True Wine Lover 18.

Rain stopped pruning.  Sigh.  So retreat indoors I did and amused myself with a bit of light reading.
George Edward Bateman Saintsbury, was an English writer and scholar. But he was also somewhat of  a wine expert who possessed a rather extensive wine collection.  Published in 1920, Notes on a Cellar-Book is really a book about an inventory; a detailed list, written in a simple exercise book, of the contents of Saintsbury's wine cellar - and the memories of all the wines, beers and spirits Saintsbury had consumed over his lifetime.  And he had consumed a lot.  Surely Saintsbury was a devoted, true lover of wine to go to all that bother of inventorying his cellar.  And his mind.
It's an interesting read, very English, very English (he rails against Prohibition in the U.S.) and indispensable to anybody who wants to know how to keep whiskey and brandy in barrels in one's own cellar. (I mean, why wouldn't one?) George Saintsbury, whilst waxing lyrical about the wonder that is wine, once remarked, "...vintage wine, one of the most perfect of nature's products".  Hear, hear!

True Wine Lover 17.

I have just finished reading Vineyards in the Sky a biography about pioneering California vintner Martin 'Rusty' Ray.  The book, which reads like a novel, was written by his second wife Eleanor (herself, in a small way, a contributor to California's wine history - y'know, behind every successful man...).  It tells of the interesting life of Martin Ray; a man whose persistence, and passion, in championing for strict varietal wine regulations, and the establishment of identifiable viticultural areas in California, made him quite a controversial character.  And, nowadays, hardly anyone in California has ever even heard of Martin Ray.
Martin Ray, a protégé of Burgundian transplant Paul Masson, railed against the production of cheap blended wines - wines whose producers then passed off, onto the unsuspecting consumer, as varietal wines.  (Let me just say, Ray despised Thompson Seedless grapes.)  In 1936, Ray purchased Paul Masson's La Cresta vineyard and winery (2000 feet up in the Santa Cruz mountains).  Six years later, after selling La Cresta to Seagrams, he developed his own vineyard on another crest to the northwest: his very own vineyard in the sky.
Ray made a bit of a nuisance of himself by insisting that California vintners should make 100% varietal wines - wines that he believed could compete with any of the wines coming out of Europe.  He was a bit of a stickler.
Martin Ray was also perhaps one of California's earliest advocates of the use of clonal selections in winegrowing, himself identifying and then propagating Pinot Noir and Chardonnay clones that were originally brought to America by Paul Masson.  Interesting reading - if you're a vine-geek like me.
Today, June 26th, would have been Martin Ray's 112th birthday.  Happy birthday Rusty!

True Wine Lover 16.

Mon Docteur le Vin may have been an early Christmas present, but it was not my first.  This past Tuesday, one of the owners of TWWIAGE surprised me with a copy of  'The Winemaker' an autobiography by Dr. Richard G. Peterson.  But not just any old copy, she had had Dr. Peterson sign it with a personal message to me, (not Vinogirl).  So thoughtful and kind.
There is nothing that I can say about Dick Peterson that hasn't been said before, the man is a Napa Valley living legend, a true pioneer of the California wine industry.  And now there is a whole book about him for the rest of us to enjoy. Peterson has led a very accomplished life, but, perhaps, as viewed by a younger generation, his accomplishments have been partially eclipsed by those of his talented daughters; Holly Peterson Mondavi and, of course, Heidi Peterson Barrett.
And why exactly is Dick Peterson one of my True Wine Lovers?  Well, Dr. Peterson loved his chosen line of work so much that upon inventing a barrel rack, specifically designed to securely cradle wine barrels and protect them from mishaps, he decided not to patent his design (and therefore profit from it).  No, as an act of complete altruism, he offered his design to the entire wine industry as a gift.  Peterson's steel barrel pallet has been extremely beneficial to the wine industry, especially in earthquake-prone California.
Dick Peterson - a true wine lover.

True Wine Lover 15.

On January 31st, following the annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium (held up in Sacramento), The American Society for Enology and Viticulture will honour Dr. Ann C. Noble for her extensive contribution to the world of wine.  During Dr. Noble's 30 year tenure at UC Davis, she conducted key studies in sensory science.  

Dr. Noble also invented the Wine Aroma Wheel, a tool that helps wine tasters identify and describe aromas and smells, aiding in the enhancement of the tasting experience.  The first woman faculty member at UC Davis's Department of Viticulture and Enology, since retirement Dr. Noble has remained active in the wine industry; selling the Aroma Wheel, judging at wine competitions and giving seminars on wine tasting.

I briefly met Dr. Noble when she visited TWWIAGE with an international group of Masters of Wine.  Finding myself alone in the staff kitchen with a complete stranger I offered her a cup of coffee and began to make small-talk.  My kitchen-companion asked me where I was from?  What I did at the winery?  Where did I go to school?  The usual stuff.  In return, I asked her what she did for a living, etc.  She answered that she was retired now, but had done "a little bit of work on sensory evaluation."  It was at that point that I noticed she was holding a stack of the aforementioned Aroma Wheels.  Quick, me. 

Well deserving of recognition for her commitment to educating others about wine (she obviously loves all things wine), I also happen to believe that Dr. Noble deserves an award for modesty.  Nice lady.

True Wine Lover 14.

Whilst sitting in Heathrow, waiting for my flight back to San Francisco, and feeling a little sorry for my already-homesick-self, it was nice to see a familiar face smiling at me from a page in The Daily Mail. 
It escapes me right now how I first came across the 'Knackered Mothers' Wine Club' blog: writer Helen McGinn may have commented on Vinsanity first and I simply, and nosily, followed the link to her blog.  I'm glad I did, I really like how she writes, both style and content.  Apparently, lots of other people do too.  Ms. McGinn has been receiving a ton of well deserved recognition and critical acclaim of late, the accolades have been coming fast and furious.  Helen is a Brit who worked for a long time as a wine buyer for a supermarket chain.  She is a busy mother of three who finds time to be a columnist in a daily newspaper (see photograph above), regularly updates her blog, and has just recently released her first book, The Knackered Mothers' Wine Club.  With all this activity going on, she still finds time to answer comments on her blog, which most bloggers who achieve some measure of success fail to do.  No wonder she's so knackered!
I have never met Ms. McGinn (then again, I have never met any of my TWLs), but this particular knackered-mother is one of my True Wine Lovers because I am convinced she is the genuine article, i.e., truly a wine lover.  And our paths may never cross, but I wanted to acknowledge that Ms. McGinn unwittingly did me a favour when she smiled up at me from the page of a tabloid.  I smiled back.  Thank you Helen.

True Wine Lover 13.

Recently, the owners of TWWIAGE decided to do a bit of wine-library spring cleaning, which resulted in all of the staff receiving six-packs of miscellaneous wines.  In the Marketing Queen's (MQ) six-pack was the above pictured bottle of a 1979 Louis M. Martini, Monte Rosso, Sonoma Cabernet sauvignon.  The MQ brought the empty bottle into work to show me as she thought I would like the label, and I did.  The colourful pastoral scene on the front label is delightful in it's simplicity and the verbiage on the back label is pretty much the same marketing spiel that wineries still use to this day.  And just look at the alcohol - 12 1/2%, written as a fraction, not as a decimal.  But how did this 1979 wine taste?  "Delicious" was the MQ's answer: almost 33 years later this wine apparently still had a lot to offer.
Louis M. Martini, born in 1887 in Pietra Ligure, Italy, was just 12 years old when he traveled alone to join his father in the USA. Agostino Martini was a fisherman in San Francisco and the young Louis began working alongside his father selling seafood from a cart.  Louis first made wine with his father in a small shed behind the family home in 1906.  Agostino sent his son back to Italy where Louis studied oenology at the University d'Alba.  He returned from Italy in 1911 determined to pursue his passion and make a living as a winemaker.  
In 1922, Louis founded the Louis M. Martini Grape Products Company in Kingsburg, California.  During the Prohibition era, the company thrived by producing medicinal and sacramental wine, and by also selling boxes of  'Forbidden Fruit' - with the express instructions:  "Do not add water, yeast and sugar or fermentation will result."  Martini emerged from Prohibition as one of the best winemakers in California and resolved to concentrate all of his efforts on the production of premium table wines. Anticipating the repeal of the Volstead Act, early in 1933 Louis purchased 10 acres south of St. Helena and rushed to get his newly planned winery into operation for the coming  vintage. 
Convinced of the superiority of mountain grown-grapes, in 1938 Martini purchased the Mt. Pisgah vineyard high on the Sonoma side of the Mayacamas Mountains. He renamed it Monte Rosso for it's bright red volcanic soil.  It is from this vineyard that the MQ's elderly bottle of wine originated.

Described by André Tchelistcheff as an "apostle of the California wine industry," Martini was extremely instrumental in fashioning the Napa wine industry as one would recognise it today, in fact he was a true pioneer in a number of ways.  It is said that Martini was amongst the first, if not the first, in 1968 to varietally label Merlot and he later championed Zinfandel as a fine wine varietal.  In 1944, as a vintner with "arm-twisting powers," he was able to convince 7 other vintners to join him in the founding of the Napa Valley Vintners Association - a cooperative effort to facilitate the exchange of practical wine-related information common to all wineries.  Martini was the first to practice temperature controlled fermentation and he is also credited with the invention of the wind machine to combat frost damage.  The list goes on...

Gallo purchased the Louis M. Martini winery in 2002, but to this day the business remains the oldest, continuously family operated winery in the Napa Valley.
Louis M. Martini died in 1974.

True Wine Lover 12.

For my latest True Wine Lover, I have decided to showcase the nifty work of Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, oft credited with the discovery of the sparkling wine production technique known today as méthode champenoise.  

Dom Pierre Pérignon arrived at the abbey of Hautvilliers in 1668 at the age of 30.  He immediately showed a great acumen for winemaking and soon became the maître de chai. Father Pérignon did not exactly invent Champagne, in fact he believed that secondary fermentation (which creates the bubbles that I love), was in actual fact a fault and referred to the resulting wine as "vin de diable".  I bet the old, tonsured monk was none too fond of the exploding bottles either - it's always better to have a full head of hair when there are exploding bottles around.  Yikes!

It is an Englishman, one Christopher Merrett, who actually holds the distinction of being the first to document the deliberate addition of sugar to wine to precipitate secondary fermentation - when the fizz happens - and then continued to refine the technique.  Furthermore, Merrett was a keen metallurgist and is accredited with inventing the thicker glass needed to prevent winemaking's most dangerous occupational hazard.

However, Dom Pérignon did pioneer a number of innovations in the production not only of Champagne, but of still wines also.  It is said that he was amongst one of the first advocates of natural and organic winemaking.  Pérignon was also a skilled grape grower and was adept at blending small lots of grapes before fermentation.

Moët et Chandon's Dom Pérignon bubbly is certainly not the greatest Champagne; and the supposed Pierre Pérignon quote, "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" turns out merely to be an early marketing slogan. But still, you have to raise your glass and toast an old monk whose name, to this day, is synonymous with good times, celebrations and festivities.

True Wine Lover 11.

One word: Jancis. In the world of wine, in fact in the history of the entire world, not too many people get to be known by their Christian name alone (think Napoleon and Elvis), but my True Wine Lover 11 is one such person.

The Oxford educated Jancis Mary Robinson OBE - where she read mathematics, so you can be fairly certain that she has a brain the size of a small planet - is one of the, if not the, world's leading writer of educational and encyclopedic material on wine. In fact, Jancis is probably better known to the wine-imbibing public than my beloved Hugh, but I bet Jancis loves Hugh too.

It was whilst watching the televised trials of Jancis becoming the first journalist to pass the battery of exams to become a Master of Wine in the 1980s, that a nascent oenophilia really metastasized in the teenage Vinogirl. However, despite her obviously vast all-things-wine-knowledge, the ever modest Ms. Robinson maintains that she is first and foremost a wine writer, not a wine critic.

If you don't know who Jancis is then you have been deprived the experience of truly great wine-writing and I pity you. Do yourself a favour, read something by Jancis today!

True Wine Lover 10.

Hugh Johnson OBE. Or, as he is known in Vinoland, just plain Hugh.
No, I've never met Hugh, nor are we likely to ever cross paths, but I feel I have come to know the man through his writing. Hugh is arguably the world's best wine writer, I personally believe he has no equal (although Ms. Robinson comes awfully close.) If you are a wine enthusiast who is reading this post and you do not know who he is I suggest you find out.
Cambridge educated, Hugh has been writing about all things wine since before I was born. But to simply call him a wine-writer is a gross understatement. Hugh's 1989, 13 part mini-series Vintage: A History of Wine, tells the story of wine from ancient times to the present (well, 1989 at least.) Vintage is probably one of the best television programmes I have ever watched, in fact Vinomaker and I own it on VHS.
Hugh's book, Wine, was the first serious wine book that I ever owned. Hugh's 2006 memoir, A Life Uncorked, is the most recent of his books that I have read. Fascinatingly, it was like Hugh was reading it to me, I don't believe I have ever read any other book in which the author's voice, and personality, resonated so thoroughly from each and every page.
I just love Hugh!

True Wine Lover 9.

More often than not when meeting people for the first time, in a wine context, folks act a little surprised when I open my mouth and a still rather strong Liverpool accent spews forth (although most Americans wouldn't recognise it as such.) Their doubting looks often betray the fact that they are somewhat sceptical as to how on earth an Englishwoman could possibly know anything about wine. Why not, when everyone else you meet in the course of an average Napa Valley day is a self-proclaimed wine expert? I sometimes wonder, would my viticulture/oenology knowledge carry more weight if I delivered it with a French, Italian or, God forbid, German accent?

Considered by many (but not by me) to be the father of Napa Valley wine, Charles Krug is oftentimes credited with the notable distinction, in Napa wine-lore, of making the first commercial wine (and building the first commercial winery.) This is simply not true: the real star of the birth of the Napa Valley wine industry was, fee-fi-fo-fum...an Englishman!

Born in Lincolnshire in 1797, after much traveling around the United States John M. Patchett was 53 years old when he arrived in Napa in 1850. He proceeded to purchase a 100 acre parcel that became known as 'Patchett's Addition' and planted a vineyard of Mission grapes - the grape variety first brought to California by Franciscan monks. In 1857, Patchett harvested and crushed enough grapes to produce 6 barrels of wine which he then sold for $2 per gallon, thus becoming the first commercial winemaker ever in the Napa Valley. Then in 1859, he solidified his position into Napa wine-history by building the first commercial winery in the Valley, a 33' x 50' stone structure located in what is now downtown Napa. German immigrant Krug began his oenological journey in Napa by making wine at Patchett's winery, eventually founding his own in 1861.

Patchett, a brewer by trade, was by the mid 1860s considered to be the preeminent vintner in the entire Napa Valley. He continued to make wine until 1870, when at age 73 he sold his business and retired. John M. Patchett passed away in 1876 and is buried in Tulocay Cemetery. This is not just some fairytale, it is historical fact. It could only possibly have been made better if Mr. Patchett had hailed from Liverpool....all the best wine experts do, don't they?

Go England!

True Wine Lover 8.

What was the first thing Noah did when he docked the ark? Right off the boat he planted a vineyard. Smart man. Noah then preceded to get nekkid and drank until he was, well, drunk! Can you blame him? I'd be driven to drink also: I can barely assemble an Ikea coffee table without needing a stiff glass of Cabernet sauvignon afterwards to sooth my frayed nerves. Imagine being required to build an ark to carry all those animals, just two Vinodogs are enough for me to deal with.
It seems as if Noah was the Bible's first viticulturist. Good man. If I was caught in a deluge of biblical proportions, I'd hope that I would have the foresight to take grape seeds with me, better still grapevine cuttings.
After all that building, herding, sailing, and planting Noah probably had earned a well deserved break. What better way to relax than to sit down and enjoy a delicious glass of wine from your own vineyard paired with, perhaps, a tasty ham sandwich.

True Wine Lover 7.

Steeped in centuries of maritime history, my city of Liverpool is known worldwide for it's heritage of shipyards, docks, and historic merchant warehouses. We are a seafaring nation, we English. We are also quite fond of the sauce, so it was only a matter of time before I stumbled upon a connection between Liverpool and wine.
In 1773, an enterprising Liverpool merchant, John Woodhouse, fortunately found himself in peril at sea and sought safe harbour in the port of Marsala, on the island of Sicily. I say fortunate because during his sojourn there he experienced the local wine, Marsala. Whilst on the razzle, he realised that his new discovery would probably be popular back home and so, there and then, he decided to go into the wine business.
Marsala is made using a process called in perpetuum which is similar to the solera system used to produce Sherry. The finished wine is classified by colour, sweetness, and duration of aging. To guarantee the stability of the wine, whilst in transit to Liverpool, Mr. Woodhouse fortified each barrel with a good dousing of grape spirit, thus ensuring that his precious cargo was less likely to spoil on it's sea journey...and assuring that it packed an extra alcoholic punch. I like the cut of his jib!
Of course on it's arrival Marsala was a roaring success, in some measure due to the English penchant for sweet wines. (Champagne then, also popularised by the English but as a sweet wine, bares little resemblance to what we would recognise as Champagne today.)
Mr. Woodhouse struck gold when he marketed his concoction to the British navy. In place of the ubiquitous naval ration of rum, 15,000 pipes (a pipe = 105 gals) of Marsala were delivered to victual Admiral Lord Nelson's Mediterranean fleet. Cha-ching! Nelson himself described Marsala as a drink "worthy of the table of any gentleman."
I am quite taken with this little snippet of history. I can relate to this distant tale of a long past Scouser and his passion to introduce the joys of a hitherto unknown wine to his countrymen (or at least Liverpudlians), for I too have a great enthusiasm for wine, and I also have the briny water of the Mersey coursing through my veins.
Down the hatch!

True Wine Lover 6.

It's Tax Day USA.  Pish!  As Ben Franklin said, "...nothing is certain but death and taxes".
He also said, "wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy".  What genius.  Mr. Franklin had preceded Mr. Jefferson as Minister to France, a new post, and it was there that he discovered his fondness for fine wines.
Benny displayed many admirable traits; good taste in wine, an innovative and inventive mind, and fiscal responsibility...which is more than can be said for the current, Chardonnay swilling, occupant of the White House.
Old Ben has to be my favourite Founding Father.  In fact, I like him so much, I like to carry lots of little portraits of him around with me in my purse.

True Wine Lover 5.

It is hard for me to give the French credit for much of anything. However I must doff my cap to, the one and only, Louis XIV. If not for his penchant for an obscure Hungarian dessert wine, the rest of us would not be able to readily enjoy a snifter of fine amber coloured Tokaji. Thank goodness he made a point of pouring it at his court, thus initiating a fashion for this varietal that Vinogirl would eventually benefit from.
Last night brother Thud cooked a fabulous goulash for family OTW, Vinomaker and me. We paired it with several truly wonderful Napa Cabernet sauvignons. For dessert we had a wonderful Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttonoyos, (accompanied by a Key Lime pie).  It was delicious.
I am not going to review this varietal, just recommend that you drink it from time to time.  It would be worth your while.  Even Pope Pius IV quipped: "Summum pontificem talia vina decent!"  Worthy indeed.
So, vive le Roi Soliel...or at least his taste buds.

True Wine Lover 4.

"They have no wine". John 2:1

In keeping with the Advent season I thought I would pay homage to perhaps the greatest winemaker of all time.  No offence Vinomaker!

Most people have heard the story of how Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  His mother was mortified that the guests had run out of vino, (much as my mother would encourage me to nip down to the cellar and open another case, or two), and urged her Son to do something about it. Voila!  JC's tenth miracle.

What I hadn't heard of, until fairly recently, was that there are people out there that insist biblical wine was non-alcoholic and mis-translate the Greek word oinos as...grape juice.  As if the ancient Palestinians had forgotten the art of wine making passed on by the Greeks!  At least the naysayers, with their heads in the sand, would like us all to think so.  All those amphorae, regularly unearthed in archaeological digs, must have contained Evian water.

Now Vinogirl likes a bit of chemistry and marvels at the little miracle that happens almost as soon as grape juice introduces itself to the native yeast on the grape skin.  Fermentation, and it's byproducts, numero uno being alcohol, (CO2, SO2, H2S etc.), is going to happen with the intervention of a winemaker or not.  These ancient people did not have the means to arrest fermentation, by using copious additions of potassium sorbate, or the technology to remove yeast, sterile filtration, or alcohol, reverse osmosis, so it is without a doubt that biblical wine got people tipsy.

Thank God I am Catholic!!!  We imbibe.  Take no notice of religious fundamentalists, science is good.

So please, "use a little wine for thy stomach's sake." Timothy 5:23.  And people, wine happens!

True Wine Lover 3.

"I think it is a great error to consider a heavy tax on wines as a tax on luxury.  On the contrary, it is a tax on the health of our citizens."

Thomas Jefferson is generally regarded as America’s first fine wine connoisseur.  The third president of the United States had a distinct penchant for wine, French wines in particular.  Historical documents reveal that in his first term as President he spent $7,500, (approximately $120,000 in today's currency), on wine...mainly Lafite, Margaux and Chateau d'Yquem.  It is said that most of the founding fathers were partial to quaffing a good claret or Madeira, but none were as fervent or methodical in their appreciation of oenology as old Tom. A truer case of Vinsanity I have never heard of.  He surely would have been saddened to see his fabled wine collection as the target of one of the biggest, if not the biggest, wine scams ever.  His prescient observations on the dangers of over taxation and the health benefits of drinking wine, (more than 200 years before anyone had ever heard of resveratrol), should be heeded by us all.

True Wine Lover 2.

Le Petit Corporal undoubtedly quaffed a lot of bubbly after the English exiled him to the island of St. Helena.  Defeat must have been hard for the Emperor to swallow.  His trouncing, at Waterloo, when washed down with a few good glasses of champers probably made the whole ordeal seem a lot more tolerable.  I'm sure being a Corsican, of Italian descent, and supreme leader of France, predisposed him to indulge in a lot of still wines too.  I even hear that he was fond of Cognac.
Boney was probably a right plonky.  The hand tucked into his waistcoat stance? It conceals a corkscrew no doubt...look, you can even see a couple of corks in the hand behind his back.

True Wine Lover 1.

Winny loved champagne...and Pol Roger loved him. So much so that they produced special pint sized bottles (20 fl oz) just for his consumption and named a special blend (cuvée) after the great Statesman. I love the stuff too, it's just a pity it's made by the French.
"Remember gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne."  Churchill said it best, there is nothing Vinogirl can add!