Dr Vino's wine blog

Guillaume d’Angerville has made sophisticated and elegant wines at his family domaine in Volnay since he took over in 2003. But recently, the story goes, his curiosity was piqued in the wines of the Jura: a Parisian sommelier poured him a chardonnay from the region blind and d’Angerville took it to be a white Burgundy. And we all know that happens with a successful and ambitious vintner who has his curiosity piqued: before long, d’Angerville had purchased two estates in the Jura.

He placed them under the name Domaine du Pélican complete with a pelican on the label. You might think that because the Jura is the ultimate wine for hipsters that, in deference to Portlandia, he had to “put a bird on it.” But apparently it is a reference to the coat of arms of Arbois, where the wines are made. Burgundy…Jura…is this a match made in sommelier heaven or what?

D’Angerville settled on the two properties after an extensive search. Even though Arbois is only an hour from Volnay, it gets twice the rainfall. Also, some of the plots can be quite windy, given the rolling countryside. Throw in his high standard for excellence and it’s no surprise that it took d’Angerville a few years to find the right spots. Wink Lorch has a detailed backgrounder (pdf) about the new domaine and writes that they are looking for yet another vineyard parcel in the area. They are also experimenting with the local “sous-voile” style of winemaking, wherein white wines mature under a natural yeast blanket giving them an oxidative quality.

The current wines are made in a Burgundian style, which is to say that the white barrels are topped up and not oxidative. The 2012 Chardonnay has a vibrancy and elegance with layers–strata?–of minerals and a lingering finish. The 2012 Savagnin Ouillé is richer, with a faint nutty character, and big dose of minerals (can’t vouch for vitamins). The red 2012 Trois Cépages is a blend of Pinot Noir, Trousseau, and Poulsard (60-35-5) that has the terrific acidity you would expect as well as lively, prickly tannins that give it good structure.

These exciting wines are hard to find but worth seeking out. (Find these wines at retail)

Yesterday, the approval of a powdered alcohol called “Palcohol” got a lot of media attention. You could add it to food. You could smuggle it into stadiums. You could snort it.

However, the story got a little ahead of itself.

An attorney at bevlaw posted the original item noting that the TTB, a division of the Treasury that approves all things alcohol at the federal level, had approved seven labels for Palcohol. The labels included “Powderita” and “Cosmopolitan” with the words “Just add water for an instant cocktail.”

When I checked the TTB site for label approvals yesterday afternoon, the labels were all listed as approved as of April 8 (good thing it wasn’t April 1 since it reads like an April Fool’s prank) yet were currently “surrendered.” I wrote Mark Phillips the developer of Palcohol and he told me via email that the “seven labels have been surrendered due to an issue with the fill level.” He added that he did receive a separate approval for the “formula” so, he says, “powdered alcohol is still approved…We’re still moving forward and will submit new labels.” The alcohol powder is derived from vodka and rum.

Mark Phillips is the author of “Swallow This: A Progressive Approach to Wine.” His web site claims that his television show “Enjoying Wine with Mark Phillips” is “one of the most-watched wine shows ever.” Episodes include microwaving and freezing wines.

Tom Hogue, a spokesman for the TTB, responded to a query from the Associated Press that the Palcohol labels were approved in error. Palcohol’s web site posts that gave up the labels through a “mutual agreement.”

It is unclear what led the Palcohol applicant to surrender the labels nor what made the TTB do a 180. But one thing is for sure: powdered alcohol donuts are still a ways off.

Gregg Popovich joked his pre-game press conference yesterday that the early start had put a dent in his wine consumption the night before.

You probably know that Popovich is one of the winningest coaches in NBA history who fosters team play that is unparalleled in today’s NBA. But you may not know that he went to the Air Force Academy and was stationed in California where he got into wine. He has a 3,000-bottle cellar and is a partner in A to Z Wineworks and Rex Hill in Oregon.

The Spurs won their early start yesterday. Given that they had the best record in the deep Western Conference, Popovich may well be the coach popping bottles after the Finals are over (they don’t call him “Pop” for nothing). Unless Tom Thibodeau and the Bulls can take it all!

“Popovich loves his wine” espn.com
“Pop art” [SI.com]

LVMH, the luxury goods company whose portfolio ranges from Louis Vuitton handbags to Dom Pérignon champagne, has made their first acquisition in Burgundy. The group has purchased Domaine des Lambrays just outside of Morey-Saint-Denis with its 21.9 acres of vineyards, including the Clos des Lambrays grand cru as well as several premier cru sites. Although the Clos des Lambrays has produced wine since the 14th century, the sellers were the Freund family who have owned it since 1996. The price was not disclosed. Production is about 35,000 bottles with an average retail price of $165 according to LVMH. Thierry Brouin, the estate’s chief winemaker who has overseen the last 35 vintages, will stay with LVMH.

Even though the holding is relatively small for the publicly-traded LVMH–a bauble for owner Bernard Arnault–it does signal a possible shift to corporate ownership. Part of Burgundy’s appeal to wine enthusiasts is that, in contrast to an area of corporate ownership such as the Médoc, the owners actually live on the ground and make the wines. Whether this is the thin edge of the wedge of corporate ownership remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: LVMH is not a discounter, so don’t expect any price declines.
Read more…

In my wine classes, people often ask me, “What’s the best wine app?” I’ve been using wine apps since the early days of the app store and have generally found that they try to do too much (“a million logically possible food-wine pairings”) or too little (only offer limited price comparisons). But now when I am asked, I have an answer: Delectable.

The main feature that makes Delectable the standout wine app is its incredible optical recognition. Out to dinner and enjoying a wine? You could simply snap a picture to remember, always a good a idea. But if you take that picture with the Delectable app, it will upload it to their servers, have all their minions pore over it, and then actually fill in all the relevant data. I tried beat the app with a few dimly-lit, hard-to-read labels or obscure micro-production wines and it nailed them all. Read more…

Vineyards and wineries can post some photos to social media that let us know what’s going on in their corner of the world. Here are a few worthwhile ones:

Starting in the southern hemisphere, this one is a photo of the Craggy Range Te Muna Road vineyard in New Zealand. It’s taken by drone and, since you know our love of all things drone and wine related, we had to post it for you. Queried via DM, the folks at Craggy Range said the drone belonged to an employee and was used for fun, not in any particular vineyard application. Read more…

Some wine news these days seems beyond parody because the headlines read as if they were ripped from The Onion. In honor of April Fool’s Day, here’s a smattering of recent wine stories–see if you can spot the wine spoof in our bluff the reader challenge.

A. The Wine Advocate is set to release new “luxury lifestyle” magazine entitled “100 Points by Robert Parker.”

B. James Suckling has a crystal wine glass marketed as “100 points.”

C. A “Miracle Machine” was touted, which would turn water into wine in three days.

D. The French Senate debated a motion to declare wine part of the national heritage.

E. An organic grape farmer in France may be jailed and fined for not using pesticides.

F. Hail has ruined the vintage at Hong Kong’s only vineyard.

G. The SF Chronicle ran a piece about the “eco-friendly” next generation of vintners who love deer hunting and Porsche racing.

H. There really is a line of wines branded as Wine for Dummies.

Eataly Wine will close for six months and its owners, including celebrity chef Mario Batali, will also pay a $500,000 fine per an agreement with New York state authorities yesterday. No date has been set for the start of the closing. The settlement resulted from the State Liquor Authority’s enforcement of a ban on “interlocking interests.” The SLA also claimed that the shop’s owners suppressed that information.

The turn of events is somewhat puzzling. It was no secret that Joe Bastianich sold wines that he made at his winery in the north of Italy. Indeed, the shop’s web site trumpeted the fact that he “returned to his roots in northeast Italy” where he is “creating wines” in Friuli. (That wording has now been removed.)

Crain’s NY reports that the issue came up at the time of the shop’s license renewal in 2012. At first, the owners disputed the charge but later relented. The penalty also includes the removal of Lidia Bastianich from Eataly Wine’s license.

The issue is what the “three-tier system,” which prevent vertical integration in the wine and spirits industry. This means that producers must sell to licensed wholesalers who, in turn, sell to retailers. (While there may be some gray area around this, the only clearly legal bypassing of this is where a producer can sell directly to retailers in the same state.) Thomas Pinney writes in A History of Wine in America, that this system came into effect after Prohibition because of the “deep suspicion” of the liquor trade at the time; further, states were determined not to allow the producers to control retailers, as they had in the old saloon system.

While societal “suspicion” of the industry may have diminished, for better or for worse, the ban on vertical integration remains, as the penalties on Batali & Bastianich reflect (for their retail operation; it will be interesting to see if Illinois authorities take a similar view of the Eataly Chicago wine shop.). However, methinks they will not become a cause célèbre for the reform of the system. Read more…