Tag Archives: Brazilian wine

Christmas wine 2022

christmas wine 2020
“Hey, WC. This is the third year in a row you’ve used this picture. Find another one already.”

Four recommendations for Christmas wine 2022

Once more, the blog’s Christmas wine suggestions, whether for a last minute gift, something to drink when you just want a glass over the next couple of weeks, or for a holiday dinner. Keep our wine gift giving tips in mind — and don’t overlook the blog’s 2022 holiday gift guide (blog subscriptions, hint, hint).

These wines will get you started:

• Alma Brut NV ($6, purchased, 11.5%): The blog’s Arizona correspondent raves about this Total Wine private label, which comes from Brazil. So, because he rates it so highly — and he makes good sense — it’s here even though we try to avoid private label. Look for some decent bubbles and a bit of apple. Imported by Saranty Imports

• Domaine de la Croix Senaillet Mâcon-Davaye 2020 ($18, purchased, 13%): This French white, made with chardonnay, is a touch pricey for a wine from the Macon region. But it’s very well done and a delight to drink. Rich, not oaky, pear and apple fruit, and a bit of stoniness. Imported by Wines with Conviction

• Château Pey La Tour 2019 ($15, purchased, 14.5%): A fairly typical merlot-based red Bordeaux, so softish, what the wine magazines call “perfumed,” and lots of red fruit. Find it for $15, and you have something to drink with prime rib. Imported by Champagnes & Chateaux USA

• Le petit Gueissard Rose 2021 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): How anyone can turn out a pink wine of this quality at this price, given all that is going on in the world, is mind boggling. Some softish cherry fruit from the grenache in the blend, but also structure and character. Highly recommended. Imported by Artisan Wine Selections

More about Christmas wine:
• Christmas wine 2021
• Christmas wine 2020
• Christmas wine 2019
• Wine of the week: McManis Petite Sirah 2020
• Expensive wine 160: Vietti Arneis 2021

Photo: “guardian of wine” by marcostetter is marked with CC PDM 1.0

Winebits 675: Wine packaging, wine writers, Brazilian wine

wine packagingThis week’s wine news: Swedish wine drinkers say plastic bottles could be OK. Plus, a gift suggestion for the wine writer on your list and Brazilian wine makes a comeback

• Yes to plastic? Two-thirds of Swedish wine drinkers say they’d consider buying wine in a plastic bottle. This is stunning news, given plastic’s unsavory reputation among wine drinkers and even though Swedes are not exactly a perfect fit the for typical wine drinker. The study, from Britain’s Wine Intelligence consultancy, may be another sign that the traditional 750 ml bottle and cork-style closure has competition. Plastic and PET bottles came in third behind boxed wine (74 percent) and the 750 ml bottle (85 percent). It’s probably significant that the traditional bottle didn’t score in the 90 percent range, given that most of the wine in the world is still sold that way.

• Wine, of course: The weekly PR Newswire tip sheet offers holiday gift ideas for writers. The list includes the Jed Steele Writer’s Block wines, a long-time favorite among the wine writing community. This reminds me of my failed attempt, in the blog’s early days, to get someone to make a red and white $10 blend, called something like Wine Writer’s Plonk, with a scruffy wine writing type hunched over a typewriter on the front label. Several winemakers told me the idea was not cute and would not sell and that I should stick to wine writing.

• Brazilian wine: The pandemic is boosting Brazilian wine, long known mostly in this country for its role in the white zinfandel boom. China’s Xinhua news agency reports that sales were up 37 percent from 2019 to 2020, and sales in July were triple the amount in March. Brazilian wine, even in Brazil, is little respected, but the pandemic seems to be changing that. Says one analyst: “The great challenge for the sector now will be maintaining the customers that it gained during the pandemic,” after investments to improve wine quality over the past several years.

Photo courtesy BlogYourWine.com, using a Creative Commons license

Winebits 298: Penguins, Brazil, grapes

Yes, quite possibly the weirdest headline ever on the blog.

? A benefit for a good cause: Let it not be said that the Wine Curmudgeon won ?t do a favor for a good cause.The Wildlife Conservation Society is hosting its first Sip For The Sea benefit in Manhattan on Sept. 12 to support the New York Aquarium as it recovers from Superstorm Sandy. The event features sustainable food and wine, and ticket information is at the link.

? Bubby in Brazil: And it ?s damned good, writes Chuck Byers on the Canadian MetroLand Media website. A ?number of ?houses ? produce first class sparkling wine, ? he says. ?Casa Valduga, Aurora, Salton, Garibaldi, Don Giovanni among others, produce some of the nicest traditional sparkling wines tasted anywhere. ? This is especially interesting in the U.S. because what little experience we have with Brazilian wine was Marcus James white zinfandel, popular during the height of the white zinfandel craze in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

? Yes, grapes in California are a big deal: How about the second most important agricultural crop in the state, according to figures from the federal agriculture department? The value of the 2012 grape crop was almost $4.5 billion, second only to milk. It rose percent from 2011, the second highest increase in the state. Wine grapes account for about 90 percent of the tonnage, which points to how crucial the wine business is to California ?s economy. Given that those figures are something that even those of us who follow the industry take for granted, you can imagine how little the rest of the world ? including politicians who make three-tier and liquor law decision ? know about it.