Wine Bloggers' Conference: The Existential Aftermath & a Quiz

This is my fourth attempt at writing this blog post. Yes, it's been about a month since the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference, but I needed some time to gather my thoughts. I'm an introvert – we do that. Also, Hubby and I went on vacation the week after the conference, and I enjoyed a week of geeking out about American colonial history and North Carolina wine, all of which will make for good posts for both blogs. And then, after a record busy week at work, we went to the beach!

Hubby and I noted in the car on the way to Williamsburg from Charlottesville that we were left with a sense of negativity that hadn't been present during or after the previous conference in Walla Walla, our first. Over the weeks since the conference ended, I've seen a lot of complaints, both about the event and the complainers themselves. To respond, I've decided to take keynote speaker Jancis Robinson's advice to heart and try to bring my unique perspective to the topic.

To this point, I've been somewhat secretive about my profession in my social media life, not because I don't want my fellow oenophiles to know what I do, but because I was trying to keep my professions separate. However, with what amounts to almost three jobs, it's gotten impossible. So, I'll out myself here and do a longer post later on the new direction of the Random Oenophile blog.

Hi, my pen name is Cecilia Dominic, and I'm a psychologist. Yep, I'm a full-blown, over a decade of higher education, achievment junkie, Ph.D.-level helper of the depressed, anxious, and sleepless. I spend my days asking probing questions (but not literally probing – eww!) to help people clarify their thoughts, attitudes, and problems.

So this is where I'd planned to pose some of the probing questions I'd come up with, but really, who wants to read another thoughtful WBC11 post? Consequently, I've already decided to put aside the serious part of my profession and come up with a little women's magazine-style quiz to help you figure out what kind of wine bloggers' conference attendee you were: wino, oenophile, wineaux, or whino/drama queen?

1. When I heard the wine bloggers' conference would be in Virginia this year, I thought…
a. They make wine on the East Coast?
b. Yay! Something new and different.
c. I'll be able to score some good Cab Franc, Petit Verdot, and Viognier.
d. They make drinkable wine on the East Coast outside of New York?

2. The sponsors' reception on Friday was…
a. Lots of free wine.
b. A great chance to catch up with people and introduce myself to Twitter friends, and oh, crap, we were supposed to get lunch on our own???
c. A great chance to connect with industry people and score promises of samples.
d. A great chance to show off my tasting/slurping/spitting technique.

3. When I heard they'd continue with the Monticello reception in spite of the heat, I thought…
a. It'll be hot, but who cares? Free wine!
b. It'll be hot, but who cares? I get to drink wine at the house of the father of American wine. Cheers to you, T.J.!
c. It'll be hot, and I'm worried the wine won't show well.
d. What the hell are they thinking? It's never this hot where I'm from!

4. The relationship I have with the wine industry is…
a. Cordial. I hold out my glass, and they provide the filling.
b. Educated consumer.
c. Associated professional or wannabe associated professional.
d. My blog and opinions are so important that they bow to my whims.

5. The number of letters I have after my name is:
a. Who needs letters after their names to taste wine? I'm done with school!
b. Two or more, not wine-related.
c. Two or more, wine-related.
d. Sommelier counts as nine and an honorary doctorate.

6. I can't go wine tasting without my:
a. Woozie. They look cool.
b. Water and crackers.
c. Orange hipster glasses.
d. Foofy little dog.

7. To me, the number of sponsored events was…
a. Perfect. Free wine!
b. More than I would have cared for, but understandable considering they have to pay for the conference somehow. It's not supported by a professional organization, and registration fees are really low.
c. Just right. Show me the vino! I’m a thirsty catfish!
d. Excessive. Free wine, especially from the Southeast, can't really be that good.

8. My initial reaction to Eric Asimov's challenge to not write tasting notes was…
a. Good, I always skip them, anyway.
b. Relief. I always feel dirty when talking about mouthfeel.
c. Intrigue. Maybe we do need some different ways to talk about wine.
d. How can I sound like an expert if I can't reference flavors that most people have never had like cassis or lychee?



Scoring: Each (a) gets one point, (b) two points, (c) three points, and (d) four points. Add 'em up, and see where you fall below:

If you scored 8-12 points, you might be a virgin wine bloggers' conference attendee, or wino. Sure, you may have felt intimidated and over your head, but at this point, you're still flirting, and you can always go back to beer if you need to. You're also the person I 'm targeting on my blog, so please come back.

If you scored 13-20 points, you have gotten into wine, and you're in the first giddy stage of the relationship. You and wine have admitted you like each other, and now you're getting to know it. You're probably not comfortable with all the trappings and rituals like spitting, and you may snicker at the spitters behind their backs for wasting such wonderful stuff. You spend holidays hiding from family and friends who want wine recommendations because you're still low on confidence and afraid you'll screw up horribly with the wrong pairing. On the other hand, you've got enough of a knowledge base that you can really start looking into the parts that catch your interest, and you're not afraid to explore new regions or varietals.

If you scored 21-28 points, you're probably in the wineaux stage, and you've taken it to the next level. Yes, you and wine have moved in together or are talking seriously about it. Maybe you've gotten or are in hot pursuit of some wine-related letters after your name, and you might have even scored a job in the industry. You've started finding out the dark sides of being a wine lover, like maybe it squeezes the toothpaste from the middle or you spend holidays hiding from family and friends who want wine recommendations because it's starting to feel like a job.

If you scored 29-32 points, then you might be a whino/drama queen. Congratulations on your accomplishments, especially if you've made it all the way to sommelier level, but please try to remember that wine is just fermented grape juice, and everyone's taste is not yours. There is someone to love that little East Coast wine you snubbed for her uneducated accent, or "B" game, and let's not forget that hot weather makes for hot lovers. There has already been enough meta-whining (i.e., whining about the whining), so I'll just stop here.

Psychologist disclaimer: this quiz and its results have absolutely no psychometric properties, validation, reliability, or validity.

Please feel free to comment with your score or any other feedback!

Speed Blogging: Whites and Roses

Artesa Vineyards & Winery (CA): 2010 chardonnay, lightly oaked, tropical fruit, texture a little syrupy, $15-20 retail

Shindig White (Finger Lakes): 2010 vidal blanc/riesling blend, hint of stone fruit on nose, a bit acidic, crisp, $15.95 retail

Veritas (VA): 2010 Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, nice caramel overtones on back of the palate, good grapefruit and lime

Chateau Le Gay (Fr): 2009 Festival Rose, strawberry and orange, nice color, blend of merlot, cab sauv, and cab franc

Rodney Strong (Sonoma): Reserve Chardonnay, softer than the first chard, still oaky but ): good for a summer afternoon

Decibel (NZ): 2009 Sauv Blanc, very nice & crisp, a little green but not sheepy, great citrus w some pear

Afton Mountain (VA) 2008 Tete Cuvee sparkling, half chard half pinot noir, aggressive bubbles, but nice apple finish, $30 retail

Llano Estacado Winery (TX): 2009 Viviano, blend of Gewurtz, Riesling, Viognier, & Muscat Canelli, very floral with lychee

Barboursville Winery (Va): 2009 Viognier, tropical & citrus fruit, loved this one this morning & still like, $20-22 retail

Boxwood Winery (VA): 2010 rose, cab sauv & merlot, retail $14

Chateau Morrisette (VA) dry rose, buttery and a little funky, 100% Chambourcin

Tabarrini (Italy) 2008 Trebbiano Spoletino, honey & smoke (I might not have this one exactly right)

Testing: Can I do this on my Nook?

For those who follow my blog, you're in for a treat. Hubby and I are at the wine bloggers conference, and we'll be doing the live blogging today with whites and roses. Tune in today at 4:20!

And yes! I'll be using my Nook Color to post.

Stuffed Oenophile: Qupe Wine Dinner

It's funny how some things come full circle. Four years ago, I was in Minneapolis for a professional conference. One of my good friends lives there, and we went out to dinner one evening to an Italian restaurant. The food was unremarkable, but I do remember the wine we shared, a bottle of the Qupé Syrah. At that conference, I also took (and passed!) a certification exam for the specialty area upon which I've built my practice.



Fast forward four years… I wrote the first version of this post on a plane to Minneapolis for the same conference, the aftermath of which at work has led this post to be a little later than originally planned. The prior weekend, Hubby and I attended a full Qupé pairing dinner. Things have gotten bigger and better for all of us, it seems.

We had heard of Local Three Kitchen & Bareven before they opened, when chef Chris Hall contributed a course to the Brick Store Orval dinner two years ago. When our friend Joe Herrig, aka the Suburban Wino, tweeted about the pairing dinner, we jumped at the chance to join him.


I'll go ahead and get my one complaint out of the way. The dinner information had said that the "reception" would start at 6:30. Hubby and I got there a little after 6:30 and were shown to the room where the dinner was to be held, a semi-formal space watched over by the gopher from Caddyshack (I'm not even going to get into the rubber chickens). The servers poured the water, but nothing else. Several people bailed to the bar until the real meal was supposed to start at 7. I decided to hold off since I knew that we'd be drinking plenty, but still, it was somewhat annoying.

The first course soothed any ruffled feathers. The Hamachi Tartare with avocado, yuzu, and snow pea, and topped with micro cilantro, was fresh and tender. The creaminess of the avocado and texture of the tuna were the perfect pairing for the 2009 Qupé Bien Nacido Cuvee, a blend of 50% viognier and 50% chardonnay. Crisp citrus on the nose and front of the palate gives way to very smooth melon with floral notes from the viognier and creaminess from the chard. Yep, this was a texture pairing, and the food brought out the fruitiness of the wine.

The second course was probably my favorite other than dessert. The Florida rock shrimp were cooked to the sweet spot of fully done but not chewy and served with spinach and ricotta ravioli. The pairing, 2008 Qupé Block 11 Chardonnay, had a gorgeous color. It's done on new oak, but the high acidity kept it from being an oak bomb. It's well balanced with citrus and a little vanilla.



It's Georgia, so you know there had to be peaches. A fairly traditional grilled Georgia peach, arugula, and blue cheese salad with almonds allowed the 2008 Qupé Bien Nacido Vineyard Roussanne to shine. This was, to me, a perfect white: crisp and fruity with enough acidity to go with food but not too much to be enjoyed on its own. At $40 a bottle, it was also the most expensive wine of the night. (check out the aforementioned Suburban Wino's homage to Roussane, inspired by the dinner).

My new favorite restaurant food is sliders, and I love duck, so I was excited about the fourth course. Grilled duck sliders with raspberry ketchup came with thin, crisp sweet potato chips. A Cotes du Rhone-style blend of 53% Syrah, 25% Grenache, and 22% Mourvedre stood up to it with its dark berry nose and lingering finish with a hint of butter. As with the first course, the similarities with the food and wine played well together.


Then it was Syrah time! The fifth course, a braised beef short rib with porcini and blueberry risotto got rave reviews from the table for the tender, flavorful beef and mixed reactions to the blueberries. I liked them in the risotto, but I found the whole dish to be salty. The 2008 Qupé Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah reminded me why I originally filed the name Qupé away in my brain as a Syrah to look out for. Again, the dark fruit was the predominant flavor, but with enough tannic structure to stand up to the food.

The Qupé winemaker's son Ethan represented the winery at the dinner, and he shared some of his own bottling, the 2007 Ethan Purisima Mountain Vineyard Syrah, with the sixth course. Another pairing of meat and fruit, the roasted cervena venison with cherry compote and herb gnocchi worked much better than the short rib and blueberries. The wine itself was excellent, although not widely available, which caused some wailing and gnashing of teeth at our table. Lighter bodied and with brighter fruit than the previous Syrah, I would have put it earlier in the lineup if it had been a straight-up tasting.

Believe it or not, we found room for the seventh (!) course, a chocolate truffle cake topped with ganache and served with chocolate cremeux (think chocolate cream that's heavier in texture than whipped but lighter than ice cream) and cherry sauce. Sadly, it killed the wine, an earthy 2006 Qupé Bien Nacido Hillside Estate Syrah. I finished the wine first and then went back to the dessert, which was as rich as it sounds but too good with its three levels of chocolate to leave any behind.



Thanks, Ethan, for coming out east to the dinner to share your wines and knowledge with us, and a big thanks to Chef Hall for an incredible dinner! We will definitely be back to Local Three in the future.

Tasting Notes: Summer Sippers

Well, it's that time of year again. People in other parts of the country call it summer. We call it, "OMG when did it get so hot and humid?" I think we Southerners have the same kind of thing happen to us that women who have children do. Every year, as we go into the cool, crisp days of fall, the painful memories recede until it's time to do it all over again, and then we tell our husbands, "It's too hot! You're not getting near me again!" Sometimes, as during our recent harsh winter, we even yearn for temperature ninety-five, heat index of you-don't-wanna-know.

All that to say, it's time to start drinking... We tried most of the wines mentioned below at recent JavaMonkey tastings. This is my attempt at an artistic picture from the last one:



Summer sippers need to have three qualities: refreshing, inexpensive, and dangit, they'd better make you look hot in that swimsuit! Okay, maybe just the first two. After a couple of glasses, you won't care what you look like in that tankini.

Let's start with whites...

One of the most reasonable and interesting whites is Vinho Verde, which comes from Portugal. Yes, the name is translated as "green wine," and it has a slightly green tint to it in the right lights. Don't worry, it's not green enough to send your toddler running (although that might be useful). The 2008 Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde (Vinho Verde, Portugal) is made of 60% Laureiro, 10% Alvarino, and 30% Trajadera. It's got a nice mineral backbone with some citrus and pineapple, and it's even a little fizzy. The Cashal Garcia, which may be more widely distributed, is also very good.

If you're looking for something a little more floral, the 2009 Quinta do Crasto White (Duoro, Portugal) will give you the sweet floral nose of your neighbor's gardenias without the mosquito bites. It's well-balanced with some melon and also made from a bunch of grapes I've never heard of (45% Rabogato, 40% Gaveo, and 15% Rapero).

Another reasonable option comes from across the border in Spain. The 2009 Nora Albarino (Rias Baixas, Spain) is 100% Albarino and has great body for a white without being syrupy or heavy. It also has a nice balance of floral and citrus with some lime coming through.

If you want to go classy, there are always bubbles!

One that's easy to find and easy to afford is the Saint-Hlaire Blanquette de Limoux (current vintage 2008). With 90% Malzac, 5% Chenin Blanc, and 5% Chardonnay, it has apple (but not fruit box) notes and good body.

Quick shout-out: the Saint-Hilaire and Albarino were both selections by Dan Browning at our recent tasting collaboration.

If you want to splurge, think pink with the Louis de Grenelle Brut Rose (Saumur, France). It has a yeasty nose and very delicate strawberry flavors. It's made 100% from Cabernet Franc. If you want something a little closer to home but just as good, try the Wolf Mountain Brut Rose, which is one of my all-time favorites.

But let's not forget my favorite thing about summer: peach pie!



If you're wondering why all the mommy references, it's because this coming Friday is our next Women of Decatur tweetup: 6:00 p.m. at the Palate side of McGowan's/Palate in Oakhurst. Non-mommies are welcome, too.

Metapost: Attention Ladies of Decatur (Georgia)!

First, thanks to all who have been attending the monthly tweetups! I'm super excited about how our group is growing, and I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone as we continue to meet.

One of the things I've been getting asked about is wine suggestions, so our next tweetup will be a wine tasting for beginners at The Little Wine Shoppe in Avondale Estates.



Here are the details:

Place: The Little Wine Shoppe
Time: 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Date: May 6
Cost: $15/person

I need a minimum of ten people to commit to coming, so please RSVP either on Twitter or by commenting below.

Thanks, and Happy Easter and/or Passover!

Random Field Trips: Atlanta Culinary Tour of Sweet Auburn Curb Market

I had lunch a few weeks ago with a friend at LottaFruitta on Auburn Avenue. "Is this anywhere near the Sweet Auburn Curb Market?" she asked. I'd heard of the place, but, like many in-towners, I had no idea where to actually find it. So when Hubby and I were invited to tag along with the Atlanta Culinary Tour of the curb market, I was excited to finally go and see what it was all about. There, we found that the people and food are down-to-earth with some surprises.

First, the location: just west of the downtown connector at the corner of Edgewood Avenue and Jesse Hill Jr. Drive. Auburn Avenue is a block north of Edgewood, and the district is designated as "Sweet Auburn" because it was a prosperous business area for the city's African-American population in the mid-twentieth century. The "curb market" is so named because segregation at the time meant that the blacks shopped outside, while the whites did so inside out of the elements. In relation to downtown, it's approximately here:



Now everyone can shop there, and Hubby and I did some produce hunting before the tour started. We went to Natural Produce, which, in addition to locally grown fruits and veggies, carries pre-washed , shredded, cut up, diced, chopped, and otherwise deconstructed produce. However, as we found out, eat or cook the washed and cut up veggies quickly or re-pack them in produce bags with paper towels to absorb the moisture because otherwise, they won't last past a few days, even in the fridge.

As I mentioned, the food is "down-to-earth." Atlanta Culinary Tour leader David Jones (not the pirate or Monkee) had us sample some "white dirt," which is sold in some of the produce shops. It pretty much tastes like, well, dirt.

Our first real food stop was Ciao Boca. Owner Debora Kudelka treated us to samples of a meatball sandwich and one with arugula and pancetta, both of which were really yummy. She made sure to let us know that she has vegetarian-friendly soups and grilled cheese paninis for our non meat-eating friends.




After a stop to talk about the proper way to cook pig's ears at Country Meats, we stopped at Metro Deli Soul Food. Each of us got a little plate with something different. I had a rib, black-eyed peas, and collards. Hubby had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and collards. Oh, and cornbread! They also gave us samples of either peach or sweet potato cobbler for dessert. The next time I want soul food, I know where I'm going, although I don't think I'm brave enough to try pig's ears yet.

We'd also talked about oxtail, as the curb market was known for its variety of meat shops, and the lower level was once an abattoir, where animals were slaughtered for sale. We got to sample some at Afrodish, and even non-adventurous meat eaters would be hard-pressed to resist the seasoning.

Our other non-dessert stop included Tilapia Express, where owner Farrah's daughter peered over the counter as he served us a deep-fried trio of catfish, tilapia, and whiting. Then it was on to the sweet stuff!

Sweet Auburn Bakery has the following case of temptation:



I didn't think it was possible, but I found room for a little sweet potato cheesecake there:



Then we got to meet Miss D and sample her New Orleans Pralines, which did, as promised, melt in my mouth.

Finally, we ended up at Café Campesino, where we had coffee to combat the food comas that threatened to set in at any moment. Oh, and the scones were good, too. Hubby and I knew them from the Saturday Decatur Farmer's Market, but it's nice to know where to find them during the week.

My only complaint about the tour is something that liability and legal reasons would prevent, which would be beer or wine to go with all the great food. Hubby and I made up for that afterward. We also had dinner reservations at Sound Table, which we ended up moving to 10:00 because we knew we wouldn't be hungry until then. Overall, it was a fun afternoon, and we enjoyed getting to know some of Atlanta's food, history, and the intrepid restaurant and shop owners that are making up our local food scene.