Cafes & Wineries

Adulterous. Maybe a little sneaky, and a tiny bit rebellious.

There I was at the International Pinot Noir Celebration in Oregon — a whole weekend dedicated to the glory of Oregon Pinot Noir and it’s Burgundy forebears — when someone in a trench coat pulled me aside and whispered, “Hey buddy, wanna taste some Riesling?”

The thought, frankly, couldn′t have been the furthest thing from my mind at that point. But when the shadowy figure suggested that this was a nearly comprehensive tasting of all the Rieslings made in the state of Oregon, give or take a few, my interest was piqued. Not to mention the fact that it would also make for a pretty nice palate refresher after a day of tasting Pinots.

A little while later I found myself in the back room of Nick’s Restaurant with a lineup of more than thirty Oregon Rieslings and a couple other intrepid tasters: Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post and David Schildknecht of the Wine Advocate. Together, we plowed through the lineup and had a good time of it.

My tasting notes for all the wines follow below, but on reflection, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wines, which certainly exceeded my expectations on the whole. Most were quite varietally true, well made, and at least pleasant to drink, with some being quite delicious. It’s clear that good Riesling can clearly be made in Oregon. Do these wines approach the profundity of great Austrian, German, or Alsatian Rieslings? Not yet. But they′re certainly better than most California efforts I’ve tasted, and many are better than some of the Washington State wines I’ve tried.

Several of the wines were offered in pairs of 2007 and 2008 vintages, and there were often stark differences between the wines (most notable the Montinore below), but I couldn’t tell if those were clearly vintage variation, or the results of adjustments in winemaking technique. In many cases, I suspect it was the latter.

The wines are listed in my descending order of preference. Prices have been supplied by the wineries, so they must be taken with a grain of salt — meaning that if you do encounter these wines in a retail environment, they’re likely to be slightly less expensive.

TASTING NOTES:

2007 Trisaetum Willamette Valley Riesling Yamhill Carlton & Chehalem Mtns, Oregon. $28
Palest greenish gold in color, the wine smells of paraffin and honeysuckle. In the mouth it offers lovely semi-sweet flavors of green apple, pear, beeswax and white flowers that linger in a nice finish. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Where to buy?

2008 Brooks Sweet P Riesling McMinnville, Oregon. $23
Palest gold in the glass this wine has a nose of peach and honeysuckle aromas. In the mouth it is really lovely nectarine quality with bright apple qualities and excellent acidity with hints of mandarine orange on the finish. Moderately sweet. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Where to buy?

2006 Daedalus Maresh Riesling Dundee Hills, Oregon. $18
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of white flowers. In the mouth it is crisp and bright and silky and lean and quite high toned. Fades on the back palate. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 Daedalus Maresh Riesling Dundee Hills, Oregon. $18
Palest gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of green herbs, white flowers, and green apples. On the palate the wine has qualities of pear and wet stone with nice subtle spicy delicacies that linger into a tart finish. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 Lemelson Dry Riesling Dundee Hills, Oregon. $20
Pale gold in the glass, this wine smells of poached pears and honeysuckle, in the mouth it is super silky and smooth with honeysuckle, ripe pear and lovely mineral qualities that linger into the finish. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards Dry Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $14
Pale gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of linalool and wet stone. In the mouth it is crisp and pure with a crystalline lemon juice and wet granitic quality, and a nice hint of apple fruit on the finish. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 A to Z Oregon Riesling Oregon, Oregon. $13
Pale gold in the glass this wine smells of ripe pear and a beautiful honeyed sweetness. In the mouth the wine is super silky and smooth, with a great liquid crystal quality to it and an incredible note of orange and clove that hovers in and out of perceptibility in the wine. Quite alluring. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 Anam Cara Nicholas Estate Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $22
Nearly colorless in the glass, this wine has a nose of wet stone and white flowers. In the mouth it is crisp and linear with nice tart gooseberry, cucumber and pear flavors with hints of lime zest and seawater on the finish. Off-dry.Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2007 Brandborg Riesling Umpqua Valley, Oregon. $16
Pale green gold in color, this wine has a nose of baked pear and wet stone. In the mouth it is crisp and stony and crystalline, with a stark granitic quality and really lovely white flower, apple, and pear qualities. Off-dry. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2008 Montinore Almost Dry Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $10
Pale greenish gold in color, this wine smells of honeysuckle and ripe apples. In the mouth it is beautiful tart ripe fuji apples, with beautiful ethereal honey notes that sail above the finish. Off-dry. Score: around 9. Where to buy?

2008 Siltstone Hyland Vineyard Riesling McMinnville, Oregon. $15
Palest gold in color, this wine smells of green apples and wet stone. In the mouth it is crisp and mineral with a core of apple and pear fruit tinged with lime zest and a warm felt quality that lingers in a nice finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2007 Brooks Willamette Valley Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $18
Pale green gold in the glass this wine has a nose of unripe pears and green apples. In the mouth it is smooth and silky with tart green apple and unripe pear flavors, with hints of lemon zest on the finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2007 Chehalem Corral Creek Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $24
Pale green gold in the glass this wine has a nose of paraffin and unripe pear with hints of wet stone and honeysuckle. In the mouth it is bright and racy, with great acidity, and tart grapefruit zest and very dry felt quality on the finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2007 Chehalem Reserve Riesling Chehalem Mtns/Dundee Hills, Oregon. $21
Pale gold in the glass with hints of green this wine has a nose of gooseberries and unripe pear with lovely flavors of green apple and hints of white flowers on the finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2006 Amity Willamette Valley Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $18
Palest gold in color this wine has a nose of rich Juicyfruit gum, in the mouth it is smooth and crisp with Juicyfruit, green apples, and pears, with a quite long finish. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2008 Anam Cara Nicholas Estate Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $22
Nearly colorless in the glass, this wine has a nose of jasmine and poached pear. In the mouth the wine has a honeyed aspect with silky smooth quality that has a clean fresh character that is tough not to like. Lovely floral, though not complex. Off-dry. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2007 Montinore Sweet Reserve Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $12
Practically colorless in the glass, this wine has a nose of beeswax and poached pear. In the mouth it is soft and satiny with a nice weight on the tongue. The main flavors are of apples baked in honey with a hint of bitterness that sneaks in quickly and then out just as quickly leaving the wine to finish nicely. Score: between 8.5 and 9

2007 Anne Amie Estate Riesling Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon. $25
Light gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of white flowers and ripe pears. In the mouth it is crisp, bright with pear, nice smooth, good acid, but not quite enough. hint of flabbiness. Score: around 8.5

2007 Amity Willamette Valley Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $18
Pale gold in color, this wine smells of crisp apples and rainwater. In the mouth it offers crisp fuji apple and a hint of creaminess on the finish. Score: around 8.5

2008 Argyle Riesling Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon. $25
Pale green gold in the glass, this wine smells of cut green grass and ripe pears. In the mouth it is linear and straightforward, with cool flavors of wet stone, fuji apple, and hints of floral qualities in the finish. Off-dry. Score: around 8.5

2007 Elk Cove Estate Riesling Yamhill Carlton, Oregon. $19
Near colorless with greenish aspects, this wine has a shy nose of candied citrus aromas. In the mouth it is smooth and brighter than the 2006 vintage, with persistent flavors of candied grapefruit, pears, and sweet apples. Score: around 8.5

2008 Hawk’s View Chehalem Mountain Vyd Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $24
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of fresh ripe pears and apples. In the mouth it has a tart apple quality with nice acid and a smooth texture. Pleasant but not complex. Score: around 8.5

2007 Willamette Valley Vineyards Willamette Valley Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $12
Near colorless in the glass, this wine has a nose of pear and ripe apples. In the mouth it is smooth with apple and pear flavors with hints of lemon emerging on the finish. Score: around 8.5

2007 Argyle Minus 5 Riesling Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon. $30
Light gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of sweet peach and honey, with flavors of peach and honey and lovely goodness but somewhat simple. Score: around 8.5

2008 Chehalem Sext Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $24
Near colorless in the glass with fine bubbles, this wine has a nose of honeysuckle and ripe pears. In the mouth the wine is hardly sparkling, more sptritzy, with a light bubbly quality on the palate with honeyed apples, nectarine and hints of mandarin citrus on the finish. Score: around 8.5

2006 Elk Cove Estate Riesling Yamhill Carlton, Oregon. $19
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of white flowers, lemon juice, and pears. In the mouth it is soft, and a little light on acid, with linear, floral qualities but not as much complexity or zip as I might like. Score: between 8 and 8.5

2007 King’s Ridge Oregon Riesling Chehalem Mountains, Oregon. $12
Palest green gold in the glass, this wine has a nose of ripe pear. In the mouth it is somewhat simple with a lightly bitter quality that quickly morphs to a simple sweetness. Score: around 8

2007 Penner Ash Willamette Valley Riesling Dundee Hills &amp Eola Amity, Oregon. $18
Near colorless in the glass, this wine smells of Juicyfruit gum with a hint of warm hay. In the mouth it is soft and nicely balanced but has a yeasty quality that fights with the fruit in a way I don′t care for. Off-dry. Score: around 8

2006 Vitae Springs Vitae Springs Vineyard Riesling Willamette Valley (Salem area), Oregon. $18
Palest green in color, this wine has a nose of linalool and green candy. In the mouth the wine is sweet and somewhat simple with apple and pear flavors that are pleasant but not fantastic. Score: around 8

2007 Montinore Almost Dry Riesling Willamette Valley, Oregon. $10
Pale green gold in color, this wine has a nose of “vague tropical fruit” according to my notes. In the mouth it is somewhat flabby, missing the acidity required to really push it out of a syrupy state which I don’t really care for. Off-dry. Score: between 7.5 and 8

NV Brooks Tethys Riesling Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon. $25
Light gold in color, this wine has a nose of brewers yeast, malt, and freshly baked bread. In the mouth it is malted and raisined and with flavors of hay that lean towards manure. I do not care for this wine. Score: between 6.5 and 7

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Dallas, Texas
So a recent Monday didn’t start out so well. Around 5:00 AM it sounded like someone was banging on my back door. I was already up. A few minutes later I heard some sirens and then what sounded like a full tilt gunfight with automatic weapons. Weekend is over.

Around 12:30 I stepped into the local Whole Foods looking for a sandwich. A demo person was asking me if I wanted to try their prosciutto. I asked her what kind of prosciutto it was, because it didn’t look like it had meat in the little demo cup.

She said something about not knowing what it was, but there was no meat. I looked at the product and it said bruschetta. I said, “Oh you mean brew-skeh-tah.”

She cast this askew glance at me as if to say “Whatchoo talking about Willis?” I said,” My people come from Italy where bruschetta originated and we pronounce it brew-skeh-tah. Brew.Sket.Ahh. Not too hard to say now, is it?”

She started to look truly afraid like I had said something vulgar or worse, threatening. So I wished her luck and ran, not walked, away from this pitiful creature.

The sad thing is, I was trying to help her market the product to a group of customers who most likely have been to Italy. This was in a wealthy part of town in a very upscale store. But once again to use the words of Jim Schutze I was “Forever the foreigner. More than 30 years I′ve been here, sawing this same log.”

Other notes: I love the photographs of Kors van Bennekom (all of the B&W’s on this post are his), who has an impressive and enormous body of work. I found him on another site Bint photobooks on Internet, which is also a great source for interesting images. People ask me where I get all the images on this blog. I take many of them, but I am a visual forager, always looking for interesting images. These are two additions to where I will now scour for interesting shots.

Wine notes: I can’t remember a day when I tasted so many unusual (and good too) wines in one evening. Dornfelder and Kerner from Lodi, Verdello from Rueda, St. Laurent from Austria , Zilavka, Bena and Krkosija from Bosnia Herzegovina, Plavac Mali from Croatia (some say the “Noah” of Primitivo Zinfandel), Kékfrankos from Hungary (good blog here for those wines: http://www.bluedanubewine.com/blog/) and an old vine Barbera from Lodi (a great story here too). I tried these at a walk around reception at the Society of Wine Educators yearly conference, this year in Sacramento. It is a great place to learn, to taste and to comingle with many people, at all levels, in the wine biz. And a great value. Highly recommended. Tomorrow I am presenting a topic, The Italian influence in California winemaking with my sidekick, Guy Stout, who has more initials behind his name than Niels Bohr. But that’s a whole’nother story for another day. Gotta get on the wine trail now. Cheers!

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

I go to a lot of wine tastings, and have come to really appreciate those that are done right. It may not be immediately apparent how easily a large public tasting can be screwed up, but all it takes is one small thing to make it a really miserable experience. For instance, a lack of spit buckets has turned more than one big tasting event into a nightmare. The spacing of the tables, the labeling of the stations, the number of wines available, the availability of water, the offering of food, the temperature of the building — these can all make or break a tasting.

Some of my favorite wine tasting experiences have been at the International Pinot Noir Celebration, which holds what they call Al Fresco tastings every afternoon on the shaded terrace of a building at Linfied College in McMinnville, Oregon. While it is often quite warm at these tastings, nearly everything else is perfect. There are only about 30 wineries pouring, and each only pours one or sometimes two wines, making it very easy to taste everything without a rush. The wineries are well supplied with ice to keep their wines at the right temperature. The tasting isn’t horribly crowded, and all the tables are staffed by the winery owner or winemaker, allowing for easy chatting and discussion with folks about their wines if that’s your thing.

And my favorite part? Since it’s outside, you can just spit on the lawn. I hate queuing up for the spittoon at these tastings about as much as I hate carrying around my own personal spit cup (along with my notebook, my pen, and my wine glass). I find it such a luxury if I′m not standing with a clear path to a spittoon, to simply lean over, check for cross traffic, and spit the wine onto the ground wherever I might be standing. And the lawn loves it.

The wineries pouring at the IPNC tastings are always a mix between Burgundy producers and New World producers, with more of an emphasis on the latter. The wineries that pour are not simply anyone that’s willing to pay, as with most other big wine tastings. Rather these are wineries that submit their wines and an application to a judging panel who taste, and decide which wineries to invite each year, presumably with the idea of making sure the wines are high quality, and from a diverse set of producers. One winery I talked to said they had been trying to pour at the tasting for about 10 years and finally got there.

In short, these tastings are some of my favorite moments at the IPNC festival every year, not only for the pleasure of tasting in an environment that is so perfectly set up, but also to get a sense of how the current vintage is shaping up. Granted, I’d prefer that I had access to about three times more wines in order to make that assessment, but I make do with what I’ve got. I had the opportunity to preview both the 2006 and 2007 vintages of Pinot Noir from Oregon, and despite having fewer of them I have to say I think I prefer the 2007s. They seem to have slightly more acid along with brighter, cooler fruit.

2007 was reputedly a difficult vintage for many, and it has been bashed by some mainstream wine publications as being quite bad, but the few wines that I tasted were encouraging.

Here are my scores for the wines tasted. I did not get retail prices for these wines as I normally do. Apologies for that oversight. I’ve provided links to look up prices for some of my favorites that are currently on the market (most of the 2007s have yet to be released).

This list represents every wine poured at the two tastings.

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9.5
2006 Domaine Pavelot Pernand-Vergelesses 1er Cru Les Vergelesses, Burgundy, France. Where to buy?

WINES SCORING BETWEEN 9 AND 9.5
2007 Antica Terra Willamette Valley, Oregon. Where to buy?
2007 Cristom Vineyards Eileen Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
2006 Domaine Drouhin Oregon Cuvee Laurène, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
2006 Domaine Rion Nuits St Georges 1er Cru Clos Saint Marc, Burgundy, France. Where to buy?
2006 Domaine Sigaut Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru Les Sentiers Vieilles Vignes, Burgundy, France.
2007 Fougeray de Beauclair Bonnes Mares Grand Cru, Burgundy, France.
2007 Fourrier Gevrey 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques, Burgundy, France.
2006 Goldeneye, Anderson Valley, California. Where to buy?
2007 Lecheneaut Nuits St. Georges 1er cru Les Pruliers, Burgundy, France.
2007 LIOCO Michaud Vineyard, Chalone, California.
2007 Pataille Marsannay L′Ancestrale, Burgundy, France.
2007 Penner-Ash Wine Cellars Penner-Ash ‘Pas de Nom′, Willamette Valley, Oregon.
2006 Porter Creek Vineyards Fiona Hill Vineyard, Estate bottled, Russian River Valley, California. Where to buy?

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 9
2007 Ambroise ARIES, Burgundy, France
2006 Belle Pente Vineyard & Winery Estate Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Benson Vineyards Estate Winery Estate, Willamette Valley, WA
2007 Brick House Vineyards Les Dijounais, Willamette Valley, Oregon
NV Champagne Inflorescence & Champagne Roses de Jeanne Champagne Roses de Jeanne “Les Ursules,” Champagne, France
2006 Eyrie Vineyards Original Vines Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Failla Wines Occidental Ridge, Sonoma Coast, California
2006 Hanzell Vineyards Hanzell Vineyards, Sonoma Valley, California
2006 Heinrich , Austria
2007 Kosta Browne Winery Russian River Valley, California
2007 Le Clos Jordanne Village Réserve, Ontario, Canada
2006 MacMurray Ranch Winemaker’s Block, Russain River Valley , California
2006 René Muré, Clos St. Landelin Clos Saint Landelin, Alsace, France
2007 Roy (Marc Roy) Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos Prieur,” Burgundy, France
2007 Shea Wine Cellar &amp Vineyards East Hill, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Soléna Cellars Mineral Springs, Yamhill-Carlton District,, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Torii Mor Winery Olson Estate Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 WillaKenzie Estate Winery Estate Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon

WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8.5 AND 9
2006 Amity Vineyards Winemaker’s Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Archery Summit Red Hills Estate,, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Argyle Winery Nuthouse, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Audoin Marsannay les Favières, Burgundy, France
2007 Ayres Vineyard Pioneer, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Bergstrom Wines Bergström Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Bethel Heights Vineyard Justice Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Carmel Road Winery Placentia, Monterey, California
2006 Copain Kiser “enhaut,” Anderson Valley,, California
2006 Demetria Estate Cuvée Sandra, Santa Ynez Valley, California
2006 Elke Donnelly Vineyard, Anderson Valley, California
2007 Elke Vineyards Mary Elke, Anderson Valley, California
2006 Hamacher Wines Hamacher Wines, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Johan Vineyards Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Ken Wright Cellars KWC, McCrone Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 MacMurray Ranch Winemaker’s Block, Russian River Valley, California
2007 Mt. Difficulty Mt. Difficulty Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand
2006 Sineann Schindler Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Sineann McGinlays, Marlborough, New Zealand
2006 Soter Vineyards Mineral Springs Vineyard Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Soter Vineyards Brut Rose Sparkling Wine, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Spindrift Cellars Spindrift Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Tantara Winery Dierberg Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills , California
2006 Youngberg Hill Vineyards Barrel Select, Willamette Valley, Oregon

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8.5
2006 ADEA Wine Company Hawks View Vineyard, Chehalem Mountains, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Arcadian Winery Jill’s Cuvée, Santa Rita Hills, California
2006 Buena Vista Carneros BVC Ramal Vineyard, Carneros, California
2006 Carabella Vineyard Inchinnan, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Duck Pond Cellars St. Jory Vineyard, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Le Clos Jordanne Le Clos 20 mile, Ontario, Canada
2006 Rex Hill Vineyards & Winery Reserve, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2006 Rippon Vineyard &amp Winery Central Otago, New Zealand
2006 Schloss Gobelsburg Alte Haide, Austria
2006 Z’IVO Wines Eola Amity Hills, Willamette Valley, Oregon

WINES SCORING BETWEEN 8 AND 8.5
2007 Alma Rosa Winery & Vineyards La Encantada Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, California

WINES WITH A SCORE AROUND 8
2006 Dobbes Family Estate Cuvée Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
2007 Kooyong Ferrous, Mornington Penninsula, Australia
2006 Pyramid Valley Vineyards Pyramid Valley Earth Smoke Pinot Noir, Canterbury, New Zealand

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 08:48:54 GMT

The latest studies by German researchers have shown positive effects of coffee on human health, saying it improves functions of liver and brain.

The studies run by Germany’s Green Cross points out that coffee accelerates digestion, and prevents age-related diabetes, chronic liver disease and replacement of liver tissue by fibrous scar tissue.

Drinking at least

Original post by Robert

     
(27/07/09 08:20 CET)

July 27, 2009

    * Acquisition allows Philips to expand in the high-growth, high-margin espresso machine market with a strong range of products
    * Acquisition of Saeco by Philips has been closed

Amsterdam, the Netherlands – Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) announced today that it has closed the acquisition of Saeco International Group S.p.A. of

Original post by Robert

As part of this weekend’s International Pinot Noir Celebration, Jancis Robinson, Master of Ceremonies for the weekend, sat down in a (blessedly air conditioned) auditorium on the campus of Linfield College and spoke about her life and career in the world of wine to a group of interested (sweaty) attendees. Here’s what she had to say, to the best of my transcription ability.

“I’m so old and I have so much to say about my life in wine, there’s a lot to talk about. I’ll start with how I got into wine. I was raised in a village of 45 people in the far north of England. At that point wine had a very different place in British society. My father was a very keen gin drinker, as was my grandmother. Until Grandma heard that gin was bad for you and then she switched to whisky. She died at the ripe old age of 98 — I hope I’ve got some of those genes.

Occasionally we’d go out for a meal as a family. This was farming country, of course, so we’re not talking about anything fancy. People would order steak, and then they’d order what they would call Sauternes in those days, which was actually from Spain. Sweet, and rather horrible.

As I got into my teens, I remember a lunch with my grandmother where she ordered wine. The most popular wine at the time was something called Lutima Riesling, which everyone pronounced “ryes-ling″ and it was disgusting — imported in bulk, I later discovered, from Slovenia. Oversulfered, stuffed full of chemicals, bottled right on the London docks and then sold everywhere.

If people talked about wine in those days, which was rare, there would be implied quotations around it. Like one would say ‘polo.’

One of Jancis’ first memorable wine experiences came while she was studying at Oxford, courtesy of her boyfriend at the time. Here she recounts that incident:

“I was first exposed to good wine at Oxford. At that time they had some pretty good wine in the cellars at the colleges. I was already very interested in food, so it was a small leap to wine. When I graduated with a degree in maths and philosophy, though, I had no notion of getting a job in wine or food. They had such low status in society at the time, it never even occurred to me to seek work there.

I spent three years in Britain’s largest holiday company. It was rather boring. There were too many meetings.

It was the Seventies, however, and everyone was dropping out. It was the thing to do at the time. So I did it, too. I dropped out for a year to Provence, and ended up in this tiny little village, and a cottage with no electricity and a well. I later found out I was about 3 miles from where Peter Mayle would end up a year later and make an absolute fortune writing about it.

It only took about a minute for me to realize that Provence was a completely different universe than Britain, and I was instantly cured of the thinking that I should avoid working in the food and wine industry. Here was a place where wine and food were part of life in the way I thought they should be.

When I got back to Britain and looked for a job that would allow me to write, I got a job in the press office of the British Waterways Board. Exciting, no? I got to see some trade journals of many different kinds, and one happened to be about wine, and at the moment it was carrying a notice to fill the job of assistant editor. I polished up my CV and to my surprise I got an interview. The publisher told me: ‘we’ve had a lot of difficulty with this job. We tried hiring journalists, and then we had to teach them about wine. And then we we tried hiring wine people, but we had to each them to write. And you’re neither.’

But I was their favorite, and I got the job. Once I did, I realized I was taking over from Terry Lord, who had just left to become the first full time employee of what would eventually become Decanter magazine. I was thrown in at very much the deep end, and was taught on the job by the secretary.

Luckily during the interview they didn’t ask me if I could type, because I couldn’t at the time. It was only a good while after I started that the editor saw me trying to peck out my work on the typewriter and by then it was too late. The good thing was — the good thing about all trade journals — was that it had a small circulation and no one would notice all the mistakes I made.

What I did rather immediately after starting was to sign up for the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust. It has a very structured set of courses that eventually lead to the Waster of Wine. I started with the certificate and I worked my way up through those courses. I did it quite quickly.

Those days there was a wonderful, elderly wine writer, John Arlott, he was a cricket writer as well, and he found out about me, and was tickled by the idea of me — though I was not the first woman wine writer in England — but here I was this sort of hippie girl writing about wine, and he took a liking to the idea. So he had someone write about me, and that was when I first really began to be noticed as a writer.

In 1979 I wrote an introductory book called The Wine Book. That was the first and last time in my life I thought I knew everything there was to know about wine.

I had a great mentor — Edmund Penning-Rowsell. He was a member of communist party, but he was also a major wine collector. He wrote a column for Wine & Spirit magazine, and was a huge inspiration to me. He knew so much about wine but he never pretended to know it all. He was quite open about something he didn′t know — if there was something that he had never heard of or didn′t know the answer to, he would turn and ask me. That’s such an important aspect of winemanship, or wine-womanship or whatever you want to call it. Being open.

So I wrote that book, and it was nicely reviewed. Hugh Johnson noticed it, and suggested to the London Sunday Times that they take me on as a journalist. in 1980 they did, as a freelancer, and I’ve been self employed ever since.”

In response to the question from someone in the audience of whether she has actually ever made wine:

“I’m deeply deeply ashamed at not ever having got my hands dirty. My excuse is that I was brought up with parents who were mad keen gardeners. They spent nearly every spare moment in the garden messing about with green things. As a result I always saw plants as the enemy.

To that I will add that I’m immensely impractical, and I don′t think I would be very good at making wine at all.”

To my question about whether there was a point at which she felt like she transitioned from being a wine writer to being a wine critic:

“I actually think of myself as a wine writer and not a critic. I don’t think I would ever think about myself as a wine critic. Of course, I do review wines, but I really hate the idea that a wine can be summed up in a score. I see scores as a necessary evil. I put scores in because I know people need to make buying decisions in a hurry. “

To the question about what’s happening with the future of wine writing (or something like that)

“The Internet has made it hugely much easier for people to set themselves up as writers about wine. The internet is absolutely changing things.

My favorite medium now is my web site. I really enjoy it. In fact I’m sitting here realizing that I haven’t fed it for nearly 24 hours and I’m getting… I gotta put some stuff there.

I love my web site and the Internet because it’s so immediate. There’s a community there, and I get feedback. We have to be much more accountable than we ever were before. As traditional journalists, we used to be able to hide behind our perches of our bylines, etc.

I get very little feedback via the Financial Times. I also have a syndicated column that goes out to various papers around the world, and I get very little feedback from those. The one exception is the San Francisco Chronicle. Whenever a column runs there, I get a lot of mail, I guess that’s because it’s San Francisco, and everyone is so Internet savvy, or their site is set up for it.

Those of us having long careers in wine are being challenged by bloggers and I think that’s a good thing.”

To the question of which wine region is off the radar, but up and coming:

“Funny enough, in May Nick and I went to Turkey. There was this strange aspect to the tasting there because I had to taste the wines in front of the producers and talk about them, which was a little uncomfortable. But the wines are really interesting. The exciting thing about them is that they have a bunch of indigenous grape varieties like “emir” that are making very interesting wines. Especially the aromatic white wines from regions like Anatolia. And Istanbul is so cosmopolitan. I felt under-dressed in Istanbul. The people are very hip”

And to the final question “who are three people, living or dead, that she would invite to a wine dinner party — she doesn’t answer the question but shares:

“Oh god! you have to think about who would get on with whom! I like people who make me laugh, really….. The worst sort of person would be the person who tells me what they’ve got in their cellar.”

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

Pit Stop - Deadlines, work, preparation for many things. Will return later this week.

Original post by Alfonso Cevola

At 6:00 am on Friday, the doors opened to Starbucks first “un-Starbucks” store on Capitol Hill in Seattle. It’s called 15th Ave Coffee & Tea and upon first glance, you would never know it was a Starbucks. There isn’t a green siren logo to be found anywhere. The only thing giving away the true identity of the corporate owner are the words “inspired by Starbucks” strategically placed around the

Original post by Robert

At 6:00 am on Friday, the doors opened to Starbucks first “un-Starbucks” store on Capitol Hill in Seattle. It’s called 15th Ave Coffee & Tea and upon first glance, you would never know it was a Starbucks. There isn’t a green siren logo to be found anywhere. The only thing giving away the true identity of the corporate owner are the words “inspired by Starbucks” strategically placed around the

Original post by Robert

Massive coffee replanting launched

The Philippine Coffee Board will begin massive replanting of former coffee plantations with new trees and developing new ones to ensure that the country will regain its dominance of  the world coffee market at the soonest time possible.

To ensure the undisrupted tree planting, the board has also mobilized local government units in various coffee growing areas

Original post by Robert