THE VINO BY GINO STORY
Background
As indicated in the title, my name is Gino and the site is about wine. I recently watched the movie Mondovino and I got the idea to create a blog about wine. The movie focuses on some of the finest wines in the world and includes comments by a world-renowned wine consultant and the ratings of “The Wine Spectator.” It presents some of the issues involved in the globalization of the wine industry and presents several family owned and operated vineyards and wineries from around the world.
As someone who has enjoyed wine for many years, I realized that I rarely, if ever, get to enjoy the class of wines featured in the movie, in Wine Spectator and other similar sources. Much is written about those fine wines, but those are not the wines that are enjoyed by people like me on a daily (or even annual!) basis. Therefore, I thought that more should be written about the wines that the average wine connoisseur could enjoy on a regular basis.
One thing about the movie really struck a chord with me. Now, I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but I had never before heard the term “terroir” used. Of course, I instinctively understood its underlying meaning and I knew about the importance of the soil, climate, region, etc. in the resulting wine that is produced. However, I was not familiar with the term.
The web site www.terroir-france.com presents the following definition:
A " terroir " is a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.
Terroir = Region + Appellation + Grapes + Wine making
There appears to be some controversy about the definition and I have no intention of joining that fray. Without using the term, I intend this site to reflect my understanding of terroir, which is essentially that the area where the grapes are grown impacts the wine that is produced there. As an urban planner, I am also very interested in the characteristics of places that give them their own personality.
Purpose
Therefore, my hopes for this blog are threefold. First, that it focuses on wines that are affordable (with no hard and fast definition, but generally wines that cost from $7 or $8 to about $20 per bottle). Second that general impressions of the wine be discussed. This can include the looks of the bottle, the name of the wine or winery, or other factors in addition to its taste, aroma, color, etc. We might call this “secondary characteristics” of the wine. Finally, that the characteristics of the wine’s region will be discussed. This can include geographic information about the region, its cities, its history and culture, or any other factor that may be of interest.
Personal Preferences
I will tell you about my wine consuming habits. I generally prefer red wine. This is due, in part, to the health benefits, but I also like the taste. I try to have a glass of wine every day around dinnertime. Being frugal, I tend to purchase wine in 1.5 liter bottles because they cost less than twice as much as the same wine in a 750 milliliter bottle. I also purchase six bottles at a time, in order to get a 10% discount. I like to use a particular type of corkscrew that you do not see very often. It is similar to the conventional kind of corkscrew that has two levers on the side that rise as you screw the corkscrew into the cork. However, instead of levers on the side, it has a sort of cap with a hole in the top that you flip over when the corkscrew is securely into the cork. You then continue to twist the corkscrew and the center rod now starts rising through that hole in the cap.
Format
The general format of this blog is to discuss multiple aspects of specific wines. That is, I will name a wine and provide a paragraph or two that will generally explain why I selected that wine. Then, I will present my impressions of the wine (including secondary characteristics).
Next, I will provide some information about the company that produced the wine. This might include the history of the company, its founders, any innovations it might have created or other special features about the company that I find interesting. It may also discuss some of the other wines produced by that company (some of which I will sample at a later date).
Finally, I will discuss the region where the wine is produced, with an emphasis on the region where the grapes were grown in cases where the production occurs a distance from the vineyard. With the hope of not sounding too much like a geography lesson, I will try to focus on aspects that I find interesting and/or that I think will be of interest to others.
Each specific wine will be the focus of discussion threads. My hope is that interested readers will comment on any of the subtopics within each specific wine in order to share experience or knowledge about that particular wine, when or where they may have tried it, their impressions about the wine, the grape, the production methods, or any other aspect of the wine. I also hope that to receive comments about the company and the region. These might include tales of visits to the winery, vacations in the region, comments from residents of the region who may wish to straighten out any misleading comments I may have made or add information that I have omitted, etc. Questions are always welcome, though I may not always have an answer (but I will be counting on readers to respond so that we can all learn and enjoy each other’s experiences.
On occasion I may initiate a thread that is not wine specific, but is only peripherally connected to a wine or wines. I have some topics in mind, but I will get to those later.
I will add to the list of wines sporadically as I have time to do so. Most likely, new additions will be made somewhere between one a week and one a month. In part, that will depend on the response from readers. Of course, the need to drink the wine in order to discuss it provides a powerful incentive to add new ones sooner rather than later!
I intend the tone to be rather straight-forward and honest and never preachy or condescending. After all, my whole purpose (that is, in addition to finding an excuse to drink more wine!) is to provide a fun forum for people who enjoy wines that do not break their budgets. I do not envision ever harshly criticizing any wine as I wish to maintain a positive milieu.
So let us begin to explore the world of wines!
As indicated in the title, my name is Gino and the site is about wine. I recently watched the movie Mondovino and I got the idea to create a blog about wine. The movie focuses on some of the finest wines in the world and includes comments by a world-renowned wine consultant and the ratings of “The Wine Spectator.” It presents some of the issues involved in the globalization of the wine industry and presents several family owned and operated vineyards and wineries from around the world.
As someone who has enjoyed wine for many years, I realized that I rarely, if ever, get to enjoy the class of wines featured in the movie, in Wine Spectator and other similar sources. Much is written about those fine wines, but those are not the wines that are enjoyed by people like me on a daily (or even annual!) basis. Therefore, I thought that more should be written about the wines that the average wine connoisseur could enjoy on a regular basis.
One thing about the movie really struck a chord with me. Now, I am almost embarrassed to admit it, but I had never before heard the term “terroir” used. Of course, I instinctively understood its underlying meaning and I knew about the importance of the soil, climate, region, etc. in the resulting wine that is produced. However, I was not familiar with the term.
The web site www.terroir-france.com presents the following definition:
A " terroir " is a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine.
Terroir = Region + Appellation + Grapes + Wine making
There appears to be some controversy about the definition and I have no intention of joining that fray. Without using the term, I intend this site to reflect my understanding of terroir, which is essentially that the area where the grapes are grown impacts the wine that is produced there. As an urban planner, I am also very interested in the characteristics of places that give them their own personality.
Purpose
Therefore, my hopes for this blog are threefold. First, that it focuses on wines that are affordable (with no hard and fast definition, but generally wines that cost from $7 or $8 to about $20 per bottle). Second that general impressions of the wine be discussed. This can include the looks of the bottle, the name of the wine or winery, or other factors in addition to its taste, aroma, color, etc. We might call this “secondary characteristics” of the wine. Finally, that the characteristics of the wine’s region will be discussed. This can include geographic information about the region, its cities, its history and culture, or any other factor that may be of interest.
Personal Preferences
I will tell you about my wine consuming habits. I generally prefer red wine. This is due, in part, to the health benefits, but I also like the taste. I try to have a glass of wine every day around dinnertime. Being frugal, I tend to purchase wine in 1.5 liter bottles because they cost less than twice as much as the same wine in a 750 milliliter bottle. I also purchase six bottles at a time, in order to get a 10% discount. I like to use a particular type of corkscrew that you do not see very often. It is similar to the conventional kind of corkscrew that has two levers on the side that rise as you screw the corkscrew into the cork. However, instead of levers on the side, it has a sort of cap with a hole in the top that you flip over when the corkscrew is securely into the cork. You then continue to twist the corkscrew and the center rod now starts rising through that hole in the cap.
Format
The general format of this blog is to discuss multiple aspects of specific wines. That is, I will name a wine and provide a paragraph or two that will generally explain why I selected that wine. Then, I will present my impressions of the wine (including secondary characteristics).
Next, I will provide some information about the company that produced the wine. This might include the history of the company, its founders, any innovations it might have created or other special features about the company that I find interesting. It may also discuss some of the other wines produced by that company (some of which I will sample at a later date).
Finally, I will discuss the region where the wine is produced, with an emphasis on the region where the grapes were grown in cases where the production occurs a distance from the vineyard. With the hope of not sounding too much like a geography lesson, I will try to focus on aspects that I find interesting and/or that I think will be of interest to others.
Each specific wine will be the focus of discussion threads. My hope is that interested readers will comment on any of the subtopics within each specific wine in order to share experience or knowledge about that particular wine, when or where they may have tried it, their impressions about the wine, the grape, the production methods, or any other aspect of the wine. I also hope that to receive comments about the company and the region. These might include tales of visits to the winery, vacations in the region, comments from residents of the region who may wish to straighten out any misleading comments I may have made or add information that I have omitted, etc. Questions are always welcome, though I may not always have an answer (but I will be counting on readers to respond so that we can all learn and enjoy each other’s experiences.
On occasion I may initiate a thread that is not wine specific, but is only peripherally connected to a wine or wines. I have some topics in mind, but I will get to those later.
I will add to the list of wines sporadically as I have time to do so. Most likely, new additions will be made somewhere between one a week and one a month. In part, that will depend on the response from readers. Of course, the need to drink the wine in order to discuss it provides a powerful incentive to add new ones sooner rather than later!
I intend the tone to be rather straight-forward and honest and never preachy or condescending. After all, my whole purpose (that is, in addition to finding an excuse to drink more wine!) is to provide a fun forum for people who enjoy wines that do not break their budgets. I do not envision ever harshly criticizing any wine as I wish to maintain a positive milieu.
So let us begin to explore the world of wines!
posted by Gino at
9:43 PM
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