Recent Posts in Wine Cop

And the final day...
March 9, 2010
I was ultimately in the area to be part of a round table on wine homogenization. On the panel was a man often called the Michel Rolland of Spain. When our moderator, an adorable Cristina Alcala asked us, Ignacio as well as Cesar Cubillas, a rather simpatico wine importer, what are the components of great wine, Ignacio said, "Land is the least important." Then he went on to tell us about a viognier he made far, far, away on soils and in a climate that even made Ignacio wonder if planting the grapes and making the wine would disturb the natural order of the universe. A woman in the front row glared at me. She probably heard what I was thinking and hated me. It was her favorite wine. That night, Cristina, Rosa and Marta, all friends from Madrid went out to dinner. Remember this address, it was one of the best meals I've had in ages. Talent. Big talent. Casa Marcelo Rue Hortas 1 Santiago de Copostela casamarcelo.net amuse was frozen rhubarb, looking like a slab of tuna on crushed ice, all bitter, sweet, limey, acidic. A lovely alvarinho. Loved it. From Marcial Dorado,, previously a Galcian mussel fisherman...

Galicia. Ribeira Sacra(Part 5). Hijacked
March 9, 2010
On Monday morning I, with the help of a local sommelier, headed out to see what I could see in Ribeira Sacra, about two hours from Santiago. Stunning. Steep. The hills have ghost vineyards underneath the brush. At one point before World War 11. the mountains were covered with terraces and now you can just feel the erosion. It's wet. The soil sags. And when you're talking about a potential 80 degree tilt to the land, disaster is around the corner. Even I began to think, perhaps it's time to retire this land. Of course you can't grown anything else on it. Vines can survive. It is not for wheat, not tomatoes nor potatoes. It is vineland. But I have to say I really was wondering if after centuries, as the Ribeira can claim wine back to Roman times, perhaps it's time to give the land and the farmer a break. I was happy to see this magical place, with rose quartz proudly strutting its prettiness in the vineyard. But ladies and gentlemen, I was hijacked. On the way up I asked my host, "Where are were going?" I admit, I asked because I was not trusting. He responded, "Where...

Galicia; Rias Baixas (Part 3)
March 3, 2010
Pergola, is the traditional way of farming the albarino vines and when walking under old vines, with thick barks and long tentacles, I can't get the image out of my mind that I'm walking under the legs of tarantulas. Todd in the vines his friend Honorio farms for Veiga Serantes. I disappointed Honorio, he had beautiful hairy crabs for lunch, we moved on to the next step, Lagar de Pintos Located in Salnes, the family has been producing since 1887. Part of the Domaine is set up like a museum to show what it was like then, barrels of wine fermenting in the kitchen, that sort of thing. But Marta, an oatmeal colored girl,thin with large orbular eyes, blue and serious took us to taste the wines. She does quite a bit of cash cow wines, didn't taste them, so I can't comment, and then the Lagar de Pintos. Marta had been making wine, like Todd, since 2003. She doesn't yeast but she does feed the buggers, if the chemistry indicates the organisms needs a boost. She also cools the grapes down quite a bit to 3 degree c. for 36 hours, and then destems and presses. She fiddles with...

From Millesime Bio to Galicia! (Part 1)
February 27, 2010
When I was in MB, otherwise known as Millesime Bio, Frederik Kolderup, the energetic Norwegian wine importer, coffee fanatic who travels with his own grinder, and lover of the more nat'l the better, ordered me to check an American making albarino in Rias Biaxis. Hell, you know me, good 'ole skeptic. But it was Frederik, so I did. What I found was Albarino that wasn't: 1) sweet 2) tropical 3) sauvignon blancish 3) creamy. Not only that but the winemaker and part owner of Benito Santos--Todd Blomberg-- an American who fell in love with a Galician and has lived there for a decade--is working naturally, with a brain that keeps on ticking. He's intent on eliminating S02 usage. His method involved a butter churner. Blomberg only makes albarino and is working on single vineyards. Two elements that drew me to his wines were: a lovely bitterness and a fresh, attention grabbing acidity. You see, acidity is something that I've found lacking in albarino of late as trying to appeal to a mass palate, too many winemakers are deacidifying, capturing sweetness in the wine, and basically reconfiguring nature, reasons I stopped drinking the stuff. According to Todd, the Benito Santos vines...

1999 Ploussard Perdu. (Lessons Learned)
February 7, 2010
I knew this would be a life changing trip. I'm not willing to spend another ten years in therapy so I have to take those lessons where I get them. Of those I am currently working on? 1) Take the Money and Run 2) Ask for what you need. 3) Be More Positive! 4) Lose the Guilt The Ploussard Perdu was a classic illustration of how and why I need to integrate these life pointers with speed. Not a moment to lose. The Overnoy was a mere 21 euro. That very night would have been my only chance to drink it. Bringing it to dinner at the Cousin's would be perfect. Digging into my euro stash I purchased, I would have bought two if they had taken Amex. I thought of it all the way up to the Cousin's house. Olivier welcomed up with some fresh, snappy Pet Nat. I presented the wine, wrapped in tissue. Olivier with pet chicken before dinner. That was the mistake. I presented it. It was a gift. In no way did I suggest a partager. I expected him to know. Now, you tell me, how many love affairs and marriages have fallen by the...

La Remise; Cold and Sunny
January 22, 2010
I have no idea how these guys do it . Vignerons working on their feet pouring wines on a marathon, La Remise, Millesime Bio, then the Dive. Renaissance, Salon, night time carousing and more drinking and on top of that usually crawling into bed at 5am only to start again--and some are even older than me! Welcome to tasting season in France, and there are plenty of Italians and Spanish here as well. I stayed with Amy Lillard (after tasting her wines, visiting her vines, eating her cooking--full disclosure all of you ethic cops out there!) and she drove me. Great fun. Stay tuned there will be more on her, but let me tell you, her 2008 blend La Gramiere is elegant and delicious and love the dash of dry wild forest honey. We bought our glass for 5 euro and then we were off. Discoveries? Yes, amongst the same old faces, but welcome ones, Stefano Belotti, Alsseandra Bera, Arianna, etc.etc. the winemaker for La Stoppa had two orange wines, tannic! (Dinavolo)but clear and musical. Andrea Calek, sporting a new coiffure Amy took this one, and it's so funny I'm braving my battle with vanity. .. and looking very...

Me and Grace
January 21, 2010
Last Friday night I was lucky to be at Brooklyn Guy's house. A few of us were keeping his toddlers from proper sleep and not wanting to leave, when JR showed up with 2000 Grace Family Vineyards wine. Winemaker on that vintage? Heidi Peterson Barrett and only eleven barrels of wine were produced. "It's really good," said JR. And then, smoothed his silvery hair back from his forehead. Was that a dare? Was that a tell? DId he wink? The moment had to be documented. Okay. Let's go. This was one of the first Cult wines and what makes it lovely is that all proceeds go to charity. 'Hey, do they put a little brett in there for Parker?' I asked, kind of surprised to find a touch of barnyard. Mr. P. and I have that in common, we both like it. I thought, was this going to have something appealing for me? If you want to know my notes, you'll have to ask. Yes, it is from one little acre in Napa, but does that make it special? The wine is available for about $160. Newer vintages are up around $350....

Contemplation on the Year in Wine
December 28, 2009
A few years ago in reaction to other 'wines of the year' I decided to strike back. I mean if the WS can do it why not me? Of course I couldn't compile 100 wines of the year. Maybe if I jumbled it all up with memorable moments, but 100 wines that I can swear by seem like a lot. Then I read their selections and out of a hundred, there are maybe five I'd drink, but I've gone over that territory before. But still, the wine of the year, the wine of the year? The most user friendly? The most delicious? (impossible) The wine I could go to every night of the year and could make me smile? Or was it, given the fact that once again it seems as if I've absolutely no future as a writer, the wine I can afford. Or is the wine I wish I could afford? Or was it the wine that made me laugh the hardest? Or was it the worst wine. You see the worst wine could as well be the wine of the year, why not if it was the most memorable. The worst wine. Now that's a concept. But...

Go Ask Alice Project: #8; Gifting Sparklers
December 11, 2009
Alice-for office gift for my staff about $25. That Cremant de jura? Of course, my editors get me for free, but since I was asked during this 'offering' I thought he qualified. The Jura we talked about was the Dom. de Montbourgeau Cremant. All chardonnay, extremely gorgeous, one hell of a bargain, and while I'm a slut for bubbles (organic & biodynamic mostly) from Champagne, this one takes no prisoners. Made by vigneron Nicole Deriaux, and this is her in her vineyard in the village of Etoile....

Ask Alice Project: Q #7. Help near Geneva!
December 10, 2009
Dear Alice, Is the project still open? If so, here is my request: I have good friends coming from Israel who will be staying with me for the holidays so I need to stock up. The husband is a chef/former restaurant owner and would say he knows a thing or two about wine. I would really like to impress here. I need suggestions for what to serve with meals (I don't mind building the meal around the wine) and maybe a sparkler for celebrating. I live just outside of Geneva, Switzerland not too far from the french border. Budget is 15-20 euros/bottle. Here's the website of where I usually shop, but not limited to this. http://www.vinothequeduleman.com/ Thanks, Rena --- Oy Rena! We have to work with that store. I think you'll be pleased, but I'm concerned that the Israelies will be used to processed clunkers. Am hoping the class of these will trump the chunk. Let me know how it turns out! Stock up on beaujolais! These are all excellent producers and the Roillete and Desvignes are house favorites. MORGON Louis Claude Desvignes (cote de py) 2007 7.94 e FLEURIE Clos de la Roilette 2008 9.20 € FLEURIE Yvon Metras...

Go Ask Alice
December 7, 2009
Get me for free this year, 'cause next year it will cost. Why? Because it drives me nuts to see people giving the wrong wine to the wrong people when it would be so easy to give the right stuff. Here's the deal. First 10 people who email me with their holiday wine/spirits needs gets me for free. Here's what I want to help you with. ** What to drink ** How and what to give whom (under what ever circumstances) ** What to pour/serve. This will be very personalized, almost pyschic gift giving consultations, no matter where you live and no matter how far away from the good stuff you live and no matter what price point you want to hit. Corporate, individual, whatever! If it's a ton of work I'll let you know and you can figure out a way to thank me. If you're interested hit the contact button above or better yet! Leave your request in the comments and I promise to address the issue. (Just in case you wonder, the only kick back is satisfaction.)...

December '09 Party Wine , Party #2
December 5, 2009
The one everyone has been waiting for, party wines from Chambers Street Wines, my home away from home. Wait my home is the home away from their home the chambers street website 148 Chambers Street New York, NY 10007 Phone: 212-227-1434 Since I'm a terribly pill about wine, I want you to know that if you put an assortment of these out, I'll be more than happy to come over and drink. France Schueller, Gerard 2007 Alsace Riesling Cuvee Particuliere This puppy isn't for everyone, but it will be great with cocktail food. Expect a touch of that old natural VA. $11.99 **Terres Dorees (Jean-Paul Brun) 2008 Beaujolais Chardonnay Your guests will fall in love with you, even the california drinkers. $14.99 * Bregeon, Michel 2007 Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie You know the way I feel about Muscadet.. 11,99 **Pepiere (Marc Ollivier) 2008 Muscadet de Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Ditto for the kind of melon! 12.99 **Chaumont, Guy 2005 Bourgogne Pinot Noir I'm afraid to tell you about this. Real burgundy. Lovely. Serve this at dinner parties instead of for the crowd. 18.99 *Guion 2007 Bourgueil Cuvee Domaine The '06 was Alice Feiring's wine of the year....

Traiteur, Trader or Traitor Joe?
December 1, 2009
An email rang in on Erev Thanksgiving. Is there anything to buy at Trader Joe under $20 that is any good? I told her NO! Nothing. And nothing is good above $20 either. Truth? I never walked into the wine department on 14th street in NYC or anywhere else for that matter. The fuel in my engine was assumption. Guess what? I knew. I knew. Of course I knew. Hell, I wish I could be surprised, like I have been in Cosco! But here it was biz as usual and I felt like getting up on a wine crate in front of the $40 Clicquot (!). I squelched that desire to scream to the shoppers, "Escape now while you can!" Why would anyone go there to spend more than $4 for bad wine? What I could see is that it doesn't matter if you spend $4 or $40, the wine is still bad. I took a quick spin through the aisles to see if I had to buy something there what it would be. The answer was German. But it was $30 and J.J. Prum for the 07 Kabinett, which is about $1 cheaper than other places. Everything else was...

Natural Wines: The Definition.
August 19, 2009
The world is happy to wave the flag for natural wines lately. Stories about the stuff lurk everywhere. Festival, tasting, weeks and celebrations are like morels in the spring, but there is also a lot of misinformation. Wines being called natural that are not. This is a little bit like serving real pig in a blankets at a kosher bar mitzvah. Some of these mistakes are honest, some out of ignorance, some are from a pure marketing effort. The last of course, make my blood hotter than normal. But in order to curb the natural creep of dumbing down natural, here are some simple guidelines for the criteria. Grapes, maybe a splish of SO2. Nothing gets added to the wine and nothing gets extracted. Short and Sweet. To The Point. Simple. Prevent NatWashing and get it right. 1) Assume minimal chemical to no chemical farming. So if you're using the Monsanto poison Round Up? Sorry. 2) Wine with grapes and nothing else added. And that means yeast. Okay? Got that. If you add Yeast to spark fermentation OR Yeast Food to keep it going? Sorry. 3) No forceful machinery to alter the taste, texture or alcohol level of the wine....

Nikolaihof, part #2
July 13, 2009
Now that I go over my notes and dig deeper I realize there's something called Codex Wachau which is a testament to purity in wine. But even though the code says no to chemical and flavor changing additives, they ignore the issue of yeast. For some reason, and I just cannot understand this, yeast is not considered an additive. It's just as accepted as breathing the air. Needed. Get your eight glasses of water a day. Add. Dissolve. You know. Never the less there are a few who shun yeast, who believe it to be a rather harsh converter of flavor into something expected, into the boring. Nikolaihof. Nikolaihof's home is just outside of Krems, not far from a nursery (not for children) and once inside the great medieval gates (even though the roots of the place go back to the year 2000) the fragrance from their century- old elderberry tree, impossibly fragrant , for a second made me feel like some goddess of nature was opening up her arms and embracing me with scent and blossom. If only. The scene on 1st avenue seemed far far away under the linden tree. But as heady as it was, once...

The Story of Coke and Taste
July 5, 2009
My cousin drinks ten cans of Diet Pepsi daily and hates food that is seasoned and can eat glop out of a can easier than fresh. It might not be PC to say it straight out-- but my dear cousin not only has a different palate than mine, she has no palate skills whatesover. She fears taste. It is not her vocabulary. Do I feel superior? To her? No. To her taste? Well, I hate the word superior, but do I respect her taste? No. Her choices? I allow for them, but respect them? No. Do I have to laud my taste over her? No. I have to warn her if I've used hot peppers in a dish or even balsamic vinegar? Yes. Or at least try. This all comes up because I've been thinking about the comments posted on my previous post on DBGB and natural wines and the way the words elite and elitist bubbled to the top. Elite, is originally from the Latin, eligere, "to elect". In sociology as in general usage, the elite is a relatively small dominant group within a large society, having a privileged status percieved as being envied by others of a lower...

Morgon de Provence
July 1, 2009
Who knew? So last night I was having a glass of Krug at Freeman's, you know, that pretty sexy restaurant down an alley on the Lower East Side? They are selling Krug BTG at $30, and my friend I was meeting said, what the hell. We ordered two glasses. The news is that the champagne is greatly diminished. Totally unspectacular. The sulfur went directly to the front of my face. The wine, served from 1/2 bottles, had an aggressive bubble, metallic flavor and smelled dirty on the nose. Gone was the cream, bisque and lime-like acidity. Gone was the richness. It could have been Yellow Label. In the middle of missing the Krug of yore I'm looking over the wine list, really not bad! There's plenty to drink and the prices aren't vulgar. I see under Provence Reds....2006 Foillard Morgon Cote de Py. Never my favorite, but it's an intersting expression and I applaud the choice to have a Py at all. I ask the adorable bartender (who's birthday is Monday, July 6th, as I overheard), who wrote the list. She does. 'It's lovely,' I said. I was not being coy. I meant the compliment. 'Thank you,' says she. 'But...

Are New York Wine lists Being Penny Wise and Pound Foolish?
May 25, 2009
I headed to the Powerhouse Arena book store to hear a round table with Michael Steinberger David Kamp and David Lynch and Benjamin Wallace Jenny Lefcourt was there pouring her From the Tank, which were showing their pretty colors. Lynch posed a question to Steinberger, "Why do most Parisian restaurant wine lists suck? he asked. He then inferred that the lists in NYC are so much better. Like an antsy kid in the rear of the class who had the right answer, it was hard to refrain from piping up. I kept quiet but thought, "Don't eat out in NYC or travel to Paris much, do you?" Lynch has been caught up with beverage directing at the likes of Babbo and John Dory and intimately linked with Italian wines so his mystification by the French seems understandable, though misconceived. To Steinberger's credit (always to Slate Mike's credit, one smart cookie), he told how beer slingers are often contracted to supply the wine as well. Hence, crap. He also reflected that America has surpassed the French with wine interest and connoisseurship. Agreed there. In France the cultural drinking paradigm is---if it's Bordeaux, it's class not crass. But New York City...

Confession! Alice and Reductive Wine Writing Ethics
May 9, 2009
I've been avoiding all of the excitement over there on Dr. Vino about the P***** scandal. But one of the outcomes have been a rush of blogger disclosures of bloggers--what they take, where they take it and whom they take it from. Captain Tumorman bribing me with money and my favorite wine And so with this in mind I have another great big confession. Randall Grahm patron saint and owner and winemaker of his own Bonny Doon I had never had a one-on-one with Randall, and honetly when his marketing person emailed me to make the date, I thought they had the wrong person. But no, I was indeed the Alice Feiring he was seeking to have dinner with. What a hoot. I was pleased and looking forward to talking about his current wine transformation, the buying a ticket for the real wine train, and where he stood on micro oxygenation these days. And, I admit I was looking forward to going over the wine list together and doing the 'What about this? And what about that? Burgundy? Jura? Loire? Where would we go? What would that dance be like? We were both a little cranky and depressed, we must...

This Week's Press Release
April 20, 2009
I was trying to avoid Jury Duty today ( so far so good!) and whilst there I thought, damn, I've neglected my occasional press release roasting. I come home and a perfect candidate was waiting for me. I got a good chuckle, because after the Hi Alice, the publicist signed off. "Please enjoy!" So how could I resist? ##### SONOMA COUNTY, California (April 20, 2009) – C****** Wines, the ultra-premium Bordeaux winegrowing estate situated 2,450 feet above Sonoma County's Alexander Valley on Pine Mountain, is pleased to announce the release of its inaugural wine, (INAUGURAL? ) the 2008 C****** Tradition Sauvignon Blanc. C******'s small-production wines are hand-crafted (I HATE THAT WORD WHEN IT COMES TO WINE) by the wife and husband winemaking team of May-Britt and Denis Malbec, formerly of Chateau Latour in Bordeaux, who are dedicated to creating the finest Bordeaux-style artisan wines from California grapes, (WAIT, BORDEAUX-STYLE---MEANING WHAT? ARTISAN? MEANING WHAT? FROM CALIFORNIA GRAPES? HOW DO THEY DO THAT? ) using the highest standards of sustainable winegrowing. (I SEE, SUSTAINABLE, JUST LIKE BORDEAUX. I get it.) 'The Sauvignon Blanc is our first release and very much encapsulates what an amazing journey this has been,' said C****** President...

Biodynamic Wine and Song and Events and Bad Behavior
April 15, 2009
(Bad Behavior) While all hell is breaking loose over at Dr.Vino's site--about a situation I know plenty about, having been kicked off of the P***** Board because I was ---ahem--at issue with a Barolo thread which cited a poorly researched but held up as gospel piece in Food & Wine magazine and myself received two very snarky emails from Master Mao Squires, and as we know, my name cannot even be mentioned on the Parker board....I have had my own little drama. I am supposed to be doing a talk and wine presentation this weekend in West Hartford. The wines were supposed to be natural. You know, AF Approved wines. (Biodynamic) I received an email from Brigitte Armenier (who's husband, Philippe is one of the strongest, strictest BioDynamic tutors in this country, and according to Philipps, it is his wife who is HIS teacher) asking me if we could sell her CD at my event. This is a total non-sequiter, but--hang in there. Brigitte has put together fabulous CD of Brahms/Schubert, Analogos or "Between Music and Biodynamic Agriculture." An accomplished pianist, besides the soulful interpretation, there is a pithy, often intriguing interview with her on the link of Biodynamic, science...

V-Marketing Series: Part 5
April 3, 2009
All during the LVMH talk, I was tweeting (yes you can go to Twitter and sign up for the Tweets) some of Xavier marketing tips. Of course, I realized I had to adjust my own presentation to address his address. The flash light had to shine on this point: LVMH's champagne portfolio alone represents more bottles than produced by the whole of Rioja. When producing that much all you have is a dream because you don't have quality. Rioja needs quality and to be true to itself, reclaim its identity instead of twisting their grapes into New World stand ins. And, then if they were looking for reviews, I also encouraged them to send wines to But I warned them that Shizuku was looking for authentic wines and the ones produced by LVMH wouldn't make the cut. For example, when is the last vintage you could drink of Cheval Blanc? At the end, a man in the front of the room bowed to me, that was cute. A man who sells oak product--including staves and chips complimented me so I figured I was somewhat diplomatic. A few people told me Brava,but mostly I had no idea how it really went...

V-Marketing Series: Part #4
April 2, 2009
The journalists who interviewed me were fascinated by my opinion of Albarino. The writer for La Rioja asked me why I thought the grape was producing the Ben Affleck of wines. Did I ever say that? I really had no recollection. In fact, I don't really even know what Affleck's persona is, other than, wasn't he going to marry Penelope Cruz or someone LIKE Cruz? Then the interviewer for ElCatvinos Well, while that did give me a giggle, what gave me serious pause was being asked more than once if American journalists were mostly independent. I immediately said yes, of course, most of my colleagues go to great lengths to keep their noses clean. Oh sure, there are the hacks who rely soley on samples that come to the door, and there are the problems that arise when non-journalists are asked to write for publications. For example, I opened up Continental Air magazine and saw wine recommendations from a 'sommelier.' This man no longer works on the floor, but sells wine (might be a partner) at a New York importing house I do indeed admire. He never disclosed in the article that he actually imported the wines he was flogging....

V-Marketing and Vega Sicilia's Pablo
March 31, 2009
Pablo Alvarez, the general director (and owner's son) of the iconic wine, Vegas Sicilia looks like James Gandolfini. Low key, he delivered his message and opinion about marketing with an almost lithium-infused tranquility. And this understatement made his reaction to LVMH's Xavier even more powerful. During Xavier's talk I was doing my own little Yiddish theater, making comments out loud and swatting the table in reaction. I wanted to throw my own talk out and base my upcoming 'speech' to address the LVMH soldier. Pablo did exactly that. he swayed from his original talk and directly addressed many of Xavier's points. In direct opposition to what we all just heard Pablo said, 'The consumer's are not dumb. They and wine must be respected.' What a revolutionary thought. He insisted that Spain does not want to be Australia, and the way to make brands is with quality. The one nod he did give to Xavier was that most people when hearing the name of the winery Vega Sicilia ask: where in Sicily are you? Pablo knows he doesn't need to sell his wine to everyone, just to enough people. He said he was a rich man, but rich enough. His winery...

Explaining What A Terroir Song Sounds Like
February 12, 2009
Do they really all irrigate? Do they really add water to reduce the alcohol? Do they all yeast their wines? I had to explain it all. That's why they wanted me there. But what I didn't count on was having to explain the Return to Terroir point of view to California. Sitting in Pascaline's apartment checking email I yelled out, "Pascaline!" She ran in thinking I saw a rat or something. "No," I said, " I just got a note from a California winery. Do you remember the one that was quite ripe and hot?" She knew immediately. I read to her the email from a self-professed winery owner who was "pissed of...as my commitment to organic and biodynamic grape growing is 30 years and counting...and then to find people telling me that my wines do not represent terroir, without having ever seen my vineyard,"...... Unbeknownst to me, Nicolas told him that Alice Feiring could explain it all. From his website he certainly had a pretty spot and it seemed as if he thought, a pretty spot was all that was needed to give a great, terroir driven wine. Then, I went to his website he talked about 'luxury'...

Bloomberg La Tache Blooper and a Sad Article on Sparklers/ a rant
December 26, 2008
Looks like some lucky (or desperate) consumer from Beijiing just cooked a lot of pasta at CDG's over-priced wine department. A 1991 Cote de Rhone La Tache? At least I hope that's just some sloppy journalism instead of an over zealous salesperson looking to put something over on some poor shnook looking for a fancy label. I actually remember being shocked to see that La Tache at the airport store a few years back. I snapped a photo of it, mostly because it was so grossly overpriced and wanted to document. The Aeroporte person threatened to confiscate my camera. I haven't flown Air France since. (Though that was before KLM took them over and the last time I flew a Delta/AF share, the AF staff (not to be confused with this Alice Feiring, AF) were immensely more pleasant. I might give them another shot.) Where am I going with this post? Who knows. I was amused and wanted to have a giggle in order to avert my eyes from the growing stockpile of chardonnays on my bench. I am more and more convinced that all chardonnay vines should be ripped out of California and replaced with trebbiano. Aeroports de Paris...

And For that Pudding-Like Texture
December 14, 2008
What is the chicest container for fermenting wine in? Is it the cement egg? (last seen at Viader in Napa) or is it amphora? Good question. The egg is catching on and it is easier to ship to the states, so far there are no amphora, but give it a few seconds. But the reason for this blog is pudding, not ceramics. I went to the Georgian wine tasting last week because I wanted to taste the Kisi grape made in amphora. What I found was a collection of wine wines that had that just about to gel texture of Ko-Jel of my youth. This gel like texture seems to be taking over in many wines and not only whites: I find it disturbing. When I was in California one cellar rat told me, as he was looking over a line-up of pinot, "I can tell if the winemaker uses gum arabic just by the look of the legs." Could these be the culprit? And if so, why on earth does a winemaker think this is necessary? STABIVIN #15480 1 kg Gum Arabic for Prevention of Colloidal Sedimentation #15481 5 kg Stabivin is a filtered solution of purified gum derived...

This Blogger and the Ethics Debate
November 8, 2008
A certain break out session at the Wine Blogger's conference was hot. I mean vibrationally hot. I mean, emotions started to fly. It concerned the interface of wine blogger and wine marketer. At question were ethics. I discovered I had totally missed a Twitter- heavy topic in the winebloggersphere, Rockaway-Gate. To find some back story check out the posts on Tom Wark's Fermenation Blog HERE as well and HERE. Tempest in a tea pot or a hot button discussion? To me it was much ado about nothing. There's plenty to get hot and bothered about when it comes to the issue of writers/bloggers and ethics, but this didn't seem to be one of them. The debated scenario was that Rodney Strong Winery asked blogger Jeff Lefevere to coordinate a mini-wine sampling blast. All who agreed, would blog on the wine on the same day. All of bloggers who sampled the wine loved it. Alice's (that would be me) hand shot up and said, "I've no problem with the ethics, all is fair in love and marketing (almost), but just don't say this was an impartial, review of the wine. It seems as if the people selected were inclined to like...

The 13.6 Alcohol Zin
October 15, 2008
The New York Times wine panel liked the 2004 Gravity Hills Zinfandel. I haven't tasted the 2004, so I can't comment on the wine but I can comment on the alcohol. Asimov wrote, "This wine came in at 13.6 percent alcohol, almost unheard of for a zin these days, and it came through as a nicely restrained, refreshing wine with attractive mineral, earthy notes. It was as if the wine's lack of mass and density permitted complexity to show through." Okay. I am not that trusting when it comes to wine and marketing spin. Given how prevalent alcohol adjustment is in California, I gotta ask; Reverse Osmosis? Water? Spinning Cone? At least in my own 'trust no one unless I know them," way, I have to pose the question, especially in a high alcohol district like Paso. And, I do wish my fellow journalists would ask as well, it's pretty relevant. Not that there's anything wrong with liking an artificially alcoholically reduced wine. I don't personally want to drink such fabrications. Like last night, I was visiting a friend in from France at the SoHo Grand. She was munching on some very processed sour cream and onion chips that did...

The Great Brunello Debate
October 7, 2008
Jeremy Parzen (disclosure, a good friend) serves up a terribly compelling examination of the Brunello scandal on Dobianchi and VinoWire. Get ready for his vigorous commentary on the explosion (discussion? nope!) between ex-director enologist for Castello Banfi Ezio Rivella, wine writer Franco Ziliani, and Serralunga winemaker who played a supporting role in my book, Teobaldo Cappellano. Dino Cutolo moderated. It makes no sense for me to blog Dr. J's blog, just go and read it HERE and HERE To hear Ezio actually say, Sangiovese is a lean grape with little color and that the Italian wine industry would be better served by using international grape varieties, and making wines more international in style. You don’t win a 100 points from the Wine Spectator, said Rivella, using just Sangiovese, brings out the latent radical in me---and makes me long for the days when Brunello had a point of view to take seriously to say instead of brown-nosing. There is something very wrong in the world, and just because people choose wine instead of politics, is just perhaps a more artistic symptom of choice. There is nothing to be done to change this kind of thinking but as flawed as the DOC/...

The Surrogate Mother Approach to Winemaking and Business Models
September 14, 2008
A performance artist friend out of my past was often extremely entertaining. I used to like to watch her brain work especially when, without any salutation, she would start up a conversation with something like.. Would a doctor advise lopping someone's head off to avoid their genetic disposition to brain cancer? Breasts don't get the same respect. Of course I mangled this. Her delivery and carefully chosen words were searing and very funny. Her Do No Harm piece was/is brilliant. But what she was doing on the phone with me had nothing to do with dialogue but using me to work out new material. Going on to unsuspecting listeners while working out ideas, words, the next big piece? Yup. I can fess up, I'm guilty of the same behavior. In fact, I should have warned the five last night, who over dinner, fell victim to my latest rant on the New World WInemaking Disconnect. Before I headed on over to Avenue C for the evening, I took a call from a friend who was in between punch down on hardened pinot noir caps. He, a winemaker in Sonoma, told me he just finished shipping off some other pinot to another...

Wine Spectator Award of Excellence?
August 19, 2008
Mom called. "Did you see the Sunday Magazine? There's a story on Bordeaux. Why didn't you write the story?" God love her. "Well," Ethel, I said, "I'm not the only wine writer in the States and anyway, there's no story there." The writer, Lewine, documented last years news about the fall of the latest St. Emilion Classifications. Didn't they run the idea by Eric Asimov first? The right bank classifications are meaningless. Losing the stamp might make a difference when the wines are stacked in the supermarket in France and seekers of generic bordeaux want to differentiate one bottle of plonk from the next, but in in the States no one cares and really, if it's not Cheval Blanc (haven't tasted a recent vintage to comment),or some sought after hyperbolic and superfluous garagiste wine, most drinkers just don't look at the who's who of merlot. There are plenty of small producers, true artisans who would never put their hat in the ring to be assessed for the tribunal's wine judgement. What as particularly annoying here is that the author seemed to have no idea how Bordeaux works or what it means to be an artisan vs. a brand. The writing...

Demeter Europe/USA: A friend asks why
August 11, 2008
I was preparing a petit d�jeuner for my friends Stephen et Bruno. Stephen was fresh from the roof, because I've banned him from smoking in my apartment. He sat down to be served. The phone rang. Out of Area. "Pascaline," I thought. "Ah, Alice, how are you? I need to talk to you about Demeter. I am very upset, Alice." Pascaline, a sommelier in France who is very influenced by the vin naturel movement, has been setting up a wine list here in New York City and is required to put U.S. wines on the list. She recently sent me a listing of approved Demeter vineyards and asked, "Are there any good ones here?" I told her that while there were some interesting wines on that list she needed to be careful and to not assume biodynamic vineyards means the same thing as n biodynamic wines or even natural wines as wines made from biodynamic grapes--and labeled as such--can have acid and sugar adjustment, yeast, bacteria, RO, MOX, oak chips, tannins. Etc. She needed to look for the words, Biodynamic wine and even then she had to look out for inoculation for Malolactic, as well as the use of RO...

Monte Walden On Brunello
August 11, 2008
Many thanks for reader, Paolo, for alerting me about this cogent piece on the recent scandal about the alleged pollution of Brunello posted to Jancis Robinson's site. It would be awful of me to reprint this fabulous letter from Italy that writer (and biodynamic consultant ?) Monte Walden penned in her "Don't Quote Me" pages of her Purple ones, and so I won't ---except for this exerpt: ** What is incontrovertible is that the least scrupulous producers and the more gullible wine writers have combined to push the Brunello 'myth'. For instance, the most critically acclaimed Brunello of recent years (a 2001) was described by an American publication as having picture postcard vineyards, but whenever I drive past mud has leached from the vineyard on to road from heavy use of vineyard tractors. Compacted, eroding vineyards that are heavily sprayed like this one is don't normally produce world-beating wines. The wine was said to show intense, full-bodied, velvet-like chocolate and black fruit flavours. None are typical flavour or texture characteristics of Sangiovese, especially one grown on the kind of heavy, alluvial, low lying, compacted clay soils converted from cereal crops this producer has. Chocolate suggests to me that brown, cocoa-like...

Weekly Round-Up: Delicatessen
August 1, 2008
And I'm not talking the weedkiller. But if I could, I'd sprinkle some of (we're sustainable, we just use Round-Up) on a great big weed that has sprung up in my neighborhood. A scourge, a blemish on what once was a real neighborhood, now takes up real estate on the corner of Prince and Lafayette. This is the former home of the local favorite greasy spoon, Buffa's. The corner spot was boarded up for two years. When I returned from San Francisco, it was blasting its attitude into the world, waiting to ambush me. Meet Delicatessen. The name only brings up the bloody mess of the French movie of that name, but while the film was a riot of irony and fun, this place is a blight of pandering; style no substance. Oh it's loud. And oh, that wine list! They have "House wines." Meaning, Industrial wines. And they SHOULD have Industrial wines. It makes sense for this place. The price for drinking Industrial, mass produced wines range from $40-$78 and the typos and mistakes come free. Gruner Veltliner; Grooner, Austria Should we tell them that Grooner is not a wine growing region in Austria but a new Gruner on...

A Test
July 23, 2008
I've been getting emails from people, winemakers and 'brands' who want my endorsement or at least approval. They read my writing, they read what people say about me (don't laugh!). You would think after all of their careful research, they know what I'm about and what kind of wine I appreciate. Not that the police should come and haul them in, but this is typical of a New World disconnect. Hey you like terroir, we like terroir, let's get together! As Robert P***** brought up in his soon to be released NEW buying guide: "Lamentably, terroir has become such a politically correct buzzword....." (more on this later). Lamentable. Yes. So, why should I be dismayed and then amused when I get this request from a winemaker to meet me? Because it is hard to grasp that when I see blue someone else sees orange. This is the email I got to try to convince me to take a meeting with this Australian winemaker. "His wines are a true representation of the soil they are grown in and his aim is to deliver a ‘sense of place’ and detail in all his wines. I understand that these are all concepts that...

Smoke and Vinovation
July 9, 2008
First I get the email from a winemaking friend telling me about the salesmen from Memstar North America hocking him a chinek about possible smoke taint from the California fires this year and a reminder that he can take care of it with the magic machine of reverse osmosis. Then I see that Clark Smith sold Vinovation to a company called (drum roll) Wine Secrets. http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=56880 And I thought there was a move towards transparency. The machines are coming. And they are coming for you....

Alice is Working Up to Something
July 1, 2008
http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/is-eco-wine-better/print But she first has to go out and meet some friends for Indian (rosé and rhone) and get a grip on her possibly neurotic reaction to this misbegotten piece. But my feeling is that the writer's attitude is a bit like someone pushing away the peas because of their texture or color. And it's also a little like rejecting Finnegan's Wake as a masterpiece saying Joyce's work was riddled with typos and mistakes. Maybe a vindaloo will cool me down. Lime pickle should help, too. Okay, I'm back and have digested. This whole things started because I have a friend in Texas who sent me the link and said, "BioD cat fight!" You know, lately I've been feeling like people want to put me in a ring and watch me fight. Sort of like the cock fighter of the wine world. An assortment of wife-beater wearing men conspiring.."Let's put Alice up to it! Man, she's got nerve. Let's wind her up and see her rip apart that smarmy sommelier/winemaker/colleague/thief/marketer/dung-ish cowhorn lover/fake. Do they care if I get two fangs sunk into my neck? Hell no. At least, sometimes, that's the way it feels. And when I first saw that...

Wednesday Night, Then To Gramercy
June 7, 2008
After Bottlerocket, after I did my Carrie Bradshaw routine (in rehearsal, California watch out!) and read a bit of the book, I had plans to go out. Went to the wine bar above Punch on Broadway in the Flat Iron district? Walked up the stairs and I swear it felt like cellar temperature. Froze immediately. We looked at the list. I'm sick over prices. Damn, that disastrous dollar. A heretofore $18 bottle of the Antano Montefalco Rosso (retail) was on the list at $50. I could not really find anything else I could drink. And it was cold. I mean I was cold. And I suggested to my friend, "Shall we try Gramercy Tavern? At least there I know there's a $23 Gamay I love. "(and plenty in the $30-$50 range as well). It was a risky move. The wait could have been an hour or more. We decided it was worth the sprint around the block. We quickly gathered bags and it was then I was stopped. He: Were you here all the time? Me: Uh, no. Just for a bit. He: Don't you want to stay and taste the Argentine's I brought back? Me: Not really. He; Vines...

Meet the Sean Hannity of the Wine World
May 13, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oew-debord12-2008may12,0,6289192.story I wish on Mr. Matt, nothing else in his cellar but Au Bon Climat, Flora Springs, Joseph Phelps, Far Niente and Ridge. Now, what could make the fellow happier? Commentary to follow. Feel free not to wait. Signed...one of the terroir jihadist....

Alice and Green Wine ...and
March 28, 2008
..why she hates the whole genre. Now that big biz is buying up every winery in sight, I'm all for the giants reducing their hoggy carbon footprint and inch towards non-chemical growing practice. I'll also be delighted to see them reduce the weight on those ego-driven, hefty, mine is bigger than yours bottle. But I am so annoyed by this whole, "Kiss Me I'm GREEN," campaign. Of course grapes should be grown from sensible vineyards that are at least organic, but the GREEN GRAPE focus begs the question of what is in the bottle? Yeasts? Enzymes? Tannin. DeAlking? Reaciding? Ultrafiltrating and other acts flavor and taste altering machines? GREEN is a pretty color but when it comes to wine, it means nothing. On May 5th, the First International Green Wine Competition , is to be held in California. There are four categories for submission, concerned with the way the grapes are grown. This has caused a stir on the Decanter.com website, where several winemakers, including Doug Tunnel (who will be with me on the Portland Indie wine festival’s panel, “How Natural is Natural, May 2nd) weighed in with outrage that a GREEN wine competition had a 'transitional' category which...

Pontet-Canet and Wine Spectator
March 12, 2008
I'm about to hit the sack but had a moment of journalistic scratch the head and ponder....but..but...when are wine journalists going to measure up to real journalists? We're all fallible. And, in this case I would guess it was an editorial decision, because, how else could Jo Cooke, write a story about the commitment of Pontet-Cantet to make ‘better wine’ and NOT mention Michel Rolland is the consultant? This is like saying Spitzer was gunning for prostitution but not mentioning he visits them. That aside, and I do try to keep real politics out of this blog. Really I do. If Spitzer had been nailed, I'd have rather it was for taking handouts from Southern....

Adour--Part Two
March 11, 2008
The youngster who had 'trained' at Cru and Chanterelle, yet couldn't figure out how to present the bottles before and after decorking, said that there was no room to open wine bottles tableside. For older, more delicate bottles, a steady surface for cork extraction is useful. In this case what should have happened was: present the bottle and soon reemerge with the empty bottle (evidence!) and the full decanter. Our wine service experience went up with a whimper and down with a thud. Do I suspect as SFJoe that the 'sommelier' was trying to push the corked --"cooked" wine on the poor unsuspecting? I suppose it's possible, especially when you consider he saw me as a freak for ordering the LdH and perhaps he took that as a green light to push flawed wine on me. More likely he didn't catch it, which is odd because he talked of the wine as if he was quite familiar with it. So if you go, you might find the bar amusing which has an electronic wine list in the bar. Cute, but difficult to get working. Best to (so far) by pass food, get a plate of cheese some bread and ask...

Adour, NYC--A Quiz
March 9, 2008
Adour is the new Alain Ducasse venture in NYC, billed as a wine restaurant, or as my oft fabulously snarky friend Lisa quipped, does that mean you don’t remember the food but you do the wine? And we also remembered the wine service, and the service was a case for the Wine Cop. There's nothing to drink by- the- glass. (Though I was assured they would find something for me and open it if I were that frustrated.) The actual list was stunning. Our sommelier explained that much of it was inherited from L’Espinasse, the previous tenant. Ducasse didn’t raise the prices. The 2000 René Engle Village Vosne was on the lists for $80. Bargains like that abound. While I am headed back as soon as possible to cherry pick--before the word gets out--- I’ll bring my own corkscrew and try to take as much control as I can. Why? Read on. Placing the list in my hands (thank you!) my host made noises about being in the mood for a Spanish white. I panicked because I wanted him to be happy but almost all whites I see from Spain are yeasted avec beaucoup de fruit tropicale or primed with...

Coverage of My Coverage: the Climate Change Conference
February 29, 2008
Manuel Camblor, a man of excellent taste (obviously) has cited my coverage of the Climate Change conferece. Manuel's (found at http://blogs.larioja.com/otrabotella/posts),is all in Spanish (his February 26th entry) so I had no idea what he wrote, until I had my friend Liz, translate. ++ I have the good fortune to have friends with freedom and access [to attend the Barcelona conference on Wine and Climate Change]. Alice Feiring, whose name you have read here on repeated occasions, was in Barcelona a week ago for the conference. Alice shares my intolerance for the petulant manner in which the great wine industry constantly tries to bullshit everyone, pushing oenological techno nonsense. Being as she is, the indefatigable champion of Terroir, wine agriculture without tricks, true wine, her reports are for me, almost like being there. Tremendously well-informed, astute and caustic, Alice doesn't allow many to escape. A few days ago I wrote with great indignation based on reports from Decanter.com and Catavino that even though they are good they don't give me an infinitesimal fraction of the perspective that Alice provides. ++ This all made me think once again about the difference between my blogging and my other life as a writer-for-hire....

Newman's Own....Mistake
February 7, 2008
You may have heard that Newman as in Paul now has a vanilla and chocolate wine on the market. I know it for truth because I got the press release today. What's the rule? The sillier the package the worse the wine? Got a Bowler in a box, two bottles, a DVD of Butch Cassidy (never saw it) and a bottle of cabernet and chardonnay. For some reason, I decided to taste of recycling them. After all, I have friends who love his salsa! Yeah, yeah, I know. Trinchero made them but still, it's Newman. He's supposed to be (or at least his daughter) is an organic kind of guys (or gal?). Who knows, he might even own a few hundred bottles of good stuff. These bottles were heartstoppers. They exceeded expecations......of bad wine. At $16 dollars a bottle, they are almost tragic. Well, make that toxic. I have to say, my heart went out for him and the poor unsuspecting folk who might buy them. I know the proceeds go to charity but at what cost! Just make out the check and leave the wine behind (who said, no wine left behind?) The chardonnay (2006? who cares) is billed...

Dan Barber & Moet? A Non-Sustainable Pairing.
January 20, 2008
thumbing through old magazines in an attempt to shrink the mini-paper towers around my apartment last night and came across a Moet ad in Gourmet's October issue and jumping off the page were four elegant chef portraits promoting Moet et Chandon---Eric Ripert, Morimoto, Marcus Samuelsson and Mr. Sustainability, Dan Barber. It is the Barber portrait that prompted my sigh....oh Dan, you know not what you do! Perhaps Dan fell for the ego lure of modeling, free promotion and just didn't think about the byproduct of this unfortunate food & wine pairing. I imagine Dan just didn't think and didn't have enough wine knowledge to suspect Moet's champagne vineyards as chemically ravaged and the champagne as just not that good. After all, while most people assume chefs know wine, the truth is they (generality here) know about food and many times next to nothing about wine. Cutting him some slack, perhaps he rationalized the photo shoot because of the irony. After all, he IS spilling the glass! Maybe there's a subversive Beatles # 9 subplot between the grooves? Like, what he really was thinking was sure, I'll take the publicity but I'll show you what I think of the champers? Possibly,...

Name Recognition
January 4, 2008
A great friend of mine is having a champagne brunch to celebrate the completion of her PhD. Uncharacteristically, she went to buy the champagne without asking me. This was odd because she often calls me from Argentina or Sweden or wherever to get my suggestions when she's out to dinner. So what did she buy? "I bought PJ and Clicquot." As the wine was already in her trunk, I kept my mouth shut and tried not to take it as a personal assault, because I've been speaking out quite a lot this year about LVMH, Clicquot's parent company. I felt that left to her own devices, her natural instinct would be to avoid the yellow label. On a hunch, I emailed our mutual friend who started me on the path of higher wine, over 25 years ago. I wrote, "Did you advise her to buy THOSE wines?" He wrote back, "Yes. Not to drink - to serve at a celebratory brunch. I think label recognition counts for something, and the VC was on sale all over town last week for around $35. You can't get grower's Champagne for less." I was really surprised by his recommendation especially because he was...

Long Island Explained
November 15, 2007
Long Island is a little pissed with me today. Who can blame them? I actually didn’t think anyone would see the article I recently wrote for men.style.com--- the ten most overrated wines . But now that I've been outted, there's a little explaining to do. I don't recount my words. Even if the editing torqued the attitude up a bit, my opinions hold. But a seventy-five word blurb doesn't tell the complete story. I view the wine industry out on Long Island as a lifestyle choice. It’s close to beaches, restaurants, shopping, ducks, it’s closer to the city than the Finger Lakes. It’s got built in tourists. Bingo. But to expect the area to produce life changing wine might be just too much to ask of the region. I might be the lone cheese in the corner here. This year, plenty of acclaim has poured forth from people who have a lot higher profile than I. Writers from Jay McInerny to Lettie Teague have raved about the wines. Yet, when I walk out of the Windows on Long Island tastings, I scratch my red hairs and think, you know guys? I've been known to nod yes towards a rosé here,...

The Wine Cop: Corked at Una Pizza Napoletana
November 9, 2007
The smell inside of Una Pizza N, the spot for a pie I had long neglected on 12th Street swept over me as soon as pushed past the velvet curtain that was supposed to protect pizzaeaters from the chill outside. Salivations started immediately. I first considered the wine list, as sweetly short as their pizza options. The wine list had four reds from the south of Italy and a $36 bottle of aglianico and I can’t remember the producer’s name. I asked for a taste. It was rustic, no oak, some roses underneath the tar. What a relief! We ordered the bottle. The waiter popped the cork and some bottles are like that. The air around my nostrils flagged the truth. Oy, I thought. Here we go. The wine was poured. All i had to do was smell it, I didn't want to put it in my mouth. I said, “I am so sorry, this is corked.” He was a short, nice looking man with gentle wavy and had just given a leggy, 6' 5" woman an awkward yet enthusiastic hug. He looked at me with hostility. Then said, "I just opened it. What you smell is cork, not corked."...