Tasting sized pours
Great cover of the current Economist! (she’s holding a Champagne flute)
Kermit Lynch will be awarded the French Legion d’Honneur. Excellent news for this Berkeley-based importer of fine wines! Julia Child, Robert Mondavi, and Robert Parker are other American food and wine luminaries who have received the honor. [SFC]
In a wide ranging decision, a judge ruled that the way wine is sold in Washington state must change by April 14–pending action of the legislature. The retailer Costco Wholesale won a battle against the Washington State Liquor Control Board in US district court. The judge ruled “that Costco has demonstrated that Washington’s posting, holding, minimum markup, delivered pricing, uniform pricing, ban on volume discounts, and ban on credit sale requirements are irreconcilably in conflict with federal antitrust law.” [SPI]
France is targeting Mexico as a new market for wine exports. Um, the same Mexico that has 0.04 gallons per person in wine consumption? Growth market!! [JV]
What goes around comes around: six new winemaking practices are now allowed in Europe, including use of oak chips, wider use of ascorbic acid, a new type of protein to stabilize wine, limited use of active coal for red wine (previously only allowed for white), use of dimethyl-bicarbonate (huh?) (DMDC) to stabilize primarily sweet wines. Um, yikes! [Vitisphere]
“It ain’t old world vs. new world. It ain’t intellectuals vs. hedonists. It is real wine vs. spoof.,” says importer Joe Dressner in a provocative blog posting.
OK this has nothing to do with wine but I just had to share it with somebody: Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and a net worth of $15 billion, drives what kind of car? According to today’s Financial Times, a Toyota Prius! And it is leased no less! Claims to fuel efficiency were undermined, however, by the fact that he and fellow co-founder Larry Page have just gone in on a Boeing 767 together for personal use. Mileage: 4 gallons of jet fuel per nautical mile.
And while we’re not talking about wine (thin edge of the wedge, eh), my techie brother showed me this hilarious remake of a movie trailer for The Shining. For writers everywhere!
Take the year-end wine quiz and qualify to win a case of wine. Through Jan 4.
Technorati tags: wine | wine news | Sergey Brin
