The Best Wine "App"

iPhones, Blackberries and Droids are being sold at a record speed and these smart phones are quickly digitizing the way we carry on day-to-day business. One of the nifty things about these phones are the applications that can be downloaded to them for a variety of functionality, connectivity and just plain fun. As a passionate pursuer of wine, I'm more than positive you guys with smart phones have ventured into a couple of apps for wine.

There is a myriad of apps that do everything from comparing prices, aggregating ratings and providing reviews and suggestions.
I've explored a few of my own, both purchased and free downloads, and originally wanted to write a post reviewing a couple I got to experience, to help you make a better choice in wine apps. But, after a few weeks of road tests, I just want to reflect on how useless these really are. Wine apps boast their ability to turn you into a connoisseur, hunt down the best prices, find the best rating, suggest the best pairing and everything in between. But the best app isn't on your smartphone and wasn't developed by some programmer; the best app is the staff in the wine store, who will converse with you, get a sense of your taste, the occassion and your interest, and be able to show you the wine that you need. (Or in some cases, never knew you wanted!)

Okay, so I'm being a little dramatic; not all apps are useless. We all want to save money and the apps that help me assess and compare QPR are the ones that I found most useful. But please take heed; these apps are only tools for helping you choose that perfect bottle. (I dare say, in wine, there are no perfect bottles, only perfect memories.) They should not make the decision for you. No one should walk into a wine store and shut-out the merchant -- they, above any app you can download, have the best knowledge about what they're stocking, how their bottles are drinking and how it might please you. Consumers have a notion that all wine sellers are trying to get you and make theirs. If you encounter a wine shop or a salesperson like this, please find a new store. One with a knowledgeable staff you can talk to, who want to get to know you and know your palate. This is the connection that is lost if we blindly look up every bottle in consideration on our phones.

But having reviewed apps for weeks, I thought I might as well share my findings. Across the board, I found that most apps did not deliver. Consumer reviews on all of them were very brief and non-descriptive (not too many people post their tasting notes from their iPhones I assume) and a lot of times the wines being searched were not present in the databases. Most of them claimed to be able to do a lot of things, but rarely delivered. I found a lot of apps that were good at one thing but lacked in all other areas. I suppose you could hunt those down and have five different wine apps to go through, but what's the point? A few stood out, in my humble opinion, and were worth noting. Also, please keep in consideration that I used these apps only a few times to get a feel for how they work, so they are not thorough, wine-professional reviews; just me, a normal guy, walking into a normal wine store with some apps trying to buy wine:

The Wine Ratings Guide by Nirvino -- Apple Apps Store, $2.99 --
I included this app because of their very impressive and extensive database of wine. I found most of the wines I searched for and their average prices. But I had to say that the app name is a bit misleading; The ratings are on a five-star scale and there are no consumer reviews, which sort of make the app useless unless you just want to find the average asking price. Sort of expensive for a one-trick pony.

Wine Snob by 9mmedia -- Apple Apps Store, $2.99 --
Although the database seemed very limited (only 2 of the 12 wines I searched in the store came up) I had to add this because of its cool Geotag feature - every wine entry is logged through Google Maps with GPS Coordinates so you can literally trace your wine. The reviews were not very useful, and it does let you put in your own tasting notes... So, it's nifty and different, but not too great at the wine part...


R-Vintage Lookup by REGARD Solutions Corp. -- Blackberry App World, $3.99 --
I was disappointed to find no apps on the Blackberry that really was worth this post (if this post is worth anything at all...) but I did find this useful app. As the name suggest, R-Vintage shows you vintages, varietal, region, 100-point rating and a drink or hold status. This was helpful to me to see what years were good and helped me to stray away from some bottles that they came from less than preferable years. The layout was simple but again, this is a one trick pony; it doesn't have reviews, you can't see individual bottles, so at four bones, this was a disappointment...Way too expensive for what it offers.

Those were just a few of the many I road-tested. Here is a list of the rest --
Apple App Store:

Wine Ph.D
Wine Pad 2
Wine Enthusiast Guide

Blackberry App World:
Wine of the Day
10 Top Wines
Nats Decants Wine and Food Matcher

I wonder, has anyone tried any of these apps? What were your opinions on them? Do you have a wine app you use frequently? Please comment and school me!

As you can tell, although most apps did offer some helpful tools, an all-in-one app that can satisfy my need for consumer reviews, QPR, extensive databases and the ability to understand my palate, my personality and my wine-curiosity has not been developed... yet. Until then, I think I'll try the un-digitized version of finding quality wine; Stacy, a knowledgeable and helpful staff member at the local store :) Thanks for your time!

Love and Cheers,
-Tatum
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Biodynamic Wine: A first look

I wish I could go back in time to ask winemakers of past, "How do you think wine making will be affected by future technology?" They surely wouldn't know about our advances in computers.They might not mention the use of modern wine making trends like steel barrels, micro oxygenation, ultra-sound, computer chips in vineyards or extreme temperature control to make cheap wines palatable. However if I were to explained the new Biodynamic Wine trends sweeping the globe, they would think we have regressed back to medieval agricultural traditions!

For those not familiar with biodynamic agriculture, let me give it to you straight from the Wikipedia article: "Biodynamic agriculture, a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view , first propounded by Rudolf Steiner treats farms as unified and individual organisms emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a closed, self-nourishing system."

What this means is the vineyard is considered in it's entirety as a living thing and seen as an organism in it's own right, but one that is in consistent with lunar and cosmic patterns and rhythms and not merely a substrate for plant growth... Wheew...

Wine makers are taking weird, unconventional methods of viticulture and wine making and following a strict biodynamic calendar of harvesting, planting and etc. because they believe it will help their vines and ultimately their finished wines. These methods are broken up into several preparations that all seem a bit odd and skeptical. Such examples include Preparation 500 where cow manure is buried into the soil for a period of time, dug back up and spread over the fields. Other examples include fermenting yarrow flowers in a deer's bladder or oak bark in a skull of a domestic animal and applying them to compost or spraying the vines with horsetail tea, according to the biodynamic calendar. Weird stuff you thought you'd see on Taboo, huh?

But what definitely has the world in shock and awe is that no matter how medieval, superstitious or unreasonable these methods seem, the winemakers (all notable and renown in the wine making world) are producing outstanding wine with biodynamie. These producers include Domaine de la Romanee Conti, Zind Humbrecht, Huet, Beaux Freres , and Benziger among numerous others. (For a list of more producers check out http://www.wineanorak.com/biodynamic3.htm) I think what really has people going is because there is almost no way to prove this advantage scientifically... They just seem to be better. Here's an excerpt from wineanorak.com that sums up the whole thing:

Despite these problems, proper studies have been carried out, and generally they seem to suggest that biodynamics really does work. In 1993, Reganold and colleagues compared the performance of biodynamic and conventional farms in New Zealand, a report published in leading scientific journal Science. They found that the biodynamic farms had significantly higher soil quality, with more organic matter content and microbial activity. In 1995 Reganold published a review of the different studies that have examined biodynamics and have met basic standards for scientific credibility. The conclusion was that biodynamic systems had better soil quality, lower crop yields and equal or greater net returns per hectare than their conventional counterparts. But what could the mechanism be? A tantalizing clue is offered by some experiments carried out by a graduate student of Reganold’s, Lynne Carpenter-Boggs, on the effects of biodynamic preparations on compost development. In an experimental setting, biodynamically treated composts showed higher temperatures, faster maturation and more nitrate than composts that had received a placebo inoculation. Reganold is clearly impressed: ‘Of all the farm systems that I’ve seen, biodynamics is probably the most holistic.’

As I conclude I will state that biodynamie on vineyards does work... They seem to produce greater environments, grow superior grapes and make tastier wine. The hard thing to conclude is why does this all work? Ancient civilizations have planted, harvested and celebrated with the phases of the moon and the cosmos for centuries. Perhaps there is something there? Perhaps it is some sort of spiritual, holistic reason for this all to make sense. Or perhaps it's just with biodynamic procedures, wine makers are paying close attention. They are giving their land, their resources and their environment the attention it deserves; the close attention and observation that is needed to produce superior wine. That's something this world could never have too many of; devoted, passionate and dedicated wine makers who "listen" to their vineyards. For further research on Biodynamic wine I urge you to google up on the subject and be sure to check out http://www.wineanorak.com/biodynamic1.htm for a great resource on the subject.

Cheers to you,
-Tatum
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Not "broadbanding" wine anytime soon...

Barack Obama’s website stated that he “believes America should lead the world in broadband penetration and internet access.” John McCain also believes that everyone, no matter rich or poor, should have internet access. I, and I'm sure you do to, rely on the internet tremendously to get every-day activities done. I have convinced myself that without a computer, my life could not function. Besides that point, we are seeing the information revolution, where everything will be instant, better and faster. All this is due to the incredible medium which is the internet.

Let me state something painfully obvious; the internet has become common place for the world. Without second thought, we turn to it to optimize, automate and enhance our lives, everything from communication to entertainment. So, it comes to no surprise that the marketplace has shifted from the traditional brick-and-mortar mom-and-pop shops to the web.

But as we slowly see wine consumers, culture and attention go “Web 2.0,” I’m not convinced that the wine world will see its shift to the virtual tasting room too soon…
Being a Vayniac, I have seen how Gary has turned his father’s local liquor store into Wine Library, a nationally known brand. He owes, and gives, a lot of his credit to Web 2.0. Numerous other companies have started up on the web to sell wine as well: Winebid.com, Wine Woot, Winestillsoldout.com, the list continues. Things will heat up when multi-million-dollar internet conglomerate, Amazon.com, begins their process to sell wine through their site. These are all good things; we consumers have power to choose, to dictate and to explore far more varieties of sources than ever. From California to France, buyers can find great values and immensely amazing selections with tremendous availability. We can get tasting notes in an instant, share information on blogs and forums and make less pressured, more educated buying decisions.

If you’ve notice, these are all benefits. I have not listed many problems or criticism to wine going online, because quite frankly, I prefer it. I believe that it is the future, but this future certainly is not within our near future. One simple reason I believe this is because we are human beings. Okay, yes, another painfully obvious statement, but as human beings we need company and experience. We observe patterns, solve problems and learn from our experience, which accumulates into knowledge that becomes wisdom. You drink a lot of wine, you buy a lot of bottles and you will accumulate Wine wisdom. We need company; this is why online social networking has become such a phenomenon, because we can keep and search for friends in more ways than ever before. We want to spend time with each other, our instincts need it. This is why we host wine parties, tasting, and conventions. This is why wine will never be exclusively “broad-banded,” if you will, because it requires that human element to exist.

Because of this need for human interaction, we will not shift our buying practices to the internet completely. Without local wine stores, there would be no wine sales people. Wine people are as much of a part of our “wine collection” as the bottles themselves. How many of us have a special connection with at least one person who deals with trying to get you to buy wine? They tell us the latest trends, they pull out the super-primo stuff when you stop in and they enjoy selling wine to you; but that’s not something you can do without knowing a person’s tastes, style and character. Automated processes have very limited solutions to this because it can’t “get to know” anything, it can only dictate. A good wine person does not dictate what a “good buy is,” they recommend it and tailor it to the consumer. A wine recommendation is based on personal connection, not algorithms.
I will always go out to the LWS to browse the aisles, look through the bargain bin and pick up that bottle. I want to go chat about wine news and knowledge, I want to feel the bottle, have those special samples. Broadbanding wines will lose that human element.

And who is to say that because something is cheaper and more abundant that we will abandon local wine stores? Because I can stream almost any movie for free on my computer doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a date out to the theaters, or just because I can order food online from almost anywhere does not mean I won’t go enjoy some company at a nice restaurant. In this way, no matter how fast, efficient and connected we become via the internet, the human element will also rule our instincts to be with each other share the company and celebrate friendship.

Cheers to you,
-Tatum Read More!

Brunello sticks to their roots...

As many winos may have heard in the news recently, an upcoming vote on the fate of Brunello di Montalcino drew to an end today, and I have the results, thanks to a subscription to vinowire... (You should get it, it's free!)If some readers don't know what I'm saying then let me give it to you in a nutshell:Brunello di Montalcino, a prestigous wine region in Italy, must be made of 100% sangiovese grapes. Around eight months ago, fake "Brunello" blends (read: not 100% sangiovese) were being sold as BdM- This was bad for Italy and bad for brunello. Some wine makers said they wanted to change strict, Italian DOC and DOCG wine laws to allow blends; this will help tailor the taste of BdM to foreign (read: majority American public) consumers who are not used to a power palate-boxer such as brunello.

So, here are the voting results:

Proposition 1- Are you in favor of changing the ampelographic (the study of identification and classification of grapevines) basis for Brunello di Montalcino? 662 voted NO, 30 voted YES

Proposition 2- Are you in favor of changing the ampelographic basis for Rosso di Montalcino? 540 voted NO, 162 voted YES

Proposition 3- Are you in favor of changing any other appellation rules? (yields, allowing the use of concentrated rectifiede must) 474 voted NO, 278 voted YES

Proposition 4- Are you in favor of grouping all appellations into a single "Montalcino" appellation? (Except for Sant' Antimo.) 684 voted NO, 6 voted YES

Proposition 5- Are you in favor of grouping all other appellations into a single "Montalcino" appellation? (Except for Brunello di Montalcino.) 572 voted NO, 118 voted YES

So as we may see in these results, it seems that wine makers stay proud and true to their traditions. Even though changing some of these DOC/DOCG laws may help business and harvest, the prestige of Bdm and all Montalcino's wine regions are more important than financial gain.

So next time some aristocratic, wannabe flaunts some expensive bottle at you, or you take a punch to the tongue from a truly bold and powerful brunello, thank the Italian wine makers; for keeping their class, sticking by their convictions and protecting traditions.

Cheers!
-Tatum
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Wine Maker has it right: Make sure you read the last Paragraph

I just saw this news story on the NYT website and it sort of made me feel better about wine makers. So often do we forget that wine makers are grueling, working year round, night-and-day to deliver us such an awesome glass of wine. Credits always go to the critics or distributors or that LWS that finds the wine, but how often do you really think about how the wine maker feels?
Please read on to discover a wine maker who was strongly disappointed when he found out how much his wine was being sold for! Make sure you read the last paragraph!

Cheers!
-Tatum

A Winemaker Sees Red
By Nick Fox


Not long after my recent column on Paso Robles zinfandels I got a phone call from Ehren Jordan, the winemaker for Turley Wine Cellars. A phone call from Ehren is always a pleasant prospect, as he is one of the more insightful and articulate winemakers around. But this time he was indignant.


The problem was not what I had said about his wine, which precedes the usual indignant winemaker communique. In fact, I had really liked the 2006 Turley Dusi Ranch zin, and had said so in print. No, the problem was the fact that we had said the bottle cost $115. As with all wine panel tastings, our coordinator, Bernard Kirsch, buys the bottles through retail sources, and $115 was the price of the wine at Morrell & Company, a high-end New York retailer in Rockefeller Center. Really high-end, in Ehren’s view.

You see, Turley wholesales the bottle for around $20 and the suggested retail is $40 or so. Now, Ehren is not naïve about how the wine market works. He understands that Turley zinfandels, especially the single vineyard wines, are in high demand. This means that retailers must often look beyond the distributors to obtain bottles, and the extra transactions along the way drive the price of the wine up. A lot of highly sought-after wines flow through this so-called gray market. Nonetheless, he didn’t like it.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that we try to sell wines reasonably,’’ Ehren said. “When I see it for $115, I think, that’s not what we intended. I don’t buy $115 bottles of wine. And the other side of it is, somebody just made a lot more money than we did, and we put all the time and energy into it.’’

I spoke with Nikos Antonakeas, the managing director at Morrell, to hear his explanation of the pricing.
“It’s very simple,’’ he told me. “I bought it from a customer who is on the mailing list who sold it to me for $85. There was nothing else out there, and our customers demand it.’’

Typically, Nikos said, Morrell would get an allocation of two mixed cases — 24 bottles — of Turley’s single-vineyard zinfandels through Turley’s New York distributor, Michael Skurnik Wines.
He said those bottles were sold at Morrell’s usual retail markup, which would mean about $45. Not surprisingly, those few bottles sell out very quickly.

“Unfortunately, we have 240 requests,’’ he said. “So I go to auctions, and private individuals. Some are on the mailing list and they just want to make a buck, and sometimes we say yes if we know the customer.’’
Demand drives the market, and for wines made in minute quantities the demand is overwhelming, and people for whom money is of little object are willing to pay a lot. It’s why a single bottle of 2005 Screaming Eagle can be found in a New York retail shop selling for $2,500, and why a bottle of Krug Clos d’Ambonnay is selling for $4,500. (By the way, if you think $4,500 is too much for a bottle of Champagne, you’ll be relieved to know I found it at another store for $1,000 less, which in fact was its suggested retail price.)

In that context maybe $115 is not too much to pay for a bottle of $40 zinfandel. On the other hand, maybe it is. After all, as Ehren pointed out, somebody’s making a lot of money, and it usually is not the producer.

“I know wineries that have raised their prices when they see stuff like that, and I wonder whether we should be making that money, but we just don’t want to go there,’’ Ehren said. “I think it also engenders the feeling that Turley is really expensive, and it’s really not true. Then they show up at the winery and it’s just a bunch of guys making wine, nothing fancy. That’s who we are.’’

He said the idea that people are buying his wine as an investment pained him.
“Investment? We make the wine to drink,’’ he said. “It’s zinfandel, just drink it!’’

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Missed the Leap...

The Washington Wine Academy in D.C. offers tremendous amounts of services, including a service to help you get Wine and Spirit Education Trust certifications. These WSET certificates are a big deal, because they are a stepping stone for people who like wine and drink it often and people who love wine and want to be in the business, or just want to get a bit more serious about it. Via WSET, one can take on the Master of Wine certification, which in itself is a very prestigious title to hold. I believe there are less than 200 Masters of Wine in the United States. To my understanding, the Master of Wine certification is sort of the International Sommeliers Guild certification with more emphasis on wine knowledge (where the ISG certification is more emphasis on serving.)

In any case, I’ve put this one in the “deranter” because for a couple months, since I found out about the WWA’s existence, I’ve been going back and forth on whether to take a class. I’m going to eventually, but it’s just a matter of when. I have a lot set forth for me this summer, and I’m not sure how much I can commit to it- this is a legitimate course, with a real tuition fee, exam and serious class lectures every Monday night.

The upcoming May through June courses perfectly fit my schedule, but I’m just afraid of my summer job (I do not have a set schedule yet.) The largest thing holding me back from jumping right onto it is the exam date, which is on July 7, where I’ll be running around in the Mojave Viper in California doing my two-week training for the Marines.This sounds like something I will have to wait for the next session to start. Maybe there can be a July through August course I will definitely take.

Something like this will surely set me apart, but more importantly, it will enable me to dive into the vast, diverse knowledge-pool of wine and learn more about this great beverage.If you are yourself interested in the course, or the Washington Wine Academy, the site is below.

In addition to WSET courses, they offer numerous tastings, dinners, and classes. Have a look for yourself! Cheers!

-Tatum Read More!