Job Security in the Wine Industry !

Some excellent posts recently, as always, on Tom Wark's Fermentation and Alder Yarrow's Vinography. An issue that has made headlines everywhere, especially in the wine blogosphere, is the H.R.5034 bill before congress. Here is Tom's take on it.
Another couple of good analyses are on Palate Press and the 30 Second Wine Advisor.
Alder did an in depth review of "The Coming Carnage in the California Wine Industry" with excellent comments that followed his post.
Even though they are two different issues, what is their common thread? Why jobs of course. Both have the potential of some serious job losses. But hold on, coming back to my previous post about Prohibition and its results, who is not looking for a new job? Massive government bureaucracies were created to interfere, oh pardon me, I meant regulate, alcohol consumption and subsequent contributions to government coffers. Do you know or have you heard of any regulatory inspectors loosing their jobs? If anything, they will be hiring more, with great job security as a bonus thrown in for the lucky candidates.
After all making sure that proper licencing is in place ensures those extra revenues. British Columbia has also seen some significant government lay-offs with the last go around another 230 people losing their jobs.
Recently the Naramata wineries held another very successful annual wine event in Victoria. At the same, in the same hotel, some government liquor inspectors were holding a conference. Guess what? They just could not resist and marched right in to check that every winery had proper licencing for the event. And as an added bonus for their efforts they got to taste some awesome new releases.

May We Have a Little Culture with our Wine ?

It would have been inconceivable to think of Plato, Socrates and other Greek philosophers to have held their famous symposia without the benefit of wine. Ancient Greek society has contributed much to modern Western civilization, not the least of which is the culture of wine. For centuries Britain dominated the world wine trade and the nouveau rich upper middle class was largely responsible for creating the impression that wine was only for the educated well to do members of society.The poorer members of society went to the local 'Jug & Bottle' when they were thirsty.Thank goodness we are more enlightened these days.
Today there is a problem with young people and binge drinking. So how enlightened can it be for the French government's plan to bring wine education to French university canteens? It is not without opposition of course, but can you imagine some US state or in Canada a provincial government to even think of such a proposal? No, I am afraid we are still suffering from the hangover of Prohibition enacted in the US in 1920. And what were the results? Massive crime waves with the establishment of the Mafia. Ah, but the answer was to regulate alcohol consumption and of course use it as a cash cow for governments. It truly set back North American wine culture. Yes, it should be regulated as far as drinking and driving is concerned. Plato and the boys did not have to worry about getting into a car and causing accidents. It is morally very wrong to drink and drive. Killing yourself is one thing, but to be the instrument of death of another human life is reprehensible. Wine has been around since very ancient times and is not about to go away. So why not introduce wine culture and wine tasting at every opportunity out there?
How refreshing to read that at the California State University at Sacramento there is a course available on wine tourism.There is an enrollment limit of 20 students at a time because it involves field trips and yes, actually tasting wines.
There is I am afraid, a bit of nouveau snobbism out there. In our North American eagerness to catch up, there is a potential of wine education for the sake of the education itself. Consequently these 'experts' have an intimidating effect on large numbers of potential drinkers. They are forgetting about the best part of wine. Wine was made to be enjoyed to the fullest. Notice that the young lady in the picture knows not only how to hold the glass the right way, but most of all that she is taking time to enjoy the fruit of the vine. In Vino Veritas indeed. She has learned and knows the truth about wine. The truth about wine is that it is a most enjoyable drink and was meant to be shared and give pleasure to human kind.

Wine & Media at the 2010 Olympics !

I could not resist doing a follow up on my March 4th post on 'Wine & Sponsors at the 2010 Olympics'. On March 12th our national television broadcaster, the CBC, picked up on the Girls Hockey team and their celebration with the Sigura Viudas sparkling wine. It is now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Permanent inexpensive advertising for Sigura. By the way, the girls have good taste. For the price, it is a delightful bubbly.
On a more serious note I did encounter a lot of misinformation by the foreign media about our outstanding Icewines. Back in 1994 I started a wine shop in downtown Victoria, British Columbia called The Wine Barrel. In 2005 I sold the shop and it is now in the capable hands of Bruce and Merrilee Stuart. During my tenure I sold a lot of BC Icewines and picked up a fact or two about them. But my mentor about Icewines was John Schreiner, the world expert on anything to do with Icewine or the original German version called Eiswein. John is the author of "Icewine The Complete Story" and I had the pleasure of hosting John for a book signing in my shop when his book was first released. I treasure my autographed copy. I have featured John on my blog a few times and here is one entry.












The image on the left is of the 2008 Paradise Ranch Merlot Icewine boasting a residual sugar of 218 g/l and the right image image is of the 2008 Paradise Ranch Riesling Icewine with a residual sugar of 134 g/l. As always be sure to click on the image to get a close up look. I had to give the images a framing of hot and cool. The Merlot is outstanding and will be a 'hot' selling Icewine. The Riesling is such an elegant Icewine that it gave the impression of a really 'cool' fresh and clean Icewine.
But now to the point of picking on the international media. Two write ups in different newspapers drew my attention and I just had to send them a message with the correct version. One writer stated that 'Icewines are often sweet'. NO, they are always sweet! And as my two above Icewines show, they may have different sweetness levels but please they are 'always' sweet. Another writer claimed that they were high alcohol dessert wines. NO again! The high sugar levels dehydrate the yeast cells and kills them before they get a chance to convert more sugar into higher alcohol levels. So they will range from a low of 9% to 12% at the higher level. Both of the above Icewines clocked in at 12%.
The Olympics have come and gone and are part of history but great BC Icewines will be around for a little longer and we might as well get it wright when we write about them.

Wine & Sponsors at the 2010 Olympics !

The 2010 Winter Olympics have been a great success in spite of the lack of snow. The sponsors of course, have been very happy with the huge exposure of their products. But wait a minute here. What was that Canadian Women's gold medal winning hockey team up to? Two of the major sponsors at the Olympics were Molsons Canadian Beer and Vincor Canada's Sumac Ridge Winery in the Okanagan. Fittingly the gold medalists were treated to a three litre sized Molson Canadian beer that looked very much like a Champagne bottle and Sumac Ridge's Tribute Gold sparkling wine. The Tribute Gold and Silver were created in honour of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.
Click on these pictures courtesy Alex Livesey/Getty Images and Surprise !!
That ain't no Tribute going down that gullet. Looks suspiciously like Sigura Viudas to me. Sigura Viudas was rated as one of the top 100 wines by the Wine Enthusiast. And yes that is a cigar in the picture on the right. Now cigars and beer maybe. But cigars and sparkling wine? That is a no no. Especially when it is not even from one of the official sponsors. Oh well, at least the ladies'?' won't be at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Vincor Canada is again one of the sponsors. Its not cheap to be a sponsor and Vincor did not get their money's worth at this event. But Viudas received a bonus and how do you suppose that happened? Oh the joys of being a sponsor and the politics in wine!

I Want to Teach the World to Drink....Wine!

In a recent article in Decanter, philosopher Roger Scruton, postulates that Muslim fundamentalists could become more tolerant were they to consume wine. In the comment section, Stephen Hobley points to the magnificent jade drinking cup of Shah Jahan (picture courtesy London's V&A Museum) in support of Roger's thesis. This theme was also also enlarged upon in the Telegraph.co.uk.
The Islamic Society of Britain's Ajmal Masroor wonders if Roger made these comments while sober or intoxicated.
I believe the whole world, not just Muslims, could benefit from partaking of the 'fruit of the vine'. Pliny the Elder said it all when he proclaimed 'In Vino Veritas', origin in Latin, there is 'Truth in Wine'.
Do you know how many "World Day of.." there are? There is the World Day of Peace, the World Day of Prayer, the World Day for Water, the International Women's Day and a host of others. I would like to propose a 'World Day of Wine' when the whole world stops for a few precious moments and we toast one another and drink to world peace!
In the seventies the Coca Cola company had a major hit on their hands when they produced the 'I'd like to teach the world to sing' advertisement where the singers proclaimed they would like to buy the world a coke.


Similarly I would like to teach the world to drink ..wine of course. We raise our glasses, toast each other, forget our differences and just love one another.
Perhaps I will leave the last word to Alice Feiring at 'Veritas in Vino' who simply wants her wines, like her friends, to speak the truth.

Chinese Wine Made in Australia...!

Before I delve into today's topic, just a quick update on my last post. It seems that Brussel's concern about labeling is not impressing European consumers. In a report just released by the European Food Information Council and published in the Journal of Public Health, it states that only 16.8% of consumers looked at nutritional information on labels. Say no more.
We all know that the Australian wine industry is going through a bit of a hard time and we also know that there is a potentially sizable market in China, but is selling out to the Chinese the answer? Doing business in and with China runs into many governmental snags. It is after all a communist regime running the show. Good for Google for taking a stand. Google stated that hackers had tried to infiltrate its software coding and e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. Of course the Chinese immediately condemned the US and Google.
China has a "one child" policy whereby only one child per family is allowed to be born. Forced sterilizations and abortions, especially of baby girls, are not uncommon. Boys are favored over girls. Now there is a problem in the making. Women in the wonderful world of wine are becoming increasingly more important. Starting with some outstanding women wine makers, sommeliers and above all consumers. Maybe that trend will not be possible in China. There won't be enough women around.
Meanwhile back in Australia.... It seems that Chinese communism with a small 'c' is embracing Capitalism with a big 'C'. Chinese companies loaded with cash from state owned banks are on a buying spree in Australia.
Australia pioneered the cute and cuddly critter labels. Look no further than the very successful Yellow Tail with the Wallaby on its label. So can we expect to see the Koala bear replaced by the Panda bear? Click on the pics to get a closer look at these two famous icon bears from both countries. Good luck and best wishes to our Aussie friends!

Wine Labels Under attack by Brussels...!

Are government wine regulators somewhat akin to restaurant food critics, who feel it is their job to be critical of every restaurant they review? Do regulators feel they must foist obnoxious rules on the wine community or they are not doing the job they are paid to do? North America may have their neo-prohibitionists but it seems Europe has a whole gang of neo....(fill in your own blanks ).They feel
humanity must be saved form this harmful beverage that has been around for thousands of years. The latest outrageous proposal from Brussels will see dramatic changes to wine labels for wine produced in Europe. Calories? Does anyone really care? Does Sally turn to Harry and say look dear 'I know you don't really like this wine, but it has 20 calories less per serving'. When you buy your bacon do you check each label to see which one has the lowest fat content? What fat headed thinking is going on here? Perhaps beverages that have been around for more than 200 years should be exempt from this idiocy. Wine would certainly qualify. What about Sacramental wines? Will they be exempt? Forgive me Father, for I have Zinned. We made a mistake on the label. There are a whole lot more calories in that wine then what shows on the label. Does Father care? If this became mandatory in Canada, it would me a nightmare. Canada is bilingual and all product labels have to show both the English as well as the French versions. Then of course there are the huge costs associated with this folly. Wine is not a standardized product that is exactly the same each year. Variations will occur each vintage. Another needless cost for the consumer. I hope sanity will prevail and bumbling Brussels will back down from this bomb shell.

Wine Predictions for the New Decade...!

As we begin 2010 and a new decade there are some fascinating predictions out there. Two I found particularly interesting were Steve Heimoff's "My Ten for the Next Ten" and Julie Brosterman's "Was 2009 the Tipping Point for Wine & Social Media."
But let me begin 2010 with a needed correction to my last blog entry. If you look at the picture I posted, courtesy Philippe Durst of the Dopff Au Moulin winery in Alsace, you would have to believe that there was a lot more pressure inside that bottle than the 2-3 atmospheres of pressure I attributed to Crémants.
I am again indebted to Philippe for the celebratory picture but mostly for pointing out that since Crémants in France are made in the traditional method, previously known as Méthode Champenoise, they all attain 5.5 to 6 bars of pressure. And to quote Philippe here are the correct details.
"Originally the term crémant was in use for wines of lesser pressure in Champagne (such as in Crémant de Cramant) but since it was traded by French producers in exchange for no longer using the wording "méthode champenoise" on the labels, it is now used since 75 in Loire and Burgundy and since 76 in Alsace for fully sparkling wines made with the local grapes."
So while we are in correction mode, I hope that this will be the decade that wine writers and media types will use the words "variety" and "varietal" correctly. Look them up in Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine or check out this
article on Snooth.
Click on the pic for a closer look at the Sangiovese grape "variety" I took while visiting Tuscany.
So do I have any predictions for the new decade? Yes, two of them. We will see a much greater involvement of women in wine and deservedly so. I will go into more details on that in a future posting. My second prediction is that as the the North American palate evolves and becomes more educated we will see the producers of multi million bottles of wine, such as Yellow Tail, adapt and make their wines in a less sweeter fruit bomb style of wine. Who will be asking for that? Why women of course!

Celebrating and Toasting with a C....Sparkling Wine!

Will that be a Champagne, a Cava or a Crémant you will be drinking to celebrate the new Year? All of them made of course in the traditional method. Crémants are produced by adding a smaller dosage for the second fermentation, resulting in less carbon dioxide and thus a lower bottle pressure.This lighter effervescence creates a creamy texture to the wine and hence the term Crémant which means "creamy". Crémants have 2-3 atmospheres of pressure instead of 5-6 in wines from Champagne. My friend Philippe Durst, the Export Manager at Dopff Au Moulin in Alsace sent me this picture of a Crémant having some fun with a waitress.
But no matter what sparkler you will be celebrating with ( and I will be celebrating with a bubbly made here on Vancouver Island called Célébration Brut from Starling Lane Winery.) it turns out that it is actually good for your heart.
My friend Nick Stephens over at Bordeaux-Undiscovered did a great post on that. And of course we all know that we should continue to drink our favourite beverage in 2010 because it is good for our health. Decanter has done a nice summation of the beneficial effects of wine. But only look at the green column. The researchers in the red column will be drinking and celebrating with a cup of decafinated tea.
Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy 2010!!

How Much Will you pay for your Wine.....?

Yes ,the Asian market is hot. According to Sotheby's auction house fifty-seven percent of all wine sold by value went to Asian buyers this year. Asian bidding has boosted prices at both Sotheby's and Christie's International for first growths such as Lafite, Latour, Petrus and Mouton Rothschild. Both houses anticipate selling wines worth $5.7 million this week as buyers attend the last international sales of 2009 and thus propping up the prices once again for the greedy first and second growth Bordeaux producers. ( Don't be afraid to click on the feet in the picture.) But tell that to the 5000 plus workers at Threshers and Wine Rack shops who are loosing their jobs just before Christmas. Or tell that to the many Bordelais vintners whose vineyards have been grubbed up for lack of sales of their grapes. Similarly those pumped up prices will not impress the Australian wineries who are bulldozing their vineyards because there are 100 million cases of unsold wine sitting in their cellars. In the meantime Napa is also feeling the pressure of a slump in sales of their high end pricey wines. But predictions by the International Organization of Vine and Wine are for global wine sales to increase by 4 percent to 246.3 million hectoliters for 2009. But this is fueled by the demand in the US for cheap wine during the economic crisis. Meanwhile back in Hong Kong a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothshild is selling for anywhere between HK$37,000 and HK$48,000. No wonder they are a prime target for thieves. Robbers removed $877,000 worth of Lafite from a warehouse in Hong Kong.
And is this another Billionaire's Vinegar in the making? According to Renaud Gaillard, deputy director of the French export trade body, Federation des Exportateurs de Vins et Spiriteux de France (FEVS) China is "the principal counterfeiter" of fine wines and spirits. Counterfeiters have targeted 5 to 6 of the top Bordeaux wine estates.
So, how much are you prepared to pay for your wines next year? Personally I will be quite happy to stay away from those pricey Bordeaux.