Dr Vino's wine blog

How would you like to intern at a winery during harvest? OK, one of the top chateaux in Margaux? OK, now add that you are a high school student and think how cool that would be!?!?

Following our discussion of kids at wineries, I was delighted to learn that Chateau Palmer has an open view on the subject–at least for teenagers. Bernard de Laage explained to me in New York recently that Danish high school students have been coming to the chateau to help with harvest since 1997. Danish students have to do a work-study and some clever teacher there dreamed up the idea of bringing them down by bus for a month. Um, how come no teacher at my high school ever had this brilliant idea?

Bernard told me that the students are great workers for at least two reasons. First, “they have no bad habits.” He was speaking to their harvesting abilities, of course. Because they have done no previous vineyard work, they “do exactly what we say,” Bernard told me. Second, he said that “we can rely on them–they’re here every day.” Local workers for hire, by contrast, are available some days, but not others as they scramble to help across many vineyards.

It seems like a jolly time judging by the tiny photos on the Chateau Palmer blog. I wonder what they drank at meal time? My guess is not rum and coke.

Come taste my wine picks with me! And see the brand-spanking new, not-yet-open Astor Center! And finish your holiday wine shopping–with a discount!

Wondering which wines to pour for the holidays? Or which wines make the most impressive gifts? Come taste with me on December 14!

I’ll be pouring seven great wines that I’ve chosen–red, white and bubbly. We’ll talk party strategies, how to impress the boss with a gift wine, and good food pairings. NO prior wine education is necessary, just a willingness to try something new!

And we’ll be doing it in what is New York City’s newest and coolest wine education space, the new Astor Center, above Astor Wine & Spirits. I dropped by for a preview and was amazed: stadium seating! Comfortable swivel chairs! Each station with a sink and backlit white surface! Three flat-screen TVs! Truly amazing. There’s even a show kitchen but I promise to save my Emeril impression for next time.

The space doesn’t officially open until next year. But we can get in early for this event. So join me 6:30 – 8:00 on Friday, December 14. And Astor has even offered to extend a discount on the seven wines poured during the event so you can get a jump on your holiday wine needs.

Buy your tickets in advance here
Tickets cost $60.
To guarantee a space, book in advance. Please plan on being in your swivel chair at 6:30. Seating is limited so book early!

399 Lafayette St (entrance on 4th St) map Astor

Gisele Bundchen doesn’t want our dollar any more. Jay-Z flashes a wad of 500 euro notes in his latest video. Jim Rogers, former parter of financier George Soros, is selling his house and all assets in the US dollar and moving to Asia.

I was stuck on a local subway yesterday when I should have been on the express. That gave me time to flip all the way to page C14 of the WSJ and read the currency table and see what’s got Gisele, Jay-Z, and Rogers running for the hills. Not a pretty picture. The greenback is down across the board: -10% against the euro YTD, -12% against the australian dollar, -7.6% against the kiwi dollar, and even -4.7 against the Chilean peso. (Trivia: which significant wine producing country has the dollar actually appreciated against this year?) Elsewhere I read that the euro has appreciated by 50% since 2002 against the dollar.

Thanks to our dollar looking like the currency of a banana republic, imported wines are getting more expensive. Who stands to gain? Why, producers in America since we’re in the same, downtrodden currency zone together.

Paging California! Will you please answer the white courtesy phone? This is your moment to shine. Start making interesting wine under $10. Imported wine often has to go through one more tier (the importer) than your wine so there’s a built-in cost advantage. Now with the declining dollar, that gap widens.

Imported wine has grown to account for almost a third of all wine in America, up from only 13% in 1990. The Silicon Valley Bank ripped California a new one in a report last spring as they stared in awe at the whirling vortex of Yellow Tail, pinot grigio, and Chilean cab: “Are American vintners starting to look like Detroit in the 70’s, when gas prices soared and automakers kept putting out big gas guzzlers?”

But their same report this year suggested an American market of strengthening demand and short domestic supply. They predicted foreign wineries to fill the gap. But at some point in the dollar’s decline, the importers and the producers will stop sharing the pain and pass it on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. I talked with Bill Deutsch, importer of Yellow Tail, a few years ago and know that he is a savvy currency hedger. But with hedging, you can run for a while but you can’t hide forever.

Sadly, rising prices for foreign wines just means less competition for California. And as we wine consumers know all too well, a lack of competition too often means a rise in prices or a decline in quality. That would be a sad direction for them to go.

Hit the comments if you have had a stand-out wine under $10 from California (or elsewhere in the US). Not that Gisele and Jay-Z are interested. But some of the rest of us in this currency zone are.

(Image: victoriassecret.com)

Today is the day that Beaujolais nouveau (aka NO-vo) is air-dropped on the world. Remember the carbon footprint! Say no to Nouveau for the polar bears.

Some nouveau is sent via ship and the carbon dioxide emissions of that mode of transport are considerably less. Sending a bottle of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais nouveau by boat to New York creates about 1500g of CO2e. Flying it in creates about 6000g. So if you’re going to say cheers with nouveau, do it after the containers arrive via ship and say cheers tonight with a lovely cru Beaujolais that already is here, via boat.

Even if you wait, you’ll likely still be subsidizing the cost of air freight. The other day a retailer told me that they have to place an order for the all the no-vo they want for the year, say 30 cases. They ask for 10 to be delivered for sale today and have to pay more for those. Then the rest of the order comes later at a lower rate. So consumers pay two rates? No, it gets cost averaged so those who wait underwrite the speed (and carbon) of those who buy today.

And in related news, look what I am turning down, dear reader, in the name of lowering my own carbon footprint! This just in from a PR person:

I am writing you today to invite you and a friend to have the ultimate Beaujolais Nouveau experience. Just in case you have forgotten, this Thursday is Beaujolais Nouveau- a celebration of the first wine of the vintage. Each year our company, which represents the wine-producing region, parties in style with a hop-on/hop-off luxury-bus bar crawl to try different Nouveaus. What’s makes this party even more special is that in-between bar stops we make our way through the city drinking Beaujolais-Village and Beaujolais Cru wines served by fabulous “Beaujoladies” and “Beaujo-Beau.” If you would like to take part in this fun event please contact me directly via email or at (212) xxx-xxxx.

Related: “My beef with Georges Duboeuf: Beaujolais nouveau“

When the dollar heads south, so do Burgundy fans. Neil has organized us to head south to the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais, which he politely calls “silver Burgundy,” for this Wine Blogging Wednesday.

That gave me a chance to try the excellent Domaine Francois Mikulski Aligoté 2005 (about $17, find this wine). This grape, Chardonnay’s poor cousin in the area, has traditionally had crème de cassis dumped all over it in the regional aperitif, Kir (but hey, its not such a bad fate since the Kir Royale reserves that place for Champagne.)

This Aligote has an extremely alluring flavor profile that resembles a cross between the zip of sauvignon blanc and the stony minerality of a Chablis. I poured it for one of my classes at NYU and people were flipping for it. I think sales of Aligoté just tripled.

BREAKING: Turns out that this Mikulski Bourgogne Aligoté is from Meursault in the Cotes de Beaune. Oops! Well, it is still “silver” insofar as it is not Chardonnay. If Neil is being literal, then I recently enjoyed the Génot-Boulanger 2005 Mercurey 1er Cru Les Saumonts (find this wine) for $23. It had pretty red berry fruit with good acidity and a dollop of Burgundian terroir. A good way to play the ridiculously priced 2005 vintage in Burgundy.

I attended the Wine Media Guild lunch last week of the wines of Aloxe-Corton. Unfortunately I got there a little late, so I can’t offer a comprehensive roundup.

But Patrick Séré, the speaker and jolly etymologist, did have a bit of trivia. He said that in the 19th century in Burgundy that the best, dry white wines were called “vin de dessert.” Why? Comments are open.

UPDATE 11/19: Read more…

We have various online search tools for finding wine in stores. What I would like to see: a similar tool that searches restaurant wine lists.

Some wines are limited production and implement a sales strategy of either direct sales to a mailing list, on allocation through stores, or to restaurants. The first two options can be difficult or impossible to track down. Thus my interest in a new search tool for restos. Heck, I might even be willing to pay restaurant markups for the wine, once found!

Odds of this actually happening: 4,000 – 1.

Where was she? It turns out that she is Beate Knebel and she was gesticulating over the Röttgen vineyard on the banks of the lower Mosel. Beautiful, eh? Click on the photo above to see more satellite imagery of the area. The arrow is actually the address of the Knebel winery but Beate was a little down river (to the right) in the photo.

I dropped by Crush Wine Co last week and bought a bottle of her Winninger Hamm Kabinett 05 Riesling (about $22, find this wine). I spoke with Stephen Bitterolf, reader of this site and a wine buyer at the store, and he later sent me the pic from his recent trip there. I tried the wine at home and found the wine to have an alluring nose of tropical fruits and a fantastic balance between sweetness and acidity, and a hugely pleasurable and lingering finish. Great stuff. In fact, it would be my choice if I had to confront some sweet sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving. Sweet vs. Sweet, I find, generally tones down sweet.

So congratulations to Alice Feiring! She was the first commenter and the first to guess correctly, thus winning a link. Many other correct guessers included: Andrea Gori, Greg Moore (who nailed it down to the vineyard town), Debbie (who said she had been there too), and Karl Storchmann. Way to go!