Zena Crown Vineyard - Superb Oregon Pinot Noir

Credit: Zena Crown Vineyard

This post first appeared on the daily wine blog Terroirist.

This week, let’s dive into some serious Willamette Valley Pinot Noir: Zena Crown Vineyard.

These Pinots are sourced from a southwest-facing slope, a volcanic soil site that has been bottled as a vineyard-designated wine from heralded producers like Beaux Freres and Penner-Ash. This Zena Crown Vineyard outfit formed in 2013, a cooperative project between winemakers Shane Moore and Tony Rynders. Seventeen different blocks of Pinot Noir (planted to many different clones) comprise the Zena Crown Vineyard, and these wines show off Shane and Tony’s blending prowess, as each wine is a combination of various clones and plots. 

This is precise, vibrant, delicious Oregon Pinot Noir – full of racy acidity, lip-smacking mineral presence, tart but delicious red fruits, and loads of complex earthy, spicy notes. Each has its own personality, but they share serious structure, alcohol levels in the high 12% range, and invigorating acidity. These are Pinots share with wine nerd friends and engage in pleasant debate about whether that note on the finish is rooibos tea, eucalyptus, sage, white pepper — and everyone would be right. These wines pack that real sense of intrigue and mystique, but it’s by no means a purely intellectual exercise. They’re damned delicious.

These Pinots are stunning right out of the bottle, but time and air do wonders, as will serious cellar time. If I were buying in, I’d cellar a bottle apiece for at least four or five years, because there’s so much complexity to unwrap.

The wines all spend about 17 months in French oak, most of which (75-90%) are new, but that new oak is woven in wonderfully, softening the tannins a bit and imparting some flavors but by no means overtaking the fruit and non-fruit flavors. They’re stunning interpretations of Eola-Amity Hills Pinot and I imagine any Oregon Pinot enthusiast would be stoked to get their hands on some.

These wines were received as trade samples and tasted sighted. 

2013 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Conifer - Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills

SRP: $75
Rich ruby color. Aromas of bright raspberries, red currants and McIntosh apple peels, with rose petals, pine forest, mushroom and rhubarb. Wonderful balance on the palate, with sturdy tannins, a silky medium body, crisp acidity. Flavors of raspberry and dark cherry, the fruit is gushing but tangy, with notes of forest floor, tobacco, rhubarb and rose hips. Notes of light roast coffee and cedar blend in nicely. So much complexity, but so clean and crisp. A long life ahead, this will improve for 3-7 years easily. (93 points) 

2013 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir ∑ - Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
SRP: $75
Gorgeous aromas of red apple, red currants, juicy raspberries, along with roses, tobacco, dried leaves, cola, rhubarb, white pepper — wow. Medium-bodied with dusty but structured tannins and crisp, pure acidity. Red currants, red apple and tart raspberries blend wonderfully with fallen leaves, clove, mint, rose petals and tobacco. Lots of minerals and a deep sense of earthy complexity. So much flavor but so elegant with a gorgeous, long finish. Referred to with the sign indicating “the sum,” this is sourced from multiple vineyards and clones. 40% whole cluster fermentation. (93 points)

2013 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir Slope - Oregon, Willamette Valley, Eola - Amity Hills
SRP: $100
Takes more time to open up, but I eventually get waves of black cherries, red currants, tilled earth, tobacco, roasted coffee and rhubarb, the aromas evolve drastically with air. On the palate, this shows such elegance despite a densely-packed tannic backbone, and the acidity is electric on a medium-bodied frame. The black cherry and raspberry fruit is loaded with potting soil, mushroom, black tea and bay leaf, and the coffee and cedar notes are woven in expertly. Lots of earthy/herbal complexity. This is the most concentrated and age-worthy of the wines, but at 12.7%, it’s still vibrant. I’d still like to bury it for eight years or so. An absolutely gorgeous Pinot. (93 points)

Nerdy & Delicious Loire Wines from Domaine de la Roche Bleue & Christophe Foucher

If I’m looking for fascinating, intriguing and delicious wines in the $20 range (which is always the case), I look to the Loire Valley of France. 

Many of these offerings are “natural” wines in the sense that the winemakers use organic viticulture and take a minimalist approach in the winery (old oak, native yeasts, no additional sulfur, some wines are corked by hand). They’re not “natural” wines in the sense that they’re faulted, off-kilter or shittily-made (per a Robert Parker-style critique). 

They’re pure expressions of fascinating grapes planted in unique soils and produced with minimalist intervention in the cellar. If you’re tired of in-your-face oak and alcohol, and looking for wines that express their terroir like poetry, there are so many options to explore in the Loire Valley. These three wines, and these two producers, are just some of many. And, taken together, these are three of the best $20 bottles I’ve purchased all year. 
 

Christophe Foucher organically farms the quirky Menu Pineau grape in the village of Touraine, ferments his wines in old oak and doesn’t add any sulfur. Sebastien Cornille is the winemaker at Domaine de la Roche Bleue, and he makes some fascinating whites, reds and a sparkling rose that are guaranteed to get your palate and intellect going. Two out of the three are labeled as Vin de France because, despite coming from sites in Loire Valley appellations, they don’t adhere to appellation rules regarding permitted grapes. But they express their Loire terroir with finesse.

Below are my notes on three exciting Loire wines I tasted recently.   

2014 La Lunotte (Cristophe Foucher) Le Haut Plessis - France, Vin de France
$15
Light gold color, a bit cloudy but no worries. Unique nose of preserved lemon and quince, potpourri, nettle and briny ocean jetty. Medium-light-bodied with racy acidity. Bitter lemon meets quince and melon rind, and the fruit is laced with minerals and complex spicy/herbal notes. Precise and clean but also exotic and flashy. Tingling, mineral-heavy finish, this would verge on the austere if it wasn't so damned delicious. A very interesting wine made from a grape called Menu Pineau, which is sourced from vineyards in Coufy, near the estate of Clos Roche Blanche. (90 points)

2014 Domaine de la Roche Bleue Jasnières Sec - France, Loire Valley, Jasnières $20
Light gold color. The nose is brisk and salty with seashells and white flowers on top of limes and lemon meringue. The palate is so bright and zesty but it’s not lean, showing juicy and creamy aspects. Gorgeous lime, lemon and apricot fruit topped in complex mineral, chalk, seashell, white tea and honeycomb elements. Long and nervy but so delicious. Such a great Chenin Blanc for $20. Comes from 10-25-year-old vines planted in clay/silex soil on limestone. That’s it — anything from this producer, I’m buying on the spot. (90 points)

2015 Domaine de la Roche Bleue Vin de France La Petillante - France, Vin de France
$18
What a cool wine. A rose pet nat made from 100% Pinot d’Aunis grown near Jasnieres (but a Vin de France appellation). A pale rose color in the glass with light froth. Salty and spicy on the nose with some apple peel and white cherries. It's tart and bracing on the palate and insanely refreshing. Ripe strawberries mix with tart white cherries, and I get loads of minerals, chalk, seashells, some nettle and white pepper. Not too weird, but definitely exciting and nerdy. This wine is so refreshing and delicious that it almost feels hydrating to drink. Love it. (90 points)

These wines were imported by Fruit of the Vine and I purchased them from Chambers Street in NY, NY.

My Favorite Wines of 2016

Madeira!

2016 was a yin-yang year. So much awesomeness in my personal life, but so much shite on a world-wide scale. Sometimes it’s hard to keep that positive mental attitude in a world that’s literally and figuratively burning.

Wine helps. And great wine can work miracles. I consider myself immensely lucky to have traveled to some amazing wine country and wrapped my palate around some epic wines over the past 12 months.

Interesting how it worked out, but all of my favorite wines this year came from two specific events.

The first was my inaugural trip to the Portuguese island of Madeira. This has been a bucket list trip of mine for at least a decade, since I first saw pictures of volcanic cliffs dropping off into deep, pristine Atlantic surf.

In February, I spent a week there, touring and tasting most of the island’s producers, who make the most unique and age-worthy wines in the entire world. (That’s my opinion, but it’s also as close to absolute truth as one can get with sweeping statements about certain wines).

Most of these earth-shattering wines came from the historic Madeira producer D’Oliveiras, where I tasted a bunch of wines from the 19th Century. (Click here for my primer on this historic island’s wine.)

The rest of my favorite wines came from a vertical tasting of the heralded Second Growth Bortdeaux estate, Chateau Cos d’Estournel. Vertical tastings are always enlightening, and tasting this many wines from one epic estate is wine nerd heaven.

Below are the notes on my top wines of the year.

1850 D'Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho (Portugal, Madeira)

It's so difficult to wrap my head around an historic wine like this. First of all, it's an intellectually fascinating experience, which evokes dreams of centuries past. I won't claim to be able to separate the historical significance of the wine from the sensory experience of tasting the wine. But, tasting the wine itself is one of the most amazing experiences in my wine lifetime. I'll attempt to describe this thing. First off, it still has fruit on the nose, kind of like quince paste and preserved lemon, but I get complex elements of clove, old furniture shop, cigar smoke and wood varnish. On the palate, this wine shows a pleasant bitterness, while the sweetness balances perfectly with the high acidity. One flavor evolves into another, and into another, and then back again, like a blissful circle. I'll throw some words at a few of these flavors: caramel, varnished wood, cigar box, candle wax, leather, sea salt, yellow raisins, candied lemon peel, old library books, sweet floral potpourri, spiced tea. The complexity is ridiculous. So, this is an incredible intellectual experience in and of itself, but the aromas and flavors of this wine are ethereal. Perhaps the best thing to ever grace my palate. (99 points)

1954 Justino Henriques Madeira Verdelho (Portugal, Madeira)
The aromas on this wine are complex, intriguing and sort of ridiculous. Clove, almond, anise, flowers, potpourri, all sorts of nuances. So pure and silky on the palate, the balance is impeccable. Smooth but complex, bright but rich, such a sexy and fascinating wine. Flavors of yellow raisin and dried pineapple are pure and delicious, followed up by waves of caramel, wax, almond, sea salt. So insanely complex that I would need a long time to analyze this wine and pull out all the nuances. But, in the end, it’s just a supremely enjoyable wine to sip. One of the best wines of the trip, and actually one of the best wines I’ve tasted in years. (98 points)

1927 D'Oliveiras Madeira Bastardo (Portugal, Madeira)
I am so blown away by this wine. It's not just intellectually and historically fascinating, it has amazing and haunting aromas and flavors, and the complexity is ridiculous. On the nose, I get dried fruits, nuts, surprisingly fresh flowers, salt air, white pepper, all of it nuanced and gorgeous. The palate is silky but tart, and I can't believe the liveliness, purity and vibrancy on this wine. The fruit is not just kicking, it comes out swinging with oranges, sliced pears and dried mango. The complex elements of smoke, nuts, spice and earth are profound. So balanced and elegant, so long and pure. Unbelievable stuff. (98 points)

1894 Henriques & Henriques Madeira "Founder's Solera" (Portugal, Madeira)
One of my favorite wines of the trip. What a stunner. Aromatically, I get old leather, cigar lounge, brown sugar, musk, eucalyptus and floral potpourri. Full and so complex but the brightness is incredible. Flavors of musk, leather, library dust, clove, cinnamon and coffee. But it's still so vibrant with these elements of orange marmalade, cocoa and white flowers. So long and pure. Whoa. (97 points)

1907 D'Oliveiras Madeira Malvazia (Portugal, Madeira)
So dark colored. Sharp aromas (the volatile acidity is evident) but it’s packed together with hay, floral tea, cigar shop and smoking jacket aromas. Rich but so floral on the palate with a dizzying array of complex flavors: spiced tea, graham cracker, cigar smoke, sweet coffee, dried roses. So alive, complex and long, a pure joy to sip. (97 points)

1890 D'Oliveiras Madeira Verdelho (Portugal, Madeira)
A real treat to taste. I get some orange peel, honeycomb, caramel and green coffee aromas. So pure and smooth on the palate, I can't believe how balanced and precise this wine is. Filled with tobacco, peppper, floral spice, roasted chestnut and coffee bean. No real fruit here, but the other flavors are rocking and the wine stays bright and tangy. Long finish with notes of mineral and quinine. Wow. (97 points)

N.V. Barbeito Madeira Malvazia Over 40 Years Old "Mãe Manuela" (Portugal, Madeira)
What an absolutely gorgeous wine. Props to Ricardo Freitas for putting this wine together to honor his mother – it’s an amazing tribute. Smells of sweet clove, complex almond and pecan, baked squash, dried apricot, polished wood and anise. On the palate this is waxy and sweet but the balance is pristine. The complexity of flavors nears the absurd: nuts, dried fruits, minerals, sea salt, rooibos tea. Smooth, sweet, tangy, precise. This is phenomenal stuff. During an epic Madeira trip, this was one of the highlights. (97 points)

2005 Château Cos d'Estournel (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe)
A textbook example of near-perfect Bordeaux, as far as I can tell. Concentrated but elegant aromas, rich black cherry and currant fruit, accented by gorgeous earth, incense, dried floral and complex spice tones. So elegant on the palate despite the firm structure. Seems perfectly balanced between acid, tannin and fruit. Black and hints of red currant, the fruit is so pure and precise, and backed up by curling waves of incense, cedar, fallen leaves, graphite, mocha and cardamom. Simply phenomenal, and I bet it's just getting started. My wine of the night. A real treasure to taste. (98 points)

2010 Château Cos d'Estournel (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe)
A bit "brighter" than the 2012 aromatically, but also intense and quite compact at this young age. Dense black cherries and currants on the nose along with coffee, roasted nuts and rich earth. Full and chewy with dense tannins but there's also a vibrancy and cleanness to the wine that makes it incredibly attractive. Rich black cherries, currants, loaded with coffee, roasted nuts, gravel, cocoa, violets, pepper glaze. Long, full, incredibly long finish. Amazing aging potential here - it's almost a shame tasting this so young, but it's an awesome experience to taste this wine at this point in its lifespan. Ridiculously good. (97 points)

1985 Château Cos d'Estournel (France, Bordeaux, Médoc, St. Estèphe)
This wine stands out for its bright, red-fruited approach. Smells tangy and herbal with bright red currants, red apple peel, violets, bay leaf, cigar smoke, floral perfume - an incredibly complex and elegant nose on this beauty. Bright and clean on the palate, with refined tannins and fresh acid. The red currant fruit is laced with rose hips, white pepper, cardamom, floral perfume, oregano and tobacco. Long, crisp finish, full of complexity. So bright and sexy, and showing wonderfully. Not the most heralded wine in the lot, but for my palate, the freshness on this wine is so damn attractive. (97 points)

Ring in 2017 with Champagne!

2016 is almost behind us — Finally!

It’s been a crazy, awesome, terrible year, so let’s pop some Champagne and raise a glass to 2017!

When it comes to bubbles, Champagne is the Alpha and Omega. So if I’m going to bust out the bubbles around the holidays, I’m bringing Champers. The terroir of Champagne is diverse but exquisite, so I try to find single-vineyard Champagnes, and learn about the vineyard, soils, winemaking

If you’re looking for bubbly recommendations, check out this new article on Snooth. You’ll find bubbly tips from myself and a host of other wine writers.  

Rocky Mountain Wine: Surprisingly Good Vino from Colorado

This post first appeared on the daily wine blog Terroirist.

Back in March, I reviewed a case of wines from Colorado, the winners of the state’s 2015 Governor’s Cup Awards. While I found some fun bottles, some wines felt out of whack, unbalanced, weird. I recently tasted through this year’s top 12 Colorado wines, and found much more to get excited about.

Colorado, perhaps better known for brews than vino, has been growing in recent years. In 2009, Colorado wineries sold about 100,000 cases, but that number had jumped to almost 150,000 by 2015, according to Colorado Wine.

The Colorado River flows through the state's Grand Valley American Viticultural Area. Credit: Colorado Wine Industry Development Board

With abundant sunshine (more than 300 days per year) and low humidity, wine grapes can thrive. But high elevation vineyards (from 4,000 feet to a staggering 7,000 feet) and Colorado’s climate can make for some tough conditions. “Low yields and large year-to-year yield fluctuations are characteristic of Colorado grape production, even in the Grand Valley AVA, due to cold temperature injury,” according to a 2016 report from the Viticulture and Enology programs at the Colorado Wine Industry.

My palate tends toward Colorado reds from Bordeaux varieties, although Syrah can do well, too. What I like about a lot of these wines is the combination of generally moderate alcohol content, structured tannins, and a tangy zip of acidity that keeps the wine fresh. And the prices for some of these wines make exploring them easier. That is, of course, if you can find any, as the wines are made in small quantities and not available in many markets.

However, if you’re looking for outdoor adventure and gorgeous scenery to pair with wine-tasting, perhaps a trip to Colorado should include some wine tourism. I know that’s my plan.

These wines were received as trade samples and tasted sighted.

2015 Plum Creek Riesling Dry - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $16
Medium yellow color. Aromas of juicy peaches, white flowers, papaya and honey. Tangy and pithy on the palate with crisp acidity and flavors of lime peel, white peach and apricot. Quinine, flower stems and sharp dandelion notes but a nice honeyed presence despite the dryness. Actually quite nice but an interesting flavor profile for Riesling. (85 points)

2015 Red Fox Cellars Tempranillo Long Day Rosé - Colorado
SRP: $19
Pale salmon color. Bright strawberries, watermelon rind and floral perfume on the nose. Bold texture for 13.5% alcohol, almost waxy, but fresh acidity keeps it lip-smacking. Flavors of watermelon rind, white cherries, strawberries, juicy fruit but a fresh appeal. Yellow and white flowers mix with hints of white pepper and green tea. I’m impressed! (86 points)

2013 Kingman Estates Winery Cabernet Sauvignon - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $19
Medium purple color. Aromas of juicy black cherries and dark plums meet smoky charcoal, eucalyptus, mint and bell pepper. Medium bodied, impressive grippy tannic structured, medium/fresh acidity. Black cherries and currants, dark and smoky, with notes of cola, coffee, loamy soil, tobacco. Quite woody (a fistful of oak shavings in the teeth), but, that aside, the wine is quite nice. I’m interested to see what three-to-five years of cellaring does to this wine. (87 points)

2013 Snowy Peaks Winery Petit Verdot - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $27
Bright purple color. An aromatic blast of spicy black pepper, bay leaf and pipe tobacco on top of tart red and black currants. On the palate, bright acidity plays with serious tannic grip and nicely balanced fruit of the tart red and black plum variety. Lots of tar, anise, graphite, smoke, spicy oak. Despite its solid structure, this stays fresh, although the wine will definitely improve in the cellar. Very nice! (88 points)

2013 Bookcliff Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve - Colorado, Grand Valley

I don't have lots of experience with Colorado wines, but Bookcliff has
been a standout in the past two years of the Colorado Governor's Cup.

SRP: $25
Deep ruby colored. Smoky herbs and pepper on the nose with chewing tobacco on top of tart black cherries. Medium-bodied with bright acidity that balances nicely with structured tannins, combining in a pure and silky mouthfeel. Black cherries and red/black currants, ripe but crunchy, the fruit is laced with tobacco, loamy soil, rosemary and cedar chips. Coffee and oak linger with fresh acidity on the finish. Impressive in its balance, and this could age nicely for at least a few years. (88 points)

2014 Bookcliff Vineyards Syrah - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $19
Light purple/dark ruby color. Aromas of tart black cherries, red currants, herbs (sage/bayleaf) with black pepper sauce. Full-bodied with sturdy tannic grip, vibrant acidity, I like the balance with the tart black cherry, red currant and dark plum skin. Air and time open up all sorts of nuances like pepper, charred meat, charcoal, tobacco and graphite. Concentrated but showing such freshness and vibrancy for a Syrah with 14.5%. I’m seriously impressed with the quality to price ration of this Colorado Syrah. (88 points)

2013 Bookcliff Vineyards Ensemble - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $19
Deep ruby color. Aromas of red and black currant, dark coffee, violets, cola, some green herb scents. Full-bodied with grippy tannins and black and red currant fruit. Notes of dark coffee, pencil shavings, anise and cinnamon spice add some complexity. A bit dense, this could use a few years of sleep. A bit heavy on the oak, but a nicely made Bordeaux blend of 52% Merlot, 46% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Malbec. (87 points)

2014 Whitewater Hill Shiraz - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $18
Light purple color. Aromas of juicy black cherries, blackberry and blueberry jam, along with pine needles, black pepper and flower pots. A silky. medium-bodied presence on the palate with fine tannins and crisp acidity. Tart black cherries and blackberries are loaded with soot, pine, charcoal and black pepper. Tangy and a bit sharp but shows some tasty elements. Grown at 4,800 foot elevation. (86 points)

Despite labels reminiscent of '90s Arizona
Diamondback jerseys, these Cabs are legit!

2014 Whitewater Hill Cabernet Sauvignon - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $19
Medium purple color. Smoky aromas of charcoal and tobacco on top of tart blueberries, cedar and pine. Medium-bodied with moderate-structured tannins, fresh acidity, nice balance. Tart blackberry and blueberry play will tobacco, bell pepper, scorched earth, a good dose of wood but the wine stays juicy and fresh and easy to drink (12.5% alcohol). A lot more personality and verve than so many sub-$20 California Cabernets. (87 points)

2014 Whitewater Hill Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - Colorado, Grand Valley
SRP: $29
A bit deeper purple color, with dark, rich aromas of blueberries and black cherries, along with tobacco, vanilla, earth and cedar. Pure and smooth on the palate with fresh acidity, sturdy tannins, plush but tart blueberries and black cherries. Lots of tobacco, roasted chestnut, wet soil and vanilla, all of it woven in together quite nicely. Rich in flavor and structure but so fresh and bright. Impressive stuff that should improve well in the cellar for at least five years. (88 points)

1991 Colorado Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon - Colorado
SRP: $74
Medium ruby/light brick color. Aromas of red currant and strawberry jam, some serious volatile acidity, too, in the form of sun-dried tomato and wood varnish, along with some sweet tobacco and wet leaves. On the palate, the tannins still provide some light structure, a smooth mouthfeel, the volatile acidity adds a whole lot of sharpness. Dried red currant and red apple peel flavors topped with chewing tobacco, wet leaves and peat bog – some sweet coffee notes underneath. An interesting experience, but a bit of an odd one. (Not Rated)

2015 Fox Fire Farms Traminette - Colorado
SRP: $24
Light yellow color. Smells like canned peaches, white grape jelly, spiced tea and Christmas tree. Juicy texture on the palate with fresh acidity, the sweetness is a bit high, making the wine a bit clunky. Flavors of white grape jelly, tropical fruit juice, spiced tea and sugar cane. It is rare that I find a Traminette I want to drink, and this one is not it. (78 points)

Screw the Gendered Wine Binary

A few years ago, I was tasting through a bunch of Chardonnays with a winemaker in Sonoma. As is unfortunately the case all too often at trade tastings like this one, no women were present. While tasting through a particularly oaky and creamy Chardonnay, the winemaker admitted he didn’t expect us to like it. He quipped, “I call this my cougar juice.” We all laughed, myself included.

I think about writing a lot. I think about wine a lot. So, I think a lot about how we talk about wine. And, lately, I find myself wondering why people still insert lame, outdated gender roles into the discussion.

For years I’ve heard men refer to wines with higher alcohol and riper fruit as being “slutty.” This comment is almost always made by a man (frequently dripping with disdain) who fancies his palate too refined for floozy juice. A search through a popular internet database of wine tasting notes reveals hundreds of references to a wine being “slutty,” and I’ve heard it used more times than I can remember.

I’ve heard a common refrain from some people in the wine trade that Cabernet (usually a more structured and tannic wine) is the woman you marry, while Pinot Noir (usually a more exotic but temperamental wine) is the woman you take to bed. This kind of talk strikes me as, well, pathetic. It speaks to a sense of male possessiveness and assumed superiority over women. From the nerdy/hot redhead girl next door to Marilyn Monroe, comparing a wine to women is so common in male-dominated wine circles that it’s not only gendered bullshit, it’s a boring cliché. It’s not clever. So why is it still a thing?

I like to think that some (or even most) gendered comments about wine are not made with the conscious decision to offend or denigrate women. Well-aged Barolo or Burgundy from great vintages is frequently described as elegant and feminine, and this is meant as a great compliment. In some sense, I understand how those words may make sense in describing fine wine, something so profoundly difficult to describe. I frequently refer to young Cabernet as being muscular or strong, and aged wines as being restrained, smooth and elegant. By attaching traditional gender stereotypes to wine, we’re perpetuating an outdated dichotomy. And we’re further complicating and sexualizing something that is already unnecessarily complicated and sexualized. 

Traditional gendered discussion of who drinks what has been changing, and there is certainly progress being made in breaking down some of these odd barriers. Last year, for example, the term “brosé” made the rounds in some popular publications. This term was used to refer to millennial men (bros) who drink rosé, a pink wine. This lighter, fresher, and sometimes sweeter wine is made from red grapes, but it is shades of pink in the glass. For decades (think white Zinfandel), rosé was stereotyped as a girly drink. The tired trope that pink wine is for the girls has always been bullshit, and I penned a piece last year encouraging men skeptical of rosé to “drink the pink.” Good news, dudes: there is no scientific study linking the consumption of pink, bubbly or sweet wine and smaller penis size. 

“Brosé,” like all gendered wine trend terms, has become a tired trope. But as it was catching on, Chloe Wyma discussed the trend in a well-written and insightful piece for GQ: “the rosé bro is inaugurating a freer, more egalitarian world of gender-fluid beverage consumption.” And that’s a good thing. If there’s a gender stereotype out there somewhere, I want to smash it, so I fully support this trend.

However, while I have been a huge supporter of the dry rosé movement for many years, I don’t see the need to pop my collar, gather around with a bunch of dudes and toast to open-minded, gender-nonconforming consumption habits. Dry rosé wine is fucking amazing. It is no revolutionary act for a man to drink pink wine in celebratory fashion. I’ve never felt self-conscious about drinking rosé and I don’t think anyone else should either.


Drink our canned wine, ladies! (Yoga pants/toned butts not included.)
Credit: Lila Wines PR image

Let me take a moment to address any men reading this who may be thinking, “Great, another person is telling me I have to be politically correct about shit. Now I have to be sensitive to chicks when I talk about booze? So lame, bro.” To be clear: you can talk about booze in any way you damn well please. Wine marketers and beverage PR folks are constantly re-mastering the gendered beverage binary, and I don’t think they’re letting up any time soon. (See: pink-labeled “Bitch” wines; the successful “Skinny Girl” brand; marketing gimmicks from “Little Black Dress”, Lila Wines, etc., etc.,)
 
On some level, I understand the approach wine marketers take when they try to target specific consumers with gender-based marketing. They’re trying to make a buck off a bottle (or box, or can) of wine, an object that has been gendered and sexualized for hundreds of years. I get it. But it’s tired. Very, very tired.

In an excellent piece for Punch Drink, Zachary Sussman laments that gender-based wine marketing is still so commonplace. “I just can’t figure out why this kind of type-casting is still happening in 2016.” And considering that all of the most face-palm-inducing marketing gimmicks are aimed at women, Sussman asks: “How is it advantageous to reduce the female drinkers they’re courting to the most generic lifestyle magazine stereotypes?” I don’t know, man. I don’t know.

To ferment my argument: Gendering and sexualizing our conversation about wine and alcoholic beverages is a) lazy; b) frequently dismissive of women; and 3) it’s an increasingly inaccurate way of discussing the subject.

When you actually dig into a typically gendered notion of wine consumption, you find it is likely outdated and frequently inaccurate. (Hell, I sip more California Chardonnay “cougar juice” than almost any woman I’ve ever met.) A 2012 study from Taylor & Francis Research group looked at wine consumption between 155 men and 150 women, focusing on how men and women consumed wine during various types of occasions. The results? Men and women consumed wine similarly in 16 out of the 22.

Bros, canned wine is for chicks. Solo cups for you.
Credit: Lila Wines PR image

Another aspect of the gendered/sexualized conversation about wine: it is frequently a one-way street. This dynamic is sometimes perpetuated by women, but, in my experience, not as frequently. When the woman I’m with orders a burly Cabernet, I’ve never heard her discuss her choice in “masculine” terms. And when a woman uncorks a young Bandol, do her girlfriends joke about her drink being butch or manly? 

I asked my friend Alison Marriott (who runs the wine consulting firm Bon Vivant) what she thought about this. “In all aspects of life I don’t find many women discussing or objectifying men in the same way that women are objectified by men,” she said. “I think that language is often a natural extension of one’s temperament, paradigms and belief system regarding gender and sex. This isn’t restricted to describing wines.”

Of course this phenomenon isn’t unique to wine. But when we talk about wine, we should remember what wine is. Wine is an historic agricultural product that contains alcohol, is delicious, and is intended to provide pleasure.

Why load that down with the weight of gender stereotypes?

******
I spent about six months batting this post around, and, in the meantime, several other voices have chimed in on the broad topic of wine and gender. For further reading check out "On Wine and Gender: Chambolle = Feminine. But Why?" by Jonathan Lipsmeyer, and "She Said, He Said" by Andrea Frost.