What a week in wine its been. While many wine professionals digested news of LVMH's acquisition of Napa's iconic Phelps vineyard, amateurs were in the streets of Haro on Wednesday, covering each other in a reported 40,000 liters of red wine, as the city's traditional "wine battle" returned after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.
Reports of hail damage in French vineyards continued to trickle in across numerous news outlets this week while the big cultural news came from Italy where three 1500 year-old amphorae used to carry wine were analyzed by archeobotanists for plant residue. The investigation found, among other things, that the Romans likely used imported pine resin to coat the amphorae to prevent leaks.
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Here, though, are some of the stories you might have missed this busy news week:
Cheval Blanc buys Tour du Pin Figeac
Top Saint-Émilion estate Château Cheval Blanc has acquired its 11-hectare (27-acre) neighbor, Château La Tour du Pin Figeac, from the Giraud-Bélivier family, it emerged this week. The purchase follows that of the eight-hectare (19-acre) Château La Tour-du-Pin Figeac-Moueix from the Moueix family in 2006, and brings both properties under the Cheval Blanc wing.
According to French daily financial newspaper Les Echos, the move will allow Cheval Blanc to develop its white wine offering.
"A portion of the 11 hectares will allow [Cheval Blanc] to increase its production of white wines, rare in the area, while a small section could go into the production of the grand vin red," said the report.
The three domaines were originally part of the same wider estate (Figeac) until they were broken up in the 19th Century.
"We knew the neighboring terroir," Pierre-Olivier Clouet, Cheval Blanc's technical director, told French wine news website Terre de Vins, "but we wanted to take the time to study them in detail to understand their diversity and their potential. But we fully intend to increase our production of white wine."
Cheval Blanc is part-owned by luxury goods giant LVMH and the Frère family. In a shock move, the château quit the Saint-Émilion classification last year.
Vast Bordeaux wine fraud ring busted
Twenty people, including wine distributors and the owner of a Médoc château, were taken into custody this week following an investigation by French police into a major wine fraud operation in which hundreds of thousands of bottles are believed to have been forged.
The investigation centers on Bordeaux but covers multiple regions across France. According to regional newspaper Sud Ouest, three ringleaders were indicted on counts of falsification of goods, organised fraud and money laundering.
In all, eleven suspects were placed in police custody and with nine more being interviewed in connection with the investigation. Reports claim one hundred gendarmes were deployed to detain the suspects. Ten vehicles, a significant volume of counterfeit wine in cases and pallets, computer equipment, mobile phones, documents and cash were also seized.
The investigation began in 2021 when gendarmes in Bordeaux uncovered paraphernalia connected to wine fraud (dry goods and false labels) as part of an operation against drug-smuggling in the region. Soon after this, counterfeit Bordeaux was uncovered in the Sarthe department of the Loire region.
"The main suspect built relations with Spanish contacts in order to obtain wine and proceeded to print a large number of labels discreetly," said Bordeaux public prosecutor Frédérique Porterie. "Initial investigations quickly confirmed a large-scale organized fraud by the owner of a vineyard in the Médoc who also had the status of négoce."
According to the prosecution, the château owner set up "a network of official and unofficial distributors made up of companies, retirees, self-emplyed individuals" which made it possible to sell fake Bordeaux by the pallet-load in multiple French departments and abroad.
"The scam consisted of passing off what customers believed were Bordeaux châteaux whose names and labels inspired confidence at prices that sometimes defied all competition," added Porterie. "In reality they were buying low-end wines or wines from regions quite far from Bordeaux."
In order to avoid detection, bottlings were done at night and wine deliveries were made over the weekend. The money generated by the scam was used to finance the château-owner's lifestyle and renovations on the estate (paid in cash).
As yet, no names have been released in connection with the charges.
Corsican appellation bans glyphosate
The Corsican appellation of Patrimonio has joined Pomerol in banning the use of synthetic weedkillers across its vineyards, it was announced this week. The move, which effectively means makes weeding a physical and/or mechanical endeavor across the region's 460 hectares (1140 acres), had been expected since it was announced that Pomerol had banned all chemical weekillers last year (see Pomerol Bans Chemical Weedkiller – news item #2).
Back then it was reported that both the Patrimonio and Baux de Provence regions were looking to adopt similar measures. The Prosecco Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG famously banned the use of the controversial herbicide glyphosate in 2019.
"The decision to ban herbicides is all the more important as the Patrimonio plots are very intertwined," Mathieu Marfisi, president of the appellation, told Terre de Vins. "Almost all of the producers in this territory already work organically, but we did not want to stipulate this approach [organics] in the production specifications because the decision to remove glyphosate already involves a lot of mechanical work on the soil. In addition, the Inao did not want an appellation to refer to another specification, even organic."
The change will come into effect from the 2022 vintage onwards.
Don’t be the Taliban towards wine, EU urged
The General Secretary of the Spanish Federation of Wines and Spirits, José Luis Beneyto, has asked the EU not to apply "Taliban"-style policies towards alcoholic beverages while Brussels continues to mull alcohol labeling laws off the back of recommendations by the organization's Special Commission on Beating Cancer (BECA).
The EU has already begun implementing guidelines around ingredient reporting on alcoholic drinks labels although it has, so far, stepped back from classifying wine as cancerous. Recent reports now indicate the European Commission could amend labeling requirements (in accordance with recommendations from the General Directorate of Health and Food Safety) and require messages similar to those on cigarette packets as early as 2023.
in 2023 the European Commission could change the regulation on food and beverage labeling, in which some representatives of the General Directorate of Health and Food Safety propose to warn consumers that wine bottles carry messages like those on cigarette packs, with their 'Smoking kills' signs.
According to regional newspaper Levante, Beneyto held a meeting on Thursday with representatives of the Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Jerez, Somontano, Madrid, Valencia, Rías Baixas, La Mancha and Cava wine regions as well as MEPs from the European centre-right People's Party, Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez and Dolors Montserrat i Montserrat.
"The wine sector is clear that moderate consumption, within the framework of Mediterranean culture, does not cause any harm to health. There is no scientific evidence," said Beneyto. "There are too many lobbies fighting against alcohol consumption and something has to be done."
"It is very important to center the debate on wine as an agricultural and alimentary product," said Salvador Manjón, president of the Valencia DO. "It is not so much a political question as a religious one and the result of a culture in Anglo-Saxon countries that dismisses wine."
"The European plan against cancer, without scientific evidence, criminalizes wine," added Montserrat i Montserrat.
Splinter Rioja wineries granted interim “Alava” title
More from Spain where splinter producers in Rioja Álavesa wishing to add smaller geographical designations and/or avoid the generic "Rioja" label (in contravention to the region-wide practice of broadly generic labeling) have been handed an interim work-around by the Basque government, under whose jurisdiction they fall.
Arantxa Tapia, the Basque Minister of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, has indicated that, pending the go-ahead from the EU, producers could apply for the Viñedos de Álava title on a temporary basis. As reported in 2021, the Viñedos de Álava title has been on the cards for some time, although its documentation only reached Brussels in May of this year.
According to press agency Europa Press, Tapia said "such wineries could ask the Basque government to adopt the title as a temporary measure" while the issue is pondered by Brussels lawmakers.
Czech glassmakers create EU glasses to mark presidency
Back to European Union news where glassblowers in the Czech Republic have celebrated that country's presidency of the Council of the European Union by creating 27 pairs of wine glasses highlighting the particularities of each EU member state. Produced by designer Mária Burešová in collaboration with seven Bohemian glassmakers, each pair comprises a Champagne glass and a regular wine glass.
Finland's pair of glasses, for instance, sport blue bubbles, while Ireland's set is shamrock green. The Greek glassware has a pattern reminiscent of the stylized waves on ancient vases. Britain's is absent.
“This project was born in the fall of 2020, when the artist Mária Burešová sent me the sketches of cups that symbolized different European countries," Petr Nový, Chief Curator of the Museum of Glass and Jewelery in Jablonec nad Nisou in northern Chechia, told Czech Radio. "Drawing was her way of coping with confinement during the pandemic. I loved her sketches and we decided to make all the countries of the European Union.
"We wanted production to be concentrated in Crystal Valley [a region around Jablonec nad Nisou and nearby Liberec]. The seven glassworks that have participated in the project are located in this valley.
"Another idea behind the project was to show the EU and the rest of the world how many quality items there are in a territory as small as North Bohemia. The concentration of glassmakers in the region is unique in Europe and in the world."
The glasses are currently on display at the European Table exhibition at the Museum of Glass and Jewelery in Jablonec nad Nisou.
Castilla y León to host free online viticulture course
Good news for budding viticulturists as it emerged that, as part of Aranda de Duero's European City of Wine 2022 status, the Ribera del Duero hub and its regional Castilla y León government will host a two-day Sustainable Viticulture and Technology course that will stream free to anyone in a European Union member state.
According to Spanish wine news website Vinetur, the course "aims to offer a medium-high level of technical training and transfer knowledge about viticulture, from a basic level to the latest advances, technologies and techniques in production".
"There will also be time to delve into the laws that regulate organic viticulture, an exploration of minor grape varieties in vineyards, learn about the benefits of preventive pruning and the longevity of the vine," said the report. "As well as how to face climate change from an oenological perspective or the role of denominations of origin in the socioeconomic development of rural areas."
Physical participants will be able to go into the regional vineyards for workshops and to apply their learnings. The course runs from 17 to 19 July and will house 35 physical participants with room for a further 65 at the presentations.
Online participation is free to anyone within the EU although applicants must register on the Aranda de Duero city council website www.arandadeduero.es or www.colegiosangabriel.es (follow the Foro Viticultura link).
Prosecco outsells Italian still wines
According to recent figures released by Italy's Wine Observatory of the Italian Wine Union (UIV) sales of Prosecco continue to surge, particularly to the UK where Prosecco sales outperformed all Italian still wines combined in the first quarter of 2022. Indeed such is the success of the sparkling wine that, were it not for the category, Italian wine exports would have recorded a year-on-year drop in the first quarter.
As reported in regional news outlet Il Sole 24 Ore, "Prosecco is now worth more than two-thirds of the volumes of sparkling wines imported into the UK from all over the world."
However, overall figures are likely to be down on 2021 by the year end.
"We believe it is unlikely to replicate the performances of 2021," said Lamberto Frescobaldi, President of the UIV, "in which we recorded growth from April to September of almost 30 percent."
"This would be a normal year," he added, "were it not for [the conflict in the Ukraine] that has exacerbated tensions over energy costs and those of dry goods. Add inflation to this already difficult situation and we have impacts on our companies by 20 to 30 percent on top of the cost of the finished product."
Argentinian winery raises funds for LGBTQIA+ school
A Mendoza based winery has hired two LGBTQIA+ artists to design and develop a wine label for a range of wines aimed to raise money for Buenos Aires-based transgender high school Mocha Celis.
Fifty percent of the sales of a limited edition of Corbeau Wines' Mad Bird line will go to the school – one of the first of its kind designed to cater for transvestites, transsexuals and transgender people from around the world. According to Argentinian news outlet Télam, two wines in the range were released during Pride Month.
The artists Melo (24), a Graphic Design student, and Tomi Mantis (25), an illustrator, were hired by the winery to each design one of the labels.
"They spoke to me from the winery and told me about the proposal," Melo told Télam. "I was taken by it because it is related to what I do, beyond my gender and my sexuality, which is important for this specific campaign and for this month, but also seeing beyond that."
Melo's label adorns a red blend of 60 percent Sangiovese and 40 percent Merlot while Tomi Mantis' work features on a 70 percent Ancellotta/30 percent Malbec number. Corbeau Wines is well known for its progressive releases although it is perhaps best-known for its efforts in reviving Ancellotta in Argentina.
