A new wine conversation

Welcome to the new WineConversation, one where you will find a few new, but familiar voices. Virtually all blogs begin as solitary endeavours driven by the author’s energy and motivation to share some message or theme. In most cases, this energy is lost over time. The world changes. Eventually the themes have been explored and [...]

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Kevin Harvick Armour Vienna Sausage Kroger Chevrolet Clint Bowyer Zaxby s Chevrolet Brad Keselowski

Vettel says ?risky? strategy his call

Sebastian Vettel admitted he opted for a "risky" one-stop strategy because he was determined to try to win the Monaco Grand Prix. The championship leader decided to stay out while his rivals pitted during the opening safety car period, the German having to do a 56-lap stint on a set of soft tyres.

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/vettel-says-risky-strategy-his-call/

Paco Godia Carel Godin de Beaufort Christian Goethals Paul Goldsmith José Froilán González

Follow the Story:  The ?Champagne Schooner?

On an entirely too short visit to the Smithsonian American History Museum in Washington D.C.  a decade ago, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw a set of George Washington’s wooden teeth.  Ditto when I saw the pocket pistol that General Robert E. Lee carried in the Civil War and a corkscrew from Thomas Jefferson.  What enchanted me is precisely what enchants millions of school kids—history leaping off the pages of the textbook suddenly made relevant. 

I’ve pursued the triptych of history, wine and relevance since then.

Nearly equidistance between Finland and Sweden, an autonomous Swedish-speaking, Finnish country called Aland exists as a cluster of islands in the Baltic Sea.  There, the story of the so-called “Champagne Schooner” begins.

In the 1840s, a two-masted 70-foot long cargo ship set sail from an unknown port to an unknown destination.  Perhaps, the ship was sailing, as it has been alleged, to a Russian Emperor in St. Petersburg who never received his provisions from a ship that found a watery grave in the Baltic Sea. 

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In July of last year, divers discovered the ship wreck standing nearly upright in 160 feet of water in those same chilly, forbidding waters.  Preserved in a pristine 40 degree sea bath, in total darkness, 170 bottles of French Champagne were reclaimed to much international fanfare.

Under the supervision of the Aland government, divers took great care to extract the bottles from the wreckage, ensuring integrity in temperature and pressure fluctuation on their short journey to the surface and land.  All told, 172 hand-blown bottles finished with cork were found and 168 of the bottles were very nearly perfectly preserved.

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Representing the legacy Champagne house of Juglar (now Jacquesson) Veuve Clicquot and Heidsieck, the discovery is notable not just for the age of the Champagne, but also its quality.

Sampled in November of last year, Essi Avellan, MW said, “Sweet in style, bright golden in colour and honeyed and toasty in aromatics, both the wines were very much alive and remarkably fresh.  The Juglar was more harmonious and complete with Veuve Clicquot’s aroma being overwhelmingly pungent and smoky but the palate retain(ed) a freshness and an immense concentration.”

The end of this story will ultimately be written over a period of years as the wine is owned by the Aland government who are rightfully taking a judicious approach to the bounty.  To begin, auction house Acker Merrall & Condit will auction two bottles, one each from Juglar and Veuve Clicquot on June 3rd in Aland.

To follow this fascinating story from the beginning till now, below are a number of links to various resources and news articles on the wine from the “Champagne Schooner.”

Official Aland Champagne site

Official Aland Facebook page

PDF One-page download from Scandinavian Islands web site

Backstory from Alands museum site

Images from Alands museum exhibit

December 14, 2010 New York Times article

Reuters article on the pending auction

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/follow_the_story_the_champagne_schooner/

Oscar González Aldo Gordini Horace Gould Jean Marc Gounon Emmanuel de Graffenried

Rosberg keen to forget Monaco

Nico Rosberg says he just wants to forget his Monaco Grand Prix weekend after an event he thought would bring him a podium finish ended with a lowly 11th place. The Mercedes driver had been competitive in practice, and qualified seventh despite a massive accident on Saturday morning

Source: http://www.iracing.com/inracingnews/formula-one-news/f1-formula-one-news/rosberg-keen-to-forget-monaco/

Graham Hill Phil Hill Peter Hirt David Hobbs Gary Hocking

Emilio Lustau, Sherry Dry Amontillado, ?Los Arcos? NV

Like a lot of American wine lovers, Sherry is a personal blind spot. It’s not that I haven’t had good or great Sherry ? in fact the only wine I have ever rated 100-points is a Sherry ? it’s just the style is hard to get your head around.  For starters, many Sherries are intentionally [...]

Emilio Lustau, Sherry Dry Amontillado, “Los Arcos” NV originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/nOPwDNjwl78/

Lewis Hamilton David Hampshire Sam Hanks Walt Hansgen Mike Harris

Wine Blogging: The Most Vibrant Form of Wine Writing

The wine blog is now fully integrated into the world of wine writing. Having spent more than 6 years fully immersed in the world of wine blogging and following its emergence and evolution, I think it can be said with...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FermentationTheDailyWineBlog/~3/qa46XKUpS6c/wine-blogging-the-most-vibrant-form-of-wine-writing.html

Frank Gardner Billy Garrett Jo Gartner Tony Gaze Geki

Marsanne Wines

Matt and I recently began reworking the education section of our site. While we don’t have an exact format yet for what we want to see in that space, we’re filling in some of the clear omissions. One of those omissions was not having a page dedicated to Marsanne. While the wine isn’t made into [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/643

Georges Grignard Bobby Grim Romain Grosjean Olivier Grouillard Brian Gubby