Latest News

• News

  

  Who Made The World's First Rosé Champagne?

  by Jameson Fink on 3/10/2014

  Are you familiar with the term "Oeil de Perdrix"? It's the key piece of evidence for a Champagne house claiming to be the world's oldest producer of rosé Champagne. Oeil de Perdix ("Eye of the Partridge") refers to "a delicate pink coppery colour." The Drinks Business reports that Ruinart, a historic Champagne house, is using the discovery of this term on records from March 14th, 1764 to put forth that it is the first known maker of rosé Champagne.

  Interestingly enough, the Champagne likely got its color not from red grapes or juice, but most likely from elderberries. And on a somewhat morbid note, Oeil de Perdrix is the color of a partridge's eye specifically when in its "death throes".

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• News

  

  Do Tasting Notes Hurt Tasting Room Sales?

  by Jameson Fink on 3/10/2014

  Can having tasting notes touting your Gewürztraminer's "notes of peach and lychee" actually hurt rather than help a winery's tasting room sales? An article in phys.org that's mainly concerned with the link between customer service and sales, reveals a study published in the International Journal of Wine Business Research suggests there is a possibility those sensory descriptions of wine do more harm than good. Enology Professor Anna Katharine Mansfield, who co-authored the study, said about the impact of written wine descriptions in tasting rooms: "They may even frustrate the novice wine tasters, by setting up sensory expectations that are not met."

  As in, "I am not tasting/smelling lychee and I don't even know what a lychee is! WHY CAN'T I FIND THE LYCHEE? WHY?!?"(Note: melodramatic rendering.)
  

  Do you find tasting notes helpful or are they sometimes frustrating with their laundry list of descriptors?
  

   
  They may even frustrate the novice wine tasters, by setting up sensory expectations that are not met,"
  
  Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-03-key-winery-sales.html#jCp
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• Wake Up Call

  

  Wine news March 10, 2014

  by Christopher Barnes on 3/10/2014

  In the Wall Street Journal Lettie Teague on the birth of the next-wave wine salesman.

   

  Jon Bonné in the San Francisco Chronicle on California Grenache.

   

  Jancis Robinson in the FT on 2004 Bordeaux.

   

  The San Jose Mercury News on Paso Robles' wine and the wild frontier.

   

  In the Seattle Times, Columbia Winery is getting is groove back with Gallo.

   

  Pre-filled wine goblet sales on the rise in UK, reports Harpers.co.uk.

   

  Winefolly provides tips on storing open wine.

   

  Dr. Vino on which states consume the most wine.

   

  In Palate Press making Biodynamic wine in Central Ontago. 

  
  

  The Mr. Miyagi of wine sommeliers from The Daily Beast.

   

   

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• News

  

  Anti-Hail Rockets, ARELFA, and Burgundy

  by Jameson Fink on 3/7/2014

  With hail decimating vineyards in Burgundy over the last decade-plus years, the region has formed a new association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues: AREFLA. Decanter has the details of Burgundy looking to go high-tech in the struggle against hail.

  Anti-hail rockets (!) were considered, but deemed too expensive. And, as Philippe Garrey, from the Mercurey AOC explained, would not be a boon for the candidature of Burgundy's vineyards as a UNESCO site. What technology are they considering now? "Attention has now switched to ground generators that cause tiny particles of silver iodide or copper acetylacetone to rise to the clouds above, where they stop the formation of hail stones."

  What do you think of these high-tech efforts to control the weather? Would the presence of these generators in the vineyards detract from the region aesthetically and/or environmentally? Or is it worth the expense and effort?

  Attention has now switched to ground generators that cause tiny particles of silver iodide or copper acetylacetone to rise to the clouds above, where they stop the formation of hail stones.
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

   

  
  Attention has now switched to ground generators that cause tiny particles of silver iodide or copper acetylacetone to rise to the clouds above, where they stop the formation of hail stones.
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99
  
  Attention has now switched to ground generators that cause tiny particles of silver iodide or copper acetylacetone to rise to the clouds above, where they stop the formation of hail stones.
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

   

  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99
  association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99
  association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99
  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99

  ew regional association for the study and fight against atmospheric issues, or ARELFA f
  Read more at http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/584893/burgundy-winemakers-go-hi-tech-in-fight-against-hail#bvHhvceSUiPBjP0W.99
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• News

  

  Oil, Gold, S&P 500? Put Your Money in Wine

  by Jameson Fink on 3/7/2014

  Is it time to divest from gold and oil? Take your money out of the stock market? It might be time to start thinking abut wine as an investment, especially if you can go long on Ornellaia. The Drinks Business has the details of a report commissioned by the Super Tuscan winery and put together by  Liv-ex and Sotheby’s, claiming the wine ”...has proved itself more solid than all the main asset havens such as gold and commodities like oil, as well as the leading indexes, such as S&P 500 and FTSE 100.”

  How do you feel about wine as an investment? Do you prefer to just drink it? Or are you intrigued by the opportunity? At least with wine, unlike gold or oil, you can always drink your investment.
  

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• News

  

  The Country Where They Drink 74 Liters of Wine Per Person A Year

  by Jameson Fink on 3/7/2014

  Ok, which country leads the world in per-capita wine consumption? France? Nope. Italy? Getting closer.

  The Wellington Daily News reports on a study conducted by California's Wine Institue, whose statistics show that it's actually the smaller (very small) countries that consume the most wine. Here are the top 3:

  3. Andorra (46L/person)

  2. Luxembourg (56L/person)

  1. Vatican City (74L/person)

  Factors that lead to Vatican City being number one? "Residents are overwhelmingly male, highly educated and tend to eat in large groups." It probably also doesn't hurt that the Vatican's supermarket (who wouldn't want to check that place out?) sells wine almost tax-free.

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• Wake Up Call

  

  Wine news March 7, 2014

  by Christopher Barnes on 3/7/2014

  "And yet we feel forsaken, unheard, like Alice Feiring at a UC Davis Winemaking 101 course. " The Hosemaster gives The Wine Blogger's Prayer.

   

  Vente-Privee.com to start wine flash sale site in UK, reports Harpers.co.uk.

   

  The virtues of quality bulk wine in Punch.

   

  Forbes.com on the West Sonoma Coast. 

   

  David White sparks a Robert Parker Jr. controversy - check out the comments.  Dr. Vino adds his take.

   

  Ornellaia claims to be a more solid investment than oil and gold, reports The Drinks Business.  Riedel releases a horse sipping decanter, also The Drinks Business.

  
  

  Luxury magnet Francois Pinault buys on Bordeaux's right bank reports Winesearcher.

  
  

  Decanter has awarded Jean-Pierre and Francois Perrin of Chateau Beaucastel the Decanter Men of the Year accolade for 2014.

  
  

  Five to six percent of wine is corked, Houston Press examines.

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• News

  

  A Dragon-Themed Instant Wine Cellar

  by Jameson Fink on 3/6/2014

  Themed lots are becoming more and more popular, and Christie's is betting on sets to be auctioned off in Hong Kong to be particularly attractive to Chinese buyers. The auction house's “Fine and Rare Wines” sale, taking place March 21st, centers on lots with names like “Dragon,” “Phoenix,” and “Qilin” (a mythical hoofed creature).

  So how much does Christie's expect to get from the top lot, named after the dragon, "the most auspicious creature in Chinese culture"? And what wines up for auction from 1959 and 1990 pair best with Teochew beef balls and Dezhou braised chicken, respectively?

  Find out the answers on Jing Daily.

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• News

  

  Saint-Émilion: Parking Lots, Patronage, and Profit in Bordeaux

  by Jameson Fink on 3/6/2014

  Isabelle Saporta, a French journalist who has recently published a book called Vino Business has some harsh words for those in control of the powerful chateaux in the storied Bordeaux wine region of Saint-Émilion. She claims, as reported in The Drinks Business, the quality and taste of a wine counts for less than a third of its judgement for top Grand Cru Classé designations. So what makes up the the rest? "Surreal criteria" that include "...the size of the visitor car park, the comfort of the conference rooms and the overall architecture."

  Daily Mail has a retort from Director of the Council of Saint-Émilion Wines Franck Binard. He calls the book "excessive and hollow."

   

  
  

  
  

   

  
  

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• News

  

  High School Terroir

  by Jameson Fink on 3/6/2014

  Cafeteria? Check. Football field? Check. Vineyard? Uh, check? Thanks to a grant from the California Department of Education, the Middletown Mustangs of Middletown, CA will now have their own four-acre vineyard. Lake County News has the details. According to Principal Bill Roderick, learning about grape growing will provide job training, and even help students master a few subjects: "What the kids will learn is there is a whole batch of math and science before grapes are ever turned into wine." There's still plenty of planting to do, and no word yet on what grapes they hope to grow at Middletown (Estate?). Also, where will the grapes go to be made into wine, and will provisions be made for the students to be involved in the making and tasting process? Stay tuned.

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