Tag Archives: SWE

The Real Thing: Grenadine

  By admin | November 5, 2013 - 5:45 pm |
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tequila sunriseGrenadine:  it puts the sunrise in Tequila and turns simple rum-and-pineapple juice into a glamorous Mary Pickford. It sits on every back bar in the world, gleaming with an unnatural, almost nuclear-red glow.

It glows – unnaturally red – that is, if you buy store-bought Grenadine.  Like most bar mixers, Grenadine is mass produced and widely distributed.  You can probably pick up a bottle at your local grocery store, and your corner bar most likely orders it by the case.

But you might want to think twice before you pick up your next bottle of Trader Vic’s or Rose’s Grenadine.  A popular brand of commercial grenadine – let’s just say it represents just about all commercial grenadine products – lists the following ingredients on the label: high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (preservative), RED 40, natural and artificial flavors, BLUE 1.

GrenadineGrenadine was originally made from pomegranate juice, sugar, and water, although black currants are just as likely to flavor today’s commercial versions. The name “Grenadine” originates from “grenade” – the French word for pomegranate.

Pomegranate syrup, which can be found in most Middle Eastern grocery stores (as well as Whole Foods Market), is made with pomegranate concentrate and sugar, and can serve as a decent substitute.

However, like many things to be found on the back bar, Grenadine is simple to make, and house made products are far superior to the mass-produced versions.   I’ve tried several recipes over the last few weeks, and have come up with my favorite version.

Try it for yourself – and let us know what you think!

Grenadine (The “Real Deal”)

Ingredients:

  • Pomegranate Juice1 cup Pomegranate Juice – fresh squeezed is best, but a good brand like “Pom” will work as well
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh Lemon Juice
  • 4 drops Orange Flower Water
  • Optional:  1 tablespoon Pomegranate Molasses

Technique:

  1. Heat the pomegranate juice until steam rises from the surface; do not heat beyond this point – you want to turn the heat off before (of as soon as) you see any bubbles start to form.  Remove the pan from the heat.
  2. Add the sugar and stir.  Let the mixture sit for a few minutes, then stir again until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Add the lemon juice, orange flower water and optional pomegranate molasses.  Let the syrup cool to room temperature (about an hour) and transfer to a glass container with a tight-fitting lid.
  4. Stored in the refrigerator, your homemade grenadine will stay fresh for about a month.  If you would like to extend the life of your grenadine, try freezing a portion of it, or adding a few tablespoons of vodka to the cooled syrup.

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

Toro de Osborne

  By admin | November 3, 2013 - 12:21 pm |
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Toro_Osborne_Cabezas_de_San_JuanThe Osborne Bull:  regarded as the “unofficial” symbol of Spain, he weighs sixty tons and stands as tall as a four-story building. There are currently 90 of them scattered throughout the country, many of which are protected as national monuments.

His image can be found on stickers, key rings, and, at sporting events featuring Spanish teams or athletes, embedded in the middle of the Flag of Spain. The free-standing bulls are so emblematic of Spain that separatists have, on occaision, attempted to tear them down at various times in Catalonia, Mallorca, and Galicia.

The “Toro de Osborne” was designed by famed Spanish graphic designer Manolo Prieto in 1956 as an image to be used on bottles of Osborne’s “Veterano” Brandy de Jerez. Over 500 “Billboard versions” of the bulls, with the name “Veterano Osborne” painted across them in red, were soon scattered strategically throughout Spain, along the roads and highways.

Osborne BullBy the 1980’s, the Bulls had become so indicative of the Osborne brand that the company stopped painting their name across the bulls.  Today, there are only two signs in Spain with the word “Osborne” still painted on them; one at the Jerez de la Frontera Airport, and one in the town of El Puerto de Santa María, where the Osborne headquarters is located.

In 1998, a Spanish law was passed that prohibited billboards and other advertising along Spanish roadways.  It seemed as though the bulls were to be torn down to comply with the new law.  However, an unprecedented popular movement caused the Spanish Supreme Court to “pardon” the Osborne Bull due to cultural and artistic interests.  In the words of the Spanish Supreme Court, the Osborne Bull had “exceded its initial advertising sense and has been integrated into the landscape.”

Osborne Bull flagThe original bulls were carved, true to Manolo Prieto’s original drawing, out of wood.  However, the wooden signs soon weathered and were replaced with a sturdier metal version.  Today’s metal bulls are created from seventy individual pieces of iron held together by 1,000 bolts, four scaffolding-like turrets held in place with bases that weigh a combined 55 tons, and decorated with 20 gallons of black paint. The Osborne Bulls are maintained by the family of Félix Tejada, one of the leading “metalúrgicos”  (metalsmiths) of Spain.

Click here to visit the Bodegas Osborne website.

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

 

Meet the SWE Board: Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS

  By admin | October 22, 2013 - 1:18 am | ,
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Gary Spadafore, CWE, Educational Liasion

Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS –  Educational Liasion

At our October meeting, I asked the members of SWE’s Board of Directors if they could each write up a brief “introduction” to themselves in order to allow us – friends and members of SWE – to get to know each of them.  I received quite a number of generous responses, so as the first in our new series of “Meet the Board” – I would like to introduce you to our new Educational Liasion – Gary Spadafore, CWE, CSS.  I’ve known Gary quite a while, and am therefore not at all surprised that his bio is all about “Wine and Motorcycles.” Enjoy the read!

Dreaming of Motorcycles and Wine – An Odd Combination

by Gary Spadafore CSS, CWE 

Besides my family, the two passions in my life are wine and motorcycles (not at the same time of course). My passion for motorcycles goes back even further than my passion for wine, despite the fact that one of my earliest childhood memories involved wine.

As a very young child I remember going to a farmers’ market in Detroit with my Italian grandfather to buy Zinfandel grapes. I could never understand why the finished product tasted so nasty when so much sugar was added during the winemaking process – (understanding the principles of fermentation came much later.   After that first impression, wine really wasn’t much on my radar at all – untill I “accidently” got into the hospitality industry after college when I moved from Michigan to Arizona in 1972 with the intention of becoming a high school teacher (and motorcycle rider).

DIGITAL CAMERAWhile literally starving substitute teaching, I took a job in the hospitality industry as a bouncer. One thing led to another and I ended up working for Alliance Beverage Distributing Company, the largest wholesaler of wine and spirits in Arizona (30+ years ago). Over the years I’ve had every position possible, most relating to fine wine. Just over a decade ago, I proposed creating a position called Director of Education and had the perfect candidate in mind…….myself. I combined my teaching experience, restaurant and hotel career, wine sales/management and my CWE credential to offer a strong list of attributes for the position.

I now have a dream job that looks like I’d been planning for it my entire career. If I had a dollar for everyone who has told me they wanted my job, I wouldn’t have to work at my dream job.

And what about motorcycles? While attending Northern Michigan University in the upper peninsula of Michigan, I met a bunch of guys that all had motorcycles. I managed to finagle one myself in my second year of college. We arranged our classes so we could ride in the woods surrounding the campus every day. In the harsh winter of northern Michigan we would drink beer (Spanada on occasion) and talk about places you could ride year round.

So of course after graduation I took my teaching certificate and moved to Arizona. I am now the proud owner of the best three motorcycles in the world! For the desert I ride a KTM 300XC, for the great twisty roads in the southwest, I have a BMW K1300S. And for my newest form of motorcycling called adventure riding I have a KTM 690 Enduro R. If those numbers and letters sound strange and weird, you know how most folks feel when wine geeks start waxing on about wine.

Gary Motorcyle PoppieMost folks reading this will understand the passion involved regarding wine, but maybe not motorcycles. Yet some of the same emotions are stirred with motorcycles. A rich history, innovative ideas turned into reality, taking raw materials from the earth and transforming into something unique and different. NOt to mention the very hard-to-describe emotion of the freedom experienced whether dodging cacti and rocks in the desert, or carving a perfect turn on a mountain switchback road.

Suffice it to say that I love life. A dream job, three dream motorcycles and a dream family. I look forward to my new role with SWE as Education Liaison and welcome comments, concerns and recommendations.

Click here for more details  and contact information for the SWE Board of Directors.

 

A Bitter Battle over Sweet Wine in the Loire

  By admin | October 18, 2013 - 2:12 pm | ,
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Quarts-de-Chaume is just one of the famous sweet wine appellations in the Loire.  A slightly larger region, surrounding Quarts-de-Chaume and somewaht less prestigious, is known as the Coteaux du Layon. The Coteaux du Layon includes the area of Quarts-de-Chaume as well as the equally famous AOC of Bonnezeaux. A third, larger area, encompassing the entire commune of Rochefort-sur-Loire, is known as the Coteaux du Layon Rochefort-sur-Loire AOC.

Quarts-de-Chaume, with its long history stretching back to the Middle Ages, was expected to be the wine that led the wines of the Loire into the future. Despite the fact that the Loire is one of the largest quality wine producing areas of France, the fame and fortune of the Loire lags far behind the other large wine producing areas in France.  One possible reason for this was determined to be that the vineyards of the Loire do not have an official ranking system such as those in Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Champagne, and a plan for ranking the vineyards was created.

Photo Credit: Jim Budd of the "Jim's Loire" Blog

Photo Credit: Jim Budd of the “Jim’s Loire” Blog

The ranking of the Loire’s vineyards got off to a rocky start in 2003, when the Coteaux du Layon AOC was granted the Loire’s first Premier Cru designation, to be known as Chaume Premier Cru des Coteaux du Layon.  The designation did not last for long, however, as the committee for the Quarts de Chaume appellation felt that this title caused confusion with their own name and created an unfair advantage for the new designation. Thus, the Premier Cru title was suspended.

The Premier Cru title for Coteaux du Layon-Chaume was ultimately reinstated in November 2011, after the Quarts-de-Chaume appellation was awarded the first Grand Cru title in the Loire.  Even this has not been without controversy, as one of the largest producers of Quarts-de-Chaume, Domaine des Baumard, has filed a lawsuit with the Conseil d’État challenging the new law.

According to many sources, the Baumards’ main issue with the new AOC is the revised, more stringent regulations that accompany the “Grand Cru” ranking, which would prohibit certain vine-growing and winemaking practices long employed by the estate. One such practice, for example, is cryoextraction (freezing the grapes before they are pressed). Under the new laws, cryoextraction would be banned in the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru as of 2020.

Other producers in the Loire are upset that the Grand Cru and Premier Cru status applies only to sweet wines and excludes the dry wines of the region.

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It seems vineyards classification in France, with so much prestige and money on the line, is a tricky business. I seem to recall reading that the same sort of bickering plagued the 1855 Classification of Bordeaux—and more recently, the 2012 classification of St. Émilion.

As of now, the Quarts-de-Chaume Grand Cru along with Coteaux du Layon Premier Cru Chaume AOCs still stand…and we’ll have to wait and see what the future holds.

References/for more information:

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

 

 

 

A New AVA for Santa Barbara

  By admin | October 14, 2013 - 3:33 am | ,
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14956727_lThere’s a new AVA in Santa Barbara County! Officially approved on October 1, 2013, the new Ballard Canyon AVA is located within the existing Santa Ynez AVA.  With this new addition, there are now a total of five AVAs located within Santa Barbara County:  Santa Ynez Valley, Sta. Rita Hills, Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara, Santa Maria Valley, and the newest member, Ballard Canyon.

Santa Barbara County, located a 90-minute drive north of Los Angeles, sits on the Southern California coast between San Luis Obispo County to the north and Ventura County to the south. The area is geologically unique in that it is one of the few places on the California Coast where both the coastline and the mountain ranges – including the Santa Ynez Mountain Range (located near the coast) and the San Rafael Mountain Range (further inland) run east-west as opposed to north-south.

The transverse nature of the region creates an east-west flow of ocean breezes off of the Pacific Ocean, as well as a diversity of soils from diatomaceous earth near the shore and chert and limestone further inland.  With such diverse terroir, it makes sense for the region to host five AVAs.

santa barbara vineyardsSanta Maria Valley – The Santa Maria Valley, 35 miles north of Santa Ynez, is the northernmost of Santa Barbara’s five AVAs, and was the first area to be officially recognized as an AVA.  The often foggy and windswept region has complex soil conditions and is known for cool weather grapes including Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The oldest commercial vineyard in Santa Barbara County, the Nielson Vineyard, was planted in 1964 in Santa Maria Valley.

Santa Ynez Valley – The region’s largest AVA, Santa Ynez Valley, is a long, east-west corridor with a diversity of climates; the cool temperatures near the coast become progressively warmer inland. Many types of grapes and wine are produced in this region, from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and botrytis-affected wines in the west to Bordeaux and Rhône varieties in the west.

Sta. Rita Hills – The Sta. Rita Hills AVA sits mostly within the larger Santa Ynez Valley AVA, on its western border, and therefore much cooler than the inland areas. Located just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean, the area generally sits under marine layer clouds and fogs in the morning.  By 10 am, the fogs burns off and gives way to a few hours of calm sunshine.  In the afternoon, the on-shore breezes pick up, giving this region an overall maritime climate well-suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Located between the towns of Buellton and Lompoc, the area is intersected by the Santa Ynez River.

Ballard-Canyon-IdentityBallard Canyon – Located in the center of Santa Ynez Valley, with Sta. Rita Hills to the west and Happy Canyon to the east, the area’s newest AVA enjoys the hot, sunny days of its relatively inland position, and the cool nights brought in by post-sunset ocean breezes.  At 7,800 acres (560 of which are planted), Ballard Canyon is by far the smallest AVA in Santa Barbara County.  (By comparison, Sta. Rita Hills is 64,000 acres.) Ballard Canyon is planted heavily towards the Rhône varieties of Syrah, Grenache, Roussanne, and Viognier, as well as Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, and other international varieties.

Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara – First recognized as an AVA in 2009, Happy Canyon is located to the east of the Santa Ynez Valley, making this one of the warmest areas in Santa Barbara County.  Summertime temperatures often reach the low to mid-nineties.  The region specializes in Bordeaux and Rhône varietals.  Local lore suggests that the name of the region comes from the time of Prohibition when bootleg alcohol was produced in the region, prompting folks to “take a trip to Happy Canyon.”

Some beautiful maps of the AVAs of Santa Barbara can be found on the website of the Santa Barbara County Vintners’ Association: http://sbcountywines.com/vineyards/map.html.

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CWE – your SWE Blog Administrator – jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

Vodka, Meet Oak

  By admin | October 10, 2013 - 2:36 am |
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starkaHere’s something that sounds new:  Oak-Aged Vodka! Sure enough, cutting-edge spirits producers such as Absolut, Adnams, and Bendistillery are producing Oak-Aged Vodkas that are flying off the shelves. However, like so many things, it seems to be a case of “everything old is new again!”

Starka, perhaps the “original” Oak-Aged Vodka, has been produced in Poland and Lithuania since at least the 15th century, when the region was known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  By the 1800’s, Starka was the favorite potent drink of area, beloved by both the gentry and the commonfolk alike.

Tradition held that upon the birth of a child, the father of the house would place a large quantity of homemade sprits into an empty oak barrel, seal the barrel with beeswax and bury it in the ground, where it aged until the child’s wedding day.

By the late 1800’s, various companies in the area, which by this time was divided into Imperial Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, began to mass produce Oak-Aged Vodka.  The vodka became widely known as Starka;  a term that  referred to the aging process and, alternatively, meant “old woman!”

StarkaStarka production continued after World War I, which ended foreign rule over both Poland and Lithuania, and all throughout the post-World War II era when Lithuania was part of the Soviet Union.  During this time, liquor production in Poland was nationalized, but production of Starka, mostly as a high-end export product, continued uninterrupted.

Currently, only Polish Starka is considered “true Starka.” It is now produced by only one Polish Company,  Polmos Szczecin. Polmos Szczecin Starka is produced from natural Rye Vodka aged in oak barrels with a small addition of apple leaves and lime leaves.  The product is offered in various age classes ranging from 5 years to over 50 years old.  Their oldest product dates back to 1947.  In addition, there are a number of companies in Lithuania, Bulgaria, Russia, and Latvia producing what is considered to be “Starka-style Vodka” produced mainly from neutral spirits and herbal tinctures.

As for the modern era, Oak-Aged Vodka seems to be catching on.  The well-known Swedish Vodka producer Absolut has recently launched an oak-aged product called “Absolut Amber,” named after the color the vodka takes on due to oak influence.  According to their website, Absolut Amber is aged in a combination of French, Hungarian, and American (ex-Bourbon) barrels for about six months. The aged vodka is then blended with “macerated spirits” (spirits soaked in wood chips) so that it touches a total of 8 types of wood before being bottled.  Absolut Amber is slowly making its way to the American market; it has been launched into the U.S. but is currently only available at airports.

Various reviews on the Absolut Website use the following words to describe Absolut Amber:  “rich, mellow, oaky flavor, smooth, vanilla, coconut, deep amber color, smoky aroma, spicy, allspice, dried orange peel.”  One reviewer said it was “not quite like a whisky but a step above vodka.” Very interesting!

What is even more interesting to me is the very creative array of Amber-based cocktails to be found on the Absolut Amber Website, such as the “Absolut Amber Nectar” which combines the spirit with apple juice, honey, and a twist of orange.

Other distilleries are producing oak-aged vodkas as well. Adnams Distillery in the U.K. produces a “North Cove Oak Aged Vodka.” The Adnams  Distillery product is made from barley-based vodka and is aged in a mixture of French and American Oak.  Alas, it does not seem to be available in the U.S.

Closer to home, the Bendistillery in Oregon ages its Crater Lake Vodka “briefly in New American Oak.” This gives the vodka a “spring water character” and a bit of vanilla-nutmeg spiciness. Click here  for a list of stores that carry Crater Lake Vodka in the U.S.

Vodka, meet oak – its 1525 all over again!

For more information:

Polmos Szczecin

Absolute Amber

Adnam’s North Cove Oak-Aged Vodka

Bendistillery

Click here to return to the SWE Website

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, CSW…your SWE Blog Administrator jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

Libraries and Lectures: Professor Maynard Amerine

  By admin | October 7, 2013 - 12:04 pm |
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Professor Amerines BookWhen I was a 21-year-old student at UC Berkley I began to be obsessed with wine, cooking, and food. This was the 80’s in Northern California; the perfect time and place for such a passion to bloom.  California wines were taking the world by storm and chefs that seemed to us like “local hippies” would soon be world-famous for a new style of cooking dubbed “California Cuisine.” All of this would set the nation on a course that would lead to…well, our nation’s current obsession with wine, cooking, and food.

As most people do when they first “discover” the culinary arts, I spent all my spare cash  on cookbooks.  Lucky for me I could wander down to Cody’s Books, the legendary Berkley Bookstore that unfortunately shuttered in 2008. One day I happened to pick up – for 99 cents – a tattered, used copy of a book called “Wines: Their Sensory Evaluation” written by Maynard Amerine and Edward B. Roessler. Even though it would be years, or perhaps even decades before I would be able to really understand what I was reading, I was fascinated by that little book.  I still have my tattered copy and get a kick out of seeing the underlines and scribbled notes I put in that book 30 years ago.

amerine_maynard_aOne of the authors of that book, Maynard Amerine (1911-1998), was, in 1935, the first faculty member hired in the new Viticulture and Enology Department at the University of California at Davis. He became full professor in 1952, was deemed All-University Lecturer in 1962. He continued his research and teaching at Davis until his retirement in 1974, and remained a Professor Emeritus until his death in 1998.

His many contributions to the world of wine include 16 books and over 400 articles on the subjects of viticulture, enology, and the sensory evaluation of wine.  In the early 1940s, along with his colleague Albert Winkler, he developed the Winkler scale, a technique for classifying wine growing regions based on temperature now known to most wine students as “heat summation regions.”

Among his many awards are the Andre Simon Prize, the Croix d’Officier du Order National du Mérite, the Chevalier de Mérite Agricole, Wine Spectator’s Distinguished Service Award 1985 and Wine Man of the Year – Wines & Vines Magazine” 1989.

Today, through an amazing combination of luck, technology, and the UC Davis Library, you can view a series of videos of Professor Amerine’s  class lectures, recorded in 1973 during his class for “Viticulture and Enology 125: Sensory Analysis of Wine.” Just click here: http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/specol/collections/media/index.php?media=viticulture

Professor Amerine donated many of his writings, awards, and references to UC Davis.  You can learn about his archives, now housed in The Maynard Amerine Room at the UC Davis Library here:  http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/dept/bioag/collections/vitic/amerine-room.php

Click here to return to the SWE Website.

Post authored by Jane A. Nickles, SWE Blog Administrator:  jnickles@societyofwineeducators.org

 

Within the Walls of Clos Vougeot

  By admin | October 5, 2013 - 3:18 am |
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The vineyard was originally planted, and the wall built around it, by the Cistercian monks of Cîteaux Abbey around the year 1336.  The Château de Clos de Vougeot, built by rebuilding and enlarging a small chapel on the property, was added in 1551.

After the French Revolution, the Château and vineyards were taken from the Church by the State and in 1881 were sold to Julien-Jule Ouvrard (who also bought Romanée-Conti). After Ouvrard’s death, Clos de Vougeot passed to his three heirs, who put the estate up for sale in 1889.  as a result of this sale, the vineyard was subdivided for the first time since its creation 700 years prior. Since that initial division, the estate has gone through several generations of inheritance subdivisions and land sales, such that today Clos de Vougeot has over 80 individual owners.

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The vineyard itself is roughly rectangular, sloping from the northwest corner down towards the south and east. Roughly 117 acres of the enclosure are planted to vineyards. As the vineyard is large and situated on a slope, there is a great deal of diversity in the terroir within the enclosed vineyard.  While most other vineyards in Burgundy have been delineated and classified by soil, Clos Vougeot seems to have been classified by the delineation of the wall itself.

The area surrounding the Château, in the northwest corner of the vineyard, is considered to be the finest.  The soils here are light chalk and gravel over well-drained oolitic limestone. This portion of the vineyard borders the Grand Cru vineyards of Musigny and Grands Échezeaux.

The middle region of the vineyard has soil consisting of softer limestone, clay, and gravel with moderate drainage.  Most of the other Côte de Nuits vineyards situated at this level of the slope are classified as premier cru.

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The lowest portion of the vineyard borders RN74, the main road of the area, and is nearly flat, with alluvial clay soil and poor drainage. This part of the vineyard borders mostly village and regional-level vineyards. No other Grand Cru vineyard in the Côte de Nuits stretches down the hill to RN74.

Clos de Vougeot is a Grand Cru AOC for red wine produced from Pinot Noir. Red wine that does not meet the INAO regulations for Grand Cru status, such as those regarding maximum yield and minimum sugar levels at harvest, may be bottled as Vougeot Premier Cru.  White wines produced with Chardonnay may also be produced under the Vougeot Premier Cru AOC.

The array of soils and vineyard owners added to the typical vintage variations expected in the Burgundy region mean that Clos de Vougeot wines are produced in a dizzying array of quality levels and even styles.

When the Cistercians tended the vineyard, they produced batches of wine from the entire vineyard, and then blended them to a style and quality consistency. In more modern times, the finest wines of Clos de Vougeot, dense and robust while young, can blossom with perhaps ten years of age into elegant wines worthy of the Grand Cru Status.

References/for more information:

Click here to return to the Society of Wine Educators website.

 

 

 

It’s an AVA! Moon Mountain AVA Approved in Sonoma County

  By admin | October 3, 2013 - 2:34 am |
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New AVA 2You heard it here first…a new California AVA was approved on October 1, 2013.  The new AVA, named Moon Mountain District – Sonoma County, is the 16th AVA in Sonoma County and the fourth sub-appellation of the Sonoma Valley AVA.

The Moon Mountain District is located in a long, narrow region along the western slopes of the Mayacamas Mountain range between 400 and 600 feet in elevation.  The district has significantly cooler temperatures than the vineyards on the valley floor due to a bend in the adjacent Valley of the Moon which funnels cool breezes from the Pacific Ocean and San Pablo Bay around the area.

The Moon Mountain District covers 17,633 acres east if Highway 12.  There are currently 1,500 acres of commercial vineyards planted in the region. One of California’s most historic vineyards, the Monte Rosso Vineyard, originally planted in the late 1800’s, is part of the new AVA as well.

Welcome to the world!

To read the federal doucments regarding this new AVA, click here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=TTB-2013-0002

Click here to return to the Society of Wine Educators Website

1855: It was a Very Good Year…

  By admin | September 28, 2013 - 12:21 am | ,
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Bordeaux 1Its a familiar story to wine enthusiasts…in 1855, Napoleon III, the Emperor of France, decided that France would host an event to rival the Great Exhibition held in London four years earlier.  That event, the Exposition Universelle de Paris, would showcase all the glory that was France – including its finest wines.

One of the exhibitors was the Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, which decided to feature a list of the region’s best wines. However, knowing better than to draw up the list themselves, they asked the Syndicat of Courtiers (Bordeaux’s Union of Wine Brokers) to draw one up.

It did not take the Syndicat long to think through the list; two weeks later, they were finished.  Their original list included 58 of the finest Châteaux of the Gironde department – four first growths, 12 seconds, 14 thirds, 11 fourths, and 17 fifths.   Apparently, the brokers did what brokers do:  they assigned the rankings based on price, reasoning that the market, in its infinite wisdom, had already ranked the wines based on who was commanding the highest price.  This move makes more sense if you know that in the 1850’s; the wine trade in Bordeaux was still largely controlled by the British.

bordeaux 2The Syndicat’s original list ranked the Châteaux by quality within each class. Mouton-Rothschild, quite famously, was at the head of the seconds.  However, the controversy concerning the entire list was such that by the time the Exposition rolled around, a few months after the list was first released, they had rescinded the quality listing within the categories, quickly claimed that no such hierarchy had ever been intended, and took to listing the Châteaux alphabetically.

As every good wine student knows, the only formal revision to the original list came in 1973, when, following a half-century of unceasing effort by Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton was elevated from second-growth to first growth, and the winery’s motto became “Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mouton ne change.”  (“First, I am. Second, I used to be. Mouton does not change.”)

9.8-The-Haut-Medoc-4-color-[Converted]Since 1855, many changes have occurred in the names and ownership of the properties. However, as long as an estate can trace its lineage to an estate in the original classification, it can retain is cru classé status. Due to divisions of the estates, the 58 original estates now number 61.

And now for the rest of the story…

As any good CSW Student knows, Bill Lembeck, CWE, has designed the maps for the last few editions of the CSW Study Guide.

Next month, (Spoiler Alert) SWE will launch its 2014 version of the CSW Study Guide, and Bill has once again designed and updated the maps for us – this time in color! As a special bonus, Bill has created this map of the Häut-Médoc which gorgeously lists the Châteaux of the 1855 Classification.  A larger image and pdf of the map is available here.

Enjoy, and many thanks to Bill!