Winebits 468: La Vielle Ferme rose, Utah laws, Kevin Zraly

This week’s wine news: Even La Vielle Ferme rose wants to be hip, plus Utah liquor laws and Kevin Zraly.

• Bring on the pink: How do we know that rose is hot, hip, and happening? Because the Wine Curmudgeon has received two news releases from the company that makes La Vieille Ferme rosé, the first I’ve ever gotten from La Vielle. The wine has been sold in the U.S. for so long that I wasn’t old enough to drink when it first appeared; until 10 or 12 years ago, the rooster rose was about the only dry pink wine that was widely available. That the producer needs to remind wine writers that it’s still on the market, and hasn’t done a Blue Nun, speaks to the idea that newer, more trendy roses are getting all the attention. I should try it again and see if the producer has stepped up its game given all the competition on the market.

• Even in Utah: The state, known for some of the most draconian three-tier laws in the country, sold a record five percent more booze on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This matters since the state makes it so difficult to buy spirits, wine, and beer. Nevertheless, there were so many customers at some of the 44 state-owned stores that officials had to limit the number of people in the store so it wouldn’t be overcrowded. If anything shows that the country’s attitude towards alcohol has changed, this is it. Utah is home to the Mormon church, whose members are supposed to abstain.

• 40 years on: Kevin Zraly, the man who wrote perhaps the best introductory book about wine, has taught his last Windows on the World wine class. I can’t say enough about Zraly’s book; I’ve used it in my El Centro class and always recommend it. Says Zraly: “If my course had just been about wine, it never would have lasted. It’s interactive. It’s entertaining, I want people to talk. I studied elementary education. After the third glass of wine, it’s not a class. It’s crowd control.”