Screwed: Move away from corks threatens wildlife

Corks have been the bottle stopper of choice for ages, but are they the best option?

Sitting in the tasting room of White Heron Cellars one night, Cameron Fries told us a joke about a salesman trying to sell the latest innovation: corks. In his pitch, the salesman said, “Sure, this will spoil one out of ten bottles of wine, will sometimes crumble into the bottle, and requires a special tool to open, but all that is made up for by the satisfying popping sound it makes when you pull it out.”

Over the past few years, even winemakers of premium wines have been turning to alternative bottlestoppers like synthetic corks, screwcaps and glass stoppers. Developments in technology have resulted in closures that still allow wine to breathe a little, and age as wine should (though at a slower pace), while eliminating the risk of a wine becoming “corked.”

Sounds dreamy.

But, it turns out that the move to screwcaps isn’t without its consequences. According to an article in the Telegraph in the UK, the move away from corks is threatening to kill off important wildlife habitats in Europe.

Cork comes from the bark of matured cork oak trees. It takes a tree forty-five years to mature to an age where it can be harvested without killing the tree, and then the tree can be harvested every nine years. Cork stoppers make up seventy percent of the income for cork harvests, and as wineries stop buying corks, some farmers are tearing up their trees to try different cash crops. However, cork oak forests are often on inhospitable ground, and the terrain turns to desert.

This is bad news for the wildlife that inhabits the forests. Reportedly, in only 0.1 of a hectare of cork forest, there are more than 100 certified species. Two species in particulare are at risk of extinction, the Iberian lynx and European cranes.

Perhaps new technology will eliminate the chance of cork taint without eliminating corks.

Social Wine Online

Don’t spill any on your keyboard

By Josh LaRosee

So, it was only a matter of time before porn, shopping, dating, games, and free-billboard websites would be followed by the fruity-licious world of new winos in the realm of social websites. And, of course, being that we’re in the state of Web 2.0, content driven by the netizens themselves that morphs day-to-day, spilling new memes and insights into popular culture, consumers of The Juice have put her into the realm of social media.

At first glance, you might find it difficult to picture our hero, wine, fitting very well into the online world that is more often than not these days just a vomitous mass of comments, NSFW imagery, and cat videos. You’d be wrong, mostly. Currently less popular than the aforementioned cat vids, wine does make for interesting, ever-changing subject matter, albeit a bit more on the heady side of the cat box. The argument that wine online is “not working” would be somewhere in the fact that you have to actually taste the stuff to be able to take part in the conversation. And that’s the simple part. Then, you have to be able to recreate the often hard-to-describe experience in some grammatically correct fashion and hope that it exudes hints of insight and notes of experience. The entire process is a bit like homework, which we all know was only truly enjoyed by the kid who went on to be a Rhodes Scholar. But, it works! One need only to look at breakout successes such as Yelp.com and Rottentomatoes.com to see as much. People love to churn out tags and descriptions of their juice as fast as they can drink the stuff. What remains to be seen at this point is whether or not the now tiny niche of wine-online users can mature into a truly mainstream movement.

Thanksgiving Wines

Everyone is asking, “What wine should I serve with Thanksgiving dinner?” Anna King asked some notable wine critics in the Northwest the same question, and got some advice. 

According to her article published at KUOW News, Andy Perdue, publisher of Wine Press Northwest suggests opening a lot of different kinds of wine to satisfy the diversity of guests and food. He says that he typically opens five to eight bottles of wine on Thanksgiving. Sage advice, Mr. Perdue. Thanksgiving can be weird enough without friends or family getting disgruntled about the wrong wine. He also suggests starting with a sparkling wine to commence the Turkey Day celebration.

Vincent Fritzsche, who writes a wine blog out of Portland called Élevage, suggests a pinot noir or gamay noir, medium-bodied reds. Or, he recommends, low tannin reds like Zinfandel.

Paul Gregutt, the wine columnist for The Seattle Times, told Ms. King that Thanksgiving is not the time to pull out your showcase wines, unless you’re having an intimate dinner for two. Serving your best is just a waste amid the hubbub of festivities, in his opinion. 

Considering the diversity of food and friends on Thansgiving, we look to our own Christine Go, who writes the Ask a Wino column in WINO Magazine. She says to try a Washington State Sangiovese. Why? “Young Sangiovese is fruity, light-to-medium bodied, with moderate alcohol and enough acidity to make it a good partner for lots of foods.” She goes on, “Incidentally, my other “go-to” wines for similar situations include:  Pinot Noir, a dry rosé, or even a full-bodied but not too oaky Chardonnay.”

In any case, drink what you like. We at WINO Magazine would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving.

Feudo Di Santa Tresa Nivuro 2004

*Bottle #40: Feudo Di Santa Tresa Vendemmia 2004 Sicilia, IGT
*Price: $13
*Running Tab: $501

With the holidays approaching, people are returning to old comforts. Be it nostalgia from potpourri, Grandma’s pumpkin pie-spiced eggnog or uberfattening and delicious bacon-grease coated stuffing, everyone has their own end-of-the-year-our-economy-sucks-I’m-so-broke stomach settlers.

Mine just happens to be Italian wine. I know, I know, you’ve heard me say it 100 times and this time is no different. I’m a sucker, I always will be. I loved that wine for every juicy, anti-acidic, miniscule tannic ounce there was. And I drank it all.

We Got Beaujolai’d at Senoj Estates

Last night, Josh and I headed out to Senoj Estates Winery in Woodinville to “get Beaujolai’d.” The swank semi-formal event celebrated the limited release of the Snipes Mountain Nouveau. Senoj throws a bitchin’ wine party, and “Get Beaujolai’d” was no exception. This sold-out event featured Half Pack Live, a jazz band laying down standards in rat pack style, and food provided by Russell Dean Lowell Catering. But the guest of honor was undoubtedly the Snipes Mountain Nouveau.

Beaujolais nouveau is a French red wine made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region. There, it’s fermented for just a few weeks, and then released on the third Thursday of November–Beaujolais Day. Beaujolais nouveau is a lightweight purple-pink wine, fruity and low in tannins. It’s intended to be consumed almost immediately after bottling, and while some critics dismiss it as merely an immature wine, Beaujolais nouveau is a cultural classic with deep roots.

Senoj Estates’ Snipes Mountain Nouveau sold out almost immediately, but we managed to get a taste (winemaker Jeff Jones swiped some from another customer for us to try. Thanks!). Lightweight and bright, it also had green notes like broken sapplings. 

Senoj Estates aims to be more than just a winery.  It’s becoming a premier wine event space on the Eastside. If you like music, food and lots of wine, be sure to check out future Senoj events. My guess is that you won’t be disappointed.

Josh LaRosee

Josh graduated to wine the way many 20/30 somethings do: standing in front of a bar thinking, “Jeeze, do I have to do this again?” A thoughtfully consumed bottle of red wine later, he decided that there was more to hedonism than beer and pizza. Little did he know just how much more there is…

Josh is Publisher of WINO Magazine. You can reach Josh by email via josh@winomagazine.com.

 

Doug Haugen

After a long run of beer and liquor, Doug turned to the next big adventure…wine.  Little did he know what an odyssey that would be. Apparently unable to cellar anything, Doug enjoys wine day by day, each experience adding to the epic.

Doug is Chief Editor of WINO Magazine.  He can be reached via email at doug@winomagazine.com.

Charles Armstrong

Greg Brisendine

Greg Brisendine is a writer, advice maven, performance poet, corporate drone, scooter rider, wine drinker, movie watcher, fantasy reader and comfort food cook who lives in Seattle.

Brian C. Clark

Brian C. Clark is PR/Communications Coordinator for CAHNRS/WSU Extension Marketing & News Services at Washington State University. He is also chief editor of Voice of the Vine, a publication by the Viticulture and Enology department of the WSU College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences.

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