The Desert WIne Guy - Is It Champagne Or Sparkling Wine? The Update

  This is an update on the article I wrote entitled “Is It Champagne Or Sparkling Wine?”. Which you can find at http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/its-not-sparkling-wine-its-champagne.html. Since this article was written I have e-mailed Korbel concerning their use of the term "Champagne" and inquired of them as to how they are able to currently use that term. To their credit I received an e-mail back from Korbel which shed some light on the above mentioned article and prompted me to further research the subject.  I would like to thank them for the information they provided. Due to this information I would now like to update an article and share what I found with you, my readers. To put it simply Korbels answer was that they were Grandfathered in because they had been using the word "Champagne" prior to the latest agreement. In my research I have found this to be true.  Korbel has actually been using the word "Champagne" since the late 1800's.
    I don't know about you but for many years I had thought (or was fooled into thinking) that if a bottle of wine had the  term "Napa" on it then it had to come from Napa Valley. Since becoming The Desert Wine Guy I have learned many things about grapevines and wine and one of those things i learned  is that there is so much controversy over the words "Napa", "Champagne", Calistoga" (Calistoga Cellars had to change its name) , Bordeaux, Chianti & Madeira and many others names. There are agreements that supersede agreements, exceptions to agreements and exceptions to the exceptions. In this followup article I will attempt to discuss some of those agreements. While doing my research I came across updates to the updates and small agreements or treaties that supersede other agreements or treaties to the point that I have no idea where anything stands and I don't think anyone else does either. Read the article and do some research yourself and I think you will come to the same conclusion. I think it basically comes down to the only agreements that are working to any extent are agreements that are made in America and pertaining to American products. Here is a page from the B.A.T.F that might help but then again might add more confusion to the issue. http://www.ttb.gov/agreements/us_ec_wine_agreement.shtml
   It seems this whole controversy over certain words relating to wines began  in 1919 when France added a provision to The Treaty of Versailles which ended World War I. The provision limited the word "Champagne". The U.S never signed this treaty however. During that time the U.S was in the middle of Prohibition and alcohol-labeling was not an important issue at the time. There were producers of wine at the time (for religious reasons) that decided on their own as a courtesy to use the term Sparkling Wine" instead of Champagne. This controversy over different wine names or varietals was later followed up on in agreement formed in 1933 called the Canada-France Trade Agreement. The agreement enabled Canada to and France to protect their trademarks and trade names like "Champagne". Though there was an agreement Canada did not lived up to their end of the bargain and continued to use the word "Champagne" on wines that never touched the region of Champagne France. Despite this France did not put up an protest at the time. Flash forward to 1955 where Alexander Simpson who was the President of Chateau-GAi Winery in Niagara Falls, Ontario decided to put up a large display of that particular wineries "Champagne" in a Paris window. This led to an article in a Toronto newspaper and Magazine who did an article on the event. France at that time complained but Canada responded by passing a law that allowed domestic wineries to use the word "Champagne" as long as the wine was labeled as "Canadian Champagne". France went to court in 1964 over this in the form of 15 French producers seeking an injunction on using the word "Champagne". The French won and of course Mr. Simpson appealed only to lose in 1974 when the Quebec Supreme Court sided for France. The decision however only applied to the Quebec province. The French then moved to enforce the law in Ontario in 1975 & 76. A sort of death blow to the agreement occurred when a newspaper in 1974 pointed out that France failed to ratify the agreement. On May 7, 1980 the House of Commons repealed the agreement retroactive to 1978 and Canada was free to use the word "Champagne". In 1987 the Ontarian Supreme Court put an end to the situation by ruling that "Canadian Champagne" is a distinct Canadian product and "not likely" to be confused with French Champagne. The French appealed but lost. Canada still however did not have access to the E.U.
  On January 1, 1995 The World Trade Organization was established and with it an organization called the World Wine Producers which both Canada & the United States were a part of. On April 9, 2001 the U.S & Canada formed an agreement entitled Mutual Acceptance Agreement on Oenological Practices. The agreement  permitted wine imports from other signatory countries as long as the wines were made in accordance with the producing country's technical wine making regulations and its domestic laws. This was in contrast to the EU's practice of examining and approving every enological practice. The EU much preferred bilateral negotiations. On March 2, 2001 the EU's Wine Management Committee granted Ontario ice wine access to the EU as a step toward improving Canada/Eu cooperation. On April 2003 Canada signed the agreement. This agreement also gave European winemakers the exclusive right to use some "traditional" names in the Canadian market. Names such as Bordeaux, Chianti & Madeira were prohibited. The names such as Chablis, Champagne, Port & Sherry could no longer be used after Dec 31, 2013. Canada won access to ship Canadian wines to EU countries but lost the right to use the term "Champagne". In America the U.S agreed to stop using the terms Chablis, Champagne, Port, Sherry and Chianti. One concession America did get was the grandfathering in of those wines on non-European wines. After a certain date no new brands could use those terms. In America wine Makers have agreed to even stop using the word Calistoga & Napa if the grapes were not grown in Calistoga or Napa. As an added note there is no agreement as far as the use of the word Champagne when used in beer. According to the United States B.A.T.F there is no complaint process to challenge the use of one of the terms on a product and as of this year no one has officially complained.

   Where do we stand now? As I stated in my opening paragraph it seems as if the bottom line here is that producers do come under pressure to not use certain words or wine types BUT there doesn't appear to be the political will to enforce anything outside of each country protecting themselves when it comes it imports. Yes there are agreements but there is no real enforcement. What we are left to is the old saying "let the buyer beware. My suggestion is look at the label and see where the grapes are from.

   O.K then, after reading all this and hopefully doing your own research here is my bottom line on the subject. If you are at a party and the host hands you a glass filled with a golden liquid that is carbonated and its not soda.....enjoy the Champagne.

                                                                                                                 

 www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos















                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert Wine Guy - The Story Of The Desert Wine Guy - Part 2

   Welcome to part #2 of the story of The Desert Wine Guy. When part #1 ended I had brought my family outside to see my grapes. Thinking I had arrived I thought I could just sit back now and enjoy smooth sailing. I was wrong, way wrong. Lets now pick up where we left off last time.
   One day while in the pool I was watching my grapes grow....go ahead, laugh all you want....I did also :) I noticed that my leaves on the vines were disappearing. Oh no, what is going on? I got out of my pool and went to inspect the vines. I noticed that the leaves were all gone except for the veins in them. Now there was nothing to shield the direct sun from my grapes. What happened? I eventually noticed some small ( approx half inch ) Caterpillars crawling all over my vines. I did what most others would  do and that is pick them off and put them in a bag and headed to the trash can thinking that was that. There was a lot of damage already done to the leaves. My grapes were being exposed to the sun and there was nothing I could do. They were literally destroying my vines. I noticed that a lot of the bunches were drying out already and there was nothing I could I do. There were still a couple of bunches left and I figured I was lucky to have them. Thinking I had gotten rid of the enemy I licked my wounds and was thankful that I still had a couple of bunches that remained. About a week later while again in the pool I noticed that the enemy I thought I had defeated was now back and as hungry as ever. I immediately took a couple of leaves with the Caterpillars on them and threw them into a small plastic bag and drove down to the plant store. I pulled one out and probably looked so sad when I asked the employee “what are these” ? I was quickly informed that they were called “Grape Leaf Skeltonizers” and yes they would eat all my leaves which would mean that my grapes were done.  I thought that I had gotten rid of all the Skeltonizers but I was wrong. The employee sold me a white powder (poison) and instructed me in how to use it. I went home and applied it as I was instructed. It stopped the Skeltonizers and even though I didn't have grapes anymore I was ready for next year.
   That was the first year and I thought I will not make the same mistake next year. Next year comes now and the Skeltonizers come back. This time I am ready though I had my poison and I applied it and it worked, I stopped the deadly army in it's tracks....for a little bit. I wasn't happy with putting poison on my food though. I again didn't check my vines and the same thing as last year happened. I lost my leaves and grapes. This was solely due to my being lazy and nothing else so I had no one to blame but myself. I guess the good thing was that I had proved that I could grow grapes, that was important. I just had to be more responsible and I would have some grapes to eat or make wine with in the future. I also realized that there was so much that I didn't know. I didn't know about pruning of the vines. I didn't know about watering etc; My vines grew all over the place. There was even a branch or two that grew into the pool and I had to cut it.  While I still knew nothing about the growing of grape vines other then that they grew on wires I still had green, full vines. So for the last 2 years I have grown Cabernet Sauvignon vines in my backyard. I had not yet become The Desert Wine Guy and I was in shock. I had  thought I new everything there was to know about growing grapes. WOW, I guess it was back to the drawing board and school. I soon discovered something called YouTube. I saw that there were videos for everything and a lot of times by professionals in their field. The people who were most instrumental in my learning was One Acre Wine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-H20LSRis0)  and Jack Sanders of The Sanders Family Winery http://sanderswinery.com/. My wife and I went for a day to Jacks vineyard in Pahrump Nevada and while he was pouring wine my wife and I we struck up a conversation with him. He seemed very interested in the fact that I was developing a small vineyard in Las Vegas and was very helpful with tips on pruning, pest control and developing good wine grapes.  These two people are awesome and while I learned so much from the YouTube channel I was actually able to meet Mr. Sanders in person. I continued to have the opportunity to go to professional vineyards in Temecula California and I started to ask questions and take pictures. I started to observe how they were growing grape vines. Hey they did their drip systems? The distance they spaced each plant from one another. The materials they used. I also started to ask questions of the vineyard grower.   I learned that all I thought I knew was nothing in reality. That is when I decided to rip out the vines I had and do this right. I sat down with a pen and paper and designed the Vineyard that I wanted. All the while I am watching videos on watering vines, pruning vines etc; I had my design installed and I found a great nursery on line that sold various organic grape vines for very reasonable prices. The final Vineyard layout is Angel vineyard which is named after my oldest daughter because she is such an Angel and a wonderful person and Mirror Image Vineyard which is named after my two identical 3.5 year old twins. I ordered all the vines I needed and got down to the hard part, planting. I started up a Facebook page dedicated to wine and The Desert Wine Guy was born.
   I have just recently had bud break on my Sauvignon Blanc as well as my Cabernet Sauvignon vines. I am currently just evaluating things day by day and watching the vines develop now that it appears the temperatures are going to be rising.

   Today June 26, 2004 I am going to publish the completion to The Story Of The Desert Wine Guy - Part 2 so here is the latest. The company I went thru for my vines http://www.groworganic.com/grape-wine-cabernet-sauvignon.html ended up selling bad vines. I planted my vines just before the heat set in here in Vegas and was happy to be in the shade drinking a glass of wine when the heat finally did hit. Well......things didn't work out as planned. I believe I ended up buying around 20 vines and 10 of them never did anything. We are well into the hot weather now and they are still sticks coming out of the ground. I e-mailed the company and let them know about the problem and they responded saying I had to pull the vines back out and send them back so they could make sure that rats or other rodents didn't eat the roots or vines. I responded back assuring them that my Vineyards are backyard Vineyards and not that big where I wouldn't see rats or other animals. I continued by informing them that there are no animal holes of any kind and that the solution they provided was unacceptable. I informed them that I would be willing to take a picture with each dead vine with a newspaper next to them so they could see the picture was current and they agreed. I decided in the end though that I could not trust their product and I just left it at that. I now have around 10 vines that need replacing next year and I think I will be going to the nearest plant store. I guess sometimes trying to save money does not pay. By the way the vines on line were $5.99 and the vines at the local store are $25. I also was not happy with the way the vines that did come out of Dormancy were growing. I had to do a lot of pruning a week ago in order to cut off branches that had a lot of dead buds and were not growing leaves. I think I have gotten to the point where the vines that are alive are starting to take off now and I have even been able to form some Cordons.
   Well folks that is it, that is my story. I hope you have enjoyed what you read and I hope I have inspired some of you into growing your own Vineyard(s). I am still enjoying every minute of working in my Vineyards. there are still many months here in Las Vegas of heat and i am hoping by the end of the year the vines that I have pruned will develop nicely. I have also added a Twitter account to my social networking system so please check out all my links I would love to hear from all of you.
   Here are my links.

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos
https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy


                                                                                                                    The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert WIne Guy - 2010 Charleston Peak Barrel Reserve - Petite Sirah

Yours Truly at in the Display Room of Pahrump Vineyards.

   Good afternoon wine lovers. Here we are again for another review. Here we are today once again for what is also going to be another very short wine review. Two wines in a row where the wines being reviewed are less than worthy of wasting your time drinking. Today's review is on the 2010 Charleston (Mount Charleston here in Las Vegas) Barrel Reserve Petite Sirah. there is not much available as far as the origins of the wine other then the grapes seem to have come from Amador County, C.A. The Brix (sugar level ) at harvest time were 24.0.

Corking Machine.

   The Pahrump Winery is located in Pahrump Nevada which is about an hour north of Las Vegas. The Pahrump Winery is a nice place to visit and is set up as a professional winery you would see in Napa or Temecula California, it is worth the visit if you want a break from the desert or gambling. When I was there I met Gretchen Loken who is the wine maker and wife of Bill Loken who together both own the Pahrump Winery. The small tour they offer with one of their employees in the actual Vineyard was followed by a tour of the barrel room by Gretchen where the corking machine and the crusher as well as the wood barrels and stainless Steel casks are kept. Gretchen was very informative and her great personality kept things light hearted and interesting. On now to our review which will be straight to the point.
   The wine poured into the glass a medium Plum in color but was much lighter, almost a Bing Cherry around the edges. The wine was clear of any cork or sediment.
   The Bouquet of this wine was of chemicals (paint) mixed with Molasses and Blueberry.
   Now for the actual tasting. I will keep this very simple and to the point. There was heavy Molasses and other sugars that completely overpowered anything else in the wine, if there was anything else in the wine to taste. There was nothing else to say about the wine. The wine tasted more like a fortified wine that you would buy in a convenience store next to a cheap wine  such as Thunder Bird. The wine was much sweeter that a wine cooler. To describe the taste even more, the wine tastes like an overly sugary Madeira, a fortified dessert wine, a sipping wine.
  

2010 Charleston Peak Petite Sirah

O.k Lets end this  review now. I think this wine is terrible and we have wasted enough of our time here. I drank a half of a glass and I was done. That is saying something for me to dump out a whole bottle of wine. I have done tastings on a few wines that have been less that worthy of drinking and have never been unable to finish the bottle. Sickeningly sweet juice is what I would call this. I felt that if I drank any more of the bottle I would have a splitting headache the next day from the overpowering sugar. Well folks that's it. There is nothing left to write about this tasting, until next time. Thanks for reading this article.



                                                          DISTURBING UPDATE!!!



   A very disturbing thing happened while I was in the middle of writing this article. I wrote about half this article and I decided to break away for a couple of minutes to clear my head and do a short review on the Pahrump Winery's website for that particular wine. I gave just the basics that are in this article about the overpowering sweetness etc. When I went back just before publishing time to see if  anyone had responded I discovered that my review was gone. BAD, BAD, BAD decision folks. With a Facebook https://www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy following of almost 2,000 fans, a wine blog http://www.desertwineguy.blogspot.com/ that gets a large amount of traffic daily as well  as a brand new Twitter https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV account I don't believe that was a smart marketing or business decision but I will let you readers decide for yourselves. I will simply leave my readers with one question. If they took off my bad review of one of their wines, how many other bad reviews have been removed?


www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos





                                                                                                                 The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert WIne Guy - Trader Joes - 2011 Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon

   Todays review will be one of those very short ones which is reserved for those wines that really warrant not much being said about them.  With that established we move on.  Here is another wine that has a very nice looking label. If you knew nothing about the wine and were looking to try something different to drink you would be drawn to the wine by simply looking at the label. This would probably result in you doing what I did .....buying it. Well that would be a BIG mistake (and it was) as you will see as you read on. Lets get started here by first talking about the establishment of Trader Joes themselves.

   For those of you who don't know what Trader Joe's http://www.traderjoes.com/ is. Trader Joe's is basically a higher end grocery store that actually is a wonderful place to shop. Trader joe's carries many different lines of food that aren't commonly seen in the major grocery stores. While their stores are not usually big they pack a lot in them. They carry a small but decent line of organic food, have a nice produce section and have a fairly decent wine section which is of course divided nicely into sections by varietal. Trader Joe's also has a variety of their own wine labels that appear on the outside to be professionally done and enticing. They also , by the way carry the Charles Shaw (2 Buck Chuck) line of wines. They also carry a "Trader Joe's Coastal" line as well as "Vintjs", "Trader Joe's Petit Reserve", "Trader Joe's Reserve" and "Trader Joe's Grand Reserve" (this particular review wine). It should be pretty obvious that they take wine seriously. Today's wine review is the first wine I have had from Trader Joe's so I won't condemn the whole lineup at this time, I will however follow up by doing a review on one of their other labels.
   O.k on to the tasting now. The bouquet to this wine is filled with Black Pepper, Licorice & Blackberry. The bouquet was nice and seemed to promise a decent wine. The bouquet was obvious from the very opening of the bottle also.
   The wine when poured in the glass was a deep Burgundy. That is about all I can say about it since it was so dark.
   The taste of this wine is the deal killer here. The wine had a burnt, peppery taste. Plain & simple, that is all. All I tasted was Pepper from beginning to end, Pepper. It started with pepper on the tongue and it's finish was of Pepper. There was also a sort of burnt taste to it.
   Final note - The wine is not good and I strongly recommend you stay far, far away from it.
   On the Desert Wine Guy rating scale I give it 74 points.


www.facebook.com/DesertWineGuy?fref=nf

https://twitter.com/DesertWineGuyLV

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgCUb3w1n2S_UGU2yYRkFYQ/videos



                    
                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert WIne Guy - Wooden Valley Winery - 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon

1998 Wooden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

    What an amazing article I have in store for you readers today. Many of you will not believe what I am about to tell you but I am here to tell you that everything in this article is true. I am really excited to tell you folks how a leaking, very old bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon survived against all odds to become a simply awesome bottle of wine. Let me start off by asking you a couple of questions. What happens to a low to medium priced Cabernet Sauvignon after a few years when it has not been drunk? What happens to that same wine when it leaks from the Cork? I think we all know what the answers to these questions is supposed to be. You would answer, the wine goes bad, it goes very bad and if that was your answers you would be right.....but not in this case. Well put those answers aside and give me the courtesy of letting me answer those questions for you because when you get done reading this article you are going to be in disbelief. Here we go from the beginning.

Leaking Through The Foil

Underneath The Foil

The Top Of The Cork

    In 1999 I made my first visit to Napa Valley, California. During this first trip I discovered so much about wine, a whole new world opened up for me and I fell in love with the Vineyards and what ever else went along with them. Lucky me because what better place to learn about wine than the area of Napa and the surrounding areas. One of the important things I learned was what I like and what I don't like in my wine.  On day two or three, I can't remember, I decided to take a little detour while headed back to the Napa Vineyards. While en route to Napa along Highway 5 in Fairfield California there was a little road named Suisun Valley Rd. Getting off that exit put you into farm country, it is beautiful country. I remember there was a great cheese store that made many different types of cheeses from scratch  as well as numerous fruit stands. On this road also happens to be Wooden Valley Winery. As a side note at the time it was also close enough drive from where I was staying that I visited it often while on vacation in Northern California. While I was there the first time (and all the others as well) I did a tasting (or two...or three) and fell in love with their 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon. I purchased a couple of bottles and they got put away on a shelf in my house. When I finally bought a refrigerator years later for my good wines I put two bottles of the Cabernet along with the other wines I had purchased on that trip in it. Around two (2) months ago I got bored and was reviewing the wines that were stored in the fridge and I noticed that one (1) of the bottles was leaking and it happened to be our review wine, the 98 Cab form Wooden Valley Winery. The wine had also leaked a little onto a bottle below it. I yanked the bottle out before it did any damage to the other bottles and I placed it on my counter in the kitchen. The other day in an attempt to clear the counter of clutter I came across this bottle and I decided this would make a great article. I thought everyone does wine reviews on wine that for all intents and purposes was bottled and remained sealed until time to drink it so what would happen if I did a review on a wine that was spoiled ( or so I thought). I was going to do an article on  bad wine. I also decided to document the whole process. I took photos of the leak going down the bottle, showing that the foil was indeed intact. I took photos of the cork itself still in the bottle. I took pictures of the cork lying outside the bottle. Little did I know that that documentation was going to be instrumental to this incredible story.
   Before we get into the actual opening and tasting process let's begin this story by talking a little about Wooden Valley Winery http://www.woodenvalley.com/ since this is where I purchased our wine. The winery is located in Suisun Valley, California. Today the third generation of the Lanza family runs the Vineyard. Mario Lanza & Lena Carlevaro both met in Oakland California in 1934 and got maried in 1937. One day Mario was injured in a workplace accident and it was suggested by his doctor that he move to a warmer climate, away from from the Bay Area. While Mario was visiting his friends who were the actual the founders of Wooden Valley Winery, Salvador Brea and his brother Manuel  he decided that he liked what he saw and decided to move to Suisun Valley with Lena and her two children Richard & Marlene. Mario worked with Salvador and in 1946 Mario was offered a partnership in Wooden Valley Winery. Salvador & Manuel eventually sold their interest in the business in 1955 to Mario with the understanding that the name remain Wooden Valley Winery which was named after the original name of the road the winery was on. The property started as 36 Acres but has since expanded to over 300 Acres. Today Marios oldest Grandson, Rick is the current winemaker for the vineyard.
   Lets now move on and discuss the opening of our review wine. This is the good part. The first hurdle I was going to have to overcome was the removal faulty cork. I started as usual of course by using a foil cutter to remove the foil. The foil was not in great shape and was slightly on the brittle side, it actually almost cracked off (but not quite) rather than came off as one piece. Having accomplished that daunting task and removed the foil successfully I was able to observe the top of the cork inside the bottle. Things were again NOT looking too promising here. The cork looked cracked or split in various places and appeared brittle although there were no pieces coming off. I figured that was going to change as soon as the corkscrew started entering it. To my surprise again the corkscrew entered the cork and still no pieces fell off. The cork almost moved out of the way rather that simply allowed the corkscrew to enter and attempt to go back to it's position as it normally would. O.K, now the corkscrew was fully in. I was feeling extremely lucky to this point and knew for sure that my luck was not going to last when I tried to pull the cork out. I had visions of the cork crumbling or breaking off in large chunks and the corkscrew coming up empty. To my surprise once again the cork started coming up in one piece, this can't last I thought. I continued to pull slowly allowing the cork to use whatever elasticity it had left to grip onto the corkscrew. Slowy but surely the cork was coming up until at last it was out with a soft popping sound. I inspected the cork and saw that the bottom had not lost any pieces so I had hope still that I was going to at least be able to do a tasting. The cork was badly split inside but it held for the opening process. I completed the usual ritual of giving what was left of the foil to one child and the cork to the other. By the way they are where the name "Mirror Image Vineyard" for the Sauvignon Blanc Vineyard I own since they are identical twins. There was now nothing left to do now but the tasting. Are you ready? Here we go.
   Come with me dear friend and take a journey to another part of the Mansion which I call my Tasting Room which I lovingly named Jerrys Loft which is dedicated to my benefactor who will remain undisclosed in compliance with his wishes. Come, come everyone time please don't lag behind time is so short. Welcome, if you would do me the honor to please sit back dear friends on this chair I have prepared for you and allow me to pour you a little wine while we listen to some Depeche Mode in concert on Blu-Ray DVD. Here, sit under the fan as well and we will talk a little bit about politics and world events. Once we have solved the problems of the world we will move onto the other items at hand. We will discuss the complexities that we deal with on a daily basis such as attempting to further establish our fortunes in life and  death. We will than deal with matters a little more pressing such as our families and how it's nice to get away for some adult conversation while the ladies shop and tend to the children.  It would be my privelage if you would indulge me and allow me to pour you a little tasting of a 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon I bought some years ago. I hope you are feeling a little rougish and rebelious today and are in the mood  to do a little experimenting and perhaps a little discovery at the same time. I am also so sorry my friends but I would offer you a Cigar however I gave up the habit some years ago. I pray you will also indulge my request to sample a wine that I know will surely offend your pallet. If you would do me the honor of assisting me with this review I will surely reward you with your gift of a precision crafted and cellard bottle of wine when we are done. Together  we will discover tastes that we both hope to never taste in a wine again. What is that you say? You will? Very good then shall we begin. Now that the narrative is completed let's head to the tasting.

The Cork After Being Removed - Notice The Cracks Along The Sides

   I poured a glass of our 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon and sat down. I wanted to hurry up and finish the couple of sips I had planned to take and move onto a real wine I had been dying to taste for a while. At first at the pour I fully expected to see cork floating in the wine. It was a nice surprise, more of a shock actually when that did not happen. Was this going out to be a pleasant event after all? On the pour the wine appeared a dark Blackberry with a slight tint of a medium Cherry tossed in. As I have said previously there was no sign of Cork even when held up to bright sunlight the wine appeared to have held up visually. There were no apparent discolorations or streaks of different colors that would lead me to believe the wine was tainted in any way. What I did notice when the glass was held up was that the alcohol that is left temporary on the side of the glass did not form streaks but rather took the shape of the wine that came to the side of the glass. This is a change from what I have noticed is usually streaks on the side of the glass once the wine has left it
   We will now move onto the bouquet of this wine which is of fairly heavy Oak followed by enough Cherry to make its presence known. These aromas were followed by Plum and finished with a hint of Cocoa. The Bouquet was simply great and there were no strange or offensive odors detected in the wine. The wine smelled very nicely balanced and had the hint of cocoa aroma at the end set it off perfectly. There also a hint of Alcohol.
   Now onto the next incredible aspect of this wine, the taste. This wine was supposed to taste like Vinegar, it was supposed to be Brown, it was actually supposed to go in the trash without being opened. Thankfully it did not go in the trash. This wine quickly opened up with a rich yet smooth Blackberry taste that was very deep and fresh tasting this was followed closely with just enough of an Oak taste to compliment the Blackberry. There was even a sufficient amount Cassis in combination with everything else to set this wine off wonderfully. On top of all this  there was even a rich Plum flavor followed by  Cocoa which was buried  deep inside the wine waiting to come out  to help with the finish. To my disbelief the wine even still exhibited some Tannins  to give extra life to the wine believe it or not.
    Lets sum up this review. I must pay my compliments to the wine maker at the time. He deserves all the credit for making such a perfect wine that it held up all these years and under harsh conditions. I don't believe that this Cabernet was meant to last this long. I remember it as a low to medium priced wine and I would never expect this result. I do remember that when I went back some years later the women behind the tasting counter told me that that year of Cabernet had become a classic but I never imagined this. Once again my compliments to the wine maker. The next thing thing that I want to address is that I think you the reader is going to ask is how is this even possible? Do you mean to tell me Desert Wine Guy that you enjoyed a 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon and to top it off the bottle was leaking? This wine is supposed to be spoiled, bad. Yes readers that is what I am telling you. I am fully aware that this wine normally should have been thrown away simply because of the age let alone that it leaked. This wine, for what ever reason even exceeded the taste and quality of many of today's Cabernet's. This wine is in my mind, a classic. On The Desert Wine Guy scale I give it a very solid 95 points. This is a classic Cabernet Sauvignon with all the power we have come to expect of a Napa Cab only not from Napa. There was no hint of this wine being anything but a premium wine. The Oak was a very powerful part of this wine but everything else blended in perfectly and the Oak simply completed the wine. Why did this wine hold up to the test of time? How did this wine hold up to the test of time? I simple do not have an answer for you, I don't know. I can only tell you it did. Thankfully I do have another bottle and this one is not leaking. I think I'll hold onto it for a while.



                                                                                                                The Desert Wine Guy





  

The Desert WIne Guy - 2011 Peju Cabernet Sauvignon

   Today is a wonderful day in my little but ever expanding wine world. Today I get to write a review on the 2011 Peju Cabernet Sauvignon. I was so excited to review this wine. I just knew that this was going to be an experience that The Desert Wine Guy (and when you drink it) would never forget and I was right. From the very opening of the wine down to the last drop in the bottle it was pure Heaven. Lets start at the bottom line. Go out right now and buy two bottles. One bottle is for tonight the other is to be put away for a few years, for a graduation or a Prom (in my case) or a wedding or for any REALLY special occasion where you want to impress someone. I promise you will not be sorry you followed this advice.

   Peju http://www.peju.com/ is a winery I discovered when I made my first trip to the Napa Valley some years ago. I started by visiting the wineries on the right hand side of Highway 29 and very quickly learned the differences between a wine I liked and a wine that I didn't like. I learned what Tannins are, I learned what aging in Oak did. I learned so much at each winery. When I arrived at Peju I was already an expert (yeah o.k) on wine. I sampled their wine and new forever that that was what I wanted in a red wine. I tasted Tannins, Oak, Cherry and something else that I cannot explain.. What ever it was I never found it in any other wine including the rest of the great wines I have tasted. It is what makes Peju, Peju. Prior to my first trip to Napa Valley my exposure to wine was the “Wine Spritzer” that my mom made for pool time which was Carlo Rossi and Orange juice or Carlo Rossi and sprite. There was also the Manischewitz grape wine that my family had for the holidays while I grew up. You can probably see that I was not exposed to the upper class of wines in my younger days. After that Napa trip time went on and for what ever reason, I simply forgot about the Winery, maybe it is because it does not seem to be distributed to widely and I never run across it in stores, I don't know. That is the only reason I can think of. The other night I was at a local wine tasting located at an establishment named Khoury's in Henderson Nevada. After the actual tasting I was looking at their wine board and I noticed that they were serving a 2011 Peju Cabernet Sauvignon. Instantly I flashed back to the beautiful winery and that special taste that all the wines they made had. I immediately ordered a glass. At $10 a glass for the type of establishment it was that was somewhat pricey but I saw the name “Peju” and I had to try it in hopes I could re-live that Peju taste. The minute I tasted the wine I knew that the Peju taste was not gone, it was still there. There were only a few wines that really stood out in my tastings from that first trip to the Napa Valley and Peju happens to be one of them.
   The Peju family established themselves in Napa Valley, (Rutherford) California in 1982. When they bought the land which is situated on Highway 29 and the Napa River in Rutherford California there was a 1900 era house and 60 year old vineyards. The Vineyard is operated by Anthony and Herta Peju along with their daughters Lisa and Ariana and together they comprise a large part of the Peju team. The wine I am reviewing comes from the HB Vineyard. This particular Vineyard grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc & Merlot. The Vineyard has a beautiful restaurant as well as four (4) different tastings. There is the “Pejus Classic Tasting” The fee for the basic tasting which consists of four current tastings costs Twenty dollars and is put toward a purchase of thirty five dollars or more. The next tasting is the “Peju Private Tasting” which is with an appointment only and is the same as the “Peju Classic Tasting” only your group must be 8 or more people. This is followed by the “Peju Reserve Tasting” which lasts 60 minutes and is for 2-8 people and is also by reservation only. The tasting takes place in the Uluru room on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays. This is a private setting along with a tasting room Ambassador who shares the story of each wine, Peju's history and wine making style. The private tasting wine is made up of limited production wines. The cost is $75 per person. To top off the tastings there is the “Peju Private Wine Tasting With Artisan Cheese.” This tasting is only on Mondays, Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 2:00 PM. This tasting consists of four current releases and is done in the Peju kitchen or Rutherford room. The wines are paired with crackers that are made in house and locally made Artisan cheeses. The cost is $65 per person. The winery also has art exhibits and a four level wine club.

   So...here we are finally, the review of the 2011 Peju Cabernet Sauvignon. As I stated above, Peju is one of the Vineyards that opened my eyes to just how great a wine could be. I went for a tasting at the Peju winery and instantly fell in love. I don't recall the year or the varietal but it was love at first taste. Jumping forward to this year I payed about $45 dollars for our review wine and it came home with me. It only took a week before I had the chance to do a review on it. Opening the wine released a brilliant bouquet of Black-cherry, Cocoa, Cassis, Oak & Blackberry, Liquorice. here were no flavors that were out of place or in strengths that threw off the wonderful flavor. The Tannins were delivered in such a way and in the perfect amounts while still leaving room for this wine to sit in a collection for a good amount of years still yet they were never to the point of overpowering the wine. The Cocoa which is hidden deep inside the wine only comes out just enough to let you know it is there while still making it's presence known. This wine is bright and full of excitement anticipating you drinking it. The wine finished consistent and did not fall off at the end. The taste remained strong and left you wanting more. In the glass the wine was a deep Ruby red / Plum that made you anticipate the taste which of course does not disappoint. I don't think that I have ever enjoyed a bottle of wine more than I have enjoyed this one.
   In closing I have to say the I cannot say enough about this wine. This is an exceptional wine that I think will become known as a “sleeper” . The flavors in this wine were put together in such a way as to make the wine taste in your palette as if you were feeling silk with your tongue. Everything could not be more perfect in a wine, it is everything you would ever want in a Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is the reason that Cabernet Sauvignon is such a popular red wine (13 percent of wine sold). I think that this wine sells now for $50 normally but in the near future will jump in price and if you don't get at least one to put away now you will be sorry you didn't. This wine will be talked about in the future as up there with the best. The wine-maker is Sara Fowler and deserves high praise for this wine. Mrs Fowler I take my Desert Wine Guy hat off to you for a job well done.

  On The Desert Wine Guy scale I am giving this wine 97 points. 

   

The Desert Wine Guy - Weather And It's Effect On The Vineyard

   

   With the weather starting to heat up and the Summer right around the corner I have decided to do an article on the Las Vegas weather and how Vineyards are effected by it. I studied and learned a lot of what I am putting in this article before actually putting in my Vineyards. I am still learning as I go. I guess you can consider this article a beginning teaching lesson for anyone who is thinking about putting in a Vineyard of any kind. Do some investigation into the weather conditions your area experiences. Check your “Climate Zone” of the are you live in. Look into a local College and see if they have a Vineyard program and are willing to offer assistance. Look into a professional winery in your area or even another area that has a climate similar to yours. I have learned so much from other winery’s like Sanders Family Winery (http://sanderswinery.com/) in Pahrump Nevada as well as One Acre in The Napa Valley (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXJt-06dZyY). Some items to consider are the following. Does it get very hot? Does it get very cold? Does it rain often?. If it does how much does it rain? Look at your soil, maybe you need to pay to have it analyzed before planting anything at all. How about animals that are present, are there deer that might require a fence? Once these things are looked into you can look at the varietal of grape you can plant in your area. Not every varietal

does well or can even grow in every part of the country. As an example if you want to grow Pinot Noir in Kentucky good luck. Some grapes like the Riesling will burn up in the heat of Las Vegas. By the way I was not happy about this since I do love a good Riesling. Some grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc will do better in hot climates as opposed to cold climates. While Cabernet or Sauvignon Blanc may grow in some cold weather it might not produce much fruit or it might not stay green long before going dormant. These are just some things to be concerned about, there might be others that you can think of that are particular to your climate or situation. Having said all this let's move into the body of this article.

Those of you who have ever visited Las Vegas in the Summer already know just hot it can be. I think most people believe that nothing except Cactus and Snakes & Lizards can thrive out here. Don't feel bad I felt the same way originally. If you read part #1 of The Story of The Desert Wine Guy (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-story-of-desert-wine-guy-part-1.html)  you will read all about my doubts, believe me there were many. I basically refused to live with a backyard of Desert and Cactus, I hate the Desert. Back to the heat issue though. Without question it does get hot here. It gets REALLY hot here. One day last year (June 30) Las Vegas had a temperature of 116 degrees. Yes you read it right. The coldest day last year was on January 15 and it was 23 degrees. With extremes like that you might think that Grapevines would die or be ruined so that when the spring came along the vines would be be damaged. Fortunately that is not the case. The weather in Vegas is not only hot, it is dry as well. Las Vegas itself gets very little rain and Humidity although that is starting to change because of all the people who are moving here and planting trees and backyard farms. The longest dry spell last year was 89 straight days from April 9 – July 6. The humidity last year went from a low of 5% in June to a high of 26% in November. Basically the longer the grapes can hang (grow) on the vine the better. If there is early rain or cold that will effect the crop and therefore the harvest time. This would mean that the grapes have not had a chance to fully mature, or ripen which means less flavor. Let's move now to a particular situation, we will use mine as an example.

    Since Angel Vineyard is growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Mirror Image Vineyard is growing Sauvignon Blanc I am going to focus on those two grape varietals. Since they both grow here in the weather conditions of Las Vegas this article applies to both varietals. To start off we will begin in the spring Time. Spring is when the vines start to flower and the berries start to set. This is an important time in the season. This is when the vine establishes what we grow them for, grapes. It is a time when the vine comes out of dormancy and is starting off it's growing season again. The weather can destroy all of the fruit and leave the vines themselves which may survive and we will have  pretty vines to take care of all year. At this time rain is a bad thing. Hail, frost & extreme cold are of course also bad for the vines. This time of the year the hail, frost and cold are three things I fortunately don't have to worry about. The area I do have concerns with is heat. Heat can be managed a lot of the time with proper canopy management. Which means being very careful with the amount of leaves I remove. The Cabernet luckily are thicker skinned and that does help avoid sun damage to some extent, still care with protecting the grapes from the excessive heat is important. The Sauvignon Blanc will need even more care with the heat. Temperature swings are also good for the type of grapes being discussed. Warm (not hot) days and semi cool nights work out well. The heat can also alter the taste of wine. With too much heat the Cabernet develops a peppery taste. In Vegas, rain is so rare that it usually is not an issue. The heat usually doesn't dissipate till late in the year which as we read above is ideal. The only real challenge here is managing the heat that gets to the grapes. If you can control that you are in great shape. One other possible problem is pests. There are some pests that are particular to certain areas of the country. Those of you who follow my blog (http://desertwineguy.blogspot.com/) and wine (ONLY) Facebook already know that my main pest is The Grape Leaf Skeltonizer. They will destroy all the leaves of the vines and expose the grapes to the Vegas sun and I would then have Raisins. That, believe it or not is the only pest that I have ran into.

    In closing I encourage you to explore growing a Vineyard. It is great exercise taking care of the vines and gets you outdoors in the fresh air. In my case it also helps teach my children to respect (not worship) nature and the outdoors. It also is great satisfaction in eating your own grapes that you grew in your Vineyard. As for whether you can grow grapes in your environment plant 1 vine and see how it goes. Good luck.

                                                                                                                    The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert WIne Guy - 2009 Monte Blanco Cabernet Sauvignon

  

   Today's wine is from Chili and is the 2009 Monte Blanco Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile. This will be a short review simply because there really is not much to say about this wine, at least nothing good that is. This wine is light to medium red in color and has a very weak cherry/Blackberry taste to it. There is really no structure to speak of to this wine.  It is a very simple wine. There are no Tannins in the wine which might be because it is rather on the older side for this price point and this red might not have been produced using quality grapes. I can forgive the lack of Tannins however, what I can't forgive is the overpowering problem with this wine being jammy....way jammy/sweet. The wine is VERY sweet and makes fortified wines almost seem bland. There is no saving grace anywhere in this bottle. I say avoid it like the plague. If you want a sweet Red go buy a bottle of Manischewitz.

                                                                                                                  The Desert Wine Guy

The Desert WIne Guy - Khoury's Wine & Spirits

   Today I am going to review a local wine/beer establishment named Khoury's, located here in Vegas. Myself and another wine blogger here in Las Vegas met to discuss a possible exchanging of articles for each others blogs. I had never heard of the establishment before and to be honest from the outside it looks like just another “Liquor Store”, it is not. Walking into the store you see a good amount of wines on racks which are separated by the types of wine they are some were separated by country such as Africa. The cool thing I noticed was that aside from the usual wines you see in larger wine & spirits stores there were a lot of Boutique type wines. The wines that were involved in the tastings were actually all Boutique wines. As with all Boutique wines they were all from small wineries that released in small quantities. There was one that stood out and that wast the “My Essential” which the label says is simply a red wine. I truly didn't expect much but it was amazing. It was sort of like seeing a mutt (dog) and saying “I see this dog in the eyes, this dog in the feet” etc; I was able to taste all the wines (it is a blend) as if I tasted different, individual wines. It was amazing, look for the review. There was a special section that was refrigerated and where most but not all of the wines were on the higher price scale. The wines in here were layed out in their winery packaged boxes that I felt added a little class. The entire place was clean and well stocked. The person behind the counter (I think he was the owner) was participating in the wine tasting which seemed to prevent him from walking around. While he was able to walk around and and assist customers it appeared he chose not to. It appeared that he was more interested in the register. There was another employee to assist people in the store and I did talk with him at the counter however I was not approached nor did I see him while I was walking the isles. The times I saw him was at the bar he did appear to be busy, what he was doing I don't know. I had no doubts that if I had come to the bar to ask for assistance that I

wine tasting at Khoury's

Tons Of Selection

would have gotten some. There was also a representative, Thomas from Crush & Cooper Wine and Spirits who distributes the wines involved in the tasting. He appeared very knowledgeable on wines and while very busy talking with customers and explaining his wines, was very personable, I enjoyed talking to him. It appeared to me that if you left the wine tasting area you were on your own. Speaking of the wine tasting itself. There were five wines available for tasting at the cost of $5 which was applied toward a purchase. There was a 2011 My Essential Red, 2012 Hindsight Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010 A.P. Vin Gary's Pinot Noir, 2012 Turley Juvenile Zinfandel & the 2012 Failla Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (which I did not like). Thomas was in charge of the tasting and did an excellent job engaging in conversation and sharing his knowledge of his product as well as wine in general. One nice touch was a library of wine books that customers could look at. There were plenty of tables available to sit at and they filled up rather quickly because of the turnout which seemed like all regulars. I have to say thought that the customers were very nice and welcoming. While my wife and I walked around a customer came over and introduced herself and said she was glad we were there and invited us back. The whole place including the employees (at the counter) were very welcoming actually and being new my wife and I didn't feel out of place at all. There were waters, juices and energy drinks available should you go with someone who doesn’t drink, like my wife or for the designated driver which I recommend you bring. There is no food available although they do allow you to bring outside food in. There are plenty of places located in the shopping center to eat. If you want Pizza I recommend Montassanos which is located in the same shopping center. The place was well lit and there was no music which I found nice and allowed you to learn about wine from Thomas as well as talk to other people. Parking was not a problem either and the store is locate in a very nice part (Henderson) of Vegas. Being that this is a wine blog I left this part for last. The have an incredible selection of Beer also. There were large bottles of Samuel Adams that I had never seen before. I even picked up a 32 oz can of Pabst Blue ribbon for myself since Mrs Desert Wine Gal is from Wisconsin. Just like there were so many Boutique wines there were small production beers that are normally available in he states they are brewed in. By the way it is come as you are. I had a nice pair of jeans on and a U.N.L.V sweatshirt and was not out of place.

   If you come to Vegas I highly recommend that you check this place out. Go there on Wednesday for beer tasting night and Thursday for Wine tasting night. 

                                          
                                                                                            The Desert Wine Guy



                                                                                                                                          

The Desert Wine Guy - Israel And Wine - The History And Current Day Of Wine In Israel

   Since almost the beginning of the world Israel has played an important role in the history of mankind. In this article we will deal with Israel and it's importance in relation to wine. Many people do not know that since biblical times Israel has been producing, using and selling wine. The bible even comments that the kings of Israel had vast vineyards. Wine is thought to have reached the country of Israel from the Caucasus/eastern Turkey regions in 5,00-6,000 BC era. Archaeologists have actually discovered wine presses dating back to 100-400 CE and wine cellars have been discovered dating back to 700 CE in the area of the city of Gideon. Israel would also ship wines to the countries of Egypt & Rome in the late Byzantine and early Islamic period however the wines were thick & sweet. Being that we are blessed today with great wines available it sounds like we probably wouldn't want to drink the wines produced back then. The wine was so bad that they would season it with honey, pepper & juniper berries to make it drinkable. Even with all the flaws Israeli wine had, the average Israeli family drank an average of 92 gallons of wine a year. Today that average has dropped and is around 2 gallons. Israel has two ancient and traditional wine growing regions; the Shomron (Samaria region) and Samson (located between the Judean Hills and Coastal Plain) regions. There are a few different schools of thought on exactly where grapevines originated. Some believe that the vines originated in the mountains of Arat or modern Armenia while others believe that they originated in the Shiraz region of Persia (Iran). During the Muslim conquest of 636 AD wine presses (see above) were destroyed and wine production and grape cultivation activities for wine essentially ceased for about 1200 years, except among Christian monasteries.  

    The next evolution in wine for Israel was many years later in 1870. Wine again began to be produced with the help of Baron Edmond de Rothschild who brought over European varieties of grapes as well as helped finance the planting of vineyards near Rishon Le Zion on the coastal plain and sent teams of experts from Bordeaux to advise new local wineries on making fine wine. He also financed the construction of wineries of the Jewish settlements, first in Rishon Le Zionin 1882 and Zichron Ya’acov in the Mount Carmel area in 1890. Rothschild’s vision was to make the “Holy Land” a source of kosher wines for Jews everywhere and to sustain the local Jewish settlers with a viable industry. This idea didn't work out as planned when hard times ended his dream. In the mid-1890’s the vine disease Phylloxera, which had come over from France devastated the region’s vineyards. In the period that followed the Bordeaux varieties were uprooted and replaced with cuttings of Carignan, Alicante Bouschet, Clairette, Grenache, Muscat, and Semillon and the so called "proper root stocks" that experts considered more suitable for the hot climate of Palestine. Before Phylloxera took its toll there were about 7,000 Acres of vineyards in Israel; by 1914 there were only 880. 

   In the 1960's Carmel Winery and other producers reintroduced Bordeaux and Rhone Varieties. In 1972 Oenoligist Professor Cornelius Ough from U.C Davis went to the Golan Heights and saw the future in wine making in Israel. His advice created the Kibbutz named Moshavim and in 1982 the first grapes were harvested from the Golan Heights and a professor by the name of Peter Stern (again from U.C Davis) was hired to design a new Golan Heights Winery. The winery came online in 1983 and with Professor Sterns help they released their first critically acclaimed wine. Professor Stern also brought in other wine professionals such as a Israel Flam who later became Chief Winemaker of Rishon Le Zion in 1995. With him moving to Israel he played an important part in the success of the Israeli wine industry. Today Israel has five wine regions. They are Galilee which is Israels northern-most wine growing region. This region extends from the Lebanese border south. The Samson region which runs parallel to the Mediterranean Sea and includes the coastal plain southeast of Tel Aviv and the hills between the Jerusalem mountains and the coast. The third region is Judean Hills. This region surrounds the city of Jerusalem. It extends from north of of Jerusalem to the Yatir Forest south of Hebron. Then there is Shomron which is located near the Mediterranean coast south of Haifa and includes the Carmel Mountain range. Finally we end with the region of Negev. This region is an arid & dry one. Comprising about half of Israels land area. This region is actually in two sub-regions of Ramat Arad in the Northwest and the central Negev Highlands. 

    Israeli wine stayed like that until around 1983 when the Golan Heights Winery was established. This came after Israelis in large numbers started traveling to California and Australia & Europe. The Golan Winery soon discovered that the wines of the Grenache, Semillon, Petit Syrah and Carignan grapes would make the Israeli wine industry popular. Finally Israel had was about to be put on the wine map by a Cabernet Sauvignon from the 1984 vintage. That wine won a gold medal at the International Wine and Spirit Competition. The Golan Heights Winery produces 4.5 million bottles of wine a year. There are now over 200 wineries in Israel today. Today wine in Israel while popular and profitable, wine is another source of contention in the land. While the Jewish people of the land incorporate it into their religious ceremony's On the Jewish side there are places in their holy books such as Psalms 104 ”And wine will rejoice the heart of man”. There is also "And wine gladdens the hearts of man" (Psalms 104:15) that indicate that Alcohol is permissible in the Jewish religion. I can also find no prohibition for it in the Jewish bible other than it being against being drunk The Muslim Quran is unclear on the topic of Alcohol. There appear to be conflicting Muslim scriptures on the subject. In an article dated September 2 of 2012http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/arab-israelis-erect-protest-tent-to-battle-planned-wine-festival-near-mosque-1.462261 in the Haaretz newspaper there was a wine festival held near a Mosque and “Muslim groups expressed outrage” and called the festival “unforgivable sin” and erected an protest tent. There are passages in the Quran such as 16.67 “And of the fruits of the date palms and the grapes, you obtain alcoholic drinks and goods. Verily in that is a sign for a people who use their understanding.” that indicate that Alcohol may be acceptable in the Muslim religion. There are however there are also places in the Quran that state Alcohol is bad such as Quran 5:90 “O you who believe! Intoxication's and gambling, (dedication of) stones and (divination by) arrows are an abomination of Satan’s handwork: so avoid it that you may prosper.” On the other hand there are examples in the Hadiths such as Muslim 3753 “We were with the prophet of Allah and he was thirsty. And a man said: ‘O prophet of Allah, do you want to drink wine?’ Prophet of Allah said: ‘Yes’. The man went to get the wine. The prophet of Allah said: ‘Make it intoxicated’. And he drank.”. There is also the following passage Quran 16.67 “And of the fruits of the date palms and the grapes, you obtain alcoholic drinks and goods. Verily in that is a sign for a people who use their understanding.” In ending this article I wanted to point out that there are the beginnings of cooperation between the two major religions in the Middle east area. As proof of that i will leave you with the fact that There is a Winery named Mony Winery which is owned by an Arab-Christian family and is located in Dir-Rif’at.

   Whatever the two religions believe or don't believe, alcohol seems to be just another divisive issue in the Middle East. Who is right and who is wrong? Well I guess that depends on your own point of view.

                                                                                  The Desert WIne Guy