California’s Other Wine Growing Regions

Head down the coast to San Luis Obispo to discover scores of small family-run wineries. (Lee Foster/LPI)

California’s Other Wine Countries -- BBC

Everybody knows the justifiably famous Napa and Sonoma Valleys, but if you are looking to take the next step, try venturing into California’s less-famous wine regions. Here, family-owned wineries welcome novices and experts alike, and tasting fees are low to non-existent. Most of these well-hidden wine countries are near the San Francisco Bay area and are perfect for weekend escapes.

Read more ....

My Comment: Napa and Sonoma have great wines .... but the other regions also shine .... and at a cheaper price.

Burgundy's 2009 Vintage Looks Good

Cool change: Burgundy vineyards in winter Photo: Tim Atkin; Heathcliff O’Malley; Martin Pope

2009 Vintage: Burgundy Best In A Barrel -- The Telegraph

The 2009 vintage promises great things: store up these high-quality bargains for the future.

It was 10 degrees below when I visited Burgundy in December for an early look at the much-talked about 2009 vintage. Snow turned the bare sticks of the winter vineyards into a scene that resembled Narnia. But even more magical were the wines.

“For me 2009 was the best vintage since I started work,” says winemaker Pierre Vincent of Domaine de la Vougeraie as he steered me around the frozen garden where he grows more than 12 different plants, including yarrow and lemon grass, used in the vineyard in place of chemical preparations.

Read more ....

My Comment: They had the weather for 2009 .... so the wine should be just as good.

The Chinese Invasion Of French Wine Country

Chinese businessman Richard Shen Dongjun feels right at home in Bordeaux Photo: AFP/GETTY

Chinese Buyers Snapping Up French Vineyards -- The Telegraph

Chinese businessman Richard Shen Dongjun feels right at home in Bordeaux. And he's one of a growing number of Chinese investors buying French chateaux to produce their own wines.

In the ancient domaine of Laulan Ducos, a 15th century French chateau on a gravelly Bordeaux outcrop surrounded by fine vines, Chinese businessman Richard Shen Dongjun feels perfectly at home.

He is, in fact, at home. The diamond tycoon has just bought the estate, and its vineyard, lock, stock and oak barrel.

It is the second to be taken over by Asian investors in just over a month, and the sixth Chinese-owned vineyard in this celebrated wine-producing region.

Read more ....

My Comment: I can't blame them. They want quality, and they have the money to buy it.

World Recognition Of Chinese Wine Labels Is Not There Yet

Champagne, Bordeaux... Ningxia? -- CNBC

Earlier this month Moët Hennessy became the latest French winemaker to announce a Chinese joint venture, this time to produce sparkling wine in the remote north-western Ningxia, but some wine experts believe the world is not quite ready for Asian wine. Vintner and contributing editor at Decanter magazine Steven Spurrier told CNBC.com that the West’s insatiable appetite for cheap Chinese goods is unlikely to be matched by a foreign market for Chinese produced wine.

Read more ....

My Comment: My experience with Chinese wine has not been good. Maybe with time they can accomplish something .... but that time is not now.

Canada's British Colombia's Wine Scene

Mission Hill, British Columbia’s most famous winery, overlooks Lake Okanagan. (Mission Hill)

Canada’s Wine Scene Is Taking Root -- BBC

Next to California’s sun-dappled Napa and Sonoma Valleys and Oregon’s rain-soaked Willamette Valley, the lakefront Okanagan Valley, just across the US border from Washington, is largely unknown outside of Canada.

There are 196 wineries in British Columbia, ranging from small family-run operations on Vancouver Island to sprawling estates in the Okanagan Valley, and recent International Wine and Spirits Competition awards for local wineries like Mission Hill and Jackson-Triggs have put the area on par with other vino-heavyweights, such as France, South Africa and Argentina.

Read more ....

My Comment: Mission Hill and Burrowing Owl are two excellent wineries. I have tasted their 'higher end' wine, and it's very good.

Wine From The Negev

The Carmey Avdat Winery is a family-run, ecological farm that cultivates grapes using ancient irrigation terraces. (Carmey Avdat)

The Negev Desert Wine Route -- BBC

Like most Middle Eastern deserts, the Negev is usually associated with sand, rock and the odd camel. However, this seemingly dry and arid region in southern Israel is now home to a burgeoning wine route, thanks to a group of pioneering 21st-century farmers and their use of computerized drip irrigation.

The Negev gets less than 100mm of rain per year, most of which is washed away in flash floods down mountainsides, so the use of irrigation is not necessarily new. The Nabataeans – the ancient desert nomads who built their capital in Petra in the Hellenistic period – were so good at conserving water that their kings used to deliberately waste it in front of guests to show off.

Read more ....

My Comment: They have the sun .... and maybe the soil .... and they can control the water by irrigation. It should be good wine .... hmmmm .... maybe.

Scotch In A Can

Scotch In A Can: A Cautious Endorsement -- Esquire

Well, that didn't take long: A Scottish company's proposed canned whisky, which is set to hit U.S. shelves soon, has made its way around the Internet. The product, produced by Scottish Spirits Imports, is facing critics in its home country, who say putting 12 ounces (about eight shots) of 80-proof booze in a nonresealable can naturally invites too much drinking. And Jacob Sullum over at Reason already wonders if it will go the way of Four Loko once it hits our shores.

Read more ....

My Comment: How much ... and if it is cheap (probably is) .... I can guarantee a lot of drinking. More news and info here.

The "Alien Brain Hemorrhage"

Alien Brain Hemorrhage Cocktail Recipe -- Latinrapper.com

January 28, 2012 at 7:00 PM ET - To make an alien brain hemorrhage cocktail, fill a shot glass halfway with peach schnapps. Gently pour Bailey's Irish Cream on top. After the shot is almost full, carefully add a small amount of blue curacao. After it settles, add a small splash (or a few drops) of grenadine syrup.

Read more ....

Italian Vineyards Are Being Invaded By A New Spieves Of Moth

The moth is common in North America and was first spotted in Italy in 2006

New Moth Species Invades Italy's Vineyards -- BBC

A moth with a taste for Chardonnay leaves, which has infested vineyards across northern Italy, is a new species of leafminer, scientists say.

The pest was first discovered by Italian scientists in 2006, but they were unable to identify it.

Now, by examining a snippet of the moth's genetic code, researchers have confirmed that it is a previously unnamed species.

The team published their findings in the journal ZooKeys.

Read more ....

John Walker & Sons' Diamond Jubilee Blended Scotch Whisky

John Walker & Sons' Diamond Jubilee Blended Scotch Whisky

John Walker & Sons Launch Diamond Jubilee To Ccelebrate Queen Elizabeth -- Business Day

Scotch Whisky Distillers has created Diamond Jubilee Blended Scotch Whisky by John Walker & Sons, a unique blend of grain and malt whiskies all distilled and maturing since 1952 to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The Whisky, 60 in number represent each year of The Queen’s reign and is offered for sale at £100,000 each. Grantee of John Walker & Sons’ Royal Warrant, David Gates, oversaw the filling of The Queen’s decanter, as well as 60 further editions for sale around the world. Gates commented, “John Walker & Sons was first awarded a Royal Warrant in 1934 by King George V

Read more ....

My Comment: This is something that you do not drink. Instead .... you just put it aside.

Heitz Martha's Vineyard

Heitz Martha's Vineyard: A Grand Cru Wine In Napa Valley -- Washington Times

EASTON Md., February 19, 2012 — There are just certain wines you need to try before you die and Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is one of them.

Heitz Vineyards just turned 50 last year, making it one of the founding fathers of the premium wine scene in Napa Valley. After a recent tasting of several of their wines, including two vintages of their Martha’s Vineyard Cab, it seems that midlife never tasted so delicious.

The United States does not have a formal classification system for its wines like the ones used in France, Italy or Spain but a movement is in the making to change that. When the Grand Cru vineyards of California are mapped out there is no doubt that Martha’s Vineyards will be among them.

Read more ....

Wine&Spirits Editor: Their website is here.

Bill Foley Is On A Winery Buying Spree

Bill Foley, owner of Foley Family Wines, is now hunting for more distressed wineries along Napa Valley's fable Route 29. Photographer: Jeff Minton/Bloomberg Markets via Bloomberg

Wine Turns Mortgage Title Mogul Into Entrepreneur of Viticulture -- Bloomberg

On a crisp winter’s day in 2010, Bill Foley was exploring a troubled winery for sale in Sonoma County, California, when he was taken aback by the sight of an enclosed horse-riding ring the size of an airplane hangar.

Foley, who made a fortune selling mortgage title insurance during the housing boom, also recalls seeing a California mission-style chapel and a regulation-sized football field and baseball diamond at the Chalk Hill Estate. These extravagant structures had nothing to do with making wine and helped saddle an estate valued at more than $100 million with excessive debt, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its March issue.

“My wife said, ‘There’s no way you can buy this,’” Foley recalls with a mischievous grin.

Read more ....

My Comment: He is 66 .... but that is not stopping him. What can I say but good luck.

A Look At The Wine Market For 2012 (Video)

Feb. 17, 2012 (Bloomberg) -- John Kapon, chief executive officer of Acker Merrall & Condit, talks about the fine wine market. He speaks with Deirdre Bolton on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves." Bloomberg's Courtney Donohoe also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)

Europe's Biggest Alcohol Warehouse

Vast: A warehouse worker inspects bottles after they have been filled with wine

Fancy A Tipple Or Two? Europe's Biggest Alcohol Warehouse, Filled With Enough Wine To Fill 15 Olympic-Sized Pools -- Daily Mail

Plant has been running 24/7 for the last two months filling 780,000 bottles per day
The complex can store 9.5million gallons

It's Europe's biggest warehouse and promises a very merry Christmas - if you like wine.

Because between now and the big day an astonishing 11.5 million bottles of wine will be leaving this huge warehouse and wine packaging facility bound for supermarkets, off-licences and bars.

The complex in Avonmouth, near Bristol, can store 9.5million gallons - enough to fill 15 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Read more ....

My Comment: OK .... I am impressed.

The Story Of Johnnie Walker And His Whisky (Video)

My Comment: It's a great video.

Peter Mondavi To Be Inducted Into The Vintners Hall Of Fame

Peter Mondavi Jr., Peter Mondavi Sr., Marc Mondavi (Cy Musiker/KQED)

Another Mondavi Enters Vintners Hall of Fame -- KQED

The Vintners Hall of Fame in St. Helena will induct Peter Mondavi Senior tonight after eight decades of making fine wine.

Peter is far less famous than his late brother Robert, who was as good at self-promotion as he was at making great wine. Peter keeps, in his own words, "plugging along" at 97, as president of the Charles Krug winery, Napa's oldest. He runs the place with his two sons Peter Jr. and Marc.

Read more ....

My Comment: An acknowledgement well deserved.

Alcohol Seen Killing 200,000 Britons By 2032

A pint is seen on a table in a pub in London January 4, 2011. REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett

Alcohol Seen Killing 200,000 Britons In Next 20 Years -- Yahoo News/Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 210,000 people in England and Wales will be killed prematurely by alcohol over the next 20 years, with a third of those preventable deaths due to liver disease alone, health experts warned Monday.

Other alcohol-related deaths will be due to accidents, violence and suicide, or from chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, strokes, heart disease and cancer, the experts warned in a projection study in the Lancet medical journal.

Read more ....

My Comment: My rule of thumb is simple .... always drink in moderation.

Most Expensive Cognac In The World Up For Sale

Most Expensive Cognac In The World Under Auction -- The Telegraph

A Dutch collector is selling some 5,000 unopened bottles of spirits worth more than £5 million, a drinks cabinet that includes the most expensive of Cognac in the world.

Among the bottles collected by Bay Van der Bunt is a 1795 Cognac made in Brugerolle that accompanied Napoleon Bonaparte on his conquests of Europe.

The hand-blown six-litre Jeroboam bottle is worth £114,500 and, said Mr van der Bunt, is "the last of its kind in the world".

"It travelled with Napoleon's army. You can just see it there lying with the others in the hay cart. After the battle – and probably before – the officers would drink from it," he told the Observer.

Read more ....

My Comment: I agree .... something like that should be left for the ages. But you just know that one day such a bottle will .... eventually .... be opened.

Editor's Note

So here is my wine and spirits blog. This blog will be dedicated to posting current news and interesting developments in the world of wine and spirits, as well as to my own personal journey .... savouring the best wine and spirits that the world has to offer .... and blogging about it.