YAWB - Yet Another Wine Blog

Mr. YAWB Want's More (Good) Box Wine

2006-08-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

A recent article on Slate focused on the increase in quality wines being put in boxes, touching on a subject I've been thinking about for quite a while now. I'm one of those wine snobs who thumbs my nose at boxes of Mountain Chablis or White Zinfandel, but not because of the packaging. In fact, I'd love to see more good wines packed in boxes. I'm not saying I want to see boxes of Chateau Latour anytime soon, but there's lots of everyday wines that would be better from a box than a bottle. Why?

For starters, because boxed wine can last for weeks without oxidizing (unlike an open bottle in the fridge) there's no rush to finish off the rest of the bottle once it's opened. You can have one glass tonight, and tomorrow's glass (or next week's) tastes just as good. Better still, if you have a couple different varietals open in boxes you and your spouse/drinking partner don't have to decide on drinking the same thing everynight. I think I'll have some Sauv Blanc with my meal, but my wife wants Cab Sauv with hers... With bottles we'd end up opening one of each and likely stashing the leftovers in the fridge hoping they're still half way pleasant the next night. With boxes, we could each pour ourselves a glass of what we want and know that the rest will still taste just as good later. Sure half bottles provide roughly the same convienence, but when was the last time you saw a half bottle of $10 Chilean Cabernet on your local grocery store shelf? Bring on the boxes I say...

Judgment of Paris (Part 1)

2006-08-01T09:42:00.000-07:00

- Introduction -

In light of this summer's 30th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris wine tasting, Mr. YAWB will be writing a multi-part series on the history of the original tasting and it's significance, as well as some thoughts on the recently held rematch. Part one follows below:

- Paris, 1976 -

Perhaps the most important wine tasting of all time, the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976 (commonly referred to as the Judgment of Paris) reshaped the way the world viewed the wines of the New World. Before the tasting it was commonly held that only the well established vineyards of Europe (and particularly France) were capable of producing world class wine. Of course, until the 20th century this was largely true. Europe had been making wine for centuries and had a head start on everything from well established vineyards to wine making know how. It wasn't until the mid twentieth century, about the time Robert Mondavi split from the family business (CK Mondavi winery) to start his own winery focused on creating world class wines that winemakers in Napa Valley really started to make a push for quality. By the early 70's Mondavi and a select group of pioneering winemakers from the area, including those of Ridge Vineyards (Paul Draper), Chateau Montelena (Jim Barrett), and Grgich Hills (Mike Grgich) had started to produce wines that could challenge the best of France. Still, most of the wine elite relegated these wines to second-tier status, believing that nothing from the New World could ever be comparable to the top wines of France.

While the wines of California were surging in quality in the 60's and 70's, the wines of France were headed in the opposite direction. Bordeaux between 1961 and 1982, for example, was experiencing perhaps it's weakest string of vintages in the entire 20th century. Several Bordeaux vintages of the 60's and 70's suffered numerous failures due to rain at harvest, frost, and rot. Additionally, several of Bordeaux most famous estates were in the midst of serious qualitative slumps. Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lafite Rothschild, to name two of the most famous, released numerous indifferent wines during these years that sold for high prices on their names alone.

It was against this backdrop that the British wine journalist Steven Spurrier organized the now famous Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The tasting pitted chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon based wines from California against the famous wines of Burgundy and Bordeaux in a blind format. Comedy ensued as several prominent wine critics fawned over wines displaying the "magnificence of France" only to find the wine they were describing to actually be from California. After the results were tallied the California wines scored victories in both the categories with the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay and 1973 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine world was stunned and suddenly the wines of the New World had some street cred. The door was now wide open for winemakers all over the world and France no longer had a monopoly on world class terroir and wines. This was a very good thing.

Champagne, our everyday wine

2006-06-28T16:38:00.000-07:00

Sounds kind of odd doesn't it? It's true none-the-less, my wife and I consume more Champagne style wines (most are actually 'sparkling wines' since they're not actually from the Champange region in France) than any other style of wine. While most Americans view Champagne as a wine only for celebrations, my wife and I have discovered that it's perhaps the most flexible wine around to pair with food. Most people are probably aware that Champagne is a good match for caviar and shellfish. Most people probably haven't discovered that Champagne also pairs well with slightly less high-falutin fair like nachos, spicy Chinese food, burritos, pepperoni pizza, and microwave popcorn. Additionally, sparklers go well with breakfast and brunch fair as well as they go with dinner. This flexability (owing to it's refreshingly crisp acidity) means that as long as the bottle's cold it's ready to go with just about any meal you put on the table.

Of course, there's very few who could afford to drink three to five bottles of Krug or even Piper Heidsieck, but it turns out there are several good sparklers available for under $12, making it much easier to keep a good supply on hand for impromptu occasions. Here's some of our favorite sparkling wines in a variety of price ranges:

$12 and under:

Domaine Ste Michelle Brut ($8ish) - This is the best widely available champagne for less than $12. It's a superior wine to the ubiquitous Cook's which, unlike the Ste Michelle, gets it's bubbles from CO2 injection a la soda rather than the traditional secondary fermentation method.

Trader Joe's Blanc de Blancs ($4) - Seems to cycle in and out of Trader Joe's inventory, but when it's there we clean them out. You'll not find any wine better for the price.

Cristalino Brut ($8ish) - I like this Spanish sparkler better than Friexinet.

$12-25:

Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs ($15ish) - Perhaps my favorite sparker from California. At this price you even get some flavor complexity to go along with your refreshment

Piper Heidseick Brut ($25ish) - If you want actual Champagne from France, skip the overrated Vueve Cliquot Yellow Label, and ever present Moet & Chandon White Star. Piper's brut is better, and cheaper.

And now an introduction

2006-06-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

Does the world need another wine blog? Probably not? Do I need an outlet for my rants and insights on the wine world? Most definetly. So here I am creating YAWB (Yet Another Wine Blog). Who's this for you ask? Me first, you the reader, second. Now that we've got out priorities straight, let's talk about my street cred when it comes to wine...

I've been enjoying wine now for nearly a decade. I taste hundreds of wines each year, I've visited many of the most famous wine regions in North America including Napa, Sonoma, Lodi, Santa Barbra, Paso Robles, the Sierra Foothills, Temecula, Red Mountain, Yakima Valley, and the Okanagan. I've visited all kind of wineries, from mega-operations like Mondavi to tiny operations run from a garage. I've tasted several of the world's greatest wines (all-time fav is an 82 Pichon Lalande, oldest wine was a 1927 La Tour Blanche), but more frequently I drink the kinds of wines you'd buy for $5-$15. I've taken university level wine classes, read geeky wine books, subscribe to geeky wine mags, and participate on geeky wine bulletin boards (like the one on Robert Parker's site).

In short, I'm a total wine geek with an overabundance of enthusiasm. This site will be my constructive outlet.

Setting up shop

2006-06-21T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is a test entry to help me get everything formatted. A more thourough introduction is forthcoming...