I know it’s self-serving and self-congratulatory, but my Palate Press story on Michigan wine has really gotten noticed.

I posted Monday that Wine Business dot-com had picked it up. Then the one that did get my attention, New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov listed the Michigan story on the NY Times Dining & Wine page under “what we’re reading.”

My wine-drinking neighbor Patrick, featured in the “Dudes” videos running all this week found a link to the story on several other sites.

Michigan by the Bottle

Hinge Line – a blog dedicated to promoting Traverse City and Northern Michigan

The Never Ending Vacation

Leelanau Peninsula Vinters Associations

Then I found more but some links didn’t work so I couldn’t post:

IndiaTimes.com

There really is a great sense of satisfaction seeing so many pick up on the story. Thanks to all!

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The Dudes are ready for some red wine. After a Riesing, Gewurztatraminer, and Sauvignon Blanc, the guys are more than ready to try some red wine with our turkey snacks.

My intent with these six videos is to show how much fun tasting wine together can be, how much you can learn, and that your opinion counts just as much as the person sitting next to you.

The Dudes have elected to tastes a Beaujolais Villages wine – Georges Duboeuf’s Julienas. It’s a 2008 which you can find in better wine shops at a very, very reasonable $12-$14. Note, this is not a Beaujolais Nouveau – that simple little wine that arrives with great fanfare each November fresh from the French vineyards.

The village, specific appelation, wines are usually aged for a few years, see some oak and offer a much higher level of refinement. The wine is really a great Thanksgiving wine for the serious and non-serious winos at the Turkey Day table.

The entire Beaujolais region is rich with history. The history of this wine is that it was greatly enjoyed by the journalists and newspaper people Deboeuf would bring the Julienas each year to taste his wines. They, of course, in return would spread the word with great humor about these simple but enjoyable wines.

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One of the really great things about having a national outlet like Palate Press for wine writers/bloggers is you never know who might read your work.

I got an e-mail this evening from PP Publisher David Honig. He saw something in the New York Times that was pretty darn cool.

The Dining & Wine section of the newspaper has some of the top writers in their field. Many write regular features, blog, and contribute in several ways in our multi-media world.

They run an occasional feature on what their writers are reading. So imagine my glee to see NY Times Wine critic Eric Asimov listed my Palate Press story on Michigan wine! It’s just a mention, and not by name, but pretty cool to see my story mentioned in such an iconic American newspaper! Read more about Asimov here.

That’s pretty cool.

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This is the third of six videos on wines for Thanksgiving. If you haven’t been following along, it’s simply some guys who like wine and talking about their wine choices.

It shows how easy it is to get together and enjoy wines with friends. Here is the schedule we’re following:

Monday: Riesling
Tuesday: Gewurztraminer
Wednesday: Sauvignon Blanc
Thursday Beaujolais
Friday: Pinot Noir, California Central Coast
Saturday: Pinot Noir, Oregon

Tonight, we are tasting a traditional Sauvignon Blanc blend. This one comes from Clif Family Winery in California. This is a really nice clean-tasting wine that oenophiles will enjoy with the Turkey.

It’s known as the The Climber White. It is 80 percent Sauv Blanc with 13 percent Pinot Gris, 5 percent Riesling, 1 percent Pinot Meunier, and 1 percent Muscat.

The grapes come from Napa Valley though I may have said Lake County, to the north, in the video. The winery is near St. Helena in the northern area of Napa.

This wine retails for $12 – a really great buy. This bottle was a trade sample.

Be sure to check back the next three nights when we move to red wines and the fifth “dude” joins the tasting.

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Tonight is Episode 2 of “Dudes on the Porch” Again, this is a group of my friends who get together regularly to sample wine. They agreed to do a video session for the blog and we had a blast.

Of course, we tasted the wines all in one evening but I cut it into six episodes with a new one scheduled for each night this week. You can go back for any you may have missed.

Here is the schedule:

Monday: Riesling
Tuesday: Gewurztraminer
Wednesday: Sauvignon Blanc
Thursday Beaujolais
Friday: Pinot Noir, California Central Coast
Saturday: Pinot Noir, Oregon

Tonight’s wine is another from Michigan, Round Barn Winery’s Gewurztraminer. The wine has been a popular selection, in recent years, for Thanksgiving. It is one that many will like because of its very floral and spicy characteristics. Check out the video.

The first two wines tie in with my piece currently up on Palate Press about Michigan wine. But you can find Riesling and Gewurztraminer widely available from many different regions and in different styles. Riesling is usually avaliable in most supermarkets.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com

Palate Press has been a great outlet for wine writers/bloggers across the country. Sunday night my story on Michigan wine went up on the site and I’ve already had some great feedback.

I was thrilled this morning to learn that Wine Business, a national trade site, picked up the story as well. Just scroll to the lower left corner. Here is the link.

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I’ve been promoting the “Dudes on the Porch” Thanksgiving wine reviews for a couple of days now and tonight – it’s officially “Dude” time.

There are a few points I think anyone can take from the videos I’ll publish each night through Saturday. First, is that getting together with friends, tasting wine and talking about wine is a lot of fun. Getting a group together is also a great way to increase your wine knowledge.

Our group has been getting together since late spring/early summer every 2-3 weeks and taste 4-5 wines. Sometimes we have a theme, like this week’s Thanksgiving wines, and other times we just bring a bottle and some snacks.

We’re thinking about doing more theme nights and maybe more video. If you like these, please leave a comment!

Okay, tonight’s first Thanksgiving suggestion is Riesling. There are tons of Rieslings available all across the country in every imaginable price point. German and Alsace region French Rieslings are some of the best in the world. But don’t underestimate the versions from N.Y. Finger Lakes region and Michigan. Indiana wineries produce sweet versions of the wine. Washington state produces a lot of great Riesling. You’ll even find some Riesling out of California.

So here are the dudes trying a Leeleanau Cellars, Michigan, Semi-Dry Riesling:

This was our first attempt and the lighting could be a little better. I’m learning an editing program to add lots of features to future videos. I also owe a debt of thanks to a local college student who used the Flip video cam and took some photos for us, Drew Casey, from Portland, Ore.

Tomorrow night: The Dudes try Gewurtz!

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Sometimes these things take awhile, but the story I wrote about my four days in Michigan this summer visiting wineries was published overnight on Palate Press – The National Online Wine magazine. Click here to go directly to the story.

The Palate Press story links back to Grape Sense for a quick review I did of the wineries I visited in three days. You can see that by scrolling down, or clicking here.

Michigan wine is not yet widely available outside the state but it can be found in surrounding states if you make an effort. The area up around Leelanau Peninsula is really worth a visit.

I blogged each day about my Michigan trip and wrote about the winemakers and wineries. There are more photos and a video in those posts. I wrote six related posts which you can read here:

Visiting an Iconic Figure in Michigan Wine
First Taste of Michigan Wine Impressive
Two Lads, a Schoolhouse, and One Sharp Young Man
Friday was Final Day of Michigan Wine Tour
The Beauty of the Traverse Bay Area
Now it’s Time to Drink some Michigan Wine

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One of the best ways to really enjoy wine and learn more about wine is to drink new wines with friends.

I have a group of buddies who get together every 2-3 weeks and we taste 3-4 wines. We talk about the wine, snack a little, and debate a few other topics. We started calling ourselves “Dudes on the Porch” because it just happens to be all guys and all summer we got together on my large front porch.

Last week I thought it would be great fun to do a video blog episode with the guys. Well, the “Dudes” were up for the video idea. Then “Dude” Patrick thought it would be a great to do Thanksgiving wines. I agreed.

So Tuesday night, Nov. 2, we got together in my living room – too cold for outside – and sampled three whites and three reds we thought would be great for Thanksgiving. We video taped everyone’s thoughts about each wine.

I’m going to put the vids up one wine at a time, starting Monday night through Saturday. The videos are pretty simple, not over produced, and about two minutes each. But I think it provides a good example of how palates are different and how much fun you can have doing the same thing.

Make sure to check back Monday night for the debut of the “Dudes!”

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“Drinkable enough” is hardly a full-hearted endorsement but sometimes good enough.

I opened a trade sample bottle of Banfi’s Centine Toscana and found it very drinkable. The 2008 Toscana is a nice blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot.

You’ll get a little berry and some other rather unidentifiable red fruit on the palate. It is a soft red wine. The tannins are quite soft despite a combined 18 months in oak. The soft finish almost always makes me say that this is a good red wine for beginners. Or, a good red wine to serve in mass quantities.

Banfi has a big lineup of great products. The Centine is the value line with prices around $11-$12. Previous vintages of the Toscana consistently scored in the high 80s.

Again, many people would like this wine. It would be great to buy in volume for a big Italian wedding. A little too soft and supple for my tastes, but it’s a producer worth your trust and investment.

Send comment or questions to: hewitthoward@gmail.com