Lots of stuff from the those wacky Internets to catch up on, so here goes: 

*Off-sweet news: At an event called the Riesling Rendezvous — hated to miss that one — the International Riesling Foundation proposed that all bottles of the varietal have a “taste scale” to denote the level of dryness/sweetness in simple terms such as, well, “dry” and “sweet,” according to this report. Reaction: While some might see this step as dumbing down, it would be most welcome news here. Anything that clarifies matters for consumers and potentially lures more customers to this splended grape works for me.

*Down and dirty: A proposed law would make wine Web sales illegal in France by basically placing it in the same category as porn, says this article. Reaction: I basically agree with one of the responses on the comments thread: “Considering that no national barriers have been successful in curbing pornography on the internet presumably the same will apply to wine on the internet.” 

*Pax-less: One of my favorite wineries is in turmoil. The latest salvo in the legal battle over Pax, which makes exceptional Rhone-style wines (available here only to lucky mailing-list members) has found majority owner Joe Donelan firing founder/part-owner/namesake Pax Mahle. Reaction: What a mess. The good news is that Donelan hired one of the rising stars in California’s winemaking world, Tyler Thomas of HdV Vineyards.

*Midwestern whites shine: Wines from New York, Michigan and Wisconsin (Wollersheim’s Seyval Blanc) impressed judges mightily in the sweepstakes for Best White Wine at the recent Riverside (Calif.) International Wine Competition. Reaction: Can Minnesota’s rapidly improving bottlings be far behind?

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