By Duane Pemberton

The wine blogging community has definitely stormed onto the scene, with folks coming out of the woodwork ready to share their own opinions and such. I’m a huge fan of that, on principle, as I firmly believe the more people talking about wine, the better it will be for the industry and ultimately the wine-drinker.

With that said, there is a trend amongst the blogging community that I find disturbing and that is this idea that if a particular blog doesn’t “like a wine” they won’t review it. To me, that’s only giving their readers half the story and doing a disservice to wine drinkers everywhere. This is like the little league teams that choose to not keep scores during the games and ultimately give every team a trophy at the end of the year.

I believe that honest criticism of wine is healthy for the wineries as well – even the smaller ones who might be afraid of it. I say, embrace it as it helps hone excellence. Could you imagine the world without the wonderful contrast of success and failure? How would we learn? How would we know what works and what doesn’t?

Personally, I feel that one of the things that makes wine so much fun is the fact that we don’t like everything all of the time – and we should all embrace that. It’s okay. It’s a part of winning and losing.

So when I heard that bloggers were being advised at the recent Wine Bloggers Conference to not publish reviews on wines they don’t like in order to keep getting “free wine” from the wineries – a huge red flag went up. Am I on crazy pills here or is that being dishonest to their readers?

What say you?

By Duane Pemberton

It’s often thought of that beer is the king of drinks during the summer months – especially for grilled foods and just chilling out. I love a nice, cold beer as much as the next person, however, there are times when a glass of wine can really elevate a grilled summertime meal, picnic or get together. I think that, unfortunately, all too many folks miss the boat on what’s out there for these hot months of summer. In no particular order, these varietals are my favorites during the summer:

Syrah - Dark fruits and a good jamminess make this wine a no-brainer for grilled meats and veggies.

Malbec - Malbec is on fire right now in the world of wine and nobody is more on the mark with great W.E.P. than Argentina.  This wine presents a good “heartiness” to it, hints of spice and red fruits like raspberries, cherries and strawberry.

Zinfandel - The classic “California grape” has a special place in my heart because of how much I love to grill all year long. Obnoxiously huge, dark fruits that combine in a jam-like mouth-feel. You really can’t go too wrong with this grape for grilled ans spicy foods of any kind. I have it with BBQ-meats and Mexican foods like fajita’s.

Rose - This pink summertime favorite is a natural for really any food but I particularly love it with fried chicken, potato salad and other picnic-type foods.

Tempranillo - Tempranillo is a Spanish grape that is really below the radar of most American winos and that’s unfortunate. It has a really nice spicy, and fruit character that goes great with tapas foods, cheese/meat platters and any other form of highly-seasoned foods.

Mourvedre - Wines from this cool-climate grape tend to have a good amount of pepper-action on them with stellar red fruits. It’s sorta of like a “less-jammy” Syrah. Often you’ll also find notes of red licorice, cocoa and cinnamon.

Riesling – There is so much to adore about this grape that I don’t have the space to type it all out here. I stick to the more off-dry to dry selections as they are the most food-friendly and refreshing to me.

Verdejo – This crisp, refreshing, white Spanish grape is an easy pick for summertime seafood or just sipping on the patio. Notes of citrus, kiwi and even some nice minerality.

Torrontes – Jasmine is a common floral note on this wine and is often mixed in with a sense of river-stone, gravel and citrus. About the only Torrontes I’m aware of come from Argentina and Chile – frankly is one of my favorite white grapes out there right now.