Screw Cap? Just Me? Wine Gone Bad?

I've bought some wine this week and picked up a couple of old favorites in the process. I made the decision early on that if I didn't like a wine I'd still write about it but note that it wasn't to my taste but might be to others.

And a few times I've written about a wine gone bad.

I'm giving the shop where I bought this bad boy a break because I'm not totally sure it's their fault. Tonight I had a Grenache-Syrah blend from Australia that I really enjoyed about a year ago.

As a matter of fact, I looked up my previous review and it was very positive. I opened the same bottle - same vintage tonight - and it had a funk. I tasted. I tasted. I tasted. And then, I poured it out. That is always a killer!

It had not gone to vinegar but it just wasn't right. I know that's not a very good wine geek explanation but sometimes that's the best I can do.

I'm a big fan of screw caps. I'm not sure I'd blame the screw cap though. The wine was a 2005 so it might have been pushing the outer limits of somthing not made of cork. I'm not so sure.

All that being said, any reputable wine merchant will credit yout purchase cost for a bad bottle of wine. First, don't pour it out. Re-Cork the wine or put whatever closure back into the bottle and return it as soon as possible.

If you bought it from a liquor store, good luck. But a wine dealer will take care of you. I of the absent mind, dumped the wine without thinking.

Live and learn!

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Picked Up Central Indiana's Biggest Weekly for Column

It takes time and effort to pick up newspapers and newspaper websites for Grape Sense - the newspaper column. I sent out an email pitch to quite a few state publications today and immediately heard back from the Hendricks County Flyer.

The Flyer is a three-times-a-week newspaper reaching 43,000 homes in Hendricks County - or largely Avon and Brownsburg!

Editor Kathy Linton is an old journalism friend and its exciting to add her newspaper!

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A Vouvray On The Sweeter Side Great with Cheese

I was engaged in great conversation Wednesday night and enjoyed a French Vouvray with some cow, goat, and sheep's milk cheese. That's living!

Domaine Pichot 2006 Vouvray Domaine Le Peu De La Moriette - was the Vouvray. This was a sweet treatment of the Chenin Blanc grape. Now, before you go running the other way the French make the sweeter wine with out the gooey, fruity palate mess that makes you think White Zinfandel, Concord, Niagra or any other such thoughts.

It was very aromatic. I was getting pear and maybe lime. It was just beautifully balanced, though admittedly, far sweeter than about anything I would ever drink.

This reminded me of the aged Vouvray I had in Italy that was so awesome with French cheeses. This wine was a great cheese pairing wine as well. It would also be great on the porch in the summer.

This wine ranges from $10-$15. I bought this bottle at Kahn's on Keystone in Indianapolis.

I have another Vouvray in the wine rack I'm now anxious to try. It continues to amaze me the very different styles of Chenin Blanc the French manage to produce!

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OTBN - Pick Out a Treasure This Saturday Night

The wine blogging world has had an impact in so many different ways on wine drinkers and the business.

There are wine bloggers who have suggested ideas which have become part of the oenophile landscape. Wine Blogging Wednesday has been a big success getting bloggers to review a particular type of wine or wine from a particular region. I'd have provided a link, but yikes - I was getting a virus warning! This is reputable site and I'm sure they'll have it cleaned up soon.

But the event I wanted to bring attention to is national "Open That Bottle Night" or OTBN. Palate Press has a great interview online with the couple who started OTBN 11 years ago.

The concept is rather simple. Most serious wine drinkers have a bottle, two, three or more they save for a special occasion. Often those bottles wait and wait for that milestone to approach.

So Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher started OTBN while writing for the Wall Street Journal 11 years ago. Celebrate the wine or celebrate the weekend but open something special. There is even a website celebrating OTBN.

I'm contemplating my choice. It's going to be Pinot Noir. I have some real gems I brought back from Oregon in April so I'm in for OTBN.

I'll have my OTBN review up Saturday night or Sunday morning. Would love to hear from anyone who joins in - leave a comment!

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com