Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Wines task force/Newsletter/01-31-2008

Welcome to the latest edition of the Wine Project newsletter! FEATURING opening performance by Mr. Maynard.....James....KEEEEEENAN!. If you're a tad confused, check out this thread-What does Pliny the Elder, Ausonius, Louis Pasteur and Francis Ford Coppola have in common?. On to the rundown.

News & Notes

 * Portal:Wine is now a Featured Portal!
 * All the congrats and props goes to User:Tanner-Christopher who plowed through the FP candidacy waters and got the Wine Project, its very first bit of featured content. Way to go Chris!


 * Our Wine Project GA coordinator/liaison has been found
 * User:VanTucky has kindly stepped forward and volunteered his service. He will be combing through our Category:B-Class Wine articles looking for potential Good article candidates and giving the project direction on how to get some of our Category:Top-importance Wine articles up to GA standards. His notes will be featured in upcoming editions of the Wine Project newsletter. You'll learn more about VanTucky later on in our Wiki-Winos sections.


 * Did you know.... that since our last newsletter we've had 11 more wine related articles featured on the main page?
 * Kudos to User:FlagSteward for his work in getting Christopher Merret featured; User:Tomas e for Enoteca; User:Anonymous Dissident for Leo Laliman and User:Daniel Case for Thaddeus Hait Farm.


 * ONGOING housekeeping
 * Wine Project Survey- Let your voice be heard!
 * Philip Greenspun illustration project/Requests - Request that wine-related illustration that you've always dreamed of!


 * [[Image:Stop hand nuvola.svg|45px]]Traffic cop-A sampling of how often wine related article are being viewed
 * The theme for this edition-National pride!-Top importance rated country articles
 * In the month of January, the ranking for most viewed wine country article is....
 * French wine - over 14,400 views (though it is the current WID subject)
 * Italian wine - over 12,000 views
 * German wine - over 6200 views
 * Spanish wine - over 5000 views
 * Australian wine - over 4800 views
 * Chilean wine - over 3400 views
 * American wine - over 3000 views (California wine not much better)
 * Argentine wine - over 2100 views
 * South African wine - over 1900 views
 * Portuguese wine - over 1900 views
 * A couple countries who are not currently listed as Top importances but for comparison-
 * New Zealand wine - over 2300 views
 * Canadian wine - over 1800 views
 * Georgian wine - over 1700 views
 * Israeli wine - over 1500 views
 * Austrian wine - over 1100 views
 * Greek wine - over 900 views
 * English wine - over 700 times

Wiki-Winos-VanTucky

 * What got you first interested in wine?
 * I began to be interested in wine from a young age (for an American). I had some wine with family in my teens, and my elder brother instilled my early wine know-how. I got serious after a dinner when he prepared a lamb shank that was accompanied by a Valpolicella. Most Valpolicella is (in my opinion) pretty thin and uninspiring, but the lamb really brought out the depth in this particular vintage. Nothing is so amazing as how food enhances a great wine (or vice-versa).


 * What brought you to Wikipedia?
 * Fast, free and reliable info, of course. Like most Wikipedians, I first used the site in high school, and I began contributing a couple years later. By approximately June of '06, I couldn't bear a day without checking my watchlist.


 * What type of wine articles do you enjoy editing?
 * I most enjoy regional wine articles (such as for Oregon or France), historical wine articles, and some under-appreciated varietals (like Amarone).


 * What non-wine related activities do you also enjoy on Wikipedia?
 * Currently I am big in to the Good Article process. I also recently did a complete rewrite of Domestic sheep (now GA!)


 * What is your favorite wine? Least favorite wine?
 * For everyday drinking, anything bone dry and mineral-drenched, especially Sauvignon Blanc. I also enjoy Tawny and Ruby port. The worst wine I have ever tasted is, hands-down, Greek retsina. It was like sucking pine sap off a live tree.


 * What is the most under appreciated wine, in your opinion?
 * Washington state wines for sure. Washington state viticulture isn't as fashionable as Oregon, but it's better in some respects. Oregon Pinot Noir is talked about a lot, but it's a temperamental grape that can be hit-or-miss even from quality wineries. Wine from top WA wineries, especially Cabernet Sauvignon, is consistently spectacular. Other than that, I don't think enough people appreciate the versatility of Gewurztraminer.


 * What efforts on a wine related article are you the most proud of to-date?
 * I did some respectable work to the history of Bordeaux wine that I think is important.


 * Know any good wine jokes/quotes?
 * Though technically it's religious metaphor, Rumi uses wine as a theme in many of his most beautiful poems.


 * Have you ever had a "Wine snobbish" moment? If so, tell us about it.
 * My long-time girlfriend's mother drinks wine like a fish, but rarely strays outside the box. Once, when she broke out an artificially-oaked California Chardonnay for the holidays, I almost threw up (literally) from the nose alone. I turned it down without even tasting it.


 * What area of the wine project would you like more editors to focus on?
 * Defining the notability of wineries. Wineries are a business like any other, and some just don't merit an article.


 * What are some wine related reliable sources (i.e. a wine book or web site) that you like using when editing wine articles?
 * Too many to count, but I particularly like The Oxford Companion to Wine. - Van Tucky

Wine articles on the Web
A sampling of how Wikipedia's wine articles are being used on the web.


 * Monastrell - (Start class|High imp) Is Monastrell a synonym for Graciano or Mourvedre? UC-Davis's Carole Meredith sets the record straight and proves a Wikipedia article (or redirect) is wrong.


 * Maceration (wine) - (Start class|Mid imp) So what makes red wine red? Our maceration article was there to help.


 * Brunello di Montalcino - (Start class|Mid imp) Is Brunello Riserva really better than standard Brunello? Maybe knowing how they are made will help.


 * Sparkling wine production - (Start class|High imp) While not intentional and not quite how most would expect our wine articles to be used-the sparkling wine production article was in the right place, at the right time to help this struggling band out.

Wine blogging Wednesday
The Wine Project participated in some ways with the January edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday. The topic of the month was white Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine and we lent a hand by making sure that not only the main Friuli wine article was up and running but also some of the important grape varietals like Friulano, Verduzzo and Ribolla Gialla in good shape. Our efforts were much appreciated by many of the wine bloggers who used the pages (and maps) to learn more about the region. Feb's topic will be a bit difficult to help out with. The task is to describe an Italian red wine in just 7 words. If you're really hankering to work on some articles maybe take a look at-Sangiovese, Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo or Chianti?

Till next time

 * "Here's to the corkscrew - a useful key to unlock the storehouse of wit, the treasury of laughter, the front door of fellowship, and the gate of pleasant folly." - Percy French

Agne