New Year, New Project

Well, once again I have abandoned you, dear blog. I can't say that I have a particularly good excuse, though I'm just going to go ahead and blame it on Comcast. Though I canceled my cable internet months ago and now enjoy a slightly less dysfunctional internet connection with AT&T, I think that Comcast, for as long as they continue to exist as a company, makes for a useful scapegoat.

I've been checking out lots of podcasts recently. For some reason, the only ones which have proven to be any interesting, even listenable for more than a few minutes, have generally been the ones which are also on the FM airwaves and have proper distribution through PRI and the like. And as for podcasts discussing wine...let's just say that there is not much out there.

You may be able to see where all this is heading. Though I've since removed it, you may have noticed a podcast widget on this site. While I toyed with the idea last year, even interviewed a few folks (btw if you are one of these people, I'm sorry to have taken up your time only to not use these interviews), things just did not materialize. This year, though, I'd like to think that I'm better prepared. I have a better, easier to use site to host the podcast, I have started working on a little trailer, and will shortly be heading to Petaluma for some fun as well as podcast related work.

I have a good idea about how I want this podcast to sound, the types of subjects and interviews I'd like to feature, the general flow. But I'd love some ideas from anyone who has got them. All things considered, it's time for some fresh air in this American life of wine podcasting (corny public radio show puns intended).

Trish Keenan, RIP

Sad news.

STATS

I've been doing this for a little over three years now, and have seldom been inclined to check out things like page views, traffic sources, you know, the type of information that may be of commercial interest if I were doing this to make money. Information that may be reassuring if I were trying to be the most popular wine blog on the internets (I'm not), or indicative of a steady upward tick in readership (tough to tell, I cannot seem to access page view stats for anything further back than May 2010). You get the picture, when it comes to this blog I guess I'm not much of a numbers guy.

That does not mean, however, that I cannot mine the "stats" link on blogger for some pretty interesting factoids about the readership, popular posts and the like.

MOST WIDELY VIEWED POST

Old School Funk - TOP 10 songs in the rotation at work

Apparently many folks viewed this, which even elicited one slightly vexed comment:

"Do you mean to tell me that the original shuggie otis song [Strawberry Letter 23] is superior then the Brothers Johnson Version? You must ate [sic] shit when you said that. The Shuggie Otis version is weak and Brothers Johnson totally remade the song which made the song popular around the world. you need to check yourself."

Why, yes! Perhaps I SHOULD check myself, lest I wreck myself. Anyhow, the next two most widely viewed pages were this one involving a night at Terroir, followed by my Top 10 of 2010. Though it has less than half the views of the old school funk playlist post, it is encouraging that one of the top 3 is also a more recent post.

TOP REFERRING SITES

Google by far takes the cake here. A distant second is Facebook, though hot on the social network's heels is actually one of my favorite blogs devoted to wine and food, that of the indefatigable Brooklyn Guy. Thanks, Neil. Now keep that link up, would ya? Sneaking in at the bottom of the list of referring URL's would be the Dog jacket site. Huh?

PAGE VIEWS BY COUNTRY (most views first, fewest last)

United States
Brazil
Germany
United Kingdom
France
Netherlands
Canada
Spain
Russia
South Korea

Of course US views outnumber the others by a lot, nearly 20 times. What I cannot quite grasp is...why Brazil? I know there are 150+ million people there and all, but I did not think it to be a huge wine consuming (and by extension, wine blog reading) populace. At any rate, obrigado, Brasil! With all the mention of wines from Spain, I'm surprised that there are not more views over there? Spain, why you sleepin' on Old World Old School - DORMIENDO, os digo! Finally, while I am pleased to see Russia and South Korea rounding out the list, I am disappointed to not get a single view from Italy or Japan (could that be correct?) Maybe I should use this as motivation to drink more Italian wine (wines that I admittedly do not drink very often) and, for Nippon (maybe that will work, use their country name instead of ours), expand the coverage on natural wines and Opus One.

Yeoman's work: A tip of the hat (and gangsta' blogger sign) to three fellow bloggers

What to do when the creative juices aren't flowing, when the New Year greets you with one of the more tenacious head colds you've suffered in the past few years, and you generally just are not into putting the time that goes into creating new original content for the blog? Well, there are a few options: 1.) Disappear for a while, 2.) Post some youtube videos, or 3.) Cite some examples of others' fine work on the blogosphere.

Though #2 is always better than doing nothing, in this case I will go ahead with #3. Here are three blogs to check out from people who I've noticed are putting in good work.

David Driscoll and David Othenin-Girard's K&L Spirits Journal

Yes, one of the Davids (Driscoll) is a co-worker of mine and I generally try to separate work from this blog, keeping the shilling and insider industry stuff to a minimum. However, these guys are doing such a great job of not only updating the site frequently (typically 4-5 times a week) but of writing some genuinely interesting stuff. Both David's write well, and this should be required reading if you're at all interesting in single malts, other whisky and the wide world of distilled beverages. Driscoll has recently taken an interest in sherry too, so I must admit that I'm looking forward to more of his posts on the subject (which, of course, cannot hurt our fledgling sherry department at the store!) David and David, well done, gents.

Guilhaume Gerard

[Full disclaimer: Guilhaume is a friend, but undoubtedly still deserves props for his new blog!] Guilhaume, a one-time founding partner of Terroir (the SF one) and current partner in Selection Massale, once had a blog (Wine Digger, RIP) which quickly built up a following based on the author's strong opinions, keen photographic eye, and sharp focus on some of the most interesting wines which France has to offer. Guilhaume describes his new URL, in his own words: "New blog, new name, same shit. Producers visits, wine, travels, restaurants, music[...] still very little words so i don’t piss off the NYC wine intelligentsia, and lots of pictures." Sounds about right. Looking for someone with good taste? Guilhaume's got it for days and days, and extra days.

David Lebovitz

A food writer and Bay Area ex-pat living in Paris, Lebovitz continues to dish out some snappy material on culinary delights in his adopted home city of Paris. A former pastry chef at Chez Panisse, Lebovitz writes with authority and wit on all manner of food, wine, and Paris related topics. Sometimes a wee bit precious and self important (check the about section, you'll see what I'm talking about), but usually entertaining enough so that you won't mind too much. This should be required reading for anyone interested in picking up pointers for the kitchen (sweets, especially) as well as for anyone planning a visit to Paris.

Cheesy noodles and Piemonte rossi

Seeing as I was cooking up the Macaroni Italienne a la Escoffier (perhaps with a little more cheese than he calls for - like double the cheese), I thought it might be fun to enjoy some Piemontese red wines for the occasion. In retrospect, piemonte probably was not the way to go here, but heck I was craving these wines for some reason. As always, the pasta was great - what's not to love about gruyere, smoked swiss and parmesan melted on noodles, baked with some kale for extra vitamins? As for the wines...

...2008 Castello di Verduno "Basadone" Pelaverga

Sadly, a bitter disappointment. Hopefully no one takes too much offense, as I know that calling this pelaverga disappointing is in some circles akin to calling your baby ugly. What was missing from this wine was a sense of Piedmont: it lacks acid, lacks earth, floral qualities, grip. Even a (usually) lighter wine like grignolino or freisa has at least one of these components. To me, this tasted like a medium grade mencía raised in stainless, with a clumsy reductive quality and not too much going for it.

2006 Angelo Germano Langhe Nebbiolo

Better, with darker fruits, some minerality and a tannic, muscular, if a bit overbearing and clumsy grip. Tracking this over a few days, the wine failed to improve and was in clear decline on day 3.

2004 Da Milano Barolo Cannubi

Yes, I know that these guys are full on rotofermenting, barrique using modernists. The wine shows it, with a heavy handed, dumb dark fruit and oak expression that is not going to win many awards for excellence in nebbiolo. However, underneath all the method and make-up was a glimmer of minerality and expressive fruit. I'd be curious how this wine might have turned out if the fruit that they are sourcing was then harvested, processed and fermented by someone more traditionally minded.

Flash Back 30 years - Mr. Magic

Happy 2011! -Ol' Skool Joe

OWOS Top 10 Wines of 2010

At long last, here is the final word on the very best wines available in California in 2010. Why are they the best? Well, let's just say that as an arbiter of taste, no one comes even close to me around these parts. Others try, but due to the unique concentration of super taster quantities of taste buds, as well as my $1M insured nose, I know which wines are the best.

OK, all kidding aside, a few things which you will likely intimate from this list, but it doesn't hurt to spell them out:

The list is highly subjective. Wine is subjective, so why water down this fact?

As someone responsible for buying Spanish wines where I work, there is a strong Spanish representation.

As a lover of sherry, two of these underappreciated wines are represented.

As someone whose allocation of Equipo Navazos/La Bota sherries is inexplicably delayed, none of these critic's/wine geeks' darlings are on the list (ok, that is not why they are not on here; see the listed sherries below for more).

How is such a list compiled? In this case, and contrary to many other year end lists, it's about as unscientific as you can get. However, there is still a loosely knit, though carefully considered, thought process involved. There is the pleasure principle, of course, i.e. how much of this wine could I gulp down in one sitting, or have I gulped down year to date? Often times, such a wine is a great value as well. Perhaps a wine really caught me off guard, surprised me in an unexpected, delightful way. On occasion, a wine is more important than what is inside the bottle. It transcends, challenges, or perhaps points the way ahead for others to follow? Any and all of these considerations come in to play for the Top 11 list below. Enjoy.

And since this is likely the last substantive post for the year (maybe a quick 1-2 paragraph post or youtube ahead, but not likely anything beyond that), I'd like to thank everyone for continuing to read, comment, question, correct, and show some involvement on this blog. All of you keep it interesting and keep me engaged.

Thank you.

2009 Domaine de la Pepiere "Clos de Briords" Vieilles Vignes Muscadet Severe et Maine Sur Lie

So pure, refreshing, balanced, and delicious, it is hard to stash any of this away without drinking all of it. Somehow the precociousness of Marc Olivier's Briords has made me completely forget about buying any of the basic classique bottling. A wrong to be righted when I buy a case of it this January.

2009 Natural Process Alliance Sauvignon Blanc O'Neel Family

A most unique and unusual white wine. If you are drinking this with unexperienced and/or unexpecting wine drinkers, it is likely to offend, or at the least perplex, someone in your drinking party. Intense SB herbaceousness coupled with an equally intense extended skin maceration pungency, make this a controversial but in my judgement unusually delicious wine. Over 8g/l tartaric acid, just 6ppm total sulhpur, so yeah: this is not for everyone. If you are one of the few people to not hear about NPA, the wine is only sold to restaurants within a 150 mile radius of the production facility, packed in klean kanteens which are poured, swapped out for newly filled ones, cleaned and filled again at the winery. Innovative, environmentally responsible, and most importantly, delicious wine.

2005 Els Jelipins

This blend of garnacha and sumoll from the Penedes is precious, both in terms of limited production as well as price (you will likely pay upwards of $80 for it, if you can find any). The narrative here is compelling: husband/wife team Glòria Garriga and Oriol Illa make some of the most highly sought after wines for the top name in Priorat, do not enjoy drinking their extracted, "enriched" vinous product, and decide to strike out on their own to make more honest wines that are more to their liking. I'm glad they did; this might be the most promising, delicious and polished of Spain's burgeoning natural wines.

Valdespino "Inocente" Fino Jerez

While the oldest continously running bodega in Jerez may be more famous in some circles for supplying Equipo Navazos with some excellent botas of fino, I would argue that theirs is the superior bottling: every bit as rich and mineral, but with more vivid fruit and purity. Also, it is packaged in 375 ml's for those who enjoy taking a half bottle of delicious fino straight to the cabeza.

Argueso Amontillado Sanlucar de Barrameda

If you are looking for a classic, bone dry, tangy amontillado, with all of the dried citrus, slightly candied and nutty aromas but absolutely zero perceptible sweetness on the palate, might I suggest this manzanilla amontillado?

2005 GD Vajra Barolo Albe

Earlier this year, I bought some bottles of this delicious young Barolo, and though I really enjoyed it (especially for the modest $30 tariff) I wanted to be sure that the spot was well deserved. After drinking half a bottle (and exercising some restraint to stop at 2.5 glasses) earlier tonight, I can absolutely say that this wine has earned its place here. Open and fruity for a young Barolo, but with crisp, pure red fruits, classic nebbiolo tannin (not as noticeable as usual to the generosity of fruit), and a lightness in touch that tells all of the extracted, oaky Piemontese big guns to go back to the drawing board (or, more appropriately, the dining room table) to figure out what people want to drink.

2000 Houillon/Overnoy Savagnin Arbois Pupillin (sous voile)

Just a mind boggling, bright as the day is long, classic expression of savagnin grapes undereath a thin veil of flor. Thanks to Guilhaume Gerard, one of the more passionate advocates of Jura wines, for sharing this bottle.

Jose Michel Brut Reserve

While his son Bruno Michel makes mouthwateringly juicy and delicious pinot meunier based champagnes at his own domaine (the eponymous Bruno Michel), this pinot meunier based champagne was more dark fruited and seriously structured. Drier as well. At $58 on the list it was also easily the best deal on a wine list I came across this year.

08 Mendall Finca L’abeurador Macabeu

Owner/vigneron/PVN organizer Laureano Serres' enthusiasm is contagious. His un-sulphured wines are works in progress, with what many would view as flaws presenting themselves in most of the range. Some slightly longer than usual skin maceration qualities reveal themselves, but are not defining features of the wine. I look forward to seeing how Laureano's wines evolve from year to year.

2001 Bodegas Casa Juan Señor de Lesmos Reserva Rioja

From the intrepid members of my more French wine inclined tasting group, to one of my favorite Spanish wine importers, to customers where I work, many have been taken with the unique expressions of Rioja from this Laguardia based family bodega. Heck, even the renowned Fat Boy has purchased quantites of this spicy, purely fruited not uber traditional yet uber expressive take on Rioja. It will likely be at its best five years from now.