DISQUS

Thanks Gabriella!

The wine map looks very cool, especially as it includes both Portugal and Spain, and I may soon buy one. Ryan: What, if any, criticisms, do you have with the map? What is not on the map that should be?

I had not heard of Verdil before this article so I was glad to read about it. I am not sure that we can absolutely say that any grape is worthless in making wine. In the right hands, under the right conditions, there exists the possibility that someone could transform such a grape into an excellent wine. Time and experimentation might lead to a revelation about the grape. Maybe it would be best as a blending grape. to me, we should preserve any and all indigenous grapes, and promote people to experiment with them, to try to develop good wine.

Congratulations on your Anniversary and hope you continue to thrive for years to come.

I am a big fan of Canadian Apple Ice Wine! It is especially great in the fall, with an apple dessert.

As I recently mentioned on my blog, concerning the virtual water footprint, conservation of water is a very important issue yet it seems to have been pushed to the back with all the discussion over carbon footprints. When up to 5 million people die each year from lack of water or water-related illness, there is a serious problem. This is definitely an issue that needs more visibility.

I was pleased with the May issue of Decanter, as they had articles on wine in Morocco, India and China. It was great to see more diverse articles, touching on lesser known wine regions.

Hi Gabriella:




I certainly agree with you that availability is a significant factor when writing about wines from different regions. It is difficult to find wines from the less known countries, such as the ones I mentioned. Though I feel fortunate that I can find local wine stores where I can sometimes acquire such wines. And I usually buy them just to taste them.



My comment on self-imposed restrictions more referred to niche blogs that concentrate on certain regions or wines. For example, as Catavino is largely an Iberian wine blog, I would not expect to see reviews of wines from Lebanon or Israel. Same as I would not expect to see such reviews at Lenndevours.



Thanks

First, the video raised my own skepticism about the potential bias of their map and study. Which "news" media did they include in their study? And was it fair and/or accurate to include all "news" media? The Anna Nicole comment is what really got me thinking in this vein.


I suspect the map and studies included much "entertainment news" such as TV shows like Entertainment Tonight and news magazines like People and US. I don't think including such news gives an accurate depiction and distorts the map. I know that regular city newspapers and local news stations certainly did not make Anna Nicole the #1 story. It would only be by including the entertainment news that would be the case. What would the map look like if we eliminated the entertainment news? Sure, it would still be more weighted to the U.S., but probably not to the same degree as the map in the video.



Second, how does foriegn media stack up on their own maps? Are they biased as well? I would suspect they are as well. It is only natural to talk more about your own country, where the most pressing problems and news is located. That is not necessarily a bad thing. When you get together with friends or family, how much of your time is spent discussing international issues and how much on more local matters?



Third, I do believe the wine media has their own biases as well, sometimes concentrating more on local wines than wines from other regions. How many wine bloggers from California concentrate more on CA wines than European ones? How much do European blogs discuss CA wines? When discussing fine wines, don't French wines get far more coverage? There are also specific topics they come and go, rising in popularity so that they are everywhere. Rants against the 100 pt rating system, discussions of high alcohol wines and terroir. Even climate change has reached a point of media overkill.



There are plenty of wine regions which receive little attention. Morocco, Israel, India, China, Lebanon, Slovenia, and others. There are topics we probably don't discuss enough. And it is us bloggers who often have the ability to talk about these issues. We generally have few restrictions, except self-imposed, about what we can write about.

Sounds like it is time to move to Spain and get a doctor like that. I like her advice much more than the advice of my current doctor. She could become the Official Doctor of the Wine Blogosphere.

I think that most blogging probably does reflect more the editorial pages than the top headlines. And as has been mentioned, time, money and access are generally on the side of the journalists who work for the major periodicals. Though there are the occasional blog exceptions, like Dr. Vino and Fermentation, the rest of us would really have to struggle to be more investigative journalists. And likely, we would be most effective on a more local level, the areas where we live. In Massachusetts, I would find it very difficult to do more investigative work on California, though those bloggers in CA would have difficulty in MA.


For my own blog, I do feel I cover some local news aspects, especially concerning local food/wine events, opening/closings of restaurants and wine stores, and such. Though many of those items may not be as relevant to those who do not live in MA. And I think many other bloggers do the same, reporting on local matters. Yet we all could do more.



Yet how do we do more? I don't have any answers to that. Time and effort are certainly factors and not all of us have sufficient extra time to devote to such endeavors. Maybe we need to find some blogger grants somewhere so we can devote more time to such investigative projects.



I just read an interesting article in Decanter (5/08) that has relevance to these issues. It was an editorial by Linda Murphy called "What is wine writing for?" The thrust of the article is: "The job of a wine journalist has evolved from chronicling scores, history and personalities into reporting on mergers and acquisitions, government regulations, crimes and scandals." She also says that now, "Writers are picking up rocks to see what lies underneath, and asking questions that are unpleasant to answer." Linda though hopes such writing does not eclipse the pleasures and personalities of wine.



So, maybe bloggers don't want to get too investigative. Maybe it is a good thing we are more positive, and don't just cover scandals and gossip. Maybe the fact bloggers generally savor the pleasures of wine is a good thing.

I commend Croft for their innovation. This could potentially be a gateway to get people to try other Ports as well. I would agree with Vitor that there is little info about Port out there for the average consumer. So why not provide something a bit less threatening for them to dip their toes into. Provided it tastes good, and Croft may need some time before perfecting this Port.


From their website, this wine does not seem marketed specifically toward women, though I do see how some could try to do so. I have not tasted it, nor seen it yet in any local wine stores. I would at least try it if I saw it.

The Feiring book was just released in the U.S. and I just finished reading it. I will be posting a full review online in the near future. There is a chapter on Rioja called "Rioja Loses Its Spanish Accent." I will tell you that Feiring is a big fan of López de Heredia. She prefers Old Style rioja.

About four years ago, I started hanging around with a new group of guys. I was already friends with one of the guys in the group and he introduced me to the others. We met once a week to play card or board games. I always brought a bottle of wine or two with me to these weekly get togethers. Most everyone else drank beer or soda. But, as they tasted the wines I brought, they became intrigued. Soon enough, another guy started bringing wine too. Then another. Until almost every guy brought a bottle of wine with them each week.


As their love for wine grew, we eventually decided to create a wine review blog, to talk about all the wines we were drinking. This was the Real World Winers blog. My friends contributed to this for nearly a year but then their interest (or really their desire to do the work for it) waned. I was left as the main contributor and eventually decided to start my own instead. But, we still meet almost every week and we still each bring wine. Their tastes have definitely changed over the last few years. One friend bought my old wine refrigerator, and now has more wine than will fit in it. All of these guys will continue to drink wine all their lives.

I agree Ryan that money plays a significant factor. How many bloggers can survive solely on the money generated from their blogs? Probably none. Bloggers who make money are generally involved in other wine endeavors, such as those with their own stores or those who represent wineries. Or they get sponsors who will help support some of their endeavors. Though most of that is probably still miniscule compared to the budgets of the major wine publications. That situation probably won't change too soon either. Though there are some promising signs, especially as bloggers acquire more and more credibility.

Though I am largely in agreement with the main sentiment of this post, I do differ on the value of some wine magazines. I admit that I am a voracious reader. I read several wine mags regularly, including Decanter, Wine Spectator, Wine & Spirits, Food & Wine, and Quarterly Review of Wines. I read them because I do find articles of interest within them, articles that may be informative and educational. For example, I have found a number of Wine Spectator articles to be educational, especially when they discuss various wine regions or talk about certain wineries. Plus, the magazines mention far more wines than any single blogger could possibly cover. That gives me some basic info about wines I may have never heard of before. You can just ignore the scores.


Could wine mags be better? Definitely. But I don't think they can be just dismissed out of hand as they do contain some value.

Rioja can now use Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo in their white wines, but those grapes cannot constitute separately, or together, more than 49% of the wine.

It is interesting that the UK has now become the #1 market for Spanish wines, replacing Germany which was #1 for some time. Has Germany's consumption of Spanish wines decreased significantly, or has the UK just increased their consumption significantly?


It should also be noted that Spain is still only the UK's 7th supplier. Chile rose to the #6 spot in the UK. The UK's general wine consumption may just be increasing, thus leading to increases on all their imports.



In my region of the U.S., you are starting to see more diverse Spanish wines, from differen D.O.s. Though there are mostly Rioja/Ribera del Duero wines available, there has been an upsurge in Jumilla wines. Plus, you can find a scattering of other regions, including Bierzo, Mentrida, Yecla, Alicante, Rias Baixas, and more. It is slow, but moving steadily forward. An average wine store might carry at least 6-8 different Spanish regions.

I had Patxaran for the first time at the Le Medoc Alavés in the Hotel Villa Laguardia. It was given to us as a complimentary drink with our dessert. I never got the name of it either but do remember it had a very unique flavor.

I received my copy of this book and just from a brief skim it looks like an incredibly comprehensive book. It seems to pack so much information onto each page. I can't wait to read it and start planning my trip to Portugal.

I think online forums are more dialogue than actual conversation, though there may be conversational elements in certain threads. And it may depend as well on the topic of the forums. Some may lends themselves better to conversations.


I agree that there are non-wine blogs that garner far more comments than most wine blogs. But then that also leads to the conclusion that many people already do understand the nature of comments as they are posting such, just on non-wine blogs. Sure, there are some who don't understand the dialogue that comments can generate, but there are obviously many more people who do. Asimov's recent post on children and wine certainly garnered plenty of comments.



So, it also seems important to find ways to generate increased readership to get additional comments. And the more comments that we receive, the more people will realize the dialogue nature of such. Which may then lead them to post their comments too. We can tell them until we are blue in the face that comments lead to dialogue. But they accept it more easily when they see that occur.

Maybe "conversation" is not the appropriate terminology because of its usual connection to verbal exchanges. What about calling it "dialogue?" The American Heritage Dictionary gives one definition for "dialogue" as "An exchange of ideas or opinions." That sounds like what the comment section is intended for, to exchange our ideas and opinions about the topic of the underlying post.


We should also consider that though bloggers are probably the most likely people to comment on other blogs, even those contributions can be minimal. It takes some more controversial topics to really get significant dialogue going. For many posts, we are lucky to get 1 or 2 comments from other bloggers, if even that. So, even if bloggers are not commenting much, and they are passionate about wine, why should we expect non-bloggers to make many comments?

I had the Golfo 7 in December and I very much enjoyed it, probably more than the two of you. My review is here: (<a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2007/12/golf..."><a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/200...I paid only $65 for it. I have not had the Golfo 8 though I am hoping to find some. Because it is of such limited production, it is not easy to find. I do at least still have one more bottle of the Golfo 7.

I had the Golfo 7 in December and I very much enjoyed it, probably more than the two of you. My review is here: (<a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2007/12/golf..."><a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/200...I paid only $65 for it. I have not had the Golfo 8 though I am hoping to find some. Because it is of such limited production, it is not easy to find. I do at least still have one more bottle of the Golfo 7.

I had the Golfo 7 in December and I very much enjoyed it, probably more than the two of you. My review is here: (<a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2007/12/golf..."><a href="http://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/200...I paid only $65 for it. I have not had the Golfo 8 though I am hoping to find some. Because it is of such limited production, it is not easy to find. I do at least still have one more bottle of the Golfo 7.