by Maggie Rosen – New rules resolving long-disputed Burgundy and Beaujolais appellation issues have at last been released. Under the new rules white Beaujolais may no longer be labelled AOC white Burgundy. This is one of the most contentious of the issues to be addressed; the ruling closes a loophole that some Burgundians say has been open more than 70 years. Continue reading “Long-running Burgundy-Beaujolais AOC disputes resolved”
by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – The Concours Mondial de Bruxelles – together with the ODG Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur – launched the first Concours Mondial du Sauvignon during the Bordeaux Fete le Vin wine fair.
Over 40 tasters from ten countries took part, including writer David Cobbold, and winemakers JD Pretorius from Steenberg vineyards in South Africa, and Jean Christophe Bourgeois from Domaine Henri Bourgeois in the Loire.
Panos Kakaviatos – Auction houses and wine lawyers are looking closely at the recent Koch vs Acker case to see if a dangerous precedent has been set.
Earlier this year the New York Appellate Division reversed a lower court ruling which had allowed Bill Koch to pursue the claims against Acker Merrall and Condit. The billionaire Florida collector charged the Manhattan auction house and retailer with misrepresentation in April 2008.
The claim related to fine and rare wines Koch bought at auction for a total of $77,925 (£39,242), at least five of which are counterfeit, and others suspect, he said. Continue reading “Koch vs Acker case ‘should not affect auctions’”
by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – The high prices of the 2009 en primeur campaign have further widened the gulf between Bordeaux’s top estates and the ordinary winemakers who produce the bulk of the region’s output.
According to figures from Bordeaux courtiers (wine brokers), the average price rises for the 400 wines sold en primeur stands at 18.6% on 2005, and 47.6% on 2008.
by Panos Kakaviatos – Rasteau in the southern Rhône has been elevated to AOC status, appellations body the INAO announced this month. The commune has been promoted from Côtes du Rhône Villages, with the designation backdated to cover the 2009 vintage.
With 75% of vineyards on hillsides rising between 500 and 1000 feet, Rasteau, with its smooth, stone covered clay-limestone terraces, has been long considered a top red Côtes du Rhône Villages wine, an AOC that was granted in 1966. Continue reading “Rasteau promoted to AOC”
Panos Kakaviatos – Americans are snapping up two kinds of Bordeaux 2009 this year: wines with very high scores, and early releases that seem bargains compared with blue-chip wines that have just come out. The correlation between high scores from Robert Parker – who tweeted yesterday that the Bordelais were ‘stupid and arrogant’ in their pricing policy – and saleabilty is as marked as ever.
Unsurprisingly therefore, Pontet Canet (96-100 Parker points) has done far better than Lynch Bages (94-96 points). Both wines are priced at around US$140 per bottle. ‘By a factor of 25 to one, I have sold more Pontet Canet than Lynch Bages,’ said Mark Wessels of MacArthur Beverages in Washington DC. Continue reading “Bordeaux ‘stupid and arrogant’ (Parker) but still selling in US”
Sigi Hiss -Am 1. Juli öffnet im Herzen von München die erste Riesling Lounge im Restaurant “RETTERs Feinschmecker” am Viktualienmarkt. Die auf Initiative des Deutschen Weininstituts (DWI) ins Leben gerufene Lounge hält in Restaurant und Weingarten für die Gäste eine große Auswahl von über 20 Rieslingweinen aus allen dreizehn deutschen Weinbaugebieten bereit: von trocken bis edelsüß, von Sekt bis Eiswein, von traditionell bis modern.
Die Weinauswahl wurde im Vorfeld gemeinsam mit einer unabhängigen Fachjury getroffen.
„Mit unserem Riesling-Lounge-Konzept wollen wir die Weinfreunde in Metropolen wie München oder Köln auf den Facettenreichtum unserer Vorzeigerebsorte aufmerksam machen und zum entspannten Genießen in angenehmer Atmosphäre einladen“, erläutert DWI-Geschäftsführerin Monika Reule. Ein so umfangreiches Rieslingangebot dürfte ihrer Meinung nach in München nur schwer zu finden sein.
Nicole Retter von RETTERs Feinschmecker am Viktualienmarkt hat sich über das Angebot, eine Riesling Lounge einzurichten, sehr gefreut und spontan zugesagt: „Ich liebe Riesling“, bekennt die Münchener Gastronomin. „Diese Trendsorte ist enorm vielseitig und sie passt wunderbar in unser Küchenkonzept. Die Gäste können sich in der Lounge auf intensive Genusserlebnisse freuen“, verspricht Nicole Retter.
Kontakt: RETTERs Feinschmecker, Frauenstraße 10, 80469 München, www.retters.de. Öffnungszeiten: Dienstag bis Samstag 11.30 – 14.30 und 17.30 bis 23.00 Uhr
Sigi Hiss – Das Hotel Alpenrose mit dem dazugehörigen Restaurant & seiner Winelouge, sind ein kleines Weintagebuch wert. Umfasst doch die Weinkarte einige hundert Positionen mit dem Schwerpunkt Österreich. Will man sich durch das Weinland Österreich trinken, dann ist man mit der Weinkarte mehr als ausreichend bestückt. Der Service in Sachen Wein ist ohne Tadel, nur die Temperaturen hat man nicht immer optimal im Griff. So war ein Fino Sherry viel zu warm. Ansonsten ist es ein ideales Urlaubshotel für Familien, in denen auch Essen & der Wein eine gewisse Qualität haben sollen.
Ein einziger Wein-Wermutstropfen, aus meiner ganz persönlichen Sicht, die Jahrgänge der Weine liegen in etwa zwischen 2000 bis 2008 – also nichts wirklich Reifes dabei, für mich als Altweintrinker.
Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Chateau Lafite Rothschild has released a first tranche of its 2009 en primeur wine at €550 per bottle. This is a rise of 323% from last year’s exit price, and 53% on 2005. But the majority of merchants will not put the wine onto the market until larger quantities – with a greater clarity of price – has become available. Continue reading “Chateau Lafite releases at €550″
by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – With a flood of Bordeaux chateaux releasing their 2009 vintages, prices are reaching unprecedented levels. Malescot Saint Exupery, a Margaux second growth that is traditionally fairly low profile but scored 95-97 with Parker this year, rose 150% on its 2008 price, coming out at €55 ex-Bordeaux.
by Panos Kakaviatos – American merchants are reporting seeing moderate consumer demand as Bordeaux 2009 en primeur prices continue to be released. Reacting to the releases so far this week, several US merchants have said that despite the hype surrounding the vintage, sales are below what they’d expected.
‘This is not like 2001, when the 2000 campaign was underway and clients had not seen a great vintage in a while,’ said Elliott Staren, owner of Wide World of Wines in Washington D.C. ‘People have full cellars already; they bought 2003s, 2005s, some 2006s, and they have not even received their 2008s.’ At Premier Cru in California, senior wine seller Michael Glasby agreed. Continue reading “Demand not matching Bordeaux 2009 hype, say US merchants”
Chris Mercer – Bumper harvests have yielded a nervy two years for New Zealand’s wine industry, but the head of the country’s wine trade body believes that producers could turn the corner over the next 12 months.
Horizon could be bright for NZ wine
Official harvest figures out today (17 June) will have raised a few glasses in New Zealand’s winelands, with the 2010 grape haul down 7% – around 19,000 tonnes – on the bumper crops of 2008 and 2009.
It is rare to find a New Zealand Pinot Noir for much under GBP10 (US$14.80) per bottle in the UK, but the grape surplus of the last two years has jeopardised the country’s premium positioning in key export markets. Foreign buyers have snapped up cheap bulk wine, artificially bloating New Zealand’s export volumes, and opportunistic brands have emerged at lower price points.
Sigi Hiss – Vinho Verde ist eine der faszinierendsten Weinregionen.
Die Weine des Vinho Verde widerspiegeln ihre Herkunft: sie sind leicht und frisch wie die atlantische Brise, mineralisch wie der Boden und würzig wie die Luft der Wälder. Sie werden aus autochthonen Sorten mit exotischen Namen hergestellt, wie etwa Alvarinho, Arinto, Avesso, Azal, Batoca, Loureiro, Trajadura, uvm. Die meisten Vinho Verde-Weine sind Cuvées, doch werden auch immer mehr reinsortige Weine vinifiziert.
Die spannende Region Vinho Verde präsentiert sich und ihre Weine am
Donnerstag, dem 17. Juni 2010 im Carlton (Bahnhofstrasse 41, 8001 Zürich)
Programm
14.00 Uhr – Seminar für Fachpublikum: Weinakademiker Hans Georg Babits bringt in einem Weinseminar Basis- und Hintergrundwissen über die Region und die Weine des Vinho Verde näher.
15.00 bis 17.00 Uhr – Degustation für Fachpublikum
17.00 bis 19.00 Uhr – Degustation für private Weinliebhaber
Die ersten VINEUS Wine Culture Awards sind vergeben. Im Rahmen einer festlichen Gala im Wiener MAK wurden am Freitag, dem 11. Juni, die Trophäen an die Preisträger überreicht.
Standing ovations und berührende Momente gab es, als der VINEUS für das Wein-Lebenswerk vergeben wurde. Alois Kracher war posthum vom Publikum für seine Verdienste gewählt worden. „The Butcher“ und Winzer Hans Schwarz
fand auf der Bühne der VINEUS-Gala die richtigen Worte für seinen Freund und langjährigen Wegbegleiter. Sohn Gerhard Kracher nahm den VINEUS entgegen.
Klarer Sieger war auch Josef Floh mit seiner Gastwirtschaft Floh als bestes Wein-Gasthaus Österreichs. Neben der umfassenden Weinkarte und seinem Continue reading “Die ersten VINEUS Wine Culture Awards sind vergeben”
Panos Kakaviatos, and Jane Anson in Bordeaux – As American merchants express concern over pricing trends for Bordeaux 2009, a Bordeaux chateau representative says that the US market is being alienated. At Sherry Lehman in New York, owner Chris Adams says that there is ‘great excitement’ for the vintage but he calls the futures campaign ‘uneven’. Continue reading “Bordeaux 2009: high prices risk ‘alienating’ US market”
John Stimpfig – The 75th anniversary of the acquisition of Chateau Haut-Brion by the US financier Clarence Dillon was celebrated last night at the Foreign Office’s historic Lancaster House within St James’ Palace.
The dinner was hosted by Prince Robert of Luxembourg, president of Domaines Clarence Dillon and great-grandson of Dillon, who bought the Pessac First Growth estate in 1935.
Adam Lechmere, and Jane Anson – Sales of Bordeaux 2009 are ‘balanced on a knife edge’, Liv-ex has warned. The web-based trading platform, which controversially sold a case of Lafite 09 last month for £10,000 before the chateau had priced or released the wine, says in its latest market report there is ‘a very real danger Bordeaux has overestimated demand’.
While that will be news to the many wine merchants who remain supremely confidant, Liv-ex bases its comments on concrete activity on its website. Only 10 of the wines released so far, it says, could be counted as ‘real successes’ in selling through. These are the wines connected to Mouton and Lafite – Duhart Milon (released at €38, 72% up on last year), Clerc Milon, d’Armailhac – and those with ‘a strong consumer base released at sensible prices (Gruaud Larose, Haut Batailley, Cantemerle etc). Continue reading “Bordeaux 2009 sales ‘on knife edge’”
Wink Lorch – Henri Maire of the Jura, one of France’s largest family-controlled wineries, has been bought by the Luxembourg-owned investment group Verdoso Industries. Verdoso has taken a majority shareholding in Henri Maire, its first purchase in the wine industry. It plans to inject capital and expertise to revitalise a business that has suffered significant losses in the past two years. Continue reading “Henri Maire sold”
Richard Woodard – The 30th annual Auction Napa Valley raised more than $8.5m, up nearly 50% on last year, but still well short of its pre-recession high. The highest-value wine lot at last weekend’s event included eight magnums of Colgin Cellars’ Cariad, which fetched a total of $1m when Ann Colgin agreed to quadruple the amount of wine offered.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based bidder MK Koo was particularly happy to spend $200,000 on a single six-litre bottle of Screaming Eagle: ‘It was top of my list, first because it’s a great wine and second because it’s easy to carry home,’ he said. Continue reading “Auction Napa Valley doubles last year’s takings”
Richard Woodard – Champagne’s stiffest competition comes not from Prosecco, Cava or English sparkling wine – but from Viagra, according to Pierre-Emmanuel Taittinger. Speaking at the Reuters Global Luxury Summit last week, the Taittinger chief executive also predicted that Champagne exports to China will outstrip the US within 15 years. Continue reading “Viagra is Champagne’s major threat”
Südafrika Weininformation (Baden-Baden). Am 7. Juni wurde Sebastian Wilkens (27) zum besten deutschen „Wines of South Africa“-Sommelier gekürt. In einem spannenden Finale überzeugten seine fundierte Südafrika-Kompetenz, die empathische Beratung und der stilvolle Service die neunköpfige Jury. Als deutsche Landessieger wird Sebastian Wilkens am 15. Oktober 2010 gegen zehn international renommierte Sommeliers antreten. Der südafrikanische Exportverband „Wines of South Africa“ hat im Rahmen des Weltmeisterjahres den „Sommelier World Cup“ erstmals ausgeschrieben. 141 Sommeliers aus den wichtigsten Exportmärkten beteiligten sich an den Vorrunden in den jeweiligen Ländern. Continue reading “Sebastian Wilkens behauptet sich als Deutschlands bester Südafrika Sommelier!”
Sigi Hiss – Beim badischen Winzerkeller hat ein Wechsel in der Chefetage stattgefunden. Wie die Zeitschrift WEIN+MARKT vermeldet, hat Axel Hahn am 7. Juni die Nachfolge, als Vorstand für Vertrieb und Marketing, von Günter Hilmert angetreten. Das hat der Badische Winzerkeller gegenüber WEIN+MARKT erklärt. Axel Hahn, 53-jähriger Diplom-Kaufmann, arbeitete vorher bei diversen Unternehmen der Getränkebranche. Seine Karrierestationen waren Gerolsteiner Mineralbrunnen, Margon Brunnen, Coca-Cola, Feldschlößchen und Landskron Brauerei in Görlitz. Zuletzt war er als selbstständiger Berater im Bereich Vertrieb und Marketing für die Getränke Industrie tätig.
By Maggie Rosen – Negociant Bordeaux Winebank has hired billionaire collector William Koch’s European advisor to head up its authentication activities. Michael Egan, who worked for Sotheby’s wine department for 24 years, has been based in Bordeaux since 2005 as an independent consultant to buyers such as William Koch and Russell Frye. Continue reading “Bordeaux negociant hires William Koch advisor”
Company shareholders approved the name switch at a general meeting on 4 June, Lanson-BCC said today (7 June).
“This new name, adopted at a time when Champagne Lanson is celebrating its 250th anniversary, will help give the group a name that is more in keeping with its profile, its rationale and its ambitions,” the company said.
Lanson is the firm’s flagship international brand. The group owns six other Champagne houses, including Maison Burtin, Champagne Boizel and Champagne Chanoine Freres, but these are not so well-known outside of France. Continue reading “FRANCE: Boizel Chanoine Champagne changes name”
by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – The high prices of the 2009 en primeur campaign have further widened the gulf between Bordeaux’s top estates and the ordinary winemakers who produce the bulk of the region’s output.
