By Joseph Temple

While we all wait until 2015 to see how the final season of AMC’s Mad Men ends, let’s have a look at some food and drink advertisements that the real Don Drapers of the time cooked up for TV viewers of the 1960s and early 1970s – an era where catchy jingles reigned supreme.  Looking back, it’s hard to imagine a commercial today lasting more than thirty seconds and yet, some of these spots approach the one-minute mark.   And in today’s fast-paced world, seeing dad at the breakfast table reading (gasp) … a newspaper and not an iPhone only adds to the nostalgic feel of these ads.  So lets take a trek down memory lane with these classics.

1.  Wesson Vegetable Oil … cooks as light as it looks

This commercial is so sugary, you’ll get a cavity just watching it.  If this mother and son duo performs a jingle every time they use vegetable oil, imagine what happens when they break out their favorite bottle of ketchup.

2.  Fanta Orange  … it’s so fun when you’re thirsty

Without question, Coca Cola was king when it came to catchy jingles.  Who can forget “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” or “Things go better with Coke?”  And it looks like Fanta Orange, their sister beverage benefited from the same group of talented writers with this bubblegum tune similar to The Archies “Sugar, Sugar” and Tommy Roe’s “Dizzy.”  Watching a group of hipsters paint their Love Bug in the hot sun, aren’t you glad that they were able to quench their thirst with some refreshing orange soda?

3. Continental Airlines … we’ll really move our tail for you!

With airlines cutting costs and passengers crammed in tighter than a sardine can, you’re lucky these days if you can get one free soda in a small plastic cup.  So imagine coach passengers getting a slice of juicy roast beef with a glass of sparkling wine as you take off to your destination!

4. Instant Quaker Oatmeal gets a celebrity endorsement.

If you’re Quaker Oats and want to reach every housewife in Middle America during the 1960s, who better than Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York to help sell your oatmeal?  The two stars of the 60s hit show Bewitched prove that making instant oatmeal is as easy as twitching your nose.

5.  Canada Dry Ginger Ale … one gulp if for thirst, the other gulps are for kicks!

If you’re ever shooting pool, hosting a bonfire or partying on a yacht with some scantily clad females, take it to the next step by offering that special lady some champagne – the champagne of ginger ales that is!

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Question: Why Does Riesling Grow So Well In Germany?

Answer: This week’s posting on the topic “Riesling: Dry or Sweet?” generated some discussion including this question.  Tough to put your finger exactly on one specific answer. However several important factors come into play that make riesling so successful there.

First is the unique microclimate. Thirteen different wine growing regions so far north around the 50^th parallel latitude is crucial. However global warming is having some influence on the weather there. Seems you no longer can be absolutely guaranteed that riesling grown in the Saar will be quite acidic.

But it is not all about only climate but a unique terroir including appropriate soils for such a suitable grape variety like riesling! The regions benefit from the nearby rivers and their distinct soils to absorb heat during the day and retain it during the night. A variety of soils from quartz, sandy loam, clay, silt, graphite, volcanic and limestone contribute different styles. A really big reason for the world-wide admiration of  German riesling is the special Devonian blue gray slate found especially in the Mosel, Saar & Ruwer contributing to their wonderful fruit acidity as well as the structured wines from Rheingau especially around Assmannshausen, Lorch & Rudesheim. There are amazing slopes going straight up from the river bends but also terraces, and rolling hills as well. Quite diverse to say the least!

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We all know that the riesling grape variety challenges strongly as possibly the very best one grown for wine. It shows this amazing versatility at all levels of sweetness to produce a well structured and delicious wine. The old German wine laws of 1971 emphasized quality not based on yields or other important factors but on the must weight of the grapes. This gave us a somewhat misleading notion that the riper and sweeter the grapes the better the quality of the wine. However these days most German wines are being fermented to dryness (trocken) or fairly dry (halbtrocken) even if the grapes qualify up to auslese in their quality.  No longer just the New World supplying us with dry Riesling.

Thought provoking ideas were brought into clearer focus for me by 3 tastings I attended last week. The first was called Generation Riesling (www.Generation-Riesling.de) hosted by Ted Kalaboukis Director Canada for Wines of Germany with Nadine Poss, their German Wine Queen for 2013-14. They showed 10 German wines from the new generation to go with a four course lunch catered by two of our finest food trucks spotlighting Indian by Vij’s Railway Express (pakoras, tamarind, butter chicken with fenugreek curry, cumin, mango, naan, spicy lamb) and Far East by Roaming Dragon (dumplings, ginger, taco trio with Malaysia, Mexico, and Korean flavours). The pairings worked well showing wonderful balance and minerals in both the dry and sweet (spatlese) wines to stand up to the assertive dishes. Zum Wohl!

The other two events were blind tastings including one with 19 bagged wines that all turned out to be Riesling – 1 each from Austria, France, California, 2 Washington State, 8 BC, and 4 Germany. This was quite a difficult tasting because some wines were austerely dry while others were rather sweet. Moreover the alcohol levels ranged from a low of 7.5 in an elegant Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spatlese 2011 from Dr. F. Weins-Prum in the Mosel served 4th in the order to a high of 13.9 in a dry BC wine served late. Another German wine 2012 Dr. Von Basserman-Jordan Riesling Trocken was 12 degrees and quite dry.  This tasting really brought home to me the profound difference in style of all the riesling currently out there on the market.

Be sure you know what you are buying.  It could be a dry riesling or a sweeter one! Please vote on your preferred style.

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By Joseph Temple

In 2005, China drastically lowered its tariffs on imported wines from 64% to 14%.  Since then, scores of buyers have made up for lost time by indulging themselves in the fine art of wine tasting — a practice that Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution outlawed for being decadent and bourgeois.  Now seldom does a week go by without a news story discussing the impact China is having on wine exports.  Purchasing 1.86 billion bottles in 2013 (a 136% increase in only five years), a whole new generation of oenophiles are springing up from Shanghai to the Himalayas as winemakers around the world eagerly look to cash in.

But what about China’s domestic production? Since almost 95% of the wine consumed in the People’s Republic comes from locally grown grapes, perhaps its time to have a closer look at this potential vino-superpower.

Having a largely superstitious population, it’s no surprise that red wine dominates the marketplace.  That’s because the color red is considered lucky in Chinese culture, while the color white is synonymous with death.  Unfortunately, since the majority of its wine consists of local grapes blended with cheap bulk wine imports, even their finest Cabernet is no match against France or California in terms of quality.  That’s why a sort-of Sino-Franco alliance has been established in recent years.

Beginning in 1978 when China first opened its doors to the West, an influx of foreign wine producers have partnered with government-run businesses to help improve the quality of its vineyards.  Some of these joint ventures have been with notable vintners such as Rémy Martin, Pernod-Ricard and more recently in 2009 when Domaines Barons de Rothschild (DBR) Lafite partnered with China’s biggest state-owned investment company to produce wine geared towards the domestic market.

Setting up shop in the city of Penglai, DBR, like most winegrowers chose the Shandong Province as their hub, which along with the Province of Shanxi benefits from a maritime climate.  Located northwest of Shanghai and south of Beijing, these two provinces share the same latitude as California and would be almost Mediterranean in climate if it weren’t for the raging monsoons.  Of the approximately 500 wineries in China, the majority are located in these two provinces, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t others that are emerging as well, such as the Mount Helan region and Xinjiang Province on China’s western border.

As of today, Chinese wine has still failed to reach a global audience. But working alongside established vintners to increase quality, the People’s Republic might just be a sleeping giant ready to dominate the global marketplace.   Just remember that fifty years ago, wines from Australia and California were held in similar contempt.

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Question: Should I buy wine on eBay?

Answer: Topical question! As a lawyer I always approach any purchase of wine on the internet or at auction with the Latin phrase “caveat emptor” – let the buyer beware! I suggest you should too.

It is somewhat similar to buying a used car. That obviously is a rather major expenditure but top wines with their expensive prices can be costly too.  Ask yourself why is the seller getting rid of that car or that particular wine? Auction houses don’t really like 11 bottle lots because it infers that the seller tried one and didn’t like the case purchase and is dumping it. Now with so much proven counterfeit wine in the marketplace you have to be extra careful that first you are getting the genuine article. Watch out soon for the new documentary film on the Rudy Kurniawan ordeal.  Even if it is an authentic wine you have to be concerned about “hot” storage (was it naturally stored outdoors in Death Valley, California?) and the amount of ullage (space between the cork or screw top and the liquid). Beware of leakage. Remember you are not having the opportunity to hold and examine the wine prior to purchase. Descriptions may not be accurate and any photos posted may not be current enough or detailed enough to alert you to any problem. If it is only 1 bottle and not much money involved it may be worth the adventure and the experience of “gambling” on line. That great buy you think you are getting may not be so endearing when you finally taste it. Once bought you also still have to hope you receive the alcoholic product and in the USA the state by state eligibility of the buyer. Have fun but be careful. I myself would prefer using one of the many online wine shops over eBay.

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