All The News That's Fit To Drink

I've been trying to catch up on my wine reading, and I found a few things of particular note that I thought I'd pass along. This article or book review from the LA Times is one of the best of its kind that I've read in a while -- thanks to Emily for this one.

What I like about this review of a Vincent Gasnier wine book, A Taste For Wine, is that it's so personalized and insightful. Leslie Brenner, the reviewer, in no way uses formulaic writing to assess this wine tome. Instead, she offers lots of personal opinion rooted firmly in a deep exploration of the content.

Sure, she takes a few uncreative swipes at the book's writing -- the opening section is a "snore," she says. But she correctly points out that wine books do not have to be brilliant from beginning to end to have something good to offer. And, in this case, the middle section of the book offers a very instructive "tour" through the wines of the world, including many obscure but distinctive varietals.

This is so important for anyone truly interested in wines, especially given the growing concerns in wine circles that globalization will grind under many worthy but hard-to-sell varietals around the globe. Does the author know his stuff in writing about these many different styles of wine? Well the reviewer put together her own tasting group to test the author's contentions about style and other characteristics. Her findings make for interesting reading -- the author is given credit for really knowing European wines but no so California. I think we can all learn from the article as well as the book -- what a great review!

Another article that caught my eye has me shaking my head. It seems that many California vintners have decided to oppose a new federal proposal that would require wines to list any and all ingrediants, including minute traces of foods such as egg whites and even fish parts sometimes used in fining wines -- the process of pulling out solid particles to help clarify the wine.

The feds believe even tiny traces of these fining agents could produce potentially lethal allergic reactions in some people, but the vintners believe the law is trying solve a non-existent problem. They also fear consumers will be turned off to wine if they see these things listed on labels. While not a fan of excessive regulation, I say to California vintners, pick your battles better because this one's not worth fighting.

First, all it takes is one fatal reaction to suddenly have a huge crisis on your hands. And, second, it's ridiculous to think anyone is going to give up wine because of such disclosures. Wine is riding such a wave that the dirty, dark secrets (not really) of fining will do nothing to stop it. The marketers need to step out of the way on this one.

Here's a fun one that says, I think, the Aussies believe size really does matter! The world's largest bottle of wine made its way to New York this past week and has created a bit of a stir. I thought I knew a thing or two about wine bottles, from magnums to nebuchadnezzars, but this is a new one on me. Planning on having 400 of your closest friends over soon? Well, this is the wine bottle for you.