Reprieving DO Montsant of Priorat copy-cat status

Can Blau Montsant(2006)
Cellars Can Blau
40% Mazuelo (Carignan) | 40% Syrah | 20% Garnacha (Grenache)
DO Montsant, Spain

Spain's system of classifying wine regions isn't as old as France's, however it can sometimes be just as confusing. Denominacíon de Origen (DO) laws were first enacted in 1932 and revised in 1970. It wasn't until 1996 that the country established the current tiered system of quality wines produced in specified regions (QWPSR for you fellow wine nerds) in line with EU policy. Even more recently, there have been two additional levels created - Denominacíon de Origen Calificada (DOC) and Denominacíon de Pago. Within the former there are only two regions which have achieved this status - Rioj a and Priorat known for wines made from Tempranillo and Garnacha respectively.

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Welcome to Wine Bloggers Conference 2009

While there are lots of updates coming soon, stay tuned all this weekend for updates from the American Wine Bloggers Conference being held in Santa Rosa, California. Me and 200+ other wine bloggers, industry mavens, and wine producers from all over.

Great stuff is happening - follow hashtag #WBC09 on Twitter.

Internet is kind of stable... American Wine Blog Awards are currently being announced. Next? Sonoma Grand Tasting.

Cheers!

Ryan

un petit séjour à la cote d'azur

Sunday was another epically gorgeous summer day here in Cleveland. I really don't know what we've done to deserve such a great summer this year. Regardless, it was the perfect setting for a poolside wine tasting with a good number of the folks from Bonjour Cleveland!, the French language Meet-up group I run.

Exploring the wine regions of France since February, our glasses have traveled nearly everywhere - Burgundy, Bordeaux, Alsace, Champagne, and the Loire. This month the group chose to sample the wines of southern France including Provence, Languedoc, and Roussilon (often considered together with the Languedoc). Hosted by George at his lovely home in the village of Chagrin Falls (quel drôle nom, eh?) we were anything but chagrined by the gorgeous garden, the sunny skies, and the lovely wines of the Côte d'Azur. (Note- technically the Côte d'Azur runs from Italy just into the Provence region... but hey, it sounds nice!)

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gee... saké?

g saké - joy (NV)
SakéOne
Milled rice
American

Taking part in my very first Wine Blogging Wednesday, our theme this week is saké! (Original announcement) While I've had a couple different sakés here and there, and been told a multitude of different things regarding their serving temperatures, I'm by no means at all knowledgeable. So if you're a saké virgin, then this will hopefully be somewhat enlightening ... if you're a saké master, then you'll be sure to let me know if I've spoken incorrectly.

My choice for the evening was a bottle of American saké, made by SakéOne in Oregon which claims to be the only "American-owned" saké brewery. A brewery might make you think, "Wait ... that's not the place you make wine!" and you'd be right - saké is not technically wine. It is a Japanese alcoholic beverage made via the fermentation of rice. It is however commonly referred to as "rice wine" here in the States.

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A rosé to kick all other rosés in the teeth

Santa Digna Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé (2008)
Miguel Torres
Cabernet Sauvignon
Central Valley, Chile

Right now, at this very moment, you should be utterly jealous not to be me...

This afternoon has been utterly fantastic. After a week of rain here in Cleveland we had the quintessential July 4th weekend. Sunny, not humid, clear blue skies, and puffy white clouds. This never happens in northern Ohio. This afternoon was spent having a potluck picnic with my ever-entertaining French language group (Bonjour Cleveland) and playing pétanque (similar to bocce ball, mais en français) in a large grassy field. I think my bald spot may have gotten a little too much sun, but other than that it was perfect.

That all said, the primary reason behind your necessary jealousness is that after all that, I'm now sitting at home - and yes it's still sunny - sipping on an utterly fantastic glass of Cabernet Sauvignon rosé from Chile. The perfect way to start winding down my evening.

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