• PARKER : LE VIN BOISSON CULTURELLE, LA FRANCE L’A OUBLIÉ

    par | Mar 5, 2015

    D’après Isabelle Bunisset — LE FIGARO — 05/03/2015

    Avant le début des primeurs d’avril à Bordeaux, trois experts internationaux, le critique américain Robert Parker, son compatriote Jeffrey Davies et le consultant français Michel Rolland, évoquent l’évolution du goût et de la qualité du vin dans le monde.

    Le Figaro a demandé à trois experts internationalement reconnus de donner leurs avis sur l’avenir de la production vinicole. Rendez-vous a été pris dans la winery Alpha Omega, dans la Napa Valley en Californie, avec Robert Parker, l’un des critiques les plus influents au monde depuis trente ans (exceptionnellement absent des prochaines dégustations de primeurs à Bordeaux). Pour lui donner la réplique, Michel Rolland, oenologue-conseil d’une centaine de vignobles en France et à l’étranger, et Jeffrey Davies, négociant à Bordeaux.

    Le FIGARO. – Le vin, aux États-Unis comme en France, mériterait-il des politiques plus adaptées ?
    Bob ParkerROBERT PARKER (ci-contre) –– Aux USA, chaque État possède sa propre législation, ce qui complique la commercialisation. Nous restons néanmoins plus flexibles sur les appellations : nous plantons ce que nous voulons, où nous voulons.
    MICHEL ROLLAND –– La France, berceau de la production mondiale et référence de qualité, a voté les lois Évin, scélérates et stupides. Voilà la grande différence avec les USA, qui considèrent le vin comme un produit culturel.
    ROBERT PARKER — Le vin est une boisson culturelle, une boisson de modération. La France, je pense, l’a oublié.
    (suite…)

  • THE WORLD’S NEXT BIG WINE REGIONS: 8 HOT SPOTS

    par | Mar 3, 2015

    by ELIN McCOY / Bloomberg Business / February 23, 2015

    Elin McCoyI’ve always been a wine-discovery junkie, constantly on the hunt for new grapes, new vintages, new winemakers, and especially new places where vines may never have been planted before. Thanks to ambitious vintners, rising demand from drinkers, a taste shift to lighter wine styles, and yes, even climate change, the number of global hot spots for wine is ever expanding. If you’re still rattling off the names of the old, long-famous regions, you’re way behind the times. In these eight spots, good wine is on its way to becoming great wine, with a few stars leading the way.

    1.  TOKAJ, HUNGARY
    HungaryAs Eastern Europe’s class act for wine, the historic Tokaj region is getting a €330 million ($374 million) investment over the next five years to upgrade its vineyards and bolster its reputation. (Under communism, quantity was prized over quality.) Its 5,500 hectares of vineyards, at an 800-foot elevation on volcanic slopes, are devoted primarily to three native white grapes. They include hard-to-pronounce Hárslevelü and flagship furmint, which is the key varietal in the luscious sweet wines associated with the region. The latest craze, though, is a newly available dry version of furmint, Hungary’s alternative to chardonnay and riesling.

    Try This Now: 2011 Istvan Szepsy Betsek Furmint ($75). Smoky, citrusy, rich, and complex, it reminds me of a great Alsace riesling.

    (suite…)

  • WINEHAVEN, THE WORLD’S LARGEST WINERY

    par | Oct 18, 2014

    By JOSHUA MALIN / VINE PAIR — October 16, 2014

    Winehaven: How The Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 Gave Birth To The World’s Largest Winery

    The Story Of Winehaven

    In the years leading up to Prohibition, the largest winery in the world sprawled across a 47-acre campus, perched upon the San Francisco Bay.  Its name was Winehaven.  At its peak capacity the winery and its warehouses could hold 12 million gallons of wine, which were distributed by sea from an 1,800 foot wharf, and by rail via privately owned, electrified train tracks.

    (suite…)

  • WILL UKRAINE LOSE ITS WINE?

    par | Mar 17, 2014

    By ANDREW JEFFORD

    Is Ukraine beeing losing its most significant wine-producing region ?
    After an investigation on Crimea in Ukraine and Russia Andrew Jefford thinks it is quite possible in the     DECANTER newsletter issued on Monday March 17, 2014.

    Under Ukrainian law, yesterday’s referendum is illegal; its results will not be recognised internationally; sanctions will follow.  Russia, though, is in control of the peninsula.  Since no party wishes to see an armed conflict there, it is hard to envision the Crimea making a return to the Ukrainian fold, no matter how fervently its Ukrainian and Tatar minorities might wish for this.

    There are many regions of the world where international recognition or restitution of re-assigned borders is a diplomatic nicety which must wait decades for resolution. The situation in the Crimea, in fact, is an unusually complicated one, as I discovered last week in attempting to assess the feelings of local growers, as well as discuss Crimea with fellow wine journalists in both Kiev and Moscow. (suite…)

  • CHILEAN IMMERSES HIS WINES IN JAZZ

    par | Mar 15, 2014

    By AMANDA BARNES — From WINE SEARCHER | Tuesday, 11-Mar-2014

    Can music change the taste of a wine?
    A recent experiment seems to suggest so.     The avant-garde project of Viñas Inéditas could be dismissed as a kooky garage wine, but a $200,000 grant from Chile’s Agricultural Innovation Fund and the results of his first professional tasting last month prove it’s a serious undertaking.

    A shed in deep southern Chile is emitting some rather strange sounds: a chaotic mix of jazz and folk music resonates from the garage winery.  Winemaker Juan Ledesma is making wine with the help of a little music.  But he isn’t serenading the wines solely in the barrel room or vineyard as others have done before him.  Instead, he has plunged music speakers into the actual barrels.  Welcome to Terroir Sonoro | Photo © A. Barnes |

    Chilean Immerses His Wines in Jazz
    (suite…)