Book Review: "Ancient Wine: the Search for the Origins of Viniculture" by Patrick E. McGovern

I hope you like pottery! Like, really really like pottery! A lot! Because that's what Ancient Wine by Patrick E. McGovern is pretty much all about. This is because when you go back thousands and thousands of years, before writing, all we can hope to know about ancient wine is through the pottery that survived and the residue that remains within.

Patrick E. McGovern is the scientific director of the Biomolecular Archaeology Laboratory for Cuisine, Fermented Beverages, and Health at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. According to this book, he and his laboratory have made some pretty incredible discoveries on the ancient history of wine, including the discovery that wine has been around for thousands of years before we thought.

Ancient Wine doesn't read like a story about wine, starting from the beginning and moving forward. Ancient Wine reads like the story of McGovern's career, going in the order of as things were revealed to him through his work. Although McGovern TRIES to keep it by place and time, it very much does bounce around all over the place a lot, so going into this it helps to know your ancient Mediterranean and Mesopotamian civilizations and their timelines.

Not only does Ancient Wine go into the history of wine (and beer, as well) in ancient times, but also the science behind the knowledge and technology that we use today to find what kind of beverage was in that pottery and how we know how old it is. Very, very cool book that will teach you a lot of very, very cool things you didn't know you wanted know.

(Originally published in 2003, this reprint from 2019 includes an Afterword by the author to catch you up on all of the updates in what we have learned and what is new in archaeological technology since the original printing.)

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Book Review: "Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug" by Griffith Edwards (2000)

 "Alcohol: The World's Favorite Drug" was published in 2000, one year before I was legal to drink. I heard about it in the past month when it was mentioned in the book "Drunk" (read my review of that book here), and I was able to purchase a used copy online that once called Richards Library in Newport, New Hampshire, home.

The author of Alcohol is Griffith Edwards; an MD whose work is on the study of addiction to alcohol and other drugs, and you can definitely tell. The book is kind of misleading in title, as it focuses on alcohol dependency most of the time. And it does so very effectively, especially when it talks about alcohol dependency from the viewpoint of the dependent; how they think about it and the excuses they tell themselves.

It is not misleading in saying that it's "a look at fact and falsehoods, and how to tell the difference." There are many things that we all think we know about the history of alcohol that simply aren't true, but we've been conditioned into believing them by rhetoric from the anti-alcohol and pro-alcohol movements and industries.

"Alcohol is a fact around which are created myths, and those myths themselves then become powerful facts."

With the 90th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition upon us, let's use that as an example. The Gin Craze in eighteenth century England was really really bad, but nothing has touched alcohol abuse as much as America in the 1830's. This is when the US was at 18 liters per capita in consumption, whiskey was cheaper than tea and coffee, and there certainly was fair enough grounds for a temperance movement to grow. At first this movement was just against distilled spirits, but the conditions in the 1830's lead it to be against any alcohol at all, such as beer and wine

Fast forward 90 years, with many events and individual state prohibitions in between, what was a valid movement against a very real problem had become the myth that all alcohol consumption is evil and the cause of all of mankind's woes, which is simply not true but many still believe. This all lead to the US national Prohibition. Over the next decade and beyond, the anti-Prohibitionists blamed speakeasies and organized crime and bootlegging on Prohibition, and even though those existed long before Prohibition, this is rhetoric we still believe. Fascinatingly, calling alcoholism a disease started in the 1800's but faded in the early 1900's... but then it was revived by the anti-Prohibitionists to say "hey, it's not the alcohol that's the problem, it's YOU!"

"With intoxication, there is the supposed removal of decent civilizing restraint when those centres (autonomic nervous system) are anaesthetized by alcohol and the more primitive parts of the brain are allowed to take over control of the behavior. Often there seems to be more of a metaphor than of brain science in this kind of theory."

So yes, the book explains how facts turn into myth and then myth into facts as we know them, and it does it very well with each topic it touches.

Alcohol is basically a book about "to-drink-or-not-to-drink", a history of alcohol dependency and abuse, and then even recovery. So while it claims to be neither for or against the consumption of alcohol, and it proves that many times by staying with facts and keeping opinions in the grey area, the outcome of everything that it discusses weighs heavily on the downside of drinking over the upside. Honestly, that's where that facts go in science and history. (Drunk goes into how important drinking is to our social needs as humans, but still comes to the same conclusion in physical health costs.)

Thus, it is a very powerful book for those who need to quit, want to quit, struggling to be sober, or successful in sobriety.

It can be anyone. "... proneness to develop alcohol dependence does not have any single master explanation to cover every individual. It is not a matter of some people being doomed to alcohol dependence by their genes while the rest of us drink with impunity. And for any one individual no simple causal explanation is likely to suffice."

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Book Review: "Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization" by Edward Slingerland

Just by going back into the articles on this blog, it should be no secret to you that I'm a huge science and history geek. But I'm especially geeky about evolution and the cosmos. I've delved into so much Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Richard Dawkins that it's ridiculous. Clearly, I'm also a wine geek, so when you combine those things together I'M IN!!!

I saw Drunk while browsing Barnes & Noble one day, trying not to lose my six year old and making sure the books my thirteen year old wanted were appropriate. I was like "Cool! A history of our drunk asses! SOLD!" but it was not like what I was expecting. Rather than accounts throughout history on our said drunken asses, this book asks the question:

How has evolution not eliminated our enjoyment of getting drunk? It's clearly harmful to your organs, leaves you with awful hangovers, and is a very common cause of death around the world, so you'd think those who refrained from booze for whatever reason would produce more offspring, and through evolution we'd have some reaction that would stop us from consuming ethanol. 

But this book goes through it all from the very beginning, and it goes deep into who we truly are as a species. How our primate lineage and instincts mixed with our worker-ant mentality and societies butt heads within our heads often, and because of this we need to shut down our prefrontal cortex to open up our creativity and inspirations.

Drinking and dancing together at the ancient ceremony or local pub builds trust and creates friendships. This has made the act of community drinking an important part of the human experience, and lead to the great ideas and progress we have made throughout history.

But the book also goes into a relatively new threat: the rise of ABV in wine (from 5% average to 12% average) and beer (we're seeing it get even bigger now with craft beer), the creation of distilled spirits (allowing you to get sloshed very quickly), and the ability to completely isolate ones self (drinking alone). Is this why evolution hasn't done anything about alcoholism yet? Is this drastic change to the alcohol we consume, the advancement of our technology, and social changes too new? And if we keep going in the direction we are, will evolution react?

At one point he wonders if there should be a different legal age for buying and consuming distilled spirits than wine and beer, and to me that completely makes sense. An earlier age for the lower ABV products of beer and wine would create a greater appreciation and respect for drinking, and there would be less abuse when the brain is developed enough for distilled spirits. For defending this, he uses the drinking cultures of southern Europe vs northern Europe.

Slingerland sticks up for the community pub and believes it's worth a hit to the liver to enjoy yourself, because if you can't enjoy yourself and your friends and be merry, then what do you have? But he takes a step back... well, many steps back and then moves closer and closer to a step back, to really analyze what's going on with us and our love of intoxication. He sees it through the eyes of both Spock and Kirk, and he's great at it.

I recommend this book to all the science, history, and wine geeks out there. It will reel you in and not let go until you're done.

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Book Review: "Fermentation as Metaphor" by Sandor Ellix Katz

"Just as people can project irrational fear of bacteria upon fermentation, people can project any number of irrational fears of contamination by the other upon the race/nation/culture."

Sandor Ellix Katz is obsessed with fermentation. He experiments with it, he writes about it, he takes pictures of it, he teaches about it. In his book "Fermentation as Metaphor" he not only goes into some of the science of fermentation, but sees the act of fermentation in human society and culture.

As he states, and I'm paraphrasing, things don't change effectively by fire. That burns everything down. It takes a slow fermentation, a "bubbling up", to make cultural changes and form social behavior. Actual fermentation breaks down nutrients into more accessible forms. Metaphorical fermentation breaks down the old and creates the new. He connects this to politics, religious beliefs, general ideas, racism, climate change, overuse of sterilization in everyday life, and even the differing ideas of purity. And it's all done in an intricate, detailed way that keeps you reading and doesn't lose you at any point.

This isn't a woo-woo magic/spiritual book, it's based on science, but this might sound just like that to some: One part of this book that I really connected to was the idea of emotional composting. Where you can turn your negative emotions into creating positive ones. Rather than suppressing these terrible things, you embrace and accept them, you cry about them and let them out, and then you use them as motivation to turn it all around. That's what I did to get through something that hit me pretty hard a few years ago, and left me with some pretty effective trauma. I was able to ferment all of that into improving and getting away from it. I now have a term to use for how I got through it all.

With 50 beautiful photographs of fermentation taken using microscopes, this is a beautiful book in both its visuals and its words. It's 108 short pages (many of them photography) and you can finish it easily in one sitting. I highly recommend that you do so.

"Fermentation is a force that cannot be controlled, and the changes it renders are not always desirable."

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Book Review: "The Terroir of Whiskey" by Rob Arnold

"Its origin, its heritage, its history. The identity is inextricable from the people who made it and the place that made them."

Rob Arnold is a master distiller and this is a book about his journey to find terroir in whiskey. We're not just talking about whiskey here though, because the fire that is ignited in his question can be traced back to the source of the idea. To see if there is terroir in whiskey, first Rob must grab the concept of terroir itself. And where does the idea of terroir come from and shine through the best? Wine!

Yes, this book has plenty to do with wine but it is still a whiskey book. So after Rob has experienced what terroir truly means and how it's expressed through grapes and its fermented juice, it's now time to see if terroir can be expressed in whiskey. We were always told that whiskey is about the water from where it's from, but what about grains? Can they have terroir too? And can terroir make it through saccharification, then fermentation, and then still show itself after distillation? Finding these answers is a much taller order than you think it is.

The grain farming industry is very, very different than the grape growing industry. Grapes grown for wine have been all about their place of origin for hundreds of years, where as grains have always just been about getting the most yield. The vast majority of grain are gathered from all over the place and put through grain elevators and then distributed out to all sorts of different businesses, whether they make bread, animal feed, beer, or whiskey. So how do you narrow it down? How do you research whether or not grains like rye, barley, and corn can take in a true sense of place and then express it after distillation?

"Wine and bourbon may look and taste different, but there is an impressive overlap between the chemical compounds that make up their flavors."

Rob has a scientific mind so he uses the scientific approach a lot, which as a man of science I appreciate and respect. For those who are not so much into chemistry but still interested in Rob's experiences and findings, I would certainly do a little research into the chemistry of wine and spirits first. There is going to be plenty of times that big words are going to be confusing and honestly wear you down here. Although I'm a science enthusiast who has done plenty of reading on chemistry, especially in the alcohol industry, this went over my head A LOT!

That said, it's not all about lab work, chemical compounds, and peer reviewed studies. There are plenty of down-to-earth, hit-home moments to go around. The feeling of sense of place, his experiences of actually being there, and taking in terroir through his own human senses are prominent too.

I learned a hell of a lot from this book. For example, it never occurred to me that yeasts create alcohol as an evolutionary trait to protect themselves from harmful microbes. But I'm not going to lie: there were some parts that I impulsively wanted to make corrections when it came to wine. However, the dude is a master distiller and clearly smarter than me when it comes to the sciencing so I'm absolutely taking his word on everything else. It's quite the interesting read and I recommend it.

"Here I was, in the middle of rural Ireland, drinking tea, eating scones with fresh butter, and drinking whiskey made from barley grown not more than a hundred yards from where I was sitting. And I was enjoying it with the farmer himself, basking in his pride. It was the expression of a very specific place."

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Audio Article - The Chemistry between us... and Wine

Get nerdy with chemistry and learn about the science that makes wine what it is.  Fermentation, alcohol, acids, phenols, and other chemical compounds and processes.  Everything except, probably, proper pronunciation. Read The Chemistry between us... and Wine (article originally published May 7th, 2014) or listen below:

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Larkmead Vineyards to plant viticultural research block in Napa Valley

Historic Family-Owned Estate Prepares for Future of Napa Valley Viticulture and Climate Change

PRESS RELEASE - Napa, Calif. -  Larkmead Vineyards, celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2020, announced today the planting of a Research Block in preparation for the next 125 years of Napa Valley viticulture. The Research Block will be located at the Larkmead estate in Calistoga and will host several different grape varieties, clones, and rootstocks for trial purposes as Napa Valley’s climate changes.

Founded in 1895, Larkmead has a long history of research and clonal trials. Dr. Harold Olmo of UC Davis, one of the most influential viticulturists of the 20th century, established a clonal station at the Larkmead estate in the 1940s, where he developed the widely-planted Cabernet Sauvignon clone FPS 02. Commonly known as the “Oakville selection,” this clone was fundamental in establishing Cabernet Sauvignon as California’s signature grape variety. However, with the reality of onset climate change, Larkmead is preparing for the future of viticulture by dedicating three acres of their 110-acre estate to plant grape varieties that could be better suited to increasing average temperatures.

“As stewards of this incredible estate, it is our responsibility to protect the land and preserve its ability to produce quality wines for future generations,” said proprietor Cam Baker. “Today we continue to grow some of the best Cabernet Sauvignon in Napa Valley, but we are also preparing for tomorrow by establishing a Research Block on the estate.” The Research Block is being spearheaded by lauded winemaker Dan Petroski and viticulturist Kelly Maher, and will be supervised by vineyard manager Nabor Camarena. The three-acre plot will be planted to multiple heritage varieties including Chenin Blanc, Petite Sirah and Zinfandel, alongside new world, Mediterranean varieties such as Aglianico, Tempranillo, and Touriga Nacional.

Winemaker Dan Petroski commented, “Climate change is very real and already affects vintners around the world. The fact is, Cabernet Sauvignon may no longer be well-suited to Napa Valley’s climate in twenty to thirty years. As one of the world’s top wine regions, we need to research and plan for inevitable warmer temperatures. Napa Valley will continue to lead the way in research and sustainability and we are carrying on the legacy of experimentation and trial here at Larkmead.”

With its long and rich history, Larkmead has played a fundamental role in the transformation of Napa Valley into one of the preeminent wine regions in the world. First established in 1895, Larkmead Vineyards has been in the hands of the same family since 1948. Current proprietors Cam Baker and Kate Solari Baker have worked in recent years to fine-tune Larkmead’s viticultural and cellar techniques to most accurately express the vineyard’s voice. Winemaker Dan Petroski captures the nuance and complexity of the 110-acre site by vinifying small lots according to clonal selection and soil type. Petroski was named the San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year in 2017.

The Research Block is Larkmead’s next step in the estate’s commitment to sustainable agriculture and biodiversity. “In order to determine the best path forward for the future and for our unique climate and terroir, we need to continue to experiment,” said Viticulturist Kelly Maher. We’re planning on testing different varieties, rootstocks, cover crops, and more. The goal is to have more biodiversity and climate resilient vineyards while continuing to produce better and better wines.”

Beyond the Research Block, Larkmead will continue to lead the conversation surrounding climate change and its effects on the global wine industry through a series of events at the estate. Hosted by winemaker Dan Petroski, these “Salons at Larkmead” are discussion-based forums for fellow winemakers, industry leaders, and journalists shaping the narrative on climate change and wine.

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Just Brew It, Part Two: Making Sake

If you haven't read Part One: A brief history of Sake then go ahead and check it out. Or not. It's not required reading for this article, but Sake's history is a fascinating one.

In the next two parts of this trilogy I'm going to give you a run-down on the things that you NEED to know if you want to start getting into Sake while I consciously leave out the things you don't (unless you want to become an expert), and here's why:

Sake is actually not a hard thing to understand, and learning about it has felt the least like work than anything else in my alcohol related education. What makes it hard is the words and terminology. Myself as an English-only speaking person, at least with wine I'm mostly dealing with languages that are also based on Latin like French and Italian, so learning things like Methode Champenoise is not a big deal. However, Japanese is a whole other thing and the terminology can be pretty hard to grasp. For example: Seimaibuai. See what I mean?

I have thoroughly enjoyed this Sake adventure that I've been on and I want you to get as interested in this category as I am, so I'm going to do my best to provide some Sake education without scaring you away with an overload of information. But that also doesn't mean we're not gonna get nerdy. So let's begin! Welcome to the world of Sake!

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Heroes of Wine: Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)

There have been so many great minds throughout history that changed the course of mankind with their discoveries and innovations, but none may be as important to the lives of the people in the modern world today than Louis Pasteur, one of the founding fathers of microbiology.

LOUIS PASTEUR
IMAGE CREDIT: clccharter.org

Because of Louis Pasteur, your ancestors were able to receive a rabies vaccination instead of dying horribly from rabies after 1885. His rabies vaccine would lead to other vaccines that save lives, like the 1955 polio vaccine by Jonas Stalk. And most importantly of all, because of Louis Pasteur, you are able to enjoy your favorite wines and beers today.

So let's learn about a legend. And to help me with this article on the life of Louis Pasteur, I've asked Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines to contribute. Lori is a winemaker with a history in biology, and there is nobody else that I would rather see do the honors.

(LORI) As a child, Louis Pasteur asked his father “What makes a wolf or a dog mad, and why do people die when mad dogs bite them?” Obviously, this question was asked because Louis Pasteur had unfortunately seen this occur in his childhood. Now, I am not going to say that these deaths totally traumatized him, but if we take a look at his life’s achievements, these deaths did make a lasting effect on him, whether he consciously recognized it or not. 

As a scientist, I admire the predecessors and applaud how well they achieved their goals in the time that they did. Louis Pasteur ranks as one of my all time favorites. In all honesty, if you are familiar with his life, he was a pompous son of a bitch, but sometimes that’s what you need to be in order to be successful. He started his scientific career looking at crystals under a microscope. He was a chemist not an immunologist- that didn’t come until later. At the age of 26, he discovered there were four distinct kinds of tartaric acid. This discovery gave him a taste of fame, and he not only liked it, he craved it! (/LORI)

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Edmond Halley

This is Edmond Halley. He is among the greatest scientific minds and most influential people in history. As he died at the age of 85, he enjoyed his last glass of wine.

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Book Review: "PROOF: The Science of Booze" by Adam Rogers

Good morning, sunshine! You are so screwed.

The light coming in through the window is so... there. You'd kill for a glass of water and die if it came with food. Your guts are in full rebellion; whatever happens next is going to happen in the bathroom. And for some reason you can't remember how to read the clock next to your bed, even though you used to be able to do it relatively easily, you're sure.

You have at least a couple of the following symptoms: headache, malaise, diarrhea, loss of appetite, the shakes, fatique, and nausea. You might also be dehydrated, and feel generally slow - a little stupider, a little less coordinated. You, my friend, have a hangover.

Scientists have a more inscrutable name for it: veisalgia, from the Greek word for "pain", algia, and kveis, a Norwegian word meaning "uneasiness following debauchery". That sounds about right.

Adam Rogers, PROOF: The Science of Booze

During the summer we went on a family trip to the Museum of Science in Boston. My daughter had a blast. She loved the butterfly room and all the activities that they have there to get kids interested in how the world works. She loved watching a scene from one of the Ice Age movies in 3D. (Although I think it's a load of crap that it's from the one where dinosaurs were still alive. I know it's a kids movie where animals talk, but c'mon. You're the Museum of Science! Make it from the one where they save the little human, not dinosaurs.)

Nobody had more fun than me. There's so much cool stuff from the Apollo missions that I was in awe. I need to go back, preferably by myself, so I can take it all in without feeling rushed. When we hit the gift shop at the end I poked around. I picked up a t-shirt with Albert Einstein's quote “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.”, which I wear regularly on my YouTube channel.

Then I saw this book called PROOF: The Science of Booze. I had to have it. It turns out it was one of the best purchases I've ever made in alcohol education literature.

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Book Review: Age Gets Better With Wine by Richard A. Baxter, M.D.

In 1974, after the Framingham Heart Study had been in progress for more than 25 years, a report on the factors related to deaths from coronary disease was prepared. Few were expecting the data to reveal a strong reduction in the odds of dying from heart disease with moderate alcohol consumption. Prevailing wisdom was that the reverse would be the case. The American psyche just wasn't ready, and in many quarters there is still resistance to the concept of alcohol as a good thing. Unlike the tradition of wine as a food in Europe, in America the underpinnings of crime and corruption of the prohibition era defined the alcohol legacy.

In fact, the findings came as such an unwelcome guest that when the senior staff at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewed the data, they demanded that the authors remove it!

Richard A. Baxter, M.D., Age Gets Better With Wine

You see it all the time: wine is beneficial to your health. Well, it is. It's been scientifically proven that alcoholic beverages in general are good for you as long as you drink them in moderation and with food. That's 12-24 ounces of beer, 5-10 ounces of wine, or 1.5 to 2 ounces of spirits a night, almost every night with dinner. The polyphenols in red wine make it the option with the most benefits.

You're more likely to get heart disease or cancer if you don't drink at all. And if you abuse alcohol by going above moderation and get drunk on a regular basis then you're increasing the chance of cancer and a million of other issues even more. It's actually more harmful to not drink all week and binge on weekends, what the average American seems to think is the best option, than to have a glass or two of wine every night.

Most of these people saying that wine is good for you are in the industry or are wine drinkers. So when somebody, like myself, says what I just said then most people think "well, he's just looking for excuses to drink". I really can't blame them because that's exactly what it looks like.

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Soil and Wine - Part 3: Roots Among Rubble

This is the conclusion of my Soil and Wine series of articles. Part 1: Starstuff and Seashells started with the creation of the Earth, how it got its water, how life changed the planet with organic matter, and then covered volcanic soil and limestone. PART 2: Terroir and Texture started with whether or not you could taste the soil in your wine, then explained the different soil types of clay, sand and silt, what they're made of and what they offer.

And now we've reached the end. The final structure of soil type: ROCK/STONE. It's not so much a soil type because you can't grow grapevines on nothing but rocks, but the soil of vineyards can get very rocky and stony.

THE SWORD IN THE STONE

IMAGE SOURCE: viewsfromthesofa.com

What's the difference between rocks and stone? The answer seems to be hotly debated. If you asked me before researching this article I would have answered it this way: Both are very hard, consolidated matter that can be strictly mineral, strictly organic or a combination of both. Rock is jagged as if it was chiseled. Stone is smoother and rounder and weathered. That's what did, and still does, make the most sense to me.

But reading up on the subject almost all night has left me more confused than with answers. One thing I will tell you is to not even bother with the Dictionary definitions. Those are useless. And in the end I couldn't even get a clear, widely accepted definition from geologists. Some say rocks are immovable like cliffs and other formations while stones are smaller fragments of rock. Some say that rocks are minerals regardless of size, whether it's the smallest particle or a boulder, while stone is a formation of organic matter or both organic and mineral matter. Then some say rock is naturally formed while stone is extracted by people for our own purposes. I dunno, dude. It seems like geologists can't even find a straight-forward definition. I like mine.

Regardless of the true definition, if any of the previous soil types also include a good number of rocks or stones then it has the benefit of extra soil drainage and heat retention. Take a bunch of clay and water it down and it just absorbs all that water. Do the same thing but with rocks in the clay and the water will use the sides of rocks and the openings they make to drain better. Let it sit out in the sun and the rocks on the surface will suck in solar heat and blast it back up to the vines, warming them nice and cozily. Also, with more space in the soil being taken up by big clunky things, the less nutrients are in the land. So, in that broad view of soils that I mentioned in the clay section of Part Two, stony and rocky soil is absolutely the best kind for viticulture.

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Soil and Wine - Part 2: Terroir and Texture

In Part 1: Starstuff and Seashells we started with a complete geek-out on the creation of the Earth, how it got its water, how life changed the planet with organic matter, and how wine connects us to all of it. Then we moved on to volcanic soil and limestone, because they really can't be placed into one soil type when categorized into soil texture.

IMAGE SOURCE: jamesonfink.com

By texture, AKA granulometry, I mean how small the grains of the soil are and how compact it gets. When you categorize soil that way you get the four categories of CLAY, SILT, SAND and ROCK/STONE. Why would I, and most wine writers and experts, do it this way instead of by chemical composition? Ya know, by what the soil is actually made of? Well, there's this...

The nutrients in the soil has an effect on the growth of the plant and thus its fruit. Like I explained in Part One under Tuffeau, iron-rich soil seems to create structured and tannic wine. But can the actual aromas and flavors of the soil be transplanted from the roots to the juice too? Studies have shown that in WARMER CLIMATES the chemical composition of the soil has no effect on the final wine except for its physical texture and pH level (also explained in Part One under the limestone portion). So it doesn't matter what KIND of sand you grow your Cabernet on, just that it's sand (Cab <3 sand) and that the acidity levels are where you want them to be.

When you get to the COOLER CLIMATES, such as Chablis, this is where composition actually seems to matter... or so the Old World says. You can smell and taste the limestone, the slate or the granite. However, it's hard to prove. We all know cool climate wines express more "minerality" (dry rock, wet stone, chalk, rust, etc.) and "earthiness" (dirt, mud, wood, moss, etc.) than warm climate, but how can you scientifically prove that it's because of the soil when there's no mineral or chemical evidence of it in the wine? Earthiness and minerality could just be a characteristic of grapes from a cool climate or when they lack fruitiness. Instincts and wanting something to be true cannot make anything fact, only evidence can. Someday we'll know for sure.

That's not to say that the entire concept of terroir doesn't exist. It clearly does. All of the surroundings including climate, weather, altitude, slopes, the angle of the sun, total daylight, water sources, microorganisms and soil type, when combined with local traditions in viticulture and winemaking, can contribute in making the wine from that particular spot different than any other place on Earth.

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Soil and Wine - Part 1: Starstuff and Seashells

Earth was born with our Solar System 4.5 billion years ago by the gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud, which was created by the death of a star, on the outskirts of the 13.2 billion year old Milky Way Galaxy. So our star, the Sun, is actually a second or third generation star.

IMAGE SOURCE: lospecchiostorto.com

For its first billion years our planet was a fiery and violent hell as its gravity pulled in debris from the Solar System's creation, increasing its mass and forming the Moon. The meteors and debris that it collided with and collected were made of various elements, minerals and gases. Earth is mostly iron, especially in its center, and its other major ingredients are silicon, oxygen, aluminum, and magnesium. As the planet congealed it created an atmosphere with the release of methane, ammonia and hydrogen.

Once the planet had an atmosphere it could actually hold on to the ice that was delivered by meteors and comets. Instead of evaporating back into space it became Earth's water, trapped in an endless cycle of evaporation and condensation. Used and cleansed over and over again. Through billions of years the land and oceans shifted. Early life forms in the oceans gave the atmosphere enough oxygen through photosynthesis for itself and other life to evolve and breath it in. The presence of plants and creatures that lived and died, then decomposed or were fossilized, created new forms of soil and liquids with organic matter. Ice ages and glaciers were incredibly impactful to both life and the Earth's surface.

Now think about your favorite Chablis. Crisp, clean, zingy Chardonnay bliss. The limestone in the Kimmeridge Clay soil of Chablis is one of the factors in why it's so outstanding. Limestone is the skeletal remains of early life forms and other prehistoric shelled creatures, layered in land once covered in water or where moving glaciers deposited them. It's a gift from the ghost of CreepyCrawlymas past.

Let us recap. The death of a star lead to the creation of our own star (the Sun) and our Solar System. The Earth and its water were created from starstuff. For most of human history we've cultivated grapevines out of Earth to make wine... a beverage that Galileo called "sunlight held together by water". It's the circle of the cosmos and it rules us all. And it's so goddamn beautiful.

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Rosacea And The Wine Lover: When Passion Threatens Appearance

I've always been of fair complexion, thanks to the Irish and German in me, but the southern Italian genes that gave me my last name allow me to tan pretty effectively. I just don't because I'm not an outdoorsy person. I taught myself how to program when I was 13 in the early 1990's and that was it. I've been a computer shut-in, night-owl, and pasty white ever since. I want that complexion back, actually.

Last winter something very different for me started to happen: my face started to get red from alcohol. And I'm not just talking about actually consuming it; I'd turn red even when spitting it out for tastings. I had never had that happen to me before. I was never one to get what those outside of the know refer to as "red-face".

Then in the spring it became constant. My cheeks were pink 24/7. They'd turn red and my forehead would join in when I got hot or got really active. I stopped drinking and tasting for a few weeks, as I could afford to because reviews for the blog were written and scheduled way ahead of time and my job was taking a break from having sales people come around with new things to taste. It stayed the same however and people told me it was probably the massive amount of pollen that was around. Finally after a month I went and saw the doctor. What was it? Rosacea. 

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition that commonly gives you rosey cheeks like Santa Claus and flare-ups that will turn your entire face red. But that's just subtype 1 of rosacea and it's called erythematotelangiectatic rosacea, also known as ETR.

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HYDRATE! Drink water with your wine!

Stay hydrated this Thirsty Thursday. Drink the same amount of water as you do wine to prevent brain inflammation and avoid the headache!

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Sulfites in wine: the truth you may not like

This is what your wine guy thinks of your sulfite kick but won't tell you:

It's true. I know you've made this life decision but you're wrong and being as foolish as the I-don't-have-celiac-disease-but-I'm-gluten-free trend. Sorry, but somebody had to tell you. There's about 400 parts per million sulfites in a salad. There's about 40 parts per million sulfites in a bottle of wine. Crackers have more sulfites than that. That should be enough to kill any argument but if not, let's keep going...

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The Chemistry between us... and wine.

I don't even remember going over chemistry at any point in school. Maybe I was too busy doodling because, let's be honest here, that happened a lot. Maybe I didn't even get that far. I mean, honestly again, I graduated on a seventh grade math level. I wasn't all that good with the numbers but I was good at the doodling. I still suck balls at math and there's nothing I can really do about that but I've fallen in love with learning everything I can about everything else before I croak.

This blog entry is about wine chemistry. The tagline of this website says that it's for wine geeks and some of you might be saying "wine geeks should already know this stuff" but you know what? I was a wine geek for years before I understood or even attempted to understand wine chemistry. So there. Everybody has to start somewhere. And if I can turn a wine geek into even more of a wine geek then I've done my part in this world gone mad.

CONFIRMED: THESE ARE GRAPES

Wine is made from grapes. It can be made from other fruits but do you really want to drink pineapple wine? No. No you don't. Grapes just have what it takes for its fermented juice to be the best around: good acidity, a wide variety of desirable flavors, and it's a sugar-making machine. 15 to 30% of a fully ripened grape is fermentable sugar, and that is what will be turned into alcohol.

Grapes are the super-star fruit of the Earth. It's said that the DNA of Pinot Noir is more complex than our own. Grapes are the #1 most cropped fruit on the planet with 70 million tons grown annually, and 80% of that is just for wine. It's needless to say that wine is kind of a big deal.

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