Dave McIntyre's WineLine

Bobby Kacher - Dean of the DC Importers

The Washington, D.C., region is a very fun and active market for wine consumers, especially for those of us interested in imported wines. There is a vibrant cadre of wine importers serving this market, enough to keep wine lovers turning bottles to look at the back label to see who is importing which wines.

The dean of these importers is Bobby Kacher, the ever loquacious face, palate and voice behind Robert Kacher Selections. I profile Bobby in my wine column this week in The Washington Post.

Bobby represents about 75 producers, and about 70 of these are French. (He has two producers in Argentina, one in Portugal, and one in South Africa, that I know of.) All are family owned and operated, they emphasize organic viticulture (at least, no pesticides and herbicides), temperature-controlled fermentation to keep the wines fresh, no filtration, etc - many of these seem commonplace now, but Kacher helped promote these practices when he started importing wines in the 1980s.

As you'll see in the sidebar on wine recommendations, I learned a lot about French wine by purchasing Bobby's imports back in the late 1980s. There are many more importers in the DC area that I follow now, and I seem to be learning about more every year as the market thrives and expands. And I've followed Bobby less reliably as I've explored other importers' portfolios. But each time I taste some of his wines, I'm reminded of my wine-loving roots.

And whatever you do, don't miss out on that Saumur ...

What's Ahead in 2011?

What should wine lovers expect in 2011? More debate over direct shipping, and hopefully we'll get that privilege here in Maryland this year. But will be able to order from out-of-state retailers, or just wineries? And will we be allowed to bring our own wines to restaurants in Maryland?

Politics is likely to dominate debate in other states as well, as governors in Virginia and Pennsylvania try to privatize their states' liquor control regimes. Should the government be in charge of selling alcoholic beverages? It's a worthy question with no simple answer.

Local wine will continue to gather buzz as well. The DrinkLocalWine.com conference focused blogger attention on Virginia last year - look for more this year when the Wine Bloggers Conference comes to Charlottesville - the Napa of the East.

Consumers, of course, will continue to seek value. We've learned that we don't have to pay top dollar to get a really good wine - we just may have to search a little harder. $10 is the new $20, etc.

And where will we find bargains this year? My prediction for the hot "new" bargain wine region is none other than France, as wines from the textbook 2009 vintage reach our retail shelves throughout the year. My January Recession Busters list in today's Washington Post already has a few French 09s, and you can expect many more throughout the year!

Happy drinking, everyone!

Wine Follies and Cheap Wine Hall of Fame

Who thinks these things up? Elin McCoy of Bloomberg News reports on an Oregon winery that recruited an elephant to stomp grapes as part of a fund raiser for a wildlife park. Talk about “natural wine”! Winery owner Stephen Reustle of Reustle-Prayer Rock Vineyards was not worried that the pachyderm would crush the grape seeds and exude harsh tannins once he saw the beast’s “soft, fleshy pads,” McCoy reports.

In her roundup of wild and wacky wine stories from 2010, McCoy notes a British Columbia cattle rancher who gives her cows a liter of red wine a day for the last 60 days  before slaughter. At least they die happy, and supposedly more tender and flavorful. The steaks are high on that venture, to say the least.

“It really has this umami thing,” says Janice Rayndahl of Sezmu Meats. Isn’t umami Japanese for “je ne sais quoi”? You know, that flavor you can’t really pinpoint or put a name to?

McCoy also highlights sales of the “Wine Rack” bra, for the woman whose cup runneth over. It conceals an entire bottle of wine to be sipped inconspicuously through a tube. I can see this catching on with guys, too - we no longer need be ashamed of our man-boobs!

Jeff Siegel, my co-conspirator at DrinkLocalWine.com has posted his annual “$10 Wine Hall of Fame” on his Wine Curmudgeon blog. Jeff revels in cheap wine, and has since even before the recession, so he can spot the extreme values. I don’t share his fondness for Barefoot Merlot, which almost made the cut this year, but Jeff has a keen eye for everyday wines - the type of wines most people actually drink.

 

 

 

For the past few years, the cork industry has fought back against screwcaps by playing the global warming card - buying cork-stoppered wines helps preserve the Mediterranean cork forests and their natural wildlife habitats. Now cork producers are playing the sex card, too - their latest ad campaigns (primarily on the Internet and savaged by wine bloggers such as Alder Yarrow at Vinography) show a guy striking out with a hot babe when he pulls a flaccid plastic “cork” from a wine bottle. Another video has a woman scorned as a “brown noser” when she twists open a screwcapped wine at an office party. I guess they think we wine lovers are really shallow.

 This post appeared in similar form on The Washington Post's All We Can Eat blog on Jan. 6.

The Annual Thanksgiving Conundrum

Thanksgiving is coming, which means wine writers across the country are telling you to worry about what wines will clash with the cranberry sauce. To which I always say, "open one of everything" and turn the feast into a food-wine pairing clinic. But if you can't or won't do that, I offer some guidelines in today's Washington Post Food section. Also, I suggest some wines to pair with the Food section's Thanksgiving menus, including an all-American selection ranging from Argentina to Canada (and points in between).

 

Joe Yonan on Virginia Wines, at Blue Duck Tavern

Washington Post Food Editor Joe Yonan - known in my house as "your boss" - walks the walk of the locavore/locapour issue in his "Quick Bites" feature on NBC-4 this week. Joe tastes some of the wines from the new Virginia wine page at Blue Duck Tavern, one of DC's most avidly locavore restaurants, and one I mentioned in my feature on local wines and local wine lists in yesterday's Food section. If I knew how to embed the video here, I would, but we'll have to settle for the link to the station's website.

Nice shoutouts here for Rappahannock Cellars and Boxwood Winery.

Why Aren't More Local Wines on Local Wine Lists?

This is a question that can probably be asked wherever fine wines are made. In fact, it WAS raised last year in the San Francisco Chronicle, which reported complaints by North Coast vintners about restaurants that touted their local meats and produce but filled their lists with imported wines. Todd Kliman took the debate national this summer with his essay, "The Locavore Wine Hypocrisy," on thedailybeast.com. In today's Washington Post Food section, I look deeper into the question, and find some intriguing arguments on both sides to explain the problem. I also discover some area restaurants that are making the commitment to feature the local vino.

Regional Wine Week Creates Some Buzz

Regional Week 2010 is this week, which you know since I've been telling you. But the world is noticing, too. We've managed to create some buzz, including this nice interview of Jeff Siegel on ColoradoWino.com.

And vintners near Traverse City in Michigan were all abuzz about the attention they are beginning to get on the national stage for their Rieslings, Pinot Blanc and other wines. Local TV news was quick to pick up on the story.

What got them so excited? A travel feature in last Friday's USA Today on 10 great places for local wines - featuring Jeff Siegel and myself, with a great plug for Regional Wine Week.

You can follow Regional Wine Week at DrinkLocalWine.com. And if you feel inspired, check out the local wine haiku at the DLW Facebook page.

USA Today on Regional Wine

USA Today, the nation's newspaper, dropped at hotel room doors across the land every morning, last week endorsed the regional wine movement with a travel feature on 10 "local" wine regions to visit. This is a great idea - if your business or pleasure takes you to St. Louis, consider a detour to Hermann. Heading to New York? Linger awhile in the Finger Lakes. Taking your family to Washington, DC, for some American history, or Charlottesville, to see Jefferson's Monticello? Guess what? Wine country is just around the corner.

The article is also a tribute to Regional Wine Week and DrinkLocalWine.com, as Jeff Siegel and I were interviewed about emerging wine regions across the country.

Oz Clarke Gives Two Thumbs Way Up for Virginia Wine!

Here's a great way to start Regional Wine Week: I received my copy of Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2011 yesterday - it's a fun, handy reference volume with short entries on wine grapes, regions and producers around the world, with vintage charts, liberally peppered with bons mots from the effervescently witty Oz. I always enjoy reading his introduction, which this year warns against complacency by wine drinkers in the face of anti-alcohol activists who don't distinguish among drinks.

Then he describes what wines excite him lately. There are some unpronounceable Turkish varieties, and he's hot for Slovenian Furmint and even Cabernet Sauvignon from Jordan. (The country, not the Sonoma County winery.) He's rediscovered Chardonnay from California, New Zealand and Australia, and while he doesn't seem to share my love for Argentina, he gives a begrudging nod to Torrontes.

And then there's this:

"My most thrilling discovery in the USA this year has been the wine from vineyards spread around Washington, DC, in particular those of Virginia, whose sumptuous, scented Viogniers are world-class. A perfect partner for the leaner, racier delights of New York State."

Some disclosure is in order here. I contribute entries on the Eastern United States to this book, and I hosted (and wrote about) Clarke when he visited the Washington area earlier this year and shared his opinions on some local wines. When I met him, though, it was clear he was already quite familiar with many wines from the Mid-Atlantic region and particularly jazzed about Virginia Viognier.

Don't forget to check out DrinkLocalWine.com this week for more postings on regional wines!

Not Your Father's Virginia Wine

Does your impression of Virginia wine date back to an unfortunate taste 10 or 20 years ago, in a store or at a sweltering festival somewhere in hunt country? Mine did, but I kept tasting, as Virginia wines kept getting better. Unfortunately, I'm not at all convinced that most people have continued to taste and keep an open mind about Virginia wine.

That's why I hope you'll enjoy my column in today's Washington Post, in which I highlight some interesting trends in the Virginia wine industry - it's growth over the past decade, with an increasing emphasis on quality; it's success in new markets, both among younger, tech-savvy drinkers and overseas; and the increasing focus on vineyard-designated wines that express and develop Virginia's terroir, unique from that of France or California.

This is Virginia Wine Month, as declared by the Virginia Wine Folks. And next week is Regional Wine Week, as declared by Jeff Siegel (The Wine Curmudgeon) and myself at DrinkLocalWine.com. Be sure to check in regularly for the best blogoscribbling about wines "from around here, wherever here happens to be."