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Willa Napier Bryan had some Champagne
last Friday night. The Vintage 1995 Amour de Deutz,
with its lemon entrance and biscuity finish, graced
her lips on this special occasion. Her expression
was rather indifferent, in spite of just having tasted
a $149 bottle of Champagne. But then again, she was
only 72-hours old.
Continue on to Marking Time with Wine
A week ago a friend and I were two
of twenty people on a Saturday evening who sat in a
cavernous movie theater watching Mondovino.
Similar to Michael Moore's approach (of Fahrenheit 9/11
fame) to documentary film-making (albeit slightly more
subtle), Jonathan
Nossiter takes aim at the globalization of wine,
the erasure of the little man wine maker, the pressure
to succeed under the critical weight of Robert Parker,
and the seemingly monotonous replies of "micro-oxygenation"
from globetrotting oenologist Michel Rolland. In spite
of the "agenda" of Nossiter, the viewer still
feels the passion that captivates these wine producers,
their devotion to family, and a respect and allegiance
to the land in which their living is made possible.
Sideways
was a harmless glimpse inside the world of wine obsessives,
with another story line thrown in for balance. Mondovino,
with 95% subtitles, is a documentary. It is for vinophiles--winelovers--and
likely won't be fully appreciated by the grocery-store
Chardonnay gulpers. In related news, Napa resident
Bret Lyman is working on another "wine documentary"
called Bottle
Shock, with release date unpublished at this time.
The May & June tasting sheet has
a little over 30 wines listed. Maybe I'm getting soft,
but there wasn't anything I felt strongly against
to place in the dreaded "losers" bracket--I
simply didn't mention them. Perhaps my road rage IS
subsiding afterall. As usual, the emboldened listings
are the faves. Download
the tasting sheet here. MS Word Doc
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"An AWS Summer Intensive"
7:00 - 9:30pm, $59/person
Held at: Signature
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*6 Seats Still Available--More
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7:00 - 9:00pm, $299/person
Held at: Signature
Events Facility, Dunwoody
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"An AWS Summer Intensive"
6:30 - 9:00pm, $59/person
Held at: Signature
Events Facility, Dunwoody
*23 Seats Available--More
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"An AWS Summer Intensive"
6:30 - 9:00pm, $59/person
Held at: Signature
Events Facility, Dunwoody
*23 Seats Available--More
Information |
"An AWS Summer Intensive"
6:30 - 9:00pm, $59/person
Held at: TBA
*23 Seats Available--More
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7:00 - 9:00pm, $299/person
Held at: Signature
Events Facility, Dunwoody
*16 Seats Available--More
Information |
"An AWS Summer Intensive"
6:30 - 9:00pm, $59/person
Held at: TBA
*23 Seats Available--More
Information |
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The May / June Drawing
IceCaters is generously providing a $125 Gift Certificate
for one of their fabulous Ice Creations.
Enter
Here
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The Dump Bucket (formerly
Tips, Tricks & Trivia) |
- Supreme Court Strikes Ban on Wine
Shipments
On May 16th, we all got so excited about what we believed
was equivalent to the fall of the Berlin wall. By the next
day, we realized that not only did the ruling have no impact
on Georgia, but in some states, it might work against them!
Here
is the story in the NY Times. In a related article,
some boys with an Alcoholic Beverage Law Practice have put
together the "Five Frequently Asked Questions About
the Supreme Court's Decision". Read
here
- Carmenere Adventure 2005 Begins
July 4th
Friend and fellow Vina Morande Sales Manager Christian Munoz
resigned his North American duties earlier in the year to
return home to native Chile. What he failed to mention was
that he was going to be the SOLE PILOT on a motorcycle traveling
from Chile to New York. Not kidding. Read
up here.
- Bonjour Gallo
Atlanta Wine School student Emily Mueller contributed this
Time Magazine online article about the Gallo Corporation's
idea to tap into the "mystic" about French wine
without having to actually make a French wine. Confused?
Read
on
- Vintage Port Declared on 2003's
Less than 2% of Port produced gets to become Vintage. In
Portugal, a vintage is declared only when the harvested
grapes and resulting wines are exceptional. On average,
this occurs about three times per decade. The last official
declaration was in 2002 for the highly praised 2000 Vintage.
Read
on
- Kosher Wines Not Just for Passover
More and more those in the Jewish community are discovering
that for a wine to be Kosher, it doesn't have to taste like
Manischewitz--sometimes confused as IHOP syrup. Excellent
Kosher wines are being made outside Israel in California,
Australia, France and elsewhere. Read
on
- Fred Franzia vs. Napa Valley
The brilliant creater of the Charles Shaw "2 Buck Chuck"
phenomenan was recently defeated in appellate court on his
insistence of using "Napa" on a bottle of wine
that didn't actually have Napa wine in it! Well, Fred isn't
one to sit home and pout. He's going to put Napa wine it
AND sell it for $3.99/bottle. More
- ACNielson Says We're Paying More
for Wine
Yes, but it is our choice. As our tastes (and appreciation--from
a wine class no doubt) change, we feel more comfortable
spending more. More
on this story
- Survey: Would You Buy a Wine With
a Screwcap?
With 68% of the votes returned as either "I prefer
a screwcap" or "Doesn't matter to me" it
appears the alternative closure's image is catching up with
is proven effectiveness. Take
the Survey & See Results
- Herb (or is it a weed?) Helps
Curb Drinking Binge
Had to read this one twice to see if it was a spoof or hoax.
It appears to be legit! Link care of wine enthusiast and
fellow Wine South Staffer Peter Rzeszotarski Read
on
- Sensory Analysis of Wine Gets
Far-Fetched
We've all read and coyly take shots at the colorful wine
reviews, "with this wine's primary aroma's of freshly-tilled
spring earth and Hot saddle leather, and secondary notes
of plastic shower curtain and pizza." This well-written
article exposes the "language" of wine. More
here
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