Odd Wine News

[Rebel Rose]

The most northernmost vineyard on earth

500 miles from the Arctic Circle

South African winery launches Braille bottles

to help wine lovers without vision choose their own tipple

7-11 Convenience stores join the "Walmart Wine" trend

[Daniel Rogov]

I hate to throw cold water on those South African wineries (especially because it is the dead of winter there), but it was the Rhone Valley's Chapoutier who introduced the first labels in Braille and he did that in 1995.

[Brad Ballinger]

7-11 Convenience stores join the "Walmart Wine" trend

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Can I get it as a Slurpee?

[Raoul Duke]

It gives new meaning to "Big Gulp"!

[Rebel Rose]

From Madrid:

Saboteurs hit at heart of cava region in Spain

Saboteurs armed with mechanical clippers and motorsaws have hacked down 475 vines belonging to Spain's winemaking giant Freixenet, producers of Britain's favourite budget sparkling wine . . . The vines of the xarello grape, one of the region's three traditional varieties, were sawn off through their trunks.

[Rebel Rose]

And just when we thought farming couldn't possibly get any harder:

Police swarm vineyard near high school after false sniper report

Two men shooting pellet guns to scare birds from a vineyard found themselves in the middle of a full-blown police siege after a resident mistakenly reported seeing a sniper.

Those poor guys!!

Anyone enjoyed a Chianti Not So Classico recently?

Chianti: 9m bottles seized in fraud investigation

The equivalent of over 9m bottles of Chianti Classico has been seized by Italian authorities from top Tuscan estates including Ruffino as part of a fraud inquiry.  Ruffino, one of the region's major producers, currently has its entire Chianti Classico stock of 2.5m bottles under lock and key in its Pontassieve cellars.

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[Rebel Rose]

Okay, now I'm getting confused. In Italy (see above) wine is confiscated during a fraud investigation.

But in France, wine is confiscated during a fraud investigation, and then Customs is investigated for filching the fraud confiscation.

French customs accused of stealing wine

But when documents concerning the confiscated wine were presented to the local court recently, lawyers for the defendant – the château's previous owner – found a discrepancy. The equivalent of 215,237 bottles, worth around €800,000 (£548,417), was missing.

Now, the lawyers for the accused believe customs 'helped themselves' to the wine or sold it on.

[Rebel Rose]

Nazi Racoons Overrun German Vineyards

Thousands of marauding racoons, descendents of animals released by Hermann Goering, have overrun vineyards in central Germany.

The nocturnal mammals descended on vineyards in the Brandenburg region, west of Berlin, ruining the harvest. Ripening grapes are a favourite snack of the stripy-tailed rodent.

'Raccoons wiped out almost the entire harvest in a matter of days,' winemaker Werner Kothe told Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 'We have 540 vines and they have been stripped bare by these animals.'

[Rebel Rose]

Beyond tacky:

Michael Jackson to stop Jesus Juice wine (brief)

When Bad Jokes Go Public CBS version

When questioned about filing for the trademark, Rheins said the couple did so because “we didn’t want somebody to get hold of it” and make money off of it when they could be traced as the creators. When I asked about reports that they had tried to solicit wineries in a partnership, he told me that his wife had made a “joking reference” on her Web site about seeking partners but they have “never approached any wineries” and if any had contacted them (none did), they would have turned them down.

None did. Duh. The TTB would never approve such a label. How incredibly arrogant of this guy to actually think he'd have an opportunity to turn a winery down.

[Rebel Rose]

Mayfair Cellars collapses

London fine wine merchants Mayfair Cellars has collapsed with the loss of hundreds of thousands of pounds – the victim of a massive internal fraud.

A senior member of staff fraudulently sold some £700,000 of top Bordeaux and Burgundy over the course of four years.

The total replacement value of the wines stolen could be as much as £1.25m, senior buyer Alex Hunt said. The wines were first growth and other top Bordeaux, and Burgundy's Domaine de la Romanee Conti.

The fraud only came to light when Hunt was asked by a customer to release a parcel of 1990 Chateau Cheval Blanc. 'When I went to look at that account I noticed that that rotation number had no cases attached to it.'

That discovery, made two weeks ago, led to the uncovering of an audacious scam whereby private customers' reserves were sold to two major London wine merchants and the proceeds pocketed.

In a bizarre anomaly, Hunt said that while the fraudster was selling off customers' wines to the two merchants, Hunt himself was conducting legitimate deals with the same merchants. 'I would have expected them to mention that they had just bought a pallet of such and such a wine from us. It is very odd,' he said.

There seems to be more dishonesty, theft, embezzlement and fraud in the wine world than ever before. I wonder why that is?

[Rebel Rose]

Scientists Say Seaweed Wine Is An Effective Eczema Treatment

And I think they mean for us to drink it, not wear it.

Germans scientists have turned their talents to the world of gastronomy and produced seaweed wine – which, in addition to its epicurean delight, will apparently help improve eczema. While we can’t vouch for its success at your next dinner party, we can appreciate its benefits to the skin – although a shielding lotion may be a more appropriate external eczema treatment.

[JohnL]

Scientists Say Seaweed Wine Is An Effective Eczema Treatment

And I think they mean for us to drink it, not wear it.   

Germans scientists have turned their talents to the world of gastronomy and produced seaweed wine – which, in addition to its epicurean delight, will apparently help improve eczema. While we can’t vouch for its success at your next dinner party, we can appreciate its benefits to the skin – although a shielding lotion may be a more appropriate external eczema treatment.

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The Wine Spectator gave it a 90!

Laube said it was like "lobster in a glass!"

I assume it goes well with.......seafood!

Does this mean fishermen will be lobbying for a "Bodega Bay" appelation/AVA?

[Rebel Rose]

Two North Coast wineries are in one Big Ass label dispute.

Both Adler Fels Winery in Santa Rosa and Milano Family Vineyards in Hopland are producing "Big Ass" wines, and neither is willing to turn the other cheek.

[JohnL]

We've finally reached the "bottom" of the wine barrel!

No if's and's or "butts."

Talking about class in wine marketing-- these two are clearly

"bringing up the rear!"

Edited June 13, 2006 by JohnL (log)

[Rebel Rose]

In more developing news an enterprising housekeeper and her boyfriend lift a premium selection of fine wine:

According to police records, thieves broke into an oenophile's posh home in this Silicon Valley suburb on Jan. 4, spiriting off with 454 bottles of wine worth $139,000. Their booty included a magnum of 1959 Petrus worth as much as $6,000 and a difficult-to-assemble set of Bordeaux wines representing an unbroken line of more than 20 years of French harvests.

The heist -- thought to be one of the largest of its kind -- was the handiwork of seasoned connoisseurs and insiders: The criminals removed few lesser-valued bottles and focused on "cult wines" made in limited numbers, often signed by vintners. They left no sign of forced entry.

The article points out a rising number of thefts and concern among fine wine customers. Wine industry innovations in bottle identification are focused more on preventing fraud, not theft.

My recommendation? Buy a glass etcher, and etch your initials or another personal identification into the bottle itself, making it easier to trace if it is stolen.

[doviakw]

My recommendation?  Buy a glass etcher, and etch your initials or another personal identification into the bottle itself, making it easier to trace if it is stolen.

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Make sure to don the body armor and full-face shield before trying this with a bubbly!