Today's Fresh Blogs...

• Sex and the Simple Red Wine

  Published: July 24, 2007, 10:30 pm

  Tags: Curmudgeon, Wine Wine Wine

  about it irks my inner wine geek. Whenever one of the four main women orders a cocktail, she goes into specifics: "Get me a Cosmopolitan" or "This is a Staten Island Ice Tea." But when she orders wine, she's vague: "I'd like a glass of red wine" or "Over a glass of white wine and some salmon, Charlotte listened to Trey talk." I can

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• Tablas Creek Talks Closures

  Published: July 24, 2007, 2:04 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, On The Web

  If you've ever heard me talk about screw caps, you know I'm a fan. But Jason Haas, general manager of Tablas Creek, makes a more nuanced argument about closures at the winery's blog. Screw caps are great, he says, but so are corks. It depends on the wine.

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• Weekly Wine Wrap-Up

  Published: July 24, 2007, 9:36 am

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, Wine Tasting Note

  California - This weighty wine smelled of musty flowers and had a harsh oak finish — although it also had strong apple flavors and a tingly acidity — but it may have suffered in the wine rack in my apartment. $40 2006 Saracco Moscato d'Asti, Piemonte, Italy - Saracco makes one of my favorite bottles of this fizzy, fruity, floral

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• Ripe Time For Fruit Wine, San Francisco Chronicle

  Published: July 20, 2007, 10:32 am

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, My Writing Elsewhere

  no to the big spread in the Wine section? So today's Wine section has a big story about fruit wine and my first lead for them (this created a bit of start for me on Wednesday). I've had a minor fascination with these drinks for a long time, probably dating to when I read Joanne Harris' Blackberry Wine and then revived by a piece in Petits Propos

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• My Next Wine Class: Fundamentals I

  Published: July 18, 2007, 4:06 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, Announcements

  you a heads-up about my next wine class. I'll be teaching the second section (starting Oct. 11) of Fundamentals I: Wines of California and Europe. This is a great starter class about wine — years ago, it was the one that got me hooked — that covers the major regions of California and Europe. We'll cover France, Spain, Italy, Portugal,

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• Terry's Latest Catalogs

  Published: July 17, 2007, 3:52 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, On The Web

  and the larger world of wine. He drips fantastic quotes: You can't keep up with the shimmering pearls of wisdom that cascade off of him. I work hard for even the tiny glints of color in my text; Terry writes in rainbows as if it's the most natural thing to do. I suppose I should mention that I have a bit part in Terry's Germany catalog this

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• Croatian Wine Country Travels

  Published: July 12, 2007, 12:03 am

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, On The Web

  and his friend through the wine country in the Balkans. Blue Danube is an importer, wholesaler, and retailer, so I imagine the bloggers are visiting wineries represented by Frank and his wife Zsuzsa. But you rarely get to read firsthand accounts of these wine regions, and Frank and Zsuzsa are good people worth

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• The Art of Decanting

  Published: June 27, 2007, 1:46 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, Book Reviews

  of the Art Professional Wine Service. Not all the lessons stuck: To this day I have a 10 percent chance of pulling out a cork with an Ah-So opener and a 90 percent chance of shoving it into the wine. But I will never forget the moment when the teacher asked us to name three reasons for decanting wine. We called out the first

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• The Wine Mine

  Published: July 28, 2007, 6:12 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine

  and I stumbled on a new wine shop, called The Wine Mine, in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood. It's been open for two months, part of a new complex of shops that have opened in an old building. Mariposa, a gluten-free bakery, sits next door. The inventory mixes mainstream and eclectic, and seems to range around France, Spain, Italy and the

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• Weekly Wine Wrap-Up

  Published: July 29, 2007, 1:04 pm

  Tags: Beer Beer Beer, Wine Wine Wine, Wine Tasting Note

  France - This weighty Basque wine, made from the Gros Manseng grape, has nose-prickling petrol and pine scents and a mouthwatering acidity. (ordered from A Côté's wine list, along with an unrecorded Movia Tocai and a Royal Tokaji Wine Company dry Furmint, to accompany a variety of small plates). Cantillon Fou' Foune, Belgium -

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• Plant Vines In Sweden!

  Published: August 28, 2007, 12:06 am

  Tags: Curmudgeon, Wine Wine Wine, On The Web

  effect of global warming on wine regions. Next they’ll tell us that rosés aren’t all sweet fruit punch drinks. This time Salon is sounding the alarm. Unfortunately, the interesting news angle appears only briefly at the end of the article: “But he refuses to grow complacent or forget that his good fortune is an omen.

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• Weekly Wine Wrap-Up

  Published: August 27, 2007, 9:23 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, Wine Tasting Note

  adds a bit of weight to the wine. Drink with shellfish or white fish sauced with an herb vinaigrette. * 2004 Chateau Pradeaux Rosé Bandol, France, ~$18You won't find many rosés better than this bottle from a top-tier producer in a wine region known for its pink wines. Earthy aromas laced with nutmeg and red apple skin translate

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• UCB Wine Studies: Fundamentals I Outline

  Published: September 6, 2007, 11:15 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine

  to talk about a world of wines with confidence and aplomb. In a funny twist, this class got me hooked on wine five and a half years ago, so I’m looking forward to it. You can imagine my despair at only having eight weeks to cover the sprawling map of European wine regions — I’ve taught an entire six-week course on Eastern

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• Weekly Wine Wrap-Up

  Published: September 9, 2007, 4:29 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, Wine Tasting Note

  Call this a two-week weekly wine wrap-up: I never got up last week’s. Samples are marked with an *. * 2004 McWilliams Hanwood Estate Merlot, Southeastern Australia - ~$9 One-dimensional jammy fruit and a raisiny character make for a decent but not memorable wine. Light tannins and a refreshing acidity make it food friendly, but there are

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• Whence High Alcohol

  Published: September 10, 2007, 8:51 pm

  Tags: Wine Wine Wine, On The Web

  alcohol levels in California wine. He looks at the complex array of factors that have led us to a world where every California wine has more than 14% alcohol. I see he’s listed as Appellation America’s technology columnist; it’s nice to see someone who knows all the ins and outs of wine technology across the state giving them

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