Just looking at the homepage of WineBusiness.com would make the newbie-wine lover think "screw this, I'll have a beer!"

Seems like all anyone can talk about is how sales have declined, no can figure out how to market via social media outlets and everyone blogging is crying about flawed rating systems. If I was new to wine seeing all this, it doesn't exactly leave a positive impression.

I'm so tired of hearing about this sad-ass news.

Lets bring back excitment over new vintages, new winemakers, fresh techniques in winemaking, upcoming regions and who knows what else...

If things are really that shitty in the industry, then lets do something positive and find the joy again.

My brother, Tim (and Chief Propellerhead on VineSugar) just pulled the cork from a 1998 Monte Bello and said its already on the decline. A '98?!!? That's only 11 years in perfect cellar conditions and he thinks its already fading! Not too long ago, we also pulled the cork on a '99 Heitz Trailside Napa Valley Cab and thought the same thing. Tasting slowly as the day progresed and even a full day later, the verdict was still the same:

If you got 'em, DRINK 'EM! They ain't gettin' any better.

That's pretty crazy when you think about it. These are big-time wines meant to go the distance. Are even the classics being made in such a way that they can't even make it 10 years later? That's pretty sad when you think that ageability is a huge selling factor when one acquires wine like these.

We're thinking of doing a blind tasting of a bunch of oldie-but-goodies in the back of our cellars just to see how these vintages have been holding over the last decade. Could be the most expensive tasting we perform but should also be one of the most educational too.

I've journey to two different apartment complexes and a rental home with the same bottle of cheap white wine in my refrigerator. It was sort of a tradition to bring it with us everywhere we moved.

I felt it was time to enjoy it or pour it down the drain. To my wife's surprise, she saw what looked like sand crystals at base of where it was resting. "EEWW!" she clamored.

Actually, though it visually unappealing, it's harmless. The "crystals" are just naturally ocurring potassium and tartaric acid molecules that solidified.

All it means is that the wine did not go through the cold-stabilization process. This is when the wine is chilled to 30 degF for at least 36 hours; it forces precipitates to gather, clump together then fall to the container vessel. The wine is then racked off those particles then bottled. The process exists so that when the wine makes it to you and toss it in the fridge, these visually unappealing, but harmless particles don't occur in the bottle.

Cold stabilization requires a pretty big and costly operation so not all wineries, especially the smaller guys, can even afford to put their wines through it.

I read a brief article in a new wine related magazine that spoke about wine bloggers reviewing wines that were sent as samples and what the etiquette is when reviewing the wines. In summary, this article said that wine bloggers should more or less feel special for receiving samples and review them positively to keep the samples coming in the door. And if a wine isn't agreeable, its better to ignore writing it up than write a bad review.

WFT?!? Seriously?

With VineSugar, we believe that anyone willing to send their product(s) for review should be prepared for the good with the bad. Wineries, like any other business, should stand behind their product when facing the public and the press.

We disclose the source of the bottle (sample, wine store, wine club, etc.) we review so readers can formulate their own opinions given all the information. If readers want to believe that I pad the reviews in hopes to get more samples, well, they're entitled to their opinions. More times than not though, we taste wines blind, write them and rate them then reveal their identity. We try to be as objective as possible whenever we can.

What really irked me was this idea that wine bloggers should feel "privileged" when they receive free samples. That they should be more positive than objective when writing it up is some sort of understanding. That thinking only feeds the notion that wine is some elitist drink of upper class people. I suppose, if the blogger's only intent was to get free wine then I guess they succeeded, but a credible source, they are not.

At the end of the day, writing about wine is simply writing one's opinion since everyone's palate is different. There is no standard to review wine against so all you can do is be honest to yourself.

I often perform blind wine tasting events where I brown bag a few bottles and make people try and guess specifics. It's usually a theme of sorts like, all cabernet sauvignon: guess the region or all California red wines: guess the varietal.

I recently heard of folks tasting blind that couldn't guess if a wine was red or white. Initially, I thought the people tasting were morons but the more I thought about it, I figured it would at least be an interesting test some time.

Well, it was time to give it a shot. My family gathered over one weekend and I received a big sampling from Icon Estates, so the blind blind tasting was on.

No one knew how many red vs. how many whites or even which varietals were there. What my father didn't know was that two of his own wines were mixed in. His Chardonnay and his Cabernet Sauvignon.

This was going to be interesting... Among my dad's personal wines were a Wild Horse Pinot Noir and Montes Chardonnay.

Since I didn't have black glasses, I opted for theatrics and blind folded everyone during their tasting. Everyone guessed the Wild Horse Pinot was a red wine and everyone got that the Montes Chardonnay was a white wine. Unfortunately for my Dad, people mixed his wines up... and even worse thought they were pretty bad. Even he couldn't guess that his Cabernet Sauvignon was a red wine. He and many of us thought it was a funky white and his Chardonnay was a cheap red wine.

Go figure.

To my Dad's defense, these were his first wines ever made and they were from kit concentrates so we all cut his some slack but when he heard the results, it was like someone punched him in the gut.

This was more family fun than an actual experiment but it proved that mixing up red from white is possible. I've since bought black glasses and will be performing this test again with a few ranges of varietals.

So lesson to all you wine tasters, when you're smelling the aromas and taking in the flavors, take note for maybe one day someone will put your palate to the most basic test!

I've been far removed from the marketing noise of the wine industry and I prefer it that way. I hadn't heard of the movie Bottle Shock until I saw it at my local Blockbuster.

"Bottle Shock" is the story of Chateau Montelena in 1976 when it's Chardonnay beat the French in a blind tasting. It was the major turning point for the American wine industry.

Any movie that centers around wine will inevitably get dubbed "Sideways 2" which is unfortunate really. When you look back at Sideways, that movie was rather dark and sad and oh yes, they just happened to be wine country. I remember being very excited to see Sideways only to leave the theater thinking, "why am so sad?"

The people behind this movie must have said something similar because it's not like that at all. Its a fun, upbeat look at the California wine maker and growers at that time. There's definitely corny moments and scripted speeches but all in all, I enjoyed myself, the story and the experience as a whole.

Pop the top of your favorite weekend wine and enjoy this movie with your drinking buddies. It won't disappoint.

Do you have feelings of inadequacy? Do you suffer from shyness? Do you sometimes wish you were more assertive?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist about White Wine.

White Wine is the safe, natural way to feel better and more confident about yourself and your actions. White Wine can help ease you out of your shyness and let you tell the world that you're ready and willing to do just about anything.

You will notice the benefits of White Wine almost immediately, and with a regimen of regular doses you can overcome any obstacles that prevent you from living the life you want to live.

Shyness and awkwardness will be a thing of the past and you will discover many talents you never knew you had. Stop hiding and start living, with White Wine.

However, White Wine may not be right for everyone. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use White Wine.

However, women who wouldn't mind nursing or becoming pregnant are encouraged to try it.

Side effects may include dizziness, nausea, vomiting, incarceration, erotic lustfulness, loss of motor control, loss of clothing, loss of money, loss of virginity, delusions of grandeur, table dancing, headache, dehydration, dry mouth, and a desire to sing Karaoke and playall-night rounds of Strip Poker, Truth Or Dare, and Naked Twister.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may make you think you are whispering when you are not.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine is a major factor in dancing like a idiot.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may cause you to tell your friends over and over again that you love them.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may cause you to think you can sing.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may lead you to believe that ex-lovers are really dying for you to telephone them at four in the morning.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may make you think you can logically converse with members of the opposite sex without spitting.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may create the illusion that you are tougher, smarter, faster and better looking than most people.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may lead you to think people are laughing WITH you.

WARNING
The consumption of White Wine may be a major factor in getting your as* kicked.

Now just imagine what you could achieve with Red Wine!

Did anyone see this?

It's a video of Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich talking about wine pairing for a typical Italian bolognese -- from the Wine Spectator.

It could quite possibly put a screaming baby to sleep. They talk about 2 wines: a 1998 Chianti for $50 that scored 85pt and a Sangiovese they don't call out yet prefer. Seriously? $50 and 85pts? Why would they highlight that? Why didn't they show what the Sangiovese is if that's what they preferred for the pairing? Shoot the art director for this piece.

It is cute that they tried though.

SFGate.com has the full article:

NAPA VALLEY STUNNER - FAMED WINERY SOLD
Vintner Warren Winiarski, the first to take California Cabernet to Paris and come home a winner, sells Stag’s Leap for $185 million — and the Wine Country evolves

Am I the only one excited about this?

Seems like all the major wineries with any brand recognition are getting bought up. Makes sense really. It's an easy way to boost sales and market share.

This winery-buying trend is making me laugh though. Wine companies don't know how to market their new products effectively so they're abandoning all hope and buying existing brands. What will happen when there's no more brands to buy? These companies will be forced to figure out new and innovative ways to market wine - and who knows, maybe then they'll look to emerging generations.

It will certainly be fun to watch the marketing wars that are inevitable.

Embrace the era that is ushering in... there' not much anyone can do about it except to sit back, watch the marketing battles and bask in the in quality wines that you paid half for... because price wars are inevitable too and that's music to my ears!