Happy Holidays

Wishing you a happy and healthy holiday.

(picture of grape vines, Niagara Peninsula)

What People Are Drinking: Christmas 2007

Thanks to the miracle that is CellarTracker! it's once again possible to see what folks are popping open and tasting over the holiday. (image from Three Choirs Vineyard)

I've generated a search string that will update automatically to keep track of what users are opening, drinking, and writing notes about between 12/24 and 12/26. It's sorted by grape variety, but you can tinker with the structure of the list by playing with the options at the top of the page.

It's another fun snapshot of what's popular and what's not this holiday season. So far Cabernet Sauvignon is leading the charge, with Pinot Noir, blends from Bordeaux, Syrah, and Chardonnay rounding out the top 5.

What will you be drinking?

Another Good Chilean Pinot

I'm on a roll with Chilean wines these days. After I finished up my Veramonte Sauvignon Blanc, I opened up this Colchagua Valley pinot noir that cost me just $9.95 at Chronicle Wine Cellar (you can find it elsewhere for between $10 and $18). Like the other Chilean wines I've had recently, this was a pleasant surprise, since I don't drink much wine from region. (photo by Greg Turner)

Cono Sur began in 1993, and is named for the "southern cone" of South America where the vineyards are located along the coast of Chile. Winemaker Adolfo Hurtado is particularly committed to what he calls his "pinot noir project," where with Burdundian winemaker Martin Prieur Cono Sur is modeling their practices after French vinification techniques. The first pinot noir project bottling was given the name Ocio, to remind people of the creative pleasures of leisure.

Hurtado makes other pinot noir, too, which are very affordable and should make it possible for even the most dedicated fans of the grape to have a decent bottle whenever they feel the need. Because Cono Sur makes so many different pinots, it is a good idea to check the labels. Here I had the 2006 Cono Sur Vision Pinot Noir Colchagua Valley, otherwise known as the "pinot with the geese on it." This was a nice example of a New World style pinot noir, with aromas of fresh raspberry and ripe cherry. These aromas were echoed in the flavors, with the addition of a nice earthy note and some surprising weight for a pinot noir at this price point. The wine had pinot noir's hallmark silky texture, and a finish that was juicy rather than spicy. As the wine opened up some toffee notes emerged in the finish, as well. Not the world's most complex pinot, but one that is pleasing and well made at a good price, so good QPR from my standpoint.

This was a pinot noir that was so affordable you could serve it at a big party and not feel ashamed. We had it with a 30-minute cracked black pepper and romano cheese polenta topped with marsala mushrooms, and it went very well with that peppery, flavorful, and smooth-textured dish. However you serve it, this wine is a good reminder to broaden your wine horizons and try new wines and relatively new winemakers when you get the chance. There are some nice surprises in store when you do!

WSJ Picks Their Top Wines Under $10.99

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, otherwise known as the Wall Street Journal's husband-and-wife wine reviewing team, have just posted their top value wines of 2007. They went over their blind tasting notes for wines that were $10.99 or less and got top marks. It's an interesting list, with a pair of sweet wines, three roses, and some reds to round it out. The wines come from California, Australia, Spain, and France, providing good evidence that good value wine can be found in any corner of the world--if you look for it. (image from Columbia University)

At least one of these wines will be familiar to GWU$20 readers (the Toad Hollow Eye of the Toad Pinot Noir Rose), but I think you will find surprises on it, too, chief among them the Muscat Canellis. These are sweet wines ideal (as Gaiter and Brecher point out) for after dinner toasting and celebrating. If you've never had one, you are in for a treat and maybe this article will encourage you to take the plunge.

Where Is Wine Blogging Today?

Where is wine blogging today? It's a good question to ask at the end of a year that's seen the rise of Wine Library TV, a proliferation of new wine search engines, consumer ranking sites, and an explosion in the number of wine blogs. This was the question posed to a panel of wine bloggers by Tim Elliott, the man behind Winecast in both its blog and podcast format.

I was one of the lucky bloggers invited on Tim's podcast show to discuss the issue on the latest "Podcast Unfiltered" episode that he co-hosts with Good Grape's Jeff Lefevre. Other guests were Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of Catavino and Alder Yarrow of Vinography. Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours was supposed to join us, but the weather held him up, so we missed out on hearing what he had to say.

It was a lively conversation, and I think it would be of interest not only to wine bloggers but to people like you who read wine blogs. We wondered about the impact that wine blogs were having on consumers, and how to better serve our audience. So give it a listen either through Tim's site or by downloading it via iTunes into your MP3 player so you can listen to it while you're stuck in traffic, taking a walk during lunch, or even (don't tell your boss) at your desk.

Incidentally, when you go by Winecast, be sure to wish Tim Elliott a happy third anniversary and good wishes for his fourth year of podcasting. Tim was thinking about the internet's usefulness as a wine information tool before the rest of us, and his podcast was actually the vehicle through which I learned there was such a thing as a wine blog. He's been an inspiration.

Thanks to Tim and Jeff for inviting me to participate, and to Alder, Gabriella, and Ryan for giving me so much to think about. Pitch into the conversation by leaving a comment on Tim's blog or over here to let us know what you think about wine blogging today, and tomorrow.