The News
Each week below the paywall for paid subscribers, I offer a food and wine pairing, and pairings are some of the most frequent questions I field from guests at work and emails from this newsletter. Here’s some advise from Randy Caparoso, mostly in the context of restaurants, but much of it applicable to home food and wine situations as well.
Ah yes, the perpetual problem: wine is complicated. It is, and it would be stupid to deny that it is. And this presents a problem for wine producers trying to sell wine to people who don’t necessarily want to take on a new field of study in order to pick up a bottle from the grocery store on their way home from work - which is totally fair. Plenty of wine producers are trying to make it easier with catchier labels, more colloquial language, celeb collaborations, and merchandising that doesn’t even require a stroll down the aisle. Sometimes I think the rest of us may just need to accept that we’re not for everyone. Wine isn’t the only beverage category that includes tiers that are more accessible and more specialized; see bourbon, tequila, beer, gin…yep, pretty much every beverage has its ubiquitous and affordable version, and its range of niche and nerdy products. It’s okay to be something that requires a little effort. Admittedly that does make it somewhat harder to make money.
George Nordahl came to Sonoma and wrote about some of our local wineries, including one I’ve never heard of but will hopefully be visiting tomorrow. Stay tuned.
The Inside Winemaking Podcast talked to Dan Person from Carboniste this week. This is a great podcast if you’re looking for some nerdy insider information on the specifics of winemaking, and Carboniste is one of my personal favorite producers so I loved hearing about their technical side.
I remember when I used to think the New York Times was a reliable source of journalism. They often included perspectives other than my own, but at least they were responsibly written perspectives. I dropped my subscription some time ago over some deeply irresponsible religious and political coverage, and now I find they’re at it again, promoting a study linking alcohol with cancer. Nothing raises hysteria more than suggesting something is linked to cancer, after all. But exactly how significant is that link? Not much at all, as Tom Wark points out.
Understanding the non-alcoholic beverage surge beyond the scare tactics of the World Health Organization. Despite my crankiness about Neo-Prohibitionist shenanigans, I do think it’s a positive thing that we have more non-alcoholic and low-alcohol options in stores, bars, and restaurants. Long before the low-and-no trend, a friend’s bar offered delicious, very low alcohol, wine-based spritzy cocktails that I loved, and I often wish similar things were available when I’m out and want to drink something fun and drive home safely.
The wineries formerly part of Vintage Wine Estates have been sold and are operating under new owners.
Problems in the Duoro surrounding differences in prices and rules for grapes used for Port vs. grapes used for regular wine - even though they are the same grapes.
An entertaining poem for those days when the world seems like a dumpster fire and perhaps the best option is to throw up your hands and pop a bottle.
Since nepotism isn’t an option for me, help me attend the Direct to Consumer Wine Symposium. Seriously, wine is an extremely nepotistic world. Maybe everything is, but it really seems like the story of so many people in wine has to do with growing up in it or having some rich relative who owns a vineyard. The DTC Wine Symposium is one of the best opportunities for networking, but I don’t (yet) have the kind of job that would pay for me to attend. I’m hoping to get there to make some connections and report back to all of you, and every paid subscription or tip via Venmo at Stacey-Midge helps me do just that.
Housekeeping
As always, much gratitude to those of you who support this effort through your subscriptions, likes, comments, and shares. Later this week, look for some further info on fortified wine as I get closer to my next exam (yikes), and a more philosophically-oriented post on my Water into Wine section about wine tasting as a model for a more curious posture toward life. Thanks for being here!
The Best Thing I Drank This Week
Some coworkers got together this week to pillage one of our peer’s wine cellars. Okay, he gave this wine of his own free will. We each chose a bottle from his collection, and
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