Dr Vino's wine blog

Wine investment fraud may run £30 million a year according to a source in a BBC investigative segment that aired last night. It’s interesting, though hardly surprising, to note the fraud story moving beyond simply counterfeit bottles.

The segment on wine fraud highlighted an investor group that lost 50,000 when the wines it purchased were never delivered. While it is tragic, it’s even more tragic that one of the bilked investors admitted that he couldn’t afford to lose the money. Perhaps he should have bought wines to drink, rather than ones for speculating on.

Simon Staples of BBR in London cites 400 percent returns on wine in 18 months. Jim Budd notes that he keeps a list of 60 merchants that he wouldn’t deal with and cited the £30 million a year figure. What do you think of that estimate–low or high?

Caveat emptor!

SIPPED: baton passing
Robert Parker has announced editorial changes at the Wine Advocate, including the fact that he will no longer be reviewing the wines of California. Antonio Galloni will assume those duties and add the Cote d’Or and Chablis to his bailiwick that already includes all of Italy and Champagne. And who said criticism was getting more regionalized?

SPIT: recession
The drinks division at LVMH reports a 19% rise in revenues to €3.3 billion. Dom Pérignon and Krug were standouts. [Guardian]

SIPPED: creative shipping
Maryland wine consumer can’t have wine shipped to them. So many have it shipped to friends in Virginia or offices in DC (remember how DC is the thirstiest non-state in the nation?). It’s a miserable inconvenience and the Maryland law should simply be changed. [WashingtonPost.com]

GULPED: Trenta
Good to know: the Starbucks “trenta” size can also serve as a decanter. [cockeyed]

The Super Bowl brings to the host city all kinds of things ranging from pulse-pounding punt returns to prostitutes. Apparently the Super Bowl also brings out avocados in force (although it doesn’t have such an impact on sales as some may think according to snopes). But they end up mashed in a super bowl of their own with diced tomatoes, onions, lime juice and cilantro to make guacamole.

So, this week we have a pairing question for you by request: which wine would you pair with guacamole? Or is it…impossible?!?

Where in the wine world are we? We haven’t done one of these for a while….but look for clues in the photo, then hit us with your thoughts in the comments. Win a gold star! Partial credit if you show your work.

There is a bit of a story here to check back later for details.

All too often, French labels are stuffy. However, when it comes to good vin de table wines, puns and word play abound. Consider these from the Loire:

This is a tasty yet tannic (thanks six-month maceration!) gamay from Emile Heredia of Domaine de Montrieux in the Coteaux du Vendômois. It’s labeled simply “G.” With a spot over it. He told me, “The anglais say it doesn’t exist–but they haven’t looked for it!” Read more…

The Contours vineyard at Pewsey Vale, Eden Valley.

The Seppelt Drumborg Riesling 2010 has the fresh lime aromas of a young Aussie Riesling. But on the palate, the dry wine is tightly wound, wrapped in a crunchy, almost impenetrable shell of acidity. By contrast, the 2003 vintage of the same wine is much more accessible, with toasty almost honeyed notes, and a much rounder texture.

The Australians like their Rieslings young, fresh and dry. Wednesday, at a trade tasting in New York City, I tried six Aussie Rieslings from the 2010 vintage–yes, 2010, as in that year that just finished 28 days ago. But these weren’t first-release sort of wines as they included big guns such as the complex Grosset, “Polish Hill” bottling, widely acclaimed as the standard-bearer for the category. The wines had a gum-tingling acidity that that sometimes was crackling, electric fun (for me, the Frankland Estate Riesling) and sometimes too austere with subdued aromatics.

The question arose of whether Australian Rieslings need more bottle age. Read more…

In a memorable scene in Casino Royale, James Bond sipped Chateau Angelus on a train while meeting Vesper Lynd. The St Emilion maker of bold blend of merlot and cabernet franc paid for the placement in cash and wine.

Jean-Bernard Grenié told me today that the laws prohibiting advertising wine in France made the producer pursue a strategy of product placement in movies. Their agent in Paris had a connection to the Broccoli family, producers of the Bond film, and sent them a case. Grenié said that they “loved” the wines. Angelus paid “some cash and some wine” for the placement. Grenié did not specify the amount of either. Co-owner Hubert de Bouard had previously told decanter.com that the impact on sales was “unbelievable.”

Will it be James Bond’s wine of choice in future movies? “Yes,” Grenié replied, adding “as long as somebody doesn’t pay more than we did.”

SPIT: repurposed content
Snooth.com, a site that ranks high in search results yet often offers frustratingly little hard information, has been scraping Cellartracker content, the Vintank blog suggests. The Snooth co-founder admits the content has “slipped through” their Ph.D. programmers since 2007 and apologizes. The Cellartracker founder comments on the post to say he has emails from 2008 contradicting several points in the apology post. As they say in the Twitterverse: oh, snap!

SPIT: sex
According to a new study, wine grapes lack genetic variation because of asexual reproduction, making them susceptible to pests and/or disease. This may raise use of pesticides or fungicides to unacceptable limits, which leaves growers three options: developing genetically resistant grape varieties, going organic, or cross-breeding grapes to have naturally sturdier varieties. [NYT]

SIPPED: cool wine
FedEx announces temperature controlled trucks to certain hubs, but the last stage of delivery will be in regular trucks. Is half a trip better than none? [winebusiness.com]

SPIT: frozen grapes
The head of the Canadian Vintners Association points the finger at China in recent icewine fraud. [Reuters]

SIPPED: bidding
The auction of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s wine in Hong Kong grossed $5.6 million, surpassing estimates. Sotheby’s cited the consignor’s “proven reputation.” [AFP]

SPIT: suds
Australians are drinking less beer than any time in the past 61 years, according to government statistics. Don’t worry, they’re not on the wagon: wine is growing in popularity. Will “wine” ever be Australian for “drink”? [smh.com.au]