Oregon relaxes wine naming rules

How would you like to be the first on your block to serve a genuine Oregon Pinot Grigio?

Impossible, you say? Oregon law requires that particular wine to be called a Pinot Gris, not Pinot Grigio.

Not anymore. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission has introduced something new to the state's burgeoning wine industry: reasonability.

Oregon had long had the nation's tightest strictures on what it could and could not name its wines. That has changed, bigtime.

Winemakers now will be allowed to name a wine in any of 11 styles if it contains at least 75% of the specific grape, such as Sangiovese, Zinfandel and Syrah, the same standard as in all other states. Oregion previously had required 90%.

Considering that Oregon growers have 65 different grape varieties, continuing to require 90% presence in 54 styles -- including Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris -- isn't a huge move, but it is a start.

For a look at Oregon's wine trails, just click here.

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Moselle Rieslings growing more popular in U.S.

The quality of American Rieslings, led by wineries in New York's Finger Lakes region, has been rising exponentially in recent years. Nevertheless, German winemakers in the Moselle River region (as seen here) report exports of their famoius Rieslings rose 21% in the year ending in July, fueled by rising demand from U.S. consumers.

About 43% of the region's wine output was sold outside Germany, with more than half going to the U.S. where sales rose 29% in the year through July. The bulk of the remaining exports go to Norway and the Netherlands.

"Americans prefer more and more expensive, high-quality Riesling,'' said Adolf Schmitt, Moselle Wine Growers Association president, at a press conference in Mertesdorf, Germany.

The Moselle region, in the southwestern part of the country, is one of 19 German wine regions.

Schmitt also said the quality of the 2007 vintage will be "superb.'' The grapes ripened about 130 days instead of the average 100 days due to favorable weather conditions in the Moselle area that differed from widespread negative weather in many parts of Europe.

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Wine sales up nearly 6% in Canada

Canada remains a "beer town," according to the latest statistical report on purchase of alcoholic beverages, but wine is the fastest-growing category.

Canadians bought 2.2 billion liters of beer, worth $8.4 billion, last year. They also purchased 378.7 million liters of wine, worth $4.6 billion, and 202.6 million liters of spirits, worth $4.3 billion, according to Statistics Canada.

While sales of beer and spirits in liquor stores were up 2.9% by volume from 2004-05, wine sales, including those by wineries themselves, were up 5.9%. Overall, sales of wine, beer and spirits hit the $17.3 billion mark.

A few other findings:

• Red wines accounted for 60% of wine sales. Three-quarters of reds and half of all whites were imports.

• Quebec consumers bought 35% of all wine, and 42% of the reds, sold in the nation.

• White wines outsold reds in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

• Imported beer grew in popularity last year from 9.9% to 11.1%.

• Whiskies, including scotch and bourbon, accounted for nearly 30% of all spirits sales.

• Nearly 70% of spirits sold were Canadian products, although imported spirits rose 6.4%.

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'World's best' Riesling picked

If it's a 2006 Weingut Juliusspital Iphofer Julius-Echterberg Riesling Beernauslese, it's got to be good.

The German wine was named "World's Best Riesling" at the 8th annual Canberra International Riesling Challenge on Friday night. A record 482 entries from six countries made up the field.

The wine comes from the Franconian region, east of Frankfurt. Challenge Chairman Ken Helm described it this way:

“It's smooth and extremely elegant with a pleasant flavor that hangs around. You can still taste it five minutes later. It is in the middle range of sweetness and is very well-balanced in acid and flavor."

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Veritas competition doubles up on 44

Judges in this year's Veritas wine competition, the longest-running such event in South Africa for native wines, handed out 44 double gold medals to a field of mroe than 1,900 entries.

According to Veritas, wines are tasted blind by panels that consist of seven experts judging 10 wines at a time. The wines then are discussed and scores are awarded according to the international 20-point scale, with discussion and consensus.

A double-gold medal is awarded through a consensus decision by the panel if the wine scores 17 or more out of 20. Gold is awarded when a wine notches-up 17 points, a silver sticker will go on a bottle of wine if the wine scored 16 points, while bronze medals go to wines that scored 15 points

The double-gold winners:

• Anura Merlot Reserve 2004
• Klein Babylons Toren Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2004
• Badsberg Red Muscadel 2006
• Bellingham Sauvignon Blanc 2007
• Bellingham The Maverick Sauvignon Blanc 2005
• Boland Merlot Winemakers Selection 2005
• Bon Courage Hillside White Colombar/Chardonnay 2007
• Bon Courage Pinotage 2006
• Boplaas Tawny Port N/V
• Boplaas Vintage Port 2005
• Boschendal Reserve Collection Sauvignon Blanc 2007
• Buitenverwachting Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
• De Grendel Koetshuis Sauvignon Blanc 2007
• De Grendel Shiraz 2006
• Zonnebloem Ltd Edition Sauvignon Blanc 2007
• Fleur du Cap Unfiltered Merlot 2004
• Fort Simon Chenin Blanc 2006
• Glen Carlou Gravel Quarry Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
• Groote Post Shiraz 2004
• Hartenberg Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
• Dombeya Boulder Road Shiraz 2005
• The Auction Crossing Syrah/Viognier 2005
• Jordan Blanc Fumé 2006
• Kleine Zalze Cellar Selection Chenin Blanc Bush Vine (O/D) 2006
• Longridge Pinotage 2004
• Meerendal Chenin Blanc Natural Sweet 2006
• Monis Rooi Muskadel 2000
• Nederburg Edelkeur Private Bin Chenin Blanc NLH 2005
• Nederburg Private Bin R163 Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
• Lord Neethling Weisser Riesling NLH 2006
• Neil Ellis Pinotage 2006
• Nuy Wit Muskadel 2003
• Nuy Wit Muskadel 1998
• Alexanderfontein Sauvignon Blanc 2007
• Saronsberg Full Circle Shiraz 2005
• Saronsberg Shiraz 2005
• Seidelberg Roland's Reserve Merlot 2005
• Simonsig Redhill Pinotage 2005
• Spier Private Collection Chardonnay 2006
• Sejana Merlot 2005
• Sumaridge Chardonnay 2006
• Montagu Jeripiko Muscadel 2005
• Uitvlucht Montagu Rooi Muskadel 2005
• Wamakersvallei La Cave Pinotage 2006

Go here for the full competition results.

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60,000 bottles gone in Irish warehouse blaze

Story from the Western Mail newspaper, photo from the BBC:

Around 60,000 bottles of fine wine have been destroyed in a blaze which gutted a massive warehouse.

The sound of corks popping on vintages worth up to £350 each (US$716) could be clearly heard as firefighters fought in vain to save the merchant’s premises in Mullingar, County Westmeath, in the Irish Republic.

Paddy Keogh, owner of Wines Direct, said his warehouse was destroyed by the inferno as he prepared for his busiest time of the year.

“It’s like farming –- there’s a harvest season, and Christmas is our harvest season,” he said.

Thousands of wooden cases to protect the wines during shipping added to the intensity of the blaze, which took more than two hours to bring under control. No one was injured.

Mr Keogh said he could hear the sound of corks popping off his stock as he frantically tried to rescue computer records so he could continue in business.

“We were lucky we managed to rescue our computer equipment and our records that were on software,” he said. “We had good procedures in place that if something like this happened we could do that.”

Fortunately, about 90% of the business’s stock is kept in bond in Dublin and Mr Keogh assured his staff that they would not be losing their jobs over the fire.

“We’ve located a new warehouse overnight, we’re trying to get our phones re-directed, we’re trying to get our computer re-established and we’ll have stock down here tomorrow.”

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A new wine from an old bombshell

Joan Lucille Olander earned her first public acclaim at age 15 when she was named Miss Palm Springs.

She'll get her latest on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Fountaingrove Golf & Athletic Club in Santa Rosa, CA. That's when she'll launch her first, limited edition of collectible Mamietage wine bottles.

The younger generation(s) may not recognize Ms. Olander, but those of a certain age certainly will if you say the name "Mamie Van Doren." She was one of the Hollywood "Blonde Bombshells" of the 1950s and '60s along with Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, although definitely the least of the group. Now, at age 77 and the lone survivor of the group, she's getting into the celebrity wine game along with the likes of Lorraine Bracco, Fess Parker, Francis Ford Coppola and Oliva Newton-John.

The wine labels on 1.5 liter bottles feature three images of Mamie. Two of the images are of Mamie today, and the third image is of Mamie at age 21. The labels feature nude poses of Mamie covered up by a top, clear peeloff label with strategically-placed stars. Peel the label away, and there she is.

The wine, a Bordeaux blend from Sonoma County's Armida Winery, is called Mamietage and is a limited production of 2,000 bottles of each image, individually numbered. The blend utilizes Cabernet sauvignon, petite verdot, syrah and malbec.

Van Doren, who has been married five times, was known for her sexual image rather than her acting chops during her Hollywood days. One of the memorable quotes attributed to her was this: ""I don't wear panties anymore. This startles the Hollywood wolves so much they don't know what to pull at, so they leave me alone."

She dated Howard Hughes and a string of actors and had roles of varying size in such motion pictures as "His Kind of Woman" (1951), "Yankee Pasha" (1954), "Untamed Youth" (1957), "Sex Kittens Go to College" and "Vice Squad"(1960), "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" (1966) and other forgettable epics, winding up with only four bit-part appearances in the past 40 years, including 2002's "Slackers."



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Maryland winery gets in the spirit

When it comes to alcoholic beverages, Maryland is best known for beer.

True, a chunk of Kentucky's bourbon is shipped to facilities in Maryland for bottling, but beer and a bit of winemaking covers what is produced in the Free State. Until now.

Fiore Winery in Pylesville, Harford County, plans to make grappa and limoncello as well as a spirits-fortified wine.

After two decades of making a name for himself producing wine, owner Michael Fiore told the Baltimore Sun he sees a distillery as a way to expose Maryland wine aficionados to uncommon types of beverages.

"I want to do some new things to bring a little bit of Italy to Maryland," said Fiore, 63.

Fiore told the Sun he is employing a $12,000 copper still for small-scale testing before purchasing a larger system that would cost about $100,000, he said. He makes about 40,000 gallons, or 200,000 bottles, of wine per year, using grapes that he grows in his 13.5-acre vineyard.

Fiore said he plans to distill grappa, the brandy made from wine byproducts; limoncello, a lemon liqueur made from grappa and organic lemon peels, and port wine, a mix of wine and grappa. The grappa and port will cost about $30 a bottle, the limoncello slightly more.

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Rare wine find in England

Every so often someone finds a cache of forgotten wines that provide fuel for excited conversation. The latest is a 400-bottle collection of rare vintages dating to 1875, found in England.

Xenia Irwin (right), wine expert at the St. Austell Brewery in Cornwall, came upon the wines in a side room that hadn't been used in years. She says she thinks it was a collection amassed by previous directors over the decades.

Irwin tells the BBC the collection includes an 1875 cognac which may have belonged Walter Hicks, the brewery's founder. She also points out:

• A 1916 Chateau Rieussec: Bottled in World War I, very few war-time vintages would have left France.
• A 1950 Mouton Rothschild: One of only five Premier Cru Classe wines from Bordeaux.
• A 1953 Chateau Lafite Premier Cru Classe: One of France's top wines and a classic vintage.
• A 1961 Rauzan Segla: 1961 is renowned as one of the best vintages of the 20th century.

Irwin said she is confident that some of the wines had survived and would be drinkable.

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Drinkin' good in the neighborhood

Any idea which restaurant chain leads the industry in beverage alcohol sales?

A hint: Its name puts the emphasis on the food part of its service rather than on the drinks.

If you guessed Applebee's Neighborhood Grill & Bar, you get a gold star.

Applebee's 1,942 restaurants had total alcoholic beverage sales of $567,864,000 in 2006, accounting for an average of 12.5% of each guest check. That's according to the Technomic Top 500 Report, published in Cheers magazine.

The rest of the top 10:

(2.) T.G.I. Friday's, $499,380,000.
(3.) Chili's Bar & Grill, $475,116,000.
(4.) Outback Steakhouse, $327,375,000.
(5.) Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, $252,024,000.
(6.) Olive Garden, $233,177,000.
(7.) Red Lobster, $210,103,000.
(8.) Hooters, $205,875,000.
(9.) The Cheesecake Factory, $167,310,000.
(10.) Ruby Tuesday, $157,950000.

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Niagara Wine Trail booming

New York State's wine industry keeps expanding -- now topping the 240 mark, and no other region seems to be doing it any faster than Niagara County, home of the Niagara Wine Trail.

Schulze Vineyards and Winery in the town of Burt opened Sunday. Leonard Oakes Estate is scheduled to open in November. And Arrowhead Springs Vineyards is targeted for a February opening.

The Niagara Wine Trail started in Cambria as a two-winery organization in 2002 and already has grown to include 10. State lawmakers have approved splitting the trail into east and west branches.

Go to Dowd's Guide to American Wine Trails for links to other wine trails in New York and around the nation.

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