Just as I didn’t give in to temptation last month, in April I resisted the siren-song lure of creating a forced holiday wine pairing (in this case, for April Fools Day – I thought about suggesting actual terrible wines to use to fool dinner party guests, but it seemed… mean…). There was also Easter, of course, but I spend much less time drinking on Easter than I do hiding Easter eggs these days. Anyway, I opted instead to try my humble hand at wine industry parody at the expense of The Wine Advocate. I figured a few people would chuckle over it .
More fool me, apparently.
Seems (a lot of) you (really) liked it, based on the website numbers, which suggest that about two-thirds of the entire U.S. wine biz tuned in for that joke. Seriously, don’t you people have better things to do with your time? And aren’t we sick and tired of putting Parker at the butt end of our jokes?
The answers, apparently, are No, and No, respectively.
No parodies today (unless you happen to think that my normal writing style is a parody of good wine writing), but since April is drawing to a close it’s time to wrap up the Wine.Answers.com articles from the last few weeks…
- What to Expect from Viognier (with Yalumba’s Louisa Rose) – I tapped one of Oz’s longest-standing wine institutions (and maybe it’s best producer of the grape in focus this month) to talk about the venerable Viognier. I’m guessing you didn’t expect Viognier (or expect the focus to come from the Australian perspective, either). Rose is talented and articulate, and provided some interesting insights on the grape.
- Wine Product Review: Borracha Wine Wipes – I’ve been meaning to give these little things the run-through “in the wild” for a long time, and finally got the opportunity while touring around Washington state and taking part in Taste WA. The bottom line is that they work, but should be approached with some caution if used in the middle of a tasting.
- Three Things You Didn’t Know about Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – This was inspired by a media lunch in Philly with some very nice members of the Consorzio for VNdM. And by the fact that nobody is really talking much about this Tuscan sub-area right now, though its quality is quickly (and impressively) improving.
- Wine Book Review: “Down to Earth” by Janet Fletcher and George Rose – An interesting concept by The Wine Institute here: profile the sustainability efforts of several California producers, and divvy it all up by season to give you a good feel for a complete natural vineyard cycle. It largely works, though you’d be forgiven for feeling as though at some points the book is a commercial for the efforts of some of the producers involved (they get a bit of a pass, though, for being Earth-friendly).
Cheers!
That's funny…..