Archive for the 'Champagne' Category

Bracing for 100% Champagne tariffs

Late yesterday, the US Trade Representative unsheathed a champagne saber. But it wasn’t for sabering champagne in celebration; rather, it was for dealing it a blow by threatening tariffs of 100%. French sparkling wine (not still wine) as well as cheese, handbags, makeup and enamelware would be affected. (See the whole list here.)

While that would be very bad news for consumers as well as producers, there is some cause for guarded optimism. This was, after all, saber rattling, not actually putting the tariffs into effect. The core issue here is a “digital tax” that France has imposed on big tech companies, mostly American, doing business in France. France has threatened to retaliate if the tariffs announced yesterday (not the ones from October!–do try to keep up) are imposed so maybe it is all just a bargaining position? And there’s Trump’s relationship with LVMH founder Bernard Arnault, on display in Texas recently, which may have played a part in why champagne, handbags and cognac were not on the first round of tariffs.

But, of course, there’s also the case for pessimism: this is the self-proclaimed “tariff man” whose relationship with Macron has deteriorated. There’s a lot of uncertainty in trade these days. Importers may plan for the worst case and bring in boatloads (or planeloads) of bubbly as soon as they can to duck under the wire of a potential tariff. Sadly, if enacted, this will be fatal to the category of crémant wines, sparkling wines from France outside of Champagne. While many of them are very good wines, their main selling point is value, which the tariffs would obliterate.

Napoleon supposedly said about champagne that in victory you deserve it while in defeat you need it. An important corollary to that all-purpose reason for popping bubbly next year might be “providing you can afford it.”

A hearing is scheduled on the champagne tariffs for January 7 in Washington DC.

Pierre Peters champagne with Rodolphe Peters

One winery I wanted to be sure to visit when I was in Champagne last month was Pierre Péters. I have always tremendously enjoyed the racy wines in the US and Rodolphe Péters not only commands a lot of respect in the wine world for his Champagnes but I had heard he had a new (sparkling) wine project in California I wanted to learn more about. Despite wanting to find it, I drove right by the winery in Le Mesnil-sur-Oger–there’s no sign and it looked like a construction site.

Rodolphe Péters, who has made the wine since taking over from his father in 2007, met me and apologized for the mess. He said the project was taking longer than expected (which renovation hasn’t?). Rodolphe is a sixth generation farmer and a fourth generation winemaker. The estate is a renowned producer of blanc de blancs Champagne from their 19.98 hectares, which contain 65 parcels on the thin topsoil and chalky subsoil of the famed Cote des Blancs area. Only his grand cru wines are available in the US market (While he does make wine that is not grand cru, that stays in the French domestic market and the US receives only grand cru wines.

Rodolphe graduated as an enologist in 1992 but didn’t dive right in to Read more…

Oil prices as champagne

oil-champagne420

Modified chart via Ian Bremmer

UNESCO recognizes Burgundy’s “climats” and Champagne’s hills

UNESCO_burgundy

UNESCO added wine regions to their list of World Heritage sites at Saturday’s meeting in Bonn. The 1,247 “climats” of Burgundy as well as the Champagne hillsides received official recognition as cultural sites.

UNESCO_burgundy_2Campaigns in each French region supported the bids as well as the French government since UN member states are limited in nominating sites in their own boundaries. Burgundy’s campaign video appears below (in English) with more details on their site. Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti led the campaign for Burgundy’s inclusion; above he is congratulated after the vote in favor.

The vineyards in the regions now receive an extra level of protection from future development and they qualify for additional financial aid for preservation and may get a fillip from additional tourism. A new Cité des Vins is slated to open next year in Beaune with the aim of welcoming 90,000 tourists. What do you think: will this make you want to visit more? I was pretty much sold at the word Burgundy…

St. Emilion in Bordeaux received World Heritage status in 1999, the Mosel in 2002, and Barolo and Barbaresco were recognized last year. There are 1,031 sites now on the list. Read more…

Why is champagne getting drier?

peter_wasserman_175Champagnes seem to have been getting drier in recent years. What’s driving the trend? I put the question of declining Champagne dosage levels to Peter Wasserman today. Wasserman, along with his mother Becky, exports several grower champagnes including Godmé Pere et fils, José D’hondt, Camille Savès, and Vazart-Coquart.

Wasserman said there are three main reasons. First, climate change. As harvest gets longer, the pick dates get later meaning that the fruit is riper, as he put it being harvested at “optimum maturity. So there’s less searing acidity that needs balancing with the addition of the liqueur d’expedition.

Second, the wines are seeing more time on the lees. A decade ago, it was common for grower champagnes to give the wines two and a half years on the lees, spent yeast cells that imbue the wine with more flavor as it remains in contact with them. Now, three or four years is not uncommon. This depth of flavor also reduces the need to add sugar.

Third, the global sommelier culture is driving dosage levels lower. Sommeliers, he said, taste a lot of wines and especially value light and bright champagnes. They wield an outside influence today.

On that last point, I asked him if people talk dry and drink sweet? Absolutely, he said, modifying it to “drink rounder.” Even if somms like the drier style, not all of their customers do.

“Our three best selling champagnes all have 8 or 9 grams of residual sugar,” he said.

Steering away from an outright amount residual sugar, he said, “The Holy Grail is balance.”

Kate Moss makes a Champagne A-cup

kate_moss_champagneKate Moss has launched a new line of champagne stemware taken from a mold of her breast. The model famously displayed her skin-and-bone frame (topless) in ads for Calvin Klein’s Obsession. Which might lead one to think the champagne coupe is called the A-cup? But apparently not.

The coupe was purportedly modeled on Marie Antoinette’s breast. But it fell out of fashion in favor of the stem, which favors a visual presentation of Champagne’s bubbles.

Now many sommeliers favor serving Champagne in white burgundy glasses to capture more of the aromas. Read more…

Why do champagne prices decline during the holidays?

champagne pricesWhy do Champagne prices often decrease during the holidays? Economic logic might hold that as demand increases–a huge amount of bubbly is put away during the last few weeks of the year–that prices should also increase.

A recent article in the Times mounts a parallel quest in understanding why turkey prices fall as Thanksgiving approaches and rose prices rise into Valentine’s Day.

As with frozen turkeys supermarkets, well-known champagne brands can be used as a loss-leader. Come for the Veuve Clicquot and leave with a few bottles of malbec and other full-priced items for your party. And as with frozen turkeys, there’s a vast supply of champagne brands ready to fill sales channels for this busy time of the year. Also, as with the article’s example of low-priced tuna contributing to price compression of canned tuna during Lent, the presence of perfectly serviceable other sorts of lower-priced bubbles may act to compress the prices of champagne brands. Finally, a supermarket probably doesn’t want to devote space to frozen turkey after Thanksgiving so they might be inclined to cut prices to clear out inventory. Similarly, a large wine shop might want to reduce their stock of bubbly post-New Year’s Eve.

The article points out the different market dynamic with the price of roses at Valentine’s Day: with more demand, rose prices surge. There’s a limited supply of fresh roses and flower shops can’t benefit from a loss leader as the Valentine shopper wants only roses. In the wine world, a small shop may not stock big-label champagne, so may not have loss-leaders to flog in newspaper ads. Also, if the shop focuses on grower champagne, the supply, while not as limited as fresh roses at Valentine’s Day, is more limited than the grandes marques, which could lead to price stability at a time of discounting.

When it comes to champagne shopping this holiday season, think about are you getting a frozen turkey or a rose and shop accordingly.

Champagne iPhone 5s provokes cries of “non”!

iphone_5S_champagneApple unveils a new line of iPhones next week. Rumored among the changes is a gold-hued exterior that the company is purportedly calling “champagne.” Cool, right?

Not if you work at the CIVC, the Champagne trade bureau. Their representatives have taken a dim view of the use of their protected term publicly decrying the term. One told L’Union that as opposed the term Bordeaux, which has a color connotation, champagne is not associated with one hue, so Apple is freeriding on the goodwill of the term (my loose translation). Elsewhere, they have noted it is a protected term in the EU.

What say you: tempest in a tastevin?

Either way, maybe Apple will call the color chardonnay–I hear the grape’s lobby is not as well funded as Champagne. Stay tuned for the details from Apple on September 10.


winepoliticsamz

Wine Maps


Monthly Archives

Categories


Blog posts via email

@drvino on Instagram

@drvino on Twitter




winesearcher

quotes

One of the “fresh voices taking wine journalism in new and important directions.” -World of Fine Wine

“His reporting over the past six months has had seismic consequences, which is a hell of an accomplishment for a blog.” -Forbes.com

"News of such activities, reported last month on a wine blog called Dr. Vino, have captivated wine enthusiasts and triggered a fierce online debate…" The Wall Street Journal

"...well-written, well-researched, calm and, dare we use the word, sober." -Dorothy Gaiter & John Brecher, WSJ

jbf07James Beard Foundation awards

Saveur, best drinks blog, finalist 2012.

Winner, Best Wine Blog

One of the "seven best wine blogs." Food & Wine,

One of the three best wine blogs, Fast Company

See more media...

ayow150buy

Wine books on Amazon: