Given the very healthy response to our one-year free subscription to those out of work in the hospitality sector, we thought it a good time to update everyone about recent goings on as well as give a proper welcome to all our new subscribers.
Favorites List
A site function that had been requested since launching the subscription section of the site last fall was a tool to notate wines that people find interesting. Through a bit of tinkering around, we now have a Favorites function for anyone who is a site member.
It’s quite simple to use in that next to any wine you see on the site, you’ll see a star. Click on it and it will be added to your Favorites list. Click again and it will be forgotten to the annals of history.
Given that the tasting database is now several thousand wines strong, it’s clear that this was a much-needed option for people to keep track of tasty bottles that come their way and we hope it’s of great help.
Digests
Digests have become a quite important reference page for anyone who wants to keep up-to-date on new articles as they’re published on the site. There are several options there, but the most important are the instant emails or monthly newsletters. They’re exactly what they sound like and are there to fit your preference in terms of how often you want to hear from us–we really don’t want to annoy you, but we want to keep you informed!
Reports
There have been… “issues” in terms of assembling the Tasting Reports this year and several that had been in the works for months had to be scuttled as they involved international travel. Annoying, but it’s a small issue in the big scheme of what’s happening during this pandemic.
Despite these hiccups, the native red Penedès varieties and Xarel·lo from Penedès reports came out earlier, showing a great deal of strength in the local varieties for this central-Catalan region.
The DO Montsant report just released last week and is full of wondrous goodness from this excellent region as well which has been in a constant state of positive evolution and growth for the last decade and a half.
What’s to come? A report on DO Empordà was supposed to have been released two months ago but again, this little bug that’s making the rounds gummed up sample retrieval. The good news is that thanks to the help of the DO office, the samples finally have arrived and it’s currently being compiled. There are others coming as well, so stay tuned!
Contributions
Lastly, we’ve had some new contributions to the website. Daria Kholodilina wrote a great Part I & Part II series on little-known facts about Georgian wine and food.
Rupert Millar rocked the boat a bit (with our complete approval) to write a piece in defense of the oft-scorned grape, Pinotage. That’s a great read that engendered a wealth of commentary basically pitting northern and southern hemispheres against on another.
All great reads and we’ve a lot more to come as we work to keep the site current, fresh, and engaging during these difficult times. As always, we’d love to here from you if you have any suggestions or feedback!
Stay safe. Be well. Drink with poise and purpose.
