That’s right!  It’s that time of year again - the third Thursday of November - when the 2008 Beaujolais Nouveaus are released.  The first French wines to be released for each vintage year, these wines are supposed to be drunk young, while still at their freshest and fruitiest.  So go out and buy one of those colorful, festive bottles and drink up!  Salut!

Tom Wark, at his excellent blog Fermentation, weighs in on anti-American terroir sentiments.

The aromatic taint of bogus Brunellos that set the operatic debate in motion were, thankfully, put in their place. As were those arguing for a more liberal and “tolerant” (their word) acceptance of wines from the production zones around Montalcino, wines that broke with DOCG provisos. At the same time, no changes were made in the Rosso de Montalcino DOC.

Tolerance is too often confused with a sort of “let us do whatever we want” attitude. Nothing wrong with that, as long as those maverick winemakers weren’t looking to have the system bend to them. Progressive, outside the box thinking can coexist with tradition - it’s not a winner take all proposition. There are templates for such wines all over Italy, and within a stone’s throw of Montalcino are producers who bottle proprietary wines with an IGT stamp…Altesino and Casa dei Neri come to mind. You don’t want to make a Brunello that follows the rules, no problem…just don’t call it Brunello and don’t expect to be tolerated or accepted.

So, from a traditionalist, old school purist a heartfelt rent a car bulgariagrazie mille to those who upheld the correctness of my dessert island wine…now where didI put that ‘97 Silvio
Nardi?

In The Shadows
Seghesio 2006 Barbera d’Alba, DOC, Piemonte
Cataldi Madonna 2006 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, DOC, Abruzzo

Isola:Wines in Isolation
Argiolas 2006 Costiera, Isola dei Nuraghi IGT, Sardegna
Morgante 2006 Nero d’Avola, IGT, Sicilia

Noble Grapes
Vietti 2005 Nebbiolo “Perbacco”, DOC, Piemonte
Villa Carafa 2004 Sannio Aglianico, DOC, Campania

I wonder what kind of President he will for the wine industry?

All I can say, folks is that WE ROCK!

After months of preparation, we debuted our very first super-humongous-extra-special-deluxe wine show.  By all accounts, it was a huge success. Which is good, because I would have been extra-grumpy for MONTHS if it had tanked.

From October 17 - 19, thousands of wine lovers visited our very own wine trade show in lovely (cough, cough) Atlantic City. A few well-connected friends pointed out that our event was better-attended than a similar event held during Philly Mag’s “Philly Wine Week 2008“.

Special thanks to all the wineries & distributors who showed their wines at the festival.  Some of the highlights were Vezer Family Vineyards, Robert Hall Winery, Wonderful Ethnic Imports, American BD Wine Merchants, Castello delle Regine, Terranova Imports, and GrapeVine Imports

During the three-day festival, we offered wine seminars featuring the best and brightest wine educators in the region.  Top speakers included Brian Freedman, David Snyder,  and Frank Cipparone. Every one of there seminars was delivered to a standing room only audience.

While our staff spoke and poured wine to the large trade show audience, our intrepid Beth Case kept the barbarian hordes at the gate. Well, she made sure none of them got in without a wine glass. She’s good like that.

My job during the Premiere Wine Show in Atlantic City –along with stressing about every detail– was to spot the VIPs coming through the front door. I was kept pretty busy, since the event was well attended by representatives from regional wine distributorships, shops, and PR Firms.  We expect a number of the wineries and import companies to be awarded new distribution deals because of the event.

I want to thank everyone, especially the Wine School volunteers, for an incredibly successful show. Now its time to start getting ready for next year….

If any wine distributors or wineries want to be involved at the Wine School’s Premiere Wine Show in 2009, you can email me at keith@vinology.com

Read the pressrelease: http://www.emediaworld.com/press_release/release_detail.php?id=237018

On Friday, November 14th Thom Cardwell will be a contestant in the THE food & wine event in Philly, the Sommelier Smackdown. Previous contestants have included Brian McMahon of Le Bec-Fin, Paul Rodriguez of Tinto, and Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV, among many others.

Thom Cardwell is the executive director of the Philadelphia Film Society, but that is not why he’s competing in the Smackdown.  He also happens to be one of the top food & wine writers in Philly.  He is currently a contributing writer for Philadelphia Gay News, Taste Magazine, and many other publications.

I met Thom a few months back, and we had a blast. I am going to have a great deal of fun as his “rival” in this event. Everyone at the school is hoping some of Thom’s style & class will rub off on me. We’ll see about that.

The winner of this food & wine pairing challenge will be chosen by the audience, whom get to sample all the pairings. To purchase tickets to the Sommelier Smackdown, click here.

Time to open that bottle of Salon 96. I love my home town!

Dear Wino,

I’m writing about a bottle of 1999 Chateau Lafitte Rothschild we have.  In the past we have had wines that we drank before they peaked and other wines we drank after they peaked.

It didn’t happen often but we would kick ourselves when it did happen. So I come to you, oh great wine guru, to see if you might have an idea as to when our 1999 Chateau Lafitte Rothschild might peak.  It’s been stored in a stone basement that stays pretty close to published ideal temperature and humidity.  Any help is appreciated.

Hey Laffy,

I am hesitant to give you a time frame. For one, no one has perfect storage -I have seen people with real wine cellars still store their wines incorrectly- so it is very likely that your wine won’t age as well as it would in a perfect year. Also, 99 was a rather poor year, and not one that ages particularly well…. for a Lafite.

That said, its a kick-ass bottle of wine –one of the best. In a perfect world, that wine would be coming of age just about now and would mature for another twenty years. Realistically, I would drink it within the next two-five years.

Also, be prepared for the worst.  The longer you hold a bottle, the greater the chance of spoilage. Make sure to have a back-up bottle in case your beloved wine turns to poop in the glass. What time do you want me over?

Keith

If you have a wine question, feel free to add it to the comments section of this blogpost.