About those 'French wine' labels ...

The world of French wine continues its topsy-turvy course.

Not bad enough, cry the purists, that rather than letting wine age in wood some makers are adding wood chips to the wine to speed up the mellowing process -- and with government sanction, no less. Now, a move is afoot to allow winemakers to blend middle-of-the-road wines from different regions and sell them under the "Vignobles de France" label.

The new marketing ploy is aimed at propping up the nation's slumping wine industry. Proponents say such a move will allow them to better compete in the global marketplace where wines from the New World, Australia and New Zealand are consistently gaining market share. On the other hand, opponents of the move say it is short-sighted and want to stick with the traditional French preference for "terroir" labels -- Languedoc, Bordeaux, Alsace, etc. -- as a proven strength.

"We are trying to link together the word 'France,' the name of a grape and the name of a brand on which a company can invest over the long term and earn some money," Michel Leguay, deputy director for technical issues at Viniflhor, the wine industry board, told the Reuters news service.

He explained that the change would allow a wine distributor to create a bottle of sauvignon that would be made up of wine from the sauvignon grape from different regions. This would mean they could tailor the wine according to different tastes.

"It could produce a sauvignon that has a bit of acidity, of the aroma from the Loire and a bit of roundness and a more mature aroma from the Languedoc," Leguay told Reuters. "It could just as well be a product that has more sugar for Japan or wines that are a bit more structured for the United States with a bit more of a woody flavor."

The new labeling is projected for a spring implementation.

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Drop in for a small pinot

At the risk of making the maddening Disney song echo for hours in your head, it's a small world after all.

Last summer I wrote an item about a 64-square-foot former railroad signal box structure in Cleethorpes, England, that had earned the title of the world's smallest pub.

The other day I received an envelope containing a note, a letter and some photos. The note, from Frances Hynds of Delmar, NY, informed me she and her husband, Given, had met a couple from Cleethorpes while on a cruise and had struck up a continuing correspondence. "I sent your article, and I have enclosed their reply," she wrote.

The reply, from Mary Keeble, said in part: "I couldn't believe it when I read about the small bar in Cleethorpes. We went to look for it and found it. I thought I would take some photographs ... . The pub is a small signal box on the light railway that runs near our promenade. It is very good."



Thank you, Frances, and thank you, Mary.

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San Francisco treats selected from 3,800 hopefuls

Slogging their way through more than 3,800 wines, a group of 55 judges selected the top entries in the 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

More than 1,500 wineries from two dozen states paid to be part of the newspaper's prestigious competition held in Sonoma County Jan. 9-12. However, complete results will not be released until the Feb. 16 edition of the Chronicle is published.

A public tasting is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco. Tickets information is available online. Meanwhile, here are the sweepstakes winners:

• Reds
Santa Rita Hills Rancho Santa Rosa
Flying Goat Cellars 2005 Pinot Noir

North Coast Petite Sirah
B.R. Cohn Winery 2004 Petite Sirah

• Whites
California Geyser Peak Winery
2006 Sauvignon Blanc

Alexander Valley Premium Label
Windsor Vineyard 2006 Gewurztraminer

• Sparkling
Anderson Valley L'Ermitage
Roederer Estate 1999 Brut

• Dessert
Anderson Valley
Navarro Vineyards 2005 Late Harvest Muscat Blanc

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Chileans dessert wines for spirits, beer

Much of the world knows Chile for its wines, but beer and spirits are doing much better with Chilean consumers.

According to the leading newspaper, La Tercera, "Domestic pisco and wine consumption fell by 10 and 8 percent, respectively, in 2006. The dip marks the first decrease in either industry since 2002. Beer and hard liquor sales, traditionally a small market factor, saw dramatic increases."

Specifically, liquor sales rose 25% and beer sales 15% . Non-alcoholic beverages also saw a sharp market jump. Purified water grew by 60 percent and energy drinks, though a fraction of the market, grew by 124 percent. Chilean companies specializing in other drinks, says La Tercera, have begun taking advantage of the liquor trend by importing and distilling their own liquors, primarily rum.

Non-alcoholic beverages also have seen an increase in sales -- soft drinks by 5%, purified water 60% percent and energy drinks, though a fraction of the market, 124%.

Pisco continues to be claimed by both Chile and Peru as the national drink. It is a style of brandy: i.e., a liquor distilled from grapes and most widely consumed in Chile, Peru and Bolivia.

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NY wines wending west again

In the summer of 2003, the New York Wine & Food Classic competition had an unusual venue.

California.

The idea behind shipping the annual judging of New York wines somewhere other than in New York State was to expose more labels to West Coast judges, sommeliers and wine writers. Now, after returning to its own judging roots for three years, the Classic will ship the competition back to Napa, CA, on Aug. 7 and 8.

The event will again be held at Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts (seen here). Peter Marks, Copia's curator of wine, will handle the venue arrangements.

As one of the New York Classic's regular judges, I was on the panels at Copia in '03. Since your nose is in a glass most of the time, the surroundings don't influence your opinions. But, I must admit that since we were on display in a main corridor/display area of Copia where visitors could stop and stare from time to time, there was a lot of extra swirling, sniffing and spitting for the benefit of onlookers.

Says Jim Trezise, president of the sponsoring organization, the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, there is a major difference between the '03 event and this year's: " New York wineries can now ship directly to California consumers. We were hoping that would be the case in 2003, but it took until 2005 to get the legislation passed.

"The Governor’s Cup winner from that year, Hermann J. Wiemer" -- for his dry riesling -- "immediately got several calls from Californians wanting to purchase it, but he had to say no. This year the answer will be yes."

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Pa. wine competition expands

The broadening Pennsylvania wine industry supplied a record 219 entries for the 11th annual Farm Show Wine Competition, up from 154 the previous year.

Galen Glen Vineyard & Winery of Andreastown, Schuylkill County, and Naylor Wine Cellar of Stewartstown, York County, were the top entrants in the Jan. 6 event held during the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg.

Galen Glen, which is part of the Lehigh Valley Wine Trail, won the best in show and best dessert wine gold medals for its 2005 vidal ice wine. The winery began in 1995.

Naylor, which sits near the Mason-Dixon line in southern Pennsylvania, won gold medals for its best of show red raspberry and peaches plus.

Other gold medalists:

• Best American: 2005 Winfield Winery Country Red, Cabot, Butler County.
• Best Hybrid: 2005 Pinnacle Ridge Chambourcin Reserve, Kutztown, Berks County.
• Best Vinifera: 2005 Vynecrest Cabernet Franc, Breinigsville, Lehigh County.
• Best Sparkling: 2005 Pinnacle Ridge Blanc de Blanc, Kutztown, Berks County.

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Screwcap vs. cork takes on a new odor

When one speaks of a wine's "nose," rotten eggs does not come to mind. But it sometimes could, according to a British study conducted by something called the International Wine Challenge (IWC) of London.

Analysts said 2.2% of screwcap wine bottles were affected by a chemical process called reduction that gives wine a sulphurous, or rotten egg, smell as soon as the bottles are opened. Although the same process can happen with wine stoppered by natural cork, the porous composition of cork allows oxygen to dilute the odor.

It can occur in wines stoppered by screwcap or cork, but cork's porous nature allows oxygen to dilute the smell.

Tests conducted on 9,000 screwcap wines by the IWC found 2.2% were affected by sulphidisation because the wine was not allowed to breathe. If extrapolated worldwide, that would result in 200,000 affected bottles. The IWC also found that 4.4% of cork-stoppered bottles also suffered sulphide problems but, as noted, since corks allow oxygen to pass through, the smell dissipates.

Malcolm Gluck, a noted British wine writer who is the wine critic for the Guardian newspaper in London, told the BBC Online that any concern is largely overplayed.

"It's rubbish," he said. "Any bottle can suffer from sulphidisation. Even organic wines have to have sulphur" as a preservative.

The problem, Gluck said, is with a minority of producers who have not yet gotten the level of sulphur right, when wine is sealed with a screw top, rather than a cork, which allows a small amount of air in over time.

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Because they can

When one sees a world-record feat or object paraded in front of them, the common question is, was that accomplished because it needed to be or because it can be?

Take your choice when it comes to Maximus, the world's largest bottle of wine. It was auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York the other day, essentially attracting a crowd because of its size -- a 1,200-glass capacity.

It was created by Czech craftsmen and glassblowers (glass engineer and artist Charles Parriott is shown standing on the far left of the photo) to mark the 25th anniversary of the Morton's steakhouse chain.

Maximus was certified back in June by the usual suspects at the Guinness Book of World Records. The bottle is 4 1/2 feet high and weighs 340 pounds and, thus, is the world's largest bottle. It contains private reserve cabernet sauvignon from the Beringer Vineyards in California.

It took a year to make the bottle, from concept to finish. The first mold was made by a firm near Prague in the Czech Republic. The first bottle-blowing attempt, done in England, didn't work out. A second, and successful, attempt was carried out in the Czech Republic, historically known for its fine glassmaking companies.

The Sotheby's auction fetched $56,000 for the wine-filled bottle, with proceeds going to charity.

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Japan adds a New York flair

The Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Tokyo -- named for the original in Manhattan -- will feature 12 New York wines by the bottle and the glass for a month beginning Feb. 15.

Jim Trezise, head of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, reports:

"The wines are from the Hudson Valley, Finger Lakes, and Long Island regions, including Brotherhood 2004 Dry Riesling, Dr. Frank Salmon Run 2004 Chardonnay and 2004 Cabernet Franc, Lamoreaux Landing 2005 Dry Riesling, Martha Clara Brut, Peconic Bay 2003 Steel Fermented Chardonnay and 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Rivendell City Cab, Raphael 2005 Sauvignon Blanc, Standing Stone 2005 Vidal Ice Wine, Wagner 2004 Barrel Fermented Seyval Blanc, and Wolffer Estate La Ferme Martin 2004 Chardonnay."

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Heat spells trouble for ice wines

You don't need grapes to make wine, but you do need ice to make ice wine. And, therein lies a problem.

This spectacularly mild winter is affecting more than ski centers and heating fuel distributors. With temperatures routinely running in the 50s and 60s in many areas on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border where much of the ice wine is produced, necessary conditions for harvesting grapes for ice wine manufacture simply are not there.

"We're not getting the lows, and grapes are starting to dehydrate on the vines,'' Doug Miles told me. He operates Miles Wine Cellars on the west shore of Seneca Lake in New York's Finger Lakes, usually a good spot for ice wine grapes.

"Normally, you need temperatures to get down to about 8 degrees Farenheit,'' he said. "Then, you start picking at about 2 in the morning and keep going until about a half-hour before sunrise to get the crop in. We've been experiencing temperatures in the 50s and even the 60s this winter and it's definitely going to take its toll.''

Jim Trezise, head of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation which works to educate consumers and promote products on behalf of the state's 200-plus wineries, is a lifelong Finger Lakes resident usually looking ahead to harvests and production statistics. Not when I contacted him the other day, however.

"I can't imagine 2007 ice wine, given that it's 60 degrees and I'm enjoying a glass of chardonnay on my deck next to the lake,'' he said.

North of the border, the situation is about the same. Reports Trezise, " ... The Ontario folks are sweating bullets this year because of the mild winter, but still holding out hope. ... This would clearly hurt Ontario more than New York, but none of us in this industry want anyone, anywhere to be hurt by weather, as we all endure it.''

The normal ice wine yield is 40 gallons from a ton of grapes. It takes about four times as many grapes to make ice wine as it does standard wine, thus the price points usually are higher for the sweeter, thicker products. Growers are expecting that output to drop to the 25-30 gallon range because of the warm spell, which no doubt will drive up prices even further as well as cutting into availability. The latter is a common problem for many New York wine producers who don't churn out wines in great abundance.

Legalities prevent winemakers from simply slapping an ice wine label on their products. In the U.S., a product cannot be called an ice wine unless the grapes are harvested and pressed while frozen, meaning you cannot pick them, then freeze them, then process them. Canadian regulations are similar.

All is not yet lost, Doug Miles points out.

"We still have until about late February before we start ruling out any sort of sufficient freeze, but it's not an ideal situation. Also, at the current temperatures, the vines are not as winter hardy as we might hope because they haven't had a chance to toughen up.''

Given the historic cold winters in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other Northeastern states that regularly produce ice wine, a cold snap in the next few weeks could save the day. Or, last-minute harvesting without benefit of a freeze would at least let producers label their products "late harvest'' wine, a style enjoyed by many consumers but not as pricey -- and, therefore, not as lucrative -- as ice wine.

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