Holy Crap! - Well, at least they’re honest…

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I don’t like the ad either.

But to me the proof is in the tasting. How about we crack a bottle open on the next podcast?

Comment by Dale Cruse — December 9, 2006 @ 10:04 pm

lol. I love a good rant. You know you have to taste it now just to see if they’re terrible winemakers or just terrible marketers.

Comment by Brian S — December 10, 2006 @ 12:11 pm

Gross. I would never drink this.

Comment by jam — December 10, 2006 @ 7:29 pm

Who are they going after with this…..the same people that pick up WS, don’t read any articles, and go straight to the scores.

Comment by Brandon M — December 11, 2006 @ 11:47 am

BrandonM-

The same thought occured to me as well…I think that this type of ad campaign is born out of a TOTAL disconnect from what wine has always been, and at least for me, what it always should be: a very sophisticated farm product, not the newest extra strength deodorant…this ad reminded me of something that I saw in The Onion in which they were spoofing the continual “improvements” being made to men’s razors. The line went something like this: Gillette head marketer says “F!+? it, we doing six blades”
The sentiment here seems similar, though not nearly as funny. A collegue of mine here at WL told me that there is now a new energy drink called COCAINE! - I’m not joking - Google “cocaine energy drink” and prepare to be flabbergasted…I think that it’s just a matter of time until this level of vulgarity and shameless marketing comes to wine in light of things like “Layer Cake”…

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by admin — December 11, 2006 @ 12:10 pm

Let us know how you REALLY feel, Tom. BTW, I saw the in “Just In” where the Le Petrose Primitivo showed up, and I ordered a couple to go with the Terrarossa. Thanks again. They are on their way to Texas.

Comment by elbowroom — December 11, 2006 @ 10:41 pm

Tom, your palate is obviously one-dimensional. You hate what Gary refers to as “new world.” That’s fine. But some of us enjoy this as well as the “old world” style. And to condemn a wine industry “en masse?” I’ve had several Australian wines that I think clearly outshine lots of wines coming out of Italy. And rich to me can be signifying the ample presence of pleasurable flavor and aroma, which in the ad world IS always a good thing.

Comment by Julius — December 12, 2006 @ 11:05 am

Julius-

You have an uncanny knack for employing the “straw man” fallacy in your posts, i.e. misinterpreting (intentionally or otherwise, still not sure which) my point and then using that misinterpretation to construct a fallacious attack on the argument…Do you suggest that anyone who does not care for new world wines has a “one-dimensional” palate? I don’t. I wouldn’t even say that someone who only likes French wines (for example) to have a “one-dimensional” palate, considering the myriad of styles that emanate from the place; though I WOULD say that someone who ONLY drinks white Burgundies might be said to have a “one dimensional” palate…in a similar vein, do people who don’t care for spicy foods have “one-dimensional” food palates? What about folks that don’t like seafood? I say no to those as well.

Further, at no point in this piece do I say that I “hate” New World wines. That is your editorial exclusively. Do I prefer Old World styles? Yes, but there are quite a few New World wines that I do enjoy quite a bit.

And I’m not even sure to what you’re even referring when you suggest that I “…condemn a wine industry “en masse”". To which industry are you referring? I’m guessing that you think that I’m trashing Australian wine, and once again, you are missing the point. My critique is of the vulgar “least common denominator” commoditization of wine that reduces this ancient and complex culture called wine to a conveniently quantifiable, pumped-out “product” that makes adverts like this possible. Old World producers are often just as guilty of this as New World ones, by the way - the Layer Cake ad is just an egregiously “over the top” example of this distasteful phenomenon.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by admin — December 12, 2006 @ 12:40 pm

Julius,
I think it was pretty clear Tom was referring to this wine in particular, not Australian wine making as a whole. And why are you attacking his palate as one dimensional? That just seems childish. I believe the point (as you might not have gotten it) is that a wine like this is only made in this style to get one up on the next inexpensive Aussie Shiraz. Marquis Philips had made a fortune making extravagant, over the top Shiraz, so I’ll take that recipe, and just make it even bigger and bolder. That’s the mentality when producing a sports car, not wine. (but maybe the difference is hard to tell for some?)

Comment by Jaime — December 12, 2006 @ 4:53 pm

Hey tom
why would you even defend yourself. Let me do it for you. New world wine as a whole (and with few exceptions–yes there are some but very very few) suck because they are 1)planting the wrong grapes in the wrong places 2)producing a wine in a style that is overextracted and too high in alcohol. Sorry, my good taste says that this is not an opinion but a fact. As for the layer cake, as has been says, it never pays to overestimate peoples’ intelligence (or taste). They will sell boatloads of the stuff. Afer all, think “yellowtail”.
Oh yea, is there garbage produced in Europe? You bet. But if you poke around you can find real wine, interesting and delicious wine, from Europe for 10-15 bucks. I challenge you to find any such thing from the new world. Just so my snobbery is not seen as classist as well.

Comment by phig — December 12, 2006 @ 6:43 pm

I’m not too fond of the add at all and I wouldn’t buy Layercake wine but it really doesn’t bother me either.
As far as Aussy wines all being too flabby, overextracted, marmalade wines I beg to differ. I find Australia, Chile, Argentina, South Africa and Spain to be some of the best value wines in the world that can still be had for bargain prices. I truly hope that doesn’t change in my lifetime.
I’m not into rootbeer at all but I do love a thick milkshake a few times a year, got a problem with that?
As far as the word Rich… once again I will state that you don’t have to be rich to buy wines from down under but good juice from Cali or France yes you do need to have a good amount of green in your pocket. (blech)! Oh wait a minute Wildhurst can be had for $10 NICE!
Winespecatator lets just say I enjoy it, the stories, the pics, the ratings and more.
And screwtops do kind of take away from the experience for sure, at least there is something we agree on. But then again with a tasty Sauvingnon Blanc from NZ it really doesn’t bother me too much! Life is a journey full of changes and new things go with the flow! (pun intended)

Comment by Mark — December 13, 2006 @ 2:26 pm

Tom, why so much anger? It’s wine, not world hunger. Somebody give this guy a hug.

Comment by Ronald Lewis — December 14, 2006 @ 7:28 pm

It’s not anger Ronald, it’s PASSION baby, PASSION!

“Glugs not Hugs”

NO, no…

“Krugs not Huugs”

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by admin — December 15, 2006 @ 10:46 am

Hi all

As an Australian wine lover I thought I should throw my 2 cents in the ring.

First off, I have never heard of this wine. Where is it from? In my experience there are only a few really good Shiraz regions in Australia, Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, Heathcote, Barossa Valley and the King Valley if you know what to look for.

Second, unfortunately all those big rich (whichever way you want to take it) Australian wines in America are a direct result of Robert Parker. He rated them very highly a few years ago when here in Australia no one would touch them. And as wineries are businesses, this rating is akin to getting the pope to bless the wines.

As for yellowtail bashing, once again it is your own fault - we can only find it here in certain stores. Most of the critter wines for that fact, they are just not good enough. There are exceptions of course.

If you are looking for good Australian Shiraz go with the areas listed above, avoid any that list the wine area as South East(ern) Australia - generally these are blends of several regions that have excess grapes and are of lesser quality in general.

Well thats my 2 cents worth.

Cheers
Warren

Comment by Warren — December 30, 2006 @ 4:29 pm

me again, just thought I needed to clear something up… I am an Australian that loves wine. Not just someone that loves Australian Wine.

Cheers
Warren

Comment by Warren — December 30, 2006 @ 4:32 pm

Warren-

To answer your question, this is a Barossa Valley wine from a producer called “Pure Love”…and I agree - the best Aussie wines I’ve ever had were indeed either from Victoria or from Western Australia - like I said in the body of the article - I still maintain that too many regions where wine is made in Australia are just simply too hot for viticulture, and with the clear effects of global warming apparent to anyone but those who have their heads buried firmly in the sand (or elsewhere), it can only get worse…as I write this, it’s 42 degrees on January 2!…

But I have to challenge you on your second point. Are you suggesting that the ONLY reason that Mudgee or Barossa wines are 16% alcohol and almost completely devoid of acidity (unless artificially acidified) is because Robert Parker favorably reviews these wines? That’s like saying that Burgundies can be funky because Allen Meadows likes them that way - it’s putting the cart before the horse. Parker has a LOT of power - maybe too much - and I’m no fan of his taste or his approach, but he has indeed become the whipping boy for everything that any “side” believes to be wrong in the wine world.

Too many Australian wines are heavy and clumsy because of 1) the place that they are made, and 2) the cellar techniques employed by the winemakers in these regions. Robert Parker may lead the oenological “sheep” to this watering hole rather than another, but he clearly is not the “first cause” of this problem.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — January 2, 2007 @ 12:15 pm

Hi Tom

I do concede most of your points, especially the one about the weather. Our grape picking seasons are all over the place in the last couple of years - mostly very early. This early picking equates to the grapes not developing the fruit flavours.

I must say I am surprised about the alcohol content of Australian wines in America. Most of them here are around 12 to 14.5%. With those at the 14.5% level tasting too alcoholic (very hot in the mouth). So it seems strange to me that winemakers are producing 16% levels.

When I said the export wines produced were developed for a particular market, I meant it in a purely business sense. (BTW I don’t like wine from Mudgee, it is far too hot there for grapes).

Before Yellowtail, there was hardly any exporting of Australian wine - a few exceptions of course. Yellowtail did a lot of research and discovered Americans taste for the style of wine that they now produce. As an aside, the local version of Yellowtail - Madfish I think it is called - is a completely different wine, same grapes, same winery, but tastes really different.

Once Yellowtail had success and Robert Parker gave them a high rating, other producers followed suit, and not to labour the point, laughed all the way to the bank. As I said, purely a business strategy. This article articulates my point better: http://www.encyclowine.org/index.php/Wine_Parkerization

Personally, I think it is a sad reflection of the Australian wine industry if all they are making wine for is money. Still there are winemakers/wineries producing wine for the right reasons (the wine itself) and having success, both here and overseas.

Hope this clears up what I was trying to say.

Cheers
Warren

Comment by Warren — January 4, 2007 @ 4:31 pm

Warren-

Thanks for the reply. I think you hit it right on head with the money aspect…SOOO many Australian wine concerns are MASSIVE, CORPORATE operations in which many actual WINEMAKING decisions are made by some bunch of suits and their wanky “expert consultant”…obviously, these folks don’t give a crap about making terroir-driven, idiosyncratic wines. Unfortunately, this is indeed the lay of the land in Oz, and it’s highly unlikely to change any time soon. Thanks again and keep reading and commenting!

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — January 4, 2007 @ 4:47 pm

I’m in agreement with the bulk of your post, with the exception of the reference to rich in the first sense, “A.” I think what they’re trying to convey is not that wine is ‘for’ the rich, but that the wine is ‘of’ the rich. “If you buy this, you’ll be living as a rich person does,” capitalizing on the incorrect notion that wealthy “drench their senses in an overindulgent and gluttonous experience like polishing off a whole layer cake.” Similarly, I don’t think it is describing price point. Likely, the ad is going to be plastered on bus stops and billboards, and that will be telling the tale to the audience of where the price point will rest.

Comment by Matt B DC — January 22, 2007 @ 11:42 am

#

Bizarre that all these comments are about a cork or lack thereof. The real issue seems to be the condemnation of a marketing campaign made by a wine conoisseur supposedly (as opposed to one made by a marketing guru or average red wine lover…). As a customer, I saw Layer Cake and my eyes jumped out of my head and my mouth almost started watering with the my hopes of finding one of those magical affordable reds that fufill that full-mouth feel that I have grown to love. I bought a bottle and absolutely loved it, one of the best wines I have ever had, and for under $20, amazing. I grew up, and still live in Marin, which has Napa and Sonoma as neigbors to the north. So I do not suffer from a lack of winetasting experience nor from a lackluster supply of wine choices. I´m not going to say you´re wrong, I´m just going to say I wouldn´t condemn a bottle based on another person´s undoubtedly subjective opinion of a bottle´s label (or book´s cover). Reading your opinion of the wine simply confirms that we don´t think alike, which I´m sure both of us are glad is the case. I am convinced that we disagree wholeheartedly on 2 things: what´s on the outside, and what´s on the inside. I’m planning on picking up a case or 2 of Layer Cake and turning my zin friends on to it.

Let them drink cake.

-Alejandro Moreno,
amateur oenophile

Comment by Alejandro — January 24, 2007 @ 1:26 am |Edit This

Comment by Tom C — January 24, 2007 @ 10:54 am

Alejandro-

I took the liberty of moving this post from the previous article (Third Stream Wine Enclosure) since it seems that more of your comments are directed at this one.

TC

First let’s be clear that I am first and foremost a wine drinker and in fact the word “connoisseur” means “someone who knows or is knowledgeable” so if I am a connoisseur then so are you.

Clearly, our tastes differ, and as you say, that’s a good thing. My beef is not so much with the wine (though as you can see from my notes I didn’t care for the wine) but the image and commercialism that the ad brings to the table. It seems to encourage a certain “engineered”, “sell what people want to buy” type of drink, rather than something that is a product of the earth. Isn’t there enough commercialised, market-driven EVERYTHING in this world? To me people should make their wines, and then go out and find the market for them, and not let market research guide the product you produce. That’s all well and good for sneakers and SUVs, but not for wine…

Some of my colleagues and I often say that we’d rather drink an honest but flawed wine than a wine in which everything is technically correct, but ultimately has no soul, and further does not pair well with very many foods (which for me is of paramount importance) For me this is what Layer Cake represents - engineered wine by the numbers.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — January 24, 2007 @ 12:45 pm

Tom C.
You are way off base IMO. I thought this was a good “School Night Wine” and I would highly recommend it to those with an open mind. Seems your’s is very closed with this one.

Comment by Cabdrinker — January 24, 2007 @ 11:03 pm

Cabdrinker-

To me someone who has a closed mind REFUSES to try to see another point of view. We clearly disagree here, and I hate to pull “rank”, but I’ve tasted literally thousands of wines from every corner of the globe in both a professional and amateur capacity. I continue, when I have the opportunity, since I don’t buy Australian wines for the shop, to taste Australian wines to keep a clear perspective on what I DO buy and DO like. I have tasted hundreds of Australian wines, and though there are some that I find to be decent drinks, I find most to be flabby, over-extracted, too high in alcohol, sweetish, lacking complexity, and poor matches with most foods. This is mostly due to the climate, which in most areas is just too hot. To reverse it, it’s like trying to grow pineapples in South Carolina - it’s probably possible, but I’d rather get my pineapples from Thailand or the Carribean.

Further, on a production level, Australia permits alarming levels of manipulation in the cellar, i.e. artificial acidification, alcohol level manipulation, reverse osmosis machines to remove water to artificially concentrate wines, time-saving vinification machines called rotofermenters, extensive use of manmade, engineered yeasts, dumping hundred pound bags of oak chips into aging vats in lieu of actual barrel aging, and believe me, they use them!….does this sound appealing or authentic to you?

Also, Over 94% of Australian wine is made by 5 Giga corporations like Foster’s and Pernod Ricard that hold consumer focus groups to find out if it’s blackberry or mocha that is latest “new fave” wine flavor. They make wines in vats bigger than Olympic-sized pools with little to no respect for the place from which the grapes are grown, churning out absurd numbers of bottles like so many 2 liter bottles of Coca Cola.

With the beating that these wines take in the cellar and the baseline difficulties with the terroir from the start, is there any wonder that so many Aussie wines are completely devoid of any real personality?

Listen, if you want to drink something that just “tastes good”, you could as easily mix up some strawberry Quik or blend up a Margarita, but for me wine is MUCH more than that.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — January 25, 2007 @ 11:51 am

Hey there,
I am just kind of wondering about the whole New World wines blow theory? New world wines now are just like old world wines were in some era long, long past. We are evolving (Intelligently adapting, for all you anti-darwinists out there). I am sure there were a myriad of vines besides riesling, gewutrz, etc… in Germany 1000 years ago. But not every variety was successful and those that weren’t eventually were replanted and so on until…Germany is the Riesling capital of the world!! Yay!

The new world and every region within it is in a grand experiment. Serious winemaking has only been exported outside of Europe for a couple of centuries at best. Given the time and effort to plant and replant grapes, the New World is just beginning to see what it can really do.

And don’t worry about those over extracted wines from down under. Who cares if you don’t like them. Somebody (lots of somebodies) like them, somewhere. Just as the geography of wine is expanding greatly, so are the tastes of those who drink it. So what I might call the Mike’s Hard Lemonade of Shiraz may make some of us reel in disgust, might really please some folks palates.

So lets not step up on a soapbox and tell the masses they shouldn’t drink this or that wine becuase we don’t enjoy it or we think it has some flaw. In my view, wine is made for one reason and one reason alone…PLEASURE. And remember this, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

So don’t dismiss the New World wines. They are still growing and the really bad apples are being discarded while the really good ones will shine through. Give them a chance.

Comment by Trent — January 29, 2007 @ 3:37 am

Trent-

I DON’T think that all New World wines blow. I am indeed partial to Old World styles, etc. There are indeed New World wines that I do enjoy, but if you subscribe to the idea that wine is primarily a liquid food to accompany the solid food on your plate, the New World certainly winds up with the short end of the stick. Unless you frequently eat large quantities of meat braised in sweet sauces, or grilled steaks, too many New World wines are just too heavy/oaky/alcoholic to pair with a wide variety of foods…a good Loire Cabernet Franc can go with anything from steak to fish depending on the particular wine and the particualr dish. I cannot think of even one Shiraz (or New World Caberent Franc for that matter) than can be paired with fish.

As far as your comments regarding the New World being a “grand experiment”, I agree for the most part (if you haven’t already had a look, see my piece called “What New World Winemakers SHOULD be doing”), but the rub for me is in the way that the New World has followed the “fashions” in wine. Now this is not to say that the Old World hasn’t done the same, but not NEARLY to the degree that the New World has. For anyone who has ever had a chance to taste an old Inglenook or Beringer wine (from the 50s, 60s, or even 70s), or knows what a producer like Heitz does now, it beomes clear that New World winemakers can indeed make less manipulated, terroir-driven wines, they simply choose not to. Another part of the “fashion” problem is varieties cultivated. No consultant in their right mind for example would now suggest that growers in most parts of Napa plant Chardonnay (it’s just too hot and sunny - would you rather get your apples from Washington state or Louisiana?), but Americans discovered White Burgundies in the 70s, so plant it they did, despite the fact that they had almost ZERO chance of ever making anything even close to a white burg. They quicky realized this, but by then had hundreds of acres planted, so they had to then carve out a market to sell their production.

My contention is that those who peddle Zinfandels with %16.5 alcohol, with obnoxious levels of oak and the clear prsence of residual sugar (for example) are selling the consumer a bill of goods by just “turning up the volume” to distract the drinker from the fact that the wine is little more than a white elephant like Japanese whiskey or Danish Fontina…sure there will always be someone who likes these products better than the originals, but to equate the things is just not a fair comparison. If you plant Zinfandel in Rockpile rather than in Lodi you Zin at its best, not what I would term a distorted characature of the variety that you get in Lodi.

In the end, I think that it’s just a question of realism and authenticity over following the fashions to make more cash. The former choice COULD be made, but all too often the latter is what growers settle for.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — January 29, 2007 @ 11:38 am

Layer Cake shiraz is big, high in alcohol, and not very complex. However, it seems to reach a nice balance between a mostly blueberry fruit profile, good acidity, high alcohol and ripe tannins.

Comment by luvgrapesqeezings — January 30, 2007 @ 1:56 pm

you went on and on about the “ad campaign” for this wine…before you even tried it. now that you’ve tried it, do you see that perhaps their promotional efforts weren’t actually too far from the truth? for a beverage, this bottle of full-flavor yumminess is actually much like a “layer-cake” - complex and chewy and perhaps too-much flavor for your palate? most wine is subjective, we know that much; this is one of my favorite wines.

on another note - are you in the business of critiquing the advertising motives or the wine itself? sounds to me like you need to figure that one out. if you decide to go in the direction of analyzing advertisements, i suggest you do your homework first.

personally - i would rather see even more wine marketing directed to what the wine actually tastes like.

Comment by girlluvswine — February 1, 2007 @ 12:35 am

girlluvswine-

Exactly my point, that’s why I titled the piece the way that I did. Wineries that turn out these sort of confections NEED TO make it clear what kind of wine it is, otherwiese there will be LOTS of unhappy wine drinkers. My point was that “Layer Cake” is indeed the perfect name for this wine.

After having written the piece, I thought that I should taste the wine, and it was exactly as billed/as I expected. The only thing that I could find my way to praising was their truth in advertising.

As I alluded to above, for me (and LOTS of other folks for that matter) wine is a CULTURE, not just a “beverage”. If you choose to eschew this aspect, that is your right, but to me, this reduces one of the greatest achievements of humankind to just some kind of liquid that “tastes good” and that can give you a little buzz…So many Australian wineries look far more like Coca Cola bottling plants than farms and wineries, and this sort of homogenization and commoditization in my view contributes to reducing both the character and diversity in the world of wine…I’d much rather drink a “flawed” wine that has something to say about its origins or the people that made it than drink a drink that was concocted by a marketing group…

As to your last comment, to me wine advertising campaigns clearly fall within the greater wine culture, and are therefore are as valid a topic as any to discuss, critique, etc. as clearly we BOTH are doing here - what do I have to “figure out”? What “homework” haven’t I done?

As you say, wine is indeed subjective, and clearly, it’s your palate and your enjoyment that will win the day, but I’d suggest that Layer Cake is more akin to a glass of Tang than a glass of fresh-squeezed Valencia orange juice. I like Tang, but given the choice, I’d rather drink the juice.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — February 1, 2007 @ 12:47 pm

girlluvswine,
Did you really read the article? It seems to me you are lashing out a bit at Tom because he doesn’t like a wine you do… kind of silly to me.

The point (as I took it) is that bigger makes better, the more over the top the wine is, the more desirable it is, which couldn’t be further from the truth to people who enjoy wine as food and as a compliment food.

As for this wine being too “complex and chewy”, if you confuse simple manipulated fruit flavor, with no earth, no balance, and no acidity or structure with “complexity”, you must not have been drinking wine for long… might I suggest a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, you might find that so complex it’ll blow your mind and you will stop drinking wine all together.

But you admit your own problem. You say “i would rather see even more wine marketing directed to what the wine actually tastes like”.
Wine shouldn’t have million dollar ad campaigns. When is the last time you heard a legitimate artist, one who is making art, and not simply a product, take out ads on the side of a bus?

Comment by Jaime — February 1, 2007 @ 12:51 pm

The context in which we drink wine, eat food, read poetry listen to music greatly influences how we interpret, understand and appreciate those experiences.
Unfortunately for Tom, the dubious ad made him curious to try it. Unfortunately for the wine, the images the ad projects can put off a fair number of wine drinkers.
Fortunately for me, I did not see the slick,(easy to see as arrogant) add that proclaims “Rich is always good.” Rather, while at a wine store, I saw a simple looking bottle of wine with a black and white label with a charming story on the back label explaining how the wine maker is inspired by his grand father to make good wine meant to be savored like good layer cake. The slick add misses the back label’s theme and spirit by light years.
Somewhere between the back label and the slick ad the wine maker’s image was blurred or distorted.
The slogan “Rich is always good” is a real clunker. Aside from its elitist inferences, it suggests limiting our gastronomical range.

Comment by luvgrapesqeezings — February 1, 2007 @ 12:51 pm

I saw this wine yesterday in a store at $14. It caught my attention because the grapes are from Barossa, and there was a big sign with a 96 rating (from WS, I think). Last year I spent about 2 months in Australia, and (after lots of tasting) I came to the conclusion that Shiraz from Barossa Valley are my favorite Australian wines.

I was going to a dinner with friends and had agreed to bring 1990 and 1997 Amarone; I picked up this Shiraz as “backup” together with a bottle of Ripasso (so that we would have something to drink in case the older Amarone bottles had spoiled). I thought that the combination of Barossa, price, and rating would give me a pretty decent wine.

Luckily, both Amarone bottles were fine; we ended up opening the Layer Cake shiraz anyway at the end of the dinner as we enjoyed some conversation.

This wine is horrible. I felt truly ashamed to have brought it to the dinner. It tasted more like grape juice than wine. There are many fine Barossa Shiraz (e.g., Peter Lehmann), but Layer Cake is not one of them. To echo some of the comments above, it is sad that potentially wines such as Layer Cake will displace other good Barossa Shiraz from the shelves of US stores.

Comment by Arcimboldo — February 4, 2007 @ 10:54 am

Tom,
This is my first time on this website. You are most refreshing. I too share your views. Is this where wine is heading? EEEK! I guess catchy “Madison Ave.” wines are easy to remember for the unitiated consumer but again, EEEK! I guess if Walter Taylor (Bully HIll fame, such as it is) can make a living selling swill under funny labels, why not anyone else? Bitch Grenache, anyone?

Comment by Anthony D — March 3, 2007 @ 3:04 pm

Maybe you should drink the wine before you rip it apart in an article - and the guy who brings 1990 & 97 Amarone to a dinner party and backs it up with a $14 bottle wine, nice. Of course its gonna taste like shit! He should brought Boone’s Farm “Strawberry Fields” and said it was ice wine, it probably would of tasted better.

Comment by JoeyM — March 20, 2007 @ 2:36 pm

Joey-

The piece is clearly a critique of the ADVERTISEMENT not the wine itself (which in my opinion, both suck), and to be fair, I DID taste the wine and it was as billed, hence the name of the article…for me, in essence, the ad. promotes everything that is bad about wine in general, and Australian wine in particular.

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — March 21, 2007 @ 10:15 am

Hey Tom-
I completely understand and agree with you on this one….I have yet to try this wine, do not wish to try this wine, and think that this ad is a train wreck. The initial problem that leaped out at me was grammar. “Pure Love Wines…just that and more.” What the hell is that? Where is the ‘of’? Shouldn’t it say, “Pure Love of Wines…”? Another problem that I have is that the winery is attempting to advertise this Shiraz as a dessert wine…what up with that yo? The beginning wine drinker will see this and think….”ya, I bet this’ll go great with some chocolate cake.” (I know at least 5 people who would think this) Yet, for me, if I looked at the cake on the front and thought, “damn that cake looks good,” I wouldn’t buy the wine, but buy the damn cake instead!

Comment by Fiorentina! — March 27, 2007 @ 11:36 am

Fiorentina-

Just as a clarification, “Pure Love” is the name of the winery (oh my)…and I’m with you, I’d take the over the wine any day!

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — March 27, 2007 @ 1:25 pm

You may not like the ad for Layer Cake Shiraz and you may not think the wine itself is anything spectacular but I disagree. I’m very picky and have a hard time finding great wines under $20. I was blown away by how much I loved a wine that cost me $14.99. Whether the ad is bad or not, this wine speaks for itself. I have picked up several bottles since I discovered it and every time I am at the liquor store it is the only wine that is almost sold out. Clearly people love it, and I don’t get why the ad bothers you that much. Relax.The wine is fantastic.

Comment by Erin — April 1, 2007 @ 2:05 am

Tom,
As an Aussie with an interest in australian wine, I think you would get a lot more interesting Australian wines if you looked outside the warm climate regions. Great Southern(WA), Adelaide Hills(SA), and Grampians and Yarra Valley(Vic) are able to produce shiraz with more subtlety and finesse than the Barossa fruit bombs McLaren Vale ‘Joosy’ simpletons. The 2004 Coonawarra Cabernets have also been pretty consistent.
I think Aus wine can appear pretty one dimensional to the US market as it tries to deliver a consistent(read homogenous)product that overdelivers on value(read ripeness).

Cheers and dont give up on us yet.

Tim

Comment by Tim B — April 2, 2007 @ 10:12 pm

Tim-

Thanks for the comments…I agree - the scoop that I get from lots of Aussies is that the best wines don’t leave Oz and/or lots of Aussie winemakers specially make certain cuvees for the US market/palate…I haven’t given up, but there are SOOO many more misses than hits, that it can get quite discouraging…Here’s one for you - maybe you know it - It’s a producer called Plunkett and their basic Shiraz (which is aged in a few BIG old foudres that Mr. Plunkett sourced from CDP)is rich and deep, but still balanced and fresh…like this one quite a bit…

TOM CIOCCO

Comment by Tom C — April 3, 2007 @ 4:07 pm

Hi Tom,
Yeah I know Plunkett, Strathboogie Ranges one of the smaller wine regions in Victoria. Tasted pretty good when i tried it. It seems a lot of Aus wines are made ‘for the lucrative US market’. Suggest you look for wines that use French rather american oak, as they tend to focus on subtlety and elegance. If you can get a hold of the Mount Mary Quintet you would surely be impressed. Its pricey but tasted alongside a Lafite 2004 it certainly tasted the better wine.

Suggest you check this site for reviews of wines from around the world with an emphasis Aus wines being an Aus site.
http://www.winorama.com.au/

Cheers,
Tim

Comment by Tim B — April 5, 2007 @ 3:00 am

Did anyone happen to read on the back of the bottle why it is called Layer Cake??

While it’s a cute name (like all other Aussie wines), it does have a meaning…..

Comment by David P — May 1, 2007 @ 10:55 pm

BTW - this wine needs to decant for at least an hour before enjoying…..

Comment by David P — May 1, 2007 @ 10:59 pm

Hey Tom, I’m a big time Vayniac….I’m the guy who created & maintains the “SpreadSheet” for WLTV….and very active on the FORUM. With that being said, my first comment is “YIKES!!!!!” I guess THIS is where all the real action is. Well, you are very knowledgeable, articulate and passionate…which leads to passionate debate.

I am a relative NOOB and I’m always looking for learning experiences. I would love to purchase a two bottles of Aussie Shiraz’s that best exemplify both sides of what you’re talking about. In other words, one bottle of the fake, overextracted wines (the Layer Cake may suffice..or not), and then one that you like. I saw that you recommended the Plunkett, but I couldn’t find any on the WL website. For the one that you don’t like I would ask that it not be something ridiculously bad….rather one that many people love, but you don’t like (again the Layer Cake may be perfect). I would think it would make sense for both bottles should be in a similar price range.

Also, why doesn’t the WL website have specific links for “Staff Recomendations”. I know that some wines to show staff T/N’s (I know I’ve seen Ian’s notes on some wines), but there should be specific links for folks as knowledgeable as you.

In that vain, would you consider listing a Top 3 Tom Cicio picks….one under $20…..and then another under $40 per bottle (so a total of 6). Man…am I being too much of a pain-in-the-ass??

Thanks for your great efforts here and I look forward to meeting you at the store some time.

Cheers

Comment by SS Chris — May 3, 2007 @ 2:32 pm

Tom, actually I have quite a few Aussie Shiraz’s (i.e. Schild’s Barossa’s, Marquis Philips Sarah’s Blend, Two-up, Three Rings, Thorn Clarke Shotfire Ridge,Dutschke God’s Hill Road, D’arenberg Laughing Magpie, Wayne Thomas McLaren Vale, Garretson The Craic, Marquis Philips #9, Mt. Billy Antiquity, & Jasper Hill Georgia’s Paddock.

So, maybe these fits perfectly into one of the two that you would recommend. If not, I’m happy to hear and purchase other suggestions.

Comment by SS Chris — May 3, 2007 @ 2:43 pm

SS Chris-

Thanks for reading. The “staff picks” thing is in the works…as per my colleague Ian here are two wines that exemplify the “sterotypical” Aussie Shiraz, and an “atypical” example of the same:

WL# 31649 Step Road Shiraz (”stereotypical”)

WL# 29791 Bowen Estate Shiraz (”atypical”)

As far as “Tom Ciocco” picks, I’ll go you one better - here’s a pretty random CASE, and most items are well under your guidelines price-wise:

WL# 31745 Quinta De Cabriz Reserva 2004
WL# 27913 Meinhard Forstreiter Gruner Veltliner Tabor 2004
WL# 9268 Domaine Des Grillemonts Saumur Champigny 2005
WL# 8540 Domaine Gerovassiliou Avaton 2003
WL# 31893 Vatistas Kidonitsa Peleponnese White 2005
WL# 31884 Morgex Et De La Salle Vini Estremi 2006
WL# 31559 Funtanaliras Vermentino Di Sardegna 2005
WL# 29555 Villa Simone Frascati Superiore Vigneto Filonardi 2005
WL# 28577 Cadia Verduno Pelaverga 2004
WL# 29059 Sandro Fay Sassella 2003
WL# 31948 Bucci Rosso Piceno Pongelli 2005
WL# 30211 Cantina Dolianova Monica Di Sardegna Arenada 2005

If you pick any/all of these up, please post tasting notes (here?)

Comment by Tom C — May 4, 2007 @ 12:21 pm

Thanks so much Tom for the comprehensive response!!!!!!!

That’s great about the Staff Picks….and I know Ian well. I’ll pick up the 2 Aussies to compare and will add you “CASE LIST” to my personal wishlist and start picking them up.

And I will post tasting notes, although I’m pretty new and my T/N’s suck (I just don’t detect enough of the nuanced flavors yet…it’s really quite embarrassing….I get razzed about it all over the forum). But I’ll keep plugging along. thanks again!!

Comment by SS Chris — May 7, 2007 @ 2:41 pm

Hey Tom, I have one more suggestion/request…(I actually think I posted this in an earlier comment to one of your “WL Terroir” articles.

When you post a NEW Terroir article….I think you should Copy & Paste it into a new Thread on the FORUM…..I think you would get a ton of action over there (imho). Probably make best sense to post in either “Vayniacs Valley”.

I don’t think it would at all detract from your readership over here….in fact, I think it would have the opposite effect and actually increase the overall exposure.

It’s just that you are writing some great stuff here and I think many on the Forum would love, including NOOBS like me and the more experienced guys like Julius, Gene V and Paul (to name a few).

Whaddya think?

P.S. BTW, you may know more about wine, but I have talents too…..not only did I create the spreadsheet, but I coined the term VAYNIACS….so take that Mr. know-it-all-terroir wine guy!!!!!!!!! LOL LOL

Comment by SS Chris — May 8, 2007 @ 8:35 am

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