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KoeppelOnWine is about all sorts of wine: cheap and expensive and everywhere in-between. Wines for drinking with dinner tonight and wines for aging. Wines for sipping nonchalantly and wines for special occasions. Wines that make you say, "Gosh, that's nice," slurp slurp, glug glug, and wines that make you whisper with awe and wonder,"Holy shit, Kemosabe." That's why there are different pages on the website, to accommodate the many wines and moods of our lives. The Refrigerator Door Wines page offers the inexpensive stuff. A Case of New Releases is for 12 wines that start at about $16 and go up in price. Wines built for the long-haul in the cellar or closet or under the bed go in Patience Required. Reviews of wine we had with food at home or at restaurants are in Eating and Drinking. And the Featured Article will be a survey of a region, a group of related wines, a particular grape or a similar topic. These pages are free; log on to KoeppelOnWine and enjoy. However, the Members' Wine of the Week is available only by subscription. In addition, members of KoeppelOnWine receive e-mail notification every time I post a new page, and they can search in the archives for past reviews and articles. Membership is $48 a year, a mere 92 cents a week. Sounds worth it to me, especially because it costs way more than 92 cents a week to keep this thing going. You can sign up right here at KoeppelOnWine. The earthly, as opposed to the electronic, address for samples, news and other wine matters is: Fredric Koeppel KoeppelOnWine.com 519 South Goodlett Street Memphis TN 38117 Call (901) 355-1289 (trade only please) By the way, in the picture with me is Grace Slick, one of our five rescued dogs. She is, as you can see, the Leader of the Pack. After twenty years of writing a weekly wine column for print, I launched myself into the Internet in December 2004. Here’s what I believe: I believe that wines should reflect the nature of the vineyard and climate where the grapes were grown and the inherent character of the grapes. I believe that great wines of whatever price begin with clear-sightedness and hard work in the vineyard, and that wine should be made with as little human interference and technical manipulation as possible. I believe, on the other hand, that it takes experienced and intuitive winemakers to make the right choices for each vineyard, grape variety and vintage. I believe that wine and food go together naturally and that if at all possible wine should be encountered in the context of appropriate food. (No, it’s not always possible.) I believe that it is a nobler endeavor to make 100,000 cases of a terrific $10 wine than it is to make 1,000 cases of a $100 wine. Not that I would ever turn down a glass of a great $100 (or more) wine. Every week or so I’ll bring readers new reviews of inexpensive products (Refrigerator Door Wines), new products across a range of genres and prices (A Case of New Releases), wines intended for aging (Patience Required), a few examples of champagnes and sparkling wines (All That Sparkles) and some food and wine pairing tips (Eating and Drinking). Every two to three weeks will bring a story or report on a particular winery or grape variety or region or a commentary on issues in the wine industry (Featured Article). While I will not neglect the wines that receive all the hype, the cult wines or icon wines, the famous labels sought by those with fiduciary prowess and cellars, the primary purpose of Koeppelonwine.com is for readers and consumers who want a good bottle of wine to have with dinner, those who are looking for those terrific little bargain wines that they can serve with confidence and a knowing smile. I don’t use a 100-point rating system for scoring wine. Publications that do so rarely score wines under the low 80s anyway; the curve is very steep. When I read those reviews, I always wonder what nuances allow a wine to be rated 92 instead of 91 or 93, and why another wine whose description sounds almost identical gets a 90. For me, the description of a wine and the examination of its character are more important than the rating, so I put my effort into creating a complete picture of the wine as it has, in ideal conditions, made an impression over several minutes in the glass. Then I rate the wine as “Good,” “Very good,” “Very good+,” “Excellent” or “Exceptional.” When readers log onto Koeppelonwine.com everything there is available for free. And, please, send your comments, observations, criticism and suggestions. Koeppelonwine.com is for readers, and I want to know what you think and what you need. Searching the archives for previous reviews and stories and contacting me personally for consultation, to ask advice about buying or storing or drinking wine or what to serve at your dinner party or take to someone else’s dinner party are available by subscription. I love wine. Drawing the cork from the bottle, pouring the wine in a glass, looking at the color, smelling the aromas, tasting it and feeling its texture, discovering some intangible yet palpable sense of integrity and greatness remain thrilling after all these years. I hope that I can share that thrill with you. Sincerely, Fredric Koeppel The earthly, as opposed to the electronic, address for this enterprise is: Fredric Koeppel koeppelonwine.com 347 Central Cove Memphis TN 38111 Telephone is 901-454-2244. (For trade only, please.) |
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