July 10, 2008

GRAPE RADIO INTERVIEW - Russell Bevan, of Bevan Cellars and Showkett Vnyds

GrapeRadio had the chance to visit with Russell Bevan, of Bevan Cellars and Showkett Vineyards. A rabid wine fan from the time he could buy wine (actually, even before), Russell wanted to learn everything he could about the subject. Eventually, he found many others across the country like himself who were thoroughly into wine. Before long, Russell found himself leading groups of thirsty geeks on extended wine tours of his favorite region, California. These tours became the things of legend, and soon other geeks were doing likewise, exploring and indulging their passion in the California grape scene.

So, where did all this crazy passion for wine lead Russell? Right into winemaking. When he was offered a ton of high-quality Cabernet fruit from a very respected source in Napa Valley, Russell jumped at the chance and made his first Bevan Cellars Cabernet. And where did that lead him? To the winemaking job at this same source – Showkett Vineyards. Fast forward to today, Russell leads some of the same friends on a new adventure, hand-sorting through grapes in an all-out effort to make a “yummy” wine.

Join us as we talk with Russell about the early days, the present challenges, and how he and his inspiration Victoria realize a dream of what must seem like the perfect life.

July 5, 2008

BOOK REVIEW - The Battle for Wine and Love OR How I saved the World from Parkerization

What a terrific book! Judging by its title, I was a bit fearful this book would be yet another whiney rant about how the world abounds with way too many overripe, high alcoholic, overly manipulated wines. Well... yes, in a way it is about this very subject - but to define it as such would be selling the book and the author short. The title also conveys the impression that the world has already been saved by Ms. Feiring. This is all tongue-in-cheek, however, since we all know that Parkerization (a term commonly used to describe wines that have been tailored to appeal to the palate of wine critic Robert Parker) is clearly alive and doing quite well.

So, why bother to tilt at this controversial wine windmill? Well, it seems obvious the book is a cathartic journey for the author - an opportunitiy to take issue with her personal antagonist (indeed, she refers to Robert Parker as her own Kurtz, the demigod-like character of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness). Thus, for Alice Feiring this book was merely a fait accompli.

One could easily assume that Ms. Feiring, an unapologetic Francophile, feels all New World wines are Parkerized. I didn't sense that. Regardless, her curiosity remains quite basic - what has happened to all of those wines she loved to drink; why have so many of today's wines become uninteresting. These are questions that ought to occur to each of us as we journey along the wine trail.

As with all good road-trip yarns, the author is able to set the hook for the reader and we all become travelers on the same road. While along for the ride (albeit in the back seat) we are treated to a European travelogue, something more rural in nature and a celebration of wine itself. Ms. Feiring transports us through France, Spain, and Italy and quickly her conversations with wine people and wine friends become our conversations - each completely captivating. Ms. Feiring herself becomes familiar to us, as do all of her nick-named friends, Skinny Food Writer, Owl Man, Honey-Sugar, and Mr. Bow Tie.

This book is also a treatise on the current wine culture clash, exposing the resolute positions that separate old from new, art from science, small producer from large producer, and seemingly right from wrong. Ms. Feiring's approach has merit and doesn't seem the least bit self-righteous. She merely wants to investigate her own observation that many of today's wines do not seem "pure" to her anymore. To that end, she deftly puts her journalistic skills to good use asking many of the right questions to nearly all of the right people. In the process, many of the answers are surprisingly candid, or damningly candid, depending upon your viewpoint.

Yes, there are interactions with Robert Parker, including two interviews that are as fascinating as any screenplay. And, there are more than a few anecdotes about other wine writers - past and present. There are also lots of witticisms that variously amuse or strike an ironic chord with the reader. Among my favorites, Spain is "...a county where the pig is considered a vegetable," and "Tradition is God in France."

As an aside, I hadn't realized it until I saw a picture of the author inside the book's dust jacket. It turns out I met Alice Feiring a few years back prior to the annual Hospice du Rhône celebration in Paso Robles. As several of us were leaving dinner at Villa Creek restaurant, a well-known local restaurant and watering hole, a couple of local winemakers hailed a friend and I to come over and join their table. We were introduced to others in the group: another local winemaker, the local wine association director, and a wine writer from New York City. With her ivory complexion and red hair, it looked as though the heat was melting her. She also appeared to either have a cold or that kind of Paso Robles Summer allergy attack that I know only too well.

Not long after we sat down and were poured some wine, several of the people excused themselves to return home or attend other engagements. I'm sure we probably exchanged a few pleasantries before she asked us (or maybe it was we that asked her) for an opinion about the wines at the table. I imagine we foolishly gushed about how big and impressive these wines were, all while the seeds for this book were germinating in her head.

I don't recall exactly what was said that night, but it seemed painfully obvious that this style of New World big, ripe, high alcohol wine was plainly not her bag - though to her credit, she did try to gain an understanding of what we apparently found appealing about it. Regardless, Alice Feiring believes a wine's first duty is to be itself. And, subjective judgements about style, or technology, or Parkerization aside, I for one find that in itself to be a noble cause.

Author: Alice Feiring
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Harcourt; 1 edition (May 19, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0151012865
ISBN-13: 978-0151012862