Wine 411

In our constantly connected world, there aren't very many new ideas—when we can already text each other instantly, Google almost anything we want on the Web, and phone friends overseas for pennies.

But the Spanish firm, Bodega Señorio de Barahonda, offers something that's just plain fun. On the back of the bottle of Nabuko shown at left, they include a phone number: 888 653-8466 (or, 888 OLE-VINO). Dial the toll free number, and then enter extension 131, the number for that particular wine. In return, you get a quick wine briefing on what's in the bottle!

Want to sound like an expert when you're serving wine to your guests? This is a great way to get a briefing.

By the way, Aldo Morales of Advintage Distributing, who showed us this OLE VINO service recently, will be speaking at The Greenville Wine Meetup on July 15th. Click the "July 15th" link, or scroll down and click on the Meetup logo in the right column to learn more.

Update on Upstate Foodie

Last week, Vine & Grape reported on Upstate Foodie, an exciting new publication produced by Community Journals (publisher of The Greenville Journal). Upstate Foodie deserved kudos then. Their response to my original post deserves even higher praise.

In my first post, along with praise for their print publication, I quibbled about a couple of features of their web site. To Upstate Foodie's credit, their response was almost immediate. That response is praiseworthy because it shows that customers matter.

There is a very important sense in which the customer is always right. Any of us who love good food and wine expect that to be the rule when eating out. "Your steak is not properly cooked? Let me correct that, and while you wait, can I bring you a complimentary appetizer?" Or "The wine is not acceptable? No problem. Let's find something better suited to your taste."

Harvard professor, Shoshanna Zuboff, coined a term for that sinking feeling we get in situations like that. She calls it the transaction crisis, the fear that we will "be snagged on the barbed-wire fence that surrounds nearly every commercial exchange." The hotel lost your reservation; will they find you a room? The airline canceled your flight; will they rebook you quickly? The website didn't quite do what you expected; does anyone care?

Congrats, Upstate Foodie and Community Journals for cutting through the barbed wire! Love the publication and can't wait to see the ongoing improvements to your site.

Robert Mondavi Dies

Today is a sad day for all of us who respect the pioneers of California's fine wine industry. Robert Mondavi, founder of the winery that bears his name, died at age 94.

All of us who appreciate America's transition from the jug wines of the 40s and 50s, to the world-renowned wines of California today, owe Bob Mondavi a debt of gratitude.

Robert Mondavi titled his autobiography Harvests of Joy. We can pray that he is reaping such a harvest today.

For more reading, see Harvests of Joy, by Robert Mondavi, with Paul Chutkow. Photo shown here is by photographer Jose Luis Villegas, of The Sacramento Bee, as it appeared in Mike Dunne's wonderfully readable blog, when Bob Mondavi was inducted into The Vintners Hall of Fame at the Culinary Institute of America, Napa Valley, CA.

Good Reading

A member of The Greenville Wine Meetup sent me this New York Times link recently. I thought it was sufficiently interesting to point out to Vine and Grape readers. Wine critic Erik Asimov reviews two recent research studies that seek to answer the question, "Are wine consumers easily manipulated by price, pretense, and marketing hype?" Read the article and see what you think.

Only days before, Robin Garr's 30 Second Wine Advisor included this link to a fascinating report titled, "A Glimpse into the Wine World of 2058," prepared by London wine merchants, Berry Bros. & Rudd (BBR). This report's conclusions are even more alarming than the studies Asimov summarizes. By the way, every wine enthusiast should subscribe to Garr's 30 Second Wine Advisor, if you don't already.

After reading BBR's predictions about volume wines, wine as big-brand booze, and world wine wars, I was so discouraged I needed a glass of, umm, wine! On the other hand, most of the negative scenarios suggested by Asimov and BBR can be forestalled by wine education. And wine education needn't be dry or difficult. Come join us at The Greenville Wine Meetup and find out how much fun learning about wine can be!

Upstate Foodie

Community Journals, publisher of The Greenville Journal, released a wonderfully useful publication this weekend: Upstate Foodie.

Regular recipients of The Greenville Journal received this new publication tucked inside their weekly Journal. Presumably, additional copies of the guide are available at pick-up locations around town where The Greenville Journal is normally available.

The Foodie guide is nicely sized for its purpose (I'll keep one in my car's glove compartment). The "Soup to Nuts" charts at the back of the guide is a great quick reference. And because wine and food go together, the guide also includes two pages on tasting techniques—one by Northampton's Richard deBondt, and a second page taken from Wine.com.

The publication has a website: http://www.upstatefoodie.com/. The above photos by T.J. Getz are only two of dozens from the rich visual parade that marches past when you connect to the site. The site is searchable and offers the opportunity to rate/review restaurants.

A couple of user interface annoyances mar an otherwise fine start: the site doesn't resize to fit your browser's width. If you don't routinely work with your browser maximized (occupying all of your screen real estate), the search box may be hidden. Worse still, "Become a Foodie" and the login link at far right completely disappear. Thankfully, once you've reached a restaurant page, although the same problem exists onscreen, the content will print properly on 8.5" x 11" paper, portrait orientation.

The search feature is the other oddity. When you type a restaurant name and hit return, a dialog box appears—requiring you to choose from Restaurants, Cuisines, or Locations. For a cuisine search (e.g., Asian), which might return multiple restaurants, the dialog box makes sense. But when seeking details for a specific restaurant, this step is confusing the first time and an annoyance afterward. Finally, be aware the search feature is rigidly literal—no helpful fuzzy search like Google, to suggest options if you don't spell something perfectly. Misspell Soby's without the apostrophe and you'll get a message, "No results found." Misspell Azia as Asia, and you'll get a list of Asian restaurants, but not the restaurant you were looking for.