And no, I am not talking about fault lines in California, Mexico, Japan or even… of late, Chile. The ‘plates’ I am referring to have to do metaphorically with the dramatic shifting in the UK wine market and the fact that France no longer appears to be most anyone’s favorite when shopping these days. Not first, second, third, or now even fourth… are you amazed?

In restaurants, when I was first learning about wine in the late 1970s (yes, back in the proverbial day), it was all about French wine. Bordeaux and Burgundy were the pinnacles, and yes we tipped our berets to the Loire Valley, the Rhône, and a few bits and pieces of Provence and the Languedoc. We studied and consumed Italy at the peripheral level (Chianti and Barolo), enjoyed our token Germans, and locally were fiercely proud and supportive of an emerging local but, at the time, globally insignificant California wine industry. Continue reading »

When I began buying wines in the early 1980’s at Square One, I remember being interested in and intrigued by Australia. It was, to the USA, relatively new in terms of being available domestically but outside of the wines of Rosemount and Lindemans, at the time, hard to track down. When regional wines began to trickle in, the Hunter Valley, perhaps due the late and great Len Evans living there and being a relentless advocate, was a first to take a toehold in the USA. And a flood of Chardonnays, seeking to sate the thirst of an emerging appetite for Chardonnay in the USA, led. The wines were good and occasionally very good but not life changing stuff. I put them aside, in my mind’s palate, and ultimately moved on to other areas that would follow and that were, to me, more captivating- the Barossa, McLaren Vale, Margaret River, and the Yarra Valley. Continue reading »

Or perhaps as confusing, when is a Syrah not a Shiraz? Great query. Perhaps as great as: when is a Pinot Gris not a Pinot Grigio or when is a Sauvignon Blanc not a Fume Blanc. Confused? You’re not alone.

Grapes that have multiple monikers are perplexing. Perplexing not so much in their names but in what those names actually translate to in the bottle. All are pairs of synonyms, if you will, in wine speak. As actual grapes, there is zero difference between any of those pairs: Syrah and Shiraz, same thing (grape). Ditto for Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc and Fume Blanc. And the reasons for the name differences have historically much to do with the physical origins of said grapes or a style. Shiraz is the Anglo-Australian name, if you will, of Syrah, which is French, while Pinot Gris is the French name of the same grape which is Pinot Grigio in Italian.  Robert Mondavi coined the term Fume Blanc in the late 1960’s to distinguish his dry style of Sauvignon against the sweeter versions (mostly blended out) that had existed in California prior. But over time and with wine becoming more popular, wouldn’t it be nice if we could extrapolate style and wine expectations from the names and confuse people less. Let me explain… Continue reading »

It dawned on me as I was writing this blog that it’s been, in essence, a full year since we launched this site (and with it this blog) and here I am again… back in Korea and judging the now 5th Annual Korea Wine Challenge. It’s been a crazy year and it’s amazing what a difference twelve months can make… not the least of which is that the dollar has appreciated significantly against the Korean won (980’ish to the dollar last year and over 1500 per dollar this year… yikes!). New times, and (this year) new wines… Continue reading »

Over the past few weeks I have been asked a lot about what to expect this year in terms of countries and regions who are poised to capitalize, if at all, in the current economic environment. A great but loaded question.

There are many factors which contribute to what is selling and what isn’t. A country may be ‘up’ volumetrically but ‘down’ in value. For example, if people are buying more French wine at lower prices (Alsace, Loire Valley, Languedoc) but are eschewing their normal desire to drink classified Bordeaux or Cru Burgundy, well, the cases could, in theory, climb while the actual dollars sag. This has been a case in point of the Australian market in the USA and England over the past couple of years that the Australians are keenly aware of, and in the process of aggressively addressing. A recent conversation had over dinner with some key head honchos for ‘Brand Australia’ (Wines of Australia) clearly pointed out this dynamic and addressed a few of the table’s questions on how they plan to respond. But it’s unfair to pick on the Aussies as they are certainly not alone in such a conundrum. So who is benefiting?

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I have been in this business a long time. No old age jokes please, as I have heard them all - from “Pleistocene Sommelier” to “What wine goes with brontosaurus”. That said, I still get rookie-like giddiness when teaching people who are just beginning their quest.

A group of us have been down under for this past week to assist the Court of Master Sommeliers in expanding our “brand” into the Antipodes. We’ve just completed our first-ever course, in Melbourne and that group of MS’s (Team Aussie if you will) continues on to do same in Sydney. I am on “Team Kiwi”, and we are completing a session of level one (the Introductory program) and a “level two” certified in Wellington (NZ), before heading off to examine in Auckland. Continue reading »