the 941

I’m moving on to new beginnings — seeking an opportunity to reinvent myself like Madonna has on so many occasions. Since I began writing “Corkscrew” in 2001, I’ve churned out around 450 wine columns that have run in Creative Loafing Atlanta, Tampa, Charlotte and Sarasota, among others. Occupying the remainder of my time was a full time gig at CL involving marketing and product development. This paid my mortgage and fed my nagging food, travel and wine habit, but my passion always soaked into the column.

“Corkscrew” was born when I realized that mounds of intimidating horseshit thwart most attempts to learn about wine. I yearned to help, but in an alternative way. So I began digging through the deep, stinky layers, guiding my readers so they’d feel comfortable enough to walk into a restaurant, order a glass of gewürztraminer and proudly pronounce it correctly. I feel like I’ve succeeded — I’ve spread to newspapers around the globe.

My writing style is, um, different than the uppity, glossy wine magazines that still wallow in self-adulation. I’ve dropped the F-bomb (much to the chagrin of my parents) and likened wine moments to orgasmic drops of bliss. Hopefully, I’ve offended enough wine snobs that they’ve retreated into the closet.

It’s been a great ride but, as so many people have said in recent years, the times they are a changin’.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

In case you’ve missed the underwhelming publicity, Gov. Schwarzenegger declared September “California Wine Month.” You might consider it a ploy to redirect the beleaguered state’s economic woes away from the public eye, but this is the fifth year of the event, so my cynical side can’t blame it on that. Legit, maybe, but echoes of Austrian-accented “Pump you up” ring in my ears.

So I dug into the facts to see if California deserves the fervid enthusiasm. The Golden State has been growing grapes and producing wine for 200 years, and this PR parade honors that long-standing tradition. The industry generates 820,000 jobs across the country, and I imagine Ahhnnold knows his wine industry pours billions into the U.S. economy. A 2006 report from the Wine Institute, an advocacy group for California wineries, declared: “74 percent of California’s wine is sold in the other 49 states, creating revenue and employment for restaurants, retailers, shippers and distributors, among others. Therefore, the national economic impact of California wine is an estimated $125.3 billion, of which $73.4 billion is generated beyond California’s borders.”

Wow, that’s a juicy chunk of change. Makes me wonder how much its medical marijuana cafés earn for the state. Doubt he’s flouting those numbers with aplomb, although it might be tempting to dangle them in front of ultra-conservatives.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

This week, life threw a massive curve ball at Creative Loafing Media. Taken over by the NYC-based hedge fund to whom we owed a ton of money, each employee processed the news in a different way: sadness, optimism, relief. Me? I got shit-faced. On great wine. I figured if my family’s legacy — my parents founded Creative Loafing, and my brother, Ben, was CL’s former CEO till last week — is going down, I should consume voluminous amounts of quality juice. Fast. However, the questioned remained… which ones? So many choices, so little time to race and get to the promised land.

Obviously, I needed something high in alcohol. These sorts of wines emerge from hot areas, where the grapes grow fat with sugar and the resulting wine has more punch (sugar converts to alcohol in fermentation). Napa, Sonoma, Barossa Valley (Australia), Washington (yes, there are areas where it isn’t miserably rainy), and a host of other delicious choices for the perfect Zen state of non-thought.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

When I was a kid, I compared myself to everyone. One teacher called me “other-directed” and it wasn’t until my twenties that I realized that wasn’t a glowing compliment. I carried a bit of this into adulthood, and perhaps it shows up in my voyeuristic sneak peeks at what wine drinkers are sipping. As a wine writer, it’s good to have my sights on the scene, so I ask bars, restaurants and wine retail shops from time to time to reveal what you’re drinking.

It appears that you guys, after an Anything But Chardonnay run, are migrating back to this classic white. Rathbun’s in Atlanta sees plenty of action in its Edna Valley Chardonnay. But co-owner Cliff Bramble reports an educated price variance in what people are choosing – in the under-$40- per-bottle category, people order a “chardonnay,” whereas in the upper price tier, customers request selections from specific wine regions – aka AVAs – like Carneros or Russian River. Same goes for other varietals like pinot noir or malbec, as in the delicious Terrazas Malbec from Argentina they pour by the glass.

Vinocity Wine Bar in Atlanta constantly scours for quality, underpriced wines. Owner Ian Smith’s best sellers are Poppy Pinot Noir, Plungerhead Zin, Bloom Gewurztraminer and one of my favorites, Quivira Sauvignon Blanc. Looking pretty good there.

In Tampa, Florida, Bern’s Fine Wines and Spirits and Mise en Place Restaurant echo the chardonnay boon but also report an upsurge in rosé wine love. Kevin Pelley from Bern’s Fine Wines hopes, “Maybe Tampa is only 3 years behind other markets, not five.” Couldn’t come soon enough for this girl – regular readers of this column know my passion for the pink.

The trends bode well, folks – keep drinking.

Wineries That Wow

I’d like to introduce a new, semi-regular addition to my weekly Corkscrew column: Wineries That Wow.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Like the violin I misused as a tot, wine requires practice. I don’t read many books about it, although I definitely should; I don’t study it much anymore, although that might make me sound smarter. But I drink. A lot. Not to alcoholic levels — though the thought has fluttered across my throbbing, hungover mind — but enough to become intimate with countless grapes. It’s important, since habitual tasting trains the tongue to decipher chardonnay or riesling and, with practice, you can discover what makes music in your mouth.

Each month for the past eight years, I’ve invited an eclectic group to practice their drinking in my home. We blind taste 12-15 bottles at one sitting and the attendees have mostly an untrained yet keen interest in wine. From this base camp I’ve personally converted dozens into wine geekdom; some have even moved on to California winemaking. Sure, I could taste the wines alone — Husband and I make regular progress through the bottle stash — but how much fun would that be?

(more…)

Bookmark to:

I walk in the door with sweat still dewing my face, having just transitioned from goosebumpy temps at the office, walking through roasting heat, then into a baking sauna doubling as my dark-blue vehicle. In 95-degree weather, the A/C has little hope of keeping up and it groans under the stress. I refocus on positive thoughts, the contents of my fridge: ribeye steaks, homemade Caesar salad fixings and a few cold white wines. But wait, those two things don’t mesh, right — steak and white wine? Perhaps a red would fare better: a traditional cabernet sauvignon, a burly merlot or a smoky Spanish number maybe. But my pits still glisten, so even chilled red wine isn’t going to cut through this humid evening.

I sprinkle tart, savory Worstershire sauce on the ribeyes, along with dry sherry, garlic salt, onion powder, paprika, ancho chile powder and fresh black pepper. I’m salivating already.

I light up the grill. We need a new one. Rust consumes the side panels and the jerry-rigged metal flame covers. They don’t even make replacement parts for this clunker. I’m feeling cheap but glad it still works, at least for tonight. No money in the squeezed budget for a new one.

I need some cooking wine. But not for the food.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

This column should have perforated edges so people can tear it out. It answers the number one wine question that echoes in my inbox and phone: What’s really tasty and affordable right now? Ever since this recession withered wallets around the world, it’s been my quest to find the best deals:

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Forget the tango — malbec is fast becoming the beloved icon of Argentina. I wrote about this humble red grape back in 2006, when it was just creeping into the spotlight, but since then its popularity has spread like the macarena at a redneck wedding. And no wonder — malbec is practically perfect.

This disrespected French grape originally hails from Bordeaux, where it slaves for the hallowed cabernet sauvignon and merlot grapes. Winemakers use malbec to soften the often harsh tannins of its stout compatriots to create a balanced, heady blend. Bottled alone, it also fathers ferocious, robust reds in the obscure area of Cahors, under the alias “côt” (pronounced “co”).

In the mid-19th century, Argentina imported this unloved foster grape to the dry Mendoza wine region and gave it a permanent home. In the sunny, hot and winemaker-controlled growing conditions there, malbec achieves a full, rich ripeness vastly different from its French brethren.

But malbec almost got killed off in the 1980s. Back then, Argentina hoarded 75 percent of its wines, and domestic sales were declining. In a moronic move, the government mandated that wineries uproot their decades-old malbec vines in favor of other crops. Tragically, this happened on the cusp of South America’s wine boom and much of the best fruit was yanked.  So vineyard managers spit on the sandy, loamy soil, said, “Shit” and began replanting.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

The snooty side of food pairings preaches “No Wine with Salad.” I fed on this falsehood for years, following the widely held mantra like an evangelical wino. Then one day, a miraculous salad and vino combo made me rethink my reliance on traditional not-so-wisdom.

Not that I was always so cool and contrarian. Before my re-awakening, I lapped up all the drivel wine magazines and writers spit out. But, like a rebellious teenager, I slowly realized it wasn’t adding up. Salads are simply another dish with sauce slathered on it. Match the sauce with the wine and you win. To give tradition some credit, back in the day salad dressings mostly contained robust vinegars like distilled white or cider that rendered wine lifeless and dull; it made sense to teach wine-with-salad avoidance. Times have changed, however. Now that less acidic rice or sweeter balsamic vinegars and lime and lemon use are common, wine and dressing can snuggle up and make sweet, tart love.

(more…)

Bookmark to:

Maybe I have a seasonal affective disorder, since I always veer away from red wine during the hot months. It’s hard-wired into my DNA, and I find it more thirst-busting to lace my fingers around a chilled glass of rosé or white wine when the mercury hits 85. But there are a lot of red-wine-etarians out there and I occasionally desire something ballsier even as sweat drools down my face. Enjoy reds in the summer? Sure.

The best way to overcome the summer heat? Chill it.

Most people drink reds too warm. When something reads “drink at room temperature” it doesn’t take into account the oppressive summers in the southern U.S., where average indoor air-conditioned temps hover around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. That deceptive two-word description actually indicates room temperature in French wine caves, which feel more like 60 to 65 degrees. But what’s the ideal? Above a comfortable 72, the alcohol in red wine rises to the forefront, reminiscent of dollar shots in college. You could store bottles in the fridge, but here’s the rub: chill a red too much and the cold steals any semblance of fruit, creating a tannic, astringent mess. To solve that quandary chill your reds down for 30 minutes in the fridge, or 10 minutes submerged in ice water.

Will this solve all the summer red woes? Not really. Although there’s nothing wrong with drinking big wines in the summer, full-bodied reds — cabernet sauvignon, merlot/cabernet blends and burly Italians — simply don’t quench. But plunge a lighter, lower-in-alcohol red wine into a tub of ice and magical things happen. Red quaffers — as I’ve affectionately coined light, fruity red wines — possess similar personalities: soft, approachable tannins; berry flavors; and enough acidity to complement food.

(more…)

Bookmark to: