Dr Vino's wine blog

A French court found 12 executives guilty of selling the equivalent of 18 million bottles of cheaper wine as pinot noir. The buyer was California’s E&J Gallo for their Red Bicyclette brand, which sells for about $9 a bottle.

AFP reports that generic red wines fetched 45 euros (about $62) per one hundred liters while the premium pinot noir fetched 97 euros. One of the firms involved had been paying 58 euros for the wines it sold to Gallo. The accused made seven million euros ($9.5 million) in the scheme.

The defendants, from two firms, received suspended jail sentences and fines between 3,000 and 45,000 euros. Reuters reports that one firm, Sieur D’Arques, had to pay a fine of 180,000 euros.

Gallo issued a statement saying that they were “deeply disappointed” to learn of the fraud at one of their suppliers. The statement continued: “We believe that the only French Pinot Noir that was potentially misrepresented to us would have been the 2006 vintage and prior.” They also added that there was no health risk and that they would be withdrawing the wine from the market.

On the Red Bicyclette website, they tout the pinot noir as “world acclaimed” and point out that the 2006 vintage received a score of 83 points from Wine Spectator and the 2005 received various medals at wine competitions, including a bronze San Francisco International Wine Competition and a silver at both the Taster’s Guild International Wine Competition and Finger Lakes International Wine Competition.

“If Americans lose confidence in French wine production, particularly the Languedoc region, which is already going through a serious crisis, the consequences could be terrible,” Francis Battut, the prosecutor, told AFP.

A lawyer for one defendant told AFP “Not a single American consumer complained.” Another defense lawyer said that the wine had delivered “Pinot Noir characteristics.” On Marketplace Morning Report this morning, a commentator said that consumers don’t even know what pinot noir tastes like.

But it hardly seems like consumers’ fault. Does $9 pinot really taste like pinot noir? It’s worth noting that federal regulations allow blending of up to 25 percent other varieties into a wine labeled by its grape variety.

What does this faux pinot ruling mean for you? What with counterfeits on the high end and Brunello blending, rule-breaking and fraud seem to be making the rounds in the wine world.

SIPPED: upgrading label info?
No disgorgement date, no review: Antonio Galloni, who reviews Champagnes for The Wine Advocate, announced in issue 186 that if nonvintage Champagne doesn’t come with a disgorgement date, then it will not be reviewed. (Discussion ensued over at wineberserkers whether there was a loophole in the statement.) With this information, consumers can have a better handle on the freshness of such wines.

SPIT: bling champagne
The economic downturn has started a bull market in columns about the bear market in Champagne! Alice Feiring got a jump on the competition with her WSJ. magazine piece from September (“Bubbles takes a bath”), a WSJ Europe reporter followed up with another piece this month (“All That Fizzes Is Gold“), and the wine columnists at the NYT and the more spendy Slate.com join the fray with recommendations, with nonvintage bargains under $40 and overall bargains under $100 respectively.

SIPPED: solitude
Ray Isle of F&W escapes the holiday madness of midtown at the Garden Wine Bar at the Four Seasons hotel. There he finds solitude and some more-intriguing-than-usual hotel bar selections. [Tasting Room]

SPIT: business as usual
Eric Asimov serves up a meaty post on the shuffling of the Bordeaux wine trade. [The Pour]

SIPPED: Bordeaux
Driven by sales of red Bordeaux, which country saw a fifteen-fold increase in imports from France during 2002 – 2008? Okay, it’s China. But you’ll need to click through for the importer stock pick in the story! [WSJ]

SIPPED: looking back
Good Grape and La Otra Botella review memorable moments in wine blogging from the past year.

The weather is rapidly changing: one day, fall; the next day, snow! Here are two natural wines from France that have you covered.

Arretxea, Irouleguy 2005 about $20
This hearty red pairs well with rich foods and cold weather. Although not big and boozy (only 12.5% on the label), the main grape is tannat, which makes wines that are often opaque in their inky purpleness with tons o’ tannins. This wine, from the French side of the Basque Country, is a delicious wintry treat, with brooding notes of black cherries, tar, stones and smooth but substantial tannins. Their white is also very good even if a recent vintage was denied the appelllation (again, a condemnation of the appellation system, not the producer). Importer: Kermit Lynch.

Tissot, Arbois, Poulsard, vielles vignes, Jura 2006 about $17
And if you’re feeling more autumnal than wintry, impress your friends with this natural Poulsard. I tried a bottle and loved it and went back for more. And then I poured it for friends not so into wine, but only after trying to deter them by cautioning them that it was a wine geek’s wine. That just fanned their flames of desire. Fortunately, they really liked it too. In the glass, the wine throws a head fake: light in color and transparent, it also has a pretty, tannic structure. Throw in some notes of dried red fruits, autumnal earthiness and excellent balance with acidity, and this certified Biodynamic, no sulfur beauty may even impress your non-wine geek friends. Importer: Wildman & Sons.

John Gilman, author of the newsletter The View from the Cellar, joins us again for a Q&A. I asked him six questions; he replied with over 10,000 words! So grab a glass of wine, throw another log on the fire, grab a sandwich, channel your inner wine geek, and listen to John opine on the topics of natural wines, zero dosage champagne, some pitfalls of collecting, 2007 vintage for Port and in the Rhone, the nobility of chenin blanc, the Piedmont producer Produttori del Barbaresco and more!

Natural wines are growing in popularity. These include what might be termed “process controls” such as organic and biodynamic farming, favoring indigenous yeasts over commercial strains, as well as the rise of “no sulfur” wines. Are these wines forcibly better? Read more…

Promotional authorities in the French region of Cahors are mounting a campaign that ties their little-known region to the well-known grape, Malbec. Is it a good move?

Known as “the black wine of Cahors” for its inky character, Cahors wines had their heyday in the early 14th century when production was high and half of it was exported. Then, rivalry with downriver Bordeaux led to taxes and levies that severely crimped exports and thus renown.

The marketing campaign today exclaims, “Cahors is back, Cahors is black, Cahors is Malbec!”

Hitching the Cahors wagon on to Malbec train is easy to understand. The grape has experienced sharp growth in popularity over the past few years. But Malbec has also become the signature grape of Argentina, which has almost three-quarters of the world’s Malbec plantings and is stylistically and literally oceans apart from Cahors.

So I wonder if the folks from Cahors are setting expectations incorrectly since Malbec is often understood to be big, soft, and gentle (a Bloomberg story suggested it was “stealing” Merlot sales). Those are not terms usually used to describe the wines of Cahors, which, though some can be charming and surprisingly age-worthy, can have fearsome tannins and acidity. In fact, in my book, A Year of Wine, I suggest trying a Malbec from Argentina and “black wine” of Cahors as a way to understanding the term “rustic.”

I brought a couple of Malbecs to a late summer grill-fest at some friends’ house, bagged them and poured them blind. The two wines were the Clos la Coutale 2007 for about $11–a firm but somewhat modern Cahors–and the Bodegas Salentein for about $19–not the most over-the-top Malbec form Mendoza. Generally speaking, I described the Cahors style as having higher tannins, less fruit, lower alcohol and more “rustic” and the Argentine style as having more fruit, higher alcohol, and generally a plusher feel. Although the assembled group was able to nail each for what it was, they were divided on which they liked better, particularly with the grilled meats, which improved the Coutale for those who favored the Salentein.

Maybe the new slogan should emphasize food? “Cahors Malbec: meat, your match.”

In other news, a friend who has consumed many Argentine Malbecs over the past couple of years recently admitted to getting bored with them. So maybe Cahors should just play the Cahors card in case the seeds of a Malbec backlash are germinating?

Despite some perceptions to the contrary, cru Beaujolais wines can be extremely rewarding wines. The region is in flux and home to some leading makers of “natural” wines. Check out my current piece over on Forbes.com! And when you hear “cru Beaujolais,” don’t say “no way!” as a friend recently did.

I mention Lapierre, Foillard, Thivin, Descombes as some of the excellent 2007s that I had recently. What are some of your favorites? Or do you fall in the “no way” camp?

SIPPED: Stalinist architecture in St. Emilion!
A bottle of wine allegedly in Hitler’s cellar at the Berghof sold for $900 at Alexander Autographs recently. The label might have raised some questions since has only St. Emilion, Frankreich (German for France) emblazoned on the front with no producer name, a vintage of 1934, and what a blog at the NY Times describes as a “Stalinist-style structure towering over the church.” Donald and Petie Kladstrup, co-authors of Wine and War: The French, the Nazis, and the Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure, told the NYT blog that Hitler “occasionally drank wine, though he preferred beer.” What ever happened to his being a teetotaler?

SPIT: translation
A lot of wine descriptors could be interpreted as bedroom talk. But Jim Boyce writes about a case worthy of Engrish.com, a Chinese back label that cuts to the chase: “Yellow flowers and a beautiful apricot color with a strong musk. Rich texture with sweet f*ck in sweet orange peel and apricot flavor at the end of a clean. Drink now.”

SPIT: Champagne corks
Champagne, perhaps the last regional holdout (ex-Portugal) from the assault of screwcaps, now has The Maestro. Although we mentioned it previously, details are now out: The new closure, which hides a crown cap (think: beer) under a plastic cover and lever, will soon adorn select bottles of Duval-Leroy champagne. TIME says that it is “far easier to use than a conventional stopper— no struggling to hold the heavy bottle as you twist, no worrying that you’ll take someone’s eye out with the cork.” But, really, a lever doesn’t add to the bottle’s aesthetics–get a grip! [see video of the Maestro in action]

SPIT: wine
In France, consumption continues to fall. So do exports. “French households drank almost 10 percent less wine last year than in 2007, and exports by French vintners sank 15 percent by volume and almost 30 percent by value in the first quarter of 2009, the agriculture ministry reported.” [AP]

SIPPED: ID
Equifax, a credit rating agency, is developing a service to strengthen online identities, which could be particularly useful to verifying the age of someone who wants to buy wine on the web. [Bits blog]

Photo: Alexander Autographs

We recently discussed why there are so few tasty low priced wines from America, particularly compared to imports. Later, I decided to put the question to wine importer Bobby Kacher. Robert Kacher Selections is strong in bargains from Southwestern France; I highlighted the Tariquet Sauvignon (find this wine) in my book with wine recommendations, A Year of Wine, as one of 10 great wines under $10 (REDS from Patrick Campbell was also included).

Question: why there are so few good American wines under $10 while there are many more imports at that price point?

Bobby Kacher: A related question is why do so many American wineries make such expensive wines? So many American wineries have developed new, highly-allocated wines from very young vineyards that sell for $150 or more a bottle. They are trying to sell you the spin of romance and lifestyle. I visited a winery in California once and calculated just how much it cost to make Read more…