Dr Vino's wine blog

For those looking to explain the oddities of the recent tariffs on French wine, a clue may have come last week in Texas.

But first, those oddities. It is not really going out on a limb to say that this administration has a haphazard, govern-by-tweet style of policymaking. So it should not be a surprise that there were some head-scratchers in the wines affected by tariffs. since not all of the $2.1 billion of wines that the US imported from France last year were included. Notably omitted from the list was the high-value category of champagne (sparkling wines were all exempted). Cognac and French spirits were not affected, another large, high-value. (And neither were French handbags or fashion–by contrast, cashmere sweaters from Scotland were hit). And wines over 14% alcohol were not affected. And those in “containers” of over two liters. And Italian wines were exempted since Italy is not a part of Airbus–yet parmigiano reggiano was hit with a 25% tariff? Hmmm…

For a possible clue for explaining some of those loopholes, we take you to Johnson County, Texas Read more…

Our post about the 25% tariff that will be imposed on the $.2.5 billion of wines imported from France, Spain and Germany as of October 18 raised some questions. We respond:

Rick: How do you suppose this will affect futures orders that are in place?

Dr. Vino: They will be hit by the 25% levy if they arrive in the US after October 18. This could lead to the smart collector’s money either (A) diverting toward wines already in the US that are available at auction (they have the added bonus of being perhaps more ready to drink) or (B) perhaps the merchant that sold you the future is prepared to hold off on taking delivery until the tariffs are called off. This trade dispute can’t go on forever, right?!

Carol: Since Italian wines are not hit by tariffs, will this be a Prosecco New Year’s Eve?
Dr. Vino: Champagne somehow dodged the tariff bullet so your choice of bubbly will be tariff-free.

Carol, with a follow-up: So will wine prices be rising this holiday season?
Dr. Vino: It is unclear if there will be price hikes on store shelves (and restaurant wine lists as soon as December). Many shops or restaurants could conceivably buy now to insulate themselves and distributor warehouses are probably pretty full in anticipation of both year-end madness and perhaps this tariff move. One rep I spoke with said their distributor is not expecting price hikes for six months. But who knows–others may not be as well positioned and have to pass these tariffs on to consumers sooner.

Jade: Should I pre-buy my wine now for the rest of the year?
Dr. Vino: Sure! I never would tell you not to! There are so many great wines in the market right now plus a lot of stores offer discounts on 12+ bottles. And you know the holidays are coming…oh, and have you seen the news recently? Oh, man…might make you want to crack into your stash.

Juliette: so will French rosé next year be 25% more expensive?
Dr. Vino: If the issue remains unresolved and the tariffs are still in place, then yes. Any 2019 wine from these three countries would be impacted–even Beaujolais Nouveau!

Leslie: How exactly do the tariffs affect the auction market? If a past vintage passes from an affected EU country will that be subject to tariff? Do auction wines now become more valuable if they are unaffected by the tariffs?
Dr. Vino: Wines in the US before Oct 18 are not hit by tariffs. So, yes, there’s a chance that if futures buyers like Rick divert their funds to collectible wines that are slumbering in cellars across America now, then, yes, there could be a bump in the auction market for French (and German and Spanish) wines.

Okay, that’s all the questions for now. But I did want to reproduce the text of the directive on French wine tariffs (and Spanish and German and UK wine): “Wine other than Tokay (not carbonated), not over 14% alcohol, in containers not over two liters.”

So weird that wine over 14% alc gets a pass! so all Chateauneuf du Pape comes in unaffected? To Juliette’s point above, maybe we will see some 14% alc roses? 😛 Also, game on for double mags of French wine! And champagne!

Also, final fun fact: $16 million of wine was imported from the UK last year! I knew it was, uh, small beer, but that is actually more than I thought!

UPDATE: this post was edited to reflect the fact that champagne will not be affected by the tariffs. Neither will cognac or handbags so a big wine for LV to the MH.

The trade war gets real! As if tariffs on hundreds of billions of consumer goods made in China weren’t real enough, the latest escalation from the Trump administration has found a new target: French wine.

Late yesterday, word came down that the Trump administration will impose $7.5 billion in tariffs on goods from our European allies. The impetus is subsidies to the plane consortium, Airbus, which is backed by France, Spain, Germany and the UK. Thus the tariffs affect symbolic goods from those countries, including all wine, olive oil, whisky and some camera parts. The long-simmering dispute entered a new phase yesterday as the WTO ruled in favor of the US. Hopefully there will be a negotiated settlement but as announced yesterday, the levy will be imposed on all goods on the list that enter the country as of October 18.

The fourth quarter of the year is by far the biggest quarter for wine sales. Many of the wines that will be sold during that time are already in (climate controlled) warehouses on our shores. But not all. If these tariffs become reality, it remains to be seen how importers of French and Spanish (and German and British) wine will adjust prices in the near term. But, if these tariffs linger, prices for these wines will inevitably rise sharply in the new year. It is worth noting that tariffs are paid by importers, not the producers (although in some instances, importers may request producers share the pain to mitigate price increases but with a tariff this large, there’s not a lot they can do other than see prices on store shelves rise and placements on wine lists decline.)

Wine is highly symbolic of France. Thus, it has been the subject of protests and over time, such as in New Zealand over the Rainbow Warrior or in 2003 over the Iraq war. (See the wines served at Macron’s state dinner.)

France was the biggest supplier of imported wine to the US market, sending $2.1 billion of wine to the US in 2018. Spain was fifth with $383 million, Germany ninth with $103 million, and the UK 14th with $16 million in wine (!). [source]

Clearly, the biggest winners here are domestic wineries, which provide two of over three bottles of wine consumed in America. Italy, the second largest provider of imported wine to the US, is not hit by the tariffs since they do are not a part of the Airbus consortium. As such, they stand to benefit greatly and the Italians, New Zealanders, Chileans and Australians are probably slack-jawed at this opportunity that has been handed to them.

If the tariffs indeed get imposed, how long they remain in place is an open question. So far, Trump has not rolled back any tariffs against China, so it is entirely possible that the only way for the tariffs to be removed is when there is a new occupant of the Oval Office.

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…

Spain makes a lot of wine. Overall, it’s the third biggest producer in the world. One problem the country has is that many of the country’s wines sell at low prices–don’t get me wrong, there are certainly some pricey ones too. Another problem is that as wine enthusiasts and producers around the world rejoice in delving into fiendish detail about vineyards, some of Spain’s region’s can keep an administrative lid on the terroir.

I examine how some producers such as Ricardo Pérez Palacios (above) and Raúl Pérez in Bierzo and Telmo Rodriguez in Rioja are doing to unlock the terroir in their regions. This process not only ties into what’s happening in the larger wine world, it can also serve as a way to raise the price of grapes, land and wine.

These are exciting developments. I sought to capture them in an article at SevenFifty daily, published today. Check it out and let me know your thoughts.

“Why Spanish Producers Are Seeking Burgundy-Style Classifications” [SevenFifty Daily]

On the sidelines of her NY distributor’s recent tasting, I grabbed a quick three minutes with the supremely lovely Evelyne de Pontbriand. She is the third consecutive woman in her family to run the estate Domaine du Closel located at the Chateau des Vaults in the Loire region of Savennières.

Aging Savennières: underrated or overrated?
I think it is quite underrated. I have a whole collection of old Savennières, unfortunately not older than 50 years old but they are fantastic. I did a big tasting a couple of years ago for the 50th anniversary of the appellation with 50 vintages. it was really very interesting. I think they get another dimension when they age and they are more and more, very interesting food wines.

Botrytis: underrated or overrated?
I think botrytis is…hmm, that’s difficult. I don’t think people really know what it means. I think it might be overrated. Now that we are harvesting with no or very little botrytis, the wines are very pure and they really reflect the terroir more. And that is really our aim.

Chenin blanc: underrated or overrated?
Definitely underrated! It is a fantastic grape. Its versatility is really interesting. You have incredible sweet chenin blanc or very dry chenin blanc. You don’t really recognize the grape because it expresses the terroir, which is what I think is most interesting whether in Savennières or Vouvray or Swartland, it is going to taste very different. It always has this freshness because of its acidity.

So, maybe I need to rephrase: great grape, or the greatest grape?
Ha, I think the greatest grape of the future! It can face climate change because it has so much natural acidity so it doesn’t become flat. We are dong a big congress in July and this will be one of the questions.

(search for Domaine du Closel at retail)

On Wednesday, the eyes of wine geeks and those in the wine industry will turn to the the Supreme Court. Wine will be on the docket, and, as you might expect, reds and whites do not map on to a political right and left. A love of wine is non-partisan even though no justice has ever proclaimed “I love wine” during confirmation hearings (only beer gets this kind of admiration!). At stake on Wednesday is whether wine shops can ship across state lines.

The biggest wine case the Supreme Court ever decided was Granholm v Heald in 2005. In their decision, the majority ruled that states could not discriminate between out-of-state wineries and in-state wineries—either they had to open up to shipping from all wineries or close the whole thing down. Fortunately for wine enthusiasts, almost all state chose to open up so consumers across the country now at least have the right to order wine from wineries.

But it has remained an open legal question whether this freedom for wineries to ship also applies to wine shops. In fact, Read more…

My good friend, chef Tim Labant, and I have ridden probably 15,000 miles together on our bikes the past few years. We’ve had some epic adventures. Tim is the chef/owner of Schoolhouse at Cannondale, a new American spot in Wilton that celebrated its eleventh anniversary this past spring. About three years ago, Tim decided he wanted to bring his fine dining skills to a more casual environment. He loves pizza (who doesn’t?), so he started developing his own dough recipe. He went to Pizza Expo in Las Vegas two years in a row, refining his recipe and researching ovens. As the restaurant was developing, he asked me to put together the wine list and I was only too happy to help.

Everything came together about five weeks ago when Parlor opened its doors. Tim’s dough uses two types of Italian (Caputo) flour and has a multiday fermentation and proofing. The pies get baked in a Pavesi oven that’s fire-truck red. The dough has a chewy mouthfeel that makes you not even want to talk, just indulge in another bite until the pie is gone. The sautéed mushroom with taleggio is one of my favorites; the white clam sees fresh littlenecks steamed open, shucked and then placed on a creamy reduction sauce. The salads and sides are not to miss either.

To complement this simple but tasty menu, we put together a wine list that has something for everyone–but it may not be the exact something people thought they wanted when they came in. For example, a guest came in recently and asked for “a glass of chardonnay.” When I pointed out that we don’t have one by the glass (but we do have the excellent Sandhi chardonnay by the bottle), I suggested an erbaluce from Luigi Ferrando, the celebrated (for his reds, mostly) producer from Carema in the north of Piedmont. I poured her a taste; she liked it and ordered a glass. Then another. So that was my mini triumph of the night, turning a generic “chardonnay” drinker into a two-glass erbaluce enthusiast.

The list has a smattering of fun wines over $100 and a bunch of crystal decanters. But sensitive to the value needs of a pizza place, the list also has ten wines by the the bottle under $30 and ten wines by the glass starting at $8. We have three wines on keg too (lower carbon footprint!) that we serve by the quartino. We have wines from Italy, France, New York, California, Spain and Austria on the list right now. We have orange wine and pet nat. We will rotate wines in and out and have some special pours too. The wine world is a big and exciting place right now and we are happy to show off some tasty portions of it.

Stop by and check it all out! Connecticut is beautiful, especially this time of year.
Read more…