I’m sure you’re tired of us hearing us all whine about minutiae like Bobo’s new book, the comments on this blog, and nuclear radiation, so I thought I’d do a feel good post about wine. I went to a wine dinner last night where I tried wine from Pennsylvania (a Bordeaux blend), Idaho (riesling), Missouri (some kind of weird dessert wine), and Mississippi (a Muscadine, whatever that is). The Mississippi wine was from Natchez. I like that because there’s a Solomon Burke song that mentions Natchez.
There is wine made in all 50 states now. Here’s a cool feature where some guy from Time reviews a wine from each state.
I’m off to watch NCAA basketball.
Have a good Friday!
JGabriel
DougJ:
So tell us about the Idaho. It sounds like it would be a conservative wine, with hints of potato and charred Reichstag.
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Tom
Just about the time of the year the bust out GP/Grievous Angle.
NickM
There’s also the Dusty Springfield song “Natchez Trace,” which sounds a bit like Dusty backed by Zep.
Comrade DougJ
@JGabriel:
The Idaho wines were good, I liked them, I would have guessed Washington State (which they practically are), Hogue or Columbia Crest or something like that. All the other novelties were sort of awful.
Nied
You know the more I think about it the more the Libya no fly zone looks less like Iraq and more like Yugoslavia. From the broad based UN sanctioned coalition to the pledge for no ground troops, to the lesser-of-two-evils allied factions on the ground, the whole thing looks like some kind of un-holy combination of what we did in Bosnia and Kosovo. It’s even starting around the same time as Allied Force. I eagerly await the carping from congressional Republicans about how the several hundred troops we commit to the post conflict UN stabilization force (LFOR?) in a few months is far worse than defeat (while simultaneously telling us how we should have kept 100,000 in Iraq indefinitely).
Laertes
I’ve never had a really good American wine that wasn’t from California, Oregon, or Washington.
I’d be interested to try one that was “really good” without a qualifier like “for an Oklahoma wine.”
Comrade DougJ
@Laertes:
A lot of the Finger Lakes and Oregon stuff is “really good” by any measure. The Oregon stuff is generally way overpriced though.
Joseph Nobles
Muscadine is a thick-skinned pungent grape. I imagine the wine from it was fruity as pebbles, and just about as subtle.
ThresherK
I’m no wine pro; in fact I usually have to be driven home from wine tastings. But my stomping grounds (hardehar!) include the Atlantic northern seacoast, and my tastes run distinctly to white wines made there.
Regarding the Massachusetts wine, I’m beginning to suspect that if he tried exactly one wine per state, he can’t have tried very hard.
(PS Anyone else wishing it was setup bracket-style?)
JGabriel
Comrade DougJ:
That makes sense. Might be a good area for pinot noir too, then, despite my earlier snark.
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South of I-10
Muscadines are a variety of grape that can deal with the heat and humidity in the south. The muscadine wine I have had has been pretty awful.
JGabriel
Nied:
That’s been my take on it, too. Of course, that could change depending on how it plays out, but I think the parallels to Yugoslavia are stronger than those to Iraq, so far.
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MikeJ
@JGabriel: In Washington, everything east of the Cascades is desert. the wine growers say it’s good because every drop of water that goes onto the vines is from irrigation, therefore they can control what they get and when.
There are certainly parts of Idaho that would fit the bill.
soonergrunt
O/T, I think I’ve found Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Nuclear Powerplant Operator’s certification test:
http://esa21.kennesaw.edu/activities/nukeenergy/nuke.htm
beltane
Are they allowed to drink, let alone make, wine in Mississippi? That is the same as imposing Sharia law. I hope the godless pagans who make it stay safe and sound.
Splitting Image
Scrooge McDuck started a boat race in Natchez once, according to Mr. Barks. That is the extent of my knowledge of the area.
MikeJ
@soonergrunt: It would ruin everyone’s day if nuclear boy pooped.
Comrade DougJ
@ThresherK:
Bracket style would be great.
I’ve had some pretty good wine from Rhode Island, don’t remember if I’ve had any from MA.
Svensker
But there is a nuclear emergency in Japan. Therefore, by lazily watching basketball you have caused Qaddafi to kill more innocents. Also, are you black?
Comrade DougJ
@ThresherK:
What MA wines do you like?
Maude
@South of I-10:
Are those the green grapes that taste like old auntie’s perfume?
jibeaux
Finally, a good place for this.
KD
For Cole.
jibeaux
Muscadine wine is in fact terrible. But I could eat a pound of muscadine grapes. Tons of flavor. Avoid the skins, though.
jnfr
I have a real soft spot for Woot Wine!. That and a great deal I got via Groupon currently has my every wine rack running over with great wines.
Steve
I knew a guy from Texas who used to make muscadine wine. Now, if you picked up a bottle of wine from “Chateau Texas,” would your expectations be very high? I’m no wine expert but it tasted horrible.
Riesling is my wife’s favorite and there are some nice ones from upstate NY. I’m kind of disappointed they reviewed a Michigan riesling when they could have gone with one of those awesome Michigan cherry wines.
liberal
OT: Maybe the O-bots (or Biden-bots) can explain this? In light of this.
piratedan
@JGabriel: Arizona wines are served sans corks, in a time honored tradition reflecting the headless immigrants found in the desert….
Sentient Puddle
@liberal:
I’ll step up to the plate on this one…
The hell are you talking about? Be more specific.
gene108
I’ve been reading Red State a bit lately. I find it like looking at something both grotesque, but intriguing enough I can’t turn away.
A couple of things really stand out. One is their unquestioning belief that their world view is correct and all other world views are wrong. The second is how they have integrated right-wing talking points to justify their world view.
The article below:
WEAC letter in part:
The conclusion:
Warning! Red State link
What’s interesting is whoever in the summer of 2009 decided to brand the SEIU workers, who got into a kerfuffle with Tea Parties at some town hall somewhere, as “thugs” has had that impression stick to the wing-nuts.
The comments basically reinforce the view that unions=thugs.
In all honesty, boycotts are part of the free market and consumers expressing displeasure at business practices is part of the trade off we have for living in a free society.
Yet they’ve internalized the image of unions = thugs and have then made the next step: unions = thugs :: thugs = gangsters, therefore unions = gangsters.
They don’t stop to question if their friendly neighborhood beat cop should be associated with Al Capone or the teacher their little snot really likes, has the same view on “rubbing out” the competition the Lucky Luciano had. They don’t like unions. They like the idea of denigrating unions by labeling them thugs, therefore everything they read about unions must be a result of their “thug” / “gangster” tendencies.
There’s no way to penetrate this logic loop with anything – facts, humor, etc.
I don’t see how we can move forward as a country, when the crazy-ass 27% folks, will just ignore everything they don’t agree with and shout over the other 23% of right-leaning folks (assuming half the population is conservative or may vote Republican), who want to keep the crazification factor to a minimum.
ThresherK
@Comrade DougJ: I’ve had success with the two vineyards on Newport island, and the one in Truro on Cape Cod, and far southeastern CT. (I don’t want to name vineyard names exactly.)
Particular wines I can’t name, but I keep coming back to whites over reds from places like that. (And I’ll throw in another disclaimer about my ineducatable palate.)
jacy
Am I a bad person if my wine sampling technique is to choose something with a pretty label from the discount shopping cart full of bottles when I walk into the Winn-Dixie?
Also, too, because this is as close to an open thread as is available amongst all the gloom and doom and babies whining about somebody poking them in the back seat of the station wagon — I would like to submit that some friends and I are starting our own small press and we’re going to be blogging our adventures in real time.
If you care, and even if you don’t, we are open for business at Publishing Yourself: Navigating the World of Indie Publishing.
jibeaux
Just looked at the Time 50 states wine reviews, some good ones in there. Like Wyoming’s.
Tsulagi
Had to see what the hell comes from Alaska. From the review…
Think he’s smelling and tasting the state cologne, unburnt diesel fuel. Maybe AKs can also use that wine as backup fuel for their generators.
Sentient Puddle
@Tsulagi: You’re reading the Alabama review, not Alaska. And actually, the review does state how wine is made in Alaska:
So…it sort of isn’t.
liberal
@Sentient Puddle:
First link: douchebag reporter from Wash Post appointed at WH. Second link: evidence from Balloon Juice itself that said reporter is a douchebag. (Really a lot of hits at Daily Howler.)
Thanks for responding (no snark).
ThresherK
@gene108: There’s no way to penetrate this logic loop with anything – facts, humor, etc.
Now, Gene, it’s not about penetrating the loop. It’s about isolating the contagion and keeping it from spreading further.
To that end, I recommend NPR’s political analyst Horst Lleftbarne. He does a bang-up job, about three weeks after any meme reaches critical mass inside the Beltway, of breaking down exactly how NPR got suckered into swallowing it whole this time.
Morbo
Villanova could really stand some better free throw shooting. Mason really shouldn’t have been able to make it back into this game.
RSR
How was the PA wine? Brew Pubs in PA can also sell PA made wines (without needing a full bar liquor license) and I’m curious about their quality.
stuckinred
George Mason is back!
cleek
my dad brought me some red wine from New Mexico, of all places, last year. wasn’t completely bad. reminds my of NC reds – ok in moderation, but i wouldn’t choose them over west coast, Aussie, South American or European.
Tsulagi
@Sentient Puddle: Oops, my bad. Well, maybe bamans can use that wine as backup fuel in their trailers.
Didn’t know you could buy wine as concentrate. Just add water? No doubt would make a fine addition to the MRE dining experience.
Tom Hilton
Sorry, but for us in California, the fact that wine is made in those other 49 states is hardly a feel good story.
(j/k)
Comrade DougJ
@RSR:
The PA wine was awful, unfortunately.
Comrade DougJ
@cleek:
New Mexico makes some excellent sparkling wine, Gruet. Love that stuff.
kth
Natchez also occurs in the Arlen-Mercer standard “Blues In the Night”, covered by Cab Calloway, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and probably a hundred people in between.
From Natchez to Mobile
From Memphis to St. Joe
Wherever the four winds blow
Tom Johnson
This is right in my wheelhouse, so:
The reason Muscadine wines are bad is that Muscadine is a vitus labrusca grape, which is native to North America and distinct from the vitus vinifera grapes that are usually used to make wine. Native American grapes have an inherent “foxy” quality that almost always makes bad wines. Almost anything made of labrusca grapes — Muscadine, Concord, Scuppernong, Catawba, Delaware, Niagra — will be something to avoid.
There are lots of good wines being made somewhere besides the west coast, but they are made of vinifera grapes.
To name two that I’d put on any table without appology or qualification: I had a 2007 Chateau Morrisette Cabernet Sauvignon from Virginia that was an awful lot like Silver Oak. And here’s a review of the 2007 Jean Farris “Tempest,” a Bordeaux blend, made in Kentucky that was enough of a rave I drove to the winery to try it out. The wine did not disappoint, and at about $30 a bottle was reasonable enough that I bought a six pack to take home. Jean Farris also produces a Petite Sirah that kicks significant ass.
I’d also heartily recommend Canadian ice wines, and Michigan is starting to produce some Riesling that stands up pretty well. The North Fork of Long Island is showing some stuff, too, though its preoccupation with obese Merlot overshadows what it’s really good at, which is cooler climate whites.
artem1s
@jibeaux:
oh, thank you for that. I forget how funny Steve Martin is. luv those lederhosen.
cathyx
@Tom Hilton: And I would say that for those of us coming from the west coast states, the wine made in the other 47 states is completely unnecessary.
JPL
Gotta say Trader Joe’s carries a fine selection of wines for those without discriminating taste. Pretty bottles also, too.
Cheryl from Maryland
Whoever chose those US wines for Joel Stein to taste is an idiot. Sangiovese from VA? VA’s strengths are whites, and then Norton and Cab Franc for the reds. Viognier from several VA vineyards (a white between pinot grigio and chardonnay) is awesome, unique and delicious. And then there is the dessert version of Viognier (should be served with cheesecake).
At least they went red for Texas (an excellent spot for reds — there is a lovely wine cafe at the Dallas airport) and Yadkin Valley for NC. And I will give the selection chops for several Norton’s (the US’s only native wine grape, lost during Prohibition, but found in an Indiana cemetery), but still.
Oh, and phutttt to you West Coast wine snobs.
Yummm… It’s close to five. No, I should wait until dinner.
Martin
I only buy fortified wines to help with my vitamin deficiencies.
lamh32
Okay, a ghost, a werewolf and a vampire decide to share a flat in London…sounds like a joke, but it really the plot to a UK drama called “Being Human”. I’m finally getting around to watching the Season 1 marathon that was rebroadcast on BBCAmerica last month. There is a Syfy version of the show, but like many of the American versions of UK shows, the UK version is much better. The 2nd season on BBCAmerica has already started. If ya can check it out
Cris
Howling Wolf, Natchez Burning
Further reading: The Rhythm Club fire. :(
South of I-10
@Maude: There are different kinds, but I know some of them are kind of musky smelling? They taste good though. Muscadine jam/jelly is good. Wine, not so much.
Mike in NC
@jibeaux:
Muscadine wines are produced in the Carolinas, among other places. Avoid them like the plague; icky sweet stuff.
Virginia, on the other hand, boasts many excellent vineyards that produce a wide variety of (dry) red and white wines.
JGabriel
A girl scout brings them a dozen Do-Si-Dos (aka Savannah) cookies. The vampire takes 11, sucks the girl scout dry, then says to the werewolf, “Hey, keep an eye on that ghost. She’s trying to steal your cookie.”
.
Ogden Gnash
@Comrade DougJ: Second the Gruet. Owned and operated by a French family. I read somewhere that New Mexico’s wine making history is older than California’s, that Prohibition knocked it out. Following Prohibition, California came back strong while NM puttered along.
Vibrant Pantload, fka Studly Pantload
@gene108:
Gotta love a world view that equates civil-servant unions seeking to form alliances with local businesses as “thuggish,” while when their own show up at demonstrations packing guns or at town halls to disrupt proceedings by shouting down representatives with wholly-manufactured lies, it’s “vibrant” (or somesuch equivalent).
Cris
@JGabriel: * spittake *
DS
Is a Muscadine grape derived from Muscadet? Because most Muscadet from the Nantes/Loire area is garbage as well.
Davis X. Machina
@Vibrant Pantload, fka Studly Pantload: I’m trying to figure out how The Left can simultaneously be effete and gutless, and so scary that the new (38% of the vote, Teahadi-approved) governor of Maine needs a bodyguard none of his predecessors seem to have felt a need for.
It’s ‘due to the changing political climate’, says the governor’s spokesperson.
soonergrunt
Oh. My. God.
merrinc
@cleek: I’ve avoided NC wines since receiving a bottle of something or other from Biltmore Estates oh, about 15 years ago. I thought it was quite dreadful but perhaps it was my lack of appreciation for the vino at that time in my life. Which NC reds would you recommend?
AAA Bonds
Thank you, John, for sticking with where you stand on Libya.
As more and more media outlets offer “right vs. left” debates where both sides agree that we should go to war with Gaddafi’s Libya (NPR’s All Things Considered being the latest), it’s going to get harder and harder for people to understand that our moral beliefs about the situation there don’t mean war in Libya is wise.
And make no mistake, as soon as we bomb the first target in Libya, we are at war.
AAA Bonds
@gene108:
Thank you. Please continue doing so.
The main error of the left in America is that most of them are too queasy and antsy to actually read the alternate history being produced daily that somewhere around half of America takes for God’s honest truth.
Repeat: this is the MAIN ERROR of the left.
trollhattan
@Davis X. Machina:
Steve Poizner–who tried to out-wingnut Megs for the right to spend a lot of money to be pulverized by Jerry Brown–used to pack heat at the office as state insurance commissioner. The, uh, rationale was he could because it’s technically a law enforcement position.
One of the scant amusing bits in this season’s “Big Love” is all the elected officials packin’ heat at the state house.
BTW, Jerry’s armed entourage is a fraction of Arnie’s.
trollhattan
@Tom Hilton:
This. Although I make execptions for bits of Oregon and Washington.
Davis X. Machina
@trollhattan: If I regulated insurance companies I wouldn’t necessarily pack heat — but I definitely would have an official taster.
jake the snake
@gene108:
The right wing has been talking about union thugs since
those peace loving Pinkertons were sadly forced the break the strikers heads.
ThresherK
@jake the snake: Not since those laborers assaulted those billy clubs with their noggins at Haymarket?
Mr Stagger Lee
I must say, I am a fan of Sailor Jerry Rum, but that’s me.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@JGabriel: I was hoping someone would go there. Thanks!!
Gus
I have a bone to pick with a throwaway line in Joel Stein’s little wine from 50 states article. He says Wisconsin’s beer sucks. He obviously knows shit about beer. Wisconsin has at least 4 or 5 top notch breweries.
petorado
Colorado wines are getting quite good. I have yet to drink anything that’s been life-changing yet, but there are a good number of wines made from Bordeaux and Rhone grape varietals that compete with mid-level California wines. California just has a more substantial spectrum of quality. (Plenty of swill comes off of the left coast too.) That said, just received an invitation to drink wine with Larry Turley and Ehren Jordan. I must have died and gone to heaven!
RossInDetroit
Just got in from work and I’m not going to wade through the 500 comments of blogmeta that are waiting for me.
I find it makes nearly as much sense and entertains me more if I start at the bottom and work my way up.
TheMightyTrowel
Late to the game, but I cannot recommend MA champagne style sparkling whites highly enough – my favourite vineyard, Westport Rivers makes some specacular blanc de blanc and does tours. They’re also partnered with a great microbrewery owned by members of the same family – mmmm White Whale ale….