Dr Vino's wine blog

The French government may mandate labels with a health warning for wine bottles the BBC reports. France is the world’s largest wine producer by value so this comes as the latest blow in what is has been an Annus Horribilis for the French wine industry.

While it’s hard to be against government labels suggesting common sense things like warning pregnant women of the dangers of alcohol consumption it does seem awfully, uh, American. How about a French twist on the labels and remind consumers about the health benefits of wine? They could start with the ingredients of the Mediterranean lifestyle.

I guess the Wine Spectator’s annual top 100 list is out–I just got three emails from wine retailers touting their availability of wines from the list. While I haven’t seen the whole list, I was interested to see from one retailer that Beaux Freres 2003 Pinot Noir (95 points), a winery partially owned by Robert Parker, was #17.

The big question: will Bob use a WS score to promote the wine?!?!?

You may have heard “reports” that teetotaler President Bush started drinking again after Hurricane Katrina. Consider this fake journalism:

Family sources have told how the 59-year-old president was caught by First Lady Laura downing a shot of booze at their family ranch in Crawford, Texas, when he learned of the hurricane disaster.

His worried wife yelled at him: “Stop, George.”

I love the pleading “Stop, George”!

But now we have evidence that he is actually hitting the bottle–the yak’s milk bottle that is.

When he was in Mongolia not discussing Donald Rumsfeld’s horse, he was apparently holed up in a traditional felt tent drinking fermented yak’s milk with Laura, Condeleezza Rice and the President of Mongolia. Now that’s a party!

Thanks to Daily Kos, we find here that this drink, airig, is “…fermented horse’s milk with an alcoholic content of about 3%. Many Mongolians distill it further to produce shimiin arkhi, which boosts the alcohol content to around 12%.” Yaks, cows, sheep, goats, and camels also provide milk.

Whoa. Just wait ’til he gets to Australia and tries 17% Shiraz.

Photo credit: AP

Technorati tags: food & drink | wine news | wine | George Bush

It’s 10:45 PM, smoke is in the air, a bell is clanging in the background and your pal is coming back from the bar balancing pints of beer. Where are you? Most likely an English pub.

The national rite of pub closings at 11 PM is about to come to an end. New legislation that goes into effect this week means that pubs in England and Wales can now apply to stay open 24 hours (though there will be some limit on the number of such licenses). “Binge drinking” and related violence in the UK is the worst in Europe and this supply-side solution is an effort to target these problems. Scotland has already relaxed drinking hours laws and there has been no uptick in either of the problems reports today’s Financial Times.

If longer hours leads to increased alcohol sales (and pub profits as critics of the plan suggest), wine could benefit though it’s unlikely to really see a lot of sales afater 11 PM. According to the FT story, beer consumption has been softening in Britain while wine and spirits have been rising. UK citizens consumed a 106.7 liters of beer in 1995 but last year’s figure was 98.7 liters. Maybe one day that friend will be coming back from the bar with a few glasses of Aussie Chardonnay? Or Gruner Veltliner?!?

A flight of headlines from wine (and food) news:

What do you eat in South Korea when you’re with the president? Outback Steakhouse apparently. [WaPo] (Outback’s political contributions are coincidentally 96% “red”–thanks Kate).

As he barnstormed through Japan, South Korea and China, with a final stop in Mongolia still to come, Bush visited no museums, tried no restaurants, bought no souvenirs and made no effort to meet ordinary local people. “I live in a bubble,” Bush once said, explaining his anti-tourist tendencies by citing the enormous security and logistical considerations involved in arranging any sightseeing. “That’s just life.”

The Bush spirit trickles down to many of his top advisers, who hardly go out of their way to sample the local offerings either. A number of the most senior White House officials on the trip, perhaps seeking the comforts of their Texas homes, chose to skip the kimchi in South Korea to go to dinner at Outback Steakhouse — twice. (Admittedly, a few unadventurous journalists joined them.)

Bangalore nouveau?!? India’s wine consumption grows to 5 million bottles–one per 200 inhabitants! OK doesn’t seem like much but 30% growth can’t be ignored! (hmm, maybe the Indian market is better to pursue than China?) [Reuters]

Australia: white Burgundy no more [MSN]

Aging wine yes. But aged oak? A 340 y.o. tree from Louis XIV is sold at auction to a barrel maker for €37,700. [Decanter]

Silencing the lamb: Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver slaughters a lamb on television. “Jamie grimaced as he killed the animal, adding: ‘A chef who’s cooked 2,000 sheep should kill at least one, otherwise you’re a fake.’ Then he helped skin it.” PETA kinda doesn’t mind. [Daily Mirror, thanks Kate].

Whose got the tip? Dinner for 12–Michelin inspectors that is. Chef-owner recounts his a recent French invasion at his small restaurant in Greenville, SC. “I had visions of the Alien Spaceship from “War of the Worlds” laying waste to civilization, panicked citizens screaming helplessly, elevated highways crumbling, entire city blocks engulfed in flame. When they were finished dining at our tiny restaurant, there would be nothing left except a smoking hole in the ground.” [eG, thanks Jon]

The Real Wine World continues in month 5 of our reality-inspired project.

Gregory Smolik, Importer of boutique Italian wines: Implosion.

Aaron Hans, proprietor, Big Nose, Full Body in Brooklyn: Thanksgiving wine picks.

Technorati tags: food & drink | reality | wine

“Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrive” signs around the world proclaimed yesterday. Or did they? Crates of wine from the 2005 vintage were sent by air to New York, Tokyo and beyond and greeted with new marketing on the ground. I dropped by Burgundy Wine Co. in Chelsea last evening where one of the staff proclaimed this year “a cotton candy year” (rather than the traditional “banana”). I went to the shop because I had read online that there would be an expert pouring there who was “licensed to chill” (groan). Indeed, she was there and so was a bathtub of nouveau.

The wine is not the only thing nouveau about this year since the promotion has received a fresh infusion of cash from the EU and other sources. The new marketing is groan-inducingly bad. “It’s Beaujolais nouveau time,” runs the promotion campaign, which no doubt thrills people in Milwaukee (remember, wine is actually more popular than beer right now so best to avoid beer references). What will it be next year, Got Beaujolais?

All in all, the Beaujolais Nouveau phenomenon is a double-edged sword. Yes, it gets young, fruity wine flown around the world. But it also drives consumers to expect that all Beaujolais is fruit forward and should be consumed right away. That’s a pity since there are some nicer, older crus available. Aha, maybe THAT marketing campaign for Beaujolais will be “Get cru-ed in!” Argh. More groans. I’d better stop or they might hire me!

Technorati tags: food & drink | beaujolais nouveau | wine

As 2005 winds down, which are the words and phrases from the year are you most looking forward to having behind us? While you may really be tired of “Scalito,” “the blame game,” or “Plamegate,” you’ll have to vote for those over on Wonkette as we will endeavor to make our own list from the wine (and maybe food) world. To get the ball rolling:

* Sideways
* Mondovino
* hedonistic fruit bomb
* watering back
* spinning cone
* Constellation
* Pinot Noir
* hang time
* direct shipping
* China is the future
* San Sebastian
* El Bulli
* EVOO

Send me an email with your banned word suggestions or post a comment here and I will post the final short list for voting after Thanksgiving.

Technorati tags: food & drink | wine