Was interviewed at the London International Wine Fair by Nathan Nolan of soon-to-launch drinkprice.com. The wine in this first video is Le Champ d’Orphée Braucol 2008, Tarn PGI, which won a trophy at the recent Top 100 IGP competition – see the full list of winners here. Delicious as the wine is, I don’t think it’s in the UK at the moment, but there’s a little more about it here and here.
Then in the next one, a brief history of my route from electronics design engineer to where I am now…
It’s exactly a year since simonwoods.com went from being a passive ‘click here if you want to go to a half-hearted blog’ entity to being a fully-fledged website. What prompted the move? There wasn’t one single major event, just a series of disappointing episodes over the course of three or four years. A Manchester newspaper and a specialist magazine both went bust, leaving me roughly £3,000 worse off. I had written a book that had sold well on four continents, was reprinted three times and took the award for the Champagne Lanson Wine Book of The Year. So was the publisher interested in some ideas for a follow-up? Nope. Finally, a column that I had been writing since 1991 ceased to exist.
Financially, the last 12 months haven’t been exactly a high point. But career-wise…heck, I’ve had a ball. Why? Well, for start off, I’ve moved from thinking of myself as a Wine Writer to thinking of myself as a – brace yourself – Wine Inspirer…. I know, it’s a wanky name, but it best describes what I think of as my role in life, namely inspiring people to drink better wine in whatever way I can. I’ve evolved from basically being a print columnist on-line into (hopefully) being something a little more enthralling. And I’m still evolving.
Also – thankfully – it seems like I’ve finally turned a financial corner. I’m now having people approach me both for speaking and writing gigs not just because of what they’ve seen me do in print media, but because of my explots on-line. Phew….
So to celebrate a year on-line, here’s a list of companies/people/entities that have been inspirational in some way, whether they know it or not, in the last 12 months…
Wine writers Jancis Robinson – the Meryl Streep of wine, consistently high-class, concise and relevant, whatever she turns her hand to. A role model for anyone looking to get into wine communication, although she does sneeze in a very peculiar manner – and I would like to see her performing ‘Does Your Mother Know?’ Tim Atkin – a late convert to the on-line cause, but now a Twitter fiend, even if his website doesn’t allow any comments. Jamie Goode – ten years ago, he was simply a guy with a blog and a passion for wine. Today, he’s much the same but has become one of the UK’s A-list wine commentators. Neal Martin – another Brit who has made his wine name on-line, and picked up a job with Robert Parker in the process. Less prolific than Jamie, and often wears dodgy knitwear, but has a fabulous turn of phrase, and chucks some fine music into his fine wine mix. Tyler Colman aka Dr Vino – arguably the best wine blogger in the world (apart from me of course…) Alder Yarrow aka Vinography – gentle but thorough wine coverage, has recently posted some excellent stuff on Australia Eric Asimov – cogent, thought-provoking writer for the NY Times
Wine marketers Catavino – Ryan & Gabriella Opaz offer plenty of sound advice through their website, plus more pertinent commercial advice for those prepared to fork out a few euros. Robert McIntosh – a first port of call for those in the UK looking for Social Media advice. Not the best of dancers however… Catherine Monahan – experienced marketing advice with a South African twist. Blondes are supposed to be dumb – this one isn’t. Gary Vaynerchuk – he actually seems to be calming down in terms of volume, but thankfully not in terms of intensity and passion.
Wine merchants Berry Bros & Rudd – one of the UK’s most venerable merchants and also an online pioneer.
Rowan Gormley – driving force behind Naked Wines, a company that embraces the idea of Internet connectivity more than virtually anyone else in the UK
Woodwinters – Scottish merchant doing more than most online. On this list because they have nice wines and send me encouraging notes after rather obscure posts…
Andrew Chapman – English equivalent of the above – do follow his wife Ali on Twitter
Wine producers Randall Grahm – does he need any intro? Does any wine person on Twitter have more followers? Yet he deigns to respond to some of my posts…
Tweeters Heather Rankin – I’ve never met her, but I like what she does and I really should comment on her posts as often as she does on mine Bob Young – another person who loves me more than I love him: Bob, I will try to correct this, especially as you’re in the home city of Rob Bell
Others Robert Joseph – a mentor for me, or should that be Dementor? Continues to write about wine for Meininger’s but now also producing his own wine, as well as being involved in probably more enterprises than even he can remember. Still ruffling feathers and coming up with a host of interesting ideas.
Brain warpers – there are several, but Hugh Macleod and Seth Godin currently top my list
If you’re lucky, you may have wineries near where you live. If not, you may at least find yourself on holiday in a wine region. But whichever, I have a few pointers on how to get the most out of your trip…
1) Business as Usual. Some wineries can cater for coachloads of tourists. Others can’t. Find out beforehand whether visitors are actively welcomed or merely tolerated. If you’re going to turn up at a small winery unannounced, don’t expect the proprietor to drop his secateurs and give you two hours of his undivided attention.
2) There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Pouring wine down people’s throats may be good PR, but it’s expensive, and there’s now a fee for tasting at some wineries. If there isn’t, and you leave empty-handed having slurped your way through half a dozen wines, don’t be surprised if your ‘farewell’ isn’t received with great enthusiasm. However…
3) Don’t leave your critical faculties in the car park. They may be trying to get you to open your wallet, but crap wine is crap wine, and it’ll taste worse when you get it home. If you genuinely don’t like anything, don’t feel obliged to buy.
4) Breakfast of Champions. If they ask for feedback, be honest. Why tell them you love their oaky Chardonnay when it really makes you gag? It’ll only encourage them to make more of it.
5) Move along please. There’s nothing so annoying at a winery as people who slob across the counter and don’t let anyone else near the wines. Get your sample of wine and move away, or risk a kick in the pants.
6) Limited appeal. Look for limited edition wines, or older wines that have sold out in the stores. Often the cellar door is the only place you’ll find such things.
7) Paying through the Nosé for the Rosé. You’d think that the wines would be cheaper from at the winery than in the shops. And it probably will at the farm gate in Europe. But at the gleaming new visitor’s centre in California or Australia, it might even be more expensive.
8) The Long & Winding Road. Even if you’re spitting all the wines out – and let’s face it, very few people do – a bit still ends up going down your throat. If you don’t want to end up in a ditch, make sure you have someone sober to drive you around.
9) Transports of delight. You bought three bottles at the first winery, four at the second, a case at the third… All well and good if you’ll be driving home, but if you’re not, where are you going to put it on the plane?
10) Your turn to provide the tenth – please leave some comments below saying what tips you’ve picked up on your winery visits….
A couple of wines from a well-known (in the UK at least) singer’s estate in the Algarve plus a rather unusual sweet wine from the Ribatejo – or Tejo, as we should now be calling it.
Onda Nova Verdelho 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Clean, fresh, tight peach, citrus peel and gritty pearskin character with a touch of brine, ripe but still refreshing, wears its 14% alcohol well. B(+)
Onda Nova Syrah Rosé 2008, Algarve (£9.99 www.mollybrownswinelist.co.uk ) Bouncy rosé, packed with strawberry (fresh and tinned) flavours, fleshy and ripe but still dry, with an honest lively finish. B
Quinta da Lagoalva de Cima Late Harvest 2008, Ribatejo (N/A in UK – Clark Foyster are Lagoalva’s importers) A touch of volatility (think nail varnish), then oodles of fruit – peach, pear, apricot, grapefruit, elderflower, orange marmalade – but there’s also a less ripe, almost smoky edge that seems slightly at odds with the lusher sweeter side of the wine. Overall though, pretty tasty. B+ (see notes on the 1995 here)
When you have a shoe and a wall, who needs a Screwpull?
Reminds me of an episode from my youth when I was almost in a band called the Nonskills. I say ‘almost’ because there were too many guitarists. (Which reminds me of the old gag, How many guitarists does it take to change a lightbulb? Ten – one to change it and nine to say, ‘I can do that.’ Maybe you had to be there…) But yes, three guitarists is too many, and as I was the worst of the trio, and lived furthest from where practices were held, I only performed with them occasionally.
But one weekend, guitarist No.2 couldn’t make a gig, so I stood in. And prior to the performance, two of us bought a bottle of cheap Spanish plonk from Yates’s Wine Lodge on Yorkshire Street in Oldham (wonderful old building, now part of a crap shopping centre, sawdust on the floor, Australian sherries on tap, the ceiling was salmon pink and duck-egg-blue – the only place I’ve seen someone try to throw a pool table at someone else). We then discovered that we didn’t have a corkscrew. And not being aware of the possibilities of opening the bottle with a wall and a shoe, we chose to push the cork in and see what happened.
I can’t remember the precise price of the wine – £1.75 a bottle? But in order to achieve this price, certain corners had undoubtedly been cut. The label was basic, the capsule was basic, the cork was basic. And stubborn. We did manage to get it to start moving a little, but then came the point at which we discovered that the bottle was also basic. The bottom flew out, we got soaked, and we never got the chance to discover whether the wine was as basic as the packaging. Lesson learnt. As for the gig, it was really, really bad. The singer lost his voice, various strings broke, and the girl we all fancied went off with someone from another band. But the good news is since then, the quality of my guitar playing, the amount of money I spend on a bottle of wine and the size of my collection of corkscrews have all increased.
Have been reacquainting myself with the glorious country that is Molvania, and in particular with its extraordinary wine heritage:-
‘Vajana is an historic wine-growing region and produces the world’s only red Riesling. The most popular wine is a type of claret made out of a grape unique to this area called Soursavignon. Many wine writers struggle to describe the taste of this grape but most liken it to fermented lemon rind. The grape has an extremely tough skin and for many years could only be crushed by rifle butts. The grape juice from this crush is extremely astringent and must undergo a filter press. The first run off is used in premium cuvees and the second juice is used to tan saddles.’
Am off to track down a bottle of Chateau Sultána right now…
So the Bordeaux cru bourgeois classification is going to be suspended (see here). Golly, this WILL have the rest of the winemaking world quaking in its boots. Why, oh why do the French spend so much time on things that the rest of the world doesn’t give a stuff about?
I have in front of me a brochure from the 2nd Rencontres Méditerranéennes du Muscat – Mediterranean Muscat conference in other words. It was held in Roussillon, and judging by the invitees, the definition of ‘Mediterranean’ takes in just southern France and the co-op of Samos in Greece (which just so happens to provide France’s best-selling Muscat…).
Anyway, back to the brochure… It starts off with comments from the President of the CIVR, then from the President of the Association for the Defence of the Rivesaltes Muscat Wine, then from the President of the National Confederation of Vins Doux Naturels, then from the President of the Languedoc Roussillon Region, then from the President of the Conseil General, then from the Senator Mayor of Perpignan (who also happens to be President of the Communauté d’Agglomération de Perpignan Méditerranée), then from the President of the Crédit Agricole Sub Méditerranée, and finally from the President of the local Chamber of Commerce. In other words, from lots of bureaucrats in suits making speeches that only other bureaucrats want to hear. Only then do you get to anything useful about the exhibition.
Now I love French wine, I probably drink as much of it as from all other countries combined, and I could very happily and easily confine my wine writing exploits solely to the land of the baguette. But until France sacks all the pompous men (they’re usually men) in suits and concentrates on making lovely, lovely wine (as opposed to the swill that the idiots of CRAV seem to want to defend), other countries will continue to prosper.
