No one ever said wine folks are classy. This photo, by City Paper’s David Snyder was taken at Chateau d’Yquem in Bordeaux during our annual Cru Wine Club trip. Some people are awed by the prestige of visiting a 1st Growth winery. More often than not, wine school folks will hatch a practical joke. .

Talking about the PLCB – and the inane shipping laws that affect us wine-loving folk – is nothing new.  Newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs have opined and complained and ranted and spewed on this very subject for years.  But let’s put the direct shipping issue aside for a moment as there is something that is even more unsettling about the state’s ownership of the PLCB.  It’s financial and fairly begs one’s attention:

Pennsylvania is $3.2 billion dollars in debt.

Now consider this:  the sale value of the PLCB’s holdings have been placed at $1.7 billion.

That’s a tad more than half of the deficit.

Selling the PLCB, privatizing it as it were, is not a new discussion.  And, as this article in Lehigh Valley Live points out, it’s much too late to pass any laws to help the state in its current financial crisis.  But with holdings of $1.7 billion dollars at hand – again, half the state deficit – it may be time to get noisy and educate all taxpayers, wine consumers or no.

1 Wine Dude (aka Joe Roberts) wrote a great piece on the subject earlier in the week.  Be sure and check it out here.  And I just stumbled upon the website Free the Grapes – a most excellent resource for those consumers wanting to educate themselves on labyrinthine wine laws throughout the lower 48.

All those arguments surrounding the PLCB are not soon to go away.  Yet as a Pennsylvanian (and voter), educating oneself and wrapping one’s head around all the madness involved, is worth one’s time.  The recession is not going away anytime soon.  And $1.7 bil?  That’s a nice cache of cash.

Which all adds up to:  The Australian wine industry is in some trouble.

As The New Times Reports, Australians are going to have to pull back before recovery can begin.  (Thank god for the Asian market, where Australian wines are still a new phenomena).  Still, this is bad news for growers, winemakers, and winery owners alike.  Most likely scenario is that wineries will have to merge, vines will be uprooted, and many jobs will be lost. Read more here.

And perhaps enjoy a nice Torbreck GSM while you’re at it.

Image Copyright © 2007 European Space Agency

California is no stranger to wild fires.  But 2008 was exceptional by all accounts.  Fires swept through wine land, leaving many growers worried about “smoke taint”.  And in these strained times, it has left many wineries wondering how much to publicly talk about the problem.  As one insider puts it:  “The worry is the old saying:  Never tell a kid not to put a bean in his nose.”

This past Sunday, The San Francisco Gate published “Wines’ smoky taste a memento of year of fires” – an interesting article that discusses various methods available to winemakers for filtrating smoke taint – some are high-falooting, others are as simple and traditional as using egg whites.  The article also hears arguments from those who believe it best to leave the grapes and the taint alone – for better or worse, these folk accept that Mother Nature (and her whims) are just as much a part of terroir as the dirt in which the grapes are grown.

Only in a region as culturally bisected as Trentino would you find a funky blend of the obscure – Wanderbara, Vernaza, Nosiola, Veltliner rosato – and the familiar – Chardonnay, Moscato. Like the region itself, the wine represents a meeting ground of Teutonic and Italian varietals.

The Monfort cantina supports and buys from local growers in order to maintain the profile of indigenous grapes that would otherwise become extinct.

This wine, sourced from a dozen vintners, has a fruity nose of red grapefruit, pineapple and orange blossoms backed by musky scents of forest greenery and a distinct arome of  sage. Crisp on the palate, it delivers lively peach, pear and green apple flavors invigorated by tangy saline minerals. Solid, well defined finish that adds sensations of citrus.

Interesting, decidedly eccentric, not easy to categorize – in other words, definately Italian.

The story behind this bottle is intriguing.  Discovered in a basement in Philadelphia recently, it was part of a cache of French wines that had been cellared and apparently forgotten about 60 years ago. A great friend of the School, Miguel L, acquired the collection and brought this bottle to class last week.

Tasting Notes:
The wine was remarkably vibrant, despite a minor cork issue. Copper-hued, the palate was still alive with very little oxidization showing.

The nose was rich with burnt cedar, cured sausage and naphthalene. Dusty fruit was followed by cream and caramel on the midpalate. In the finish, faded fruits turned into toast and orange rind.