Linkin’ logs: 1-26-16
The weird, wacky world of wine on the Web:
• “Bwaahh the French”: Outtakes of Orson Welles trying to do a Paul Masson ad after sampling too much of the product in advance.
• I grew up near some “dry” counties (no alcohol sales), but even those misguided backwaters didn’t ban using words like “hooch,” much less “wine,” as Iran just did.
• Lovin’ the opening up of Cuba, and so are some California winemakers set to visit there.
• I’ll take the ’05 Cheval Blanc for $1.50 and the ’06 Clos Veugeot for $4.50. Oh wait, there’s a “19” at the beginning of those vintages, and this menu, shared by my friend Mark, is from a century ago. Sigh.
• A couple of viniferous gift options, the second one courtesy of my friend Bill:
Bolla. Now, exemplary efforts like the 2014 
Sonoma Coast appellation. The 2013 
the 2013 
the superlative 2012 
a corkscrew; here’s what the estimable 
• A French “Sideways”? If anyone can pull it off, 
couple of other reds that smelled exactly like compost, the four days at Cloverdale, Calif., provided pleasurable work.
means oak chips rather than barrels. And I heard an interesting analogy on that from a fellow judge who also happens to be a winemaker: “You have to be really careful because it’s like instant coffee. If you use just a little too much, it ruins the whole thing.”
• Oh, and the winners: Korbel Brut California Champagne (sparkling); 2014 V. Sattui Los Carneros Chardonnay (white); 2015 Barnard Griffin Rosé of Sangiovese (pink); a tie between 2013 Runquist Nostro Vino Vineyard Amador County, Zinfandel and 2013 Sonnet Wine Cellars Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir (red); 2013 Claar Cellars White Bluff Vineyards Columbia Valley Riesling “Ice Wine” (dessert), and 2014 Scratchpad Central Coast Sauvignon Blanc (label).
• 2015 was a banner year for the Grim Reaper, and the new annum is looking like more of the same. The engaging, insightful Ben Carter just left us way too early. Best tribute is to check out his work 
• Speaking of timely: Most of our memories of mulled wine are a deterrent to wanting to make it ourselves. The clever folks at VinePair 
love, the Pierre Usseglio Mon Aieul, and one of the descriptors was “singed alder.” W. T. F. Also. Bite. Me. I almost wish upon this reviewer what my friend Mark calls “singed testicle fuzz.” As Terry Theise has noted of such delving-too-deeply characterizations, “this is why the hate us.”
for the unfortunate souls who have not delved into the region’s wines. It’s got just enough of the mineral/chalk that identifies it as a Chablis, but is more recognizable as a chardonnay (thus a good “bridge” for domestic chard fans).
interview with wine consultant extraordinare Philippe Melka:
would be the number of exclamation points that follow. Several of them would be attached to the 
is the 2013