BJI: Good Grapes Edition
Basic Juice Intelligencer
23 April 2006
Good Grapes Edition
Alder of Vinography ponders the character assassination of the Sauvignon Blanc grape by Slate's Michael Steinberger. My initial reaction to this was: "Slate is still around?" (Thank you. I'm here all week). Steinberger maintains that S.Blanc never really puts it all together to produce super-duper wine. After reading the article, I found that I agree with Alder. My reaction was, "So." and "Dude. You sound a wee bit like a snob." For example, I, like Mike, have yet to be blown away by New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. However, I have found numerous Kiwi S.B.'s that I quite like. Nothing wrong with that. So, why then, would I poopoo the grape simply because the earth didn't move and I didn't reach for a cigarette after taking a sip?
Jack, of the Fork & Bottle blog, comments on Mt. Steinberger's apparent, uh, ignorance when it comes to top notch Sauvi Blanc:
"This just seems to me either/both a) an article written with almost the entire purpose of Trying to be Controversial or b) he's never had a great SB, which could easily be true. Still, I vote for "Trying to be Controversial". (And, it's not like he responded to Tom Wark's post on this same subject, nor I doubt he'll do so here.)
Perhaps we should be glad that the Sauvignon Blanc gods have conspired to keep him away from the best bottles of P. Cotat, F. Cotat, Sanct Valentin, Movia and Didier Dagueneau?!"
To which, I say, "Indeed."
Malbec in 2-D?
Dr. Vino, just back from Argentina, ponders Malbec's roles as back-up singer and solo act. Some maintain that Malbec is two dimensional - it starts out strong, pleases the palate and then disappears into the night (i.e. it has a weak finish). Others, like Dr. V., believe Malbec does have a future as a bottle headliner; especially with wine lovers who shy away from tough tannins. Take a moment and read his thoughts on Malbec. It's an interesting piece.
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