The Wine Curmudgeon

Why most wine is not made to age

We’ve talked about this on the blog, but a regular visitor makes the point dramatically with this picture. When you buy wine, drink it. Almost all of the world's wine is made to drink more or less when you buy it – and not to age.

Sadly, the person who bought these three bottles of 1988 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau didn’t know that. Which is not surprising, since most Americans (thank you, Winestream Media) still think that’s true. But Beaujolais isn’t made to age, and nouveau – made quickly so it can be sold shortly after harvest – is especially not made to age.

Hence 24-year-old bottles of wine that look like this. The wine has evaporated in the bottle and those gross splotches (mold, perhaps?) will not doubt enhance the wine’s current post-vinegar flavor profile.

Thanks to Rich Liebman, who sent the photo and has been a loyal reader since the blog started. Where he found them (and it wasn’t his house) is probably best left unsaid.

You really, really don't like rose

Last week’s two rose posts, which seemed to generate tremendous un-enthusiasm, did more than that. They were so unpopular that they helped drop the blog’s visitor average by 10 percent in just five days.

Some of that was certainly the holiday weekend. But the Monday Memorial Day post, featuring John Cleese as Basil Fawlty, did better than the rose posts. So did last year’s regional wine week posts, which usually solicit tired yawns.

I can see I have my work cut out for me when it comes to rose.

Wine of the week: Villa Maria Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon 2009

New Zealand is known for sauvignon blanc. And, as much as its wineries have tried to convince the world that they can make something else, they have run into huge problems. That’s because their sauvignon blanc is not only terrific, but cheap. Even with the weak U.S. dollar, they’re still mostly around $10 and exceedingly well made.

Which is why the Wine Curmudgeon was so excited to find this red blend from Villa Maria, one of the oldest family producers in New Zealand. It’s not typical; if you see a red from that country, it’s usually pinot noir because New Zealand is supposed to be too cold to grow cabernet and merlot.

But the cabernet-merlot blend ($14, sample) shows progress has been made with those varieties. It has black fruit that is obvious but not over-ripe, and it’s not as harsh as a similarly priced wine from France. Also impressive: long tannins and surprising balance.

It's a simple wine, and would be a whole lot better at $12, but given the dearth of drinkable red wine at this price, it's more than worth buying. Serve this with any red wine dish, and it wouldn’t be bad by itself, either, when you run into someone who will only drink red wine.

Winebits 231: Grape glut edition

Because, for whatever reason, the Wine Curmudgeon can’t stop writing about the world’s grape supply and how that will affect wine prices:

• The wine grape bubble: That’s the take from Lew Perdue at Wine Industry Insight, who has seen more than a few crop forecasts in his time. “…[W]e don’t know where the grape market is headed because the California wine industry operates on pretty poor advice and a lack of full, complete and unbiased facts.” He compares the hysteria around this year’s news to previous shortages that weren’t necessarily shortages, and finds several similarities. Also, he throws in a good anecdote about the late 1990s Internet bubble.

• Australia’s never ending grape supply: Remember how the Aussies were working out their grape problems? Not necessarily. “The report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences predicts 5 per cent more grapes will be produced next season and another slight increase in the following vintage.” Which, given that many Australian wineries are selling grapes below cost, and others are going out of business because of low prices, is not the news its industry wants to hear.

• Lakes of European wine: Or so says a report from something called the Independent Investor, which is taking a contrarian position about investing in wine. Like, “Don’t.” It notes the difference between the fine wine market and its hype, as well as putting overall worldwide wine production in perspective: “The wine lake refers to the continuing supply surplus of wine (supply glut) produced in the European Union. A major contributor to that glut is the Languedoc-Roussillon, which produces over one-third of the grapes grown in France.”

Memorial Day 2012

The blog is mostly off today, but will be back tomorrow with our usual features. And what better way to enjoy the holiday than with the incomparable John Cleese? A note for "Fawlty Towers" fans -- this is the epsiode where the phrase, "He's from Barcelona," makes its first appearance.

As funny as this clip is, there is more than an element of truth to it. The Wine Curmudgoen has had waiters do both more than once -- open wine bottles between their legs and argue with me about whether the wine was corked. (Video courtesy of holmleighnyd at YouTube).

Mini-reviews 36: Ribera, La Vieille Ferme, Rodney Strong, Sledgehammer

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Bodegas Peñalba López Monte Castrillo 2009 ($13, sample): Spanish tempranillo from Ribera del Duero with lots of thickish red fruit that needs beefy dishes. Decent value, but you have to like wine made this way.

• La Vieille Ferme Blanc 2011 ($8, purchased): Hugely disappointing vintage from the French white that is a long-time blog favorite. Big-time banana fruit, which not only isn't pleasant, but shows a change in winemaking to softer and more sweetish approach.

• Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($13.50, sample): Always dependable and value-driven California white. Look for melon and California grassiness, thought not quite as citrusy as other west coast sauvignon blancs.

• Sledgehammer Zinfandel 2009 ($15, sample): Yes, it is. A massive, oaky, and alcoholic zinfandel with extracted jammy fruit if that's what you're in the mood for.

Boy, you really don't like rose, do you?

As noted in yesterday's post about rose, it's far from the most popular topic on the blog. But not even the Wine Curmudgeon realized how little wine drinkers like rose. Hardly anyone showed up to read it -- my visitor numbers were equal to those of a Sunday, about one-quarter less than normal.

Never fear, though. You won't dissuade me from my quest to convince Americans it's OK to drink pink wine. I am, after all, the Wine Curmudgeon.