Burgundy's famed Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC) was the target last winter of a bizarre plot in which an extortionist threatened to poison DRC's vineyards unless he was paid one million Euros. The threat came in a series of letters written to DRC co-owner Aubert de Villaine. Naturally, de Villaine contacted the police, and working secretly with them, agreed to drop off the extortion money at a Chambolle-Musigny cemetery. It was a trap, of course. And when the blackmailer — a 57-year-old man with a long criminal past — came to fetch the loot, he was promptly arrested.
"A four-lane road bridge and highway are soon to be constructed across the celebrated landscape of the Mosel valley, endangering world-class Riesling vineyards," writes German winemaker Dr. Ernst Loosen in a July blog. "The planned road, named the B50," he goes on to say, "will emerge from a tunnel through the side of the famed Urziger Würzgarten wine mountain, cross the Mosel river via a gigantic concrete bridge and continue directly along the top of the vineyards of Zeltingen-Rachtig, Wehlen, Graach and Bernkastel, with an additional slip road passing close by the village of Erden." The B50 highway plan (which the government contends "will cut travel time by half an hour between Germany and the Benelux countries and ease the flow of traffic") has been proposed several times over the past 40 years, but has always ended up being postponed. Let's hope it's not only postponed this time, but is scuttled once and for all.
Apcor, a lobbyist for the Iberian cork industry, has launched a $24,000,000 campaign to convince wine buyers that real corks (i.e., those made from the bark of cork oak trees) are better bottle-stoppers than artificial corks or screwcaps. One of Apcor's prime arguments, according to the London Telegraph, is that "Cork production ... has huge environmental benefits, ... as it produces ten times less carbon emissions than plastic tops and 26 times less than screw tops." Moreover, "the use of [real] cork tops ... guarantees the survival of the huge cork forests of Portugal and Spain, which are massive carbon sinks, a haven for diverse wildlife, and offer protection against forest fires and desertification." Hmm, something to think about ...
William Foley remains a man obsessed. The insurance mogul, who has been gobbling up California wineries (e.g., Sebastiani, Firestone, Kuleto and Merus) left and right of late, bought Sonoma's Chalk Hill Winery in July for a reported $100 million. Under the deal, says the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Foley got "the entire 1,270-acre estate [278 acres of which are planted in vines] and all its buildings, including the 40,000-case winery, a pavilion, equestrian center, and several homes." Located east of Windsor, in northern Sonoma County, Chalk Hill Winery is best known for Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.
French wines are still number one. Or so says a recent poll by the research group Wine Intelligence. They asked over 4,000 wine drinkers in the U.K., the U.S. and Switzerland to name the world's top wine-producing country, and the majority answer was France.
There is no recession at Kenzo Estate, a new, luxe, Napa Valley winery which opened in May. Owned by Japanese video-game titan Kenzo Tsujimoto, who spent $100 million on the project, the Mount George operation features: a state-of-the-art winery, replete with two fermentation rooms, one for stainless steel tanks, the other for concrete vats; a 20,000-square-foot underground aging cellar; 4,000 acres of land, 70 of which are presently planted in vines; and three mega-star consultants, David Abreu for viticulture, Heidi Barrett for winemaking and Thomas Keller for tasting room snacks. As one might expect, Kenzo's wines will be at the upper end of the price spectrum, with the lead dog, a Cabernet-based blend called "Rindo," slated to sell for $75 a bottle.
Beware of bag-in-the-box wine containers. They may not preserve wine as well as advertised, according to a recent study by Bordeaux's Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV). Indeed, ISVV researchers found that white wines stored six months in previously-unopened bag-in-the box containers showed considerable alteration, while whites kept 12 months in previously-unopened bag-in-the-box containers were invariably oxidized. Tests of bag-in-the-box reds were less conclusive, however.
Rasteau, a village in southern Côtes du Rhône, was elevated to AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlée) status in June. The new red wine appellation, located ten miles north of Gigondas, has just under 3,000 acres of vines, 90 percent of which are planted in Grenache.
Robert Mondavi's Napa County home is for sale. The 11,500-square-foot residence, which sits on 56 acres near Yountville, features an indoor swimming pool, an underground wine cellar and a watch tower with sweeping views of Napa Valley. And just think, it can all be yours for a mere $25 million.
QRW mourns the passing of Art Finkelstein, who died May 28 at the age of 68. An architect by training, Finkelstein, along with his brother, Alan Steen, founded Napa's Whitehall Lane winery in 1979. After Whitehall was sold in 1988, Finkelstein went on to establish — also in Napa — Judd's Hill Winery, which is now run by his son, the eponymous Judd, and daughter-in-law, Holly. We also mourn Alfredo Currado, who died May 4 at the age of 78. Head of Barolo's Vietti winery, which he took over in 1960, following the death of his father-in-law, Mario Vietti, Currado was the first producer to offer cru Barolo, debuting Barolo "Rocche" in 1961. He was also the father of Arneis, rescuing that now-popular Piedmont white grape from near-extinction, and producing its first modern-day wine in 1967.
There are 218 million Americans of legal drinking age, but it's estimated that only 74 million of them — or about one-third — drink wine. Yet even so, that number exceeds the total population of France (65,073,482) and is the prime reason America is such an important wine market. In fact, the U.S. accounts for 12 percent of the world's total wine consumption, and is expected to reach 15 percent within the next three years.
To cut costs, Diageo is moving production of California's Rosenblum Cellars from the brand's original Alameda County site to a central facility in Napa Valley. And Kent Rosenblum, who sold Rosenblum Cellars to Diageo in 2008 for an estimated $105 million, is none too pleased, having reportedly quipped, "This is what happens when you let bean-counters run a company." Yet what did Mr. Rosenblum expect when he dealt his small, privately owned winery to a huge, publicly traded corporation: snips, snails and puppy dog tails? We think not.
The future of Ascentia Wine Estates, owner of the California wineries Geyser Peak, Buena Vista and Gary Farrell, appears to be very much up in the air. The company is being sued by the national wine distributor W. J. Deutsch & Sons (Duboeuf, Yellow Tail, etc.), a minority partner in Ascentia, for non-payment of marketing fees. In addition, Deutsch is seeking the return of its original $16 million investment in Ascentia. But that may be easier said than done. The suit also claims that, owing to fraud and mismanagement, Ascentia "is insolvent, and its imbalance of assets and liabilities is worsening."
In May, John and Doug Shafer of Napa's Shafer Vineyards were jointly named the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional for 2010. The father and son team are the fourth Napa Valley recipient of the award, joining Robert Mondavi (1991), André Tchelistcheff (1992) and Jack and Jamie Davies (1996).
Jack Nicklaus is the latest sports hero to have his own wine brand. The golf great has partnered with Terlato Wines International, owners of Napa's Chimney Rock and Rutherford Hill wineries, to create Jack Nicklaus Wines, a line, says the press release, "of hand-crafted, limited-production wines from California's famed Napa Valley." The first releases, a 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon at $35 a bottle and a 2007 Private Reserve (which mixes red Bordeaux grapes with Syrah) at $43 a bottle, debuted in June.
Gordon Ramsay, the churlish celebrity chef who delights in berating others, is not so faultless himself. The New York Post reports (May 7, 2010) that two wine suppliers, Wineberry America and V.O.S. Selections, have sued Ramsay, claiming he owes them $78,900 for wines shipped to his Manhattan restaurant, Gordon Ramsay at The London, in late-2009. "It was a sucker punch," V.O.S. owner Victor Owen Schwartz told the Post. "We figured he had a name and a connection to a hotel, so he would be OK to do business with." Ramsay is also in hot water with the State of New York, which, last March, listed his umbrella company, Gordon Ramsay Holdings, as owing some $377,000 in back taxes. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger, CEO of the Champagne company which bears his last name, seems ready to toss the U.S. aside in favor of China. "China is the new United States," he told those attending Reuters' Global Luxury Summit in Paris last June. "It's why we have to promote Champagne in China — to make them happy and peaceful. They are going to lead the world for the next 200 years. There is no doubt that [China] will be a strong market in 15 years. It will be much better than the U.S." Ouch!
And finally, here is our pick for daffiest wine note of the quarter. It was published June 14, 2010 on the blog Dirty South Wine. "After an oyster feast, we headed up N. along the coast grabbing a bottle of 2006 Scherrer Pinot Noir Sonoma County and sipping that on an overlook on the side of the road. The Scherrer was a nice compliment [sic] to the cold wind, but we were somewhat distracted by the smell of something dead that would surface when the wind changed directions ... We never found a corpse, but some little critter is rotting on that look out." Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Dernier Cri: French Lunacy
Why does the world’s foremost wine-producing country hate wine?
Randy Sheahan
France is a great country with a rich culture, but sometimes it can be silly in the extreme. A good example is the French government’s current anti-wine stance.
Nothing is more synonymous with La Belle France than wine. Indeed, France’s wine industry employs 300,000 persons, accounts for 17 percent of the country’s agriculture and brings in almost $8 billion a year. French wine is the benchmark against which all of the world’s wines are judged. And it is, when consumed judiciously, a safe and decidedly healthy quaff. Yet on this latter point, the French government seems to differ, going so far a few years back as to launch an ad campaign that accused wine of causing cancer, when indeed there’s considerable evidence to the contrary. As Burgundy winemaker Pascale Chicotot told the International Herald Tribune last October, “They [the French government] treat us as if we’re making a dangerous product. We are not terrorists. Wine is not a dangerous product. Wine is a noble thing.”
Many French wine producers point the finger at President Sarkozy, who purportedly does not drink wine, and therefore, they say, could care less about their plight. But the French government’s anti-wine posture long predates his presidency. For several years now in France, there have been tough restrictions on advertising wine in print, while touting wine on television and the Internet is banned altogether. Things are so bad that, in 2005, the French daily newspaper, Le Parisien, was fined over $6,000 for publishing an article about Champagne without including the warning statement “L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé” (“The abuse of alcohol is dangerous to health”). This statement is mandatory only for advertising, so why was the newspaper fined for an editorial piece? Well, said the judge who made the ruling, Le Parisien’s advocacy of Champagne was akin to advertising and so was subject to the same strictures. Incroyable!
No one denies that alcoholism is a serious disease. But painting wine — especially fine wine — with the same brush as other alcoholic beverages, is perverting the truth. As Hugh Johnson writes, “Wine, unlike spirits, has long been considered the drink of moderation,” and historically, “Moderate wine drinkers [have] found themselves better nourished, more confidant and consequently ... more capable than their fellows.” The French government should not be demonizing wine (and in the process severing its nez to spite its visage), it should be promoting wine as a beverage which can, in moderation, encourage fellowship and assure good health. Those of us who drink fine wine do so not to escape reality, but to enhance — in a non-indulgent, non-hedonistic way — the pleasure of life. Indeed, drinking wine is all about “Liberté, égalité et fraternité.” It’s sad that the French government cannot see this.
LONDON - Prince Charles' income grew last year, while his carbon footprint shrank. The eco-friendly prince even has an Aston Martin that runs on biodiesel made from wine.
An annual review of Charles' accounts released Monday said the prince made more than 16 million pounds ($32 million) from property and investments between April 1, 2007, and March 31 this year, 7 percent more than in 2006-2007. Charles paid 3.4 million pounds in tax, 5,000 pounds less than the year before.
The prince's office said greater use of green energy and fewer plane and car journeys helped Charles cut the amount of carbon dioxide he produced by 18 percent to 3,081 tons.
Charles has promised to reduce his emissions of greenhouse gases by 25 percent between 2007 and 2012.
The report said Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, traveled 37,000 miles on official duties and overseas travel accounted for the largest chunk of the prince's carbon footprint.
For domestic travel, the prince's Jaguars, Audi and Range Rover now run entirely on biodiesel made from used cooking oil, and his 38-year-old Aston Martin is fueled by bioethanol from surplus wine.
The prince has also installed wood-chip stoves at his country homes — the Highgrove estate, where he farms organically, and Birkhall in Scotland — and energy-efficient boilers at his Clarence House residence in London.
"I hope it shows a good picture," said royal aide Sir Michael Peat. "I really do believe that the contribution their royal highnesses make to national life continues to develop and broaden."
The 59-year-old heir to the throne receives private income from properties of The Duchy of Cornwall, the 136,000-acre estate established in 1337 by King Edward II to provide income for his heir.
Charles' official spending, including money spent on charitable work and official duties, was 10.4 million pounds. His personal spending, which includes the salaries of 30 full-time staff, was 2.2 million pounds, down from 2.6 million pounds.
Rioja had a banner year in 2006, selling 261 million liters (about 30 million cases) of vino worldwide – an all time record for the Spanish wine region. And starting this year, Rioja will have nine new grapes to play with. Indeed, three non-indigenous white grapes, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Verdejo, can now be planted in the region, along with three indigenous Spanish (but heretofore unplanted in Rioja) white grapes, Maturana Blanca, Tempranillo Blanc and Torrontes, and three indigenous Spanish (but again heretofore unplanted in Rioja) red grapes, Maturana Tinta, Maturano and Monastrell. The native grapes can be used to make single-variety wines; but the non-native grapes may only be blended – in a minority proportion – with native grapes.
QRW contributor Michael Broadbent, who turned 80 on May 2, has retired from the board of Christie’s, after 40 years of service with the London-based auctioneer. Appointed head of Christie’s new wine department in 1967, Broadbent single-handedly created the modern-day wine auction, becoming in the process the world’s foremost expert on old and rare wines. He also managed along the way to produce two seminal wine references, Michael Broadbent’s Guidance in the Technique of Tasting (John Harvey, 1963) and The Great Vintage Wine Book (Alfred A. Knopf, 1980, and twice updated).
Castello Banfi, the well-known property in Tuscany’s Montalcino region, experienced an unusual harvest last February, when paleontologists digging on the estate uncovered the skeleton of a 33-foot-long prehistoric whale. The beast dates back five million years to the Pliocene era, at which time all of Tuscany was an ocean.
Saint-Emilion’s 2006 classification has been suspended by the Bordeaux Administrative Tribunal. The classification had been challenged in court by three châteaux – Villemaurine, Cadet Bon and Guadet-Saint-Julien – that were demoted from Grande Cru Classé to mere Grand Cru. They claimed the findings were tainted because the classification jury included two wine brokers and a lawyer who each did business with various Saint-Emilion châteaux, and therefore could not be objective. They also pointed out that of the 95 wines classified, only seven had actually been inspected by the jury. Unlike other Bordeaux regions, Saint-Emilion revisits its classifications every ten years. The next such reappraisal is set for 2016. The much ballyhooed 2003 classification of Médoc’s cru bourgeois vineyards has also been thrown out by the Bordeaux courts. This was hardly unexpected. The classification, whose selection committee included many châteaux owners with evident conflicts, had been questioned from the beginning.
Domaine Clarence Dillon, the owner of Bordeaux’s storied Châteaux Haut Brion and La Mission-Haut Brion, is dropping one of its labels. Starting with the 2006 vintage, the Pessac-Léognan Grand Cru Château La Tour Haut Brion will no longer be bottled as such, and its wine will go instead into other Dillon brands. A 12.4-acre property adjacent to La Mission-Haut Brion, La Tour Haut Brion produces about 4,800 gallons of red wine annually.
Fans of Château d’Yquem can now say “Super size me” and really mean it. Starting with the 2005 vintage, Sauternes’ greatest wine will be available for the first time ever in 15-liter nebuchadnezzar bottles. However, only 120 such large-formats are being bottled. Fifty of these will go to the British merchant Bordeaux Wine Investors, 50 to the American importer Bordeaux Wine Locators, and 20 will stay at the Château as part of its library collection. The retail price per bottle is estimated at $20,000-$25,000, with delivery sometime in 2009.
Visitors to the ex-Souverain winery in Geyserville, California will soon be able to have a swimmingly good time. New owner Francis Ford Coppola is building two public swimming pools on the site, along with 31 poolside cabanas swimmers can rent. He is also expanding the property’s indoor restaurant, while adding an outdoor eatery, four bocce courts and a bandshell-cum-ampitheatre replete with dance floor. The winery is getting a new name, too, and henceforth will be called “Rosso & Bianco.”
Michel Rolland, who consults with over 100 wine producers in 12 countries, is reducing his work load. The controversial wine guru announced recently that he would be dropping 20 of his Bordeaux clients, among them Châteaux Kirwan, Malescot-Saint-Exupéry and Fieuzal. Rolland’s wife and business partner, Dany, said the decisions were based on two things: the fact that her husband is turning 60 this year and wants to slow down; and the realization that the châteaux being dropped are doing well and no longer need assistance.
U.S. consumers purchased a record 300 million cases of wine in 2006, prompting wine industry analyst Jon Fredrikson of Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates to note that, “Wine is finally entering the mainstream of American life.” What a brilliant observation.
It appears that plans to build a super highway through Bordeaux’s Margaux appellation have been scrapped. But Spain’s Ribera del Duero region, home to Vega Sicilia and a host of other top-flight wineries, may not be so lucky. Plans appear to be going forward to widen Spanish highway N-122, which abuts some of the region’s best vineyards. If this happens, say local vintners, 247 prime vineyard acres will be destroyed, and the local microclimate will be dramatically altered. However, there is some good news coming out of Ribera del Duero. The appellation will soon be upgraded from DO (Denominacion de Origen) status to DOCa (Denominacion de Origen Calificada). This official, higher-quality designation is held by only two other Spanish wine regions: Rioja and Priorat.
From the Los Angeles Times (March 28, 2007) comes this novel way to rescue corky wines. Wad up a square-foot of Saran Wrap, stuff it into a large glass pitcher, pour the offending wine over the wrap into the pitcher, and then swish the liquid around for about ten minutes. The polyethylene in the wrap will absorb all of the taint-producing agent – a compound called trichloranisole (TCA) – and return the wine to a drinkable state, says the Times.
The Burgundy producer Maison Jean-Claude Boisset is bottling half of its 2005 Le Chambertin production – 25 cases – with screwcaps. This is the first Grand Cru Burgundy to be so packaged. Boisset will also offer some of its 2005 Beaune Bressandes Premier Cru with screwcaps.
Gary Farrell, who sold his eponymous California winery to Allied Domecq in 2004, is partnering with investment banker and vineyard owner, Bill Hambrecht, on a new Russian River winery that will focus on small-lot Pinot Noir production. The yet-to-be-named venture will produce about 6,000 cases of wine annually.
Establishments J. P. Moueix, the owners of Pomerol’s legendary Château Pétrus, have purchased a one-third stake in Dubois-Challon, the company that owns Château Ausone’s next-door neighbor, the Saint-Emilion First Growth Château Belair.
The 2007 grape harvest in Argentina’s Mendoza Valley was severely reduced by a series of hail storms that began last December and continued right into February.
There’s continuing good news about the health benefits of wine. Men who drink at least a half-glass of wine a day live an average of four years longer than teetotalers, according to a 40-year study of 1,373 subjects living in the Dutch town of Zutphen. A State University of New York at Stony Brook study claims that drinking three glasses of red wine a day cuts the risk of colorectal cancer by 68 percent. And scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health say that men with hypertension are 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack if they drink one or two glasses of wine a day.
U.S. sales of Italian wines surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever last year. In all, Americans purchased 22 million cases of Italian wine in 2006, bringing Italy’s share of the U.S. market to 32.4 percent.
Hubert de Bouard, owner of the Saint-Emilion First Growth Château L’Angelus, is the new regional chief of INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine), the government bureau that regulates French wine. As such, de Bouard will supervise three sizable regions: Bordeaux, Bergerac and Lot et Garonne.
Napa’s Duckhorn Wine Company denies that it’s about to be sold. Rumors that it was on the block surfaced last March, after the company announced it was hiring Credit Suisse Securities to help it with “long-term strategic options.” But Duckhorn President Alex Ryan told the St. Helena Star that Credit Suisse had been brought in to advise the company’s board on the best ways of continuing to grow, and that “Currently, we don’t have a buyer and our company is not for sale.” Sounds like “famous last words” to us.
Seniors who drink moderate amounts of wine (six to 13 glasses a week) are likely to have lower Medicare expenses than non-drinkers, according to a study published last fall in Health Care Financing Review, a U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources journal.
South African wine may be at a crossroads of sorts. Over production, falling prices and diminished demand has put a severe crimp in wine sales, and some 30 Cape estates are reportedly up for sale. Stay tuned.
Here’s one from the “Wine, women and sarong” department. A Melbourne, Australia microbiologist cum artist, Gary Cass, has created a woman’s dress made of cellulose slime skimmed off the top of red wine vinegar. However, the dress has to be sprayed on and must be kept wet at all times or the cellulose fibers will break up and fall off. “This is art – it is not meant to be practical,” Cass told MSNBC. “It is meant to be a provocative object, to spark debate about future fashion.” And we thought clothing made from hemp was off the wall!
Champagne Protects Brain Cells From Injury, Study Finds
French bubbly abounds with organic compounds that helped protect mice neurons in lab tests
Jacob Gaffney
Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2007
For those who include wine as part of their healthy-living regimen, there's yet another reason to celebrate--with Champagne, even. According to research published in the April 18 issue of Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Champagne may help protect the brain against injuries incurred during a stroke and other ailments, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
According to the report, which is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Reading in England and the Università degli studi di Cagliari, located in Monserrato, Italy, drinking Champagne responsibly may benefit one's health because previous research has shown the sparkling wine contains high amounts of polyphenols.
"There has been much recent interest in the potential of plant-derived polyphenols to protect against neuronal injury," wrote the study's authors. In previous research, they said, regular, moderate consumption of red wine has also been shown to help slow down premature aging and improve circulation.
Polyphenols are known antioxidants, which are believed to help prevent cell death due to oxidative stress. Though polyphenols are found in greater abundance in red wines, mainly due to longer exposure to the grape seeds and skins during the winemaking process, past studies have found Champagne to contain high amounts of other types of phenolic compounds, such as tyrosol and caffeic acid.
In order to test if the polyphenols found in Champagne are similarly beneficial to those in red wines, the scientists prepared extracts from blanc de blancs Champagnes (made with Chardonnay only) and blanc de noir Champagnes (made exclusively from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier). After confirming that the extracts contained measurable levels of the aforementioned polyphenols, the scientist prepared several samples of cortical neuron cells from mice.
Some of the cells were left alone to serve as a control group, while the others were pretreated with the Champagne extracts. Once the nerve cells were observed to be firing, the scientists simulated a stroke by exposing the cells to a compound called peroxynitrite, a reactive compound formed in the brain during inflammatory conditions.
The scientists monitored the way the brain cells reacted to the presence of the peroxynitrite, and found that "pretreatment with Champagne wine extracts resulted in significant protection against neurotoxicity." The blanc de noir extract offered the greater protection because of the red-wine component, the authors wrote, though they pointed out that the amounts of polyphenols in Champagne vary greatly from "variety, vintage and a wide range of environmental factors."
The scientists believe the Champagne extracts protected neuron cells in several ways, noting that in the sample with the highest concentration of sparkling wine, brain-cell function was completely restored over time. The researchers added that caffeic acid and tyrosol may help to regulate the cells' response to injury with their anti-inflammatory properties. The compounds also act as cellular-level mops, essentially cleaning up and removing harmful chemicals from the body.
The scientists also wrote that there is evidence that dietary polyphenols can cross the "blood-brain barrier," which would suggest that the above molecular behavior has the potential to act in the same way, within the human central nervous system, if consumed.
"At this stage it is too early to say whether drinking Champagne may have a beneficial effect on brain aging," said Spencer, as it remains to be seen if the wine would have a similar effect on human brain cells as it did on those of mice. "However, we are about to begin a new human investigation where we will attempt to address this. Hopefully we will be able to shed more light on the potential beneficial effects of Champagne on human health in the future," he said.
Wine Spectator Online: Wine & Healthy Living