Wine Atlas

If you're looking for the perfect wine-related holiday present, consider a grand tour of the world's vineyards -- in a box.

There has never been a better time to give the gift of global wine, as we were reminded recently when talking with Roger Esser, manager of Cyclone Liquors in Ames, Iowa. Just five years ago, he says, his store's shelves were pretty much stocked with wines from the United States and big names like Italy and France. But then, Mr. Esser says, he noticed a dramatic transformation. Wines started coming into the States from emerging wine regions from all around the world. Cyclone underwent a major reorganization then to showcase the wines -- and has undergone two or three more as wines from other regions have become available. Now there are separate areas labeled Greece, Austria, Hungary, New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. The Spain section has ballooned. "We have a lot of people who come in with an open mind and want to try something new," Mr. Esser explained. "A lot of people have become hooked on gruner veltliner, for example." These wines, he added, "are value-priced, too."

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Napa Valley wine trade mission to China: Planting some seeds

By Alan Goldfarb, WINE EDITOR

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a contingent of about 70 people from California visited China on a trade mission recently, there were a quartet of Napa Valley wine people among the group. They were there to introduce the region's wines to the people of China.

Because, as Todd Zapolski of Girard Winery explained, as much as we think our wines are known throughout the world, the wines of France, for instance, may be more familiar in China.

"The Australians now have very attractive price points in China. The Chileans are being very aggressive, and the French offer status and immediate recognition," explained Zapolski.

Along with the Girard executive, also on the trip was Leslie Rudd, the owner of Rudd Estate and his winemaker Charles Thomas; and Mary O'Neil, who represented Silver Oak. Also on the mission was a spokesperson from the Washington, D.C. office of the Wine Institute.

Wine shops in Beijing

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To the novice wine drinker on a budget, no one is more feared than the sommelier at a stylish restaurant. This is the person you expect to frown when you order the least expensive bottle of wine, and the person who will later terrorize you by offering a fraction of a glass of that cheap bottle, while he stands by, ostensibly awaiting your approval. But despite the formal exterior and unpronounceable title, not all sommeliers are creatures of intimidation.

Finn Anson, wine steward for the Emerson at Woodstock, is the kind of person people fall in love with. Single and married women of all ages adore him, as do the men who accompany them. Warm hearted and generous, he welcomes anyone into his wine-drenched world, and makes even a neophyte oenophile feel as if he or she belongs. An Irish citizen who was raised outside London, Anson, 37, recently lived for several years with his wife in the Dordogne region of France, an area that attracts poets, artists, and inspirationists—as well as epicureans who come for its food and wine. A few years ago, an influential member of the wine trade imported Anson to America, and he eventually moved to the Hudson Valley with his wife and two children.

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