July 10 2007
God is in the details
I read the July issue of Decanter magazine on my plane trip out to Napa for some work this week. In a curious choice, perhaps inspired even, based on the U.K./Int’l focus of the magazine, is the selection of Al Gore at #48 on the Decanter Top 50 Power List. Undoubtedly, without Linda Murphy’s influence, Gore would have never been chosen. The magazine cites Gore’s influence in bringing global warming to the table as a topic of discussion and its long-term impact on the wine industry. Decanter says,
We were tempted to include God as the arbiter of global warming, but man is responsible for much of the climate change now affecting the world’s winemakers. No winery is immune from its effect, though they can temper it. Even so, the long-term impact will be substantial, meaning the likes of Gore, whose Democrat party may well be back in power in 2008, will need to continue to drive home the message in order for action to be taken. His book,An Inconvenient Truth, has replaced the bible in one Napa Valley hotel-room bedside table, so maybe we were right saying God’s influence is on the wane.
Actually, the hotel that I stay at, Gaia, an eco-hotel that attained LEED certification, is the hotel in question, because I’ve had a copy of An Inconvenient Truth in my hotel room before. Not every room, but several. It’s also incorrect that there’s no bible in the room—a trusty copy of the expected Gideon bible is resident in the nightstand. Interestingly enough, though, in my room this stay the bible is nestled next to a copy of The Teaching of Buddha. I’m not sure where the Dalai Lama comes down on wine within global warming, but Buddha might have it right when he says on page 42 of my handy copy that,
Blossoms come about because of a series of conditions that lead up to their blossoming. Leaves are blown away because a series of conditions lead up to it. Blossoms do not appear independently, nor does a leaf fall of itself, out of its season. So everything has its coming forth and passing away; nothing can be independent without change.
It is the everlasting and unchanging rule of this world that everything is created by a series of causes and conditions and everything disappears by the same rule; everything changes, nothing remains constant.
Rośe: One Notch Up, One Notch Down
Every summer I try iced tea. Every year I come away disappointed that I’m just not a tea guy. But, it seems like I’m on the outside looking in because everybody else drinks iced tea in the summer. I can’t even be cool and order an “Arnold Palmer” when out to lunch. It’s still too tea-y for me.
I’m kind of the same way with Rośe. Man, I’m trying. Everybody is drinking the pink this summer. Rośe wine is, without question, hot. I’ve tried a Syrah Rose, a Merlot Rose and Pinot Rose. I’m just not into it. I hear people say how great it is, what a nice deck wine it is, how it’s a great summer sipper. Maybe I’m not trying the right stuff, but to me it’s a notch less sweet than White Zin with a notch more acid. I’m not a White Zin guy, and sadly, I’m not a Rośe guy, either.
For my money, I’m on the next trend in town, Lambrusco and Moscato d’Asti. If I’m looking for a summer sipper when the thermometer breaks 90 degrees, I’m pulling the cork on a nice demi-sec Lambrusco or Moscato and I think Dr. Vino is with me.
But, in regards to Rose, maybe I’m simply not drinking the right wine. Somebody help give me a pointer to a decent bottle or three that has wide availability (i.e. available in Indianapolis).
The culture of snippetry
If you haven’t taken the current survey at Fermentation, head on over and spend the two minutes it takes to complete. Personally, I’m curious to see the results. Tom is asking a number of questions around the meaning of wine blogs, and it drives at questions of reading habits as well as how readers use the information, touching on blogger wine reviews and more. As an adjunct to this survey, Tom also has a post about the “culture of snippetry” a term he uses to refer to skimming content, the act of reading offline and online content (like blogs) by headline and glance. Here’s where I’m fearful for the results because while most bloggers blog technically correct, for a culture of snippetry, I’ve stuck to the columnist model, in long form, with a beginning, a middle and an end, and occasionally a point. What do you think—short form or long form in blogs—newsy analysis or pot-stirring opinion?
To me, this is a most important question because while our print media articles are getting shorter and shorter, our televised news is moving towards more contextual backstory. Blogging sits somewhere in the middle of this. If you made it to the end of this post (all 860 + words of it) Leave a comment here or at Tom’s post with your thoughts on information consumption.
Posted in, News, Notes & Dusty Bottle Items. Permalink | Comments (3) |
Give the Robert Sinskey 2006 Vin Gris of Pinot Noir a try—I love the stuff! (And no, it’s not sweet.) It’s sold out at the winery, but try http://www.wine-searcher.com.
If you don’t like it, you’ll just have to accept that you don’t like pink wine. I’ve had to do the same with olives, which I’ve tried to like, but just can’t.
Dr. Vino is with you on that one! But Dr. Vino also likes rose, particularly Provencal rose. But why is Dr. Vino talking about himself in the third person? He feels like Bob Dole!
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Nice meeting you recently in Napa at IBG.
It also took me a while to get excited about Rose ...but I found a great one from Israel - Galil Mountain Rose - you should be able to find the 2005 in Indie.
Richard