Newcomer doubles up in PA competition

Scott Bubb shows off his double trophies.

HARRISBURG, PA -- Seven Mountains Wine Cellars isn't a widely-known operation, but it certainly has a higher profile today than it did a week ago.

The Centre County facility, which won't even mark its first anniversary until August, on Saturday became the first entrant ever to win the Governor's Cup top awards in both grape- and non-grape wine categories of the Pennsylvania Farm Show competition.
Seven Mountains' grand-prize winner in the grape category was its 2009 vidal ice wine. Its 2009 cranberry won for the fruit category.

Scott Bubb is the owner and winemaker who runs the facility with his wife, Mary Ann. When they received advance word they were in the running for awards, they chartered a bus to whisk them and 46 supporters to the show. The Bubbs were presented with their trophies by Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding at a ceremony at the Farm Show.

Thirty-seven Pennsylvania wineries submitted a total of 244 wines for the competition.The best-in-show wines in six categories were chosen from among the gold medalists, and from those six wines two were chosen for the Governor’s Cups.

Scott Bubb is a native of Mifflin County. He got into winemaking in 1976, making his first batch from Concord grapes picked in his Aunt Sylvia's back yard. He became a professional when the manufacturing plant that employed him closed.

He earned numerous regional and national awards as an amateur, including being ranked 12th on the American Wine Society's list of the "Top 50 Amateur Winemakers in the United States." Now, his professional status seems equally promising.

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Washington considers wine/beer sampling

This is how it's done in California.

• From the Seattle (WA) Times:

OLYMPIA, WA — Following in the steps of grocery stores, farmers markets soon may be allowed to offer wine and beer samples to customers.

Sponsored by state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, Senate Bill 5029 would authorize a pilot program for limited wine and beer tasting at farmers markets.

Kohl-Welles ... proposed the program in the previous legislative session, but it failed to reach a vote on the Senate floor.

"We have a longer amount of time to get ... bills through, and I believe it would be very helpful to our farmers markets, which I strongly support and are growing across the state of Washington," she said. " ... And I think particularly for our small wineries and small craft breweries, they have a harder time marketing to the public. This gives our potential customers the opportunity to taste the product."

The Legislature convened today for a 105-day session that will be dominated by wrangling over the state budget.

The bill would direct the state Liquor Control Board to choose 10 farmers markets for the pilot project, which would run from July 2011 to September 2012. Only one winery or microbrewery could offer samples at a market per day, customers would have to stay in a designated tasting location, and food would be available to customers as they drink their samples of two ounces or less. ...

As of December, 195 groceries in Washington were authorized to provide wine and beer samples.

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NY wine-in-markets debate flares anew

Speculation is one of New York State’s major industries. Speculation about one of its other major industries takes things to a different level.

With the arrival of Andrew Cuomo as governor, and his appointment of people to various key advisory and regulatory positions, the matter of wine sales in supermarkets quickly has come up once again. Given that it got a lengthy walk in the spotlight from the State Legislature last summer before once again disappearing under an avalanche of hysteria, you can expect the matter to be kept at the top of the agenda for many people.

Tim Morral

How the pro-market forces will fare under Cuomo is an unknown at this point. Even people on the same side of the issue already are disagreeing. For example, the respected blogger Tim Morral writes on his blog NY Wine Guy, “Is Cuomo New York wine’s knight in shining armor? … Although he may find it difficult to match Governor Paterson’s entertainment value, Andrew Cuomo is making a lot of noise about rebuilding the state’s economy. If he succeeds that could be good news for the New York wine industry.”

Among the “signs” he cites:

• The election of ex-Rochester mayor and police chief Bob Duffy as lieutenant governor. He has long been exposed to the business power and potential of the ever-growing Finger Lakes wine community.
• The appointment of Danny Wegman, of the Wegmans grocery store empire, to an Upstate Business Council that Cuomo has promised to create. His stores in other states already sell wines.
• The fact that the governor’s girlfriend, Sandra Lee of Food Network fame, is a big wine fan and would seem to have the ear of the man in charge.

Carlo DeVito

However, Carlo DeVito doesn’t buy that. DeVito, a New York City publishing executive and owner with wife Dominique of Hudson-Chatham Winery in Columbia County, writes on his own blog, “Where my fellow blogger is wrong is that he thinks “it would mean a significant revenue boost for New York wineries. A greater emphasis on the wine industry in Albany would be nice, but selling wine in grocery stores is a start.” I am sorry, but that’s bullshit.

“An emphasis on growing the wineries is a great idea. Where’s some tourism dollars? Where’s the funding that wineries in Maryland and Virginia, and other states are getting to promote their wine industries and tourism? Now, I’ve played many games on the playground, and I know the old rubric ‘Money talks, bullshit walks,’ but this is too much. Name which wineries will actually score big. I can tell you who: The five largest wineries in the state, one of which will be Canadaigua. Then it will be California, Australia, Chile, and Argentina.

“I used to live next to a Wegmans. They sold four or five NY state wines, and then the rest were everything else — from Cakebread and rare French Bordeaux’s and Burgundies to Yellow Tail and Franzia. I’ve had someone tell me from one of these larger wineries that with my own winery I could probably sell a couple of delis that I couldn’t get in before. Gee, thanks! Where’s the revenue boost? Wegmans will get a sweetheart deal on taxes and pay into the coffers, and a number of smaller, ill equipped wine stores will bite the dust. When the small stores falter, the small wineries will falter as well. It’s only the big store chains that will make something happen.

“The reason the wineries haven’t helped make this deal happen yet is pure and simple. In the main, it won’t help the NY wineries, or they would already have gotten it done. Out of the more than 300 wineries in NY State, Wegmans has only ever carried five or six. What happens to the other 294? … I say to Duffy and Cuomo, let’s have a meeting. Let’s have a discussion. Ask a few dozen winery owners to the state capital. Let’s see what they say. I say to the wineries, better get off your hands, or someone will chop them off for you.”

And so, Let the debate go on from here.

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Italian bubblies now outsell Champagne

If you are among those who uncorked a bottle of bubbly to usher in the new year, there's a strong chance it wasn't Champagne.

The iconic French wine was outsold in 2010 by Italian sparkling wines -- to the tune of 10 million bottles more, according to statistics just released by Assoenologi, the Italian winemakers association.

Assoenologi estimated global sales of spumante and similar wines collectively known as "bollicine" at 380 million bottles. Additionally, Coldiretti, an Italian agricultural association, said exports of spumante and prosecco, the most popular Italian sparkling wines, were up 17% in the first nine months of 2010.

"I see so many international sparkling wines, and many of them are just as good quality as Champagne," Beppe Juliano, editor of the Italian wine magazine Euopisa, told UPI.com. "The difference is that small producers from Italy or England are not charging you for a brand."

France's Champagne region has been producing less Champagne because of successive bad harvests. In addition, both Italian and English sparkling wines have entered the market at 25 to 75% less than their French counterparts.

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Guest comment: Don't pour my wine!

• The writer is chairman of the Electoral College of the Vintners Hall of Fame. He is a former wine writer/editor for the San Francisco Chronicle. This commentary was written for Palate Press, the online wine magazine.

By W. Blake Gray

Traditionally in haute cuisine wine service, a waiter refills wine glasses, and the diners never need sully their hands on the bottle. But traditional haute cuisine service is just about dead. Instead, the main reason servers refill glasses today is to get the bottle off the table and encourage you to buy another one.

I spend many meals in fine restaurants these days trying to play defense against every passing server topping off a glass I don’t want refilled. Let my guard down for a second -- laugh at a friend’s joke -- and suddenly I have a full glass I didn’t want.

Perhaps I’m unkind to think servers are only looking for a 20% tip on a second bottle. Many are just trying to do a job. But servers can’t keep track of each diner’s individual needs, nor do I want to give them a rundown of our personal situations each time we sit down.

[Go here for the full commentary.]

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Georgian wine exports on the rebound

There is no definitive proof of where wine originated on this planet, but many places claim to be its home.

One of those is in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which cites archaeological finds suggesting viniculture began there as much as 8,000 years ago, well before it reached western Europe. Most authorities on wine history concede it probably was No. 1.

That aside, it is the more modern status of the country's wine industry that concerns it, in the wake of a 2006 ban on imports of Georgian wine by Russia, which had been its primary customer. The move was made during mounting political tensions between the two countries that eventually erupted into a brief war.

Now, according to just-released statistics from the Georgian agriculture ministry, sales numbers for 2010 showed a definite upturn although the exports are nowhere near the pre-ban level.

Ministry spokesman Giorgi Chaduneli today said 15 million bottles of wine were exported over the past year, a 34% increase over 2009. Production had dropped by about 80%, severely damaging the industry. At one time, Georgia exported as much as 59 million bottles, mostly to Russia. Its main customers now are fellow ex-Soviet countries Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Although there are 500 or so of grapes, only 38 are officially grown for commercial viticulture in Georgia. Most wine grapes are grown by small farmers and sold to wineries. Few of the grape varieties are known in the U.S., although one, Rkatsiteli, is coming into vogue more and more in New York State. It is the top white wine grape grown in Georgia.

Georgian wines are readily available in the U.S. Here is a link to one importer.

A Georgia farmer as shown on the Georgian Wine Society home page.

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Brown-Forman may sell off a winery

BILL DOWD PHOTO

A tractor driver at a Sonoma-Cutrer vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

In the wake of news that Constellation Brands has sold 80% of its stake in its wine holdings comes news that beverage giant Brown-Forman Corp. is exploring “strategic alternatives” for its Mendocino County, CA, wine holdings.

However, a spokesman for Brown-Forman, best known to the public for its Jack Daniel's Tennessee whiskey, Woodford Reserve bourbon and Finlandia vodka, said the Louisville, KY, company has no plans to sell its Sonoma County winery, Sonoma-Cutrer.

"We concluded we’re very pleased with its brand-building model and that it can continue to do well in our hands," spokesman Phil Lynch told the Santa Rose, CA, Press-Democrat.

Brown-Forman says it is exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, for the Fetzer winery, bottling facility and vineyards in Mendocino County and its other Hopland-based brands.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported Brown-Forman was putting its wine business on the block after several years of sluggish sales.

(Go here for a report on my visit to Sonoma-Cutrer at harvest time.)

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Adulterated Chinese wines seized

In what is no shock to anyone aware of the adulterated products China keeps pumping into the global marketplace, several wineries in what is referred to as "China's Bordeaux region" have been shut down and bottles of their wines pulled from stores after authorities found wine containing several chemical additives.

A report on Chinese state television today said the incident in Changli county in the central province of Hebei -- where a third of China's domestic wines are produced -- showed wineries were doctoring their beverages with sugar water, coloring agents and artificial flavorings, and then falsely using famous brand names.

Huang Weidong, an industry expert, said the additives could cause cardiac irregularities and headaches, and possibly are carcinogenic.

"We are highly concerned about this behavior. To ensure safety measures, we have already started to remove the suspected wines from the shelves," a spokesman for Beijing area Wal-Mart stores told the Global Times newspaper.

The Xinhua news agency reported that provincial authorities had shut down nearly 30 wineries and corporate financial accounts have been frozen.

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Constellation sells off wine supremacy

VICTOR, NY — New York State used to be home to the world’s No. 1 wine producer. That no longer is the case.

Constellation Brands, headquartered in this Rochester suburb, has announced it is selling 80% of its British and Australian wine operations to a private equity firm in Australia for $230 million. That makes Gallo the world’s largest wine producer.

Constellation Brands continues to own Robert Mondavi wines in California, along with such brands as Svedka vodka and such beers as Corona from Mexico, Tsingtao from China and St. Pauli Girl from Germany.

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Study: Wine shipments won't tempt youths

• From the Washington Examiner:

A report from Maryland's comptroller found that allowing shipment of wine from out of state does not contribute to underage drinking, deflating the most comment argument for the state's current ban -- and lawmakers are already lining up to repeal the law.

Comptroller Peter Franchot also found that shipment from out-of-state wineries would not hurt the local liquor industry, although imports from out-of-state retailers could have an impact.

His office examined the 37 states that allow direct shipment along with the District, and identified practices that minimize the risk of underage alcohol consumption. For example, packages should be labeled as containing alcohol, and services such as FedEx and UPS should deliver only to adults 21 or over.

But minors generally were not interested in abusing a direct-ship system to get an illegal fix, said Joseph Shapiro, spokesman for the comptroller's office.

"Their No. 1 one concern is immediacy," Shapiro said. "Your parents are going out of town this weekend, let's have a party, that type of thing. With direct ship, the shipment just takes too long."

[Go here for the rest of the story.]

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A wine business on the block

• From the Associated Press

NEW YORK — There may be two more wine businesses up for sale as some parts of the industry struggle with weak sales volumes and pricing.

Brown-Forman Corp., the maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey, is putting its wine business on the block, The Wall Street Journal reported online late Monday, citing unnamed sources. The company, based in Louisville, KY, has reportedly hired Rothschild to run the auction process after its wine business -- which includes brands such as Fetzer and Bonterra Vineyard -- delivered sluggish sales for several years.

The deal could fetch a few hundred million dollars, according to the report. Brown-Forman and Rothschild declined to comment.

The paper also said that people familiar with matter expect Constellation Brands Inc. to sell the bulk of its non-U.S. wine business to an unknown buyer as soon as this week. That deal is reportedly valued between $300 and $400 million.

Constellation Brands, based in Victor, NY, did not return calls seeking comment.

[Go here for the rest of the story.]

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Veritas' return stars Châteauneuf-du-Pape

NEW YORK -- The Big Apple's largest commercial wine cellar is again available for consumer now that Veritas has re-opened.

Park B. Smith's restaurant, which returned Tuesday after being revamped and re-staffed since the summer, has an immense wine list of 3,300 selections that range all over the globe and all over vintage years.

Smith's favorites are his Châteauneuf-du-Pape segment, which he is offering at discounted prices although most still will be costly, given their provenance. The wines, from the Rhône region of France, are from a variety of estates, including Domaine Pontifical and Domaine de la Mordorée.

Veritas, after dismissing its staff and locking its doors without public notice back in August, now offers New American fare rather than its former pricey a la carte menu. It is located in the Flatiron District at 43 East 20th Street, between Park Avenue South and Broadway. Phone: (212) 353-3700.

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Winds of controversy at NY winery

• From BuffaloNews.com

CAMBRIA, NY -- The owners of Arrowhead Spring Vineyards are planning to sue the Town of Cambria over last week’s rejection of their request to install a wind power turbine on their property.

After a crowded public meeting showed solid opposition last Monday, the town Planning Board voted unanimously against the winery’s proposal.

Owners Duncan and Robin Ross said they shouldn’t have even had to go before the board in the first place, since they say state law is written to encourage windmills on agricultural properties. But, Planning Board Chairman William Amacher and attorney Gary Billingsley said the applicants misled the board by saying that the windmill would have powered only the wine making operation. Once the board found out the windmill also was going to power the Ross home on the site, the project no longer qualified for a simple site plan review under the town’s ordinance, Billingsley said.

That shouldn’t be a big deal, Robin Ross said. “Like 90% of farms in New York State, we have one electric meter,” she said.

“It does make a difference,” Billingsley said. “Under normal circumstances, [Arrowhead] would have needed a special use permit, which requires a public hearing. [Duncan Ross] said it was only for agricultural purposes, which requires only site plan review.”

To obtain a special use permit, a noise study also would be required, Billingsley said. Anonymous fliers distributed around the town helped drum up a hostile crowd.

[Go here for the full story.]

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A celebri-quote: Sofia Coppola

• New York City-born Sofia Coppola, 39, daughter of iconic movie director Francis Ford Coppola and a very competent filmmaker in her own right, discussed her family's California winery during an interview with New York magazine's Grub Street staffers. 

Q: Your father owns a vineyard. Do you ever take any interest in that at all?

A: In the vineyard?

Q: Yes, or in the wine-making process. Are you into that at all?

A: Yeah. My brother made a wine, and I don’t know as much about it as I feel like I should, but I’m going there for the holidays, and I love to be involved in it and visit and see what they’re making. I’m learning. ...

Q: Does anybody stomp on grapes there?

A: Not anymore, but there’s a bottle somewhere from when we first moved there. I was a little kid and stomped on some grapes, and they bottled it and called it Lafitte Sofia. So there’s a bottle somewhere from 1977 or something. [Laughs.] It’s probably in our cellar somewhere. But we don’t stomp on the grapes anymore. It’s more high tech.

[You can read more comments in my Celebri-Quotes archive by clicking here.]

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1st 'Soiree des Grands Crus' set for January

NEW YORK -- Everything you wanted to know about Bordeaux wines may be at your fingertips in January, when 82 Mercer in SoHo hosts the first Soiree des Grands Crus, a social event and vintage wine tasting that will play host to 17 châteaux owners.

They are billed as the new generation of grands crus de Bordeaux estate owners. The wineries make up about 5% of the total production of wines produced in the Bordeaux region. Among featured estate wineries will be Pessac-Léognan, Sauternes, Saint Julien, Margaux, Pauillac, Saint Emilion and Pomerol.

Early Access tickets in very limited number are going for $250, with general admission tickets priced at $185.  Admission includes the fine food and wine pairing  event, featuring 23 Chateaux. Also included is free registration  and participation in the Wine Challenge to win Grands Crus de  Bordeaux. Tickets are available online.

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Musings on a different kind of bug

I was sitting around with some friends the other day, sipping on a lovely Finger Lakes wine and wondering aloud about malolactic fermentations.

OK, so I lied.

But, luckily for those of us who enjoy a lovingly constructed wine, there are people who do think about such things, Take Peter Bell (right), for example. He's the winemaker at Fox Run Vineyards, located on the west side of Seneca Lake, midway between Geneva and Penn Yan. He writes on the vineyard's blog:

"People often stop me on the street and say, 'What do winemakers talk about in late November?' Well, probably the number-one question we ask of each other in this profession is 'So, d’ya getcher deer?'

"Just kidding. It’s 'How are your MLs doing?' MLs in this case are winemaker shorthand for malolactic fermentations. You may recall seeing a picture ... in an earlier post, initiating the process ... with little cups of freeze-dried bacteria. That was a few weeks ago. By now, our MLs are either well under way or wrapped up entirely.

"What’s the point of this procedure? A guaranteed modest reduction in the acidity of the wine, associated with the conversion of malic acid to lactic, is rarely a bad thing in our cool climate. But we also expect an increase in aroma and flavor complexity."

That may be a nugget of wine knowledge many of you didn't have before. Now you do, and it's a fascinating process. You can read the full blog entry by clicking here.

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Pinot Noir again No. 1 in New Zealand

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- A 2009 Pinot Noir has been  named "Champion Wine of the Show" in New Zealand's premier competition, the Air New Zealand Wine Awards.

Peregrine Wines' Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009 joined its 2008 Riesling -- a winner announced earlier -- among gold medal wines. The facility itself also won the trophy for Champion Open Red Wine.

Steve Smith, chair of judges, said the Peregrine pinot noir was "the finest example of the finest red wine variety in this country" with "wild flowers, thyme and black fruits on the nose."

The question about such awards from many consumers usually is, can I actually find it at my wine merchant? In this case, chances apparently are good.

Grey Hay, co-owner and marketing director of Peregrine, said winning the trophy in the open red wine category was equally important as it meant the pinot noir was produced in a volume that made it available to the public in a reasonable quantity.

"It's not a small volume selection." he said. "That is our standard pinot noir that has been made to that quality. It's a wine that the public can get access to quite easily."

This is the second consecutive year a pinot noir has claimed top honors at the awards, which are organized by New Zealand Winegrowers. You can access the full list of winner here.

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Burgundy auction posits higher prices

• From the Reuters news service

Prices for Burgundy wine jumped by more than a fifth at the 150th annual Beaune Hospices charity auction Sunday, with growers hailing a high quality vintage and a recovery in foreign demand.

The sale of wines from the Hospices domaine, conducted by auction house Christie's, traditionally gives an indication of price trends for the latest vintage and is one of the highlights of the French wine calendar. ...

Burgundy, where viticulture stretches back to at least Roman times and was nurtured during the Middle Ages by Catholic monasteries, is home to some of the world's most expensive wines. Its vineyards nestle in the valleys and slopes west of the Saone River, a tributary of the Rhone in eastern France.

Growers said the 2010 vintage produced unusually low volumes due to a late harvest and small, intensely flavored grapes.

"The very rare coincidence of these two phenomena suggests a high quality vintage," said Roland Masse, manager of the Hospices de Beaune domaine.

[Go here for the full Reuters report.]

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Former USSR state making whiskey

ABC photo

The former Soviet Union republic of Azerbaijan is about to become the first whiskey producer in the Caucus region of Central Asia.

Naig Mammadhasanov (right), general director of the wine-centric beverage company Tovuz-Baltia, told the Azerbajian Business Center's ABC news office that the company has just begun entering the market.

It plans to finish 15,000 bottles by the end of this year, and "the future will depend on market reaction to our new product. At the same time, German businessmen have already expressed interest in whiskey of our production. They say that there is demand for such output."

Tovuz-Baltia already exports 80% of its other output to European Union and and Commonwealth of Independent States markets in Europea and Asia. Only 20% is sold in-country.

The company was founded in December 1989 and focuses primarily on the cultivation of grapes and the production of wine and wine products such as cognac. However, Tovuz-Baltiya has recently introduced new technology and is producing fruit- and berry-based wines and spirits.

"We decided against bringing spirits from Ukraine, Iran and Russia and are producing vodka with our own raw materials. We have started the production of a new brand of alcohol from watermelon, quince, pomegranate and other fruits," Mammadhasanov said.

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Guest comment: Texas victory needs asterisk

By Fred LeBrun
Albany Times Union

ALBANY, NY -- Texas beat New York badly in the first Grape Gridiron Classic, held a couple of weeks ago in Dallas, but at least there should be an asterisk in the record book.

Just a month or so ago, the Texas Department of Agriculture came up with the idea for a friendly competition between these two wine-producing states, and it's a good one. Using a hurry-up offense, a Dallas-based wine educator and blogger, Jeff Siegel, and Texas wine blogger Russ Kane came up with 11 wines chosen from the 200 wineries in the Lone Star State. Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, picked New York's team.

The wine-to-wine blind taste-off in various red and white categories, with 40 Texas winemakers, sellers and members of the trade participating, took place at El Centro College the same evening the New York Giants were beating up the Dallas Cowboys.

Virginia wine consultant and blogger Richard Leahy and I were the non-Texas voters in the room, and I certainly agree that Texas beat us that night fair and square, wine against wine. We hang our heads.

However, here's why there's an asterisk.

[Go here for the rest of his commentary.]

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