Dr Vino's wine blog

A major clinical study shows diet–including wine–has a major impact on heart health. The New York Times summarizes the findings:

About 30 percent of heart attacks, strokes and deaths from heart disease can be prevented in people at high risk if they switch to a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables, and even drink wine with meals, a large and rigorous new study found…

The magnitude of the diet’s benefits startled experts. The study ended early, after almost five years, because the results were so clear it was considered unethical to continue.

The group that consumed the Mediterranean diet in the study also had those accustomed to drinking drink seven glasses of wine a week with meals. All in the name of science.

It seems like 1991 all over again! In a widely-viewed segment then on “60 Minutes,” the news that the Mediterranean diet lowered coronary disease and failure saw Americans reach for wine, particularly red. (View segment.) Since 1993, per capita consumption of wine has increased every year.

Will this new study provide a further fillip for wine? Or is it not exactly news at this point, already baked into the paella, as it were?

“Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet” [New England Journal of Medicine]

Pierre Lurton’s iPhone rang while he was talking to a bunch of journalists yesterday in New York City. He stopped and looked at it, and dismissed it saying, “It’s not important. But I had to make sure it wasn’t Bernard Arnault!”

It’s not every winemaker who checks to see if it is France’s richest person on the line. But so it is with Lurton, who Arnault (head of LVMH) tapped in 1991 to manage Chateau Cheval Blanc and again in 2004 to take the reins at Chateau d’Yquem. That estate, maker of the famous nobly rotten Sauternes, was what Lurton was in town to discuss.

Chateau d’Yquem is not a one-trick pony. Read more…

Don’t store fine wine in a sauna or on your take it with your next jungle expedition. But you knew that. Did you know that a wine’s can be chemical structure can be permanently altered within 18 hours at 86 degrees F (30 decrees C)? And did you know that 90% of wine shipped from France to China reaches 86 degrees, according to one analysis?

Well, for that and more, get on over and check out my article on why shipping temperature matters and what one company is doing about it.

What has one end go down a little while another end pops up? It’s not a seesaw; judging by recent data, the answer to this riddle is Champagne.

Champagne sales fell 4.4% last year to 308 million bottles but were flat by value according to data released by the CIVC last week. France and the rest of the EU popped fewer bottles of bubbly by 5.6% and 7.1% respectively; together, they comprise 80% of Champagne sales. The official press release highlighted strong sales in Japan and Australia as well as growth in emerging markets.

Sales in the US market were not released but Shanken Daily News reported, presumably from their own data, that sales of Champagne fell 16% by volume and 25% by value in the first half of 2012.

I spoke with a representative at a leading importer of grower champagne who said their sales surged 20% last year. In fact, their Champagne portfolio is what is drawing new accounts for them as buyers are attracted to champagne from small producers who have a link to the land. Wine shop managers have also told me about strong interest in grower champagne at the retail level. Grower champagnes clearly represent only a niche in the bubbly market but it is a growing niche. Will the big houses take heed and start focusing more on site-specific wines?

Maybe the sluggish economy is causing brand-oriented champagne consumers to switch some purchases to Prosecco. Or they are following instructions from hip-hop artists and dabbling with Moscato.

Photo Credit: Vainsang cc

Brangelina, known for adopting babies among other things, have one more thing to keep them busy: they are the latest entrants into the crowded field of celebrity wine.

However, unlike most celebrity wines which are simply brand extensions and the celebrities wouldn’t know the vineyard that provided the grapes if they ended up there on a winery crawl, the Pitt Jolie duo actually live on their vineyard. Well, let’s not get too carried away: the peripatetic couple have been more-or-less residing on the 1,000-acre estate in Provence since 2008. They’ve decided to get serious about the wine and have started a joint venture with the Perrin family of Beaucastel to make a rosé at first, due out in a couple of months, with a white and a red to follow. Marc Perrin told Bloomberg that they tasted through several rosés and agreed on the style they wanted. The wines will be bottled under the Miraval label and will have “Jolie-Pitt and Perrin” on the back.

There has to be a joke in here somewhere, but the project actually sounds quite serious! Hopefully it will be more Fight Club than Se7en. And it won’t start off tasting old, like Benjamin Button. Or it will be good enough to be gone in 60 seconds…Argh, make it stop!

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

In Burgundy, La Paulée de Meursault has been the most-celebrated BYOB dinner for ages. In the past decade+, La Paulée de NYC/SF has taken the idea to the US. Then there was the Rieslingfeier. Now: Burdigala.

Next Friday in NYC, Bordeaux has made its own moment to focus on the wines of the region with the first ever La Paulée-style events called “Burdigala.” Louis Kressman and Eric Dubourg, both in the win trade in New York but originally from Bordeaux, have organized the event with Justine Tesseron whose family owns Chateau Pontet-Canet. Several chateau representatives will be in town including Jean-Guillaume Prats of Cos d’Estournel, Veronique Saunders of Haut-Bailly, Emmanuel Cruse of Chateau d’Issan, Thomas Duroux of Chateau Palmer, Alfred Tesseron, of Pontet-Canet and Pierre Lurton of Chateau d’Yquem. (full list here)

At a walk-around tasting in the afternoon, the producers will pour three of their wines, including the 2010s. Then there’s a black tie dinner at St. Bart’s church with the producers, food by Alain Ducasse, and top sommeliers pouring BYOB and ex-cellar selections. While it’s pricey ($1,000 for both events; $250 and $850 à la carte), the organizers say that event is a non-profit and that “all proceeds will be donated to wine scholarship.”

Burdigala site

Antonio Galloni has announced that he is leaving the Wine Advocate, where he assumed coverage of California and Burgundy less than two years ago. He also reviewed the wines of Champagne and Italy for the publication.

He told the NYT-Diner’s Journal blog that he will be starting his own internet venture though he didn’t specify exact plans and said he is still seeking investors. In the past, Robert Parker derided those writing on the internet as “blobbers.” Galloni may well have an offline presence since he has organized several events, including the “Festa del Barolo.”

Galloni mentioned that the recent sale of the Wine Advocate to investors from Singapore played a part in his decision. At that time, the new editor-in-chief, Lisa Perrotti-Brown, left the door open to current staff departures, telling the WSJ, “There is a plethora of good wine writers out there. It’s a buyer’s market.” So did Galloni jump before he was pushed? The Wine Advocate has all the transparency of a papal conclave–and perhaps just as much smoke! Either way, I wish him the best with his new venture.

The Diner’s Journal post did not comment on who would take over for his coverage areas the Wine Advocate. But does it matter? With Parker selling his stake overseas, his diminished presence at the publication, his downplaying Bordeaux ’11 and ’12, and now Galloni leaving, the publication seems to be at a low. The Ralph Nadir of wine criticism?

Antonio Galloni of the Wine Advocate [Q&A]

Maker’s Mark has high demand, says Beam Inc., the bourbon brand’s owner. So high, that they will be lowering the alcohol in the bottle from 45% to 42%, or 84 proof.

Hey, wait–I thought the consumer was the one who was supposed to add the (soda) water! This is clearly some sort of spin on cost-cutting (the tax from the distiller to the TTB comes down with the proof, too). Because, ya know, if it ain’t broke… Read more…