White Pinot Noir (or Pinot Noir Blanc) is becoming more popular and common, but really, it's not a new thing because Pinot Noir grapes are often used in Champagne or sparkling.

4/14/14 article by Jessica Yadegaran:  White pinot noir?  Like Champagne, without the bubbles

An excerpt:

What do you get when you pick cool-climate pinot noir grapes early, press them ever so gently, and limit skin contact? White wine.

But not just any white wine. Pinot Noir blanc, a rare, dry wine that's popping up in the Anderson Valley, is a bracing beauty: Complex, earthy and clear as crystal, it's unusual enough to stump even the geekiest oenophiles.

The method isn't unusual. In Champagne, it is how producers craft blanc de noirs, sparkling wine made from red grapes. The still version is becoming increasingly common in Oregon, too, where WillaKenzie, Domaine Serene, Anne Amie and others are making luscious examples of white pinot noir.

Sparkling: Maschio Prosecco Brut DOC Treviso

Note:  I'm not a supertaster nor a sommelier or wine connoisseur.  These are just simple tasting notes for myself and to remind me whether I liked the bottle.

• Grape:  100% Glera grape
• Official Tasting Notes:  Sparkling wine that is a light straw yellow in color with a lively froth; a bouquet of white peach 
• My Tasting Notes:  Light, citrusy, ever so slightly sweet, not very complex, would buy to use in cocktail recipes
• Price:  $10-13

Champagne Cork: Mytik Diam

Last night, we opened a bottle of Champagne -- the cork had Mytik Diam on it as you can see in the photo.  I thought, "How cool.  Maybe it's a Latin phrase like carpe diem or something that represents what the brand is about."

Yeah, never mind.  I just looked it up, and it's the name of the cork brand.

Downton Abbey Wines to Be Released

For all Downton Abbey fans, it was announced this past week that a collection of Downton Abbey wines -- Bordeaux clarets and blancs will be introduced in time for season 4.

According to Fox News:  The range of Bordeaux clarets and whites are the type of clarets imported by the British aristocracy from France in the early 1900s. The recreated wines are from grapes grown on the same vines and from the same soil as the era depicted in Downton Abbey.

I wonder if Carson would approve of the wine.

Sources:  HuffingtonPost.com and FoxNews.com

How would you describe your wine knowledge?

I just read a blog post asking readers what their level of knowledge is and also the average price they pay for a bottle of wine at home.  I loved the acronyms:

CC = casual connoisseur
IKMTPM = I-know-more-than-Pinot-Merlot
IWBMSWIGU = I-wannabe-a-master-sommelier-when-I-grow-up

So, I'll ask the question. . .  how would you characterize yourself? 
I'm a IWBMSWIGU but have a long way to go.

Champagne Only Comes from France!

'Champagne' Set for Obama Dinner Has French Wine Lobby Miffed

 Source: NewsMax 1/9/13

 

Summary and thoughts. . . 

 

The White House will be serving "Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne, California" with its dessert course at the inaugural dinner.  Sam Heitner, the director of the Champagne Bureau, says that the description violates U.S. law because Champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France.

 

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (of course, there's a committee for this. . . there's a job for everything!) says that the wine is labeled in accordance with U.S. law.  Apparently, U.S law is more flexible than other countries.  The law prohibits the term for newer sparkling wines but preserves it for those produced before 2006 - and only if their origin is spelled out in their name.

 

I always wondered how Korbel could have the word 'Champagne' on their bottle label.  It really should be called Korbel Sparkling Wine.  

 

 

Wine: Who Owns What and Does It Matter?

Just as PepsiCo owns Pepsi, Gatorade, IZZE Sparkling, Tropicana, Ocean Spray, Mountain Dew, etc., and Coca-Cola owns just as many beverage brands, such is the world of wine.

Michigan State Professor Philip Howard has illustrated how a handful of companies own the multitude of wine brands on the market today.

Zoom in to see the names of the wine producers and the companies that own them (they look like small dots/blobs if you don't zoom in):
http://www.businessinsider.com/philip-howard-msu-wine-map-2013-1

Does it matter who owns what?  As a consumer, I don't think so.  Thoughts?

Wine News: 2 Famous Chateaus

Wine News

• Chateau D'Yquem won't be producing a 2012 vintage.  (Not enough noble rot!)

• Jeff Koons will be designing the label for Chateau Mouton Rothchild's 2010 Pauillac first growth.  So cool!!!  I love Jeff Koons' art.  I wonder how much the wine will fetch.  Any guesses?  My guess is $3,000.

Bad news about wine

If this is true, I'm going to need to cut down my wine consumption. . .

Just two glasses of wine a day can nearly HALVE the number of brain cells we produce

Source: Daily Mail

By Anna Hodgekiss

Oct 25th

 

Just two glasses of wine a day could be harmful to the brain, new research suggests.

 

Even moderate drinking can decrease the production of adult brain cells by as much as 40 per cent, researchers from Rutgers Unviersity in the US have found.  The researchers said the findings showed there is a fine line between moderate and binge drinking.

Lead author Megan Anderson said: 'Moderate drinking can become binge drinking without the person realising it.  'In the short term there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems, but in the long term this type of behaviour could have an adverse effect on learning and memory.' 

 

Ms Anderson, a graduate fellow in the department of neuroscience and cell biology, used rats to model moderate to heavy drinking in humans.  Creating a blood alcohol level of 0.08 per cent in the rats, the legal driving limit in the US, they found this disrupted the production of brain cells.  This level of alcohol intake was not enough to impair the motor skills of the rats or prevent them from associative learning in the short-term.  But the number of nerve cells in the hippocampus of the brain were reduced by nearly 40 percent compared to those in the sober group of rodents.

 

This substantial decrease in brain cell numbers over time could have profound effects on the adult brain, said Ms Anderson.  That's because these new cells communicate with other neurons to regulate brain health. 

 

'If this area of your brain was affected every day over many months and years, eventually you might not be able to learn how to get somewhere new or to learn something new about your life,' said Ms Anderson.  It's something that you might not even be aware is occurring. 

 

The study is available online in the journal Neuroscience.

Turning a $43 Box of Wine into a $600 Burgundy

I recently read the article "Trading Up: How I turned a $43 Box of Wine into a $600 Burgundy" in Food & Wine magazine (September 2012, p.74) -- at first, thinking that it was an essay on how to take a box of wine and age it to taste like an expensive Burgundy.  I was mistaken. 

It's a fun article on how the writer (who works at Christie's in their wine department), was given the challenge by Food & Wine to take a $43 box of wine and trade it up for more expensive wines until he reached his goal of obtaining a wine 1) he had never tried before and 2) one costing at least $500.

After 6 smart trades, he ends up with . . .  well, you'll have to read the article to find out!

Defending Wine Snobs

I love this article by Lettie Teague at the Wall Street Journal that defends wine snobs:  Think While You Drink: In Defense of Wine Snobs

Celebrities and Wine

Fergie is going to launch her own wine later this year -- Ferguson Crest.  It'll include a single estate Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Viognier from Santa Barbara County.
http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/05/fergie-to-launch-her-own-wine/

Drew Barrymore released her own wines earlier this year -- Barrymore 2011 Pinot Grigio.
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/food/list_cask_idaNJohwML71vNwv90HKdL

And apparently, Lady Gaga is looking at vineyards. 

Oh, and Brad Pitt is going to be starring in "The Billionaire's Vinegar" (should be released later this year) which is based on a controversial book about Thomas Jefferson's wine bottles which were found in a a walled-up basement in Paris in 1985.  Bottles included a 1787 Lafite (engraved with Th:J), 1784 Chateau d'Yquem, and a half-bottle of 1784 Chateau Margaux.  In a 1985 auction, Malcom Forbes (the late publisher) paid $156,450 for the Lafite which is a single-bottle auction record that hasn't been surpassed.
http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/529950/brad-pitt-to-star-in-the-billionaire-s-vinegar

Wine Perfume: You Can Have Your Wine and Wear It Too

+ 

From Refinery29

Wine Perfume: Now You Can Have Your Vino &...Wear It, Too

By Megan McIntyre

If your first reaction to that headline was "ew," then clearly you need a proper introduction to the wonders of wine perfume. The Kelly & Jones Wine Notes Collection features five perfumes inspired by different varietals of vino: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet, Merlot, and Chardonnay. Creator Kelly Jones was inspired to create the scents after attending a wine tasting and noticing how her vanilla perfume intermingled with the notes of the wine she was savoring. Jones headed back to her fragrance studio with bottles of her favorite wines and went about mixing up scents that played off the undertones of each wine.

The end result is a collection of fragrances that features notes like honeydew, rhubarb, and toasted oak. When you stop to think about it, the concept makes sense: Sommeliers often instruct you to sniff the wine before you drink it, so that you can get a better understanding of a wine's complex flavor profile. Fragrance and scent are intertwined, so a wine fragrance is just a natural progression of this link.

When you look at it that way, it doesn't seem so odd after all. It also helps that the scents themselves are stunning — our favorite is the fruity Riesling, which has notes of white peach, anjou pear, bergamot, and raspberry leaf. We have eternal love for our vino, so we fully support anything that helps us celebrate our obsession without feeling like total lushes.

$84 each, available at www.kellyandjones.com

Penfolds Launching Top Wines

Article: Penfolds set to launch top wines

Penfolds is set to launch their 2012 Penfolds Icon and Luxury Collection on Thursday, May 3rd.  There are 8 wines ranging over 4 vintages.

According to the article, "most interest will be directed at the release of the 2007 Penfolds Grange, which chief winemaker, Peter Gago, has unsurprisingly singled out as the standout of the collection." 

• 2007 Penfolds Grange from $625
• 2009 Penfolds Yattarna Chardonnay $130
• 2010 Penfolds Reserve Bin A Adelaide Hills Chardonnay $95
• 2008 Penfolds St Henri Shiraz $95
• 2009 Penfolds Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon $250
• 2008 Penfolds Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon $250 (inaugural re-release; modeled on the 1973 release of Bin 169)
• 2009 Penfolds RWT Barossa Valley Shiraz $175
• 2009 Penfolds Magill Estate Shiraz $130

Red Wine May Block Fat Cell Formation

First, the study about people who eat chocolate being thinner, and now red wine. . . !

Red Wine May Block Fat Cell Formation
Turns out, resveratrol keeps baby fat cells from maturing

Source: The Daily Meal
By Jessica Chou
Apr 4, 2012

In the lastest wave of red wine health news, a study from Purdue University may explain the phenomenon of thin French women who always drink wine (if the book didn't do it for you).

Researcher Kee-Hong Kim, an assistant professor in food science at Purdue, led a study that showed red wine could potentially inhibit the formation of fat cells.

How it works? Resveratrol, the often-exalted "health" compound in wine, turns into piceatannol when consumed, which in turn effectively stops fat cells from maturing.  Kim found that piceatannol would bind to the receptors of immature fat cells during the first stage of adipogenesis, or fat cell formation, thus blocking the cell's ability to mature. This could delay the formation of the fat cell, or stop it completely.

While they need to study the compound some more, "piceatannol could contribute to lowering body fat gain," Kim told us. "You could lower an accumulation of body fat cells."  Furthermore, it could potentially lead to gradual weight loss. When an old fat cells dies, Kim says, "they don't get replaced [because of the piceatannol], or they will get replaced with lower numbers."

Luckily, you don't have to drink yourself silly to stay thin (although why ever not?). Piceatannol is also present in fruits like red grape seeds and skin, blueberries, and passion fruit, with passion fruit containing the highest amount of the compound. In the meantime, Kim is looking to do more concrete research on the effect of piceatannol on the human body.

A Deal: Buy Veuve Cliquot Champagne Now at Central Market!

If you live in Dallas and love Veuve Cliquot, go to Central Market and buy it now.  It's at the lowest price we've ever seen it -- at $35.97 per bottle, and if you buy 6 bottles (of any wine), it comes out to about $32 per bottle which is a DEAL.  I couldn't believe it when I saw the price.  I called Spec's, and it's $42 there at their cash price; it was about $40 at Sam's and even higher than that at every other place I've seen it.

By the way, if you've always wondered how to pronounce Veuve Cliquot, a rep for them once told me that "Veuve" rhymes with "love" (it's not "voov" which is how many people pronounce it), and "Cliquot" is "klee-koe."

All About Champagne

While Champagne is especially apropos today (and of course, last night), I think it's great any and every day of the week.  Why not?

Don't know much about Champagne? 
Do you know how Champagne gets its bubbles? 
What are the 3 primary grapes used in Champagne? 
Did you know that Champagne was "invented" by a monk. . . Dom Perignon?

This informative article "Bubble by Bubble" by Lettie Teague at the Wall Street Journal is a nice primer:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204879004577108771968650542.html?KEYWORDS=bubble+by+bubble

Happy New Year!!!!

Yao Ming + Wine = Yao Family Wines

Is this as funny to you as it is to me?


Yao Ming Courts China's Wine Boom
Source: WSJ
By JASON CHOW
Nov 28th

Chinese NBA star Yao Ming is launching his own California winery as China's thirst for wine intensifies. The former basketball pro speaks to The Wall Street Journal's Jason Chow.

While Yao Ming was growing up in Shanghai, wine was served with ice cubes. It wasn't until the 7-foot-6-inch Chinese basketball star spent time with National Basketball Association teammate Dikembe Mutombo, a 7-foot-2-inch Congolese player, that he began to appreciate wine.

"I always watched him at our dinners and I'd sometimes ask him 'Why are you doing that?'" said Mr. Yao, swirling an imaginary glass. "I was just trying to copy him."

Now retired and living in his native Shanghai, Mr. Yao is an unlikely connoisseur and a trailblazer on the Chinese wine scene. The 31-year-old is launching his own Californian winery geared exclusively for the Chinese market this week called Yao Family Wines.

Distributed by French beverage giant Pernod Ricard SA, bottles in the first 5,000-case run will be labeled simply Yao Ming and aimed at the top end of the market.

The wine, made from cabernet sauvignon grapes harvested in 2009 from California's Napa Valley, is priced at 1,775 yuan (US$289) a bottle. (The price includes a 27% import duty and a 17% sales tax.) A second wine, called Yao Family Reserve, will be released later this year, and its small 500-case production will be even pricier.

"I really like Napa Valley," said the former center. "California represents vacation, casual [living], sunshine-everything related to a good quality of life."  Yao Family Wines currently doesn't own any vineyards in California, but is aiming to acquire land in the next few years.

California couldn't have a better pitchman in China than Mr. Yao. He is one of the country's biggest stars and is credited with boosting China's interest in the NBA. During his nine seasons with the Houston Rockets, his games were broadcast on national television in China, and he was selected to carry China's flag during the opening ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He has endorsed everything from Apple Inc. products to his father's Chinese restaurant in Houston.

Mr. Yao's appreciation for wine grew in parallel with its acceptance in his home country-wine consumption in China doubled from 2005 to 2009. But wine imported into China came predominantly from France, and he spotted a market opportunity for Californian wines.

Mr. Yao asked BDA Sports International, the agency that represents him, to explore the idea of starting his own Napa Valley winery. In 2009, with BDA's assistance, he found a team of wine experts to help him realize his vision, including winemaker Tom Hinde, who had made wines for Flowers Vineyard and Winery and Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates. "We tasted a lot of wine together and got to know him in a way so I could express his personality in the wine," said Mr. Hinde. "He's physically imposing, but he's also very personable and gentle. We wanted to capture that in the wine."

Mr. Hinde insists Yao Family Wines isn't a short-lived bid to capitalize on China's wine boom and the star's celebrity before either of them wane. He said the business plan is based on a 10-year timeline.

Mr. Hinde and four others involved with the winery are minority shareholders in the venture, while Mr. Yao is the principal owner. Neither Mr. Yao nor his winemaking team disclosed how much has been invested, though wine-industry experts estimate that it requires $2 million to $5 million to get a winery to reach full production.

While most of the wine sold in China is from domestic sources, the imported market has grown dramatically. Bottled-wine imports-as opposed to cheap bulk wine that is imported in large tanks for bottling in China-grew 240% from 2008 to 2010, according to data from China Customs.

China has a heavy bias toward French wines. Last year, France led bottled-wine imports with a 47% market share. Australia ranked a distant second with 16% of the market. The U.S. came in sixth, trailing Italy, Spain and Chile, with a 6.4% share.

Chinese collectors have bid top dollar for the world's most sought-after bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy at auctions in Hong Kong, putting the city ahead of London and New York in sales.  In September, an anonymous Chinese bidder spent $539,280 on a single lot of 300 bottles of Château Lafite-Rothschild wine at a Sotheby's wine auction in Hong Kong.

Mr. Yao's new winery isn't his only business venture. He is the owner of his first professional basketball team, the Shanghai Sharks, and an investor in a digital-music site called Top100.cn.  Mr. Yao is also attending classes at Shanghai Jiaotong University. He is going to miss a day of school this week for one of the many launch events scheduled for the new winery.

"I'll need an extra bottle for my history professor so he can give me a good grade and let me skip his class," Mr. Yao said.

Absolut Tune: Sauvignon Blanc Vodka

What do you think Sauvignon Blanc Vodka tastes like?  I'm going to have to try this.

Absolut and Brancott produce vodka-Sauvignon blend
Source: Decanter
by Rebecca Gibb in Auckland
Tuesday 13 September 2011

Swedish vodka producer Absolut has paired up with Pernod Ricard stablemate Brancott Estate to produce a 'sparkling fusion' of vodka and Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  A spokesman for the new blend, called Absolut Tune, said he would not be 'sharing the specifics' on how the sparkle was created other than that it was a 'fusion process'.

A blend of 60% vodka and 40% Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, the final alcohol level is 14%.

The product was launched in three bars in Sydney, Australia as part of a month-long trial.  Absolut would not comment on its future beyond a limited edition bottling.  No-one from the three bars trialling the product responded to Decanter.com's requests for a verdict on the product; Decanter.com is currently awaiting a sample from Australia.

The company's press release says, 'The first taste of Absolut Tune reveals vibrant, fresh tropical fruits with a balanced sweetness through the front and mid palate which is brought to life through the bubbles...and with a persistent medium strength Absolut vodka flavour and balanced sweetness leading on to a dry finish.'

Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut Champagne & St. Angel Cheese

Ahhh. . . Champagne. . . I love bubbly, and last night we opened up a bottle of Perrier Jouet Grand Brut to have along with our cheese fest.  (It especially paired well with St. Angel cheese -- but more about that later.)  I loved the crispness of the Champagne and the fact that it wasn't very yeasty.  There was a slight slight sweetness and fruit that I really liked. 

Here's some info on Perrier-Jouet from their website:

• The Champagne house's vineyards lie in the heart "Champagne magic triangle"
• In the Grand Brut blend, delicate Chardonnay and strong Pinot Noir blend harmoniously with the Pinot Meunier, a complex variety that reveals all of its qualities when selected with care.
• White flowers, white fruit, pineapple and grapefruit -- the light, delicate Grand Brut offers a wide range of flavours.
• A fresh, lively, dynamic and perfectly balanced wine to be enjoyed as an aperitif and at any time of day, with light dishes.
• Perrier-Jouet's Cuvee Belle Epoque 2002 Champagne was chosen for Price Albert of Monaco's wedding.

And now, more about St. Angel cheese which is heavenly, but what triple cream cheese isn't heavenly?

• The dairy is located in the South East part of France.
• St. Angel is a triple cream specialty cheese that has the delicate taste of cream. Because the curds are never drained with ultra filtration, more calcium, phosphorus, and milk protein are retained than in regular soft ripened cheese. The result is a unique creamy texture, unctuousness and a very healthy cheese (3 times more calcium than in regular soft ripened cheese).
• Milk Type:  Cow
• Paired Spirit:  Champagne

Source:  GourmetLibrary.com