Mary Ewing-Mulligan, Tracy Ellen Kamens and Ian Harris

Having completed my Diploma of Wine & Spirits in July of this year, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the International Wine Center’s annual holiday party/Diploma Graduate Dinner in early December. The event was held at I Trulli restaurant and was kicked off with a lovely Champagne reception with passed hors d’oeuvres. I enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with a number of colleagues with whom I been out of touch more recently. I also had the chance to meet several new people as well.

Upon being seated, a formal introduction of the new Diploma graduates was made by Mary Ewing-Mulligan, MW (President of the International Wine Center), with each person invited to come up and have their photo taken with Mary and Ian Harris of the Wine & Spirits Education Trust, visiting from London. Each graduate was presented with an engraved paperweight.

Diners had the option of Barolo-braised Beef Cheeks or Merluzzo Pan-seared Hake Fillet for dinner and, while the Beef Cheeks was the hands-down winner at my table, I just couldn’t bring myself to order it. I usually try to be adventurous in my eating, but, unlike Sweet Breads, the name Beef Cheeks just isn’t very appetizing to me. It actually looked delicious when it was served, so I was a little sorry, but the fish was quite good, so either way I had an enjoyable meal.

The white wine on offer was the 2007 Orsolani Erbaluce di Caluso ‘La Rustia’ and the red wine was a 2003 Carettlo di Montegrosso Barbera d’Asti ‘Ruleja.’ In addition to these two wines, each table was filled with a collection of wines brought by the table’s attendees, with each collection naturally varying. Lisa Donneson of Bouke wines sat next to me and had brought her wine portfolio to try. I especially liked her white blend, which marries Chardonnay (40%), Pinot Gris (32%), Sauvignon Blanc (18%) and Gewurztraminer (10%). The rose was nice, but I think I would have preferred that it be served at a cooler temperature. I never got around to trying her red wine because I was anxious to taste the Pio Cesare Barolo on our table, with no offence meant to Lisa, of course. Later on in the evening, a debate about whether or not one of the red wines (I think it was a Pinot Noir) was corked or otherwise faulted (possibly reductive) took place at our table. Regardless, it was a great evening and a fabulous event. I look forward to celebrating with my fellow DWS holders next year.

While I consider myself to be an ethical person, the ethics of my role in public relations at the wine importer for which I work, never occurred to me. At least not until it hit me head on.

One of my first tasks required that I send out a save-the-date to a pre-selected list of press members — some of whom are also members of the Wine Media Guild. Upon its receipt, I received an e-mail from one of the WMG’s officers who expressed some concern about my newly bestowed membership and my status as a public relations agent. I think I quelled the inquirer’s fears with my explanation, but it did underscore the ethical issues involved, many of which I had not considered prior to taking on this new job.

On a public level, I am keeping the name of my employers mum, although I have admittedly told a few people one on one. And, of course, some people know by virtue of having received the invitation mentioned above.

But, more importantly, I think that my actions as a wine writer need to be considered carefully in the months ahead, especially regarding the wines I discuss. I generally don’t do wine ratings on this blog, but I do write about and recommend wines through my monthly newsletter. Accordingly, I plan to avoid including wine recommendations from my present employer’s portfolio for the period during my employment. I don’t feel that writing about an event I attend under the auspices of my employment is unethical, as long as I am clear and upfront about that fact and the stated purpose of the event. Perhaps others disagree?

As a wine writer and journalist, I endeavor to be fair and open-minded in my writing and reporting and thus, the notion that I might engage in unethical behavior is anathema to me. To that end, I will be more alert to the possibilities of unethical behavior in an effort to avoid any such inappropriateness. However, I am confident that I can be objective in my writing despite my temporary PR position and hope that my colleagues will share that confidence.

So, I’ve settled into a certain rhythm with the new job. Well, at least as much of a rhythm as one can get given the vageries of public transit. I leave my apartment at 8:00 AM, rush across the street to catch the M60, disembark at 125th and Madison to meet up with the Metro North train, whereby upon arrival I board a shuttle bus, which takes to me to my final destination is a corporate park. Fingers crossed, the trip runs 1.5 hours, but the return has taken as long as 2.5 hours door to door — not fun. Consequently, I’ve been rather exhausted at the end of the day and have thus been lax at writing. I’m thinking about getting a Net ook to improve my productivity en route, but have at least mastered the art of Facebooking from my phone in the meantime.

Once at the office, things aren’t too bad. My colleagues are very nice and helpful as I start to get the hang of various projects. Among my responsibilities, I need to track ratings, reviews and other press received by the importer’s wines and brands and share them with the marketing team and others in the field. I also help with sending out press releases, invitations to events and samples. Overall, not surprisingly, the goal is get these wines into the hands of influential members of the media who, we hope, will enjoy the wine and communicate favorably about it.

The power of the press is particularly evident as we look to share these reviews with the wine-buying public. Almost as quickly as the reviews are printed, the company is designing shelf-talkers in an effort to get these ratings side by side the wines in retail shops across the country. Other opportunities to capitalize on these scores come when a publication advises the producer or importer that one’s wine(s) have been favorably reviewed in an upcoming issue. Many of these publications offer the option of doing a label insertion, whereby the wine’s label will appear in print (and/or one the web) alongside the printed score and review. Of course, in most cases, there is fee involved, blurring the line between editorial and advertising. However, the scores are printed regardless of whether the option of doing a label insertion is taken. Sometimes, the publication will print a label or bottle shot on their own volition without the wine company having to pay any money, but this approach seems to be done less frequently by the big scoring magazines than others. All in all, it is really not that big of a deal; magazines and other publications are, after all, in the business of making money. But, as seeing this side of the business was new to me, I found it somewhat interesting to learn the truth.

On a side note, my new-found employment has provided me with a new answer to the age-old question, “What’s in a name?” Apparently everything. When I arrived at the office on day one, the IT person was setting up my e-mail and signature file. As he typed, I noticed a spelling error and brought it to his attention that there was no “e” in my first name, but it was too late. My e-mail id had already been established as tracey.kamens@companyname.com and the id was also my login for the computer, server and all thing technological with this company. It’s been very weird to have to remind myself to purposely misspell my name on a daily basis.

My second day at the new office coincided with the arrival of Beaujolais Nouveau, which takes place on the third Thursday in November. In most offices around the country, if not the world, the day was like any other day. But, at the wine importer’s office, which represents a large Beaujolais producer, it was a day to celebrate. At lunch, the entire office was treated to a catered lunch, along with, of course, a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau. After we had enjoyed our meal, a drawing was held with various wine-themed items raffled off. For those who were unsuccessful in the raffle, there was no need to despair as all employees were sent home with a parting gift – a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau! It was certainly a fun kick-off to my tenure at the company.

Beaujolais Nouveau hails from, you guessed it, Beaujolais, which lies at the southern end of Burgundy. While other Burgundian communes focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Beaujolais is a bastion of the Gamay grape. Beaujolais Nouveau, as opposed to Beaujolais, is unique because the wine is from the current vintage – in this case 2008 – and follows an extremely fast turn-around time from grape to glass.

It is primarily produced via carbonic maceration, which is an interesting twist on standard fermentation. In carbonic maceration, the grapes are loaded into fermentation vessels and sealed under a layer of CO2, hence carbonic. The grapes begin to macerate and undergo intracellular fermentation, fermenting within the skins before being crushed and pressed into wine. Concurrently, due to the weight, grapes at the bottom of the vessel become crushed and start regular fermentation, reacting with the natural yeasts found on the bloom of the grape. The resulting wines are fresh, fruity and meant to be drunk young.

Georges Duboeuf, the largest producer of Beaujolais Nouveau, is credited with marketing the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon in the U.S. It’s a good deal for the producers who can use the cash flow for their activities much sooner than the usual production period. For consumers, it is a great excuse to be festive in the graying days of late Fall.

Beaujolais Nouveau has its detractors, but it certainly doesn’t claim to be a serious or complex wine; there simply isn’t time for the wine to develop any complexity, given its nascence. Frankly, I think that sometimes we all need to just sip without a major thought process involved.

More credible criticism is the carbon footprint that transporting Beaujolais Nouveau to the U.S. via plan entails. Some producers are becoming cognizant of the impact this has on the environment and lobbied (and received) special dispensation from the Beaujolais wine authority to ship the wine via boat instead, necessitating a release three weeks prior to the authorized date. Others have replaced their glass bottles with plastic, which does significantly reduce their weight, but apparently not enough to make-up for the use of aircraft. At least they are trying and I’m sure that greater steps will be taken next year.

This week I started working in the Public Relations department of a large wine importer, while someone is out on maternity leave. Unfortunately, the offices are not located in Manhattan, which means that I am contending with a lengthy, reverse commute. I guess I’ll finally get to catch up on my Decanter issues.

Among the adjustments for me is simply being back in an office environment after nearly 6 months of working at home. If nothing else, I had the greatest boss ;-). Another change is being in corporate America, which is something I had never done since all of my previous career was spent in higher education. Also, having been at NYU for seven years, it is strange to be the new kid on the block, not even knowing where the supply closet is located, let alone the bathroom (I actually do know where that is). In fact, I actually got lost for a few minutes yesterday as I couldn’t recall from which direction I had come.

The people whom I’ve met thus far have been very nice and I look forward to getting to know them better in the months ahead. As to the work itself, it will be interesting to see a different side of the wine business and I am confident that I will learn greatly from this experience.

There was mention of a wine closet, which I believe will be shown to me in the next week or so. I think it is probably akin to the coveted fashion closet (at Vogue?) that Carrie raved about on an episode of Sex & the City. For Carrie, it was heaven to be surrounded by designer clothing, shoes and accessories. For me, I expect it will be a similarly celestial experience, but instead of coveting Manolo Blahniks, it will be classed Bordeaux. Of course, I don’t think that the wine in the closet is up for open grabs, I’m just looking forward to seeing it and being surrounded by lots of bottles of wine.

Sometime last year, I was searching the Internet for dogs and wine. I can’t remember what I was looking for, but I found a photo of a wine label, which included George Rodrigue‘s Blue Dog. I  discovered Blue Dog when Rodrigue’s works of art were first displayed in an art gallery in SoHo many years ago. I then had the opportunity to view and ultimately purchase a lithograph at his New Orleans, LA studio, while on vacation in 1997. Seeing Blue Dog paired with wine, I was instantly in love with the label, and set about finding a way to acquire it.

It turned out that the wine was from Amuse Bouche, the Pomerol-style, Napa Valley Merlot blend wine from renowned winemaker, Heidi Barrett.  More specifically, it was their 2006 vintage, as they commission a new label from a recognized artist each year; the 2007 vintage sports artwork by LeRoy Neiman.

Produced in limited quantity, the wine is only available in a six-pack from the winery. However, I was too late; the 2006 vintage was sold out. After some detective work, I found the wine available from wine retailer, the Duke of Bourbon in California. While we could have purchased a single bottle of the wine, we chose to do the six-pack as it would include a signed lithograph of the label design.

The wine and lithograph arrived earlier this fall and we were so excited to receive it. We have not yet opened up any of the wine, but it is safely nestled in our cellar. The lithograph was taken to Jack’s Art Gallery, our local go-to framer, who did a fabulous job, as usual. The framed Blue Dog was appropriately hung in our dining room, just in time to host a small dinner party with friends.

It is truly a joy to look at the art and, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I recently had an opportunity to check out a new wine book, WineWise: Your Complete Guide to Understanding, Selecting and Enjoying Wine, published by John Wiley & Sons, October 2008. It was co-authored by Steven Kolpan, Brian H. Smith and Michael A. Weiss, all of whom are faculty members in the wine studies department at the Culinary Institute of America.

I don’t doubt that the authors are quite knowledgeable about wine, but I found this book to be somewhat confusing in its approach. The book’s content is consumer focused and in fact, Chapter 1 expressly states that the book was written for “people [who] are enjoying wine…in their homes, at parties and other social events, or when dining out.” However, its hard cover, size, shape and two-column format brought to mind a textbook. Yet, it doesn’t work as a textbook because the content doesn’t seem to go deep enough for college-level wine students.

Similar to other books in this genre, the pages are peppered with colorful wine label images, which, while attractive, seem to be more of a distraction than of use to the reader (a critique that I apply to most of these books, not just this one). I did find it interesting, and a refreshing change, that the book begins with wine regions in the U.S. as opposed to starting in Europe as the majority do. Also, I found the pairing of Canada and Greece in the same chapter (titled, Up and Coming: Canada and Greece) to be quite unusual. More substantively, some of the call-outs and compiled information were useful such as the list of “Best-known ‘Super Tuscans'” and a number of really good maps were included as well.

I have not read the authors’ other book, Exploring Wine: The Culinary Institute of America’s Complete Guide to Wines of the World, so I don’t know if this new book is indicative of their writing style. However, I think that Kevin Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course book does a better job, overall, in communicating this same information to the consumer.

The book is available through Amazon. Publisher’s list price: $29.95