Monday, March 30, 2009

Ketchup or Glaze?

Over the weekend, we invited some friends over for dinner. As I am always the "Teacher" I asked our guest to bring the wine, I advised them that I was cooking "Italian Style Roast Beef". Leaving the wine selection to my guest. I returned back to preparing dinner,I seasoned the roast with garlic powder and salt and pepper. Place in a slow cooker,added mushrooms and onion,combine seasoning mix and tomato sauce,poured it over all. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours. To thicken the gravy, I made a paste of melted butter and flour,added tomato paste, then stirred in some meat drippings from the bottom of Crock Pot. Covered and cook on high until thickened.

Waiting with anticipation to see which wine my guest was pairing my dinner with, finally came 10 min. later when they arrived on time.
Handing me the wine bag,I dug my hand in and wrapped it around the bottle. What I pulled out was a 2000 Joseph Phelps Insignia.

Now, in my friends defense I have to say he does know that this is one of my favorite wines, But What I asked he to bring was a wine for dinner.

So, to teach my guest a life long lesson, I went down into my cellar and pulled out a 2001 OBERTO BARBERA D'ALBA GIADA with it's classic cherry pie, hint of cedar, black currant & vanilla nose and it's very silky, covers & coats entire palate, nice blackberry, cedar box, massive flavor.
I set the table and included 2 wine glasses, on the right I poured the Joseph Phelps and on the left I poured the Oberto. Not telling my guest which was which we sat down to dinner and I let the good times roll.

The conversation of today's politic and economics carried to the table. As I cut the roast and served everyone a slice. We started eating and making small talk,then something happened,someone said out loud how great the dinner tasted and how good the wine on the left complements it. I let this stir for a min. or two, everyone was tasting the meal with the wine on the right and the wine on the left. By a margin of 6 to 0 the Oberto Barbera won.

I confessed to my guest that I have chosen a second wine. I wanted them to taste and understand that even though Joseph Phelps is a great wine it is NOT a dinner wine. The same can be made with most California wines, while they are good to drink on their own, the 90+ points they receive is not relative when matching with food.Too big of a wine and you just poured Ketchup over your dinner.

The right wine is the one that compliments the time and love put into the meal. The meal is the physical love that the wife put out for the guest to eat, the wine is the love the man set out to show is participation in the love, Together they show how each one goes together hand in hand.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Investing in Wine

“Let’s face it, in a worst-case scenario, you can literally drink your investment into oblivion”

Up 522% in the last 10 years

If you’ve never given thought to investing in wine, just look at a recent issue of Global Mutual Fund Investor. My friend Eric Roseman points out that First Growth Bordeaux wine (1990 vintage) has risen by 522% over the last 10 years, beating out stocks.

Roseman says, “Some of the world’s finer vintages have severely outpaced the S&P 500 Index - especially from 2000 to 2002 when the American broader market crashed 40%. Wine truly has no correlation whatsoever to the S&P 500 Index and offers key asset allocation diversification as an investment“

According to Forbes.com: “The world’s most expensive bottle of wine that could actually be drunk today is also the most expensive wine ever sold in America, a Montrachet 1978 from Domaine de la RomanÃe-Conti that was hammered down at Sotheby’s in New York in 2001. The lot of seven bottles fetched $167,500, or $23,929 per bottle.”

The NYSE of the Wine Investing World

The wine investing market is actually developing into a “pseudo stock exchange” for finer vintages, Roseman says. For example, “The WorldWineXchange.com offers secure trading in fine wine to international buyers and sellers on a real-time, first-come, first-served basis.”

There’s actually a wine price “ticker” running across the bottom of the web page.

The wine investors themselves don’t see wine investing as a joke at all They see a supply of fine wines from good years constantly shrinking pushing prices ever higher. It’s Economics 101, they say - supply is falling while demand is increasing.

If you’re into wines, you may get a kick out of a few web sites that are out there

* The site www.decanter.com offers its Fine Wine Tracker, which allows you to chart wine prices just like stock prices, going back to 1978.
* The site www.InvestDrinks.org points out some of the big risks and pitfalls.
* www.brentwoodwine.com/wineinvesting.html offers the positive case.
* And there’s even a wine fund: http://bottledgrapesonline.com/



Good investing (or, if it doesn’t work out, drowning your sorrows).

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Fine Wine Investment Advice

There are two major reasons for fine wine investment:

* Firstly as an investment in future drinking - buying young wines at the initial release price which, when mature, would be considerably more expensive to buy.
* As a strictly financial investment - buying wines with the sole intention of reselling later for a profit.

For many people who keep a cellar, both factors will influence investment.

The global demand for fine wine, which is produced in very small quantities, has increased enormously over the last two decades. Wine can, and often has, outperformed the FTSE 100 and the Dow Jones, offering significant returns without the volatility of the stock market.
Wine Investment Essentials

* Focus on the top wines from the best vintages. Only a fraction of wines produced worldwide will increase with value if kept.
* Store the wine correctly and, preferably, in professional temperature-controlled cellars.
* If purchasing in Europe, buy and store wines 'under bond' so sales taxes do not become payable.