Dr Vino's wine blog

Catalonia wants more autonomy, boycott Catalan cava!

Such apparently is the rallying cry in Spain (ex-Catalonia) these days according to an article in today’s NYT. A separatist politician in Catalonia urged a boycott of Madrid’s failed bid to secure the 2012 Olympics, which sparked a cava boycott. When the Catalan regional assembly passed a measure for greater autonomy, the rest of Spain apparently seized on this to further the boycott of cava. Sales are down by seven percent.

Pity the poor wine maker who seems to always bear the brunt of diplomatic tensions! When the French announced nuclear tests in the South Pacific in 1995, what did the Australians do? Why boycotted French wine, of course.

Maybe Freixenet, the number one cava producer, needs to upgrade their marketing campaign from the 2005 use of Demi Moore–even though she does like ’em young and cheap (the cavas!).

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The Times story included this unusual sentence: “The wine is Cava, which Catalonians describe as identical to Champagne, except for the source of the grapes.” Um, or the grape varieties for that matter! Champagne = Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay. Cava = Xarel-lo, Macabeo, Parellada.

tags: wine | cava | catalonia | Spain

“The European Union and the United States today in London signed a bilateral wine accord which will bring major benefits for EU wine producers,” reads the EU press release.

“This agreement provides our California wineries with long-term access to European markets so we can make marketing investments with greater certainty,” said Robert P. ‘Bobby’ Koch, President and CEO of the Wine Institute in their press release.

Who really won in this multi-lateral battle of the bottle? Read the press release of your choosing or this story. Either way, the Europeans will be allowed to use oak chips for the first time and the Americans will not be allowed to use “semi-generic” place names such as Port, Sherry, and Champagne any more than they already do. Negotiators go back to the (drinking?) table as a new round starts in 90 days.

tags: wine | wine negotiations

Vinum, Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, 2004. $11 Find this wine
As spring approaches and the weather improves, Chenin Blanc makes for a great spring transitional wine. And with temperatures in the high 60s today, spring is in the air. In the past week, I tried five Chenins and this cheapest one (and only new world one) stood up well, perhaps because the non-interventionist team in South Africa is headed by Frenchman Edouard Labeye. Light notes of flowers, a squeeze of lime, and faint vanilla infuse this snappy value vino. Serve it with fish or appetizers or wherever you would have had American Chardonnay 5 years ago. Importer: Vinnovative Imports, Charlotte, NC. 5,000 cases produced.

tags: wine | wine tasting note | Chenin Blanc

In a boon to couples in long distance relationships everywhere, researchers at MIT have developed glasses that can communicate with each other via wireless:

When either person picks up a glass, red LEDs on their partner’s glass glow gently. And when either puts the glass to their lips, sensors make white LEDs on the rim of the other glass glow brightly, so you can tell when your other half takes a sip. Following tests in separate labs, Lee says the wireless glasses really do “help people feel as if they are sharing a drinking experience together”. [New Scientist]

Now if they can work that into Riedel stemware, then wine lovers separated by walls or time zones will be able to rejoice (or live in fear while your spouse is out of town: “I hope that’s not the good stuff you’re drinking!”).

Link (check out the other suggested uses, quite hilarious.) Via boingboing

tags: wine | wine glasses | wine technology

Imagine my astonishment yesterday at the Kermit Lynch portoflio tasting when I couldn’t find Table 14. Thirteen? Check. Fifteen? Check. But where was Daniel Brunier with his Vieux Telegraphe at Table 14?

It turns out that he had been moved to the next room. Phew. So in the spirit of Jathan’s Wine Blogging Wednesday #19 entitled “when in Rhone” I post a couple of notes from these incredible Chateauneuf du Papes.

The 2004 red barrel sample is tannic (especially compared to the 2003, which is more approachable) but not the yeowza tannins that many Bordeaux barrel samples have. It has a serious tannin level that says “keep me in the cellar for a couple of decades.” But along with the tannins were the rich and complex notes common to the region’s red blends, yummy dark fruits, leather, beef drippings, and faint herbs. It fills the mouth and lingers long afterward. I later learned that it is available as a future for $43.50 a bottle, which seems to be a extremely reasonable price for a serious wine. (try to find this wine)

Another pleasure was the white CDP 2004 especially since it can be hard to find white CDP. The wine is refreshing, with aromas of white peach, flowers and perfume, minerality on the palate and an intense, lingering finish. It’s a blend of 40% clairette, 30% grenache blanc, and 15% each roussanne and bourboulenc. (find this wine)

When in Rhone…I drink Rhone! (at least this time around)

tags: wine | wine blogging wednesday | wbw | Rhone

Decanter recently reported on the newest American Viticultural Area (AVA):

Washington’s Rattlesnake Hills will soon become this Pacific Northwest state’s ninth federal appellation.

Appellation?! Journalists, wine makers, and regulators who call AVAs “appellations” are only muddying the already confusing use of terms on wine labels. AVAs only delimit the growing area and don’t control any other aspects of production that French appellations control, such as yields, varietals, and a final blind tasting by a committee of producers. I realize that it is common parlance but it is inaccurate and one of my pet peeves. Sure AVA is a clunky term that deserves its place in the Boring American Acronym Hall of Fame along with SUV, HOV, etc. But if they wanted to call it something else then they should have, um, called it something else.

Whew, got that off my chest! Now just how much delimitation is the new Rattlesnake Hills going to do? “The 68,500 acre (27,721 hectares) appellation has 1,500 acres (607 hectares) under vines.” Whoa! That’s a lotta land–with few vines! This shows another problem with AVAs: they often are more about promise than past performance. Fortunately I’m not the only one who feels this way:

Robin Pollard, the Washington Wine Commission’s executive director, terms the hills a ‘unique viticultural area.’ Richard Boushey of Boushey Vineyards in Grandview, Washington, disagrees.

Urging Washington to reject the AVA petition, Boushey argued: ‘I know of no regional style, specific variety or type of wine that is unique to this proposed area. The granting of this proposal would confuse consumers and undermine the existing Yakima Valley Appellation.’

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While we’re on the subject of AVAs and appellations, I just stumbled on the transcript of a punchy and provocative interview with Rene Renou, the President of the wine committee at INAO, the French office of appellations (and yes, I mean appellations). Check it out here.

tags: wine | appellations | AVA | AOC

Niche marketing in wine is going crazy. In the past year wine producers have released White Lie, a “wine for women” with 9% alcohol (discussed here and here), Working Girl Wines, and Lulu B from France, which is less overtly aimed at women (the syrah is actually not bad for $7).

These wines were supposedly in reaction to high octane, extracted wines and especially ones with names like Tait, the Ball Buster. Now, there’s Cleavage Creek complete with plunging neckline on the label. As if that wasn’t obvious enough, Kendall-Jackson is now making Ray’s Station Vineyards a “Hearty Red Wine for Men.”

And now? Gay Men’s Food and Wine Pairing. OK this one is a social event but I’m sure wine marketers are cooking up something for this demographic.

Hmm, when will they make one for heterosexual dads who like to travel? Or start splitting shop displays by gender?

tags: wine | niche marketing | ball buster

Sun, good food and wines, the beach, crumbly old ruins — who doesn’t like the South of France? That’s what the organizers of a new initiative to put the wines of the region under a new banner. A blue banner that is (see right).

While this is a promising idea for reinvigorating exports as well as overcoming the jumble of appellations (AOC) in the area, I’ll be watching for defection.

The most crucial aspect to threaten this new branding, about a week old, is the fact that appellation wine producers expect a premium over vin de pays producers yet this unites them in the same category. If the AOC producers in the area see the blue banner dragging down their prices, they’ll be the first to scrap it. Stylistically the wines are not always similar since most AOC wines are blends while the vdp wines must be 100% varietal.

But the vin de pays, which outnumber the AOC wines by 4 to 1 in terms of volume, do well in exports thanks to grape names on the labels. If AOC producers in the region saw any value in adding similarity to the labels of the vdp wines, varietal names should be the first thing to add. After all, the US has yet to see its first shop specializing in the wines of the region so more information leads to better educated consumers.

tags: wine | French wine | Languedoc