“Let me show you how this is done. First thing, hold the glass up and examine the wine against the light. You’re looking for color and clarity. Just, get a sense of it. OK? Uhh, thick? Thin? Watery? Syrupy? OK? Alright. Now, tip it. What you’re doing here is checking for color density as it thins out towards the rim. Uhh, that’s gonna tell you how old it is, among other things. It’s usually more important with reds. OK? Now, stick your nose in it. Don’t be shy, really get your nose in there. Mmm… a little citrus… maybe some strawberry… [smacks lips] … passion fruit… [puts hand up to ear] … and, oh, there’s just like the faintest soupçon of like asparagus and just a flutter of a, like a, nutty Edam cheese…”

in case you don’t recognize the quote

from Liquid Memory: Why Wine Matters by Jonathan Nossiter

(After adopting a mascot last week, perhaps this could be #TeamMourvedre’s new motto.)

(hat tip)

@MikeMadrigale (Head Sommelier and Wine Buyer for Bar Boulud, Epicierie Boulud & Boulud Sud) on sommelier certification, quoted in Eater. (hat tip @trouty)

I was very happy to receive this little monster in the mail last week. I think #TeamMourvedre may have itself a new unofficial mascot, courtesy of Bonny Doon Vineyard.

I think he/she needs a name.

Morris?

Maurice?

Morty?

Èd? (avec accent grave, bien sûr)

Feel free to offer your own suggestions.

You may recognize the little guy/gal/beast from the label on this bottle, previously reviewed. As I said then:

I want this on a t-shirt.

(Is anyone in Santa Cruz listening?)

The bottle itself is a half-bottle of Bonny Doon 2010 Mourvèdre “Mon Doux” — a dessert wine (“my sweet”) from old-vine Contra Costa County mourvèdre.

I’m very glad I added this to my club shipment, and can’t wait to see what this little beast has in store.

via:  Storeage creates Grapy store in Roosendal Bookshop » Retail Design Blog.

But the one thing that always makes me laugh are the food pairing notes in the individual wine reviews at the back of the magazine.

I classify them into 4 main categories:

• The Impossibly Specific
• The Hopelessly Obscure
• The Practically-a-Recipe
• The Day-Planner

While I call them ridiculous (and they are), I have to admit they’re kind of fun. I look forward to reading them in a can-you-believe-this kind of way. And they are evocative even if they aren’t terribly useful.

Having said that, below are the 10 most ridiculous examples from the most recent issue, August 2011:

The Impossibly Specific

“…would match well with steamed asparagus – or the fried clam and pickled strawberry sandwich at No. 7 Sub in NYC.”
Paul Jaboulet Aîné 2010 Côtes du Rhône Parallèle 45

“For the parmesan-crusted chicken at Jean-Georges in New York.”
Fantinel 2009 Collio Vigneti Sant’Helena Pinot Grigio

“It will come in handy for early fall dinners of roasted eggplant and the season’s last stuffed tomatoes.”
Vaeni 2006 Naoussa

The Hopelessly Obscure (so obscure, it has to be italicized)

“Decant a bottle for pasta wth rabbit squazet.”
Gravner 2004 Venezia Giulia Breg Anfora

“Then decant it for bavette.”
Wind Gap 2008 Sonoma Coast Syrah

The Practically-a-Recipe

“A rosé for a chicken fricassee with button mushrooms, cream and plenty of herbs.”
Domaine de l’Hermitage 2010 Bandol L’Oratoire

“Check it out this winter with a rabbit stewed with cinnamon and tomatoes.”
Vaeni NV Makedonikos Semi-Dry

“For spit-roasted pigeon seasoned with juniper and bay.”
La Castellada 2004 Collio Sauvignon

The Day-Planner

“…like the soppressata it might accompany on a picnic in Muir Woods.”
Failla 2009 Sonoma Coast Pearlessence Vineyard Pinot Noir

“Chill it for an evening by the lake, with fresh-caught perch on the grill.”
Henry of Pelham 2009 Niagara-on-the-Lake Chardonnay Musqué

Keep ‘em coming, Wine & Spirits! Perhaps one day I’ll have the pleasure of reading in your pages the perfect wine pairing for human breast milk cheese (eaten whilst strolling around Piazza Navona, of course).

The Tour de Mourvèdre is going on in El Dorado County this weekend, July 1-4. Ten Mourvèdre producers are offering up special tastings and pricing.

If only I lived anywhere close. Anyone who goes, please report back. I always love discovering new Mourvèdre wines for my #MourvedreMonday series.

More, more Mourvèdre!

All images are his copyright. Check out all his stuff at tragicsunshine.com

Food & Wine magazine and the company behind the Austin City Limits Music Festival will produce the first Austin Food & Wine Festival in March 2012, organizers announced Tuesday.

The magazine, which has about 1 million subscribers, has been hosting the Aspen Food and Wine Classic in Colorado for almost 30 years, and it is involved with more than a dozen other events around the country, including food festivals in South Beach, Fla.; Los Angeles; New York; and Atlanta . The new festival, slated for March 30-April 1, will absorb the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival, which ends its 26-year run.

My wife and I have always wanted to go to the Aspen Food & Wine Classic. It’ll be great to have a similar event here in Austin. And it sounds like they’ll pull in some heavy-hitters.

Grdovic said the Austin festival will be similar to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, the February soiree in which many of the biggest celebrity chefs in the country and their legions of followers descend upon Miami for events such as a tasting village on the beach that is three blocks long.

“It is like the mosh pit at Lollapalooza,” said Tampa Tribune food writer Jeff Houck . “South Beach has become the template by which other festivals have been born and compared to,” he said.

Along with the magazine and C3, the new festival is a collaboration with chefs Tyson Cole of Austin and Tim Love of Fort Worth and Austin restaurateur Jesse Herman of La Condesa and Malverde.

“Knowing the kind of powerhouse that Food & Wine magazine can bring to Austin, that was one of the huge incentives for us to do this,” said Cathy Cochran-Lewis, president of the Hill Country festival.

See you there in 2012!

via @DeniseFraser