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by Jim L. Ellingson

South America Is on the Rise By Dave McIntyre Wednesday, September 23, 2009 I consider myself part of the "Anything but Chardonnay" crowd, at least until I taste a really great chardonnay. And I have tasted some fine ones recently that might persuade me to give up my skepticism toward this grape. They're not from Burgundy (which gets an automatic pass from the ABC crowd, anyway) and not from California, either. The chardonnays that excite me these days come from the Limari Valley of northern Chile. This is a region to watch: It could become the world's next source of consistently good chardonnay. Vines were first planted in the Limari (pronounced lee-mar-EE) Valley in the 16th century, but only in the past decade or so have some of Chile's great wine companies exploited this mountainous region for its grape-growing potential. Morning fog rolls in off the Pacific Ocean, much as it does in some of California's best chardonnay regions, and retreats in the afternoon, allowing the grapes to bask in the late-day sun. That helps maintain acidity and structure in the wine while allowing optimum ripeness. The Concha y Toro wine empire led the way in this region with its Maycas del Limari label; other familiar names followed, including Santa Rita. Limari is only part of the story, however. For new and exciting wines from South America, look also for bracing sauvignon blanc from Chile's Elqui or Leyda valleys, or stellar pinot noir and riesling from Bio-Bio, several hundred miles south of the capital, Santiago. In Argentina, where Mendoza defines value with malbec, look for intensely colored and spiced malbec from Patagonia in the south or exotically flavored torrontes from Salta or San Juan in the north. These are the emerging wine regions of South America, where established wineries and foreign investors are producing high-quality, value-priced bottles that are worth searching out. Products from Concha y Toro, one of Chile's oldest wineries, span the spectrum from basic jug wines to Almaviva, a rare and expensive cabernet-based blend that is a joint venture with Baron Philippe Rothschild of Bordeaux. The company's Maycas del Limari winery is setting the standard in the Limari region with a top-notch chardonnay, an elegant, supple syrah and a spicy, intense cabernet sauvignon. Farther south, in Bio-Bio, warm days and cool nights provide optimum conditions for producing ripe wines with vibrant acidity, ideal for Riesling and pinot noir, for example. Cono Sur, a popular value-priced brand, makes an excellent Riesling from Bio-Bio that would be great with Asian foods or delightful by itself. Agustinos pinot noir is crisp and lean, almost deceptively light in color and weight, with a firm core of acidity and fruit underneath. In Argentina, Mendoza still reigns supreme for quality and value. But farther north, winemakers are cultivating even higher-elevation vineyards in the Salta province, including its Cafayate Valley, and producing torrontes of exceptional quality. Torrontes can be quite flowery, which is attractive to some, including me. But in Salta it achieves firm acidity and structure that give it even more interest. Down south in Patagonia, reds -- especially Argentina's favorite grape, malbec -- exhibit intense color and spice. There are not enough of them yet to give Mendoza a run for its money, but the quality makes wines from other emerging regions worth seeking out. Dave McIntyre can be reached through his Web site, http://www.dmwineline.com, or at food(a)washpost.com. Recommendations Wednesday, September 23, 2009 Maycas del Limari Chardonnay 2008 ** 1/2 Limari Valley, Chile, $26 Enticing, racy yet sophisticated flavors, perfectly balanced with a long finish. Republic National: available in the District at Broad Branch Market, Georgetown Wine & Spirits, Harris Teeter locations. Available in Maryland at Rip's Wine and Spirit Shop, Bowie; on the list at Volt in Frederick. Maycas del Limari Syrah 2008 ** 1/2 Limari Valley, Chile, $26 A terrific New World-style syrah, with new oak polishing nice ripe blackberry fruit and moderate (14 percent) alcohol. (Also good: the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon.) Republic National: available in the District at Georgetown Wine & Spirits, Harris Teeter locations. Agustinos Reserva Pinot Noir 2008 ** Bio-Bio, Chile, $15 (Great Value) Delightful; in weight, body and texture it resembles some of the lighter, more delicate Burgundies of the Cote d'Or, although the aromas are spicier, with hints of eucalyptus and mint. Whole Foods Market recently featured this wine at $11, making it a terrific value. Country Vintner: available in the District at Whole Foods Market P Street; available in Maryland at Mills Fine Wine & Spirits in Annapolis, Chesapeake Gourmet in Queenstown; available in Virginia at Whole Foods Market locations in Fairfax, Alexandria and Reston. Santa Rita Medalla Real Chardonnay 2008 ** Limari Valley, Chile, $18 (Great Value) Excellent, with impressive depth and balance, and a core of mango and passion fruit shining through a halo of oak. Republic National: available in the District at Sheffield Wine & Liquor Shoppe. Callia Alta Torrontes 2008 * 1/2 Valle de Tulum, San Juan, Argentina, $9 (Great Value) Racy and flowery, a fine aperitif or partner for slightly spicy foods. The malbec also is good. Republic National: available in the District at Burka's Wine & Liquor, Morris Miller Wine & Liquor, Press Liquors, Riverside Liquor, S&R Liquors; on the list at Cashion's Eat Place, Grill From Ipanema. Valle Perdido Malbec 2006 * 1/2 Neuquen, Patagonia, Argentina, $16 (Great Value) Deep color and jammy blueberry fruit tinged enticingly with mint give this wine a decidedly New World accent. It should appeal to fans of Australian shiraz. Good acidity prevents it from becoming sappy. Nice Legs: available in the District at Chat's Liquors, D'Vines, De Vinos; on the list at Perry's. Available in Maryland at Cork & Fork in Bethesda, Frederick Wine House. Available in Virginia at Unwined in Alexandria, the Wine Seller in Herndon, the Wine House in Fairfax. Cono Sur Riesling 2008 * Bio-Bio, Chile, $9 (Great Value) A nice, dry Riesling, good as an aperitif or with seafood. The 2009 vintage is coming soon and will taste a bit racier for its youth. Both are fine. Bacchus: available in the District at Capitol Supreme Market, Magruder's, Paul's of Chevy Chase, U Street Mini Mart; on the list at Heritage India. Available in Maryland at Mount Washington Wine Co. in Baltimore, Calvert Discount Liquors in Cockeysville. Vinedo de los Vientos "Estival" 2008 * Atlantida, Uruguay, $15 This is a fun blend of Gew?rztraminer, chardonnay and moscato bianco, featuring litchi and other tropical flavors with a hint of sweetness. Uruguay Imports: on the list in the District at Mio. Available in Maryland at the Wine Bin in Ellicott City; on the list at Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] 2007: You're the One That I Want

by Russell McCandless

For my fellow New World pinot noir fans (most of us like Burgundy too), I offer the following, published under the above title in the Pinot File. This eminent on-line newsletter of all things pinot (primarily U.S. and emphasizing California) is authored by Dr. Rusty Gaffney (www.princeofpinot.com <http://www.princeofpinot.com/> ), who is a great person with whom to share lunch, conversation and a glass of wine, and an all-around prince of a guy. Drives a Corvette, too. Concerning wine styles, a matter of considerable concern to pinotfiles, I would describe Rusty as potentially tolerant but not a seeker of the higher-alcohol, plusher sort of wines. I have NOT, that I can remember, seen him favorably reviewing (just to pick two examples out of the air) wines from Loring or Kosta Browne. But he unashamedly likes California pinot, as I do, and much of that carries a degree or so of alcohol more than Burgundies do. Here's Rusty: "The economic slump has affected us all, and the prices of good Pinot Noir make it seem like Pinot Noir isn't so much a wine as a drink for the privileged few. The timing is unfortunate because the 2007 vintage Pinot Noirs from California are the best ever statewide. James Laube wrote in a recent issue of the Wine Spectator, 'Now comes 2007, offering the greatest assortment of outstanding wines in the 25 years I've been tasting and writing about Golden State Pinot.' I echo his sentiments completely. "The time to stock your cellar is now because the next two vintages will probably not provide the wide-ranging quality of the 2007 vintage. 2008 was a vintage from hell with many regions suffering severe frost at bloom, periods of intense heat, and smoke taint. The grapes from a number of vineyards were either not made into wine or the resulting wine was sold off in bulk. 2009 has presented its own challenges. I recently returned from harvest work in the Russian River Valley. The off and on heat has shortened the growing season for Pinot Noir. Grapes last week were reaching optimum Brix for picking, but were lacking in phenolic, seed and stem maturity. Harvest had been moved up 10-14 days in a number of warmer-sited vineyards. That said, 2009 should fare better than 2008. "How can you make Pinot Noir your daily drinker, your house wine, without taking out a loan? Pinot Noir has ridden the Sideways wave to unprecedented popularity and prices have escalated in step, creating disdain in the minds of some wine drinkers. Fortunately, there are plenty of Pinot Noirs that are quite affordable and some of these can be very, very good. I have tried to feature a number of wines under $40, even under $20 that you can happily dance with. The task of choosing among the vast number of value-priced Pinot Noirs is challenging as evidenced by the 2,843 wineries in California, many of which produce Pinot Noir. Nearly 30,000 acres are planted to Pinot Noir now in California, double what it was only ten years ago. Despite the daunting number of choices, picking a good Pinot Noir has actually become much easier, driven by the improvements in viticulture and winemaking over the last several years. "The 2007 vintage of California Pinot Noir is the one to buy, the one that I, and most assuredly, you will want." [Russ again.] You will do well, imho, to take Rusty's advice to heart. I've tasted many 2007's, and look forward to tasting quite a few more this coming Fall and Winter. The inexpensive ones outperform their humble origins. The serious ones are startlingly good as young wines, with the sort of balance and structural cut that indicate they will age superbly. Despite the popularity of the grape and stellar quality of the 2007 vintage, many of these wines are being discounted significantly in the current economy. Happy bargain hunting. R.

16 years, 2 months

[wine] fwd Blue is the New Black

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI/FYE September 20, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Blue Is the New Black By MAUREEN DOWD WASHINGTON Women are getting unhappier, I told my friend Carl. .How can you tell?. he deadpanned. .It.s always been whine-whine-whine.. Why are we sadder? I persisted. .Because you care,. he replied with a mock sneer. .You have feelings.. Oh, that. In the early .70s, breaking out of the domestic cocoon, leaving their mothers. circumscribed lives behind, young women felt exhilarated and bold. But the more women have achieved, the more they seem aggrieved. Did the feminist revolution end up benefiting men more than women? According to the General Social Survey, which has tracked Americans. mood since 1972, and five other major studies around the world, women are getting gloomier and men are getting happier. Before the .70s, there was a gender gap in America in which women felt greater well-being. Now there.s a gender gap in which men feel better about their lives. As Arianna Huffington points out in a blog post headlined .The Sad, Shocking Truth About How Women Are Feeling.: .It doesn.t matter what their marital status is, how much money they make, whether or not they have children, their ethnic background, or the country they live in. Women around the world are in a funk.. (The one exception is black women in America, who are a bit happier than they were in 1972, but still not as happy as black men.) Marcus Buckingham, a former Gallup researcher who has a new book out called .Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently,. says that men and women passed each other midpoint on the graph of life. .Though women begin their lives more fulfilled than men, as they age, they gradually become less happy,. Buckingham writes in his new blog on The Huffington Post, pointing out that this darker view covers feelings about marriage, money and material goods. .Men, in contrast, get happier as they get older.. Buckingham and other experts dispute the idea that the variance in happiness is caused by women carrying a bigger burden of work at home, the .second shift.. They say that while women still do more cooking, cleaning and child-caring, the trend lines are moving toward more parity, which should make them less stressed. When women stepped into male- dominated realms, they put more demands . and stress . on themselves. If they once judged themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens and dinner parties, now they judge themselves on looks, kids, hubbies, gardens, dinner parties . and grad school, work, office deadlines and meshing a two-career marriage. .Choice is inherently stressful,. Buckingham said in an interview. .And women are being driven to distraction.. One area of extreme distraction is kids. .Across the happiness data, the one thing in life that will make you less happy is having children,. said Betsey Stevenson, an assistant professor at Wharton who co-wrote a paper called .The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness.. .It.s true whether you.re wealthy or poor, if you have kids late or kids early. Yet I know very few people who would tell me they wish they hadn.t had kids or who would tell me they feel their kids were the destroyer of their happiness.. The more important things that are crowded into their lives, the less attention women are able to give to each thing. Add this to the fact that women are hormonally more complicated and biologically more vulnerable. Women are much harder on themselves than men. They tend to attach to other people more strongly, beat themselves up more when they lose attachments, take things more personally at work and pop far more antidepressants. .Women have lives that become increasingly empty,. Buckingham said. .They.re doing more and feeling less.. Another daunting thing: America is more youth and looks obsessed than ever, with an array of expensive cosmetic procedures that allow women to be their own Frankenstein Barbies. Men can age in an attractive way while women are expected to replicate . and Restylane . their 20s into their 60s. Buckingham says that greater prosperity has made men happier. And they are also relieved of bearing sole responsibility for their family finances, and no longer have the pressure of having women totally dependent on them. Men also tend to fare better romantically as time wears on. There are more widows than widowers, and men have an easier time getting younger mates. Stevenson looks on the bright side of the dark trend, suggesting that happiness is beside the point. We.re happy to have our newfound abundance of choices, she said, even if those choices end up making us unhappier. A paradox, indeed. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] [wine@wineloverspage.com: 90 points? What's the point?]

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI/FYE. ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- X-Authentication-Warning: winex2100.cniweb.net: nobody set sender to bounce(a)wineloverspage.com using -f To: Jim Ellingson <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> Subject: 90 points? What's the point? From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> Date: Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:44:35 -0400 X-LibVersion: 3.3.1_4 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-MimeOLE: Produced by SwiftMailer 3.3.1_4 X-mid: amVsbGluZ3NAbWUudW1uLmVkdSAsIG0yMw== X-Mailer: AC Mailer X-Greylist: IP, sender and recipient auto-whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu [128.101.142.227]); Fri, 11 Sep 2009 16:21:52 -0500 (CDT) X-Spam-Score: 0.001 () HTML_MESSAGE X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.57 on 128.101.142.227 THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Friday, Sept. 11, 2009 ________________________________________________________________________ FEATURED WINE BOOK Buy "The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass" through our Amazon.com link for $32.36, a 28 percent discount from the $44.95 list price. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0313376506/robingarrswineloA/ ________________________________________________________________________ 90 POINTS? WHAT'S THE POINT? I was browsing my local wine shop the other day, looking for a good, reasonably priced red for dinner, and an interesting Southern Italian Aglianico blend caught my eye. But then I saw the advertising card dangling proudly below the display bottle, bragging about the wine's 90-point rating from Robert M. Parker Jr.'s Wine Advocate. Well, excuuuuuse me! Call me an exception to the rule that high scores sell wine, but I've never been an enthusiastic, er, advocate for rating wine by the numbers. I'm not so smitten by the purported romance of wine that I can't get used to screwcaps or even good wine dispensed from a box, when product quality and value make the sale. But reducing wine to numbers turns it from a joy for the senses into something more like chemistry for me. Moreover - although there are some exceptions to this rule - my tastes generally depart from the Parker and Wine Spectator crowd to the extent that their highly rated wines scream "Danger, Will Robinson!" to me. Show me a 90-plus rating, and I'll expect to find a big, alcoholic, fruit-forward and oak-laden blockbuster wine in the bottle. The more subtle, earthy and food-friendly wines that I love tend to grab scores in the 80s from the usual suspects, and that's fine with me. It keeps the points-chasers from grabbing up "my" wine. So the other day, while browsing through a recently arrived wine book of unusual intelligence and charm, I was delighted to discover that the authors - the Australian father-and-son team of Evan and Brian Mitchell - don't think much more of rating by the numbers than I do. I'll review their new book, The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass, in more detail before the holiday book-buying season. But on today's point, I thought you'd enjoy this excerpt, which shows an eclectic, idiosyncratic approach to the world of wine that's a long stretch from the usual recitation of appellations and varieties and vinification and terroir. In a world of books about wine science, it's a book for liberal arts majors, and that's me. Here's what the Mitchells have to say about points. What do you think? "It's a shame today that scores rule the way they do. Taking wine instruction "by the numbers," so to speak, is a dry and didactic kind of learning. There's little soul in it. Taking wine instruction rather from an expert's detailed tasting notes is akin to the method of the Socratic dialogues, the 'maiuetic' method of teaching, described by the philosopher Simon Blackburn as 'the method of the midwife, merely assisting [them] to give birth to their own understanding.' ... "Still, scores will endure because most people would riot if they were taken away. Well, perhaps not riot, but they would abandon in droves those publications that so dared, until a new breed of number-crunchers arose to fill the vacuum that nature abhors." Hmm. "Abandon in droves"? In quite a few years writing about wine, I've generally avoided points scores. Perhaps that's why I am not rich. But you have to admire, if not embrace, a wine book that in a single long paragraph invokes Socrates, the philosopher Simon Blackburn and "maiuetic" teaching ... yet remains immensely readable. It's not a book for everyone, and it's not inexpensive even with the Amazon.com discount. But I'm finding it irresistible, at least in small, daily doses, not unlike a ritual glass of wine. If you think it's your style - perhaps you took up English Lit, or maybe Philosophy, in college - then I recommend it. The Psychology of Wine: Truth and Beauty by the Glass is available through our Amazon.com link for $32.36, a 28 percent discount from the $44.95 list price. Click to view details or order from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0313376506/robingarrswineloA/ As always, purchases made by using this exact link will return a small commission to WineLoversPage.com, helping us maintain our online publications (and this E-letter) without charge. Still wondering about that Southern Italian red? I expressed concern to John Johnson, the genial proprietor of my neighborhood wine shop, The Wine Rack in Louisville, and he reassured me. Sure enough, it's one of those exceptions that "proves" a rule: Although it's as nearly opaque as you'd expect from a 90-pointer, its fruit, licorice and subtle earthy flavors are intriguing but subtly balanced, with alcohol held to a very rational 13 percent. Good, mouth-watering acidity and soft tannins make it a fine food wine. I'd give it a 90 myself, if I gave out numbers. ________________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S TASTING REPORT FIDELIS 2005 AGLIANICO DEL TABURNO ($14.99) A blend of 90% Aglianico with a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon and a dash of Merlot, produced by Cantina del Taburno, this is a clear, very dark blackish-purple wine showing almost a patent-leather look in the glass. Pleasant aromas blend black cherry and a scent somewhere between fennel and licorice on the aroma scale. Ripe cherry-berry fruit and subtle earthiness is well balanced by tart, food-friendly acidity, with soft tannins adding a touch of astringency in the long finish. Very good wine and a good value, showing good balance and complexity. U.S. importer: Vintner Select, Mason, Ohio. (Sept. 9, 2009) FOOD MATCH: This balanced, acidic red met its natural match in a locally produced rib eye steak, pepper-crusted and medium rare, natural grass- fed beef from Dreamcatcher Farm in Kentucky. Showing its versatility, the leftovers went very well indeed with fried chicken for lunch a couple of days later. WEB LINK: One of its U.S. importers has a detailed fact sheet about Cantina del Taburno on this page, from which you can find a link to the Taburno Aglianico and other wines. http://www.skurnikwines.com/prospects.cgi?rm=view_prospect_detail&prospect_… FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Look for vendors and compare prices for Fidelis Aglianico del Taburno on Wine- Searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Fidelis%2bTaburno/-/-/-/USD/A?referring_s… ________________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE If you have questions, comments or ideas to share about today's article or wine in general, you're always welcome to drop by our online WineLovers Discussion Group, the Internet's first and still the most civil online community. To find our forums, click: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/index.php Discussions are open for public viewing, but you must register to post. Registration is free and easy; we ask only that you join following our Real Names Real Format system, using your real name in the format "John Doe" or "John D". Anonymous, cryptic or first-name-only registrations are discarded without notice. Once your registration has been approved, which usually happens quickly, you'll be able to participate in all our online wine, food and travel forums. To contact me by E-mail, write wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. ________________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTIONS AND ADMINISTRIVIA Unsubscribe: We're sorry if you must leave us, but simply click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of your Email edition to be instantly removed from the mailing list. Subscribe to this Email edition (free): http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor WineLoversPage.com RSS Feed (free): http://www.wineloverspage.com/rss/ Wine Advisor Archives: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor2/archives.php Sponsorship Opportunities: For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com ________________________________________________________________________ To Unsubscribe, please click here : http://www.wineloverspage.com/12all/box.php?funcml=unsub2&nl=2&mi=23&email=… ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] [fpetters@celinecompany.com: Vandalia Street Press goes to the Midtown Market]

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI, Fred and Kim at the MTGMarket. ----- Forwarded message from Fred Petters <fpetters(a)celinecompany.com> ----- User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/10.1.4.030702.0 Date: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:07:15 -0500 Subject: Vandalia Street Press goes to the Midtown Market From: Fred Petters <fpetters(a)celinecompany.com> To: first mondays at the commodore <fpetters(a)celinecompany.com> X-Spam-Score: 0 () X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.57 on 128.101.142.227 Vandalia Street Press goes to the Midtown Market Saturday September 12. It¹s true. We¹ll be there selling our letterpress greeting cards. We have several new cards this week, that no-one, and I mean no-one has seen yet. Except for Kim and me. Also, we¹ll be selling little notebooks, hand made by Kim. Black covers, ultra cool. Stamped on the cover. Think of these as sort of a small journal. In addition, a very good reason to go to the market is because it was written up last week in the big Minneapolis paper as being one of the top markets in the country. I would agree. This time of year, the market is flush with all kinds of wonderful things: summer squash; zucchini¹s of all sizes, shapes and colors; tomatoes big, small, organic & heirloom; potatoes; apples; corn; beans; peas; carrots white, purple and of course carrot colored carrots; berries; honey; eggs; lamb; beef; pork; chicken; red bells, green, purple and yellow too; bread -- the best bread in town by far; onions; leeks; different varieties of garlic; herbs for your buddy Herb and you; and it goes on like that. And it is all fresh, fresh, fresh and grown and produced by local folks. So, it is with great enthusiasm I look forward to seeing some of you. At the very least stop by to say hello. Sincerely, Fred ps there has been much confusion about where the Midtown Market is. For sure, it is not the Midtown Global Market in the old Sears Building on Lake and Chicago. No it is not. It is the Midtown Farmers Market held outdoors on the SW corner of Lake and Hiawatha right next to the light rail station. For directions and more information: http://www.midtownfarmersmarket.org/index.html -- Celine Countryman Vandalia Street Press 984 Saint Clair Ave Saint Paul, MN 55105 US 866/981-0980 toll free US 651/294-0980 local 651/641-0980 fax celinecountryman.com ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] Norton

by Jim L. Ellingson

"Screw ZAP, Go NAP!" She's Just Wild About Norton A Forgotten Grape Wins a Champion By Catherine Cheney Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 9, 2009 The first time Jennifer McCloud tasted a wine made of Norton grapes, "it blew my mind," says the owner of Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg. "And when I found out it was native to Virginia, I thought, 'Oh, man. I have got to be a part of this.' " Now her vineyards are home to the largest amount of Norton acreage in the world, and McCloud, 55, who trademarked the phrase "Norton, the Real American Grape!," is working to restore this grape to a position of eminence. There's just one problem with McCloud's campaign: These days, Norton is not universally beloved. Virginia winemakers are growing Norton grapes, either because they enjoy the deep red color and fruity, Spanish-red taste or because they appreciate how well they grow despite tough climate and soil conditions. But others argue that Norton should not be the marketing focus of Virginia wine country because, as the basis of a love-it-or-hate-it kind of wine, it lacks the widespread appeal and international recognition of, say, Viognier. There was a time when Norton was better received. After Daniel Norton (1794-1892) first grew the grapes on his Richmond farm, his wine won such awards as Best Red Wine of All Nations at the 1873 World's Fair in Vienna, according to the London Gazette. But Virginia's Prohibition, which preceded the nation's by several years, brought Norton production to a halt. "Then, after Prohibition, it was like they had a list. 'Norton: Tough to start, slow to grow. All right, next!' " says McCloud. "And it got left out, which is a shame." Norton gained popularity and acreage in Missouri, where it was designated the official state grape. "We need to give Missouri credit for keeping it alive," McCloud says. Along with other varieties, she planted six acres of Norton in 1998; now Norton vines cover 40 acres. But McCloud wants to spread the word that Norton's true roots lie in Virginia, not Missouri, and that the native grape is uniquely American. "That's why 'Real' is italicized" in the slogan, she said as she made the rounds at her vineyard on a hot summer weekend in August, checking on her grapes, including the Nortons in the nursery. "It's kind of a little dig on zinfandel. Norton is the real American grape, not the impostor." McCloud says zinfandel, a European grape, tends to have very high sugar development, as do many in California. In her opinion, that results in unbalanced and awkward wine with high alcohol content. She talks about her "cheeky" idea to create a Norton lovers' group modeled after the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP). It would be called NAP, with this potential marketing slogan: "Is zinfandel putting you to sleep? Try Norton." Because Norton is native to Virginia, it is resistant to many of the diseases that threaten other varietals, and the vines can thrive without the drainage other grapes demand. "It's an absolute joy in the vineyard," she says. Under a tasting tent, which sat outside the tasting room where numerous awards for her Norton and Viognier wines were on display, McCloud took a lingering sip of her Sarah's Patio Red, a 100 percent Norton wine with a deep red color. She is a powerful, confidant woman with an outsize personality, prone to wearing wide-brimmed hats and monitoring the vineyard with a few of her 30 dogs (from the pound or rescue groups) trailing behind. "Norton grapes produce wines with pronounced character that are going to be out of the norm or off the experience chart for most people," she noted as the guests sniffed, sipped and swished from their Chrysalis wineglasses. Early-20-somethings who had come with their parents liked the earthiness of the 2005 Norton Locksley Reserve even after identifying themselves as white-wine fans. Tasters noted the fruitiness of the Patio Red; they could see serving it chilled with burgers or hot dogs. And that is just what some winemakers and drinkers dislike: the strong (some would say too strong) fruity character. John Delmare, owner of Rappahannock Vineyards in Huntly, calls Norton "unbalanced." "Cotton candy, bubble gum and earth don't necessarily sound like they should be in the same product together," he said. "I think Virginia winemakers make the best Viogniers in the world, so if I'm going to spend time and energy nationally and internationally, I'm going to focus on the Viognier." Jim Law, owner of Linden Vineyards in Linden, said that although Norton "makes for a nice story," most people in the wine business -- himself included -- turn up their noses at the mention of it. "Frankly, I don't like Norton," he said. "I think the aromas are real bubble gummy and tutti-frutti, and the tannins are real green and hard, and the acidity is out of balance." Kristin Heydt, tasting room manager at Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, says the flavor combination in Norton wines reflects the American heritage. "It is truly an American palate," said Heydt, who added that those who prefer white wine tend to enjoy Norton wine. "Ours has a confectionary sweet aroma, like toasted marshmallows, and it is smoky at the same time." Barrel Oak makes a red wine and a port, which Heydt said makes for a better use of Norton. McCloud said she aims to create Norton converts out of people who are hesitant to try the wine. "One soul at a time," she said, pouring a taste of her favorite grape into the five wineglasses at the tasting table and preparing to tell its story. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] Chewed, then brewed. Chicha

by Jim L. Ellingson

This is more beer than wine I suppose. September 9, 2009 Chew It Up, Spit It Out, Then Brew. Cheers! By JOYCE WADLER Rehoboth Beach, Del. SAM CALAGIONE, the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, has a taste for exotic brews. There is Midas Touch, created from sediment found on drinking vessels in the tomb of King Midas in Turkey, and Chateau Jiahu, inspired by trace ingredients from a 9,000-year-old dig in China. But his latest seemed extreme, even for an extreme brewer. He planned on making a batch of chicha, a traditional Latin American corn beer. And in order to follow an authentic Peruvian method as closely as possible, the corn would be milled and moistened in the chicha maker.s mouth. In other words, they spit in the beer. .You need to convert the starches in the corn into fermentable sugars,. the always entertaining Mr. Calagione said by phone from his headquarters in Rehoboth Beach. .One way is through the malting process. But another way . there are natural enzymes in human saliva and by chewing on corn, whether they understood the science of it, ancient brewers through trial and error learned that the natural enzymes in saliva would convert the starch in corn into sugar, so it would ferment. It may sound a little unsavory. .... A little? .The fact is that this step happens before you brew the beer, so it.s completely sterile,. he continued. .It.s boiled for over an hour.. Won.t it take an awful lot of people to create a commercial beer? .We.re going to have an archaeologist and historians and brewers sitting around and chewing 20 pounds of this purple Peruvian corn,. he said. .You kind of chew it in your mouth with your saliva, then push with your tongue to the front of your teeth so that you make these small cakes out of it, then lay them on flat pans and let them sit for 12 hours in the sun or room temperature. That.s when the enzymes are doing their work of converting the starches in that purple corn.. Dogfish.s best selling beer is 60-Minute IPA, an India pale ale. But since its brewery opened in 1995, Dogfish has made a name for itself with storied, unknown brews. (Its slogan: .Off-centered stuff for off-centered people..) .Liquid time capsules,. Mr. Calagione sings. Mr. Calagione hoped to make about 10 kegs of chicha, which would be available only in his Rehoboth Beach pub, Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats. He was confident that his team would be able to process the 20 pounds of corn his recipe required in about an hour. On an August evening, at 6, I joined Mr. Calagione at his pub, a few blocks from the beach. The restaurant was packed with craft-beer devotees, many of whom had traveled from out of state. A large window between the restaurant bar and the small brewhouse was covered with newspaper. .We want to keep it quiet,. Mr. Calagione said. .The last thing we want is some guy who came in from Ohio sitting there with his $18 crab cakes, sees a bunch of adults spitting in their hands.. .Bunch of adults,. overstated it. Only two people had shown up: Dr. Patrick E. McGovern, the scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Clark Erickson, an associate professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. McGovern was the force behind Midas Touch beer and has a book on ancient brewing, .Uncorking the Past,. coming out next month. Dr. Erickson studies agricultural systems of pre-Hispanic farmers in the Amazon region of Bolivia. He brought along a wooden goblet called a kero, a traditional drinking vessel in the Andes. Neither man had actually seen anyone using the spit method to make chicha, but they.ve drunk a lot of chicha and they.re pretty sure the method is being used in South America. The three men took their seats on upturned plastic pickle buckets in the brewhouse. Beside them was a large container of milled, dried Peruvian corn kernels, which despite their purple skin are a dusty yellow white inside. As befitting a bold craftsman, Mr. Calagione took the first chomp, grabbing a small handful of corn and plopping it into his mouth. A small puff of flour escaped his lips. Mr. Calagione choked, concentrated and then chewed. After a few minutes, he removed a gravelly, purple lump from his mouth and put it on the tray. It resembled something a cat owner might be familiar with, if kitty litter came in purple. The professors cautiously followed suit, taking smaller amounts. I did the same, in the time-honored journalistic practice of verifying the obvious: chewing milled, dried corn is like chewing uncooked oatmeal. Mr. Calagione called for water, but drinking didn.t seem to help. .It doth thoak aw the moisthture out of your mawff,. Mr. Calagione said choking. Mr. Erickson saw another problem: .Ideally, it would be half the size of the grind. In the Andes you use a rocker mill, mortar and pestle.. Mr. Calagione sent to the kitchen for a Cuisinart and added water to the ground corn. The drone of the Cuisinart, combined with the chewers. problems enunciating while dried meal sucked moisture from their mouths, made accuracy challenging, but I.m fairly sure Mr. Calagione, who did much of the chewing, said the following: .I fwy to thew id foroughly to make thaw I haf enuff to weth it aw thwoo.. .Would it be bad if I thed we bit off maw than we could thew? Heh, heh.. At the end of two hours, there were but two trays of salivated corn. We took a break for dinner in the pub. At 9:30 p.m., it was back to the brew room. A weigh-in of the larger tray showed but 14 ounces of salivated corn. .It.s dismal, I.m not going to lie to you,. Mr. Calagione said. .I.d say everybody is deeply, unpleasantly surprised at how labor intensive and palate fatiguing this stuff has turned out to be.. Mr. Calagione said he would call in his staff to help. .I.m going to be the Tom Sawyer of chicha production,. he said. .I.m going to have a whole lot of purple painted fences. I.m going to pay $20, make that $25 a person, to mass produce chicha.. That brought in one more chewer . and from a brewing point of view, the meter was running. The two experts were now exhausted. Mr. Calagione, bent over his bowl, was stuffing larger handfuls of purple meal into his mouth. His hands and mouth were stained purple, purple meal was stuck on the outside of his mouth. He exhorted his chewers to keep chewing. .I want at least the next fawty-five minutes of yaw best wouk,. he said. .I can.t imagine how they ever did it,. Mr. McGovern said to Mr. Erickson. .It.s the flour in your mouth,. Mr. Erickson said. .Fwin waaaah!!!!,. Mr. Calagione shouted. .What?. Mr. Erickson asked. .It.s better if you drink water,. Mr. Calagione said. .I take a drink of water before every time I do it. It.s not as pummeling on my gag reflex.. At 11:02, even Mr. Calagione had to call it quits. .I feel like I just tongue kissed everyone in this room,. he said, getting up. The salivated corn output for the evening was 7 pounds, significantly less than the 20 Mr. Calagione had planned. He had a sore in his mouth. He was also forced to reconsider the commercial possibilities of chicha. .The 20 pounds that we were hoping for was going to go into a five-barrel batch,. Mr. Calagione said. .If we went to production, the smallest tank would be 200 barrels.. He did the math. .We.d need 40 times this much. We would have to chew 800 pounds of this.. Nonetheless, the next day, the group continued with the brew, using unsalivated corn to make up the difference. As the ingredients of the traditional recipe they were using included 190 pounds of barley and 150 pounds of yellow corn, as well as 30 pounds of strawberries, a cynic might consider the amount of salivated corn negligible in any arena other than marketing. Ten days later, four bottles of chicha arrived in New York from the Dogfish brewery. The color was cloudy pink; the flavor was mild and vaguely fruity. But experts were required for a real test. The musicians of Agua Clara, an Andean band whose members come from Peru, Chile, Ecuador and Japan (hey, it.s New York), were asked to weigh in. They were playing in Times Square on a hot day last week. They smiled broadly as the cool chicha was poured. Then they tasted it and three made faces. .This is not chicha,. Angel Marin (Ecuador) and two others said, almost simultaneously. .It tastes like beer,. said Yanko Valdes (Chile). .It.s supposed to be sweeter,. said Martin Estel (Peru). .It.s not bad though.. Asked about the chewing and spitting method, Mr. Marin said that it was .old school . in the jungle.. He also made a suggestion: .You want chicha, you should go to Queens, or any Peruvian or Chilean restaurant.. -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] Vaynerchuk vs Robinson

by Jim L. Ellingson

September 9, 2009 The Pour Pop Goes the Critic By ERIC ASIMOV WHEN the refined British wine writer Jancis Robinson joined the frenetic Gary Vaynerchuk last fall on his video blog Wine Library TV it was as if Helen Mirren had shown up on an episode of .Dog the Bounty Hunter.. As Mr. Vaynerchuk began shouting his greeting into the camera as if he were hawking cap snafflers at 3 in the morning, the ever game Ms. Robinson could not help but look appalled. But she hung in there, and together they began tasting wine in the informal studio above Wine Library, his family.s wine shop in Springfield, N.J. As they sniffed a 2006 Ridge Geyserville zinfandel, or .took a sniffy-sniff. in Mr. Vaynerchuk.s parlance, Ms. Robinson said she detected the aroma of violets. Mr. Vaynerchuk said it smelled .very candylike.. Ms. Robinson grimaced. .To me, candy is a negative thing,. she said. .Candy is something I get on cheap zinfandel.. .In my mind,. he responded, .candy, you know, depending on the candy, for example, Big League Chew or Nerds, could be tremendous, whereas candy I don.t like, like Bazooka Joe bubble gum, could be a problem.. Gracefully, Ms. Robinson changed the subject. But a significant audience in the wine world loves Mr. Vaynerchuk.s tune. Ms. Robinson and her peers like Robert M. Parker Jr. and Wine Spectator may represent the apogee of the classic wine critic, issuing influential scores and opinions from on high as both arbiters and exemplars of the good life. But Mr. Vaynerchuk.s kid-in-a-candy-store approach may represent the future. Mr. Vaynerchuk, 33, has broken through class barriers in a way that no other critic has been able to, making wine a part of popular culture. He.s appeared on Ellen DeGeneres.s show and Conan O.Brien.s, where, in the guise of educating the host.s palate to wine terms like sweaty, mineral and earthy, he sniffed Mr. O.Brien.s armpit and persuaded him to chew an old sock, lick a rock and eat dirt (topped with shredded cigar tobacco and cherries). .You.re an idiot!. Mr. O.Brien exclaimed. Perhaps so, but Mr. Vaynerchuk now has a million-dollar 10-book contract with HarperStudio that will focus on wine and marketing. And the wine establishment, which initially saw Mr. Vaynerchuk as a retailer with a novelty act, is taking note. In its July issue, Decanter, the leading British wine magazine, anointed him No. 40 in its list of the 50 most powerful and influential people in the world of wine. .His influence is less as a style dictator than as a new media pioneer, showing how things can and will be done,. said Ms. Robinson, who said she had pushed for his inclusion in the Decanter list. Few people had ever heard of Mr. Vaynerchuk in early 2006, when he posted his first episode of Wine Library TV on the Wine Library Web site. Before long his high-volume, hyper-enunciated delivery, sprinkled with bizarre tasting analogies and unlikely stream-of-consciousness departures, had earned him a rabid Internet following, along with ridicule from detractors in the audience. He was called a clown and the Human Infomercial, whose over-the-top style was dumbing down wine. Yet his fan base kept growing. He estimates his audience for each episode of Wine Library TV (he.s just recorded No. 733) at 90,000 people, and he has nearly 900,000 followers on Twitter. The numbers have made Mr. Vaynerchuk not only a wine industry phenomenon, but a social media superstar who.s being held up as a role model for using the tools of e-commerce to succeed in any business. .Gary V. is a one-man social network,. said Paul Mabray, chief strategy officer for VinTank, a wine industry think tank and consultancy. .He has the ability to get other people to believe in his product, and act as a megaphone for his message, and he.s the only wine writer we.ve seen adopted by mass culture, like Ellen and Conan.. His persona is as much about marketing as it is about wine. His first book, due out next month, is an entrepreneur.s self-help guide called .Crush It.. Future books, Mr. Vaynerchuk said, will focus on a combination of wine, marketing and building one.s personal brand. He hopes to extend his marketing reach beyond wine and self-help books. With his younger brother, A. J., Mr. Vaynerchuk has started Vaynermedia, a marketing agency with a small list of high-profile clients like the New York Jets (Mr. Vaynerchuk is a huge fan) and Jalen Rose, a retired N.B.A. player turned commentator. Not surprisingly, the Jets are now among the most Twitter-happy N.F.L. teams. For Mr. Vaynerchuk, it.s been a most unlikely journey. He was born in Belarus and immigrated to New Jersey as a child. His father, Sasha, ran a liquor store, while young Gary honed his entrepreneurial chops, selling baseball cards, he says, and franchising lemonade stands. After graduating from Mount Ida College in Newton, Mass., Mr. Vaynerchuk took over his father.s shop, Shopper.s Discount Liquor, and rechristened it Wine Library, which he has built into what he says is a $60-million-a-year business. Mr. Vaynerchuk might well have remained a successful but anonymous retailer, but in 2006 he initiated his video blog, Wine Library TV. From his first hesitant episodes, all of which are archived on the Wine Library TV Web site, Mr. Vaynerchuk quickly gathered steam, unleashing his frenzied delivery. He began wearing wristbands and calling his program .The Thunder Show a.k.a the Internet.s Most Passionate Wine Program.. He draped his minimalist set with action figures of wrestlers and superheroes, dubbed his audience Vayniacs, and bedecked his spit bucket with decals of his beloved New York Jets. The unlovely ritual of wine tasting, with its swirling and sipping, punctuated with the slurping noise of air sucked through a wine-filled mouth and culminating in a swift discharge into a bucket, is few people.s idea of attractive television. But Mr. Vaynerchuk embraced the unattractive, showing utter disregard for production values. .Many people who I respected were disappointed when I started Wine Library TV,. Mr. Vaynerchuk said in an interview one recent morning. .They thought I was dumbing down wine, but I always knew I was one of the biggest producers of new wine drinkers in the world, and people are realizing it now.. Of course, such extravagant claims are impossible to establish, but Mr. Vaynerchuk.s audience on his Internet bulletin board certainly seems to have a higher percentage of novice wine drinkers than in the forums on either the Parker or Spectator Web sites. While Mr. Vaynerchuk does not yet come close to Mr. Parker or the Spectator in his ability to move the wine market as a whole, his words do sell bottles. In an episode of Wine Library TV in February, Mr. Vaynerchuk raved about a Sonoma Coast pinot noir from Sojourn Cellars, a small producer. .We took 500 e-mails and phone calls in 24 hours,. said Craig Haserot, an owner of Sojourn. .Nothing has put more people on our database and sold more wine than Wine Library TV, and it.s not even close.. Mr. Vaynerchuk.s appeal is rooted in his undermining of the old-guard mantle of authority and detachment that wine critics of older generations like Ms. Robinson spent years trying to achieve. In many reviews, he seems to subvert the established vocabulary for describing wine. He begins with the usual jargon, talking about nose and mid-palate, describing flavors like apricot, buttered popcorn and lilacs, as many wine writers do. But then he departs from the script, saying a wine smells like a sheep butt or that drinking it is like biting into an engine. He might improvise a dialogue with a bottle of riesling, and when he talked about another pinot noir from the Sonoma Coast, a 2006 Kanzler, he seemingly went off the deep end in describing its flavor: .You hit a deer, you pull off to the side of the road, then you stab the deer with a knife, cut it, and bite that venison, and put a little black pepper and strawberries on it and eat it, like a mean, awful human being. That.s what this tastes like.. Audiences love it. .I immediately identified with his passion and enthusiasm,. said Dale Cruse, a Web designer and wine blogger who started watching early on. .But I think it.s worth noting that passion and enthusiasm isn.t going to get you very far in the wine world without some knowledge to back it up.. Indeed, Mr. Vaynerchuk does know his Pommards from his Pomerols, and he clearly loves wine and wants his audience to love wine, too. .My mission is to build wine self-esteem in this country,. he said. .I want people to know their palate is a snowflake. We all like different things. Why should we all have the same taste in wines?. Mr. Vaynerchuk.s own taste is very hard to pin down. He will say that his palate is very different from most people.s, and that given a choice between eating a bowl of fruit and a bowl of vegetables, he.ll choose the vegetables every time. He rails against .the oak monster,. which can make many wines taste like two-by-fours. He freely acknowledges that his palate has changed over the years, away from big fruity wines to more subtle ones, and said he expected his tastes to continue to change. While Mr. Vaynerchuk has been lauded for making wine more accessible to younger people through his populist vocabulary, the real achievement of Wine Library TV has been to break down the barriers around the omniscient wine critic handing down thoughts from the mountaintop, and to include the audience in the critical process. As Mr. Vaynerchuk tastes and spits, his brain is seemingly on display as it begins to churn and the words emerge unfiltered from his mouth. .My natural inclination to be improv rather than an educated character serves me well,. he said. While Mr. Vaynerchuk has done well bringing wine to a wider audience, he.s done even better using wine to market himself. For now, he is looking ahead to new ventures, including the leap to Internet marketing guru. With his new company, Vaynermedia, he wants to market commercial products, people, teams and even sports like boxing. .It.s about stories,. he said. .If I can tell the story to America, whether it.s riesling or a boxer from Harlem, it will sell.. He pauses. .I know on my gravestone it.s going to be, .Storyteller.. . -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] David Anderson Surgery.

by Jim L. Ellingson

FYI ----- Forwarded message from Alicia Anderson <sauternes76(a)gmail.com> ----- DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=4rNRCy5hzE+uCH8dg9qKVHKWHptTzwVvTUN9bVhSKOU=; b=NacoYhn8pE8Jp0D1M5dG6ocfaT2LHfjZB4bEoamy6j5c6NXuPflkLQGaNdLiTY4mBx ZrseveDgUuuJ8Jx6mEX1URfwS1j/R5D816dIKQ1308xEzFV93vJIcXYxcKeOrxL4/7kD c29DTNs3EFHGFey5pebtv5nkvEkqFAC9LNkJ4= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=kFCy+72tzxaylho2OeKWT8w4yxtOfAitQ+OTJl9ZKuZNDHn9MvYmK4r76D3XvLHTiL GlbzrKh2ARyE18uyR8uzB+g3VNkB2/2QwqORLlzgBeh2rWfqn8hizUqtaqOvSj/gNH1+ RlCfrhVr185mI9RckSB3IJrvQ3/+JckTMg2nM= In-Reply-To: <mailman.1.1252431370.38234.mailman(a)thebarn.com> Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 12:37:52 -0500 Subject: Fwd: The results of your email commands From: Alicia Anderson <sauternes76(a)gmail.com> To: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu [128.101.142.227]); Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:38:08 -0500 (CDT) X-Spam-Score: 1.715 (*) DNS_FROM_RFC_POST,MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR,SPF_PASS X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.57 on 128.101.142.227 I know you're busy with college kids, but if you have time to help me with this that would be great. Thanks and Cheers, Alicia ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: <mailman-bounces(a)thebarn.com> Date: Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 12:36 PM Subject: The results of your email commands To: sauternes76(a)gmail.com The results of your email command are provided below. Attached is your original message. - Unprocessed: I just wanted to post a short note to the list about my dad, David Anderson of France 44 Wines and Spirits. Tomorrow morning, Sept 9, he's going in for heart-valve surgery at Methodist Hospital. This is a necessary procedure and as much as the doctors assure us it's routine, I hope you will think of him and project some powerful karma his way. It is likely he will be in the hospital for 5 - 7 days and then home for a bit, where Gretchen will drive him nuts until he can go back to work. My dad loves visitors, so please don't hesitate to visit/call, if you have time. Please contact me for room or phone number information. Thanks and Cheers, Alicia Anderson 612.275.9120 sauternes76(a)gmail.com - Done. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Alicia Anderson <sauternes76(a)gmail.com> To: mailman-request(a)thebarn.com Date: Tue, 8 Sep 2009 12:35:39 -0500 Subject: David Anderson, my dad Hey Everyone, I just wanted to post a short note to the list about my dad, David Anderson of France 44 Wines and Spirits. Tomorrow morning, Sept 9, he's going in for heart-valve surgery at Methodist Hospital. This is a necessary procedure and as much as the doctors assure us it's routine, I hope you will think of him and project some powerful karma his way. It is likely he will be in the hospital for 5 - 7 days and then home for a bit, where Gretchen will drive him nuts until he can go back to work. My dad loves visitors, so please don't hesitate to visit/call, if you have time. Please contact me for room or phone number information. Thanks and Cheers, Alicia Anderson 612.275.9120 sauternes76(a)gmail.com ----- End forwarded message ----- -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 2 months

[wine] How healthy is wine?

by Jim L. Ellingson

Does wine really prevent heart problems? Michael Apstein, Special to The Chronicle Sunday, August 23, 2009 Does wine really prevent heart problems? Photo illustration for story on wine and health in San Fr... When people discover that I'm a liver doctor and a wine writer, they invariably ask, "How much can I drink without developing liver disease?" They never ask, "How much should I drink to stay healthy?" People know that alcohol - and wine - can cause liver disease. But since the headline-making "60 Minutes" segment in 1991 popularizing the seductively simple French Paradox (the French eat a high-fat diet but have less heart disease because they drink red wine), people have embraced the concept that drinking wine, especially red wine, prevents heart disease. Despite the absence of an ironclad linkage, it's what everyone wants to believe: Alcohol, a forbidden fruit, is actually good for you. As a physician, I am skeptical of the health claims made for wine - or any single food, for that matter. Such medical skepticism hasn't stopped some in the wine industry from promoting wine as a health drink. Wineries boast about the amount of resveratrol - a modern-day fountain of youth - in their wines. And yes, red wines are filled with antioxidants. But how strong is the evidence that wine prevents heart disease? At this point, not strong enough. How we got here The possibility that wine might reduce heart disease came from the same type of study that suggested alcohol could be responsible for liver disease. In separate studies, World Health Organization researchers and others in the United States and Europe in 1970s compared the amount of alcohol that countries consumed in total with the country's rate of liver or heart disease. The countries with the highest alcohol consumption - France, Italy and Spain - had the highest rates of liver disease, but also had low rates of heart disease. These kinds of studies, called observational studies, can never determine cause and effect. They only highlight associations - possibilities. But they're important because they direct future research. Is alcohol causing liver disease - or preventing heart disease - or is something else the real cause? Advertisers trumpet associations, hoping to dupe consumers into thinking that their product causes the desired effect. To promote sales of prepared dinner entrees on its Web site, Stouffer's touts research that "teens who have frequent family dinners are likelier to say they get mostly A's and B's in school." The clear implication is that eating together causes students to excel in school. A more plausible explanation is that families who eat together have higher incomes and support their children's education. Eating together doesn't cause better grades; it's associated with behavior that results in good grades. We liver doctors debated for years whether it was alcohol or poor nutrition common among alcoholics that caused liver disease. Dr. Charles Lieber at the VA Medical Center in the Bronx, N.Y., settled the debate in 1974 when he fed baboons alcohol and a nutritionally complete diet. The animals developed every stage of human alcoholic liver disease. Without proof, how has it become conventional wisdom that that wine prevents heart disease? Observational studies around the world have shown the same association: People who drink moderately - one to two drinks daily - have less heart disease than those who don't drink at all or who drink heavily. Although they don't show cause and effect, the results are compelling. Researchers also proposed several ways alcohol might be beneficial. Consumption, up to two drinks a day, increases blood levels of HDL cholesterol, so-called "good" cholesterol, which unclogs arteries. Cardiologists believe that raising HDL levels, as occurs with exercise, reduces the chance of heart disease. Like aspirin, alcohol inhibits blood clotting; it "thins the blood." Aspirin decreases the chance of a heart attack in some people. Similarly, alcohol's anti-clotting effect potentially could reduce the chance of a heart attack. Does it definitively? That's unknown. Wine isn't necessarily like other drinks. In July at the 32nd World Congress of Vine and Wine in Zagreb, Croatia, Serge Hochar of Lebanon's Chateau Musar, one of the wine world's most compelling and controversial figures, rightly chided people for lumping wine with other alcohol because wine contains additional components that have important health impacts - at least in the test tube. Nonalcoholic benefits Even with the alcohol removed, wine raises blood levels of polyphenols and antioxidants such as resveratrol and has dramatic effects on blood vessels. Because the oxidation of cholesterol is thought to play a role in the development of atherosclerosis - the narrowing of arteries - and heart disease, perhaps it's the nonalcohol component of red wine that's beneficial. And there is other evidence for the benefits of white wine, which has a different chemical makeup, that further complicate the picture. With the barrage of commercials, and even some wineries, raving about the benefit of antioxidants, you could be forgiven for believing that polyphenols are what make wine so healthy. But we don't know that. Other foods contain antioxidants, including resveratrol, but it is wine that captures the public's attention because it satisfies two desires simultaneously. It's a silver bullet, a simple and easy solution to the complex problem of heart disease. Hard-to-follow advice - exercise and eat reasonably - can be substituted with the more palatable - literally - recommendation to drink without guilt. On a visceral level and as a wine lover, I hope these claims are true. On an intellectual level, I know there are no magic bullets. And drinking comes with inherent risks. A doctor might precede a recommendation to exercise with a stress test to make sure you're in proper health. But there are no tests to ensure healthy drinking. So what's the problem? Scientists do not know the exact relevance of antioxidants in preventing heart disease. If they play only a minor role, increasing them even a thousand-fold would be of no clinical importance. Same with any wine-related factor. That's why I - like other physicians - am reluctant to recommend drinking for health reasons, despite the plausible health impacts and overwhelming observational evidence. I am reminded of the certainty with which physicians recommended that women take estrogen supplements to reduce the risk of heart disease after menopause. Ample observational studies suggested a link: Women had less heart disease than men and this discrepancy disappeared after menopause. As with wine, there were plausible scientific explanations as to why. In the 1990s the National Institutes of Health sponsored the Women's Health Initiative, a cause-and-effect study of 16,000 post-menopausal women; half received supplemental hormones and half did not. Surprise. The women who received hormones had more heart disease, not less. Why not commission a comparable study of alcohol and heart disease? The ethical considerations of chronically giving alcohol to people is one good reason. Animal studies, similar to Lieber's, might be possible. We need results that show cause and effect before recommending wine as a way to reduce heart disease. Try finding a government agency to fund that. Without such studies, we are left with nagging possibilities. Maybe wine drinkers have less heart disease because they are more affluent, eat better, control their blood pressure better, exercise and do other things to take care of themselves. Perhaps we are not smart enough to know what these "other things" are. To me, wine is not a health beverage. It's to be enjoyed because it tastes good, and makes a meal and life more enjoyable. If moderate consumption turns out to be good for us, so much the better. If it doesn't, I'll still have some with dinner. The myths and facts, step by step. K6 How we got here -- In the 1970s and 1980s, observational studies by Dr. Arthur Klatsky in Oakland, Dr. Eric Rimm in Boston and many others showed that people who drank moderate amounts of alcohol had less heart disease. They raised the question "Is moderate alcohol beneficial?" -- In the 1990s, mechanisms for alcohol's protective effects emerged. Dr. Michael Graziano in Boston showed that alcohol raised the levels of HDL cholesterol, the "good" cholesterol. Other scientists showed that alcohol inhibited clotting. -- In 2009, Dr. Kenneth Mukamal in Boston started a six-month experiment giving some people a small amount of alcohol - equivalent to one drink - daily and withholding all alcohol for others. He plans to compare blood lipids and plaque buildup in arteries of the two groups to determine if alcohol slows the cholesterol-clogging arterial disease atherosclerosis. Does alcohol have magical powers? Resveratrol, a polyphenol found in wine, has almost magical powers in animals, extending the lifespan of fruit flies and worms and reducing inflammation and protecting against the adverse effects of obesity in mice. These potentially ground-breaking discoveries need to be tempered by the knowledge that very high doses - the equivalent of 100-plus bottles of red wine daily - were given to mice. Importantly, after resveratrol is absorbed into the blood, it is broken down quickly and may have limited effect in humans. The headline-creating clinical studies purporting to show that moderate wine consumption prevents Alzheimer's disease do not show cause and effect, but are observational studies. A plausible explanation is that the healthy elderly can drink moderately without becoming impaired, but those with early or mild Alzheimer's will be pushed over by even a small amount of alcohol and hence, don't drink. Drinking wine, like driving a car safely, doesn't prevent Alzheimer's, it's just more evidence that you don't have it. The downside -- Several large observational studies show an increased risk of breast cancer in women who drank moderate amounts of wine. As with the observational studies showing a reduction of heart disease, cause and effect remains unknown, but the results are worrisome. -- Women are more susceptible to all effects of alcohol, both potentially beneficial and harmful. They have a higher blood-alcohol level compared with men after drinking the same amount of wine or other form of alcohol because they have less of an enzyme in their stomach that starts to break down alcohol. Keeping the alcohol in the stomach, which occurs with eating, allows more of it to be broken down. Less is absorbed, so the blood alcohol level is lower. -- The calories in dry wine come entirely from alcohol. A 5-ounce glass of dry red or white wine (at 13 percent alcohol) contains about 110 calories. Please note: Nothing in these articles should be construed as individual medical advice. For specific recommendations regarding alcohol consumption, consult your physician. Wine writer Michael Apstein is a gastroenterologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/23/FDF2196S5E.DTL This article appeared on page K - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle -- ------------------------------ * Dr. James Ellingson, jellings(a)me.umn.edu * * University of Minnesota, mobile : 651/645-0753 * * Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *

16 years, 3 months

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