Cafes & Wineries

Regardless of your level of wine knowledge, and independent of the price you normally pay for a bottle of wine, I’m willing to bet that you’ll agree with the following statement:

On average (which is to say, not ALWAYS) a bottle of wine that costs $150 will taste better than a bottle that costs $2.

That’s what I would assume, at least. And built into that assumption is another assumption — that many people (though certainly not all) would be able to tell the difference between the two.

According to a recent paper from the delightful folks at the Journal for Wine Economics, I couldn’t be more wrong.

Not only can a random sample of people presented with several glasses of wine (and no information about the wines) not tell the difference between a $2 bottle of wine and a $150 bottle of wine, they tend to think that the cheaper wines taste better (without knowing anything about the prices).

Gulp.

Which means, of course, that for most people, the right amount to spend on a bottle of wine is as little as possible.

I can hear Fred Franzia rubbing his meaty hands together in glee.

But don’t despair, wine lovers, there is hope for the masses. While this paper’s results, which seem to be extremely rigorous and well arrived at, might call into question the value of many things in the wine world (not the least of which are wine critics), it seems that there exists a significant difference between the preferences of the average person and those who know a thing or two about wine.

Yes, a little education goes a long way, apparently. The economists learned that those who actually knew some things about wine, because they had taken classes, or were just passionate consumers of wine, reported that the more expensive wines tasted better to them.

So you don’t have to go smash all those expensive bottles you own in despair. You simply have to learn more about wine so that you can enjoy them properly. Which, in the end, is true about so many of the finer things in life: music, film, food, and even sex.

Read the full paper.

Thanks to Arthur for tipping me off to the study.

Original post by Italian Wine Guy®

* De-Spoofilate : After five days at Vinitaly, to purge the tannins of the Super Tuscans and the hype of the Amphoristi, by taking time in Venice, for a personal makeover.

Original post by Arthur Krea

Three years ago this week I was making my way around the top restaurants of Buenos Aires, ordering too much food, too much wine, and having a grand old time. I had come to Argentina, in addition to simply relax, to find out whether or not there was anything worth drinking made out of a grape called Malbec.

The answer, of course, was a resounding “yes!” I managed to figure out why some serious wine lovers (and critics alike) had begun to quietly suggest that Argentinean Malbec was going to be the Next Big Thing.

This wine was NOT one of the wines I discovered when I was bumping along the back roads of Mendoza. But after tasting it, I sure wish I had known that both sides of the Pulenta family were making such awesome wines.

Pulenta Estate (not to be confused with Bodega Carlos Pulenta, which is run by another set of Pulenta sons) embodies the continued dream of the Pulenta family which began three generations earlier, near the turn of the century.

Angelo Polenta (the “o” later became a “u”) and Palma Spinsati, like thousands of others at that time, immigrated to Argentina from Italy in 1902. They settled in the broad farmlands that still occupy the alluvial plains of Mendoza, under the shadow of the snow-capped Andes Mountains. With the determination that embodies so much of the immigrant experience everywhere in the world, they began to scratch out an existence for themselves as they set down their roots.

By 1914, they had moved a bit farther north to the town of San Juan and had started a small winery and a very large family, one that would quickly grow to 8 children. Those 8 children went on to have their own children, while the family winery continued to prosper. From 1914 to 1997, the Pulenta family built a successful winery business that they eventually sold.

In 2001, a few years after the sale of their San Juan estate, Brothers Eduardo and Hugo purchased vineyard land not too far from where their family first began farming three generations earlier, and established Pulenta Estate Winery.

At 2900 feet above sea level, the estates 333 acres in the Lujan de Cuyo area of Mendoza typify the regions best managed vineyards. Densely planted, dry farmed vines imported from France and Italy are subject to some of the planet’s greatest temperature changes in the course of a day. This diurnal shift coupled with cool sunny days that typify the March harvest mean that properly tended grapes get to mature slowly and beautifully.

Like many producers in the area, the Pulenta estate produces three tiers of wine from their estate vineyards: a set of “Gran″ reserve wines, a set of varietally labeled wines, and a set of “young release” wines that are marketed under the brand “La Flor.”

Their top tier of “great” wines contains three different bottlings: a Malbec, a Cabernet Franc, and this, their “corte” or blend.

Comprised of 43% Cabernet Sauvignon, 29% Malbec, 21% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot, and 3% Tannat, this wine represents the very best fruit from the winery. Picked from their best, lowest yielding vineyard blocks and then sorted painstakingly down to the individual berry level, each varietal is fermented separately and then aged separately for 12 months in new French oak barrels. Only then are the best of these barrels blended to make the roughly 515 cases of this wine that are produced each year.

Full disclosure: I received this wine as a press sample.

Tasting Notes:
Dark, almost inky garnet in the glass, this wine reaches out of the glass and grabs you by the scruff of the neck, suggesting (in the politest possible way) that you immerse your head in a cloud of cassis, black cherry, and well-oiled leather aromas. And once you’ve gone that far, you have to go all the way, letting the gorgeously satiny wine flow smooth and bright across your palate, soaking it with flavors that brilliantly mirror those initial aromas — deep cassis and black cherry, tinged with an leathery earthiness. The acid balance is superb, the tannins grippy with a hint of greenness that pleases more than it perturbs, and the finish is lovely. The wine overall gives the impression of being a smooth operator.

Food Pairing:
Give me a foot and a half of grilled blood sausage and a bottle of this and I′d be set for the evening - especially if I could watch the sunset fall on the Andes.

Overall Score: 9/9.5

How Much?: $35

This wine is tough to find. Some more recent vintages areavailable for purchase on the online.

Original post by Italian Wine Guy®

By Elizabeth M. Gillespie, Associated Press

SEATTLE — Hundreds of coffee-obsessed consumers chimed in moments after Starbucks launched a website asking customers to pitch changes the company should make to revive its struggling U.S. business.

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Original post by Robert

Trento
While the Champagne region widens their premium appellation by annexing land, the Italians hold council in boardrooms and bedrooms. Over a cup of coffee or a parting shot of amaro, the Italian migraine pounds.

It seems there are different standards for wine regions in the EU. So while Champagne skates, Tuscany returns to Savanarola and the Inquisition. Right as the wild asparagus on the hill is fresh and tender.

Meanwhile in Trento the young lions have embraced technology with all of their Teutonic fervor. Thrown in with them is a southerner from Abruzzo for a little spice; that is what awaits us on our visit to Trento.

I am a huge fan of Mezzacorona. The landscape is dramatic (and cool), the winegrowers are arranged in a social network to encourage quality over plonk. The grower’s cooperative of Mezzacorona is an anthill that works extremely well. And the wines, made with regards to efficiency and cleanliness, are rather nice values. And in times where our currency is as rough as the Italian toilet paper in the 1970’s, that is a good thing.

We were guests of Alberto Lusini, export director and Lucio Matricardi, winemaker, for a brief visit. Alberto is in his early 30’s, fresh and hopeful, with the strength of the Dolomites in his spine, keeping him in a steady path towards a future goal. I’ve watched him over the past four years and seen an evolution that is just what the Italian wine industry needs. Sound principles with a plan. In a young person, that is music, to this old eagle. Reinforcements are being readied. Yes.

Lucio is another story. While he is the enologo, he could as easily be in sales. He has a side to him that is like the pancetta and onions in an Amatriciana. Spice. A smart guy. Though he is a Dottore, he didn’t get it from some Italian diploma factory. He got his PhD from University of California at Davis for work done on ageing. He has a crazy side to him, which is a great balance to the calmness of Alberto. A good team. We like Lucio.

The whole operation is filled with youth. Working. The North, so grounded with their mountains and their alpine water.

After a brief tour around the winery, which I call the most beautiful industrialized winery I have ever seen, we headed up to a meeting room for some blending. Lucio had arranged several samples of the sparkling wine, called Talento, for us to make a cuvee. This is their Rotari, which has this uncanny aspect that, when tasted blind against some of the big brands from Champagne, taste better, richer, cleaner and cost a fraction of their French cousin’s wines. Go figure. They’re not selling perfume in Trento, just serviceable bubbly with high quality and flavor that the Italians looove.

A word about the vineyards. For some time now, before green was the new black, a movement has been underway in Trento to return to the ways of their great grandparents, in terms of farming. The use of artificial stimulation and pest eradication by chemical means is being highly discouraged by the Mezzacorona team. For one, they are also apple farmers and the whole earth cycle relies on the interplay of crops and bees and creatures and health in the farms. People are living in their vineyards and groves; the average size of the farm is less than 2 acres. So the farmers are close to their source. This is not some agribusiness making decisions from a boardroom on the 45th floor. They are living their life on site and also feel the need to protect their health as well. Got it?

All this happened between two dining events. The night my colleague Todd and I arrived we met at the Ristorante Chiesa in Trento. Owner Alessandro Chiesa and his talented young chef, Peter Brunel have created a warm, smart place in sleepy little Trento. Great food, fresh, foraged from local sources with an eye towards simplicity, with a dollop of elegance. A nod to Gualtiero Marchese, another to Ferran Adrià. And then the energy of youth and the spirit of place pull their strings. Don’t miss this spot. One of the best meals of the year.

A word about asparagus. I have this love-hate relationship with asparagus. Kind of like I do with Pinot Grigio. Let me just cut to the chase and say that this year in the north of Italy the asparagus rivaled the artichokes. And artichokes roll me over with nary an attempt to win my heart. I love them that much. But the chefs in Northern Italy have been blessed with a wonderful asparagus harvest this year. And we were lucky enough to sample the harvest as they worked their way through the kitchens of Chiesa, L’ Albereta and Piazza Duomo. Didn’t mean to brag.

The other meal was a lunch in the hills before we sped off to Erbusco. This was in a room holding no more than 20 seats. Country cooking. Hearty. My aunt Amelia’s cooking. Homemade stuffed pastas and farmers plates. Add to this a bottle of Teroldego, and you have an “Oh God, wonderful″ moment.

Heading down the hill to the autostrada (we were running late), I looked back at Alberto and Lucio, one from the north and one from the south, and saw the future, once again, in the hands of youth. Yes, politicians with new hair and fresh tans work the airwaves to rearrange the power grid in Italy. But this is not the world that 70 year old men can fix.

And while those young men disappeared rapidly from my rear view window as we sped off in haste, they will not be swept away by never-ending elections. Let’s hope they, and the engaged young men and women of Italy, are the antidote to the Malessere.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Trento

While the Champagne region widens their premium appellation by annexing land, the Italians hold council in boardrooms and bedrooms. Over a cup of coffee or a parting shot of amaro, the Italian migraine pounds.

It seems there are different standards for wine regions in the EU. So while Champagne skates, Tuscany returns to Savanarola and the Inquisition. Right as the wild asparagus on the hill is fresh and tender. And ready.

Meanwhile in Trento the young lions have embraced technology with all of their Teutonic fervor. Thrown in with them is a southerner from Abruzzo for a little spice, and that is what awaits us on our visit to Trento.

I am a huge fan of Mezzacorona. The landscape is dramatic (and cool), the winegrowers are arranged in a social network to encourage quality over plonk. The grower’s cooperative of Mezzacorona is an anthill that works extremely well. And the wines, made with regards to efficiency and cleanliness, are rather nice values. And in times where our currency is as rough as the Italian toilet paper in the 1970’s, that is a good thing.

We were guests of Alberto Lusini, export director and Lucio Matricardi, winemaker, for a brief visit. Alberto is in his early 30’s, fresh and hopeful, but with the strong bones of the Dolomites in his spine, keeping him in a steady path towards a future goal. I’ve watched him over the past four years and seen an evolution that is just what the Italian wine industry needs. Sound principles with a plan. In a young person that is music to this old eagle. Reinforcements are being readied. Yes.

Lucio is another story. While he is the enologo, he could as easily be in sales. He has a side to him that is like the pancetta and onions in an Amatriciana. Spice. A smart guy. Though he is a Dottore, he didn’t get it from some Italian diploma factory. He got his PhD from University of California at Davis for work done on ageing. He has a crazy side to him, which is a great balance to the calmness of Alberto. A good team. We like Lucio.

The whole operation is filled with youth. Working. The North, so grounded with their mountains and their alpine water.

After a brief tour around the winery, which I call the most beautiful industrialized winery I have ever seen, we headed up to a meeting room for some blending. Lucio had arranged several samples of the sparkling wine, called Talento, for us to make a cuvee. This is their Rotari, which has this uncanny aspect that, when tasted blind against some of the big brands from Champagne, taste better, richer, cleaner and cost a fraction of their French cousin’s wines. Go figure. They’re not selling perfume in Trento, just serviceable bubbly with high quality and flavor that the Italians looove.

A word about the vineyards. For some time now, before green was the new black, a movement has been underway in Trento to return to the ways of their great grandparents, in terms of farming. The use of artificial stimulation and pest eradication by chemical means is being highly discouraged by the Mezzacorona team. For one, they are also apple farmers and the whole earth cycle relies on the interplay of crops and bees and creatures and health in the farms. People are living in their vineyards and groves; the average size of the farm is less than 2 acres. So the farmers are close to their source. This is not some agribusiness making decisions from a boardroom on the 45th floor. They are living their life on site and also feel the need to protect their health as well. Got it?

All this happened between two dining events. The night my colleague Todd and I arrived we met at the Ristorante Chiesa in Trento. Owner Alessandro Chiesa and his talented young chef, Peter Brunel have created a warm, smart place in sleepy little Trento. Great food, fresh, foraged from local sources with an eye towards simplicity, with a dollop of elegance. A nod to Gualtiero Marchese, another to Ferran Adrià. And then the energy of youth and the spirit of place pull their strings. Don’t miss this spot. One of the best meals of the year.

A word about asparagus. I have this love-hate relationship with asparagus. Kind of like I do with Pinot Grigio. Let me just cut to the chase and say that this year in the north of Italy the asparagus rivaled the artichokes. And artichokes roll me over with nary an attempt to win my heart. I love them that much. But the chefs in Northern Italy have been blessed with a wonderful asparagus harvest this year. And we were lucky enough to sample the harvest as they worked their way through the kitchens of Chiesa, L′ Albereta and Piazza Duomo. Didn’t mean to brag.

The other meal was a lunch in the hills before we sped off to Erbusco. This was in a room holding no more than 20 seats. Country cooking. Hearty. My aunt Amelia’s cooking. Homemade stuffed pastas and farmers plates. Add to this a bottle of Teroldego, and you have an “Oh God, wonderful” moment.

Heading down the hill to the autostrada (we were running late), I looked back at Alberto and Lucio, one from the north and one from the south, and saw the future, once again, in the hands of youth. Yes, politicians with new hair and fresh tans work the airwaves to rearrange the power grid in Italy. But this is not the world that 70 year old men can fix.

And while those young men disappeared rapidly from my rear view window as we sped off in haste, they will not be swept away by never-ending elections. They, and the engaged young men and women of Italy, are the antidote to the Malessere.

Original post by Italian Wine Guy®

A winery will be part of the mix of a new residential and commercial development in Midway. The winery will be on the site of an existing barn at Midway Station, the site north of Interstate 64 where Lexington developer Dennis Anderson plans to put new houses, townhouses, offices, second-story apartments and restaurants. “We’re making space here where people can live, work and integrate all …

Original post by Yahoo! News Search Results for Cafes

Bader Winery: Free tastings from noon-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday. Hours are 10 am.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. 711 Grand Blvd., Vancouver; 360-750-1551 or www.BaderWinery.com.

Original post by Yahoo! News Search Results for Cafes

Visiting the Baikonur space cosmodrome deep in the steppes of Kazakhstan is like taking a trip back into Soviet times — and that’s just the way many here want it to stay.

Original post by Yahoo! News Search Results for Cafes

MAKANDA - Blue Sky Vineyard and Winery in Makanda last month saw its first year Cabernet Franc win a rare, but coveted double-gold medal at the 2008 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.

Original post by Yahoo! News Search Results for Cafes