(Photo: wineravela.com)

By Joseph Temple

Do you know someone who enjoys wine but is too overwhelmed by all the terminology and formalities to attend a formal tasting?  For many, especially Millennials who are just starting to appreciate wine, it can be a daunting task trying to figure out what “a mineral-driven, plummy finish” actually means.  And is there really a difference between a score of 96 points versus a score of 97?  “Wine is intimidating,” writes Alison Stevenson for Munchies.  “I don’t want my alcohol to feel like a homework assignment.”

But what if people could sample different vintages in a more casual environment where no one has to worry about their knowledge – or lack of knowledge – on the subject?

Welcome to the world of wine raves – quite possibly the next big thing.

With vino cocktails that glow in the dark and a DJ providing the evening’s soundtrack, these raves are the complete antithesis to the traditional notion of tasting wine on a white tablecloth with a spittoon.  Of course, that’s exactly what the organizers of these events are aiming for.  “We’re talking about wine too seriously,” said Maxwell Leer, a rave promoter.  “We want to make people feel more comfortable with it.”

Footage from an outdoor wine rave in Europe

Since 2011 when the first American wine rave debuted in San Diego, these gatherings have grown in size and are now starting to attract mainstream publicity.  And a big plus is the price, which is very reasonable by L.A. standards.  “For $30, I could have received bottle service; a full bottle of a Wine Rave cocktail.  That is the most affordable bottle service in existence, I think,” writes Stevenson who recently attended a rave in Los Angeles.

Sipping different vintages from shot glasses usually reserved for B-52s and Kamikazes while dancing to the sounds of Lady Gaga and 2Pac, traditionalists would probably scoff at these types of events for various reasons.  If anybody is smoking and/or wearing cologne or perfume at this rave, it becomes extremely difficult to smell the wine – a key factor in judging its merits.  Additionally, with fluorescent lighting and swirling glow sticks as the backdrop, determining the wine’s color is next to impossible.

All of that of course doesn’t matter to the partiers in attendance.  They are enjoying wine in a relaxed and fun setting where all the stereotypes associated with the culture get checked at the door.   An important bridge has been created at these raves, connecting the novice drinker who is curious about wine with experienced oenophiles, who under normal circumstances probably wouldn’t have ever crossed paths.  Barriers created by scorecards and terms like terroir and bouquet have been removed.  In the end, that’s all that matters to these wine drinkers.

“Wine can be a conversation or it can just be a drink,” says Lear.  “In which case, just drink it.”

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By Flickr user My Hobo Soul. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/myhobosoul/95998596/) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Question: Planning a February special dinner party where I want to showcase Australian chardonnay. Any recommendations for me?

Answer: Great idea because now there are some wonderful chardonnays from Australia that are less oaky and much more food friendly. Not sure of what foods you are featuring or your budget but there is availability at all price ranges from the top expensive barrel fermented Yattarna (now always mostly Tasmania fruit) from Penfolds all the way down to the low priced multi blend values. I really enjoy mid- priced best examples from the cooler regions like Tasmania (complex low yield Josef Chromy), Adelaide Hills (balanced refined wild yeast Shaw & Smith M3 either 2012 or 2013 & stylish Wolf Blass Gold Label 2013), Margaret River (elegant fruity Devil’s Lair Hidden Cave 2013 or 2014), and Yarra Valley (consistent Coldstream Hills). Enjoy!

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By Joseph Temple

If you enjoyed watching prime-time soap operas as much as you loved drinking wine back in the 1980s, then Friday night was definitely your night!  That’s because right after J.R. Ewing’s scheming on CBS, viewers could uncork their favorite bottle, sit back and be transported to Tuscany Valley (i.e. Napa Valley) where a world of sex, blackmail and deceit would unfold at the Falcon Crest Winery.

A Top 20 show for several seasons, fans couldn’t get enough of the constant infighting between the Channing’s and Gioberti’s, two related families battling for control of their Northern California vino-empire.  Dubbed “Dallas with grapes” by TV critics, the picturesque scenery of a Victorian era hilltop mansion surrounded by palm trees and bountiful vineyards proved to be a great hook in attracting viewers.  Within a short time, Falcon Crest was able to create its own legion of devout followers who tuned in every week to watch Angela Channing, a ruthless matriarch fight tooth and nail against her nephew Chase Gioberti (and later Richard Channing, the illegitimate son of both families) for power over the winery and their related businesses.

In reality, the stunning home that people saw in the opening credits was Spring Mountain Vineyard, purchased by vintner Mike Robbins in the 1970s.  The surrounding area, near St. Helena could trace its commercial winemaking roots back to the late 19^th century when Charles Lemme and the Beringers planted the first vines. More than a hundred years later, the region has gone on to be a recognized American Viticultural Area (AVA) and a keystone of the world famous Napa Valley.   And with the Judgment of Paris shocking the wine world in 1976, there probably wasn’t a better backdrop than Spring Mountain for a salacious soap that quickly gained a worldwide audience.

Although the ownership has since changed hands and its new proprietors are quick to downplay any connection to the show, there is no doubt that during this soap opera’s heyday, Spring Mountain was one of the hottest pieces of real estate north of San Francisco.  Author James Conaway in his book Napa: The Story of an American Eden writes,

“Sometimes Robbins had trouble getting into his own driveway.  He put signs saying the house and some of the grounds were off limits, but the tourists wandered around anyway, looking at his olive trees and at the pool beyond the box hedges, peering through the windows.”

Cashing in on the show’s popularity, Robbins eventually introduced a separate label named after the program, which tourists eager to bring home a souvenir bought in droves.  However, when the show ended in the spring of 1990, all of this hyper commercialism would leave a bad taste in the palate of Robbins, who decided to sell his estate two years later.

But almost twenty-five years after the show’s cancellation, there is no escaping the enormous footprints left by Jane Wyman, Robert Foxworth and the rest of this all-star cast.  “I’ve been trying to figure out why this looks so familiar,” said one visitor to author Rick Kushman during his tour of Spring Mountain Vineyard for the book A Moveable Thirst: Tales and Tastes from a Season in Wine Country.

“Wasn’t this where they made Falcon Crest?”

What are your thoughts on this great slice of 80s television nostalgia?  Did it help or hurt the wine industry in general?

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By Daryn Nakhuda (originally posted to Flickr as Delicious Cabernet) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Question: Any new tips on letting a wine breathe?

Answer: Still just to open the bottle and expose the wine to air. However, not much surface area is aerated and exposed to oxygen unless you pour it into a glass or better still a decanter. Seems to becoming more important than ever recently with more reductive wines out there and wines spending longer periods under screw cap closures. Many of these wines definitely need breathing to open up and show their best as of course do most young tannic reds. A key question is for how long. Best to experiment. Lots of new tools on the market to help you speed the process up. I just received a gift I am playing with called a Wine Breather Carafe (search on www.menu.as) a Danish design made in Turkey that claims to add 10 times more oxygen in just 2 minutes. They also say that “aerating white wine has the same taste-improving advantages as aerating red wine” and that it is “perfect for all young wines up to 10 years old.” Check it out.

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By Joseph Temple

Mention wine and the U.S. presidency in the same sentence and many oenophiles will respond with the name Thomas Jefferson.  Given his well-documented passion for viticulture and a huge scandal surrounding several counterfeit bottles that falsely bared his initials, its easy to see why Jefferson is such an important figure in the history of American wine.

But what about some other presidents – you know, the ones you’ll never see on the dollar bills?  For this week’s entry, have a look at some interesting anecdotes from five lesser-known chief executives of the nineteenth century and how this libation played a peculiar role in their administrations.
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1. Martin Van Buren –
Wine becomes his double edged sword

Spending four years as Andrew Jackson’s vice president before his own election to the top spot, Martin Van Buren developed a taste for the finer things in life while living in Washington D.C.  One of those things was wine, spending nearly twice on this drink than what he paid in taxes.  “I want about fifteen or twenty gallons of table-wine,” he wrote to one of his subordinates. “Say prime Siciliy, Madeira, or some other pleasant, but light and low wine to drink with dinner.”

Unfortunately, Van Buren’s interest in wine also played a significant role in his downfall during the election of 1840.  As the United States struggled through a terrible recession following the Panic of 1837, his Whig opponent, William Henry Harrison successfully painted the president as an out-of-touch elitist. Despite this commander-in-chief’s humble beginnings in Upstate New York as “Old Kinderhook,” the charges stuck in part because of Van Buren’s known interest in wine – an aristocratic drink during a time when America was mostly an agrarian society that consumed whiskey and hard cider.  By using the facts that his opponent loved champagne and had a French chef, Harrison easily defeated Van Buren in the Electoral College with a political strategy that lives on to this day.
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2. James Buchanan – Pints are very inconvenient

From the North, but sympathetic to the South, President James Buchanan is often criticized for supporting policies that caused the Civil War.  For this reason, Buchanan usually ends up near the bottom of historical rankings of Presidents of the United States.  But as historian Mark Will-Weber writes, “In vivid contrast to Buchanan’s marks as a leader, “Old Buck” warrants straight A’s when it comes to his ability to handle alcohol.”

Much like Thomas Jefferson, Buchanan served abroad as a diplomat and later as secretary of state, giving him the opportunity to sample some of Europe’s finest wines.  And after returning home to America, this life-long bachelor definitely knew how to throw a party, purchasing nearly three hundred bottles of wine and 150 bottles of champagne for just one event.  Later as president, Buchanan carried on this alcohol-fueled tradition, complaining once about the small size of bubbly that was sent to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  “Pints are very inconvenient in this house,” Buchanan wrote.  “As the article is not used in such small quantities.”
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3. Rutherford B. Hayes –
Mostly dry with the rare wet spot

After winning the presidency, but losing the popular vote, President Rutherford B. Hayes came into office in 1877 owing a lot of favors.  One such group that was looking for a return on their investment was the temperance movement, still fifty years away from seeing their policies come to fruition.  Agreeing with their sentiments, Hayes pledged to set an example as president, banning alcohol from all White House functions.  And supporting him 100% was his wife, Lucy Hayes, nicknamed Lemonade Lucy for her staunch support of prohibition.

But when the sons of Czar Alexander II arrived at the Executive Mansion for an official visit, Hayes’s Secretary of State begged his boss to lift the ban, fearing that Americans would be viewed as uncultured for not serving wine with dinner.  Acquiescing, the president’s decision that night would cause a rift between him and his dry supporters after they found out about this act of treason.
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4. James Garfield – One last glass of Port

James Garfield has the distinction of being one of only four presidents to die in office as a result of an assassination.  The only difference is that most historians and scientists now believe Garfield could have survived if only his doctors didn’t use such unsanitary methods, resulting in the spread of the infection and his untimely death nearly two months after being shot.

An interesting anecdote is that two days before assassin Charles Guiteau shot the president, Garfield wrote to his wife asking her to bring some port to their vacation home in New Jersey.  “For two nights I have taken a glass of port wine and conclude that it is one reason that I have slept better,” wrote Garfield who rarely drank and supported temperance.  “… If you can bring me a little more that you can trust as pure port, I think it may be of advantage to me.”
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5. Chester A. Arthur – Lobbying with Wine

Thrust into the number one spot after Garfield’s death, President Chester A. Arthur was known to enjoy all the luxuries associated with the Gilded Age.  He loved eating at the famous Delmonico’s restaurant in lower Manhattan and while in office, Arthur would hire a prominent New York chef to work in the White House kitchen where pomp and circumstance became the new norm.  “President Arthur has far surpassed all his predecessors in the matter of entertaining at the White House,” wrote one newspaper.  And of course, what would a fabulous meal be without an excellent vintage?

Knowing Arthur’s weakness for fine wines, one lobbyist understood that the best way to get in good with the product of Tammany Hall machine style politics was to shower him with liquid gifts.  One present in particular was a collection of Madeira.  Only these bottles allegedly came from South Carolina’s Charleston Jockey Club, where wealthy southerners fearing General Sherman’s “March to the Sea” hid their best and rarest bottles from Yankee destruction.  Not a bad way to get in the good graces of an oenophile president!
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Sources:

Dehler, Gregory. Martin Van Buren: Chester Alan Arthur: The Life of a Gilded Age Politician and President. New York: Nova Science Publishers Inc., 2006.
Irelan, John. History of the Life, Administration and Times of Martin Van Buren. Chicago: Fairbanks and Palmer Publishing Co., 1887.
Kamp, David. The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation. New York: Broadway Books, 2006.
McCullough, Noah. The Essential Book of Presidential Trivia. New York: Random House, 2006.
O’Brien, Daniel. How to Fight Presidents: Defending Yourself Against the Badasses Who Ran This Country. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2014.
Widmer, Ted. Martin Van Buren: The American Presidents Series: The 8th President, 1837-1841. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2005.
Will-Weber, Mark. Mint Juleps with Teddy Roosevelt: The Complete History of Presidential Drinking. Washington DC: Regnery History, 2014.

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