All wine all the time

WineTaste TV made its debut last week -- but not, as you might think, on TV. It's a website where you can view short (3 to 5 minute) videos on various aspects of the world of wine and wine personalities. This isn't YouTube: all the short pieces collected here are professionally produced, though that's not to say they're all of equal worth.

As you might imagine, there are quite a number of interviews with winemakers on their properties, all of which seem to be designed to put them and their wines in the best light possible. The never-satisfied thirst for content on sites like this means that some sort of symbiotic relationship has to exist between the people trying to attract viewers to the site and the people who have a reason to want to be seen there. And since you can to buy some of the wines featured in the video spots, it stands to reason that whatever else goes on here, it isn't going to be journalism.

That said, there are some clips here that merit your attention: California winemaker David Ramey's series on fermenting, barrel aging, varietals, and vineyard sites, for example. Ramey is a skilled presenter and watching as he explains the nuances of vineyard and cellar management is a real treat.