Thursday, January 22, 2009

Hannah's Last Day and Other News

1. The Governator wants to raise the excise tax on Californian wine from 4 cents per gallon to 29 cents per bottle. If that happens, we're going to be buying a lot more Argentinian and Spanish wine! Link here.

2. We are receiving a case or two of the 2004 de Trafford Cabernet Sauvignon from Stellenbosch, South Africa. This wine lately received the top review from an New York Times tasting panel featuring Eric Asimov, one of the best wine writers in the country.

My experience with South African wines has been mixed. A lot of the wines have a burnt rubber or burnt bacon quality to them, especially wines made from the hybrid grape Pinotage (a cross between Cinsaut and Pinot Noir) that is the most distinctive red grape of the region. But there can be some stars; I've never been disappointed by the wines I've tried from de Trafford, and I've found some excellent cabernet franc from Wildekrans, and the wines from Ken Forrester remain excellent, particularly his chenin blanc.

3. Our twitter account seems to be getting more attention. We've lately been friended by Chateau Haut-Brion, the first growth Bordeaux estate, Cornerstone Cellars in Napa, and quite a few others.

4. Hannah's last night is tonight! Come by the shope; we'll be composing poems and drinking wine and sending her off to New York City in style!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Just speaking from my own perspective - the worst thing about that tax proposal is that most wineries will probably just have to eat the extra expense - you won't see a price increase.