McDuff's Food & Wine Trail

This is not a top ten list. This is a list of ten wines, selected with great difficulty and largely at random, that inspired me in 2010. This was meant to be a New Year's Eve post... but I opted to unplug. This is to say, drink wine... and don't forget to enjoy it. This is to say, have a Happy New Year, dammit!

Barbera d'Alba, Giuseppe Rinaldi 2008
Absolutely delicious, in an all one could possibly ask for from Barbera kind of way. I have an ongoing love/hate relationship with Barbera but this was all love. If only it were available in the US.... (My original write-up.)

Paso Robles Estate Rosé, L'Aventure 2009
One of the most memorable wines from my March trip to Paso Robles, CA, consumed during one of the most memorable events of the trip—dinner high up the Templeton Gap at the home of L'Aventure owner Stephane Asseo. A dead ringer for the best side of Coteaux d'Aix rosé, with a dash more body courtesy of Cali-ripeness.

Barolo, Bartolo Mascarello 2005
Of the scores of Baroli from the 2005 vintage I've had the chance to taste this year, both at home and while in Piemonte in May for Nebbiolo Prima, Maria-Teresa Mascarello's stands out as the most graceful.


Saar Ayler Kupp Riesling "Unterstenbersch" Faß 12, Weingut Peter Lauer 2008
The most inspiring Riesling I drank in 2010. The combination of reserved character and intense depth in Florian Lauer's "Unterstenbersch" reminded me that I need to make it a serious mission to drink even more Riesling and to explore the M-S-R more thoroughly in 2011. (My original write-up.)

Ribeira Sacra Summum, Guímaro (Pedro M. Rodríguez Pérez) 2008
The '08 Ribeira Sacra tinto from Pedro Rodriguez at Guimaro already received a nod in my 2010 in review post a few days back but what can I say.... It was one of the finest 15ドルish reds I drank all year and a bell-clear harbinger that, just as with Riesling (above), I'm in need of deeper exploration when it comes to the wines of Northern Spain. (Original write-up.)

Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie "Vieilles Vignes," Château les Fromenteaux (Famille Luneau) 2005
I opened this just a couple of weeks ago, after the remnants of a bottle of Meursault proved inadequate for the evening meal. The Meursault had improved over the course of five days but the Muscadet (which is farmed, vinified and bottled by Pierre Luneau-Papin, btw) still blew it right out of the water. Wonderful aromatics, brilliant minerality, fine balance, aging gracefully... it was one of those wines that made me pause and utter a little "Oh, shit!" under my breath after every few sips. 12ドル.50 seriously well spent—and proof that there is cellar-worthy wine out there in the sub-15ドル price range.

Els Jelipins 2005
What was I just saying about Northern Spain...? My friend Joe Manekin, whose own Top Ten of 2010 post was at least partially responsible for inspiring this one, included Els Jelipins on his list. Here it is again. Sometimes besotted minds think alike. It's not often that I encounter a bottle that retails for 80ドル and feel compelled to run right out to buy some. Heck, it's not often that I buy 80ドル bottles of wine, period. It's even rarer that I call a wine "sexy," especially without my tongue firmly planted in cheek. But that's exactly what I did, on both counts. Not having been to Penedès, I can't really comment on the wine's terroir expression. It would be equally feeble to declare it a great expression of Sumoll. It's simply a great wine. (Original write-up.)




Champagne Brut Blanc de Noirs "Inflorescence," Cédric Bouchard (2006)
In a year in which I had the opportunity to drink many excellent Champagnes, this was a tough choice. But from its incredible up-front fruit richness and textural density, to its closing minerality and long, long finish, Cédric Bouchard's "Inflorescence" left a definite and lasting impression.

Sierra Foothills White Wine, La Clarine Farm 2009
Two American wines in my not-a-top-ten list? I wouldn't have believed it if you'd told me but here it is.... It boils down to this: if more American wines tasted as good to me as does this Rhône-inspired white from Hank Beckmeyer's La Clarine Farm, as in "friggin' delicious" (cribbed straight from my raw tasting notes), I'd drink more American wine. (Original write-up.)

Fleurie "Clos de la Roilette," Coudert Père et Fils 2009
As with the Champagne above, in a year in which I drank many excellent wines from the Beaujolais, this was a touch choice. But not quite so tough.... Why? Because the '09 Fleurie from Coudert is simply spot-on. Whether to drink now or later, it's delicious wine—balanced, bright, expressive and incredibly enjoyable. I'd be hard pressed to think of a wine I'd rather have a big stack of, sitting right next to me at all times, than this. What better way to round out my "list"? (Original write-up.)

Posted by David McDuff 4 comments @

Labels: Bartolo Mascarello, Cédric Bouchard, Château les Fromenteaux, Coudert, Els Jelipins, Giuseppe Rinaldi, Guimaro, L'Aventure, La Clarine Farm, Peter Lauer, Raves

Taking my own cue from last year, it seems like today, especially given that we're on the eve of New Year's Eve, is an ideal time to take a look back at the year that's about to end. If I'm feeling really inspired, I may pile on tomorrow with a top ten list of wines enjoyed throughout the year. For now, here's a bloggy-blog style review of 2010, chez McDuff.

• I started off the first month of 2010, to paraphrase one of my long time readers and fellow bloggers, by opening a big can of worms on the topic of brettanomyces. Not to toot my own horn too loudly but I was also on fire in January when it came to cranking out what turned out to be some of my favorite white wine write-ups of the year, such as Movia Lunar, Montbourgeau Savagnin, Chidaine Les Choisilles, and Thierry Puzelat's Romorantin.


Movia "Lunar," snow and the full moon....
• In February, I began to dig more deeply into the exploration of Spanish wines, something I still need to work on in greater earnest, with an in-depth profile of the Ribeira Sacra wines of Guimaro. Likewise, beer began to occupy a more regular and prominent editorial place here at MFWT; my piece on Jolly Pumpkin's Oro de Calabaza was a personal fave (as is the beer itself).


• March travels took me to California not once but twice. The first trip was to attend the wedding of my dear friends Steve and Stacy in Monterey (and of course to sneak up to San Fran for a return to Terroir). The second was my first major trade junket of the year, a trip designed to explore the food and wine culture and agricultural traditions of Paso Robles, a highlight of which was a visit to an abalone farm.


There's much more than Syrah, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon being farmed in the Paso Robles countryside.
• After January's piece on Brett, I returned to the exploration of wine science, or more accurately, pseudo-science, with my April piece on chaptalization. Toward the end of the month, I had the pleasure of sharing one of the more memorable meals of the year with old friends, great wines, and Alexis Rousset-Rouard of Domaine de la Citadelle.


• My blind tasting skills, not to mention the recuperative and regenerative powers of my palate, were put to the test my second big press junket of the year, Nebbiolo Prima, in May. Like it or not, I've made culturally relevant obituaries something of an accidental specialty here at MFWT. (Of course, just what is "culturally relevant" is entirely up to me.) One of the more colorful of this year's examples of the RIP post was inspired by the May passing of actor Dennis Hopper.


• June saw the continuation of my coverage of Nebbiolo Prima, with vintage overviews of 2007 in Barabresco and the Roero as well as 2006 in Barolo, along with a producer profile on Novello's Elvio Cogno.


• One of my favorite posts of the year (and my contribution to "32 Days of Natural Wine" at Saignée), a profile of Cappellano in Serralunga d'Alba, got the ball rolling in July. From there, it was all 2010 Tour de France, with daily coverage of the race, its routes and corresponding food and wine coverage provided by me and a multitude of wonderful guest bloggers. I'm already looking forward to doing it again in the New Year....


Benoit Tarlant, pictured above showering the peloton with his "Brut Zéro" as they passed through Reims, was among the many guest bloggers who contributed to my coverage of the 2010 Tour de France.
• After the hot action in July, August was a pretty mellow month 'round these parts, giving me the chance to check in with an old favorite—the Marcillac Vieilles Vignes from Domaine du Cros—and to head up to New York and stop in at Bar Boulud for a long overdue glass of Jacky Blot's sparkling Montlouis Triple Zéro.


• Things kicked back in to gear in September, when the trips to New York continued and multiplied for the onset of the autumn trade tasting season. One of the most purely enjoyable of those events was the Jenny & François portfolio tasting, which you can get a sense of via my two part highlight coverage (part one, part two). A very nice bit of recognition, not to mention lifting of the spirits, came along that month as well, as MFWT was was listed among the Top 5 Favorite Websites as selected by 25 nationally recognized sommeliers in Food & Wine Magazine.


• My NYC crusade continued into October, with meals at Ippudo and Otto representing just a couple of the stops among much other researching, feasting and frolicking.


• At least a little of the action came back Philly way in November, including visits from Maria José Lopez de Heredia and a NY/Philly mashup in celebration of the wines of Friuli. New York still got its due, though, including a vertical tasting of Peter Weimer's "Torbido!" and a blind tasting of wines made in the Chauvet/Néauport method.


• That, folks, brings us right up to the end of the year. My December posts might still be fresh in some of your minds. Just in case, a few of the "highlights" included part two of my coverage of the carbonic vs. terroir tasting, the long overdue return of the B-side report (not to mention a whole lotta Beaujolais), and a quick post on one of my hands-down favorite wines of the year.

I'd say that's a wrap. Thank you, one and all, for visiting, reading, commenting and generally following along with the action here on the "Trail." Here's to a happy, healthy and fruitful New Year. Cheers!

Posted by David McDuff 4 comments @

Labels: Raves, Reflections

Yes, it's the ubiquitous year-end "best of" list. I started and stopped with this post several times over the last few days, thinking it perhaps too self-indulgent. But finally I've decided to forge ahead. For what is blogging, at root, if not an act of self-indulgence? When I write here, even though I hope that others will find some enjoyment or benefit from it, I do so first and foremost for myself. So, without much further ado, here are a few self-selected highlights from the past year at MFWT. Just a couple per month, I promise. Hopefully you too will enjoy the look back.

• January 2009 saw the launch of my B-Sides report. What I'd planned as a regular installment turned out to be a one-time deal. I still like the idea, and have a pile of empty bottles and tasting notes to prove it, so who knows what 2010 will bring.
  
  
• In February, I hosted Wine Blogging Wednesday for the first time with A Passion for Piedmont as my topic of choice. My own contribution was an overview of a February 2006 visit with Giovanni Pasquero-Elia at his eponymous Neive-based estate, Paitin di Pasquro Elia. Even though it's been nearly four years since that trip, there are still a wealth of notes and photos on my desktop from other winery visits that will hopefully make it to blogland in the new year.
  
  
  Inside the rotofermenter at Paitin.
  
  
  
• One of my favorite fellow bloggers, Jeremy Parzen of Do Bianchi, missed participating in February's WBW but more than made up for it in March, writing about one of his favorite Piemontese wineries as the first ever guest blogger here at MFWT.
  
  
• The stronger my emotional and physiological responses to tasting a wine, whether positive or negative, the more inclined I am to wax poetic (or at least on and on) about it. Two of the most inspiring wines I drank all year passed my way in April: Anselme Selosse's Substance and one of the many great red Burgundies from Jacky Truchot.
  
  
• My May adventures in ramp foraging were not only fun and eventually tasty but also received attention from outside the usual wine-centered corners of the blogosphere. And in stark contrast to my usually verbosity, I had a little fun with wordplay in the form of minimalistic tasting notes.
  
  
• Sometimes I can't help but wonder if what makes sense to me makes sense to anyone else, my June post on Laurent Tribut and Pablo Picasso being a case in point. On a more obvious note, were this a post about my top-ten wines of the year there'd be another Champagne on the list, the 1996 "Fleur de Passion" from Diebolt-Vallois.
  
  
  Mike Dashe, pictured here with his wife and partner in wine Anne, makes the list not once but twice.
  
  
  
• One of the neatest phenomena to occur last year in the usual wine corners of the blogosphere was July's 31 Days of Natural Wine, realized and hosted by Cory Cartwright at Saignée, my contribution being an interview with California Zinfandel specialist and L'Enfant Terrible, Michael Dashe. That same month, I looked back not one but twenty-five years, revisiting and republishing a 1985 interview I did with the seminal San Pedro punk band, Minutemen, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of their benchmark album, Double Nickels on the Dime.
  
  
• I've never been much for New Year's resolutions but if I get around to making some for 2010, one will certainly be to make it to New York on a more regular basis. I made it up far too infrequently in 2009, but one August day trip definitely makes my highlight reel, as it was my first time participating in a Wine & Spirits Magazine tasting panel and prompted my first visit to The Ten Bells.
  
  
• Next, it was off to California to visit friends in Monterey and San Francisco, a trip that fueled posts for the next couple of months. In September, it was visits to the food and wine grails of Berkeley as well as a somewhat atypical celebration of the Jewish High Holidays.
  
  
• In October, a write-up of a boisterous and thoroughly enjoyable afternoon spent at that San Franciso bastion of natural wine, Terroir.
  
  
  
  One of my favorite photos of the year, snapped at the bar at Terroir.
  
  
  
• And in November, I finally rounded things up with a report on my trip to Dashe Cellars in Oakland and a recounting of the ultimate San Fran burger and beer experience. Managed to squeeze in another fun-filled trip to New York, too.
  
  
• The year finished out in quieter fashion, allowing me to spend some quality time with, among other things, a few wines I'd become acquainted with during the last couple of New York trips. I'll look forward to further exploration of the Arbois wines of Philippe Bornard and Noëlla Morantin's evolving work in the Cher Valley in the year ahead.

That's it for now. Thanks as always for reading, commenting and following along with my travels on the Trail. Here's wishing a happy and healthy New Year to all!

Posted by David McDuff 7 comments @

Labels: Raves, Reflections

For the last twenty-five years, the Philadelphia International Cycling Championship has not only been the biggest single-day bike race in America, it’s also been one of the most exciting and most widely attended annual events in Philadelphia. (Never mind the Mummers.)

I attended for the first time in 1991, the year that Dutchman Michael Zanoli won in a bunch gallop. Zanoli’s career may have faded very quickly thereafter, based in no little part on his displays of pugilism in the 1992 Tour DuPont. Zanoli is no longer with us, but the race he won in 1991 lives on (even if it just barely came to fruition this year). The following three editions, from 1992-1994, were some of the most exciting I can remember, with Bart Bowen, Lance Armstrong (when he still rode more on brawn than brains) and Sean “The Animal” Yates all won in solo breakaways.

Plenty has changed since those years. Four bank sponsors – Core States, First Union, Wachovia and Commerce Bank – have all come and gone, leaving TD Bank in their wake as current sponsor. The race lost some of its luster when, in 2006, it lost its status as the US Pro Cycling Championship.

But I still go every year. Haven’t missed it since that first run in 1991. In the early days, I’d start the day on the Manayunk Wall, decamp to Lemon Hill at around lap five or six and then scramble over to the start/finish area on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the last couple of laps. A few years later, I’d skip the start/finish segment, realizing it was just as easy to catch a glimpse of the finish on one of the TVs that well-prepared spectators set up, complete with generators, on Lemon Hill. And for the last several years, I’ve cut it back to Lemon Hill alone. It doesn’t quite have the spectacle of The Wall, but Lemon Hill really is the friendliest, most relaxed place to spend the day. And the beer flows to a much mellower vibe than in Manayunk.

This year, I almost didn’t care who won (Germany’s André Greipel, riding for Team Columbia – High Road). I was there to enjoy the day, check in with old friends (some of whom I now see only once a year, on Lemon Hill) and take in the energy of the race. It was a good time, as always.

Oh yeah, there is one thing that hasn’t changed. Wedding planners, take note. In 25 years, it’s never once rained on race day in Philadelphia.

Posted by David McDuff 6 comments @

Labels: Cycling, Philadelphia, Raves

Today marks the second anniversary of this thing called McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail. A lot of momentous stuff has occurred here – not to mention around the world – over the course of those two years. Yet a look back at some earlier milestones reminds me of just how little has changed in many ways, and of just how quickly time seems to have passed.

My first post ever was a short announcement about a wine and food event I was hosting. By odd coincidence, I hosted another wine pairing dinner for the very same restaurateur, though at a different establishment, just last night. (Chef Harvey dished up some really good food at Bistro on the Brandywine, by the way. Who knew duck confit would take so well to being deep fried in tempura batter?)

Re-reading the comments on my one year blogiversary posting, I realize that I’ve fallen even more absurdly behind in writing up winery profiles from my last couple of trips to Europe, even though I did manage to scratch a few off the list.

More importantly, I realize that just about all of the people who took the time to comment back then are still hanging around the Trail today. So my thanks go out to all of them, and to everyone who's reading this, for being such steadfast visitors here at MFWT. It would be tough to do it without you.

Two years down and bloggin’…. I hope you’ll stay with me for the third.

Posted by David McDuff 11 comments @

Labels: Raves, Reflections

Beautiful: A Friday off, just to enjoy one's own town. Lunch at Osteria and an afternoon at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.


Beautiful: The sun streaming in through the windows at Osteria. And the elevation of the least interesting sounding dish on a menu, in this case "marinated vegetable antipasto," to an art form, a symphony of complementary and contrasting flavors. The porchetta tonnato was subtle in comparison yet equally lovely.


Beautiful ugly: I took it, so perhaps I'm biased, but I'm pretty happy with the composition in this photo of our lunch wine. On the down side, Tomasso Bussola's 2005 Valpolicella Classico did nothing to change my general displeasure with Valpo of late. Adequate as a pizza wine, I suppose, but otherwise flat, short and uninteresting, maybe even a tad heat-wacked.


Beautiful ugly: A joy to look at? Perhaps not, but then beauty, as the cliché goes, is in the eye of the beholder. The beauty couldn't be denied in the gullet, however. Osteria is well deserving of their rep for turning out some of the best pizza in town, from the simple perfection of the margherita to the robust, rustic decadence of the Lombarda (which is apparently their most popular pie).


Beautiful: A good restaurant that doesn't give up the ghost when it comes to dessert. Everything at Osteria is done in house, including their cannoli with torrone semifreddo and their "piccolo pasticceria," a delightful assortment of Italianate petit-fours. I'd happily take a box of that pistachio brittle to go.


Beautiful ugly: I'm still undecided on the "wine wall" at Osteria. It looks decent. The feel is rustic, in keeping with the spirit of the menu (rustic in content if not in price). And it complements the bar it abuts. However, the celebration of mostly high-end, luxury wines is a touch out of step with the relaxed intent of the restaurant. Perhaps it's just a visual manifestation of the casual vs. costly conundrum that Osteria presents. Don't let the prices scare you away from the experience.


Ugly: The current facade (this shot is of the rear entrance) of the PMA. I'm not sure the huge banner is any less of an eyesore than the scaffolding it's designed to hide. On the up-side, it does provide plenty of space for self-promotion.


Beautiful: Turn around, take a short walk down the hill and past the museum's construction zone. You'll find sure signs of the arrival of Spring.

Ugly: The crowds at the Kahlo exhibit (sorry, no photos allowed in the museum). Even with ticketed entrance, the attendees were packed in like sardines. All but a few of Kahlo's paintings are modest in scale. The photos, included in the exhibit to provide historical and biographical context to her works, even smaller. Patience is a must, and even then it was tough to get close enough for a good view of many of the pieces. It made me pine for the exhibition entitled "Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Twentieth-Century Mexican Art" held at New York's El Museu del Barrio in 2002. More paintings, less people.


Beautiful: The paintings themselves. In spite of the crowds, I found myself drawn into Kahlo's mixture of surrealism and naive realism. The autobiographical, symbolic and cultural elements of her major works are intensely compelling.


Beautiful ugly: The inspiration for this posting, Frida Kahlo's self-titled self-portrait, "Very Ugly." The eye of the beholder speaks, through her brush and through her works. There's undeniable beauty in Kahlo's face, in her spirit and in her art. And undeniable ugliness in the pain, misfortune and tempestuous relationships that followed her throughout her short life. Don't let the crowds keep you away from the experience.

Posted by David McDuff 8 comments @

Labels: Osteria, Philadelphia, Raves, Reflections, Tomasso Bussola, Valpolicella

I haven't been able to post anything in a couple of days, as I've been focusing on preparing and developing the presentation for my seminar on organic and biodynamic wines at Tria Fermentation School this evening. I did manage to sneak out for some fun over the weekend though, so this is just a teaser, a photo I snapped near Boathouse Row on Philly's Kelly Drive on Friday. Spring is in the air, my friends. I feel it.

Posted by David McDuff 0 comments @

Labels: Raves

[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/XfJj_hcnRq0&hl=en]
Pat Metheny, guitar; Antonio Sanchez, drums; Christian McBride, bass.

These guys put on a great show last night at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, PA. I’ve seen Metheny about a dozen times over the last 25 years, mostly touring with the full Pat Metheny Group (PMG) and occasionally in a duo format. This was my first taste of his music performed in trio and one of the flat out best concerts I’ve seen him put on. The three-man format combined elements of the high-wire energy typical to PMG shows with the more up-close vibe of a smaller band in a relatively intimate venue. They played pieces culled primarily from the Trio's new album, Day Trip,interspersed with a good deal of emotionally charged improvisation.

This clip is from a recent European performance, broadcast on Switzerland's Italian language TV station TSI-2. Last night might be the first time I’d ever seen Pat not wear the signature faded black jeans and striped t-shirt combo which he’s sporting in this video. And though bassist Christian McBride was dressed a tad more formally at last night’s gig, it’s cool to see the Philly native showing some home team love on stage in Europe.

Posted by David McDuff 0 comments @

Labels: Music, Pat Metheny, Raves

[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/yjnGESlRNXk]

I found myself thinking a flood of thoughts today, about music, wine, beer, food, art… in other words, a large part of the gamut of creative human expression. It’s amazing how little truly original work is produced from day to day. Yet, at its best, referential work can also be reverential. The perfect, most easily understood example of the imitative arts – no, it’s not derivative cooking or winemaking styles – may just be the cover song. When done right, cover tunes are not meant to improve on the original. Rather, they should pay homage while at the same time incorporating the signature and essence of the present performer.

I’ve been trying to get my arms around In Rainbows, the latest release from Radiohead, over the last few days. Yeah, I know, I’m running behind. But listening brought back the memory of this performance from Radiohead’s November 9 webcast, a cover of the Smith’s Headmaster Ritual. The sound is sparse, moody, and solid if less rich than the original. At the same time, it’s true to Radiohead’s sound. Enjoy.

Posted by David McDuff 2 comments @

Labels: Music, Radiohead, Raves

This one almost passed me by. But, for some reason, I was just thinking that it was somewhere around this time last year – I can’t believe it’s March already – that I started up with the blogging thing. Sure enough, today McDuff’s Food & Wine Trail turns one. My very first post, a quick announcement for a wine dinner I was scheduled to conduct at a local restaurant, went live exactly one year ago today.

On this momentous occasion, I’d like to give a big shout out of thanks to all of you: readers, fellow bloggers, commenters and even the casual passers-by. It’s been a fun year and your participation helps to make it all worthwhile. Cheers!

Posted by David McDuff 15 comments @

Labels: Raves, Reflections

[埋込みオブジェクト:http://www.youtube.com/v/RgNxuNaYHsk&rel=1]
A little nugget of silliness for a Sunday night, courtesy of the YouTube archives. Be sure to stick in there to the end. It might just make you a believer.

Posted by David McDuff 0 comments @

Labels: Frank Zappa, Music, Raves

Well, not really, but they do love most fruit. Lately, you can’t peel a banana or clementine anywhere in the house without them coming running. Which calls into question: what travels faster, sound waves or aroma waves (aka, esters)? If we were blessed with olfactory senses as keen as a dog’s, would the answer be so clear?

Posted by David McDuff 4 comments @

Labels: Raves

1970. Without meaning to, Wayne Kramer -- in spite of Rob Tyner's crazy fro, gap tooth, bad t-shirt and white pants -- led the MC5 down the path toward becoming one of the most influential punk precursor bands of his generation. The video quality is not particularly good but that's more than made up for by Fred "Sonic" Smith's action on stage. Just watch the legs. Anne Murray, eat your heart out.

Posted by David McDuff 7 comments @

Labels: MC5, Music, Raves

Ok, I usually leave this stuff up to Lyle and Joe. But this morning, sitting at the computer, writing up some wine notes, I noticed Goo out of the corner of my eye and decided to pop it into the CD drive. Man, had I forgotten how good this album – yes, album – is. Pure Sonic power drive, plenty of hooks interspersed with nervy discord. I can picture Kim jumping on the stage at CBGB or the 9:30 Club as my head rushes.

Posted by David McDuff 6 comments @

Labels: Music, Raves, Sonic Youth

Props go out to a couple of my favorite wine bloggers – Lyle Fass at Rockss and Fruit and Neil at Brooklynguy Loves Wine – for getting name-dropped by New York Times columnist Eric Asimov in the context of his interview on Tom Wark's Fermentation. For that matter, props also go to Mr. Wark for helping to build the community with the strength of his blog via his recent Bloggerviews.

Heck, as long as we’re spreading the good word, I’d recommend heading on over to Neil’s site to check out his summary of the submissions for Wine Blogging Wednesday 39: Silver Burgundy. The theme for WBW 40, to be hosted by Sonadora at Wannabewino on Wednesday, December 12, has also been announced. It’s about the last thing I’d normally reach for, Petite Sirah, so I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Nice work, all.

Posted by David McDuff 7 comments @

Labels: Raves