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“A damned interesting event”, boring Bordeaux-bashing and a rain-soaked trip to the English countryside make for an eclectic round-up of what’s making waves in our latest look at the world of drinks bloggers around the world.
Tom Wark writes of a “damned interesting event” that nearly slipped under his radar at the reprinting of a book entitled Toward Liquor Control, which Wark says might be the most influential book on alcohol ever written in the United States.
First published in 1933, the book was offered as a guide for state policymakers on how create a regulatory system for newly-legalised alcohol after Prohibition was lifted.
Wark says: “Toward Liquor Control is a fascinating document that gives us a window into the minds of men who believed alcohol consumption was generally a bad thing and who had been significantly influenced by witnessing the alcohol market of first third of the 20th Century.
“Or, put another way: Toward Liquor Control has absolutely no relevance in today’s world.”
So why, then has the Center for Alcohol Policy (CAP) taken the decision to reprint it? Wark points to comments from James Sgueo, president and CEO of the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, who said: “Toward Liquor Control is a study just as important today as when it was written in 1933. With the failed federal experience of Prohibition, Fosdick and Scott [the authors] recognised the benefits of the states having the ability to enact alcohol policies most suitable for their respective jurisdictions and demographics.”
“Ridiculous,” responds Wark. “Saying that a book on how to re-regulate alcohol after years of Prohibition written almost 80 years is relevant to an age when there is no longer any memory of Prohibition, new attitudes toward alcohol that never existed in 1933 and a commercial market for the product that could not even be imagined in 1933 is like saying Ptolemaic Astronomical theory is as relevant today as it was 1,000 years ago.”
“What we have here in the release of Toward Liquor Control by the beer wholesalers is a continuation of their desire to assure slavish fidelity to a system of alcohol control that benefits wholesalers but is also a system that is so archaic that it can’t be justified today on commercial or social grounds.”
Will Lyons pays a rain-soaked visit to East Sussex, where former hedge fund manager Mark Driver has invested £10 million in Rathfinny Estate to plant what will become the largest single vineyard in England.
In addition to the serious commercial intent indicated by the hiring of New Zealand consultant Cameron Roucher, Lyons reports: “He has also recognised that, in England, grape varieties such as Bacchus and Sylvaner might grow, but on the High Street, they don’t sell. So at Rathfinny, they are planting the classic French varieties grown in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and a little Riesling and Pinot Gris –the idea being to produce the first bottles of sparkling wine by 2017.
With planting due to begin in April 2012, Driver’s investment is also stretching to a winery and enrolling himself onto a wine course at Plumpton College, which Driver credits with fuelling the rise of English wine, saying: “We now have the personnel with skills and knowledge learned in England to support the industry.”
Lyons points to the success of nearby Nyetimber and Ridgeview as important influences behind Driver’s decision to take on the challenge of 650 hectares in England rather than Tuscany. Inspired by the performance of these two estates, in addition to the growing number of other English sparkling wine producers, Driver maintains: “People have to realise here in England we can produce world-class sparkling wine. I passionately believe that.”
Jamie Goode stirs the pot this week with his ominously titled post “The coming wine war”, in which he predicts a battle between the Bordelais and the terroiristes at the forefront of the natural wine movement.
db can see it now: Nicolas Joly et all storming the Left Bank on a full moon armed with cow horns and silica crystals.
While full on physical warfare is unlikely, Goode has a point. The wine world is dividing. On the one hand we have the fine wine giants – the Bordelais, Champagnois and a sprinkling of Super Tuscans, while on the other, a counterculture has emerged made up of smaller, terroir-driven winemakers who have united to form the increasingly popular natural wine movement.
Their plight seems to have struck a chord with both consumers and journalists, ever keen to champion the underdogs over the wine goliaths. The natural wine movement has garnered a vast amount of column inches, which has no doubt caused the ears of the Bordelais to prick up, but db disagrees when Goode goes as far to say that “passion-driven journalists” who support natural wines are in danger of being ostracised by both the top Bordeaux chateaux and consumer wine publications “anxious to protect their advertising revenue.”
Bordeaux bashing has become a bit boring. While it’s true that the upper echelons of the appellation have priced all but the super rich out of the market, Goode fails to acknowledge that a number of Bordeaux properties make “natural” wine too – Pontet-Canet and Climens to name but two.
Why can’t the two can’t live side-by-side in the wine world? They are, after all, serving very different markets.
In The New York Times Eric Asimov extols the virtues of cold beer for the 4 July weekend.
His preference in hot weather is for the Cologne-brewed Kölsch. “What is it about Kölsch?” he asks.
“Well, it’s a snappy and beautifully refreshing golden ale, bright without being overbearing.
“From the first sniff of its grainy, malty aroma, to the delicately fruity, lightly bitter flavors in the mouth, to the brisk, clean, energetic feeling after you swallow, a good Kölsch offers a smooth journey of sensations that may be unremarkable individually but are extraordinarily pleasant as an ensemble.”
He then dives into a history of the beer, its styles and where to find it in Manhattan, both imported and US-brewed Kölsch-style examples.
db, 01.07.2011