SmartBlogs on Food and Beverage

SmartBrief editor and wine fan Liz DeHoff offers a roundup of the latest wine blog news.

• The New York Times’ Eric Asimov lifts the curtain on Txakolina, a refreshing white wine from Spain’s Basque region that is particularly well suited to the sweltering summer days we’ve been having in abundance on the East Coast this year. August is the perfect time to introduce your customers to the effervescent joys of this cool, zesty sipper, but it can be drunk year round (and is, in its native land).
• Elsewhere, Jeff Lefevere of Good Grape examines the Bordeaux Wine Council’s new branding strategy — “Bordeaux Tomorrow: The Reconquest” — which is intended to spice up the region’s image.
• California Wine Country is suffering the effects of a cold snap. What will it mean for wine buyers in the next few years?
• New York Cork Report’s Tom Mansell kicks off a series examining biodynamics, the controversial winemaking practice that mixes organic farming with new-age spirituality (I’m greatly oversimplifying it). Mansell plans to explore the intersection of traditional farming, organic and biodynamic (and includes a handy-dandy Venn diagram). What does biodynamic mean for your customers? Mansell plans to find out.
• The San Francisco Chronicle’s Jon Bonné catches up with Randall Graham, the pioneering personality behind the well-known Bonny Doon brand. Graham is renowned for his off-the-wall marketing ideas and zany sense of humor, but his latest endeavor is anything but a joke: He’s planting a vineyard from seeds and hopes to experiment with unique hybrid grapes. It’s an expensive risk, but one that he’s passionate about.
• Hot spots: Slashfood’s Kristine Hansen explores highly specialized wine bars, such as a Champagne-focused hot spot in Chicago and a pinot powerhouse in Portland, Ore.
• Tastings: Robert Dwyer delves into Italy’s famed Barbaresco (http://www.wellesleywinepress.com/2010/08/passageway-to-italian-wine-through.html); The San Francisco Chronicle samples Spanish reds from emergent Denominacions d’Origen; PalatePress’ Remy Charest unveils the mysteries of France’s Jura region.

Have you come across any interesting wine news lately? Leave a comment and share!

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