It was my first time. The sounds inside the small, ancient, wooden Kyoto noodle restaurant were deafening. The weather outside was 32C with 90% humidity. Inside were tables of men dressed in uniform grey salaryman suits and ties, sticks snatching clumps of chilled Soba, dipping once quickly in tsuyu sauce before bowing their heads over bamboo plates and viciously sucking the living buckwheat out of this ultimate […]
Primofiore 2001 Bin End
It’s a name to remember and a wine to forget. First the name: Giuseppe Quintarelli. Now the wine: 2001 Primofiore. And finally, the caveats. I made a last minute stop into a local wine shop on the way to one of the two BYOB restaurants within driving distance of my home. Living in the Boston area and thinking BYOB is probably […]
90 Points of Costco Wine
It seems legitimate to me that Costco, operating at an incredibly low 0.2% retail margin, seeks maximum turns and sales volume for its entire inventory. As a big box, non specialty retailer chasing lowest possible SGA expense in a declining sales environment, Costco leans on merchandising advantages like brand names and informational signage as strategy elements to turbo power sales volume. So, if Costco wine […]
Gallo for a Nickel or Dime? A Cleansing Period for the Wine Industry at Any Price
The blogosphere has been glowing garnet with empirical proof that the US wine industry haphazardly exposed their flanks to foreign importers with business plans to dominate the value segments of the domestic US fine wine market (recent WineZag post). The industry continued to plant, expand, and gear up for the $50-$125 dead zone in today’s market. Not all the competitive imported value wines were sweet, […]
More Eleven Madison Park
Restrained but glorious flora, service staff whispers, John Ragan’s selections, the Daniel Humm aura, soaring ceilings, Madison Park fauna, a team-in-motion “whoosh”, and Will Guidara sets the Eleven Madison Park tone. Like explorers’ in the deep rain forest, your senses are pumped with addictive tonic to lure you back; again and again. Returning recently after a regretfully long hiatus, I anticipated another evening of wine and food wizadry with my colleague who […]
When Lafite Meets Jiaozi
In case your catalogue never arrived, you can rest assured that the first fine wine auction ever held on mainland Chinese soil went off without a hitch this weekend in Beijing. A case of 1989 Petrus and 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild sold for 320,000 yuan each ($US 47,000) and an imperiale of 1979 Chateau Latour sold for 32,000 […]
Ferran Adria Dares Beer to be Wine
Is beer wine when it goes through a second fermentation in the bottle? Is wine really beer when it retains characteristics that are best enjoyed without food. And, might beer qualify as wine when it is flexible enough to pair with opposite and conflicting flavors across one meal? These all seem like meaningless technicalities when Ferran Adria and […]
WSJ Misses in Coverage of Wine Advocate and Industry Problems
David Kesmodel jumped on the “Attack Parker and His Wine Advocate Ethics” bandwagon in today’s May 26 Personal Journal section of the Wall Street Journal. That is not surprising in this code riddled era of business and media coverage. Of course, this is a matter that must be settled between wine aficionados and Mr. Parker. Wine Advocate […]
Robert Kacher Wine Treasures for Less than Ballpark Franks
The crunched down global economy has set a world stage to celebrate the work of wine personalities and producers that have focused on quality and authenticity at sensible prices even during the headiest economic times. Collectors targeting high profile horizons in Bordeaux, Burgundy, and California have overlooked these wines, leaving them to oenophiles seeking bottles that capture the earth, sun, and cellar intricacies of farmers off dusty paths […]
Popping the Question at Zaytinya in Washington, DC
Like a switch triggered by the passing of a restaurant wine list, my gears go into swift motion, “What’s the right budget for our group, even though I am hosting? Was this the vintage I had tried? Where’s the value on this list? The cheapest wine is $50 and it is insipid swill. There are so many […]