I often wonder why some wines are more popular than others.  At first, the answer seems obvious and quite self explanatory.  After all, quality, like cream, rises to the top.  And given a choice and some experience, most seasoned wine drinkers choose the quality product, especially when price is not influencing their decision – either way.  Consequently, when tasting wines with our panel members, prices are never revealed until after the tasting.  Yet, I have to believe there’s something more to a wine’s popularity than overall quality.  Doesn’t style count for something?  I tend to think so.  If style didn’t matter, why do some Chardonnays of comparable price and quality outsell others?   And what about drink ability in a wine?   Drink ability is that certain something or more particularly that wonderful attribute in a wine that’s hard to define, but easy to recognize.  Rarely, does it appear in the biggest, boldest or most dramatic wine on the table, but in the wine that goes down ever so easily and continues to ingratiate the palate with its elegance and sensual charms.  Unlike some of the bigger, brawnier wines, a wine with that certain something (or je ne sais quoi as the French so elegantly say) doesn’t lose its luster after the first or second glass and begin to wear on the palate; instead, it’s a wine that becomes more alluring and easy to drink as the night goes on.  Pouilly-Fuissé and the finer white wines of Macon-Villages offer such drink ability, and more than a bit of style, too.  Good Pinot Noir has that quality as well.  When faced with a wine of tremendous size and stature versus one of eminent drink ability, I’ll often choose drink ability.  There’s something to be said for a wine that you or I could drink all night.  Besides, big isn’t always beautiful.

Don

It’s about time that New World wineries caught up with consumers’ tastes.  What do I mean by that?  Several things!  First, more and more wineries in Australia, California, and elsewhere now make proprietary wines, which means wineries are no longer exclusively beholden to varietal bottling (whereby 75%-100% of a given wine comes from a single grape variety), and are making outstanding wines from blends of grapes.  Don’t get me wrong.  I am not opposed to varietal bottling.  On the contrary, many great varietal wines abound as the wealth of outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Syrah, Zinfandel, and other varietal offerings will attest.  My point is that varietal bottling isn’t the be all and end all, or the only way to make great wine.  Using two or more great varieties in varying proportions often increases the complexity and drinking pleasure of a wine.  Why limit our pleasure to one primary grape?  So many excellent meritage selections and proprietary wines (typically blends with such given names as Sassolino, The Berry Box, or Honey Pot) now abound.  It’s a new day and a new year for wine.  Besides, Bordeaux, Chianti, Rioja and other great wines region have been blending grapes for millennia.  A varietal name on a bottle is no guarantee of quality.  Conversely, many blends and proprietary wines constitute some of the most exciting wines being made in America today at all price points, so don’t be afraid to discover these treasures.

Don

Barolo has affectionately been referred to as the “King of Wines, and the Wine of Kings.”  In a fine vintage and in the hands of a skilled winemaker, Barolo is unquestionably a noble wine fit for a king and the rest of us commoners, too.  For savvy consumers who are patient enough to afford Barolo the royal treatment or even just a little extra care, no other fine wine on the market offers more quality for the money as Barolo.

Barolo is born on the Langhe Hills of Italy’s Piedmont, on steep craggy Alpine foothills as they tumble out of nearby Switzerland and France.  Barolo is the most masculine of Piedmont’s great Nebbiolo based wines and the focal point in the region’s viticultural tiara.  Barolo’s lineage dates back to the Middle Ages, but it wasn’t until the mid 18^th century that Barolo began to evolve into its present form in the vicinity of Alba, a distinct Old World city that serves as the white truffle capital of Italy as well as Piedmont’s premier wine town.

Today, the limited production of Barolo generates from the huddled hills of two valleys, Serralunga and Barolo, and their five principal communities, all of which lie to the southwest of the city of Alba and are reputed to impart distinctive characteristics and traits to their respective progeny.  The townships of Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, and Monforte are situated in the Serralunga Valley and are reputed to produce the region’s most masculine, longest-lived Baroli.  Meanwhile, Barolo and La Morra, from which the more “delicate” wines of the zone are said to flow, are part of the Barolo Valley.  However, there are many exceptions, styles, and innumerable variations in Barolo on the same theme, and this only touches upon the decades old debate in Barolo over the relative merits of the modern versus traditional styles of Barolo, which have as much to do with individual winemaking techniques as they do the amount and kind of barrel aging the wines receive.  Happily, in the end, there is great Barolo fashioned in all five of the major townships, in both modern and traditional styles.  However, there is one caveat.  Barolo needs time in bottle; and whether it is young or mature, Barolo needs to breathe.  Decant a Barolo two hours or more before serving and the magic will soon appear in your glass.

Don