Looking from a different angle at the 2011 Bordeaux En Primeur campaign…

Posted on Sunday, 13 May 2012 by Caroline Henry

Bordeaux En Primeur tasting

Bordeaux En Primeur tasting

Ever since last year’s very successful (read profitable) 2010 Bordeaux en Primeur campaign people have been speculating about what would happen with the 2011 wines. So when vintage conditions proved to be rather challenging last September, a steady “end of the world as we know it” buzz started gaining momentum. Bring on Robert Parker, who brushed off the vintage before the En Primeur tasting week even started and then Chateau Latour deciding to leave the En Primeur system and all at once the talk of wine town became the collapse of the Bordeaux’s dominance and it’s En Primeur system and with it the 2011 vintage has just about been written off…

Before I continue let’s take a closer look at how it all started. The 2010 vintage had been acclaimed as potentially the greatest vintage of the decade, maybe even better than the near perfect 2009, obviously creating a big demand. Bring to the equation a thriving Chinese wine market with a great interest for Bordeaux and money to spend wanting their piece of the pie. This resulted in the biggest upwards spiraling of En Primeur prices ever – with several Chateau’s pricing their wines at over 1000 Euro/bottle. Whilst this may seem crazy, it is in fact very normal market behaviour – i.e. prices significantly increase when there is a big demand and a small supply. The amount of wine had virtually stayed the same, but all at once there were a lot more buyers many of whom where willing to pay whatever it took which meant the system went more than a little crazy.

When all was set and done, the initial confidence started to wane and buyers were doubting they were going to make money on their investment. Furthermore several major counterfeit wine cases had been in the news and all at once en Primeur wine did not seem such a good investment any more. Following the 2011 vintage conditions, which proved to be more than a little challenging, opinion leaders thus started to predict large decreases in the 2011 En Primeur pricing.

So what exactly does En Primeur stand for? En Primeur is a system whereby one pre-sells the wine at the best possible price – read cheapest it would ever be – when the wine is still in the making. The fine Bordeaux’s in this system are wines which require lengthy aging in barrel as well as in bottle before they really come into their own. En Primeur buyers commit to the wine by paying for it upfront and will receive the wine once it has been bottled 1.5 to 2 years later. In a way the system is a win win situation: the Chateau gets paid earlier which eases pressures on the cash flow and the consumer gets a “bargain” as the release price a few years later will be significantly higher.

This notion of consumer “bargain” is extremely important for the system to work well. We can see the impact right now with a lot of consumers feeling the 2011 wines are “overpriced” which has been seriously hampering the 2011 En Primeur campaign. This leaves us with the million dollar question “what would be a fair price for the 2011 vintage”?

Ultimately this boils down to how good are the 2011 wines and what is their aging potential?

As we already mentioned the 2011 vintage was rather difficult, yet with careful attention and a lot of sorting work in the winery some excellent elegant wines were made. I have been very fortunate to be able to analyse Xavier Leclerc tasting notes. Xavier is a very respected French wine buyer and wine judge who received the prestigious Revue de Vin de France “Hypermarché de l’Année” price this January. Xavier’s notes were extremely interesting as he had comparative notes for the last 3 vintages. He also told me he had compared his notes with Robert Parker’s with whom he had some interesting discussions on some of the wines. As a wine buyer for a large hypermarket, Xavier’s customers are always on the back of his mind, so these points hopefully will also reflect some of the better deals around. I have listed here below some of the top scoring wines as well as their release price (when available) taken from Millésima or another other reputable En Primeur resellers as a reference. Please note that these wines are not ordered in any particular way but they all scored above 92 points and initial thoughts indicated that they are best consumed between 2019 and 20130.

  • L’Egregore 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Petrus Gaïa 2011 – €13.36 per bottle
  • La Croix de Perenne 2011 – price not released yet
  • Domaine de l’A 2011 – €18.80 per bottle
  • Château De Pressac 2011 – price not released yet
  • Lucia 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Fombrauge 2011 – €17.25 per bottle
  • Château Magrez Fombrauge 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Grandes Murailles 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Clos Saint Martin 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Larcis Ducasse 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Clos Fourtet 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Pavie Macquin 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Beau-Séjour Bécot 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Beauséjour-Duffau-Lagarrosse 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Figeac 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Angelus 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château La Gaffeliere 2011 – €39 per bottle
  • Le plus de La Fleur de Boüard 2011 – €63.33 per bottle
  • Château Le Gay 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château la Croix saint Georges 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château le Bon Pasteur 2011 – no price in Euro’s found, just under £33 UK under bond price
  • Château Feytit Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
  • Petite Eglise 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Eglise Clinet 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Petit Village 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château La Conseillante 2011 – price not released yet
  • Clos Vieux Taillefer 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château La Tour Carnet 2011 – €22.80 per bottle
  • Château Poujeaux 2011 – €19.60 per bottle
  • Château De Fieuzal 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Haut Bailly 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Pape Clement 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Du Tertre 2011- €23.80 per bottle
  • Château Kirwan 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Marquis d’Alesme 2011 Becker – €23.33 per bottle
  • Château Rauzan Gassies 2011 – not released yet
  • Château Malescot Saint Exupery 2011 – €37.90 per bottle
  • Alter ego de Palmer 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Palmer 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Talbot 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Léoville Barton 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Lynch Bages 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Pichon Longueville Contesse de Lalande 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Mouton Rothschild 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Lafite Rothschild 2011 – €490 per bottle
  • Château Pichon Longueville Baron 2011 – price not released yet
  • Château Cos d’Estournel 2011 – €115 per bottle
  • Chateau Pontet Canet 2011 – €75.90 per bottle

I do know that this list however interesting it may be still does not answer my million dollar question from above. So let me try here: after having spoken to several Bordeaux experts and having done quite a bit of research online, I know the 2011 vintage is comparable to the 2008 and 2001 vintages – both well performing underdogs:-) In price terms I would suggest that any pricing around the 2008 mark would be fair with a bit of lee way for inflation. I personally think that some of the wines are very well priced for the quality and are well worth the investment in our future pleasure! I feel with all of this talk of investment it is important to remember that wine is ultimately there to be ENJOYED and to give us pleasure :-)

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The rise in Champagne of independent winegrowers focusing on a more Burgundian notion of terroir

Posted on Friday, 27 April 2012 by Caroline Henry

Terres et Vins de Champagne © Alexandra Fox

Terres et Vins de Champagne © Alexandra Fox

Last week 4 different group of independent winegrowers in Champagne held an annual tasting over 3 days showing off theirs Champagnes as well as their vins clairs. “Open” vignerons vins clairs tastings are a relatively new concept started by “Terres et Vins de Champagne” 4 years ago. Terres et Vins de Champagne is made up of a group of 19 very terroir driven Champagne makers who want to show off the diversity and the quality of their terroirs in Champagne through their wines – the still base wines (vins clairs) as well as the resulting sparkling ones.

It is a fact that when one speaks about “terroir” in Champagne one often implies the cru’s determined on village level as this is how terroir was classified when the Champagne AOC was established in 1927. The Cru status was accredited on the average quality and ripeness of the grapes in the village at harvest, and the special characteristics these grapes brought to the blend. Because of Champagne’s marginal climate, blending has always been a key concept ever since it was introduced by Dom Perignon. Most houses guarantee the quality and have a high level of consistency from vintage to vintage exactly because they blend in a threefold way: across the 3 main varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier), across the different terroirs covering the whole of the region and across vintages (by adding reserve wine). Whilst this makes perfect sense for the larger Champagne Houses or Necotiants, very few independent wine growers (Recoltant Manipulant) are able to blend across the whole of the region as they generally own vines in a specific village or area (secteur). Yet as they work their own land independent winegrowers have a better knowledge of the specific characteristics including soil composition, micro climate and exposure of each of their plots, even if they are located in the same village. This has led to the development of a more Burgundian notion of terroir with growers focussing on the way the uniqueness of their land and the weather conditions of the year are expressing themselves in their wines.

The members of Terres et Vins de Champagne felt that tasting and understanding the vins clairs would be an essential step for any wine professional or passionate amateur wanting to really grasp and recognise this terroir in the finished bubbly version. And this was the reasoning behind the first tasting they organised in 2009. It is pretty obvious that these 19 producers were not the only ones sharing this idea as last year another group of 13 producers (+ 1 from Burgundy) called “Les Artisans du Champagne” created a similar tasting the day after the Terres et Vins de Champagne tasting. This year two more groups of independent winegrowers organised vins clairs and Champagne tatings, Terroirs et Talents de Champagne the day before the Terres et Vins de Champagne tasting and Trait-D-Union, seemingly a last minute gathering of 6 Champagne growers of semi cult status was held on the morning of the Terres et Vins de Champagne tasting. This brings the total of independent winegrowers defining themselves as terroir driven (following Burgundian definitions) and willing to share and their vins clairs up to 52 – which is only about 1% of the the +- 5000 independent Champagne growers. Yet however small this group they sure got a lot of attention as the the 3 of the 4 fairs I went to were very well attended. Moreover the crowds were very cosmopolitan and full of trend setters – it seemed that a big chunk of the influential Champagne communicators had descended upon the region from other parts of France, US, Japan, Scandinavia, UK and Belgium. This crowd included hip (flying) sommelier consultants, independent wine buyers and influential Champagne writers and bloggers. I even met a few winemakers and chef de caves from the larger houses among the crowds. Especially the latter, in my opinion, points to the fact that these 52 growers are something to watch out for, and something even the big houses are keeping tabs on:-) It is a well known fact that “terroir wines” are a trending topic right now and some of the wines on show are fetching quite high prices simply because they are excellent and very hard to find.

In a way these tastings reminded me of the “Garage Wine” movement in Bordeaux, as in both cases the wines are from outstanding quality, a true expression of their terroir, made in small quantities and making a name for themselves creating demand and pushing the prices up. An example here is David Leclapart who only makes 15,000 bottles of outstanding Champagnes in Trepail. If you compare that to the 1.5 million bottles of Dom Perignon made every year it is easy to see that for the Champagne geek a bottle of Leclapart is at least as valuable if not more…

To end I would like to mention a few other producers whose wines I was really impressed with and I suggest you check them out – most of them have had reviews on Vinogusto :-)

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The joy we can have from drinking aged wines..

Posted on Thursday, 19 April 2012 by Caroline Henry

It is a well known fact that the majority of the wine purchased will be consumed within 24 hours. Most purchases are occasion driven – eg “I am invited to dinner tonight so I better get some wine”, or “My brother just got engaged so better get some Champagne to celebrate tomorrow” or even “It’s such a lovely day out and I really feel like a glass of chilled white wine so I will just drop by the store to get it.” The more organised among us probably buy wine at the same time as they do their grocery shopping and stock up for the next few days. This “purchase to consume” pattern makes a lot of sense if we think of the urbanisation trend – today most of us live in small city apartments with very limited storage. And as wine has become more readily available with more and more stores either specializing in it or at least having a good selection, less and less wine is bought to store and age…

Yet in my opinion wine can have such wonderful richness and complexity which like wisdom generally only comes with age ;-)

Like people, young wines often display adolescent characteristics – they are boisterous, bright and a little bit rough and ready around the edges. Their mouth puckering acids, chewy tannins and bold fruit flavours take our taste buds on an exciting roller coaster ride which leaves us tantalized but also wary after a few glasses. Yet these same wines, with a little bit of aging will lose some of that mad in-your-face cheekiness in favour of more delicate and layered characteristics. After a few years the acidity goes from tangy to just fresh. The tannin structure does not need chewing any more, instead it’s silky smooth plushness now envelops our mouth like a soft brushed velvet cloak. Even the fruit has become less pronounced and developed some mysterious secondary characteristics such as smoke or even leather which blend in seamlessly in this myriad of flavours.
Drinking a glass of aged wine is like meandering down the river in a houseboat – it is a slow discovery journey as every sip holds the promise of new flavours.

Millésima Chai - picture by Millésima ©

Millésima Chai - picture by Millésima ©

I was reminded of this amazing development wine can have on a trip to the Millésima Chai last month. Millésima is a company who specialises in direct sales of fine wines. They are the only Negotiant to still have their storage in an original Bordeaux Chai – in the heart of the town next to the river. I was there to taste the Bordeaux 2010 en primeur and was fortunate enough to attend a dinner where some amazing older wines were poured. The following wines really blew my mind:

All three had mellowed with age, yet showed extreme freshness and a youthfulness reminiscent of the stylish, elegant yet mysterious Dorian Gray. I am convinced Oscar Wilde would have approved!

And what a difference with the en primeur 2010 Bordeaux we tasted the next day! Don’t get me wrong – there is no doubt that 2010 was indeed an excellent vintage in Bordeaux. The majority of the more than 100 wines I tasted were fragrant, intense, well structured and showing beautiful red and black fruit flavours – but the extreme acidity and young tannins felt like a harness rather than a velvet cloak. These wines were like awkward teenagers, whose young bodies showed plenty of promise of turning into beautiful adults given a few more years to develop. And time is exactly what they will have at the Millésima Chai once they have been bottled up and labelled in a few months time. Whilst Millésima is selling these wines en Primeur at the moment – they will not ship them till the beginning of next year at the earliest. But if you are an urbanite with little storage available you can also purchase older vintages which will be more pleaurable to drink. If you want a wine for an occasion do contact Hélène Bernard or Ariane Bissirier, both oenologist, who regularly re-taste all the wines in the Chai and who will be happy to answer any questions you may have!

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Trade and Consumer tastings of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano in Belgium

Posted on Wednesday, 18 April 2012 by FayeCardwell

Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is one of Italy’s most prestigious wines made from at least 70% of its iconic grape, Sangiovese. Produced in a small area in South-Eastern Tuscany surrounding the picturesque village of Montepulciano, the region is blessed with rich cultural heritage and outstanding beauty.

To convey some of that beauty and showcase the quality of wines the region produces, a group of Vino Nobile di Montepulciano producers along with the Consorzio Vino Nobile di Montepulciano will visit Brussels to host a trade tasting open to press, importers, distributors, sommeliers and restauranteurs.

The tasting, to be held at the Palais des Colonies in Tervuren on Tuesday 8th May, will start with a seminar at 12pm lead by Dirk Rodriguez, of Vino! Magazine . The event will then continue with a workshop from 1pm to 6pm in which producers will present Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Riserva and Rosso di Montepulciano wines. Many of the wineries are not yet available in Belgium and are eager to seek new export opportunities.

Participating wineries will also be promoting their products to consumers at special events and themed evenings during the month of May in selected wine shops in Antwerp, Brussels, Gent and Liege.

Participating wineries: Avignonesi, Boscarelli, Carpineto, Cavalierino organic winery, Dei, Fattoria del Cerro, Fattoria di Palazzo Vecchio, Il Greppo, Il Macchione, La Ciarlina, Poliziano, Vecchia Cantina di Montepulciano

For further information on both the trade and wine-shop tastings, please contact faye@fayecardwell.com

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International Competition of Wines for Fish

Posted on Monday, 16 April 2012 by FayeCardwell

The International Competition for Wines for Fish awards excellence in white and rose, still and sparkling, wines from across the globe and offers excellent International exposure to award-winning wine producers.

The competition, organised under the name “Selezione Vini da Pesce” since the 1960s, is one of Italy’s most well known and well respected wine competitions. Originally only for white wines, the competition evolved to include rose and sparkling wines. For the 2012 edition, the playing field has been opened up to International producers of quality wine.

The wines will be assessed by a panel of highly qualified International journalists, trade professionals and wine-makers from 9th to 11th May in Ancona on the Adriatic coast. Wines will be awarded a “diploma” (for gaining a min 80pts) whilst gold, silver and bronze awards will be given to the wines with the highest scores in each of the 14 sub categories (wines are divided by colour, still or sparkling, and by PGI or PDO status) A special award, the ”Calice Dorico”, is reserved for the winery which gains the highest points overall.

Results will be published in the main trade media, through a network of blogs and via a series of events in Italy and abroad (including publicity at Prowein, Vinitaly, Vinexpo).

Further details about the fair, along with registration documents can be found on the site. International participants should send their registration form to info@vinidapesce.it and wines should arrive at the destination indicated on the website by 3rd May.

For any further queries, please contact faye@fayecardwell.com

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Some of my favourite Champagne houses

Posted on Friday, 6 April 2012 by Caroline Henry

Champagne made it’s history as the wine of kings and today it is often thought of as the king of wines. The delicate bubbles seem to envelop us and sparkle up our live every time we drink some, or at least that is what happens to me:-)

Negotiants or Champagne Houses played a central role in the history of Champagne and there is no negating that they have been the driving forces behind the “Champagne” brand and the resulting cultural and commercial success of Champagne as an exquisite luxurious drink.

So today I want to share a few of my favourite ‘smaller’ champagne houses – I picked places which I feel all have a vision of making high quality wines and who’s popularity is based mainly on their quality rather than elaborate marketing.

Champagne Bollinger

Champagne Bollinger

When one mentions quality focused Champagne houses Bollinger is a name that readily springs to mind. Bollinger is located in Ay and was founded in 1829 when Athanase Hennequin de Villermont partnered up with Paul Renaudin and Jacques Bollinger.In 1854 after both his partners had passed away without heirs, Jacques Bollinger became the sole director of the Champagne House and now 5 generations later the company is still entirely independently run. This allows them to have quality prevail over profitability.
Bollinger owns 60% of the vineyards used for the production of their Champagne, which is pretty unusual for a Champagne House. 85% of these vineyards are located in Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages which once again highlights the focus on high quality grapes. They are also the only house who store their reserve wines in Magnums closed with a natural cork. These Magnums are aged between 5-10 years before they will be used in the blend which adds to the extra autolytic character of the NV Bollinger Special Cuvee, Bollinger’s flag ship wine. The Special Cuvee is made with 5-10 % reserve wine , and aged for a minimum of 3 years before it is disgorged. This James Bond favourite is an elegant yet complex wine which oozes class and a little mystery – in other words the perfect match for 007:-)

In January 2005 Bollinger bought Ayala, another high quality independent Champagne house – which is starting to make a name for itself with it’s Brut Nature range.

Crayeres at Piper-Heidseick

Crayeres at Piper-Heidseick

A second Champagne House which is is often associated with high quality wines is Piper Heidseick. Florian Louis Heidsieck founded the very successful Champagne Heidsieck house in 1785 – he died in 1828 without a heir and his 3 nephews took over and each added the Heidsieck name to their respective Champagne business and three different brands were created: Piper-Heidsieck, Charles Heidsieck and Heidsieck Monopole. The first two brands were once again re-united when Remy Martin purchased Piper in 1998. In July of last year both brands were purchased by the Descours family, owners of Entreprise Patrimoniale d’Investissements, a privately owned French group of luxury products. Part of the the reason the Descours invested in their first Champagne project is undoubtedly linked to the impeccable reputation and quality of both brands. This reputation has been mainly created and maintained by Regis Camus, the Chef de Caves of both brands. The fact that Regis is responsible for both brands is an anomaly in Champagne where every brand normally has their own Chef de Cave. Regis followed in the footsteps of his mentor Daniel Thibault, with whom he worked for 8 years before taking over the helm of both brands in 2002. Since then Regis has won the prestigious International Wine Challenge Sparkling Winemaker of the Year Award 6 times, and has hung on to this title for the last 5 years in a row. No wonder than that the Piper Heidsieck Brut NV is consistently good and a great value for money Champagne. Continuity of the flavour profile is guaranteed by careful blending and the adding of 20% reserve wines (from the last 4 years) and a 30 month aging period.

Champagne Billecart-Salmon

Champagne Billecart-Salmon

Billecart-Salmon was established in 1818 by Nicolas François Billecart and his wife Elisabeth Salmon. Today the company is still family owned and still very much focussed on quality and beauty. The Billecart-Salmon winery is spotless and extremely modern. All parcels are vinified separately. The first fermentation happens in stainless steel, however for the vintage wines as well as the Cuvee Sous Bois the base wines are aged in oak barrels of different sizes. After bottling the Non Vintage Champagnes are aged for a minimum of 3 years in the 2 km of cellars the family owns in Mareuil-sur-Ay. Even though Billecart-Salmon do produce a Brut, their flag ship wine is the Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose NV. This wine is a blend of the 3 main grape varieties with the addition of 7% of red wine (Pinot Noir) which gives the wine it’s famous colour and great backbone.
The Billecart-Salmon property is extremely beautiful, and can be visited (by appointment only) for €14 – this includes a tour of the grounds, winery & cellars and a tasting.

Champagne Duval-Leroy

Champagne Duval-Leroy's awesome artwork

The last Champagne house I would like to talk about is Duval-Leroy. Duval-Leroy was established in 1859 when 2 Champagne families joined forces to make Champagne. Located in Vertus in the Cote des Blancs, Duval-Leroy has always been a Chardonnay driven Champagne House. In 1991, after her husband passed away Carol Duval, took over the presidency of the company and brought with her a fresh outlook and a modern approach to the Champagne business. And it is precisely this very open and innovative thinking that has allowed her to grow the business from 1.5 million bottles to 5 million bottles today. The growth however does not mean that Duval-Leroy has compromised the quality – if anything the wines have risen to a yet higher level under the reign of Chef de Cave Sandrine Logette Jardin. Besides their flag ship wine “Fleur de Champagne Brut NV” they have a the widest Champagne range I have ever seen in a house: from single vineyards/single vintage/single varietals (Clos de Bouvery), to certified Organic Champagnes, to the Authentis Petit Meslier as well as other single varietals and a Cuvee Prestige (Femme de Champagne). But best of all the wines are really reasonably priced and have an excellent price/quality ratio.

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Crazy French legal system regarding wine advertising

Posted on Thursday, 8 March 2012 by Caroline Henry

On the 23rd of February the French highest judiciary instance, “la court de cassation” concluded that the advertising campaign launched by the Conseil Interprofessionnel du Vin de Bordeaux (CIVB) in 2004 is in breach with the the Loi Evin. Just about everything to do with this decision is weird in a sad way. I would like to elaborate a little on the impact/importance of this decision and explain the French regulations regarding advertising of alcoholic beverages.

The Loi Evin controls advertising of tobacco and alcohol in France and was passed in January 1991. It stipulates that all drinks over 1.2 per cent alcohol by volume are considered as alcoholic beverages. Places and media where advertising is authorised are defined and no advertising should be targeted at young people. Advertising is permitted only in the press, billboards, on radio channels (under precise conditions), at special events or places such as wine fairs and wine museums. When advertising is permitted, its messages and images should only refer to the qualities of the products including alcohol degree, origin, composition, means of production and patterns of consumption. The following health message must be included on each advertisement ”l’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé“. (alcohol abuse is a health hazard)

The 2004 CIVB advert showed a picture of well dressed, youngish wine professionals looking happy and holding a glass of wine and the following slogan: “Discover our Bordeaux winemakers (personalities)” and the corollary statement “Drink less, but drink better”.

The ANPAA, (l’Association nationale de prévention de l’alcoolisme et addictologie) felt that the campaign enticed people to consume Bordeaux wine and took the CIVB to court in 2005. In 2006 the court ruled in favour of the CIVB, a decision which was reinforced by the court of appeal in 2010 as they felt that the campaign did not incite people to consume alcohol in an excessive or abusive way but rather was trying to present it’s subject, Bordeaux wine, in a a favourable light in order to capture the audience.

After they lost the appeal the ANPAA went to the court of cassation who overruled the court of appeal on the basis that the campaign aimed to promote an image of friendliness associated with Bordeaux wines which was likely to encourage consumers to drink Bordeaux wine.

Two days ago Eric Andrieu, a French lawyer, questioned the decision of the court de cassation as he feels that in essence the base of any advertising campaign is to encourage people to purchase and consume the advertised products. And as no excessive or abusive alcohol consumption is promoted he feels the court of appeal was correct in allowing the campaign. For now, the case has once again been referred back to a court in Paris.

The most interesting part for me is that this campaign has long finished yet it is still being the subject of several legal battles, which implies the issue goes deeper than the actual campaign and the impact it could have had. It seems that ANPAA would like to set a precedence preventing any alcoholic advertising with an implication of enjoyment or pleasure. This would be “bad” news for the wine industry as at least still today wine consumption is intrinsically interwoven with the French food culture – where people take pleasure from savouring their meal and the accompanying glass of wine. However cultural mores do change and the wine consumption in France has already been reduced significantly in the last 20 years. If the court will rule that taking pleasure from a glass of Bordeaux entices abusive alcoholic behaviour, it will probably eliminate any further advertising campaigns linking wine consumption and pleasure. This eventually could lead to a further alienation of wine and wine consumption in French culture. Bearing in mind that France is one of the largest wine producers in the world this would, in my opinion, really give a new meaning to the term “French Paradox“.

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New European Organic Wine Regulations: valuable or a cop out?

Posted on Sunday, 26 February 2012 by Caroline Henry

On the 8th of February the European Standing Committee on Organic Farming (SCOF), agreed the new rules EU rules for “organic wine”.

The organic wine debate started tentatively in 2004 when the Commission pledged to establish specific organic rules for all agricultural production, including wine-making and invested in the “OrWine” research project. Initial results of this study and a first draft proposition to define organic wine was submitted to the SCOF in June 2009, but as no agreement could be reached the proposal was withdrawn in June 2010. The OrWine work resumed and another legal draft proposition was submitted and this time agreed upon earlier this month.

So what exactly does this European agreement on organic wine mean?
From the 2012 harvest, organic wine growers will be allowed to use the term “organic wine” rather than “wine made from organic grapes” on their labels providing they make their wine according to the rules set out in this agreement. When a producer chooses to use the term organic wine, the EU-organic-logo and the code number of their certifier has to be shown on the label as well.

The rules introduce a technical definition of organic wine and identifies oenological techniques including the use of additives.
The most hotly debated wine making technique is without doubt the use of sulphites. The new regulations stipulate the maximum sulphite content for wines with a residual sugar content of 2g/l or less to be 60 mg less than for conventional wines (100mg/l for red and 150mg/l for white and rosé) and for wines with a residual content of more than 2 g/l 30mg/l less. Whilst these rules are significantly more restrictive than conventional winemaking rules, they are a far cry from those advocated by organic certification bodies and natural winemakers. In the US, an organic wine cannot contain ANY sulphites, so this means that any European organic wine shipped to the US needs to be made without sulphites in order to use “organic wine” on the label.

Personally I do believe that use of a small amount of sulphites just before bottling will help enormously to stabilize the wine, especially when one wants to export. I furthermore believe that the new European regulation is liberal enough to allow winemakers to apply for certification knowing that they still have a little room to manoeuvre when they encounter unexpected circumstances.

I also believe that the organic certification is a great thing for the consumer. It is a quality regulation giving certain assurances and the EU-organic-logo makes it easy for them to recognise which wines comply to the rules. A stricter regulation, I feel, would have left lots of wine makers out of the realms of organic wine making, like it did in the US… A lot of wine regions in Europe are marginal and in the end Union regulations have to serve all of the countries involved.

There always will be winemakers making wines which are a lot more “organic’ than the definition requires and consumers will need to know… These wineries have the choice to add extra information to the back labels as well as market their wine as extra organic or natural. I do understand that a lot of then would have like to have seen stricter rules however this would have excluded way too many winemakers when one looks at the whole of Europe….And when only very few people adapt the organic wine principles and logo, I feel it would loses a lot of it’s value…

Posted in Into the vineyard, Technical | Leave a comment

Michel Laroche helps us understand Burgundy Chablis Wines – 1/25

Posted on Sunday, 26 February 2012 by marco

Let’s visit the Chablis vineyards with Michel Laroche and Obiwine. Michel Laroche will help us understand the differences between a Chablis Chardonnay and Côtes de Beaune Chardonnay located just 200 km further south. We will discover the main aromatic families that help us identify the characteristics of Chablis and Chablis Grand Cru, we’ll focus on minerality given by the taste the rocks formed from fossil shells that have been deposited in the soils for almost 150 million years.

Topics covered in this episode:
- The difference between a Chardonnay from Chablis vs. from Côtes de Beaune.
- Wine tasting courses
- Set of aromatic families.
- What is the minerality of a wine.

Wine Tasted :
-       Chablis Saint Martin 2008
-       Chablis Grand Cru Les Blanchots 1987

Posted in Into the vineyard, Video | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

ViniSud’s first steps into the web 2.0

Posted on Saturday, 18 February 2012 by Caroline Henry

At the beginning of next week Montpellier will be awash with several tens of thousands of Mediterranean wine lovers who will flock to the Parc des Expositions to attend the 10th edition of Vinisud.

Vinisud has become the leading wine fair for the world’s largest wine region – currently 1 out of 2 bottles comes from a Mediterranean country. It brings together around 1600 winemakers from from France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Greece, Israel, Lebanon, Cyprus, Malta, Turkey, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Macedonia. Since it’s start the fair has grown significantly and at it’s last edition in 2010 it registered more than 33,000 trade visitors.

This year Vinisud celebrates it’s 10th anniversary and to mark the occasion they are following in the steps of the Salon des Vins de la Loire, VinExpo and the London International Wine Fair and are introducing a web 2.0 area (Hall 6 Stand 90B). Winemakers and wine professionals are invited to visit the stand to find out more about the latest trends in digital communications or just share their experiences of the fair online – free wi-fi is provided:-)

Alternatively they can join into the big debate which is held just before and after lunch. Topics are the following:

  • Monday 20 February 2012 – 11.30 am and 2.30 pm
    The role of joint trades organisations in export markets: Focus on the USA
  • Tuesday 21 February 2012 – 11.30 am and 2.30 pm
    Asia Special: A producer’s experience compared to that of an Asian buyer
  • Wednesday 22 February 2012 – 11.30 and 2.30 pm
    Media Communication: The challenges of Web 2.0 communications
    Digital communications v. Traditional communications: what is the right balance?

Furthermore wine bloggers and web2.0 specialists will host several workshops elaborating the opportunities of web tools, mobile applications, and digital communication.
The proposed workshops include:

  • What use is digital in the development of “wine and wine tourism” business for vineyards (Costs / Practices / Contents / Tools / Targets) by Mon Vigneron
  • Mobility, QR Code, social networks, hosting on the cloud: meet Internet new uses with Vincod by Vinternet
  • What are the social media customs in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan? by Charles Perez (Mas Becha)
  • Presentation of the Ipad application WINE LR by Balthazar Matita (Michel Redon)
  • How will social networks be used in the wines and spirits industry? By Marie Soubirac (Exclusive Global Wines & Spirits survey)
  • Les Outsiders: Another way of tasting, by Louise Hurren and Ryan O’Connell
  • Introduction to the use of social networks for wine growers: Focus on Facebook and Twitter, by Audrey Domenach and Vincent Pétré
  • Presentation of the “Feuille de Vigne”, the new digital weekly, and the QBQM wine pairing app
  • Presentation of the “Le Petit Ballon” wine selection concept, by Martin Ohannessian
  • Setting up a 5-stage mobile marketing plan by Tanguy Robet (Sésame & Azur Consulting)

Most workshops will be repeated more than once, please check the Vinisud activities section for an exact schedule of the events organised in the Web 2.0 Pavillion.

It is wonderful to see more and more major wine events embrace web technologies and include them as an essential part of the event activities. I hope that the ones that are lagging behind are paying close attention – I feel they will have to if they do not want to miss the boat…

More information on Vinisud and other prominent wine fairs can be found in our events section.

Posted in Wine News | Tagged , , | 1 Comment