit lives in the produce aisle and the dragon fruit primarily exists in processed flavorings.

While the wine taster is influenced by new flavors that crossover to the wine palate, it seems that we pick up most of our influences from whole foods. A dragon fruit flavored chewing gum or flavored rum does not a wine descriptor make, even if others want to reference Twizzlers and Jolly Rancher candies. Nor does a super food juice drink from the likes of the noni tree or the goji berry.

Given that, the best bet for projecting new flavors is to see what fruits are coming to a produce section near you.

I checked out the California Rare Fruit Growers web site and did some additional research.

In a highly subjective bit of analysis, based on viability in distribution to supermarkets and yield, here are two upcoming fruits that the wine enthusiast might want to taste:

Cherimoya: soft scoopable white flesh tastes like a blend of pineapple, mango, and banana with a tinge of strawberry

Star fruit: slice and eat, or eat out of hand like an apple. Very subtle. Tastes like a plum with subtle pineapple and tropical hints.

In short, when looking at the evolution of the American palate as cross-referenced against our taste sensations in wine, the influences are varied. A super-charged influence in processed and prepared food likely does not translate to a need for bigger flavors in wines; instead, it broadens our tasting sensations and interest in those influences that, in my opinion, principally derive from the source flavors and the produce section.

So, go get a cherimoya and get ahead of the tasting note pack.

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Instant Context:  Wine News from Around the Web Pt. II of II

Date: Wed, Jul 7, 2010 Wine Tasting

Quick thoughts on wine news from the last week …

Poof! Goes the Wine Deal Web Sites

“Now you see it, now you don’t.” That is the sales premise of the flood of “one wine deal a day” flash sales web sites that have sprung up over the course of the last four years with the economy contributing to the development of a number of sites in just the last two years. Ironically, “Now you see it, now you don’t” can also describe the long-term viability of most of these sites, as well.

In the span of one week, the market innovator was acquired (Woot.com by Amazon.com) and one of wine ecommerce’s oldest players got into the game (Wine.com via dusty, legacy URL wineshopper.com).

You can now be sure that a shakeout of these sites is imminent.

Woot.com was the originator of the concept of one screaming wine deal a day. They were followed shortly thereafter by Wines til Sold Out, the now defunct Radcru.com and then Winespies.com. What followed in the wake of these companies has been a rash of “me too” imitators trying to capitalize on a combination of excess inventory in the wine supply-chain and consumers looking for a deal.

In addition, the concept has been co-opted by dozens of other companies who are not principally in the wine space, but offer deep discounts on luxury goods, including wine – companies like Gilt Groupe and Rue La la and others.

Specific to wine, Cinderella Wine, Winery Insider, One Wine One Deal, and Wine Heist all play in this space, in addition to a rash of others. Anecdotally, I have heard that upwards of 40 of these sites exist.

The consumer-facing business model is simple enough—usually there is some sort of free email sign-up “membership” element and then one wine deal at a time with a time limitation, sometimes one day, sometimes up to a week. The wine on offer is at a significant discount from retail price. Sales copy varies from site to site ranging from the compelling to the hackneyed.

The short-term value is that the consumer gets a “deal” and the wine brand gets a sale with some level of brand protection given the membership and non-broadcast nature of the advertisement.

However, the questions I have related to these sites are numerous:

• At what point does the consumer get numb to wine deals in general?

• Is there a potential degradation to the wine brand in a fire sale?

• Does commoditizing wine with price as the activation lever create long-term, conditioned harm to the wine buying market?

Just as major label clothing brands like Ralph Lauren have segmented their clothing offerings so I can buy a Polo shirt for $65 at Nordstrom, and a Chaps shirt at Kohl’s for $14.99(probably made at the same factory) is it manifest destiny with wine that second labels are going to increase in importance as production in the upper echelon adjusts to normalized market demand?

Paul Mabray, Chief Strategy Officer at VinTank doesn’t anticipate wineries increasing risk with second labels when he noted in an interview:

“The notion of ‘flash sales’ of super luxury products ($40+) does have a life span. As demand shrinks (leaving excess inventory that requires these types of channels), the wineries generally reduce production to match market needs. I would expect that in a 12 - 36 months the pool of excess inventory of these types of wine reduces and the ability for these wine sale sites to source in the category dries up. At that point, these companies will need to move to a different product type (International?) or change their value proposition (e.g. great prices of upcoming wineries).”

Specific to the wine sale sites themselves, how much longer are the number of entrants in the race viable before a shakeout occurs and a winery is on the hook with outstanding receivables?

I have always followed the Jack Welch (former CEO of GE) school of thought – if you can’t be number one or number two in your market, then you’re in the wrong market (paraphrased).

I watch trends closely and the surest sign that a trend has reached its zenith is when an acquisition occurs, or a late adopter gets into the game. The wine business has seen both instances occur within a week.

If I were a winery, I would pay close attention to the tenured players and let the rest of the inquiries to “flash” sale a wine quietly go away, because the majority of these “flash sale” sites are a “flash in the pan,” not long for the world.

Photo credit

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Instant Context:  Wine News from Around the Web Pt. I of II

Date: Mon, Jul 5, 2010 Wine Tasting

Quick thoughts on wine news from the last week…

Displaced Leadership at WineAmerica

It is unfortunate that industry association WineAmerica is undergoing a Board of Directors led leadership change with its Executive Director position.

However, what cannot be discounted in this renewal process is the fact that the organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and hangs its hat on a mission of, “Encourag(ing) the dynamic growth and development of American wineries and winegrowing through the advancement and advocacy of sound public policy.” With that as a mission, they were caught positively flat-footed on HR 5034 – a piece of potential legislation that, if nothing else, is entirely about “sound public policy,” or the lack thereof.

“ … Don’t get caught watchin’ the paint dry” is an oft-quoted sound bite from the basketball movie, Hoosiers. Simply put, WineAmerica got caught not only watching the paint dry in regards to HR 5034, but also watching the grass grow.

In fact, WineAmerica was caught so flat-footed that other organizations showed themselves much more in tune with and proactive regarding the danger HR 5034 represented to its constituencies. The Specialty Wine Retailers Association (SWRA), in particular, mobilized outbound mindshare building activity along with a consumer campaign with a great deal more efficacy than any response from WineAmerica. Since April, everybody but WineAmerica continues to provide visible thought-leadership around the necessary reversal of HR 5034. They have been significantly outworked in effort and influence.

HR 5034 reminds us that when crisis strikes, enemies come in two forms – the enemy we know and the enemy within. The enemy within is the competing forces for the same good that expose ineffectual activity.

It may be true, as suggested in a Wines & Vines magazine article, that this personnel change with WineAmerica is about “cutting costs,” but it’s hard not to wonder if the change in leadership at WineAmerica isn’t related to its impotent advocacy when they needed to rise to the occasion.

Southern Wine & Spirits in Indiana

Here’s one clue that a press release from Southern Wine & Spirits trying to ingratiate itself into the state of Indiana was written by a public relations person who doesn’t have the wherewithal to Google, “Indiana state nickname.”

I’ve lived in the state for all of my 37 years. Never have I heard the word “Indianans.” Note reference above to Hoosiers. And, the bonus is “Hoosiers” rolls off the tongue a bit easier.

As a sidebar, one insider at a large competing distributor in the state noted, “We’re not going to make it easy on them.”

Facebook and DTC for Wineries

With IBG (formerly Inertia Beverage Group) licensing use of the ecommerce software from Vin65, presumably replacing use of their homegrown product, The ReThink Engine, one wonders what business direction they are headed in.

After acquiring the assets to the former New Vine Logistics last year, IBG used to be a “software as a service” ecommerce platform provider for wineries. Now, they are looking like a next-generation, full-service logistics provider, which is probably a good idea given that the game for ecommerce software looks likes its over, having been fully commoditized.

Secondarily, with Facebook making radical advancements in providing capabilities for brands to engage with customers, you wonder how long a winery having its own website for ecommerce even makes sense.

The game isn’t about the actual transaction, the game is about engagement with a customer, or potential customer.

Facebook’s ability to cultivate, know and engage with fans of your business on a one-to-one basis is tailor made for wineries.

Throw in the ability to incorporate ecommerce and build inexpensive interactivity and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the first of several wineries go Facebook-only this year, with a more significant movement happening next year.

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Flying First Class in the Wine World

Date: Thu, Jul 1, 2010 Wine Tasting

If knowledge is power than educated wine enthusiasm is the Admiral’s Club and a first class plane ticket while your friends look enviously on from coach.

I stay mindful of the fact that, for better or for worse, engaged and knowledgeable wine enthusiasm is one of the most exclusive clubs in the world. Yet, it is a club that anybody can enter with the proper credentials – credentials that are easily acquired by those with enough wherewithal to seek a higher understanding while creating their own knowledge path.

This independent path to knowledge is also key to understanding why others denounce wine enthusiasm as the province of the elite – acquiring knowledge takes a little bit of work and some proactive effort, something that immediately eliminates the majority of people for whom life is looky-loo tourism instead of culturally immersive travel.

Plus, we too often dismiss that which we do not understand. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.

It is an oft-repeated refrain on this site: spending time with a few books can send the wine interested headlong down a road that can turn into a lifelong journey. It is a small price to pay in short-term time spent as a trade-off for decades of potential enjoyment.

That said, my go-to book recommendations for a self-directed short-course in wine have been:

• Windows on the World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly (General wine overview)

• Making Sense of Wine by Matt Kramer (Context based approach to understanding wine)

• Wine Style by Mary Ewing-Mulligan (Understanding wine styles and matching to your palate preference)

While the above three books are fantastic, the final book recommendation that has been missing to round out general knowledge has been an accessible and interesting read on viticulture. The book From Vines to Wines by Jeff Cox has stood in serviceably (if not dryly) as a resource for becoming attuned to viticulture and winemaking, however, it has never quite elevated itself in my mental bookshelf as fourth member, making my trio of books a quartet.

Fortunately, I have finally found my Ringo Starr, a superstar replacement for Pete Best.

Ironically, and old school, joining Zraly’s book first published in 1985, and Kramer’s book published in 1989, is Hugh Johnson and James Halliday’s The Vintners Art: How Great Wines are Made published in 1992.

The Vintners Art might be the one completely indispensable wine book that you do not own and have never heard of, a jewel 18 years in the making.

What I value in a non-fiction book (wine or otherwise) is:

• Survey style

• Opinion-oriented with authority

• Context-based

If done correctly, a book of this nature doesn’t impart rote knowledge it offers subsumable wisdom. And so it is with this consumer-oriented viti and vinicultural treatise by Johnson and Halliday.
Covering three main sections – the vineyard, the winery and the bottle, the book covers a lot of ground – everything from terroir to winemaking choices for specific varietal wines, wine faults and manipulation.

When finished with the book you’ll walk away with enough knowledge to vex even the most seasoned tasting room manager, if not a compulsion to call Crushpad.

Some of the most interesting reading in the book is regarding terroir, an issue that is still a clumsy topic in the U.S., like an English major in a Sudoku puzzle contest.

Succinctly, Johnson quotes the late Peter Sichel, former owner of two Chateau’s in Margaux and a renowned negociant who characterized terroir as a combination of character, personality and quality.

Said Sichel, “Character is determined by terroir; quality is largely determined by man” The third cog in the terroir wheel is “personality” which is largely determined by weather. By themselves, the six simple pages are worth seeking out.

In addition, the book does a Nostradamus-like job of presaging some of the issues we see in the market today, both from a Bordeaux perspective alongside U.S. sales trends.

Quoting Peter Sichel from the book:

The wine culture based on appellations and soils has been phenomenally successful and one simply must not put it in danger. If you can produce wines with character, you should not emphasize their varietal composition. Sooner or later varieties will cease to mean very much because of the infinite variety of wines which can be made from (say) Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon, depending on soil, weather, viticultural practices, yields, winery techniques and so on. If you simply call your wine Cabernet Sauvignon the consumer is going to have difficulty in relating it to other wines: if you are producing a wine which really has to be upmarket, people say “why should we pay four times as much for this Cabernet Sauvignon when there are Cabernets which are so much cheaper.”

In those few sentences, Sichel manages to describe both the allegedly elastic, but inelastic Bordeaux wine market and our current domestic wine market in one fell swoop.

The rest of the book is like that, too. There are nuggets on every page that put the last 25 years of wine evolution into mental order, while also providing generous morsels of insight that bring fuller understanding to the art of making wine.

The Vintners Art by Hugh Johnson and James Halliday published with a suggested retail price of $45, which is $67 dollars price-adjusted for today—not a cheap book. However, you can find this as a used book on Amazon.com for under $2 plus shipping and handling. Snapping this one up is highly recommended and recommended for you to recommend. If wine knowledge is, indeed, power then make sure to pay it forward and let everybody fly first class.

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A Wine with Real Providence

Date: Tue, Jun 29, 2010 Wine Tasting

I made a clumsy foot slip while trying to navigate the wine purgatory that is my basement stairwell where over 100 bottles await their gustatory grave or longer-term respite in the subterranean bowels of my home. The 2006 Swanson Vineyards “Alexis” Cabernet Sauvignon acted as the hurtling, blunt force object, initiating a domino-like downward seizure of dozens of bottles. In surveying the aftermath, as broken glass settled and red wine leached onto the now soon to be replaced carpet, I realized that nary an “important” bottle had broken, including the Swanson. It seemed as if the projectile-like wine had the guiding touch of providence. As it turns out, Chris Phelps, Swanson Vineyards’ winemaker, makes another wine that is truly touched by the hand of God.

By way of background, for April fool’s Day, I wrote a jestful post indicating that I was starting an ecommerce web site selling church wine – Churchchug.com, as I called it; Sunday service being the province of wine plonk from specialty wine companies that now needed to find a consumer audience. It was a slight attempt at humor on a day intended for just that. Little did I know, however, that a Catholic church in St. Helena forsakes buying “church” wine that truly should be spit for wine made from Napa vineyards by a world-class winemaker.

Reader Michael Haas, a parishioner at St. Helena Catholic Church, tipped me off to the church wine quality par excellence. Fellow parishioner Chris Phelps, the winemaker at Swanson Vineyards, works with fruit from Larry Bettinelli’s vineyard management company, sourcing from Rutherford, Oak Knoll, Pope Valley and Yountville. Every year for the last dozen years, Phelps and Bettinelli have collaborated to make 12 to 18 cases of Merlot and Cabernet for St. Helena Catholic Church, the past four years being Cab exclusive.

According to Phelps, “I would be confident to put (the) street value in the $30 - $40 bottle range. We never announce our new releases, but we just ‘released’ the 2006. Of course, the wine is priceless once it is consecrated.”

Phelps noted that the quality wine at St. Helena Catholic Church seems to be an anomaly, “I think most Catholic churches in Napa, Sonoma, (and) Mendocino counties still use a sweet, white muscatel – a fortified white wine. It’s kind of surprising, if you think about it.”

Surprising, indeed. How would you like to be a member of that church? Suddenly, as a Catholic, I feel compelled to make mass a part of my next visit to the Valley for field research purposes.

“Our parishioners have pretty refined taste in wine; they probably drink wine at or above our sacramental wine quality. We do sometimes have inquiries about purchasing the wine, but we don’t sell it. We have to keep an eye out for communicants at mass making a second pass in line for the cup, though,” Phelps said with a laugh.

But, what about the wafers that are consecrated into the body of Christ?

Story tipster Michael Haas quipped, “If I could get our pastor to make a similar deal with Thomas Keller’s Buchon Bakery, we would never have to worry about Sunday Mass attendance.”

When not helping the church, Phelps utilizes an incredible resume that includes training in Bordeaux, an internship during the epic ’82 harvest, time spent at Chateau P�trus and eleven years at Christian Moueix’ Dominus Estate in Napa Valley. A seven-year stop at Caymus for various projects including a four year stint handling the reds from 1999 to 2003 and Phelps had over-proven his bona fides before joining Swanson in 2003.

Today, Phelps says, “I consider what we are doing at Swanson to be sort of a renaissance, trying to elevate the level of everything we do from vineyard to bottle.”

As if church involvement, winemaking and devoted Scoutmaster and family man responsibilities were not enough, Phelps has started his own label using fruit from St. Helena Catholic Church pal Larry Bettinelli’s estate vineyard in Yountville.

The name of his label? “Ad Vivum.” A Latin phrase for, “To the Life.”

With Phelps’ record of success and quality, a delicious glass of 2006 Swanson “Alexis” Cabernet Sauvignon in my hand and notions of $30 + dollar equivalent wine at communion at a small Catholic Church in St. Helena, I think we should all give a brief toast “To the Life.”

2006 Swanson Vineyards “Alexis” Oakville Cabernet
SRP: $75 (received as press sample)
ABV: 14.8%
Production: 1306 cases

Tasting Note: Brooding nose opens like an alley after the rain. Blackberry, black currant, smoke, iodine, steak juice, sage and menthol that gives way to dense blackberry juice and more menthol on a nicely acidic and well-balanced mid-palate. Medium fine tannins in a chalky finish indicate time in the bottle is needed, along with a hunk of herb crusted prime rib.
Score: 92

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