I have been a long-time reader of The Wine Spectator magazine. I have watched it go through its ups and downs, its ongoing feud with Robert Parker, its spin-off Cigar Afficianado magazine, and its depressing shift toward advertizing-influenced ratings (my belief). Through all of this, I have always looked forward to the December issue and its Top 100. That began to change a few years ago when the magazine redefined its criteria for the Top 100. Price became a factor (actually, a major factor). At first I thought this would be an interesting spin on a Top 100, since low price generally means more made and hence more "available". That all came to a screaching halt this year, when to my dismay I saw that Yellowtail Reserve Shiraz came in at #72. Really, ...Yellowtail?!? Yeah, I get it, it is good and available, but one of the 100 best wines of the year. Really? 28 places ahead of Caymus Cabernet. Really? Valdicava Reserve Brunello, at 100 points (no better possible) was on the list, but Casanova di Neri Reserve, also 100 points and $15 cheaper did not make the list at all! By their logic...you know what, I cannot even begin to understand their logic.

They often get it right, though. I just drank a bottle of the new vintage of Beringer Alluvium Blanc, an interesting blend of 4 different white grapes. It has the weight of Chardonnay but the spice of good, French Viognier, all tangy and spicy, with the spice originating in the grape, not the oak. Spectator just gave it 92 points, deservingly, but depressingly, because it is almost sold out a mere 1 week after release. Get some while you can.

Yesterday, the list of the most overused phrases in the American Lexicon was released yesterday, and "perfect storm" was #1 followed by "post 9/11" and "surge". If they ever make such a list for the wine world, "legs" is going to wine by a landslide! If I had a nickel for.... damn, now I'm doing it. We are a society that loves their cliches, but really, a wine's "legs" has got to go. If I go to one more dinner party where someone swirls their wine and then holds it up to the light and comments on the legs (or tears), I cannot be held responsible for my actions.

Alcohol and water have dramatically different evaporation rates and surface tensions. High surface tension will repel low surface tension (physics, sorry). Capillary action (physics again) causes wine to try and climb the side of the glass, thinning out. The alcohol in this film evaporates, making it more watery, thus with higher surface tension. This film is then repelled farther from the rest of the wine, which has a higher percentage of alcohol and lower suface tension. This process continues until gravity overcomes all and the weight of the liquid cascades back down. An easy proof is swirl your wine until you see "legs" then put a book over the top of the glass and repeat. No "legs". The book leaves the alcohol no place to evaporate.

So, "legs" have no relationship with quality, or sugar content as some also think. Merely a indicator of alcohol content. I think in this post 9/11 world, we can come up with something a little more relevant to say about our wine. That way I won't have to unlease a perfect storm on someone. Until next time, glasses up.

About 3 weeks ago, while working on a slow Thursday afternoon, I received a call from a local resident who asked if I was willing to help him asses the quality and possible value of some bottles that he had recently found in the basement of the house he had just inherited from his father. I end up doing this a few times every year, it seems, and it generally results in showing the owner how he/she can type the name of the wine into Google and discover that the bottle of White Star/Beringer/Mondavi/etc. is worth exactly what it is worth everyday.

 Then he walked in.

Carrying a dusty cardboard box filled with very dusty, oddly shaped bottles. The bottles were labeled as Moet Champagne 1922, and had clearly been reused. Back then, many bottles were hand blown, and these certainly had been. Immediatly I was disappointed when I saw that the corks were loose, port corks. Bad sign. We poured 2 glasses and it instantly smelled and looked like old Sherry. Obviously fortified (high alcohol), but still a nice nuttiness. I braved it and while it was completely vinegarized, it wasn't bad. At some point, his father had made a very passable, basement Sherry, that had survived for as many as 40 years without tight corks or good conditions. It was one of the most interesting days I have had since I started in this business.