Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Wine alphabet challenge for 2010 & B

The things that you come up with on Twitter. In a discussion with @gonzogastronomy this morning I came up with the concept of a wine alphabet challenge for 2010. She was looking for a challenge for the new year and I suggested the alphabet. After some back and forth, I settled on grapes and producers. So for example A is for Albarino, and C is for Cobb. I think my challenge for myself will be to do the alphabet twice, once for wines and once for producers.
I'm tempted to force myself to go in alphabetical order, but I think just continuing to track as I go along. I must admit that our forthcoming publication of Evan Goldstein's Daring Pairings me be giving me false hope, as Evan lists grapes for almost every letter. http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/11029.php
I would love your suggestions, particularly for the trickier letters. I'll keep you updated letter by letter here and possibly on twitter as well. Wish me luck!

Looks like we have a group. Also joining are:@oenoblog and @marycressler!!!

B is for Bonny Doon. In this case 2006 Cigare Volant. The 2006 is a blend of Mourvèdre, Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah,Carignane I've written about Bonny Doon before and have had the pleasure to work with Randall Grahm on Been Doon So Long http://www.beendoonsolong.com/ For those who have not read it, it you should! Randall is articulate and creative and truly inspirational.
I'm excited to make this my first letter of our challenge!

And for the laugh, I was explaining the challenge in the car on the way home to my daughter. She has decided R is for Rose so I'll be looking for a rose with an r grape or producer.




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8 comments:

  1. Mary CresslerJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:24 PM

    Great Challenge! If you get stuck check out this wine shop for inspiration: corkwineshop.com/newsletter.php
    It is a wine shop I frequent, and they did a similar wine abc education in their newsletter. I hope the link works. It was fun to follow along, especially for some of the tricky letters. Good luck!

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  2. El JefeJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:32 PM

    This might be a fun meme to do variations on. It's given me an idea anyway...;) Good luck! - j ps: T is for Twisted Oak, of course!

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  3. Bernard and EvaJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:32 PM

    Good luck! Sounds like you will get to try a lot of lesser known (but hopefully good) varietals! Make sure to find Storyteller Wines as well, as they would have great recommendations.

    Bernard & Eva
    www.portlandoregonwine.com

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  4. Ryan ReichertJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:37 PM

    Sounds fun! Good luck - maybe some of us ought to join you!

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  5. KatieJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:44 PM

    As the partner in crime, I'll make the suggestion of looking at Wine Century Club's list of varietals for some help (I should know, I'm a member)! Will do a post on this later as well, and link back here!!

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  6. Kevin GlowackiJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:44 PM

    You may find this link helpful, http://www.pjwine.com/html/101varietals.html for some of the trickier letters.

    You could also include regions, since that is how the old world labels their wines. That would also make Q easier, though a bit pricier since there are few Quarts de Chaume and they are usually pricey.

    Sounds like a really fun project!

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 6, 2010 at 12:51 PM

    z is for zibibbo

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  8. KatieJanuary 7, 2010 at 5:17 AM

    Here's a link to my post on this as well, guys. I'll be updating occasionally to let readers know how the challenge is going (technically 2 challenges). I'm focusing on wine names instead of varietals or wineries (for example "The Prisoner" for P). Should make for a fun year!! Started off with an "M" last night which I'll be adding to the list: Ledson's 2005 "Mes Trois Amours". Cheers!! http://bit.ly5MB6As

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