WineSmith Berserker Day Special

For BerserkerDay, WineSmith is offering wines that illustrate many of the points we went over last February when I was hosted for my Special Guest Crucifixion. These wines are heavily discounted and we also pay sales tax and shipping. When your order is processed, make sure you select “Free Shipping” at check-out.

[cheers.gif] Special Offers for BerserkerDay

Postmodern Winemaking 2-Pack $59.99. We pay sales tax and shipping.

(1) WineSmith 2006 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
(1) WineSmith 2004 Napa Faux Chablis
[video]Clark Smith's 2004 WineSmith Faux Chablis - YouTube
Postmodern Winemaking 6-Pack $149.99. We pay sales tax and shipping.
(1) WineSmith 2006 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
(1) WineSmith 2005 “Second Fiddle” Pinot Noir
(1) WineSmith 2004 Napa “Faux Chablis”
(1) WineSmith 2008 Lake County Cabernet Franc
(1) PennyFarthing NV Dry Rosé
(1) Planet Pluto 2006 Meritage

Postmodern Winemaking 12-Pack $299.99. We pay sales tax and shipping.
(1) WineSmith 2005 Napa “Crucible” (our flagship Clone 337 Cabernet Sauvignon)
(1) WineSmith 2006 Lodi Cabernet Sauvignon
(1) WineSmith 2004 Napa “Faux Chablis”
(1) WineSmith 2005 Napa “Faux Chablis”
(1) WineSmith 2008 Lake County Cabernet Franc
(1) WineSmith 2005 Fiddlestix Pinot Noir
(1) PennyFarthing 2007 Barbera
(1) PennyFarthing 2009 Santa Barbara Chardonnay
(2) PennyFarthing NV Dry Rosé
(2) Planet Pluto 2006 Meritage

Several of these were reviewed by Tom Hill last March.

Postmodern Winemaking hardcover, signed by Clark Smith, $40.00 including tax and shipping
Wine and Spirits Magazine’s 2013 Book of the Year
and New York Times’ Top Five Wine Books
Smith_comp cover.pdf (825 KB)
“This book should be required reading for all winemakers, aspiring winemakers, and anyone who wishes to have a deeper understanding of wine.”
–Joel Peterson, founder, Ravenswood Winery

“Smith is a writer who can charge way ahead of you (or rather, ahead of me) in scientific exposition yet keep you tagging breathlessly along, full of interest and bursting with questions. As I say, you must read this book.”
–Hugh Johnson, World of Fine Wine

“The kaleidoscope of choices winegrowers make reminds us of the complexity and the interdependence of art and science. In this masterful, insightful, and practical work, Clark Smith provides shape, focus, and comprehension to a wide array of wine processes that complement art and science. A must-read for all in the industry.” --Dr. Bruce Zoecklein, Virginia Tech University

“The basics here are a real lesson that would enlighten some of those buyers of $200 bottles of red wine that they firmly believe will age.”–Dan Berger, Vintage Selections

EXCERPTS

Chapter 1 “Winemaking is a branch of cuisine—the ultimate slow food—and has much in common with the making of sauces, because the soulfulness of flavor integration is a result of refining its structure.”

Chapter 3 “Oxygenation at an early stage does not shorten the wine’s life; paradoxically it increases anti-oxidative power by stimulating latent phenolic reactivity. A wine can absorb five times as much oxygen at 59˚F as it can at 50˚F, so a single degree’s difference changes everything in a cellar.”

Chapter 5 “Vine balance is the economic meeting place for winemakers and growers.”

Chapter 7 “Wines vary a thousand-fold in their anti-oxidative vigor. Because acetic acid bacteria are not inhibited by the pigment-bound SO2, phenolic vigor is all that protects young red wine.”

Chapter 10 “Well-formed structure can render Brett aromas into positive sensory elements. Brett management is the central problem in the making of serious wine. Modern enological practices cause Brett and exacerbate its effects. To master Brett management is to understand what red wine really is.”

Chapter 12 “Courageous fools who perceive the need for deeper work are continually breaking new ground from which we all benefit.”

Chapter 21 “Biodynamics sounds nuts to me. But so does the String Theory. Its existence offers a delicious opportunity for scientists to test their true mettle.”

Chapter 22 “The Natural Wine movement has proven itself incapable of articulating its beliefs. Unlike the free and open ‘70s and ‘80s, winemakers are lying low and keeping mum while Natural Wine advocates fire live ammo over their heads. To restore our tradition of candor and openness, consumers will need to be brought up to speed on recent changes in winemaking.”

Chapter 25 “Music pairing can greatly improve your chances of enjoying a wine. Wine is liquid music, for it has the capacity to embody a spectrum of emotional modalities, to exhibit harmony or dissonance, and it has the power to transport us from care and circumstance.”

Welcome Clark!
Still reading and trying to absorb from the book…

Let’s have some discussion about any questions anybody may have. For starters, there’s a rich body of threads from my week handcuffed to the BerserkerChair under the exposed bulb. Beyond that, I’m here to explain how these wines illustrate specific principles. These specials are intended for you to gather your homies for a geek-out tasting/BS session.

Can’t go wrong with WineSmith wines! The case is the best way to go so that you can get the Crucible Cab and the newly released '05 Faux Chablis. Clark’s wines are built to age with extreme grace…

You’ve got Pennyfarthing Barbera left? I thoguht Ron and I cleaned you out on that!

I think just at that price…

I am far from being a Cab expert, I notice that Tom Hill mentioned it here:

That he like Clark’s Lodi Cab. I do too. Probably worth the price of the 2 pack given what decent cab sells for these days. The Chard in the 2 pack is surprisingly nice too.

His higher end Cab that is in the 12 pack is really interesting and an example of what happens when someone understands how to develop tannins for aging.

I’d encourage folks to give some of these wines a shot. If nothing else, we can use it as a reason to drag Clark back here and grill him about some of his crazy ideas.

Full disclosure: Clark is my friend and has pitched in on some of my blending trials. He knows his stuff.

Just drank one of those Lodi Cabs a couple weeks ago and it was singing!

After being intrigued by Clark and his postings when he was a guest here on Berserkers last year, decided to try the 6 pack offer. So far have had the 04 faux Chablis and the NV Pennyfarthing Rose - both beautifully made and enjoyable both intellectually and hedonistically! Bravo Clark - can’t wait to try the Reds and you have made a new customer!