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Washington Post Wine Column


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The Post has obviously decided that the mission of it's wine column is to champion wines that are available at every mediocre grocery store. It is no more informative than the cards that hang from the shelves in these stores. It is, therefore, not surprising to discover that the column (or at least the columnists) is financed by the people who produce the wines that are "featured."

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Nice to see that today's column was paid for by Gallo and Fosters/Blass. Take a look here

Great reporting! Keep up the good work!

I fine Champagne to be quite accessible as it is. No need for a corkscrew even!

Look at the picture. You can even drink it with a straw!

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Look at the picture. You can even drink it with a straw!
I don't know what the hell you folk are bitching about. Did you see Asimov's column today? Who fareking paid for this corporate shilling???!!?!?!?!?!!!!??? Corporate driven bullshit if I ever saw it.

Frog's Leap? Industrial winemaking behemoth with wine making by committee.... oops, 60,000- case winery owned by a small gorup of investors who have been wuitely making wine for 25 or so years.

Corrison, a corporate front, ooops a one woman show {who looks like your mom if you mom wears work jeans, sweatshirrts and motorcyuclie riding boots} making maybe 3,000 - 6,000 cases of wine a year.

Mayacamas? A corporate tool who.... shit, Bob and Noni (who just recently passed) ahve never made more than 6,000 to 10,000 cases of their iconoclastic and wonderous wines. Their 1970 cab blew away 70 Bordeaux at a recennt wine dinner at Dino.

Dominus?!? Koonsgard? Aren't these costo specials stacked to the ceiling? Dang, they aren't

Well, I guess Asimov can focus on small wineries because he comes from some podunk small town! :lol:

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I don't know what the hell you folk are bitching about.

Dean, thanks for posting that link. I know next to nothing about California wines, mostly because I don't like the big, jammy, parkerisé style that tends to predominate in the region. It was revealing to read about producers that still cultivate a more austere style. Now I know a few to try.

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<happy dance>

I've admired Dave's writing for awhile. To me, Dave combines a down-to-earth style with the kind of curiosity that has led Eric Asimov's Times column to the pinnacle of the genre.

So.

Now.

Those of you who still sell wine.

I implore you.

Make Dave's life easy for him. When he asks for samples, provide them. With useful information. When you have something really cool, let him know. And by really cool, I don't mean something with the rare two-and-a-half-toed sloth on the label.

Congratulations!

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Thank you all for your good wishes and your support.

I’m very excited at the opportunity to take over the Post Wine column, and I obviously hope everyone here will enjoy and appreciate my efforts.

I want to let you know a little of what I will be attempting to accomplish.

I know that Washington Post readers have high expectations for the paper’s wine column. We have a wonderfully diverse market, with several local importers offering exciting wines, restaurants and wine bars with new and fascinating wine programs, and a venerable retail market that is experiencing generational changes in some established stores, while newer stores push into once unfriendly markets.

Most of all, we have a knowledgeable and sophisticated readership, including wine lovers who want to know what’s going on locally, nationally, even internationally, as well as those less vino-obsessed who just want to know what’s good.

I must write for several different audiences. I will keep in mind that the average price paid for 750 ml of wine in this country is $5; however, I know that people who read wine columns tend to spend more, and want to know what wines out there are worth $15, $40, even $75 and up. So I hope that if a particular column doesn’t resonate for you, that you will remember others may gain from it.

Expect to read about what I call “S/O/B” wines - those grown with sustainable, organic, or biodynamic viticulture. I will question your love of wines with heavy bottles - and correspondingly large “carbon footprints” - and I will ask you to think about your preference for screwcaps over natural closures such as cork. After all, if we’re balking at spring water in plastic bottles and lobbying Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s to do away with plastic bags, we should be thinking about how our wine choices affect the environment, too.

And I will be challenging you to overcome your bias against local wines. This “Oh, yeah, well, it’s okay for Virginia ... “ condescension needs to stop. Local wines are getting better, and they are worthy of our attention.

I will not hesitate to take a stand. I will take chances. While I hope you’ll agree with my views, I look forward to your comments and criticisms here on DR.com, and in a lively debate through comments to my columns online. Most of all, I hope my modest scriblings will add to your enjoyment of wine.

This is gonna be fun!

Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get to work ... WHERE’S MY CORKSCREW????

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I will not hesitate to take a stand. I will take chances. While I hope you’ll agree with my views, I look forward to your comments and criticisms here on DR.com, and in a lively debate through comments to my columns online.
Now, this is something I like to hear. It's nice that it will be a dialogue. Good luck! and Yay!
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COngrats Dave!

I will ask you to think about your preference for screwcaps over natural closures such as cork. <snip>

Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get to work ... WHERE’S MY CORKSCREW????

:lol:

We don't need no stinkin' corkscrews.

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This week's column:

Joseph Drouhin (Dreyfus Ashby, not not a small company)

Chateau Ste. Michelle (3 million case winery, 5th time this year)

Edna Valley (Diageo, the largest drinks conglomerate in the world)

Robert Mondavi. Wow, we've never heard that name before. (Now owned by Constellation Brands, the second largest drinks conglomerate in the world.)

This makes me look like a dead horse beater, but all of these corporations have gigantic advertising budgets.

I'm glad and can't wait till Dave takes over, but I pity him at the same time over pressure like this.

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Bravo! Pitched at the right level, well explained, full of personality, and excellent recommendations.

Hopefully, similarly-pitched articles on wood, acid, and ripeness are also forthcoming. If so, Dave will establish a much more useful context within which he can explore many more vinous topics without pandering to the supermarket sector or sounding like an encyclopedia article.

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Likewise. The piece was nicely focused on one, graspable concept, and will appeal to both novices and experts. And it's a good introduction to Dave's populist voice, too. (I would exercise future restraint about using 'wine snobs,' 'vinoscenti, 'show-offs,' etc. as punching dummies - it's better to be viewed as pro-little-guy than anti-big-guy, and also the VAST majority of wine drinkers aren't blowhards. Yeah, we've all met our share, but they're not worth gunning down in an article IMO.) Nice column, Dave!

Cheers,

Rocks.

P.S. Best of luck pulling this off WEEKLY. Glad it's you and not me, Bubba!

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Bravo! Pitched at the right level, well explained, full of personality, and excellent recommendations.

Hopefully, similarly-pitched articles on wood, acid, and ripeness are also forthcoming. If so, Dave will establish a much more useful context within which he can explore many more vinous topics without pandering to the supermarket sector or sounding like an encyclopedia article.

To those who say minerals can't express themselves through grapes, explain how broccoli is an excellent source of calcium. :lol:

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5 pts for the correct answer What is the name of The Washington Post's new Wine columnist? (Hint: His debut effort appears in today's Food section.) Tim Atkin Jane MacQuitty Dave McIntyre Eric Asimov

And a mention on the Post Points quiz of the day to boot! Finally an answer I didn't have to look up :lol:

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Not to be overlooked are the smart, equally well written wine recommendations. They are definitely not the obvious, supermarket wines that have recently dominated the Post's wine columns, yet all appear to be readily available at numerous locations around town. In some cases, Dave even says where we can find them by the glass.

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Dave,

I'm confused by today's column. So the owner of finewine can go around the Monkey Cty liquor system under Maryland's small producer law?

Please clarify.

Joe,

That was first question I asked Cecile when I first met her. She and the County have worked together to reach an accomodation that suits both parties. Still, MoCo is a less than ideal place to have this kind of business.

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Dave,

I'm confused by today's column. So the owner of finewine can go around the Monkey Cty liquor system under Maryland's small producer law?

Please clarify.

Yes - she is allowed to "import" directly from the winery, provided it produces fewer than 11,000 cases annually. The law was designed to help Maryland wineries distribute within state, but is not restricted to Maryland wineries.

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"Those Wine-Snob Behaviors? There's a Good Reason for All of Them" by Dave McIntyre

This is sort-of Wine 001 (before Wine 101), but I have to add that you don't need to gargle; here's a little trick you can practice with a glass of water, and within just a few minutes, you can master it to the point where you can do it in polite company, and they won't even realize you're doing it:

Take a sip of water, and tilt your head forward slightly with your mouth barely open (so the water would trickle down your chin). But inhale through your mouth - silently - just forcefully enough to prevent the water from exiting, but not so forcefully that you turbo-ram it down your throat - just enough to counteract gravity and keep the water motionless (*). Do not make a duck-faced kiss; keep the sides of your lips at normal distance from one another, so the opening is shaped like a sideways clitorisalmond - picture how a ventriloquist looks when you're not supposed to know his mouth is slightly open. If you can hear a bubbling noise, keep practicing until you can't - breathe in gently from your chest; not from your mouth. You'll get all the benefits with none of the unpleasantries, and nobody but you will even know you did it. Once you learn it, the entire maneuver can be done in about one second, although you can hold it much longer if you wish - I haven't thought about this, but I may well do it every with every single sip of wine I take. It should be so subtle that it's imperceptible to anyone who isn't looking for it.

(*) Think about the physics of gentle breathing as opposed to the duck-faced slurp: the softer you breathe in, the less outside air you're getting; the harder you breathe in, the more fresh air you're getting. The "gargle" itself is actually an exhale, and at some point you'll need to inhale - I've never really seen any advantage it has over simply swallowing the wine, as both actions coat the back of your palate, although now that I'm thinking about it, I guess it can distribute some esters into your nasal passages (well, why not?), but if I only get 95% of the aromas without making any noise, then I can live with that.

When I'm alone, I generally "vacuum-pack" my swirl by putting my hand on top of the glass, and then taking a whiff of the wine immediately afterwards - it concentrates the aromas for a few seconds.

An interesting side-note: with extremely old, fragile wines (the kind that are going to oxidize once opened), you only want to swirl them once, as prolonged exposure to oxygen will degrade them more quickly (this last point is obviously not for everyday drinking).

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