Dr Vino's wine blog

Measure A lost in a referendum in Napa yesterday by a 63.6 percent to 36.4 percent margin. Voters rejected the so-called “Fair Payment” initiative proposed by the “Napa Valley Land Stewards Alliance.” The 670 word measure would have compensated landowners at an assessed value for land that became unplantable as result of environmental regulations. One winemaker I spoke with recently who opposed the measure called it a “fair payment act for attorneys.”

The winemaking community was split on the measure. But groups officially opposed to the measure included the odd alliance of the Napa Valley Vintners, Napa Chamber of Commerce, Napa County Farm Bureau, and Sierra Club among others.

tags: wine | wine politics | Napa

What would you do if you had too much wine?

a) drink it
b) burn it
c) make a lake and swim in it

If you answered A, you’re the dream consumer for wine producers all over the world. If you answered B, then you think like a European Union official. Or at least the old school EU official.

Mariann Fischer Boel, the current Agricultural Commissioner, hinted at significant reforms of EU wine policy, which could include removing EU funds for distillation, yesterday at a meeting of EU farm ministers in Krems, Austria.

“I want to make a bold reform because just changing minor things will not bring anything,” the Financial Times reports her saying.

Her ideas will be unveiled on June 22. One idea in play to reduce the surplus is to uproot as many as 400,000 hectares (964,000 acres) out of a total 3.2 million in the EU. She may also propose ending the “crisis” distillation subsidy, which guarantees a minimum price for producers of the worst wine and costs the EU 500 million euros ($643 million). This bulk wine is distilled into a fuel additive and industrial alcohol.

The reform proposal will no doubt be controversial if indeed Commissioner Fischer Boel puts these on the table. She thinks it could be even more difficult than the reforms of sugar policy last year. But without the external influence WTO pushing this wine reform, as it did the sugar talks, the changes may not be as hard fought nor as far-reaching. Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, who together make 80 percent of the EU’s wine have already announced their opposition to cutting the distillation subsidy entirely.

The Commissioner has her work cut out for her. She may need a strong drink–perhaps Tait’s “Ball Buster” from the Barossa Valley weighing in at 15.6 percent alcohol?!?

tags: wine | EU | wine policy

Fred Franzia, maker of the high-volume Two Buck Chuck, announced his new brand, Harlow Ridge two weeks ago. The above satellite image is of the inspiration for the name of the new wine–no, not the vineyard but rather the wine making, storage and distribution facility located in the industrial park near the Napa County airport (see planes in lower left of the image; click here for the original map). The address? 33 Harlow Court, Napa, CA 94558.

The man clearly has a sense of humor among other attributes. Banned from using the name Napa Ridge for wines made not from Napa grapes when the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal in January, Franzia said he can build this brand in six months. And he’ll be free to use grapes from wherever he wants, which in this case will be Lodi. Coming from a man who said that “no bottle of wine is worth more than $10,” this new wine will be at the high end $8.99.

Related: A recent posting here that also used a satellite image, in this case of the Haut-Brion vineyard struggling against urban spawl, has been named a FoodandWine.com top blog post of the week. Rock on!

tags: wine | Napa | Fred Franzia | satellite images

Michael Ruhlman’s new book about the reach of celebrity chefs has just been published (link). I liked his previous book The Soul of a Chef and look forward to throwing this new one in my beach bag this summer.

Just the concept of the book got me thinking about celebrity chefs and wine. What if Emeril started singing the praises of Sancerre? Bam! Sales would rocket! Or if Rachel Ray said “cru Beaujolais, yes way!”

That would certainly reinvigorate sales of French wine in the US. Look what the movie Sideways did for pinot noir in America as evidence of what TV/movies can do for wine sales.

Or what if celebrities (forget the chef part) bought up vineyard land in a region? Brangelina was rumored to be poking around Serralunga, Italy looking for vineyard land. But it’s not as if Piedmont is exactly undiscovered.

But what if Brangelina bought vineyard land in Mendoza, Argentina? That would really put it on the map.

Clearly the star power of celebrities has not escaped wine marketers. Even the downtrodden Georgian wine producers recently tried (and failed) to recruit J-Lo to sing their praises.

But getting back to the celebrity chefs…I’d like to see–either in print or on TV–a showdown, be it an Iron Chef challenge or an American Idol, between Robert Parker and Emeril. Parker can bring his points; Emeril can bring his panache. We’ll see which wines consumers would buy. Or they could even call in their votes!

* * *
Michael Ruhlman will be doing a book signing tonight at Borders in the Time Warner Center, 7PM, for The Reach of a Chef.

tags: wine | books | chefs | stars

“WE HAVE been sozzled but now we may be saturated. After a spectacular 25 years of rising wine consumption in Britain, sales have now gone into decline.”

So runs the lede to an important story in yesterday’s Scotsman about the decline in wine sales in the UK.

Traditionally a country that fueled weekends and even some weeknights with beer and spirits, Britons discovered the fruits of the vine starting in the 1980s. But in the first four months of this year, wine sales declined 1.5 percent in volume, a first during the long bull run. It will probably turn out to be only a minor dip on the way to greater heights (bull markets don’t always go straight up after all) but it no doubt makes winemakers around the world draw a collective short, sharp breath.

The implications for wine producers would be serious if the British reverted to beer and booze since the UK imports the largest amount of wine in the world. With wine being distilled into ethanol in France, a crisis in Australia, and a bountiful harvest in California in 2005, consumers can but hope that the extremely competitive wine market will continue to deliver great values.

The US still remains a growing market for wine consumption, forecast to be the world’s largest by 2008. But Americans can’t drink it all so if the Brits slow down, producers are going to have to look to other outlets (like Hungarian monkeys).

tags: wine | wine consumption | UK

I was so intimidated when I first got the 450-page tome that is North American Pinot Noir that I pulled a trick from teaching undergrads out of my hat: I scheduled a class where I would have to read it. Having taught the class I can let you know that you don’t have to take such extreme measures to enjoy the book on your own.

Pinotfiles around the world–not just in North America–should welcome the book by John Winthrop Haeger. While it’s not something you’ll want to tote along to the beach this summer, it is an essential reference for pinotfiles–and pinotphobes, I might add, since it may help remove some of the fear of this grape whose followers seems so fanatical.

Haeger has a very readable history of the grape both in Burgundy and in America. Despite the title of the book there are a lot of comparisons between America and Burgundy, as well as among the US regions (mainly CA and OR).

The detailed producer profiles in the second half are a huge asset to collectors and casual consumers. Certainly not all notable producers of pinot are included–no Dehlinger, no Marcassin, no Loring–but what he lacks in breadth he makes up for in depth. Many of the old guard receive extensive and thoughtful including Calera, Rochioli, Merry Edwards, Williams-Selyem, Eyrie, Panther Creek, and many more. Most importantly, Haeger writes thoughtful tasting notes completely devoid of numerical scores for various wines of each producer profiled.

The book was a great guide for my class and I will find it useful in selecting pinots for the Dr. Vino cave. Stimulating the mind and the palate–now that’s something I can drink to!

tags: wine | wine books | wine

In case you thought that fighting urban sprawl was something limited to California, Chateau Haut Brion has been fighting it for decades too. In fact it is entirely surrounded by the city of Bordeaux.

Thanks to the satellite imagery of Google, we can now have a look for ourselves. In the image above, Ch. Haut Brion is the largest vineyard, separated by the N250 (Avenue Jean Jaures) from La Mission Haut Brion. Below the train tracks is the top of Ch. Latour Haut Brion.

These may be the closest vineyards to the city center although others have also been engulfed including Ch. Pape Clement and Ch. Picque-Caillou. Click here to check out the terroir for yourself. Take a look at the Google map of the area and zoom in and out and see satellite or hybrid views.

Thanks to GoogleMapsMania blog for the tip about Google’s Western European maps going live!

tags: wine | Bordeaux | Haut Brion | Google maps

Her second book that is!

Urban Babies Wear Black was her first board book for infants and their adults.

And now Country Babies Wear Plaid is out!

Maybe one day we’ll collaborate on a book–urban babies go to w(h)ine bars?

tags: wine | children’s books | Mrs. Vino