"The Flying Wine Man" Visits KOTV's "Six in the Morning"

Andrew Jones, "The Flying Wine Man" has a new book and web site. Photo credit: The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas, TX Andrew Jones, A.K.A. "The Flying Wine Man", has explored

Thursday, March 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Andrew Jones, "The Flying Wine Man" has a new book and web site. Photo credit: The Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas, TX

Andrew Jones, A.K.A. "The Flying Wine Man", has explored and embraced every part of the winemaking world, from the equator to Finland, not to mention Bordeaux to Fresno. Based in Kent of the U.K., he is less likely to be home due to his enthusiastic travels.

"Wine Talk", a paperback billed as a vintage collection of facts and legends for wine lovers ($8.95, Piatkus) is a factoid source of curious and entertaining information. This is the perfect preparation to neutralize any wine geeks within your vicinity and is guaranteed to freshen up your dinner table holdings forth.

At the same time of his book release, he is launching his "Wine On The Web" site (www.wineontheweb.com), a refreshing approach to useful wine information for the general consumer as well as the professional. Two important factors define his approach.

Jones takes no display advertising, preventing the uncomfortable proximity of high ratings with purchased ads. Secondly, the site focuses on wines that are ready to enjoy, at their peak, rather than dwelling upon wines needing lengthy cellaring and possibly massive wallets.

"We publish the label of the wine with 100 words of background information, intending to provide independently assessed recommendations that are easy to follow." says Jones.

Back to his book "Wine Talk", though. Public Radio award winning host Glenn Mitchell, in an interview conducted later on this stop, was intrigued with a chapter of the book concerning wine labels.

The Most Awkward to Pronounce Label: Staatiche Weinbaudomane Schlossbockelheimer Kupfergrube Riesling Kabinett 1994, Nahe definately stole the show in the radio interview.

The Least Tempting Label: Herpe's La Clape VDQS wins the award, coming from Paul Herpe and Fils, wine producers within the VDQS appellation of La Clape in the Languedoc Roussillon region of France.

Jones chimed in that "No professional tasting notes describing the Herpe's La Clape could be found." No surprise. I'm still wondering what menu item would pair with that wine.

Realizing that this space is overdue for an actual wine recommendation, I shall briefly mention the wine pictured on the cover of Andrew Jone's book, "Wine Talk". Showcased is Jacob's Creek Chardonnay of Australia.

This full flavored, perhaps bold, Chardonnay can be found in shops for around $8. This is exactly what wine should be; tasty and priced to partake.

Jacob's Creek crafts a delightful Merlot that I proudly poured for years at the Adolphus Hotel's French Room. It is soft and jammy, the reason people gravitate to Merlot, and as with the Jacob's Creek Chardonnay, a real bargain.

Click here to visit http:// www.wineontheweb.com