Dr Vino's wine blog

Trick: Nazi raccoons wreck vineyard. Hermann Goering, Nazi air force chief, introduced raccoons in 1934 and their descendants have picked a small vineyard clean. Raccoons love Riesling apparently.

Treat: Bruno Magrez of Pape Clement will open two wine shops in France (Paris and Bordeaux) with London and New York a possibility for the future too. Besides Pape Clement, Magrez owns Herencia del Padri from Priorat and 90 brands in total from 30 wineries in Bordeaux, the Languedoc, California, Argentina, Morocco, Spain, Portugal and Uruguay. It’s interesting vertical integration that wouldn’t be possible for an American producer thanks to the three tier system.

A Bavarian brewer has developed a beer for the 1.5 billion Muslim market–alcohol free of course. But there’s a further distinctiveness to it: the drink comes in jar and not in a bottle since it is mere dry granules you are buying.

The Financial Times reports today that Gerhard Kamil, the maker of GranMalt, “has developed alcohol-free granules that make instant beer. (And it tastes better than it sounds.)”

He touts the fact that its easily transportable, has a long shelf-life, and means that brewers don’t have to set up expensive breweries in the Middle East. He thinks it will be the next German export miracle.

I can see their marketing slogan now: “Alcohol-free beer crystals: the Sanka of beers.”

Catching up on a story from last week, there is further segmentation of the market, this time the magazine market, with a new “wine magazine for women.” I’m not sure I understand the logic of limiting a magazine for wine-swilling, foodie, travel-junkies who don’t like numerical wine ratings to women–it seems there’d be plenty of men for that market too. The overt messaging of this magazine seems offensive to women–they don’t like/can’t do numbers nor do they want to get too serious. So while the idea seems good, the execution is too direct and blunt for my (male) taste. Given the high costs of launching a magazine, I wonder where they got their funding?

It is interesting even though the mag is billed explicitly “for women” that the interviews include all men as far as I can tell: Sideways director Rex Pickett, food and wine pairings by chef Bradley Ogden, a review of chef Anthony Bourdain’s latest book, etc. Why no interview with a woman winemaker such as Helen Turley or Susana Balbo? Oh wait, that’s too serious.

The First Wine Magazine for Women Launches July 2005; Wine Adventure Magazine to Feature Travel, Food, Lifestyle

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 23, 2005–Wine Adventure, the first wine magazine targeted to women, premieres in July. Wine Adventure, to be published bimonthly, focuses on the “softer” side of wine, with a lively mix of articles that will enhance readers’ knowledge and enjoyment of wine, without taking the subject too seriously. Read more…

Remember New Coke? It was the sole Coke on retailers’ shelves for something like 100 days before the company reinstated the old one. Now, the drink is mostly known as a case study of how a big company can vastly misjudge its audience.

Let’s hope the same is true for “White Lie,” a new wine from Beringer that is light in alcohol and being exclusively marketed for women. (story)

While it’s true that the trend toward big wines that are high in alcohol can, uh, make your head spin, there shouldn’t be a need to make wines lower in alcohol and market them as only for women. What has wine become, a consumer non-durable such as deodorant or razors?! Does that now mean that we need a bottle each when we go out to dinner?

Which demographic group will wine marketers target next? One shudders to think.

Well, since I have gotten about 4 email solicitations this week to buy the wine, it is clearly in launch nationwide. Once again, here is the description:

“The 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley exhibits a saturated ruby/purple color in addition to a big, cocoa-scented nose, a sweet entry on the palate, medium body, and a short, abrupt finish. A modest success for the vintage, it is a friendly, easy-to-drink effort that should be consumed over the next 7-8 years.”

And the price is: $90! And that’s just the best price. I’ve seen it as high as $99.

And the wine is: Silver Oak.

Leave the cash – take the chenin blanc

So reads a headline about a recent burglary in Bulgaria. Having broken into a luxury apartment at a ski resort, gotten past two alarms and sequestered the guard dog, the thieves left thousands of dollars of cash and jewelry untouched and raided the wine cellar, drinking their haul right there.

The story doesn’t reveal the contents of the wine cellar–Chateau Margaux or Two Buck Chuck?

What do you get when you blend wine with Renee Zellweger, Charlize Theron, Will Ferrell, Tim Robbins, Samuel L. Jackson?

One big, fat Aussie junket apparently!

These stars and the 35 other presenters at the Golden Globes award ceremony will all receive an all-expenses-paid, "VIP wine adventure" in the Hunter Valley for a total cost of $800,000 (AUD) to the sponsors, Qantas airlines and Rosemount. Rosemount has recently been using discounts taken at the register (akin to consumer electronics) to move their wines so this certainly would add more glitz to their sales and marketing.

Maybe I should take up a career in movie award presenting?!?