Dr Vino's wine blog

Wine, it’s all about the provenance. Or at least Diageo thinks so. The FT reports today that Diageo (NYSE: DEO) has filed a formal objection to Oregon winemaker Tim Ramey’s application to trademark the term “Belle Provenance Vineyard” calling it “confusingly similar” to their own “Provenance” brand. “There isn’’t a wine lover on earth that would think anyone could claim exclusivity for the word ‘‘provenance’’ any more than they could for words like ‘vintage’’ or ‘‘vineyard,’” he says. “We will fight Diageo to protect our name.” Hmm, it does seem a little ironic that the provenance of a Napa Cab could be confused with Oregon Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris.
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Do you ever crave exotic indigenous grape varieties in a world of similar tasting wines? Such a craving sent Bruce Schoenfeld to Hungary to explore the local wines:

Weeks later, when I think back on my visit to Lake Balaton, these are the wines I will remember. A transcendent Juhfark, bold and peppery. A Budai Zöld with the bite of a Granny Smith apple. A sharply acidic Furmint from 1995…

Wine’s next frontier, an excellent piece, highly recommended!
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Robert Parker has weighed in on the 2005 Bordeaux vintage and he can hardly control his “jubulation/excitement.” He awards 100 point scores to Haut-Brion, Margaux and Latour, Pavie, Petrus, Ausone, Pavie Decesse and Pape Clement. Mouton and Lafite rolled in with scores of 96…Consulting wine maker Stephane Derenoncourt will get to bask in the limelight usually reserved exclusively for the wines of Michel Rolland since Derenoncourt’s Larcisse Ducasse received 95-98 points, “one of the monuments of the vintage.” [Decanter]
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The NYT obituary of witty wine writer Alex Bespaloff contained this mention of his hilarious outgoing voicemail message: “I cannot take your call right now, but if it’s an emergency, white with fish and red with meat.”

tags: wine | wine travel | USPTO | wine news