Photo by derekGavey

Ransoming the World’s Most Famous Vineyard
From Vinography, I really hope this isn’t the beginning of an unfortunate trend. The owner of arguably the most famous winery in the world, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, recently received two threatening letters promising to poison his vineyards unless a substantial ransom was paid. Fortunately the culprit has since been apprehended.

Additional Tip: The most recent edition of Wine Spectator magazine has a fantastic in-depth look at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. You can also pick up a bottle to try yourself for around $3,000.

Sonoma Vintners to Wineries: Promote Sonoma County or Become a Criminal!
From Fermentation, the Sonoma County Vintners Association is trying to get a law passed that would force Sonoma County wineries to place the words “Sonoma County” on their wine labels. I completely agree with the author’s take on this one. Wineries should be free to market and communicate with consumers however they see fit through their labels. At the end of the day it’s the wineries’ responsibility to sell their wine, and if the words “Sonoma County” helps that effort they would have already made that decision.

The Top 50 Craft Breweries
From Grapes and Grains, the Brewers’ Association recently released their “2009 Top 50 Craft Breweries” list.  Unfortunately no Cincinnati-area shops made the cut, but the Great Lakes Brewing Co. out of Cleveland made the list at #23.

Screw Caps Ace Another Test Against Corks
From the May 2010 edition of Wine Spectator magazine, a 10-year study by the Australian Wine Research Institute shows how good wine performs under different closure conditions.  The results clearly show screw caps as the preferred closure over different types of corks and synthetic corks.  Once a year each wine in the study was opened, tasted, and analyzed.  According to a researcher on the study, most of the wines sealed with closures other than the screw cap were completely undrinkable.  Wow.

Moerlein, Hudepohl, Schoenling, Burger and Little Kings will all be coming home to the new OTR facility, which will be located in the former Husman Potato Chip plant on Moore Street just north of Liberty and east of Vine. Initial plans call for minor renovations and a general clean up of the facility so the company can relocate its corporate offices from its current Middletown location. Christian Moerlein plans to employ up to 25 at this location in 2011.

“We are proud to be part of the continued renaissance and economic development of Over-the-Rhine,” said Greg Hardman President and CEO of Christian Moerlein Brewing Company. The building’s sound infrastructure and historical significance were main considerations in choosing the Over-the-Rhine location.

157 years ago, brew master Christian Moerlein, an immigrant from Truppach Bavaria, Germany brewed his first beer in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine Brewery District. The Christian Moerlein Brewing Company ended operations in 1920 at the start of Prohibition and did not resume operations after prohibition ended in 1933.

The Christian Moerlein Brewing Company is the brewer of handcrafted Moerlein Lagers & Ales including Moerlein OTR Ale, Moerlein Lager House, Moerlein Barbarossa Double Dark Lager, and Moerlein Emancipator Doppelbock.

Photo by Jim Effler

First a bit of background for those new to Bockfest.  Bock-Fest comes from a celebration of Bock beer…a rich and complex lager beer.  Back in Cincinnati’s hay day of brewing in the 1800s, the more than 18 local breweries started a tradition of releasing all their Bock beer on the same day.  This day marked the end of Winter and coming of Spring and soon became Bockfest as we know it today.  Now onto the beer.

Over-the-Rhine’s Bockfest begins tomorrow and runs through Sunday.  Festivities kick off on Friday evening around 6 with the Bockfest Parade on Main Street, followed by the Blessing of the Bock Beer in front of Bockfest Hall (located this year in a portion of the Kauffman Brewery at 1621 Moore Street).  A free, continuous shuttle bus will take you all throughout Over-the-Rhine to the many great participating Bockfest bars including Arnold’s, Mr. Pitiful’s and Milton’s.

On Saturday the good times continue with the Prohibition Resistance Tours.  It’s a great way to learn about Cincinnati’s brewing past while exploring some of the actual historic brewing buildings.  Saturday culminates with the crowning of the Bockfest Sausage Queen at 8 PM.  The free shuttle also continues all day and night Saturday from 10 AM to 1 AM.

On Sunday a good ticket is the Historic Church Tour which begins at 2 PM at Bockfest Hall and runs about two hours.  Music and more beer continues all day at Arnolds.

To learn even more about Bockfest and purchase tickets to the many fun events visit www.BockFest.com.

From our favorite wine show, In Wine Country, comes the story of Firestone Walker Brewing Company.  They’re unique in that they actually use oak barrels to age their beer, a method usually found only in wine making.

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