Dan Neil, for the La Times, looks at the ins and outs of the newest, douchiest wine going: Ed Hardy. 

The wine is yet another notch in the lifestyle brand belt for Christian Audigier.  The Ed Hardy line is a tattoo-themed street wear imprint of the French fashion megalomaniac. 

(The actual Ed Hardy is a bay-area tattoo artist.  Hope he’s getting paid well to have his name sullied.)

Since Audigier has slapped the lameness of “Ed Hardy” onto just about everything and anything from toothbrushes to clothing, why not wine sold exclusively at your local Whole Paycheck? 

The Ed Hardy label helps address a specific problem in the wine business, according to Nicolas Vice President Gene Schaeffer.

“There’s nothing really new and exciting in the wine business,” Schaeffer says. “When this idea came along I thought we could develop new wine drinkers.”

Claude Ruau-Choate, the wine buyer for Whole Foods in California, says the same. “In the long term, we’re trying to build an audience,” Ruau-Choate says. “This is the perfect introduction. It’s fun. Wine doesn’t have to be difficult.”

As for the wine itself, Neil describes it as “not half bad,” which is really saying it’s not that good.  It’s probably a good starter wine, the kind you drink when you’re also drinking Natty Light.  In other words, when you have no taste or discerning sensibilities. 

No wine doesn’t have to be difficult.  But does it have to be douchy either? [via Buzzfeed]

Kevin Scanlon for The New York Times

This is one of the coolest pieces of information on wine I have gotten in a while.  I hope you all enjoy!  You folks up north or on the left coast may be ahead of the curve and already read this from the NY Times…..down here in Florida we get cool trendy news a little later.

It’s a look at the possible future of wine, as some places are now serving it on tap.  Similar to beer, no less.

“You have to calculate in your pricing the wine you didn’t sell, the wine you had to throw away,” said Sang Yoon, the chef and owner of two Father’s Office restaurants in the Los Angeles area, and a true believer in the keg and tap method. “The wine is 20 percent cheaper right off the bat.”

Mr. Yoon served wines by the glass the conventional way at his first Father’s Office in Santa Monica, where his fanatical pursuit of top-quality ingredients and superb craft beers, along with an autocratic style (“no substitutions, modifications, alterations or deletions,” the menu reads) turned his little bar into a cult restaurant. But he wanted something better for the wine when he opened his second restaurant, in Culver City.

“I can’t remember having had a positive wine-by-the-glass experience unless the bottle was freshly opened,” he said. “As an owner, you also come to realize how wasteful wine by the glass becomes. As a result your pricing has to reflect that waste, so most places serve cheap wine with big markups for glass pours, which equals bad value for consumers.”

Then it hit him. “Why can’t we just serve good wine out of a keg like we do with beer?” he said. In kegs, which keep out the air, wine could stay perfectly fresh for months, he reasoned. Mr. Yoon found a restaurant in Atlanta that was serving wine from modified beer kegs, and, with an energy borne of obsession, he set out to perfect the system.

So damn refreshing it’s like diving into the cold ocean with a mean hangover, invigorating every sense you’ve got.

I’m having it with chicken curry right now and it’s sending chills down my body. Well right now, as in dinner last night.

I am such a wine-o, sorry!  Just a touch of residual sugar makes this wine perfect for sushi & spicy foods.  Cheers!

MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris

Personally, I enjoy a good Spanish Cava or Prosecco from Italy.  If you’re looking for something domestic, oddly enough New Mexico is one region in the US that is at the forefront of sparkling whites.  It’s almost hard to believe, but one of my favorites (which made the Slashfood list) is Gruet’s Brut. It might be difficult to find, but it’s only $14 dollars and worth the money.

Either of those three will do and neither will give you that awful hangover in the morning.  Unless you drink too much.  And unlike good Champagne, neither of these sparkling whites will run you more than $15 dollars or so. Still, if you’re struggling and not sure what to pick out for a pre-party or for the stroke of midnight any of these eight bottles will do.

1. Segura Viudas Brut Reserva ($9) is a Cava from Spain, made in the traditional Champagne method for just a fraction of the cost. The Segura Viudas is delicious and sophisticated on its own or with a splash of pomegranate juice.

2. Korbel Brut Rose ($10) from California is a pretty, strawberry-flavored bubbly with just a hint of sweetness. My husband likes to call it our breast cancer awareness bubbly.

3. Domaine Ste. Michelle’s sparkling wines–Cuvee Brut, Blanc de Blancs, or Blanc de Noirs–are all delicious. This Washington-based winemaker also produces a Frizzante, which you should totally get if you dig sweeter wine. All are priced around $12.

4. Would you believe that good sparkling wine can come from New Mexico? Gruet’s Brut sparking wine ($14) may be hard to find, but if you do spy it, snap it up. It’s deliciously complex and sophisticated.

5. Rotari’s Talento Riserva ($19), an Italian bubbly made from 90 percent Chardonnay and 10 percent Pinot Noir, is aged an extra two years to give it a delicious yeastiness and a pretty gold color. It’s a little more expensive than most of my recommendations, but worth it for the extra complexity gained from longer ageing.

6. Lunetta Prosecco ($13) is another Italian bubbly made from the Prosecco grape. It’s lighter and more lively than complex Champagne.

7. Barefoot Bubbly Brut ($10) tastes exactly like a green apple Jolly Rancher. It’s made in the Charmat method, which produces less refined bubbles than the traditional method, but this wine would definitely appeal to a wide variety of people at a party.

8. Friexenet Cordon Negro Brut 375-mL bottles ($4) are perfect for those times when you’re popping the cork alone. Friexnet is a Spanish Cava, and it’s easy to find in its signature black bottle. The wine inside is fresh and lively, an absolute steal for the price. It comes in full-size bottles as well.

Do you have a favorite budget bubbly?

2007 King Estate Pinot Gris (Eugene, Oregon)

So?just after I thought my senses were dulled from a night of serious drinking, I opened? bottle of the 2007 King Estate Pinot Gris from Eugene, Oregon.

It was like biting into a Granny Smith apple, Bartlett pear & ripe honeydew melon all at the same time.? Awakening my senses, the flavors persisted enough to give me my second wind.

Thanks, King Estate, for making my night out longer than it was shaping up to be.? The estimated retail price is around $16 a bottle.

Food suggestions: Crab cakes, sea bass, halibut, swordfish, mussels, lobster, chicken carbonara, tilapia, shrimp scampi

2005 Martin Codax Tempranillo (Rioja, Spain)

While most tempranillos seem to be super ripe, over extracted or extremely earthy, this one is smooth, soft and very pleasant initially.

As the wine progresses on the palate, flavors of black cherry, tobacco and leather come through with a medium body.

Aged in French & American oak for eight months this wine has taken on some vanilla, spice and cedar notes as well.

This retails for about $12 a bottle.

Food suggestions smoked meats, game, lamb, stews, pork and ham

I can reasonably tell the difference between the most popular varietals – if you were, say, to put a glass of Viognier, Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay and told me to tell which is which four out of five days I’d be able to and the same goes with reds. I’m discerning in my likes and dislikes, can sorta pair wine with foods and have reached a point where I know there is a significant difference between your mass produced dreck like Yellow Tail (the $5-7 bottle) and something tasty in the next price range ($12-18).

However, if you were to ask me to tell the difference between a $18 bottle and something more heady, something in the $35-50 range I would be hard pressed to offer what exactly the difference is. Or rather, why the supposed sophistication and quality of the more expensive bottle justifies it’s price. And in this sense I am like most wine drinkers.

My theory, not that original and backed up by a new study (pdf) in Journal of Wine Ecomonics, is that there isn’t a remarkable enough difference for most wine consumer’s palate to justify the splurge. If you stay in the $12-18 range both your wallet and your taste buds will benefit. You’ll be able to drink more, and thus, consume from a wider selection of wines than just Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Merlot and the big whites.� As a result you will learn more: you’ll be able to talk about other offbeat varietals with confidence.� And even though you will still feel like you know nothing when you talk about tannins, acidity, mouthful, front-forward fruit, after taste, hints of whatever (fill in with appropriate descriptor) you will impress others.

Most people, waiters included, are just faking it when it comes to wine tasting.� So do not be intimidated.