No Swill Zone - Cameron Hughes Lot 26

I’d seen these wines lying around Costco before. Same looking label on the same looking bottles, the only difference being the color of the label, the contents of the bottle, and the “lot”.

Turns out Cameron Hughes does not make wine by vintage or vineyard but by “lot”. See, Cameron Hughes’ wines are made from excess grapes sourced from wineries worldwide and most are a one-time deal. Like a Syrah from the Edna Valley? Buy up because it might be the only one he’ll ever make. Not to worry, most lots are enough that if you like a particular wine you’ll probably be able to get your hands on some. But after that, it’s gone forever.

My particular run in came when we got some clams (farmed in FLA by the way!) at Costco and realized we needed a wine to go with them. With my girlfriend braving the checkout line I ran to the back of the store to pick something out. Again I’d seen these wines at Costco before but never thought twice about them until now when I was hurried, panicked and noticed the $10.99 price tag. It was Lot 26, a Sauvignon Blanc sourced from vineyards in Marlborough, New Zealand.

With wine and mollusks in tow we headed home. Initially we were going to have clams with pasta but my girlfriend felt too tired to cook so it was up to me. Since I’m not a pasta fan I braved to find a different method to make these puppies. I picked up The New Spanish Table by Anya von Bremzen (one of my favorite cookbooks) and sure enough there was a recipe for clams braised in butter with serrano ham. ‘Nuff said.

Clams were made and wine was opened. I didn’t think the wine would outshine the clams, but damn! The wine and clam pairing was horrible, in fact awful. The clams were buttery and salty and smoky and were excellent. The wine blew up with kiwi and grapefruit but drank a little drier than I’d imagined. Together not so good, but we couldn’t stop drinking it. For $11 the quality of the wine was way above its price range. As for pairing it with some smoky clams, it was a bad idea. But given that summer is coming up and lighter meals are on the menu (like clams in broth without Serrano ham and pimenton) it’s a perfect with our Floridian snapper, shrimp etc. Buy this stuff up while you still can. When it’s gone, it’s gone.

My take: get out and buy as much of this as you can but leave some for me!

Direct Wine Shipping to Florida in Jeopardy

I knew this was coming up soon. Another sign of the apocalypse or at least another sign that Florida is destined to take as many backward steps possible in making this an advanced and progressive state. Heck, we just allowed evolution to be taught in schools (but only as a scientific theory, which is more than can be said for creationist theory. What’s their proof?).

A few years ago the Supreme Court struck down protectionist laws regarding direct wine shipping. In a nutshell, the Court said that states could not discriminate between in and out of state wineries shipping to citizens within a state. In Florida for example, the few wineries which we have in the state were allowed to ship their product to individuals; however, wineries from out of state were prohibited from shipping directly to consumers and had to go through retailers via distributors. After the Court’s decision Florida had no choice but to open its borders and allow all U.S. wineries the ability to ship directly to Floridians after filing regulatory and tax-related paperwork. This was a boon to Floridians who could now get wine from their favorite wineries regardless of the state in which they’re located.

But now we’re about to pull the typical Floridian ass-backwards move. There a not one, not two, but FOUR bills in the legislature (two in the House and two in the Senate) which impose all sorts of restriction on direct wine shipment. One thing all have in common however is a restriction on the size of the winery where a Floridian can order wine from. The winery can only produce a maximum of 250,000 gallons of wine, which is a heck of a lot of wine. However, with holding companies buying more and more boutique wineries, it gets to a point where even a teeny tiny winery, if part of a big conglomerate, would not be allowed to ship to this state.

Who’s behind all this? Why should so many state legislators care about direct wine shipment? Well, Florida is home to Southern Wine and Spirits (SW&S), the largest wine, beer and liquor distributor in the state (as well as the country). They’re based in Miramar but have distributorships in most major states. So who’s sponsoring these bills? They happen to all represent the districts of Southeast Florida! They’re Representatives Rene Garcia (Hialeah) and Ellyn Setnor Bogdanoff (Fort Lauderdale) and Senators Gwen Margolis (Eastern Miami-Dade/Southeast Broward) and Steven Geller (Broward County). Research shows the following donations to each individual’s previous campaigns:
Steven Geller ($500 each from SW&S of Florida and South Carolina, and Gold Coast Beverage Distributors),
Rene Garcia ($500 from Diageo, SW&S of Florida and South Carolina, Harvey Chaplin (founder SW&S), and Florida Wholesale Spirits),
Ellyn Bogdanoff ($6,500 worth of donations from the Food & Beverage industry including 2 donations from SW&S of Florida, SW&S of South Carolina, Gold Coast Beverage Distributors and Florida Wholesale Spirits),
Gwen Margolis ($500 each from SW&S of Florida and South Carolina, and Gold Coast Beverage Distributors).

So there you go. All four bills have been introduced by persons whose districts basically cover Miami-Dade and Broward counties and who have received donations from various liquor distributors. Arguments against direct shipping include the possibility of those under 21 years of age ordering wine and the effect of direct shipping on local distributors who have spent millions setting up legal distribution channels. Counterarguments for both issues are easy. Delivery services are required to have someone 21+ sign for packages containing direct-shipped wine so chances are it’s easier for an underage person to acquire alcohol at their local liquor store than via mail (and what teenager do you know would get drunk on Screaming Eagle or Seasmoke?). As for distributors, the amount of wine ordered direct is so miniscule compared to that any effect on their business would be negligible.

What this bill effectively does is give local distributors the decision as to what you can buy on the shelves of your local wine shop or supermarket. If a winery doesn’t have a distributor in FLA, you’re not going to get their wine. For small wineries this will make Florida off limits because our giant distributors will avoid wineries that can’t fulfill large orders for their retail clientele.

So what can you do if you care? If you’ve read my rant this far you might as well help me fight the power! Write to the introducers of these House and Senate bills, write to your local Representatives, and write to Governor Christ. Lookup information on Free the Grapes (a non-profit organization trying to lift wine shipping bans in all 50 states). Keep Florida from reverting back to a backwards Puritan state. And order some wine from another state before it’s too late!

Gwen Margolis e-mail
Steven Geller e-mail
Rene Garcia e-mail
Ellyn Bogdanoff e-mail

NY Times Discovers Rueda

Not that they've just discovered it, but they've devoted an article and a tasting to it. Why should that matter to us? Rueda, a D.O. northwest of Madrid, specializes in crisp whites from the verdejo grape. Being from Spain these wines are very easy to find in Miami. Being easily quaffable, food friendly whites, they'd be welcome during our lovely hurricane season which is just around the corner. Two of my favorites, Con Classe and Basa, were featured. There are tons available at Happy Wine, Total Wine, Xixon and many other wine shops and Spanish food shops. Do yourself a favor keep some of these bottles on hand for as soon as the temps start creeping up.

No Swill Zone - Inaugural Edition

Given the state we're in, and particularly the location in the state that we're in, it's no wonder that Miami is a crossroads for many things. Banking, the arts, food, and, this recurring post's subject, wine. Florida is, according to who you ask, the second or third largest wine consuming state in the nation. But given Florida's three-tiered distribution system, and the fact that we're home to the largest alcohol distributor in the country, our choices in wine are sometimes limited.

We do, however, enjoy the benefits of being a crossroads which wine-wise means we excel at having a having a diversity of wines that reflect our region's culture. This means wines from regions with Latin influences, with Spain, Chile and Argentina leading the way, as well as from our neighbors way West and Northwest. A recent study found that if you live east of an imaginary line going from Ohio to Texas, it's actually better for the environment to purchase wines from Europe that are transported by ship (versus wines from the West Coast which come by truck). Given that much ofwhat we buy comes from Asia, and China in particular, I figured I'm probably ruining the environment more by buying plastic forks made in China versus Pinot Noir grown in Oregon. So when it comes to drinking wines, destination and environmental concerns take a back seat.

National wine reviews are great, but many times it's tough, if not impossible, to find the wine in Miami because it lacks a distributor. There's a few local wine critics in our daily or weekly rags, and most seem to pander to those searching for everyday value wines from large, well known producers. The reviews are usually basic but it's an almost certainty that the wines reviewed can be found fairly easily.

Where do I fit into all this? I'm not necessarily sure. I'm not a wine expert by any means, but I figured if I end up liking a wine, maybe someone else in MIA can take it as a suggestion to try something they normally wouldn't. And one thing is that with almost complete certainty the wines that will appear in the No Swill Zone will have been bought in, or accessible to, South Florida. And I can assure with complete certainty that there will be no swill. And as for scoring the wines, I hate the point system, I hate the star system so I haven't decided what it'll be. I'll try some out in the coming months and see what sticks.

One such wine which we opened the other night is the 2005 Prima from the Toro denomination in Spain. Toros have been getting a lot of press recently as Robert Parker has seemingly fallen in love with some woman from Valladolid or they have some dirty pictures of him somewhere and they've blackmailed him into awarding the 2004 Termanthia a rare 100 points accompanied by a host of others receiving high 90's. With Spanish wines so popular in South Florida we're flooded with Toros and have easy access to the 100 point giants as well as smaller producers.

Toros are knows for being big, bold wines ("toro" meaning "bull" in Spanish) so they're not for swishing in a backyard picnic in July. But as our weather is a little more temparate this time of year, it's the perfect time to pop this baby open. Prima delivers what you'd expect, bold dark flavors yet a little mellow at the end. It's still a bit tannic so a bit of aging might help it (or some decanting prior).

Prima can be found easily around town. The distributor has been doing tastings at Sunset Corners and Bin no. 18. I'm sure other retailers carry it as well.

So here's the lowdown:

Wine: 2005 Prima, D.O.C. Toro, Spain

Producer: Bodegas y Vinedos Maurodos

Purchased: Sunset Corners, $19.99

And something timely for the rating:

Randy: "Yes", Paula: "Yes", Simon: "Yes". Congratulations Prima, you're going down my gullet!

Au revoir Philippe!

For years when I worked in Coral Gables I'd head north on LeJeune a couple of times a month to have a quick lunch and stroll the ridiculously narrow and crampped aisles of Best Time Wine. This shoebox of a wine shop on 8th St. a few blocks from LeJeune was probably the most atypical wine shop around. Compare it to Wolff's on Miracle Mile or Total Wine in NMB? No way. This place was not about presentation. It was about good wines at low prices.
Due to a run-in with the landlord, Best Time Wine closed up shop and moved a few miles west under the guise of Happy Wine. A little bigger space, but the same concept.

The man behind both of these establishments, Philippe Douriez, is taking a back seat to pursue other interests. I can't tell you what this guy has done for the wine scene in Miami. His specials are outrageous. It got to the point where my friends and I referred to him as "the back of the truck guy" because we figured that in order for him to sell at the prices he did, he had to get his inventory off the back of a moving truck. But it wasn't only the prices that had us going back. Best Time, and then Happy Wine, was a constant party. Go any time of the day or night and there are people eating, drinking, and sometimes dancing. And among them with the biggest smile is Phillippe either pouring someone another glass or making suggestions for bottles for an upcoming party. I'll miss Phillipe, but according to his goodbye, the staff at Happy Wine will continue the tradition. I wish them, and Phillipe, good luck and success and hope that the party won't end.