Gus Clemens on Wine explores and explains the world of wine in simple, humorous, fun posts – Details, episodes & analysis

Right now, many in the wine world are freaked about the decline in wine drinking. Advice: relax, take a deep, cleansing breath. A nice, chilled rosé also might help.

Wine is a lifestyle choice. By their very nature, lifestyle choices are always in chaotic, often irrational flux. Examples from the wine world:

• Merlot was a big thing at the end of the last century. Women in particular enjoyed it because it usually was softer and smoother than cabernet sauvignon or syrah or some of those bombastic wines from northwestern Italy you could not drink until they were at least six years (and preferably 10-15 years) old. California winemakers made merlot you could drink when you got home from the store. The market lapped it up.

Then the movie Sideways. Miles Raymond (Paul Giamatti) proclaimed: “I am NOT drinking any f**king Merlot!” It did not matter Miles hated merlot only because his ex-wife liked merlot, not for any fault in the varietal. Suddenly, a plot point in a popular movie involved bashing merlot. Merlot sales plummeted. Drinkers made new lifestyle choices. Merlot did not change. It remains one of the world’s great varietals and blending wines. But, still, “I ain’t drinking *** merlot!” became a meme.

AI generated illustration

• Blousy, oaky, buttery, big fruit chardonnays were a big thing in late 1980s and 1990s. They didn’t go very well with food—okay, they worked with movie theatre popcorn—but ladies, in particular, were not pairing it with food. They were sipping it in the country club’s outdoor bar after a round of golf or a tennis match or by-the-glass at a big chain restaurant where wine-food pairing was irrelevant. Big chardonnay was the wine equivalent of comfort food. It was a transition from sweet wines, soft drinks, or cocktails. Lush, approachable, ripe fruit, vanilla, butterscotch, creamy mouthfeel. What was not to like?

Then those drinker’s palates matured, or maybe it was just time for a lifestyle change. At the turn of the century, ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) became the next bandwagon to hop onto. White zin, pinot grigio, Veuve Clicquot, prosecco, sauv blanc, even dry riesling (for gosh sakes) was the next de rigueur pour for the dialed-in parvenu. “Anything But Chardonnay” was the incantation—unless it was an un-oaked, subdued malolactic conversion chardonnay, then… well, maybe.

AI generated illustration

• In the 1980s and especially the 1990s, monster, jammy, very high alcohol, zinfandel fruit bombs became a big thing, especially among manly men. Let the ladies sip insipid white zin, some gals even put ice cubes in their tumbler glass (shudder). Big zin was hedonistic macho indulgence. The 16-plus percent ABV and the overly-ripe fruit meant the wine tasted sweet even if laboratory tests proved it was “dry.” The high alcohol made it more a “cocktail wine” than anything a reasonable person would pair with food. Except, maybe, with a huge slab of fat-dripping beef you just removed from your expensive backyard grill fired by mesquite wood you harvested yourself with your high-powered chainsaw. Throw in a plate of fried onion rings and a loaded baked potato, and we’ve got a real meal here, buddy. A hearty slap on the back and backward ball cap is optional.

Okay, some research indicates there is only marginal male preference between male and female in this wine category, but the zeitgeist then (and now) was big zin was male while lighter, “more feminine” (whatever that is supposed to mean) wine was female. In any event, the stereotypes and lifestyle choices did not hold in the 21st century. With blowback from wine professionals such as sommeliers, whose job is to pair with food, and wine writers, whose job is to constantly come up with something new in 500 words or less, zin today is stylistically fragmented. Lighter and more food-friendly red zin occupies a growing middle ground, flanked by white zin (which still outsells red zin) and monster zin. The wine world carousel continues to spin.

AI generated illustration

Lifestyle choices regarding wine and alcohol in general experience constant fluctuation. In the 2010s, for instance, some Gallup Polls suggested wine was approaching beer as the alcohol delivery vehicle of choice. What heady days those were for vintners and for bank vice presidents ready to loan money to create new vineyards and expand or create new wine operations. Then the 2020s slapped them both in the face with the reality of lifestyle changes.

Not only has wine consumption declined, a new cohort of consumers has made a lifestyle choice to drink little or no alcohol. Medical sources assert any alcohol consumption can be bad for you. Neo-prohibitionists channel Carry Nation. While Neo-prohibitionists have not yet taken hatchets to saloons or wine barrels, they do clamor for increases in alcohol excise taxes, limit times and places alcohol can be sold, restrict advertising, and lowering the legal blood-alcohol-content. The wine world faces several headwinds.

That noted, wine has been around for more than 8,000 years and is deeply imbedded in our culture, our religions, our culinary proclivities. Wine is not going away. In the U.S., the total wine industry—production, distribution, sales, consumption, tourism, and service industries—generates some $324 billion annually in economic impact and is increasing in spite of the headwinds.

U.S. wine generates 1.75 million jobs and $102 billion in wages. Wine delivers more than $53 billion in tax revenue. These numbers have been resilient, even rising, amid the slight downturn in wine consumption in the U.S. in the 2020s. We are drinking less, but we are drinking better and more expensive. If you have read this far, I hope your fears of wine’s collapse are allayed and you are relieved.

Lifestyle choices, by their very nature, constantly change. Sit back and chill out with a nice glass of wine of your current choice, good food, and—especially—sharing with family and friends. That lifestyle moment is immutable.

Last round

Relationships are like Indian food.

They start out hot and spicy, but end up with someone on the toilet crying and saying “why me? why me”?

Wine time.

Bonus last round

Police officer pulls over a speeding car.

Officer: “I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir.”

Driver: “Gee, officer, I had it on cruise control at 60. Perhaps your radar gun needs calibrating.” Not looking up from her knitting, driver’s wife says: “Now don’t be silly, dear. You know this car does not have cruise control.”

As the officer writes out the ticket, the driver looks over at his wife and growls: “Can’t you please keep your mouth shut for once?” Wife smiles demurely and says: “Well, dear, you should be thankful your radar detector went off when it did or your speed would have been higher.”

As the officer makes out the second ticket for the illegal radar detector, the man glowers at his wife and says through clenched teeth: “Woman, can’t you keep your mouth shut?”

The officer frowns and says: “And I notice that you are not wearing your seat belt, sir. That’s an automatic $75 fine.” Driver: “Well, you see, officer, I had it on, but I took it off when you pulled me over so that I could get my license out of my back pocket.” Wife: “Now, dear, you know very well you never wear your seat belt when you are driving.”

As the police officer is writing out the third ticket, the driver turns to his wife and barks: “Will you just shut up!” Officer looks over at the woman and asks: “Does your husband always talk to you this way, ma’am?” Wife: “Only when he has been drinking.”

Wine time.

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Links worth exploring

Dave McIntyre’s WineLine Longtime Washington Post wine columnist now on Substack. Entertaining, informative.

Good + Tasty Excellent wine stories by Kathleen Willcox. Focuses on the business and culture of sustainable wine, food, and travel.

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

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Ah, it was a heady wine time while it lasted. Wine enjoyed more than 50 years of vineyard and winery growth, more than 50 years of improving quality, more than 50 years of consistent year-over-year market expansion. Those were the days, my friend. We thought they’d never end. We’d sing and dance forever and a day.

Reality: nothing lasts forever. Pendulums swing both ways, as the wine world is painfully coming to grips with now.

In 2024, California wine production fell to its lowest level since 1999. United States production fell to its lowest since 2004. Both total wine consumption and per-capita demand in the U.S. fell together for the first time in modern wine history. Worldwide wine production is down to 1961 levels even though there are more than five billion more people on Earth today.

On a granular level, winegrowers leave grapes on the vine, knowing they cannot recoup their harvest expenses. Wine stores close. Wineries close or dial back, drop labels, trim staff. Newspapers drop wine columns as wine advertising dollars dry up. Restaurants pare their wine list. Supermarkets reduce shelf space devoted to wine.

Let’s examine what is happening and put it into some perspective. Spoiler alert: the sky is not falling, Chicken Little.

Wine drinkers fall loosely into two categories. Members of the largest cohort are not that interested in where the wine came from, how it was made, who made it. They want a relatively inexpensive alcohol delivery vehicle that tastes good, maybe pairs with food. They enjoy wine, but they also can hang with beer, hard seltzer, premixed cocktails. They also may have cut back or eliminated alcohol consumption.

The second cohort is into wine. Members of that cohort care about all the details, food pairing, vintage conditions, particulars about how it was made. They can be labeled as “wine geeks.” Wine is their go-to alcoholic drink, and they are willing to search for quality and pay for it.

The first cohort is the principal source of the wine decline. They are the reason the hardest hit wine segment is commodity value bottlings, aka “supermarket wines.”

The wine lover cohort has much less impact on the decline. In fact, while sales of lower-end wine has significantly tumbled for the past seven years, sales of higher end wines have weathered the storm. Wineries are selling fewer bottles of wine but maintaining their cash flow because people are buying higher-priced efforts. Those drinkers are drinking better, a trend that is more than a decade old.

The commodity, supermarket wine segment has a hard row to hoe. There are too many “next big things” in that alcohol silo. The market will remain, but will not be as robust as it was the past half century. And, of course, the cohorts are not black and white, but have shades of gray between them.

The better wine cohort has an emotional connection to wine. For them, wine is joy, pleasure, deliciousness, and rewarding, with fascinating back stories. And—yes—some snob appeal that quality wine is not pop-the-top and slurp-it-down to get-a-buzz stuff. For them, wine’s cementing attraction is pleasure. On the palate, in the mind, and—yes—pleasant satisfaction that you are smart enough, educated enough, and successful enough to enjoy and appreciate a liquid that has been treasured by fellow human beings for more than 8,000 years. There is conclusive evidence of a winery in Armenia dating back 6,200-plus years, including botanical evidence the wine was made using the areni grape. You can buy Armenian wine made with areni grapes today from a winery near the archeologic find in Armenia. Not many enterprises can match that claim.

Bottom line: while this is a somewhat turbulent time in the wine business, especially in the cheaper, factory-produced wine segment, wine is not going away. Worldwide wine production may be down to 1961 levels, but it remains a half-trillion dollar business. Production is almost six billion gallons—30 billion bottles. In the United States, wine generates more than $325 billion in economic impact. Various research groups forecast wine’s worldwide economic impact will be between eight hundred billion and more than one trillion US dollars by 2033. The wine world is changing, but it is not going away.

Sure, the wine trade faces headwinds. Every product, especially a discretionary product like wine, faces headwinds on a cyclical basis. Sometimes you are the hammer and you strike. Sometimes you are the anvil and you bear. The likelihood is after testing times the strong will survive and flourish, while the weak will suffer their Darwinian fate. Wine has been here before—my goodness for 13 years in the United States you could go to prison for making and selling wine. Let’s all take a deep breath, relax, and figure out what wine we are going to joyfully enjoy together tonight.

Tasting notes:

• Karas Areni, Armenia 2023 checks an amazing number of boxes in the wine world. First, it is a delicious wine that sips in a space between pinot noir and sangiovese. Second, archeological finds discovered evidence of this very grape dating back 6,100 years and the first clearly identified winery in the world. The winery is in the shadow of Mount Ararat, believed by Christians and Jews as the possible location of Noah’s Ark. You get to drink history, the very beginnings of wine, and drink superb wine. And do so for $16-20. Link to my review

• Val delle Rose Litorale Vermentino Maremma Toscana DOC 2024 is delightful iteration of vermentino’s lighter, fresher style. While it has good acidity, there is a smooth creamy texture and slight oiliness that creates excellent mouthfeel and tension. Clean, crisp winner from a highly regarded, long-time player in Tuscany. $15-20 Link to my review

• Herzog Wine Cellars Lineage Pinot Noir, Clarksburg 2022 is affordable, fruit-forward, kosher wine from America’s largest fully kosher winery. It is a value play in pinot noir rather than sophisticated, but is very serviceable in what it is intended to be. Wallet pleaser; smooth and easy crowd pleaser. $18-22 Link to my review

• Stoller Family Estate Reserve Pinot Noir, Dundee Hills 2022 is rich, elegant charmer with lingering finish, polished, refined fruit. Excellent balance of fruit, oak, restrained alcohol. Civilized pour that demonstrates why Willamette Valley pinot noir deserves to be in conversation as some of the world’s premier pinots, especially at this price point. $50-60 Link to my review

• Early Mountain Vineyards RISE, Virginia 2021 is a very smooth, well-behaved, merlot-led Bordeaux blend only produced in exceptional years. Just now entering its best drinking window, this easily can be held another decade-plus. Early Mountain is Virginia’s flagship winery. All winery profits are directed to Virginia communities and innovation in the Virginia wine industry. $135-150 Link to my review

Last round

How do I determine how much wine to drink? I take it on a case-by-case basis.

Thank you for reading. This is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber. No matter how you subscribe, I appreciate you.

Links worth exploring

Dave McIntyre’s WineLine Longtime Washington Post wine columnist now on Substack. Entertaining, informative.

Good + Tasty Excellent wine stories by Kathleen Willcox. Focuses on the business and culture of sustainable wine, food, and travel.

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

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This is the weekly column

It is high summer in the Northern Hemisphere. What wine fits into the zeitgeist of pools splashing with bikini-clad frolickers slathered in sun screens, outdoor cooking, indoor binge watching movies on a wide screen while the AC heroically soldiers on?

A surprising star shines bright: sparkling wine.

First, sparkling is the wine best served around 40 degrees, lighter versions as low as 37. That is the coldest temperature recommended for wine. If you like a cold one on a hot day, sparkling is the answer.

Second, sparkling is the most versatile food wine. Examples:

• Hot dogs. If you want a drink for your dogs, look no further than well-chilled sparkling. The high acidity of sparklers is a perfect palate cleanser for the fatty richness of a hot dog. The bubbles also provide a scrubbing mechanism, re-setting your palate for your next dog bite. Champagne, Spanish cava, New World sparklings, Italian prosecco—they all have a dog in the hunt for pairing with your wiener wonder.

Jefferson

• Watermelon. Sparkling not only is secularly popular, there are solid scientific reasons it works. Watermelon and sparklings have complementary flavors. Watermelons deliver honey-like sweetness, bright fruit, citrus undertones. These are the same descriptors often found in sparkling reviews, especially sparkling rosés. Sparkling’s high acidity is counterpoint to watermelon’s natural sweetness, enhancing the fresh, crisp qualities found in both. Sparkling’s bubbles amplify the cooling sensation of the fruit, especially efficacious in high summer. Prosecco particularly shines here.

• Buttery popcorn. You have had your saturation of pool floating and UV attacks on your epidermis and have retreated to the cool embrace of your air conditioned room with the wide screen to watch the latest, mindless summer movie. Sparkling wine definitely can help here. Buttery chardonnay is the apex pairing with buttery popcorn, but sparkling is a photo-finish second. Sparkling’s effervescence and crisp acidity are a felicitous contrast to buttery popcorn’s buttery richness. Prosecco and Spanish cava will provide wallet-friendly alternatives to Champagne or other pricier picks.

In all cases, colder the better. You can serve sparkling right out of your refrigerator. If you need a quick chill, put the bottle in a bucket with half ice and half water, plus some salt for the fastest chill—this method is much more efficient than putting bottles in the freezer.

Enjoy the joys of high summer. The attraction of life is change. Soon enough you will miss the pool water being so warm, the days being so long and hot, and the friends and family gathered around the outdoor grill listening to the doggies sizzle. It is high summer in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the depth of winter in the Southern. Enjoy the moment.

Tasting notes

• Gruet Brut Rosé NV: Delicious, accessible, correct pinot noir brute sparkling made with 100% pinot noir. Red fruits on the nose and palate are framed by excellent acidity, a lengthy column of tiny bubbles, and invigorating mouthfeel. $17 Link to my review

• VARA Winery VARAxLG Brut Blanc de Blancs American Sparkling Wine NV: Superb sparkling wine made in Albuquerque, NM in collaboration with Laurent Gruet of Gruet Wine fame. Further proof American sparkling made in New Mexico is an incredible value and easily matches sparklings made elsewhere. $40 Link to my review

Last round

Why did the lions move at the end of summer?

Because the pride goeth before the fall.

Wine time.

Gus Clemens on Wine is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber. No matter how you subscribe, I appreciate you reading.

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Links worth exploring

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.

Dave McIntyre’s WineLine Longtime Washington Post wine columnist now on Substack. Entertaining, informative.

This is the weekly newspaper column

Random wine facts and hacks 10-25-2023

Random notes on wine conundrums, weird facts, and wine hacks.

• How do you open bottle with a wax seal? Instead of foil, some winemakers now substitute wax as a wine capsule. What do you do?

The original purpose of wine capsules was to provide a protective shield to prevent rodents and insects from harming the cork. As that purpose faded into yesterday, capsules remained to promote the brand. Nowadays some wines have a wax seal for the same image reason.

What to do? Do not try to scrape off the wax, that usually results in a messy exercise in futility. The answer is to simply plunge the corkscrew through the wax and into the cork. Then extract the cork, which will dislodge the necessary amount of wax. Would it be more efficient for wineries to abandon foil and wax capsules altogether? Yes it would. And several, gratefully, have done so.

• On the subject of corkscrews, which should you use? Fortunately this is simple and inexpensive. The best corkscrew, hands down, is the double-hinged waiter’s corkscrew. You can get it for less than $10, often for free if you buy a case of wine at the right store. The worst—the winged corkscrew.

• Almost any wine you buy, especially under $50, is ready to drink when you get home and will not measurably improve with age.

• If you do put down the wine for some age, do so only if you can store it in a place with steady temperature at 72 degrees or less. It does not have to be a dedicated wine fridge, although that is optimal. Avoid light and vibrations. Never store your wine on the top of your refrigerator.

• Don’t sweat stemware. Yes, varietally-specific glass may marginally enhance enjoyment of the specific varietal, but a middle-of-the-road glass—a generous white wine glass—will do fine.

• The best wine values—South Africa, Portugal, Spain, Chile, Argentina.

• When in doubt, decant. Almost no wine will be harmed by decanting, many will improve. You can decant sparkling wine and it will not kill the fizz.

Tasting notes

• El Coto Rosado, Rioja 2021: Fruity, tasty, simple rosado (rosé) that flaunts strawberry. $10 Link to my review

• Tribute Sauvignon Blanc, California 2022: Juicy, citrusy, with enlivening rush of spiciness on the finish. $14-17 Link to my review

• Farmhouse Vineyards Cultivated, Texas High Plains 2019: Smooth, fruit-forward, decadent dark fruit delight. $35 Link to my review

Last round

If you replace your evening glass of wine with green tea, you can lose up to 87.4% of what little joy you have left in your life.

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Wine is history 10-18-2023

Every bottle of wine is a history. Usually a wine is an expression of a single year. It tells the story of that year’s climate, the people working the vineyard, the people making the wine. Plus, there is the backstory of the grapes, the vineyard, the winery, the people.

Many wineries and winemakers have compelling histories. In the Old World, it is not unusual for winemaking family sagas to stretch back hundreds of years. Vineyards they work also date back centuries. To write about wine is to write histories of the makers, the vineyards, the grapes. The wine may be delicious, the backstory even more so. Often inspiring and uplifting.

Take Champagne. Women have leadership roles in winemaking and winery management today. Something new? Not in Champagne, where women have played critical roles in the top Champagne houses for more than two centuries. Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin—Veuve Clicquot—took over the winery in 1805 when her husband died. She was 27 years old. She turned the winery into a major international player. She invented the riddling technique still used by sparkling makers today.

Louise Pommery took control of her Champagne house upon her husband’s death in 1858. She turned Pommery into a sparkling powerhouse and was instrumental in making brut the world’s most popular style of Champagne.

Camille Olry-Roederer took over her house after her husband’s death in 1932. Over the next 42 years she turned the company into a bubbly superstar.

Elisabeth Law de Lauriston-Boubers married Jacques Bollinger in 1923. They vigorously promoted their Champagne house until his death in 1941. She saw the house through World War II and decades beyond. She so charmed Ian Fleming that his character James Bond would only drink Bollinger.

The Gallo brothers, Ernest and Julio, sons of Italian immigrants, founded a small winery in 1933. Today, E&J Gallo is still family owned and the world’s largest winery. It produces one-third of the wine made in the U.S. and more than 3% of all the wine made in the world.

You would be hard-pressed to name a more accomplished father and daughter duo than Dr. Nicolás Catena Zapata and Dr. Laura Catena. Nicolás was a professor of economics at UC-Berkeley and ran the family winery in Argentina. Laura became an emergency room physician with degrees from Harvard and Stanford. Until recently, she practiced emergency medicine in California while heading one of the largest Argentine wine brands in the world.

Great histories. Great stories. Great wine.

Last round

A will is a dead giveaway. Wine time.

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Texas wine AVAs episode #2 10-11-2023

Texas wine facts: Texas is the fifth-largest winemaking state, behind California, Washington, New York, and Oregon. And Texas wine is No. 3 in economic impact, just behind California and New York. Both rankings according to the National Association of American Wineries.

There are eight Texas AVAs (American Viticultural Regions). Last week we examined three around Fredericksburg, this week the remaining five.

• Texas High Plains. Heart of the Texas wine grape growing, a monster AVA spanning eight million acres of the Texas Panhandle, basically from Lubbock to Brownfield. Grows 80-plus percent of Texas wine grapes, supplying wineries across Texas and beyond. Located on the Llano Estacado, one of Earth’s flattest expanses. First thought—how could this be?

Topography. The elevation is 2,800 to more than 4,000 feet. It is called the “High Plains” for a reason. Such elevations include some of the world’s premier wine regions, especially in the Americas—think Chile and Argentina. Climate is dry, but there is irrigation. Sandy loam soil drains well and vexes phylloxera. Brisk winds thwart mildew. Plunging nighttime temperatures deliver important diurnal shift. That is a textbook definition of a wine grape region.

• Escondido Valley. Far West Texas, just north of the Big Bend. Covers 50 square miles, 250 acres of vineyards. Contains some of the oldest vines in Texas, provides hot days, cold nights, sandy soil. It once supplied grapes to the huge Ste. Genevieve Winery in Fort Stockton, but that enterprise folded. Now supplies grapes to the rest of Texas.

• Mesilla Valley. West of El Paso, includes part of New Mexico. There are 40 acres of vines that benefit from the 4,300 feet altitude; most of the vines are in New Mexico.

• Texas Davis Mountains. The Davis Mountains, part of the Rocky Mountains, are rugged and deliver 5,400 foot elevations, cooler temperatures, and more precipitation. Challenges, yes. Rewards, yes. The AVA is some 270,000 acres, but less than 50 acres of vineyards. The new frontier of Texas AVAs. Look for Blue Mountain Vineyard and Chateau Wright offerings.

• Texoma. The newest Texas AVA spans 3,650 square miles north of Dallas-Fort Worth and hugs the Texas-Oklahoma border, including Lake Texoma, from which it gets its name. More than a dozen wineries are based there, with tourism and events driving a major part of the operation, similar to the wineries and tasting rooms in the Texas Hill Country AVA.

Texas wine. Forty years ago, a snicker, maybe a guffaw. No one is laughing at the Lone Star State now.

Last round

The doctor told me my DNA was backward. And I said: “AND?” Wine time.

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Texas wine AVAs episode #1 10-4-2023

Texas wine once was an amusing blip on the wine world radar. There was interesting activity around Lubbock, an ambitious project in the Big Bend, dreamers in the Hill Country, and—of course—ardent over-achievers around College Station.

But wine? In Texas? Come’on man. Seriously?

Well, Texas winemakers are the ones laughing now and skeptics are in their dark, silent corner nursing over-priced, over-oaked Napa fruit bombs.

Texas has gone from 20 wineries in the 1980s to some 450 wineries today. Texas is the fifth largest wine producer in the United States. Granted, dwarfed by California, but California dwarfs everyone. Washington, Oregon, and New York make more, but—hey—now Texas is in the conversation.

And Texas celebrates this each October—Texas Wine Month.

Grape-growing areas are defined by federal designations called American Viticultural Areas: AVAs. Each AVA has an official name and boundaries. Some stretch for Texas miles; others are tiny pockets. An AVA is an attempt is to identify unique terroirs—that amorphous French term that identifies the many elements that make a wine from a specific place different from wine from other places.

Wineries do not have to pay attention to AVAs. If they do, 85% of the wine must come from the geographic area, and the wine must be produced in the AVA. Other Texas areas are petitioning to add more AVAs. Right now, there are eight. This week we explore three around Fredericksburg:

• Texas Hill Country. Located north of San Antonio and south-southwest of Austin, it is the largest AVA in Texas and third largest in the nation. It spreads over nine million acres and 1,000 acres of vineyards. It includes two mini-AVAs: Fredericksburg and Bell Mountain. But grape growing is not the main thing here. Wineries and tasting rooms are. The Texas Hill Country AVA is the second-most visited AVA in the nation, behind only Napa.

• Bell Mountain. This is a tiny AVA within the Hill Country AVA, but it was the first in Texas. It is only five square miles and about 70 acres of vines. Its location allows for quality, lower-temperature grapes cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and pinot noir.

• Fredericksburg. Another pocket in the Texas Hill Country AVA includes some 700,000 acres, but only 60 planted in an assortment of grapes, mostly white. It surrounds the town of Fredericksburg, home to more than 100 wineries, and—to be blunt—exists primarily to add atmosphere to wineries and tasting rooms. Those wineries get their grapes elsewhere—the Texas High Plains. Which we explore next week.

Last round

If money does not grow on trees, why do banks have branches? Wine time.

Email: wine@cwadv.com

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Wine geekiness 9-27-2023

It comes with the wine writer territory: people encounter me at the grocery store, in elevators, on the street and ask me about wine. “As a wine geek…” they begin their question.

Hmmm. Wine geek?

The original meaning of geek was a “highly intelligent, but introverted person.” When the term entered wine nomenclator, geek also suggested someone who championed unfamiliar grapes from obscure producers.

Well, I assert Gus Clemens on Wine is not that. Not introverted. Not focused on obscure wines.

Almost 16 years ago when a newspaper editor asked me to begin this project, the assignment was to write about wine in general for the general population and to suggest wines that everyday people could find without trouble or travel. I worked at the approach; the column began running in October, 2008.

Yes, I do occasionally challenge readers with uncommon grapes or techniques—white malbec and güner veltliner, for instance. But the wines have to be accessible at grocery or wine stores, online, or from the maker’s website. If extraordinary efforts are required—physical visit to the winery, any effort that includes passports and vaccination proofs—the wine never is recommended.

So, while I accept the “wine geek” sobriquet with a smile, I don’t consider myself one. Actually, I strive not to be one. The same applies to “connoisseur” and “oenophile.”

I do love wine and all the stories that abound with wine.

I do enjoy that my job includes appreciating wine almost every day and writing wine stories.

But I do not think of myself as a wine geek, connoisseur, or oenophile. I consider myself a writer and humorist whose subject happens to be wine. That is the job a newspaper editor challenged me to do, and one I have enjoyed ever since.

I thank each of you for being part of this adventure, even when you call me a geek.

Tasting notes

• Joseph Carr Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon 2020: More tartness and assertive black fruits than previous vintage, but remains a tasty wine that will pleasure many palates. $12-18 Link to my review

• W. & J. Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Ruby Porto: Jammy plum and chocolate delight. Serious acidity balances ripe fruit sweetness. Velvety richness masks high alcohol. Engaging finesse. Intense, focused through long finish. $25 Link to my review

• Duckhorn Vineyards Merlot, Napa Valley 2019: Smooth celebration of dark fruits framed by well-done oak. Plush with tart blackcurrant notes. Savory elements and herbal traces add character and depth. $44-55 Link to my review

Last round

I used to be in a band called “The Missing Dog”… You probably saw our posters on telephone poles. Wine time.

This is the weekly newspaper column

The religion of wine 9-20-2023

Is wine a religion? Wait—I am not suggesting wine will replace my Catholicism—but we cannot ignore religious elements associated with wine.

This is not about wine’s long, historic, intimate relationship with the world’s major religions. I am referring to approach, rituals, and messianic fervor associated with wine and wine worshipers.

A recent study examined the connection between wine consumers and wines they consume. The research revealed wineries and wines can evoke evangelical responses among their disciples. The process begins with a conversion experience with the winery and the wine.

Visits to wineries often proceed like a religious ritual. First, there is the vineyard tour with reverential attention to the vines, the soil, terroir (an all-inclusive, semi-religious term). Then the ceremonial sequence of tasting—see, swirl, smell, sip, savor. The pietistic explanation of special glasses for each varietal. The worshipful backstory about the winemakers. The homage to the hallowed vineyard. The hagiography of the grapes, the winery, the winemaking family, and everything about wine in general.

Then there is the emotional response among sippers, whether at the winery or among friends-family. They share gushing exaltations of their experience with the wine. They vow to spread the word to others, creating in some cases “cult” wines driven by fervent adoration of the flavor, the magical nature of their undiscovered, inimitable wine find. They are passionately driven to eagerly share with others and convert them into acolytes for their venerated vino.

Finally, there are spontaneous conversions. For some, it is to a specific wine. For others, it is the  Saul on the road to Damascus moment when the bright light flashes and they embrace the “wine-foodie” or “wine aficionado” transfiguration experience. They find themselves born again into a world of wine appreciation, gastronomic joy, and culinary salvation.

Such can be wine, if you are a true believer.

Tasting notes

• Noble Vines Collection 337 Cabernet Sauvignon, Lodi 2019: Dense, jammy, smooth, rife with ripe dark fruit. Straightforward every-day drinker. $10-15 Link to my review

• Viña Peñalolén Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo Valley 2019: Delivers well integrated velvety tannins, dark fruits with interest-creating tang. $18-22 Link to my review

• Herzog Wine Cellars Lineage Malbec, Clarksburg Vineyard 2020: Mevushal and kosher for Passover California malbec; smooth easy drinker. $18-22 Link to my review

• Hahn Family Wines SLH Pinot Noir 2021: Tasty, easily approachable Santa Lucia Highlands pinot. Soft, forgiving, engaging. $22-25 Link to my review

• Gamble Family Vineyards Paramount Red Wine, Napa Valley 2017: Rich, opulent melange of cab franc, cab, merlot, dash of petit verdot to lavish red-black wine deliciousness on your palate. $90-100 Link to my review

Last round

What do you call a sleep-walking nun? A roamin’ Catholic. Wine time.

Thank you for reading Gus Clemens on Wine. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Email: wine@cwadv.com

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Since you subscribe to my newsletter, it follows you enjoy wine and humor and are an adventurous, inquisitive person. Each morning, The Sample sends you one article from a random blog or newsletter that matches your interests. When you find one you like, you can subscribe to the writer with one click. To give it a try Link to The Sample

Links worth exploring

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.

Balanced Diet Original recipes, curated links about food systems, recipe reviews.

This is the weekly newspaper column

How to pair wine and cheese 9-13-2023

You know wine and cheese were made for each other. You also know not all wine pairs with all cheese. What is a person to do?

Relax. Most wine you purchase at your store will pair with most cheese you purchase at your store. Perfect pairing? Maybe not. But an abomination unto the Lord? No.

Remember: it is better to pair wine with the diner than wine with the dinner. If you like cheese X and wine Y, it is likely to be a good pairing no matter what “experts” opine. But, if you want guidance, here goes:

• Pick one star, either the wine or the cheese. In the wine-food-cheese pairing arena, when you have two or more elements competing for attention you have a food fight, not a congenial, delicious experience.

• If your are into cheese, go with subtle whites or lighter-bodied reds.

• If you are into wines, go with mild-to-medium cheeses that will not strive to overpower your wine.

• Sparkling wines and light, acidic wines pair with almost everything. Bubbly always lifts the mood.

• What grows together goes together. Italian wine—Italian cheese. Spanish wine—Spanish cheese. You get the idea. This also is true for food, BTW.

• Match intensity of the wine with intensity of the cheese. Brie, soft goat cheese, emmental, cream havarti will not hang well with hearty reds. Long-aged cheddars, stinky cheese, gorgonzola, stilton will maul your delicate Provence rosé.

• Oaked, low acid, high alcohol, tannic wines are hard to pair. Sip your bombastic Napa cab by itself, maybe with some neutral crackers. Or your grilled ribeye. Eschew cheese.

Tasting notes

• Fresh Vine Sauvignon Blanc, California 2021: Clean, fresh, strong emphasis on low calorie, low sugar, low carb. Very light on the palate; succeeds in delivering credible sauv blanc experience. $15-18 Link to my review

• Château Mourgues du Grès Galets Dorés Costières de Nîmes 2022: Fresh, citrus-flavorful, well-made biodynamic wine from southern Rhône. Opulent, luscious. $16-18 Link to my review

• Château La Rame, Sainte-Croix-du-Mont 2021: Lilting caresses on the palate. Delicate, flutteringly bashful fruit. Clean, refreshing with sharply defined fruits is this effort’s calling card. $21-29 Link to my review

• Rutherford Hill Rosé of Merlot, Napa Valley Appellation 2021: Light, crisp, flavorful expression of free run merlot. If you are a merlot fan—you should be—this is delightful. $22 Link to my review

• Lake Sonoma Winery Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast 2020: Vivid-fruit pour delivers some tartness without overbearing, confected fruit you can encounter with lower-shelf pinots. $26-30 Link to my review

Last round

After 24 hours, three scientists got bored watching the Earth spin. So they called it a day. Wine time.

Thank you for reading Gus Clemens on Wine. This post is public so feel free to share it.

Email: wine@cwadv.com

Newsletter: gusclemens.substack.com

Website:  gusclemensonwine.com

Facebook:  facebook.com/GusClemensOnWine/posts/

Twitter (X): @gusclemens

Since you subscribe to my newsletter, it follows you enjoy wine and humor and are an adventurous, inquisitive person. Each morning, The Sample sends you one article from a random blog or newsletter that matches your interests. When you find one you like, you can subscribe to the writer with one click. To give it a try Link to The Sample

Links worth exploring

Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.

As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.

Balanced Diet Original recipes, curated links about food systems, recipe reviews.