The Earthquake and Chilean Wine

It goes without saying that there are far more important things to deal with than the loss of wine as a result of the devastating earthquake in Chile. But, reports are starting to come in and it does not look good.

2010 Virginia Governor's Cup Winners Announced

The winners of the Virginia Governor's Cup (Red Only) have been announced. Congratulations to the winners!

GOLD MEDAL WINNERS
Cabernet Franc	2008	Potomac Point	Cabernet Franc
	2007	Sweely Estate	Cabernet Franc
	2007	North Mountain	Cabernet Franc Reserve
Dessert	NV	Cooper	Noche
Meritage	2007	Fox Meadow	Le Renard Rouge
	2007	King Family	Meritage
	2007	Tarara	Meritage
Norton	2005	Chrysalis	Norton Locksley Reserve
	2008	Paradise Springs	Norton
Petit Verdot	2007	James River	Petit Verdot
	2008	North Gate	Petit Verdot
	2008	Sugarleaf	Petit Verdot
	2007	Gadino	Petit Verdot
	2005	Ingleside	Petit Verdot Reserve
Proprietary	2007	Rosemont	Kilravock

I find it intriguing that there is a such a high concentration of Petit Verdot amongst the winners. Is Petite Verdot the new Virginia Wine?

More on 2009 Bordeaux

Bibendum Wine Ltd. has a report on the 2009 vintage:

There is a big vintage buzz in the air round here and the 2009s we have tasted so far are living up to the hype - full of silky fruit and ripe round tannin.

The first gulp of a hyped up new vintage is always an interesting one - will it live up to expectation? The anticipation was heightened by the fact we were tasting Gruaud Larose and Gruaud can be difficult from barrel. In fact, it was easy: lovely silky texture and oodles of blackcurrant flavour. It was supple, natural and unextracted with fresh and rich ripe fruit. And just 13% alcohol which is great. A delicious start.

I am really looking forward to En Primeurs this year!!

Air-Paq

Dr. Vino writes about a new (at least to me) method forshipping wine:

When I opened the box, there was no Styrofoam. There weren't any cardboard inserts. Instead, each bottle was wrapped in an inflatable plastic sleeve. It was the first time I'd seen this.

The company is Air-Paq and they have a pretty cool video:

Breaux Snow

Now that everyone in the DC area is dug out, some pictures of Breaux under mountains of snow. The first picture is the view outside from the window in Dave Collin's lab (and yes, the entire lab is above ground). The rest are from the grounds, including the buried tables on the patio:

Stephane Derenoncourt Launches Napa Wines

Stephane Derenoncourt has launched his own Napa wines, appropriately called Derenoncourt California.

Deroncourt has experience in Napa already, having consulted for Francis Ford Coppola Winery and others.

The wines have generated a lot of buzz. As usual, Jane Anson, is all over the story:

This is the first time he has made his own wine in the United States.

'I held back the wines until I felt they were ready to be drunk,' Derenoncourt told decanter.com. 'The 2007s will be out next Autumn.''

The five wines come from 14 small-scale plots across Napa, chosen for their altitude, cool microclimates, and soil characteristics. They are made in custom crush facilities in Arkenstone in Howell Mountain.

More from The Examiner:

Derenoncourt's objective in making Napa Valley wines is to make "American wines with freshness" and distinct terroir, and so he sought out expressive single-vineyards at high elevations such as Stagecoach Vineyard or cool micro-climates such as Carneros – the cool temperatures helping to retain acidity in these full-bodied wines. Derenoncourt has other single-vineyard wines in development including one from Howell Mountain which is expected to be released with the 2007's; overall case production though is expected to remain low.

It appears that Derenoncourt favors Cabernet Franc (good man ;)). From the Decanter article:

Derenoncourt particularly favours Cabernet Franc, growing it on his biodynamic vineyard Domaine de l'A in Cotes de Bordeaux in Castillon.

And, from The Examiner, the description of his Cabernet Franc:

The 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Franc ($140) from Caldwell Vineyard is a near perfect expression of the grape. Napa Valley does single varietal cabernet franc so well, yet few attempt it. This is not the dense, lush style of cabernet franc – it is fruit-driven with lifted black currant and chambord aromas and concentrated black berry fruit, but under Derenoncourt's gentle handling it is utterly transparent, with the minerality leaping out of the glass and lingering on the palate. The wine has very fine, ripe tannins, balanced acidity, integrated oak and long finish. 225 case production.

It would be really fun to a cross-vineyard tasting between his Bordeaux Cabernet Franc and his Napa Cabernet Franc.

Vintage Wine Bar in Dubai

The other wine bar I visited in Dubai was Vintage. Vintage is located in Wafi a "city within a city" in Dubai. Wafi is a series of shops, restaurants, a spa and a hotel situated inside four pyramids in the middle of Dubai.




Vintage has a very different vibe to it than The Agency. It is a more formal environment, the type of place where you might bring a client for a dinner, and the wine list reflects that.

There is a heavy concentration of Bordeaux, and less emphasis on by the glass selections. The wine bottles decorating the bar include a bottle of 1983 Petrus. In fact, the manager was very proud to point out a lot of the one of a kind bottles of Bordeaux they have available.




To complement the wine, they have a tremendous selection of cheese, a fact they brag about on their menu with the phrase, "Blessed are the cheese and wine makers, for they shall inherit the earth." They serve a wide variety of these cheeses in fondue form, and the staff there is very good at recommending a fondue to pair with your wine.

Brane-Cantenac on Pardon that Vine

I always worry that people will think I spend too much talking about how great Chateau Brane Cantenac is. But, I am not the only one. Chris Riccobono, from Pardon that Vine feels the same way. You can watch the video on his site

He even got to taste their 2009 vintage, which was recently blended.

Today Only: Win a $50 Gift Card to JJ Buckley's

JJ Buckley Fine Wines is holding a unique and fun contest today only. If you are on Twitter you can post your Chuck Norris wine facts and a winner will be drawn at random. You can see the facts that have been posted here.

The rules are simple, you can read them in this tweet.

Good luck! If you do post something, add it to the comments here :)

Collective Brands in Wine

Evelyne Resnick, author of Wine Brands (great book) has a blog post about promoting collective brands:

One of the most interesting challenges for a wine marketer is promoting a collective brand. Champagne was certainly the most successful example of such a strategy: it is now synonymous with party, special occasion and pleasure. Unfortunately we know it backfired: consumers don't see Champagne as an everyday drink but more as the special drink open for a specific event. High prices, down economy and depressed consumers halted the trend.

The second side effect of this collective promotion was the emergence of a few internationally recognized brands and a lot of brands left in the shadow of the leaders. That's at least what a lot of smaller Champagne producers complained about. It's the case also in other areas where an umbrella brand is carried to the front. But is it really the case? Wasn't there a missing step in the Champagne smaller producers' strategy?

I see two different ways this type of collective branding occurs. The first occurs in homogenous regions like Champagne and Bordeaux, where the style of wine is similar across all producers. In this case, I think Bordeaux has actually done a better job of marketing its brand then Champagne has.

While I agree with Evelyne that Champagne has done a great job of associating itself with special occasions. I think Bordeaux has done a better job of associating itself with good wine. of course, like Champagne, it is has also come to be associated with expensive wines. Hopefully that will change with campaigns like Enjoy Bordeaux that highlight some of the more affordable Bordeaux wines while still focusing on the quality of those wines.

But, I also see the collective branding in emerging wine regions. For example, Loudoun County has its DC's Wine Country Campaign, the Winegrowers of the Grand River Valley in Ohio have Ohio Wines, Love at First Sip, and Georgian Wines have the Georgian Wine House.

These efforts are different because they aren't marketing a style of wine, instead the focus is on the region. All of these regions boast wine producers with a variety of types and styles of wine. I think this makes it hard to associate these regions with a type of wine, instead they work as a destination, or a new region to explore.

Update on Virginia Wine Showcase

I got an e-mail from Joe David, about the Virginia Wine Showcase. Here is an excerpt:

In respect to those with unused tickets, the Farm Wineries Council of Virginia will honor Virginia Wine Showcase tickets at any one of the other four wine tastings the association has planned for 2010.

Ticket holders may select their favorite Farm Wineries Council event, including The Spring Wine Festival at Great Meadow – May 22-23; The Commonwealth Cup Wine Festival at the Plains – September 11-12; The Old Town Alexandria Wine Festival – Oct 9-10; or DC’s Holiday Wine Mall – December 4-5. The barcode of the Wine Showcase tickets will be valid until it is used at one of these events. Ticket holders may visit www.virginiawineevents.com/seasonpass.html for all event dates and details.

Tickets holders on file will be contacted by e-mail with the specifics. Those who purchased Metro passes and couldn’t use them, because of the Metro shut-down, will receive a full refund.

No word on whether or not vendors will be compensated. The numbers I have seen in comments here and other forums is that there were anywhere from 6 to 100 people on Saturday. While there were more people who showed up on Sunday, reports indicate that attendance was still down 75% from last year.

Richard Geoffroy's Blog

If you have ever wanted to know more about how the most famous Champagne in the world is made, now you can. Richard Geoffroy, Chef de Cave at Dom Perignon has started his own blog.

Calling Out the Virginia Wine Showcase

Normally, I try not to post too many negative things about the Virginia wine industry. Its not that I worry about repercussions (after all, no one actually reads this blog except for comment spammers ;)), but as an emerging wine region Virginia is bound to have growing pains. In this case though, I think needs something needs to be said.

I like the Virginia Wine Showcase. I think they put on a good show that is an excellent value for the money. They also do a lot of outreach to bloggers, and, frankly, its a great way to break up the monotony of winter.

As most of you know, the Washington DC area got 2+ feet of snow this weekend and everything is completely shut down, except the Virginia Wine Showcase. Some of the comments on the front page of the event are ridiculous:

Come early and get stuck in a room full of snow while the snow plow does its thing
Main Roads are usually in pretty good shape ... Sunday is supposed to be nice ...

I understand that they invested a lot of money in the event and stand to lose a great deal if they have to cancel the event, but that is what event insurance is for. The fact that they are refusing to issue refunds is horrible.

Unless they change their policy on this I will not mention or post any more of their events, here or at the wine club. I know that I don't actually have any influence, so it doesn't really matter whether or not I do this, but I still think it needs to be said.

The Agency Wine Bar in Dubai

I was in Dubai over the weekend and decided to use the opportunity to check out some of the local wine bars. The first one I went to was The Agency.

Located along the Boulevard of The Emirates Towers The Agency is a real gem. They have a selection of several hundred wine, including more than 60 by the glass and a few featured exclusives.

All of the major wine regions, both old and new world, were well-represented, and there were some surprises, like wine from Lebanon.




The decor is casual and built around the wine. There are large tables for groups of people to get together for happy hour, and small intimate tables for couples who want a night out. Everywhere you turn there are wine bottles, both regular and oversized.

The service was great too. Putty, my Sommelier for the evening guided me through several different glasses, and regions. All excellent choices and even threw in a few free glasses (always a bonus).

I definitely recommend checking it out when you are in Dubai.

Blogger and SFTP

Blogger is apparently shedding their SFTP service, which is how this blog is published. At this point I am not sure how it is going to impact this blog, but it seems like a good time to initiate a redesign. I've maintained the same look and feel for over 4 years and I think it is time for something new.

If you are a designer familiar with Blogger templates and would like some work e-mail at the address to the right,