Wine Vault TV With Special Guest Gary Vaynerchuk

If you slow down and listen to this conversation you will hear two wine commentators share personal thoughts that will help expand both your wine journey and wine pleasure. 

Wines Have a Range of Flavors

Sauvignon Blanc by its very nature will range from  intense zippy flavors to a more subtle and balanced profile. Listen to Gary and you will learn he likes knife-edge acidity and wines that lean almost to an out of balance profile. Jayson on the other hand prefers an elegant and restrained style.This can be because of the number of bottles produced, yields in the vineyard, extended lees contact, some with barrel fermentation or even blending semillon into the finished wine.  Whatever the reason, this leads to the next interesting idea.     

Find a Good Wine Retailer

This one is simple.

• A good wine retailer will take the time to get to know you
• Follow up about prior purchases 
• Will steer you toward wines you will like
• Every store will have a geek, find them
• Get to know them on a first name basis
• It will be a good thing

Ratings

Ratings reflect a moment in time and do not reflect the context or setting in which wines are enjoyed. While both Gary and Jayson liked the St Clair Sauvignon Blanc it was more suited to Jayson’s style. 

The critical wine reviewers will tell you they are critical wine reviewers because they are independent judges and have neutral opinions. All wines have a style or personality about them and reviewers will naturally connect more with certain styles. High scores, medals, rave reviews are only relevant if you truly know the wine preferences of the critic and how they compare to yours.  

• Be brave make the effort to learn what you like!

The only opinion that counts is yours.

• Trust Your Own Palate

This phrase is repeated throughout the conversation. There is a reason for this – it is your money – your wine decision – your dinner with friends.   

Regions

In the early days of the New Zealand wine story, wines were described to be “New Zealand wines”. This is now changing and we are learning the distinct differences between:   

• Central Otago
• Martinborough
• Marlborough
• Waipara
• Waiheke Island
• Northland
• Hawkes Bay
• Canterbury
• Nelson
• Gisborne

These regions even have sub regions within the regions. This is another good reason to get to know your wine retailer or sommelier.  Both Jayson and Gary know their path to success is directly tied to your wine satisfaction. I am confident both are good sources to expand your wine experiences.    

Enjoy this conversation between two wine people who care about you. 

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Origins of No Cookie Cutter Wines

Over the last few years I have been showing different small production Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand. Two wines were from different regions in Marlborough, the Golden Mile and the Awatere Valley. Another the Waipara Valley near Canterbury. All have different approaches in the vineyard and winemaking to include blending of Semillion, another high density vineyard planting and yet another the subtle use of barrel fermenting. All are produced in small quantities of less than 3,000 cases.

In New Zealand, wines like this are the minority in terms of total litres produced and the majority in terms of number of producers. About 87% of all New Zealand wine producers make less than 25,000 cases per year. This means the majority of wines found outside of New Zealand are from the bigger players, this makes sense.

Here is an exchange that took place in London that highlights why much of New Zealand’s wine never leaves the country.

“I also met 2 charming Antipodeans from New Zealand who were working in Bristol to whom I apologised beforehand about part of my talk re the additives in cheap New Zealand wines.”

Their reply was “Please don’t apologise. It’s a well known fact back at home that the cheaper wines are produced for the masses and the locals won’t buy it – so we send it over to you!”  You can read the full article here.

For this reason, it was not uncommon to hear  the phrase “No Cookie Cutter Wines”  because most people had and still have not been exposed to this side of New Zealand wine. So I filed the comment away for future use. At the same time there were many comments about wines from many places all starting to taste the same and it made sense to use the comment for a greater purpose.

Here are few writers who have used the phrase Cookie Cutter Wines to describe this category of wine. Alice Feiring, Frank Prial, Howard Goldberg, Eric Asimov, a web search will find more.

Today, we have a simple site with some guest commentary about wine. The site is open to those who have a story to share. With today’s changing flow of wine information, this is one more place to both contribute and find new and delicious wines. We will also develop the regional themes in the image below.

Include Your Story

Seth Godin on the tribes we lead | Video on TED.com

In this video Seth Godin talks about Tribes and how they create meaningful impact in all parts of the world. We have created the No Cookie Cutter Wines and related web sites for this purpose. To be a place where artisans and consumers can exchange ideas and experiences. And the magic that results from food, wine and friends.

The video is 17 minutes and I believe you will find it inspiring and will empower you with a sense of purpose. If it is related to artisan handcraft wine or foods or travel to special places, please share it here with other like minded people.

Johner Wein Welten – Pinot World of Wine » Blog Archive » London International Wine Fair 2009

Here is a video from Johner Wein Welten who make Pinot Noir and other wines in both Germany and New Zealand. It highlights the challenge small artisan brands from around the world face today. This is why these wines are a treasure hunt to find.

Thanks for sharing.

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Innovation in the Flow of Wine Information

I came across this article on innovation sometime ago by Tim O’Reily and it really resonated with my reasons for creating No Cookie Cutter Wines.

Tim shares some examples and the common theme seems to be people just wanting to make something better. My goal with the entire No Cookie Platform is to have a place where like minded food, wine and travel people can share their unique stories and experiences.

Most everyone is welcome to contribute, you just have to say hello or leave a comment here and I will get what you need to start posting on your own.

NY Times Predicts End of Cookie Cutter Wines

I can’t take credit for being first to use the this description. Here is one Google found for me. Let me know what your experiences with Cookie Cutter Wines have been.

This link is to an article from 2000 NY Times predicts end of cookie cutter wines