Filed under: Wine

After reading the ins and outs of the Mondavi clan in The House of Mondavi book, I’m even more intrigued to see what former Mondavi CEO and chairman Michael Mondavi has cooked up with his first wine. The 2005 M by Michael Mondavi is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from his Animo vineyard in Atlas Peak, Napa. The wine was aged for 22 months in French oak and bottle aged for a year.

You can pick up M by Michael Mondavi this fall for a steep $199. In a recent interview with Steve Heimoff, Mondavi explained how he reached this price. He explained that his team bought a bunch of top cult wines and did a blind tasting asking themselves how much they would pay for each wine. Because their wine came out strong they prices it below some of the super-pricey cult wines and above some of the ones it showed better than. Of course the costs of managing the 15-acre vineyard were also a factor.

Heimoff’s interview also reveals that Mondavi has learned his lesson about rapid expansion. He says that at his Folio Wine import and production company they have just two rules, only work with those they respect and want to spend time with, and only sell wines they would like to serve to family and friends.

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The latest tool in the battle against counterfeit vintage wines is rather high tech. Antique Wine Company in London asked Guegan’s Centre for Nuclear Studies to create technology that zaps bottles with ion beams generated by a particle accelerator. The beams are meant to determine how old the glass in the bottles is and where it originated from. They can compare the suspicious bottles with known bottles from a certain chateau.

Of course this brings up the problem of new wine in old bottles. That involves another test, a method that tests for levels of a radioactive isotope, cesium 137, in the wine itself. Techniques like this were used in the case of wines sold by Hardy Rodenstock, the wine dealer who is the subject of “The BIllionaire’s Vinegar” a recent book that includes the story of American collector William Koch who has sued Rodenstock claiming bottles which allegedly belonging to US president Thomas Jefferson were fakes.

Because of the high cost of testing, techniques like this are only used when there are significant amounts of money on the table. This may force savvy fraudsters to move into the mid-range of the vintage market where clients are less likely to resort to such elaborate means.

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Filed under: Wine

Pininfarina, the Italian design house, that has designed for Ferrari, Maserati and Rolls-Royce now has a wine label. Pininfarina wine debuted at the Concorso Italiano earlier this month in Monterey, CA. The inaugural release of 2005 Vino Rosso was tasted by throngs of spectators and a three liter bottle was auctioned off for $3,000 to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The 2005 Pininfarina Napa Valley Vino Rosso is a Napa Valley red that is 60% Cabernet Sauvignon,29% Cabernet Franc, 6% Sangiovese and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine has black currant and raspberry aromas with a balance of fruit and ripe, fat tannins. It can be drunk now but the winemaker’s notes say that it will start to show its prime between 2010 and 2012, with the ultimate peak for this wine being probably between 2017 and 2021. While the label doesn’t use the classic Pininfarina red color there is sleek carbon fiber like detail surrounding the label. There were 1,125 cases produced and bottles sell online for $95 each.

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When most people think of American wines they name California, Oregon and Washington but amazingly wine making is something every state has in common. With all the political hubbub happening currently it seems timely that someone would pin the red and blue states against each other in a more delicious contest. Sure the Blue’s come in heavy with the three states mentioned above but the Red-leaning states have Arizona’s Caduceus and Virginia’s Barboursville to tout. Among the Blue states there is the lesser known Finger Lake region of New York highlighting Heron Hill’s Reisling and Illinois’ hybrid varietals.

Personally, I’m interested in trying Hawaii’s Pineapple Wine — that has to be perfect for dessert or sipping on a hot day — which I didn’t know existed until today! I’ll take a hammock on the beach with a glass of wine any day and leave the politicking to the experts.

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Filed under: Wheels, Wine

This idea either sounds like torture or like a good way to avoid a DUI…unless of course you can’t steer the handlebars after a day’s worth of tasting…is that called a RUI?? Getaway Adventures offers a fantastic, car-less way to explore the valleys of Napa or Sonoma via a bicycle (or kayak if you prefer a more refreshing option). Whether you are looking for just a day-trip, corporate/group event or weekend excursion I doubt you will be disappointed. A spread of local foods is provided for lunch, stops at a myriad of local wineries is included, and local tour guides will expand your knowledge of flora, fauna, and vineyard as you ride.

Don’t expect a strenuous adventure — it is geared toward the ‘enthusiastic beginner’ as they put it so don’t worry if you aren’t Lance Armstrong. Vacation…wine tasting…exercise all in one? Perfect.

Tours are available from March 1st to November 30th.

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I wavered on this post for a while but decided that although it’s an inexpensive wine the fact that it is something new to Spain’s wine market outweighs its less-than-luxurious price tag. So here it is — a wine that may be appropriate for pregnant mothers, bad drunks, and the religiously-restricted. Miguel Torres recently launched Natureo which is Spain’s first wine with only 0.5% alcohol! Sure we have heard of or tasted Martinelli’s sparkling cider (a favorite in my family for the youngsters at holiday gatherings). But Natureo sounds a little more interesting to me — it is a white wine made from the Muscat grape which may mean it is more of a sweet wine. The sales are limited to their own country for the time being and cost about $10 per bottle but I think it isn’t such a bad idea. At least it is more akin to the real thing than sparkling apple juice.

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Rising fuel prices have some curious and wide-ranging consequences. The Financial Times reports it may be making your Champagne bottles thinner. Champagne bottles traditionally weigh more than a bottle of still wine in order to contain the pressure of sparkling wine. Bottles used to be smashed against ship bows for launching are thinned for easy breakage. But thinner bottles take less energy to create and are cheaper to ship.

G.H Mumm, the Champagne house owned by Pernod Ricard has completed a trial production run of bottle which weigh 835 grams (around 1.84 pounds which is a couple of ounces lighter than regular bottles which are 900 grams). The lighter bottles will be put in caves where the bottles will age.

The lighter bottles will save money on fuel because more of them can be loaded on each truck. Pommery, which already uses the bottles, says that if all the Champagne houses switched to lighter bottles there would be 3,000 fewer trucks on the road each year.

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Filed under: Wine, Events

Labor Day is almost upon us and as for me I am still firming up my plans. A college football game on television is at the top of my husband’s list but not me. If I lived on the same coast as Sonoma County I would be at their event in a heartbeat! Ever tried to cover the wide array of wineries that make up Sonoma wine country? I haven’t either but from what I hear it takes a lot more driving and time than most visitors can cover in a weekend. No problem because the Sonoma Wine Country Weekend will bring it all to you in a relatively small area — no driving required once you arrive.

Tickets range from $50 to $650 depending on how long you can stay and your specific interests. There are Winemaker Dinners, the Grand Tasting, and even an Auction for those of you with deeper pockets. Enjoy wine from Alexander Valley to the Russian River Valley and everything in between. This is the inaugural year for this event and you don’t want to miss it! Be there or be…me, with my little football party.

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What happens when a prestigious organization bestows an award upon a non-existent restaurant? Yikes. Sure it had a name and a decent, mostly Italian wine list to go with its submission, plus the $250 fee, but it had no real address! This is exactly what happened recently when Wine Spectator handed out its Award of Excellence to a phony. As a sort of experiment the applicant, Mr. Robin Goldstein, created this submission to discover for himself the standards applied to the Award of Excellence — and was discouraged by his findings. His disappointment wasn’t just because the award had gone to a fictitious entity but that his reserve wine list which was included in the award included some of the Wine Spectator’s lowest scoring Italian wines from the past twenty years! Not looking so prestigious anymore…

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Does the name Justin Meyer ring any bells? At first I didn’t recognize its significance either but as I delved more into the story behind Bonny’s Vineyard I gasped with realization — Mr. Meyer was the co-founder of the super Cab of Napa, Silver Oak! For some of you that may not be very exciting but in my household there was a time when Silver Oak was king of the wine cellar for my father. Not only has the Meyer name been attached to this mega-wine but the next generation of Meyer’s has recently created a new Cabernet Sauvignon aged in only 100% new American Oak barrels which sustains a 13.19% alcohol. Named for Justin’s wife, Bonny, and the vineyard purchased long ago in her name, this wine eases out of the Napa Cab mold with grace while continuing a high-quality family tradition. $135

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Filed under: Wine

Summers Winery has announced it will release a limited-production Bordeaux this November, aptly named Checkmate (a portion of the winery’s grapes are grown in Knight’s Valley, and this blend is bound to be a “grandmaster” of wine). Just 75 cases were produced of this blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc and Petit Verdot, all grown in northern Napa. This particular wine has been in the wings for quite some time. Summers Winery proprietor Jim Summers stashed away a few good grapes in 2005 for the special blend, not to be bottled until just recently. All grapes were harvested and sorted by hand, and a mere three barrels from the 600 produced will wear the Checkmate label.

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Wine seems to be quickly claiming the title ‘drink du jour’ around the world and no where is this more apparent than in Hong Kong. Positioning itself to be the wine market hub of the east, just like London and New York are in their respective parts of the world, they are making it easier for individuals to purchase wine. Earlier this year they lowered taxes on the vinous beverage and with a subsequent boom in sales they decided to remove those tariffs all together! This tax abolition has market predictors claiming that the Asian Market will be worth $1.5 billion by 2017 with increased growth to $870 million in China’s wine imports. No tax means lower prices which equals higher consumption and greater numbers purchasing higher quality wines. If only New York would go tax-free on wine — or on gas, groceries and clothing…I can dream, can’t I?

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Mike Ditka isn’t the only coach with a wine label. Legendary University of Michigan coach the late Bo Schembechler is now the namesake of a 2005 California merlot. According to the Ann Arbor News, the Bo Merlot will be unveiled in the Ann Arbor area in the last week of August which marks University of Michigan’s home football opener against Utah.

The wine is being distributed by Studer imports, a wine company founded by Marlena Studer, She defends her choice to use a California winery in Monterey to source the wine rather than a Michigan winery by saying that California symbolizes the Rose Bowl, where Schembechler tried to get this team to each year. The price of the wine is $19.69 which references 969, the year Schembechler arrived on campus. Two dollars from each sale goes to the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, which treated Schembechler when he was ill. He died of heart failure on Nov. 17, 2006. The wine will be sold in local stores in the Ann Arbor area.

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Filed under: Wine, Charity of the Day

Burning Hawk sounds like a bit of a poetic name for a wine until you learn that the name comes from a hawk which hit a power line and caused a fire in a vineyard. Burning Hawk wine gives ten percent of sales to groups working to prevent bird electrocutions. The wine is produced by Windsor Vineyards and will offer two $30-a-bottle wines. The Burning Hawk 2005 Napa Valley Red Wine is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Merlot from the Napa Valley and the 2006 Burning Hawk Chardonnay, Alexander Valley is a buttery Chardonnay with tropical fruit and vanilla oak notes. The organizations that will get the proceeds haven’t been chosen yet but according to an article in the Press-Democrat the label’s founder Nick Papadopoulos has been speaking with groups around the country to see if they can prevent birds from being killed through electrocution or collisions with power equipment. Windsor Vineyards produced 2,000 cases of each wine.

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Beaujolais Nouveau in plastic bottles? Boisset Family Estates has announced in a press release that next season’s Beaujolais Nouveau wines from the wineries of Mommessin and Bouchard Aîné & Fils shipped to the U.S. will be packaged in 750ml PET bottles. They will also be debuting Fog Mountain, the first California wine in 750ml PET bottles , Boisset Family Estates is the first winery ever to announce that all Beaujolais Nouveau wines imported to North America will be packaged exclusively in lightweight PET plastic bottles. The company estimates they will save millions of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions from entering the atmosphere. The Beaujolais Nouveau wines in PET bottles weigh 22 lbs per case vs. 38 pounds for the traditional bottle. Boisset expects their Mommessin Beaujolais Nouveau and Bouchard Aîné & Fils Beaujolais Nouveau to retail for $12.99 which is a dollar or two less than they would have charged. The shatterproof bottle will have a screwcap. Beaujolais Nouveau is meant to be drunk immediately so there are no concerns as to how the wine might age in platic. Boisset’s other interesting packaging initiatives includes wine in Tetra Pak cartons and Mommessin Beaujolais Grande Reserve in 750 ml aluminum bottles.

[via Wine & Spirits Daily]

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Filed under: Wine

Oenophiles mark your calendars for October 23: wine mystic Robert Parker will host an exclusive tasting featuring Bordeaux wines from 2005, what Parker says is “the greatest vintage produced during my thirty year career.” For $2,000 per person ($1,000 of which is a charitable donation toward Culinary Institute scholarships), tasters will sample 18 wines, including all five of the Premiers Grand Crus from the Left Bank, which are currently priced at $75,000 a case.

Check out Robert Parker’s website to learn more about the wines he favors and to search over 100,000 tasting notes from Parker’s extensive database.

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Benzinger’s Signaterra wine is a new wine label that seeks to join the best of three forces, earth, nature, and man for excellent wine. They have produced two wines, the 2006 Bella Luna Pinot Noir Russian River Valley and the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc Shone Farm Vineyard Russian River Valley. The Signaterra wine notes are divided into Earth, Nature and Man categories which describe the location of the vineyard and how it is formed, the climate and how the grapes are tended (often using organic, biodynamic and sustainable farming methods) and the way the grapes were harvested and how the wine was produced. At $24, the Sauvignon Blanc is on the pricier end of that varietal. The San Francisco Chronicle recently named it tops in their tasting of Sonoma County Sauvignon Blancs finding it rich and well-balanced with notes of jasmine and mango cream aside the citrus and grassy flavors traditionally associated with Sauvignon Blanc.

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Filed under: Wine

In keeping with White Rocket Wine Company’s niche of bringing new brands of high quality, affordable wines to the new generation of wine drinkers comes French Maid Wine. Each of the five varietals from the French ‘Old World’ Languedoc region is given a ‘New World’ spirit. Offering a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Sauvignon Blanc, each French Maid Wine brings French terroir to the newbies of the wine world on a smaller budget of only $12 per bottle. For the connoisseur who prefers more luxury priced wines this may not be the bottle of choice but as an introduction to wine it just may fit the bill.

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Filed under: Wine, Green

A new Facebook application has been launched to help winelovers go green. Four Napa and Sonoma County vineyards: Girard Winery, Iron Horse Vineyards, Windsor Sonoma Vineyards, and Windsor Vineyards, are behind Green My Vino. The application lets Facebook users to give each other free online gifts worth an one, five or ten minutes of renewable energy. For each of these gifts Village Green Energy will purchase the equivalent amount of renewable energy on the user’s behalf. Each winery has a set minutes goals and once the goals has been met at one, the focus moves to the next winery. First up, Iron Horse Vineyards which has has agreed to power their entire operation with renewable energy when Facebook friends have gifted each other with 10,000 minutes of solar and wind power. Girard Winery has a goal of 17,000 minutes, Windsor Vineyards has a gold of 30,000, and Windsor Sonoma’s goal is 45,000 minutes.

Village Green estimates that if the app is successful the wineries will purchase over 1.2 million kWh of renewable power to power the four initial wineries entirely with green energy for a year based on their past electricity use. They will purchase the renewable energy certificates from Mountain View II Wind Facility in Palm Springs and several solar arrays in Los Angeles.

[via Wine Business]

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Filed under: Wine

Now you no longer need ice or a refrigerator to keep your Champagne cold. Veuve Clicquot has come out the with icebox, a bright yellow box that contains the Champagne, two flutes and a couple of chemicals that react together when you snap the seal, creating a reaction that cools the bottle. The reaction only happens once and the set costs £99 at Selfridges.

Veuve Clicquot has created a lot of unique designs in the past few years, check out the gallery below for a small sample.
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