The World of Wine Comes to Boston

In just about one month the Boston Wine Expo, now in its 22nd year, will be held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. The world of wine is vast and the Boston Wine Expo is a great opportunity to sample an exciting cross section of what that world has to offer. Combining commercial wines from all over the world with some of the big names wine aficionados follow and a dose of locally produced wines as well as spirits and food, there truly is something for everyone.

In the past I have quipped that it is possible to travel the world one bottle of wine at a time, and attending festivals and events like the Boston Wine Expo is one of the ways to be exposed to wines and regions that are new to you and that you might not easily find otherwise. These types of events can be busy so getting more than a couple seconds to ask a question or learn more might be hard. You should however be able to get a taste and spend as much time with it as you need, letting it tell you the story and take you to where it is from. One recommendation I make with regards to large format festivals like the Boston Wine Expo is to list out some places/wines you would like to explore in advance and then consult the festival guide when you first arrive to develop a plan for part of your time there. An early peek at some of the wineries and wines that will be available at the expo can be found at the Expo Winery page.

During the expo there are also seminars (for an additional fee) that delve more deeply into specific regions, or focus on a particular producer and provide tastings of other beverages, like Bourbon. As I was perusing the seminar schedule I noticed a seminar entitled “Bourbon Masters: Buffalo Trace’s Master Distiller, Harlen Davis Wheatley”. Readers who know me personally know that I enjoy a good glass of bourbon and Buffalo Trace is certainly one of the best out there. So I signed up. I look forward to sharing what I learn and my impressions of the samples I get to enjoy during the session!

I have not yet fully developed my own tasting strategy for the expo, but I’m sure I’ll be scouting for wines from regions I am not familiar with, like those from Cantina Produttori Cormons, Comelli Paolino and Torre Fornello in Italy, and checking for new releases from a few producers, perhaps from the Finger Lakes in NY State, that I do know. As a blogger ambassador for the event I will be sharing not only my own stories but those of others I interact with. While I roam the expo floor I will be looking for smiling faces and excitement, and I’ll want to know what you are tasting, what you think of it and your overall impressions of the expo. I’ll also be scouting for tips on wines to try that might not have hit my radar.

If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, you are in luck. Use the promo code "wineblog" to get $10 off Grand Tasting tickets for either Saturday or Sunday.

See you at the Boston Wine Expo next month!

Jason

Winners of the Boston Wine Expo Passes

Last week I announced a drawing for two passes to the 2013 Boston Wine Expo. Traffic to the post was decent, but there were only three comments, and a comment was required to be entered to win. The upside for the three people that did comment is that their chances of winning were pretty darned good!

In a random drawing the winners were Elizabeth Smith and Kurt Grausam! I will be contacting the winners privately to get their free pass on the way to them.

Thank you to all the people who viewed my post (too bad many chose not to enter) and to the three entrants for helping me give away the passes. The Boston Wine Expo is a fun event and I look forward to attending it myself so I can explore more of the world of wine!

Cheers!

Jason

p.s. Yes I know I am a day late announcing the winners, but that is just how the busy holiday season is turning out for me!

Epcot Food & Wine Festival – November 2012

The trip I took to Florida during which I checked out the Epcot Food & Wine Festival was last month, but I waited to share it until December as an excuse to share additional pictures of the Disney parks we visited decorated for Christmas. Disney really goes all out for the holidays and starting 4-6 weeks early meant we got to see it in early November.

A few years ago a neighbor passed along the festival map for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. A friend of hers had attended it and thought she might want to share it with here “wine guy” neighbor. It looked pretty interesting, a neat way to amp up the regional adventure of the World Stage at Epcot I thought. I tucked the event away in the back of my mind hoping I would remember it when we planned to head to Disney again. When it came time to plan our Florida vacation I checked the festival calendar and found that we could attend on the second to last day and see what the festival was all about.

Festival events are a challenge on many levels, and when you look at the intent of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, to showcase the countries already part of the World Stage, you have to accept a few things. First, lots of people. We saw that even on the second to last day, but we do believe it could have been worse. Many of the beverage selections will come from the host country’s’ roster of volume leaders, e.g. one or more of the most popular brands. This was also true, but not without some exception. Serving that many people requires a volume commitment so we must reconcile that. Food service food. Back to the volume of people and need to produce lots of food quickly and consistently. This was also true, but Disney, the festival organizers and kitchen staff get high marks for producing tasty dishes and serving them in a smooth process.

Now that we have the context set, what were some of the good dishes, drinks and pairings?

The very best pairing was from Ireland and consisted of a cheese plate and an aromatized wine-based beverage made by Bunratty that was sweetened with honey. Kerrygold was one of the booth sponsors and both butter and their Dubliner cheese was on the plate. Served with a fruit chutney and some brown bread this stop felt the most like a wine tasting to us.

( You can almost touch it. )

Before we attended the festival we had heard that both the Kahlua Pork Slider from Hawaii and the Beef Tenderloin with Mushrooms and Truffle Sauce from Canada were must haves. We did have both and the Canadians win. They were out of the truffle sauce, but the beef and shrooms were plenty delicious to get the thumbs up.

( Kahlua Slider. )

( A Canadian eating shrooms & steak. No frites though. )

The American Experience for me was a lobster roll and Sam Adams sampler. The beer sampler included the Cherry Wheat which was notably good on this outing. The Sam Adams Chocolate Bock has been the festival special beer for the entire 17 year run of the festival, and was originally produced for this event, but was already tapped out. The Lobster roll was fresh and delicious, but was trending a bit too far in the dill direction for my normal tastes.

( Looks like home! )

Local Florida beers were available at both the Craft Beer and Florida Local booths. I tried all three selections, which I reviewed along with six other local beers last week in the November 29th edition of My HalfFull Glass.

( Thirsty? )

Other countries that got high marks on food were China for their pot-stickers, which were cooked perfectly and Morrocco with a spiced meat patty pocket that was hugely flavorful. 

( Crisp outside, full of flavor inside! )

We had a second Cheese plate from a cheese-specific booth. It included several kinds of cheese and again made us pretty happy. We did also taste dishes from France, Argentina and Australia but they didn’t make the highlights.

( I enjoyed this with water as it was getting late and the small bites were stacking up! )

The line for the German beer and Brewer's Collection booths were long and visiting on the second to the last day meant that most of the beers I wanted to try, ones I hadn't had before, were already unavailable. I tried a few wines, but nothing really struck me. I had had most of the labels available and did feel compelled to pay to try them again at each booth. And then there are so many other countries we didn't have the stomach or time to visit. There is always next time Mexico, Caribbean, Japan, Italy, Poland, Belgium, Greece & Scandinavia!

We also never spent any time at the Festival Center that contained booths with tastings and retail from many of the brands behind the festival. This is definitely a multi-day event if you expect to cover even half of what is available. We finished the night with the Reflections of Earth show. I snagged a couple decent photos of the fireworks to share.

( Sunset over Epcot. )

As I said in the opening, Disney decorates for the holidays. Below is a slideshow of holiday pictures to set the mood. Merry Christmas everyone!

( The big tree at Epcot. )

( Above the door of the German Christmas shop. Love this place! )

( The American tree. ) 

( And Epcot Christmas. )

( The Magic Kingdom. )

( Main Street USA was already decked out for Christmas. )

( He almost looks surprised to see me. )

Cheers!

Jason

Boston Wine Expo 2013 - Win a Free Pass

*** Contest winners have been announced

Yes you read that correctly, 2013. I am already looking into the new year and thinking about what adventures I might be able to send you on with a free pass to the Boston Wine Expo being held February 16th & 17th, 2013.

In October I wrote about the plans for the new and improved Boston Wine Expo including the big commitment to social technologies and social outreach.  Forging a closer relationship with area bloggers was part of those plans with one of the perks being that as a Blogger Ambassador I was going to be able to give away free passes.

Have you been to the Boston Wine Expo before? If not, here is your chance! With thousands of wines from more than 15 countries there is so much to take in at the Boston Wine Expo. What will you explore?

The free passes will be drawn randomly from comments left on this post. And not with any ordinary comment either. In your comment I would like you to describe in a couple of sentences how you would "attack" the Boston Wine Expo if you were to win a free pass. With so much to explore decisions have to be made. Is there a must-visit region or producer for you? Is there a new vintage of an old favorite you are hoping to try? Comments must be posted before the end of the day on December 10th. Your e-mail address must be included in the comment and you have to be able to attend the event as the free passes have no redeemable value and cannot be exchanged for cash. I will draw and announce two winners (one pass each) in one week on December 11th.

The Boston Wine Expo does really want to be your friend and so do I. Leave your comment to win a free pass to the Boston Wine Expo. Good luck!

Cheers!

Jason 

The Boston Wine Expo Wants to be Friends

The Boston Wine Expo is going to get more social. With social media that is. This was clear from the presentation at a recent blogger event where some of the changes for the 2013 Boston Wine Expo (BWE2013) were shared.

So what are some aspects of the event that are new or will be changing?

• A new Blogger's Lounge will be available as a dedicated space for interviews and blogging activities.
• An improved mobile app will provide attendees with the capability to rate the wines they taste, manage lists of favorites as well as interact with the expo via survey questions.
• In a new Social Media lounge located in the center of the Grand Tasting all participants will be able to see what wines are trending from feedback via the mobile app as well as see what people are "saying" about BWE2013 on Twitter.
• Wine sales will now be permitted at the event. Attendees will be able to place orders for wines they like before leaving the expo!

As always attendees will be able to taste wines from many wineries (over 200), showcasing products from more than 15 countries, experience dozens of food and lifestyle exhibits and enjoy food from more than two dozen restaurants. Special seminars and celebrity chef demonstrations will also be part of the schedule again next year.

The blogger event was a mini food and wine showcase hosted at Action Kitchen located in the Seaport Hotel. The best food item I sampled was a crab cake (several actually) and I neither got a picture or any information on it. Bad food blogger!

The wine was flowing with bottlings available from France, Italy, California and New York State. The most interesting wine I tasted was the Bressan Verduzzo Friulano. This wine is a contradiction in my wine world. The nose zigs and zags back and forth between typical red and white attributes and then when you get a taste letting the tannins settle in it really feels like you are drinking a red wine. But it is a white! White fleshed fruits do dominate the nose and mouth, and the finish is dry with a subtle nutty quality to it. The tannic structure is unusual for a white, but it really works. It is always nice to come across something new, but when it is also so different it makes a tasting that much more interesting!

Also announced was the Boston Wine Expo Blogger Ambassador program that will partner bloggers with the Boston Wine Expo. Participating bloggers will be media personalities for the expo, will be provided with several tickets to give away on their blog and a discount code for readers to use for ticket purchases. More on this program will be announced as we get closer to the event.

As I was standing in a room of food & beverage bloggers listening to the details on the social media commitment being made for BWE2013 I got to thinking, "what have the folks behind the expo learned about their audience that prompted these changes?" Moving to integrate social media into such an event isn't even remotely radical as an idea in 2012, and some people might suggest the expo planners are arriving late to that party. I tend to be pragmatic by nature and when also giving benefit of the doubt I suspected the efforts to do this now were sincere and reasoned. So I asked.

The following is a transcript of the follow-up questions I used to interview Ed Hurley of Resource Plus, the company that provides the event management for the Boston Wine Expo.

Me: What were the motivations to incorporate the social aspects and the new app into the event?

Hurley: We were motivated to incorporate social media more heavily into the Boston Wine Expo for the following reasons:

• We recognize that social media has become the main method in which to communicate to a wide audience with similar interests.
• We also realize the influence that blogger’s like yourself have on fans in the wine and food community and we are excited about the changes that we have been making to the Expo that we wanted to share them with you in the hopes that you will find them to be positive and share them with your followers.
• Our wineries and sponsors have regularly been asking us what our social media campaign looks like and how they be a part of it. We quickly learned that social media is important to these groups as well.
• We want to be recognized as key portal of information regarding the food, wine and hospitality industry in New England.

Me: What expectations do you have for how more social media awareness and the mobile app will impact the event?

Hurley:  Our motivations for the mobile app came from the realization that in the age of smart phones, our audience prefers to have their information presented in this manner.  Through a mobile app, we are able to present consumers with all the information they need to know about the Expo as well as guide them from wine tasting table to wine tasting table while in the show. We hope to be able to help attendees create a list of favorite wines that they taste at the Expo and offer solutions as to where they can purchase the wines locally.

Me: Were there specific findings about the demographics of the BWE attendees that made this appropriate to do now?

With regard to demographics, our research shows that 51% of our audience is between the ages of 30 – 49, 65% have household incomes above $100,000 and 64% of our audience is female. This helped lead us to the conclusion that our audience is one that utilizes social media on a daily basis and mobile apps are a big part of their daily lives.

Me: Involving the press in BWE is nothing new, but crafting a program specifically for bloggers is new as far as I know. What are the goals of having a closer relationships with local bloggers? What can we do for you now, then and later?

Hurley: Our expectations for social media are this…if we continue to present top wineries, compelling seminars and popular chefs then the food and wine community will get excited about what we have to offer and will spread the word to their friends that the Boston Wine Expo is the place to be on February 16 and 17 of next year.

The goals that we have regarding the development of a closer relationship with you and other bloggers are:

• To keep up to date through your help – You know a lot about what the public likes in regard to food and wine and can help recommend to us certain restaurants, chefs, etc. that we should invite to participate in the show. You have the pulse on the wine and food community.
• To get your opinions – You are a good sounding board for the continuous changes that we are looking to make in the show as it evolved over the years.
• To entice you to help spread the word about the Wine Expo – As a prime influencer over many followers, you can help us spread the word of the exciting things happening with the event. In return, we have a strong platform as well and can offer you free tickets, discount admission codes, etc. to provide to your followers to spread goodwill. We can also support your blogs through our social media efforts. 

Me: Are the vendors and presenters aware of the new social and blogger changes? If not, does it make sense to involve them early on? Would their own outreach efforts compound the work you are already doing? If so, how do you expect they will be involved in additional promotion of the event before and during? Are there any vendors or brands that would like to connect with bloggers ahead of the event?

Hurley: The vendors and presenters are becoming aware of our new emphasis on social media and the blogger community.  We have begun to reach out to them for newsworthy stories regarding their organizations that we can pass along to your community. Also, as I mentioned above, several of our exhibitors and sponsors are already heavily invested in social media and have been asking what we are doing in this arena.  This illustrates that their own outreach efforts compound the work that we are doing as we are both trying to pass along relevant information to the community.  We have already begun engaging our exhibitors in our social media campaign. When an exhibitor signs on, we look for important news about them that we can share with our followers. We also ask them to provide us with news that we can share with our audience.

Another example is the recent Bloggers Event. When we put the word out that we were holding the event, we immediately got the participation of the nine wineries that were present along with our food sponsors. They recognized the importance of the blogger community and wanted to be a part of it. I believe that as we move closer to the event, we will see more vendors want to get involved as well.

The motivations and expectations shared above seem well reasoned and legitimate to me. Having participated in several Second Glass wine events that are heavily social I fully expect a return on these commitments. I am personally excited for the 2013 Boston Wine Expo and can't wait to share more about the event as February creeps closer.

So will you be friends with and like the Boston Wine Expo in 2013? I certainly hope so. I attended last year and enjoyed sampling new-to-me wines from many producers representing quite a few different places. Add more social interaction to that mix and I fully expect that attendees will be able to get more and better hints on wines to try before the show is over. And even better, attendees will be able to order wines that they really enjoy before they go home. Closing that loop ensures that producers who have wines that really shine will know that consumers won't have to spend lots of time searching around for a shop that carries their favorites!

Cheers!

Jason

Wine Bloggers – Who and What Are We?

( My #WBC11 wine blogger posse photo-bombing dinner with some locals peeps. )

Wine Bloggers – Who and What Are We?

In the opening paragraph of my first #WBC12 post, Doon,Been, What, Huh? – Matters of Experience I conjectured that “The wine bloggers conference is a lot of things to a lot of people, or it should be.” I can further clarify what I meant here by saying that the Wine Bloggers Conference attendance is composed of a wide range of different people with a diverse set of interests. There really should be something for everyone. But do we truly come together despite our diversity?

Diversity is a good thing by so many measures. Lots of different ideas and tastes being co-mingled keeps things interesting. But diversity does have its challenges. Developing a coordinated community with common goals when such diverse interests are in play is the particular challenge I am thinking of.

First off, who are we?

1. First we've got the writers. These talented folks know how to write and could write about anything, but they are passionate about wine so that is their muse. Whether they attempt to educate about wine or write flowing, beautiful prose about wine appreciation, writers are constantly looking for new experiences to inspire them. This group often gets a specific session at the conference where consideration of what makes a blogger a writer and how bloggers should factor writing into their efforts takes place. Just so I am clear, not every wine blogger is ever going to be in this group. Why? First off some folks don't aspire and others don't focus on their writing enough. For some wine blogging is strictly about providing information and not experience, and the quality of such writing is always going to be viewed differently. Others still use photos or video as their medium and the few words they do write glue things together pretty well. 
2. We've also got our educators. Many of the conference attendees are wine educators in some capacity, and their pursuit of life-long learning about wine, food and other beverages drives them to be at the conference and anywhere they can learn more. Meeting new people to share their experiences and education with is implicit it their being. Some in this group find themselves at the front of the content sessions leading discussions or moderating panels.
3. Then we've got our producers and agents of wineries. Some of the attendees to the broader conference are producers (winemakers, tasting room managers, marketing managers, etc) and enjoy both sides of the conference. Attending the conference for the potential exposure, educational content and the overall good times positions them well to meet new followers and share stories from their corner of the wine world.
4. People who represent trade associations, media outlets, product suppliers, co-operatives and legal interests are yet another group. Bloggers that are specifically focused on the wine business and not consumer topics also fit in here. This group is the poster child for the ideas presented here because the people within it have their own diverse priorities. Much like producers they are angling for both additional exposure and new channels for their products and services to be available in.
5. We’ve got our buyers and sellers. These are the wine buyers, wine shop owners, distribution agents and folks from all parts of the wine supply chain. These folks are often hunting for new wines, new accounts and new markets.
6. We’ve got folks who are zeroed in on specific topics or have personal politics that prompt them to focus on certain aspects of wine and the wine business. They are on the ground looking to answer specific questions and be advocates for specific choices. In Portland I’d say this group was best identified by those folks who were interested in the bio-dynamic, organic and sustainable themes.
7. What connects us all and acts as an umbrella for folks that don’t specifically identify with any of the above descriptions? This is the group is made up of what I am calling the wine enthusiasts & networkers. This is where that drive and second life travelling to hang out with wine people where wine is made and enjoyed is what for fun comes from. These people best represent what could be considered the uber-wine-consumer, educated, mobile and thirsty. I think the consumer thread binds us together more than we admit. I'm going to drill into my thoughts on this topic in an upcoming post. This group is made up by people who are really interested in using wine to live well. The agenda here is pretty basic, fun (the party people fit in well here) meeting new people, experiencing new wines & food resulting in a shit-ton of good memories to take home. 

Some attendees cross-cut several of these definitions and the groupings are being presented more to illustrate the diverse priorities than to represent a hierarchy or a legitimization of one class over another. People new to wine blogging might not initially fit into any of the specific camps and can self-select over time.

What we end up with is a pretty diverse set of priorities to coalesce.

This diversity can be witnessed first hand by looking at the growing blog post directory from #WBC12.

So where do we go from here?

How do we build a coordinated community embracing all of our inherent diversity? What are the common goals? Is a code of ethics and standards, something all good-functioning communities or associations need, something we all will aspire to? 

Flipping it around, what problems do we currently wrestle with because of this diversity? Are there aspects to the Wine Bloggers Conference that shake out the way they do because of the need to transcend all these differences?

Problems exist and anytime we get together as a group I have little doubt that we all want events to be better than they have been before, but that only happens when we recognize and work on the things we’ve struggled with and don’t like. But do we, or is it just a small group of folks who have recognized the needs and their role in stewarding us along?

Here are a couple (and just a couple) of my observations from #WBC12 that I think we as as a community could use some work on:

• Respect for presenters and guests to events. Seriously. We all need to shut up when someone is addressing the group. Gossip at a break. If you can’t contain yourself, excuse yourself and go somewhere else. This is an ethics and standards thing. Respect should be given to those that have been invited as guests to participate in our events. We should extend this respect to our peers who might care about something we clearly don’t if we can’t keep our yap shut.
• Proffering and furthering bad or meaningless advice. The giving of advice is a serious business, and we should take the opportunity to give it to others more seriously. The best examples might be “be yourself” or “write in your own voice”. What do they mean? When saying this does the person mean “take the time to better understand who you are and your motivations so you can be aware enough to write and engage with them in mind?” If not, I think a key point is being lost. Even if this is the intended meaning, the two statements really aren't the same thing and the generalization is nowhere near as useful on its own as we might hope. When one of the goals of our group is to support each other we should make sure the advice we give is useful.
• Impact measurement. Everyone in this group is curious about the impact we might have, some even pronounce it specifically, but where is the evidence? In order for us to answer the impact and influence questions we have to define how to measure these cohorts and consistently capture data in order to do so. We can’t wait for anyone else to do this. Why? Because they won’t be trying to answer the same questions and they won’t have the trust of enough of our ranks to make it real.

Overall these are some big questions and I don’t presume to have complete answers to any of them. I have my opinions about certain realities found in those questions, but I’ve yet to conclude how I relate to others on the same topics. One of the major realities, something Joe Roberts (1WineDude) articulated so well already this week in Wine Blogging Isn't Dead, is that wine blogging is still very young and we are short on answers of what and when results should be expected from us collectively. Maybe some conversation and follow-on posts in response to this will help me and the community at large with these quandaries.

So I ask these questions to all you, my peers I the wine blogging community. Who are we?  What are we? What should our goals be? How do we take this community to the next level?

Cheers!

Jason

Semillon My Way

Hunter Valley. Semillon. Not knowing much about either I jumped at the opportunity to taste a small lineup of Hunter Valley wines; not only Semillon, although it was the star. Little did I know that as part of the experience I would be taking down Semillon Oyster Shooters with the winemaker!

Big thank you’s for organizing and hosting the event go out to Iain Riggs (winemaker & co-owner) and the team at Brokenwood Wines, Joyce Hulm and the fine folks at Old Bridge Cellars, the staff at Towne Stove& Spirits and the leadership of the Boston Sommelier Society. We were very well taken care of!

Not knowing anything about the Hunter Region (best known as Hunter Valley), except that it is located in Australia, I asked Iain Riggs to explain a little bit about the region. The Hunter Valley is located north and west of Sydney and is considered warm and sub-tropical. I did some research after the event, finding that the Hunter Region is considered one of Australia’s warmest and wettest regions. Temperatures range from the mid 70’s (F) at the height of the growing season to just below 40 (F) in the winter. The region’s proximity to the coast is a key influence, allowing for the cooler air and moisture to be drawn in from the ocean. One of the region’s challenges is rainfall (the average at Brokenwood is 29 inches annually) which can come heavy in that sub-tropical way some of us might imagine. And most of it comes during harvest months, creating significant hazard. The relatively higher humidity of the region also creates disease stress, something Riggs noted as a particular challenge for the 2012 harvest.

( The Hunter Valley extends Northwest of Newcastle on the coast. 

Approved use by WikiMedia Commons)

In 2012 Riggs completed his 42^nd harvest as a winemaker and his 30^th with Brokenwood Wines. When I quipped, “that’s a lot of us experience” his response was “yeah, it definitely is.” I asked how things had changed in 42 years working in the Australian wine industry and his response was less specific, yet no less telling. Riggs said, “wine works in cycles and I’ve seen quite a few of them.”  I didn’t get a chance to ask what the current cycle looked like, but we were gearing up to taste the first wine so a topic switch was reasonable.

Joyce Hulm from Old Bridge Cellars had set us up in the upstairs bar at Towne and proceeded to get the 2010 Semillon poured for everyone. I’ve had a couple Semillon’s from Australia before, but this was early on before I kept good track of what I was drinking so I have no useful recollection. I immediately pulled lots of lemon from the nose. The minerality and steeliness of the wine was also accessible in the nose. On the palate the wine married a bit of melon with the lemon and I found savory herbs hiding in the finish. There is some body here, but just a little bit to consider. In conversation with TJ & Scott comparisons to both Pinot Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc arose. The three of us kicked around the similarities and differences and considered the seafood pairing scenarios of each. Both are close but neither is a layup for me. Pinot Blanc is the closest, especially those that project a bit of creamy texture from neutral wood. Sauvignon Blanc is too grassy, green and the acidity is far too razor sharp for me to make the link. The finish of this wine is short (not to a fault) and all together the wine does not present as complex, rather very straightforward and VERY drinkable. The acidity is healthy, but not racing mad, and works very well as a palate cleansing function. This is a slam dunk for an aperitif or cocktail party wine. This and the other two Semillons we tasted next range in alcohol between 11 and 12 percent.

( Broken Wood Hunter Valley Semillon 2010. )

The next wine we tasted was the 2006 Oaky CreekSemillon. The reserve Semillon’s from Brokenwood are now released with six years of age. I anecdotally knew that good Semillon was age-worthy, but this was my first real test of that idea. The wine is creamy and herbal with restrained citrus and minerality compared to the first wine. The body is noticeably bigger and softer. Hints of lanolin made me think of Chenin Blanc. The mellowed acidity further enhanced the perception of body, but this is no flabby wine. This wine is also drinkable, but is a much different wine requiring different position than the first. Paired with seafood, lightly prepared white meats, some salads and steamed vegetables is where I would place it on the table.

(Iain Riggs tasting and discussing the nights' wines. )

Right about then the food arrived. Lobster pizza. A few moments later Riggs wandered over to where I was sitting and pulled up a chair. My immediate question was “how do you see your Semillons best paired with food.” Having already noted that I would expect seafood pairings to work, I was eyeing the lobster pizza. Riggs echoed this and as he was talking the raw bar consisting of oysters, prawns and lobster tails arrived. The flavors of the lobster on the pizza popped with the wine. The corn, honey, ricotta cheese layered on the thin crust all came together nicely.

( Lobster Pizza at Towne Stove. So good! )

Next up was the 2006 ILR (think winemaker's initials) Reserve Semillon. This specific wine was made from a single block in Oaky Creek vineyard, but the grape selection for this wine varies from year to year. The nose on this wine was the lightest of the three with more of a toasty, creamy shift. The wine tasted of lemon candy and lime curd, the texture and body helping to bring these flavors out, with only some of the minerality and herbal notes I found in the other wines. 

( Raw Bar at Towne Stove. If I have to! )

I’m not much for oysters on the half shell, but Riggs suggested a shooter whereby the Semillon was poured over the oyster while in the shell and that it be shot like that. With that encouragement I walked the walk. Pretty good. I don’t mind the brininess of oysters, but I did find that the 2006 ILR with its restrained acidity was slower to clean up the trail of the oyster than I am used to. I shot a second one with the 2010 Semillon and got the affect I was familiar with. That would be my recommended pairing from these wines for folks who like a quick and clean exit from oysters. The 2006 ILR Reserve wine was delightful with lobster tail and prawns. The flavors in both meats were readily accessible and were gently cradled by the creamy notes in the wine. Almost like having a little butter where there was in fact none.

Back to the age-worthiness. While we were talking Riggs said I should consider coming back to this very wine in five and then another ten years. He said they would still be lively and equally enjoyable the same way they were tonight. I asked him what an unusual pairing for an aged Semillon might be and he suggested lemon meringue pie. Both being acidic, he feels that the wine can stand up to the sweetness in the pie so long as it is tart and not overly sweet. I think that the creaminess in the wine and the texture and flavors in the crust would be worthy matches as well. Exceptional!

I then asked what he looks for in the reserve wines in order to the select them. Overall they are selected for their purity, balance and acidity, a primary indicator of the ability to take age. The desired results when the wines are aged is that stay balanced, the nest can offer up lime juice and talc. In describing the acidity he used what he said was a specific Aussie winemaking phrase, “line in length”. Clarifying the phrase, he said this is the “acid drive” in a wine. A young wine that has a line of acid right through it that is also in balance from beginning to end is said to have “line in length”. Such young wines are great young and have the potential to go on to be great aged wines as well.

( Brokenwood Shiraz. )

We finished the tasting with a migration to Shiraz. First up was the 2009 Hunter Valley Shiraz. I really liked this wine. It is dry and doesn’t all try to be juicy or meaty like some Aussir Shiraz is known for. Bountiful red and purple fruits play in the dry tannins and moderate acidity. There are vectors of spice and smoke, but not jarring or out of balance and the alcohol clocks in at 14%. The moderate finish contains some savory herbal or leafy note.

The final wine was the Graveyard 2007 Shiraz. This wine is made from grapes harvested from an mid-20^th century vineyard now producing Brokenwood’s flagship red. As Hulm was pouring the wine she explained that in Australia the Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz is considered the third best Australian wine only two steps down from Penfolds Grange. Wow, that is esteemed company! That said, this wine isn’t quite as expensive as Grange, but not by much. I don’t punish wine on price, but it does mean I will not have many future occasions to savor those higher price point wines that I enjoy at tastings.

The nose on the 2007 Graveyard is earthy with lots of red fruits. Just from the nose you know this is a bigger wine. And it definitely is, but I still feel is shows some restraint in the pantheon of Aussie Shiraz. Bold and spicy this wine definitely makes you stop and consider it. There is no doubt this is a wooded and aged wine, but again it is balanced and not at all hot. At 13.5% ABV is is bold, juicy, but not hot. The wine is not bone dry and has plenty of tannins to hold the structure of it together.

( Short rib pizza at Towne Stove. )

With the BBQ short rib pizza I preferred the 2009 Hunter Valley Shiraz. It is friendlier to food in my opinion, its austerity and restrained weight being more versatile, and I feel these attributes also  mean it can span a broader range of palates with or without food.

So what did I learn? Semillon is really great with seafood, but it presents much more opportunity than that. The right white wines, good Semillon in this case, can in fact be aged for several years before release and not miss a beat in the glass. When a winemaker says “you going to do an oyster shooter?”, unless you are allergic, you follow their lead and do it. Warm growing regions can produce wines with reasonable levels of alcohol that are still balanced overall. I had forgotten how much I enjoy well-made wines from Australia.

The title of this post could have also been “show me the way” and afterwards I could have happily asked "do you feel like we do?" Big thanks to Peter Frampton and Frampton Comes Alive for being the soundtrack to my late summer 

Cheers!

Jason

Images from Oregon

While I further ponder over and distill my experiences from my #WBC12 and post-conference adventures to Oregon I offer the following photo journal of the trip.

Cheers!

Jason

Decibel Dan sharing his New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Dan is so much fun to hang with!

Even the bottle was sweating. A bit hot at Rex Hill on Friday afternoon!

Vines at Rex Hill. 

If you haven't met the winery dog, you haven't been to the winery.

Ryan Collins from Rex Hill talking to the group about thinning clusters from the vines.

I love gnarly old vines!

A beautiful place to spend the afternoon!

Michael Davies from Rex Hill talking about the soil profile in the vineyard.

Scott Schull from Raptor Ridge talking about vine health and vineyard practices.

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Our hosts from Rex Hill, Raptor Ridge, Ponzi and Le Cadeau setting up flight #2.

Mike Willison from Rex Hill with a whole lotta love for the group in hand!

Whites to cool us off!

Chef Dustin Clark getting the NY Strip just right for dinner.

Killer menu for the dinner at Rex Hill. The corn soup was out of sight!

We know you love us Mike, now open that damn thing!

Twenty year old Pinot that tasted much younger than that. A real treat!

A big thank you to Rex Hill, Raptor Ridge, Ponzi and Le Cadeau!

Another trip where I brought the Moonlight with me. And many folks enjoyed the selection.

This late night pic clearly needed a re-shoot. Or I needed to put the camera down!

Smiles from conference friends with full glasses. Cheers!

The cinnamon rolls from Grand Central Baking were so tasty! 

The biscuits they used for the sandwiches were as well. 

A beer truck. Portland IS my kind of town!

Margot (on right) with her friend Amy who ventured down from Seattle for a day.

Gotta get your Voodoo on whilst in Portland!

The Maple Bacon doughnut paired with homemade Maple Syrup Dessert wine. 

Breakfast of wine blogging champions!

Beer sampler at Bridgeport Brewing. This place has a great space, good food and delicious beer!

SakéOne was on my must hit list and I am so glad we went!

The koji growing room at SakéOne.

Happily fermenting saké. 

Enjoying the saké tasting at the end of the tour. SakéOne has an incredible lineup of products!

Thank you SakéOne!

Deschutes Brewing - and all their own beers!

Beer samplers are like taking the pulse of a brewery!

Hard at work studying my subject!

The Oregon coastline is incredibly beautiful and looks much different than home!

That is a whole lotta nothing out there!

Rogue Brewing was also on our radar for the trip.

Margot used to be able to drink that much beer!

Now she just drinks from the kiddie cups!

Loved sampling beers only available at the brewery.

I asked him if needed my address to get that stack of Dead Guy to NH safely. No dice.

More beautiful shoreline views. 

We definitely were enjoying our extended vacation.

Not for swimming, just looking at. 

There were a few seals in the water not far from the people.

The Yaquina light.

Gorgeous! 

Yup, still enjoying it!

Not too many birds on this day, but they clearly spend time there!

The vineyard at Sokol Blosser.

We stopped in at Dobbes Family Estate for a tasting and more of the story.

The soon to be released Viognier is a real stunner. 

Stackable fermentation vessels. I need some of those!

Margot the goofball. We do have a Sonic about an hour from us at home, but we haven't been there.

We got to visit with our friend Allison who recently moved to Portland from CT. 

Hip Chicks Do Wine

They are hip chicks and they do wine very well in fact. Very cool concept and excellent values!

Our vote for the best brewery in Portland. They are all so good though!

Lots of choices!

And I think I will try them all! Kentucky Christmas was the most unique one in the lineup!

No visit to Portland is complete without eating at Pok Pok!

The cocktails are inspired and refreshing. A Red Rooster.

The drinking vinegar sodas are so unique! Pomegranate. 

I can't remember which drink that is, but Margot enjoyed it!

Fish sauce wings. I've got the recipe and will be recreating this very soon!

Our server was so much fun and clearly a good sport!

Signing off with this. Portland we love you and will be back in 2013!