Vinexpo Bordeaux June 16 - 20 2013 and Just Released Stats IWSR Study

THE U.S. CONFIRMS ITS LEADERSHIP IN THE WORLD WINE MARKET 

In 2011, Americans consumed 4.5% more wine than in 2010, which was record growth in one year. 

Having consumed 317.87 million 9-liter cases (or 3.814 billion bottles), the market exceeded the expectations in VINEXPO's forecast, which the year before had underestimated 2011 growth at 311.31 million cases.
This outstanding performance was confirmed again in 2012, strengthening the U.S. position as the world's leading wine-consuming nation, ahead of France and Italy.
The VINEXPO study foresees that growth in American wine consumption will continue between 2012 and 2016, attaining 12.16%. The U.S. should therefore increase its consumption by 40.52 million cases (or 486.24 million bottles) over the period, equivalent to about two extra bottles for every American of drinking age.

- Source Vinexpo.com

Read My complete Article HERE - Including Interview with Vinexpo Chairman Xavier de Eizaguirre

THE WORLD STILL PREFERS RED 

Red wine accounted for 54.7% of all still, light wines drunk in 2011. 
Between 2011 and 2016, world red wine consumption is expected to grow by 9.1%, driven especially by the Chinese, while white wine consumption should only increase by 2.75% over the same period. 
The consumption of rosé wines, on the other hand, is expected to increase by 7.58% between 2011 and 2016, reaching a total share of 9.2% of all wines drunk. 

- Source Vinexpo.com

FASTER GROWTH IN SPARKLING WINES THAN STILL, LIGHT WINES 

In 2011, sparkling wines accounted for 7.7% of all wines drunk in the world. 
Between 2007 and 2011, the consumption of sparkling wines grew by 4.12%, compared to the 2.72% growth in still, light wines over the same period. Sparkling wine consumption is expected to grow by a further 8.52% between 2012 and 2016. 
This increase is primarily due to expected rises in consumption in the top four sparkling wine markets worldwide: Germany, France, Russia and the U.S. 

- Source Vinexpo.com

Read My Complete Article HERE

WORLD SALES SOAR FOR WINES PRICED HIGHER THAN US$10 PER BOTTLE  

These wines accounted for 213.56 million 9-liter cases in 2011 or 8.6% of all still, light wines consumed in the world, their consumption having grown by 12.59% since 2007, mainly in China, the U.S. and Canada. 

- Source  Vinexpo.com

♥Chérie Du Vin. You will LOVE my wine picks!

Champagne Comes From France, Not California (fyi Team White House)

C'mon, now - just who is minding the White House p's & q's? 

For the Inaugural luncheon taking place in a few days at the White House where the president will be sworn in, the menu features steamed lobster, hickory grilled bison, apple pie and "Special Inaugural Cuvee Champagne, California."

Call it Bubbly, call it Sparkling but just don't call anything that doesn't come from Champagne, France, "champagne"!

"Champagne only comes from Champagne," said Sam Heitner, the director of the U.S. Champagne Bureau speaking to the AFP last week. Champagne is the region in France where Champagne comes from. It comes from nowhere else.

In 2006 the EU signed a deal with the United States banning U.S. producers from using the word "champagne" on their labels. But the law is not enforceable retroactively and there's also a little loophole that allows them to get away with saying "California Champagne." 

A local Champagne newspaper commented on the diplomatic snafu saying that good thing Google is not so sensitive. But that's an altogether entirely different matter. Champagne indicates a certain level of quality control and also, most importantly, terroir. It's more akin to movie piracy, for example, or devices that aren't Apple being sold as Apple or Disney wannabes being marketed as Disney movies. It's intoleratable because it's PIRACY!

That said, there are many French houses who own wineries in California where they make sparkling wines. One is Taittinger. But even that famed Champagne House/ Family does not dare to call their California Sparkling Wines by the name champagne. That's reserved for their champagne, which they make in Champagne, France. 

See - it's not so complicated after all!

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Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut - Aÿ, Champagne, France

Bollinger  Spcial Cuvée Brut - Aÿ, Champagne, France

by Paige Donner


Tasting Notes :  Hints of roasted apples, spiced apple compote, peaches greet your nose after your eyes have been seduced by the fluttering of fine bubbles in that golden champagne color indicative of a Pinot Noir predominant blend. Full-bodied and toasty pretty much sums it up but also perhaps oversimplifies the aromatic complexity of this champagne. Creamy on the palate with notes of brioche, pear, green apple – with some spicy and a bit of walnut that all goes down on the velvet of the very fine Bollinger bubbles.  12% alc. Between 8 -9 gr. Dosage.


Price: $57.99 (approx.)


Production Notes :  The secret to this iconic NV champagne is that it is mostly reserve wine, some aged in magnums for over 15 years in the Bollinger cellars in Aÿ, blended with harvest grapes. And, as any champagne aficionado knows, champagne ages superbly in magnums, a process that helps it acquire that biscuity, toasty quality so emblematic of the best champagnes. Over 85% of this blend is Grands and Premiers Crus; 60% Pinot Noir,  25% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.


Pair With :  Sushi and sashimi – the fresher the better; pata negra and prosciutto; Also grilled lobster, prawns; poultry and white meat; cashews, parmesan. Serve between 10 – 12˚C. You can keep it up to 8 years – that is, if you don’t drink it all now.

Notes from the House… for those who know that true elegance is born of simplicity will appreciate to the full this commitment to aesthetics and succinctness. It is also a reflection of the House’s commitment to concentrating on the essential: creating fine and good wines. Because in the end, everything else is simply superfluous.

The House of Bollinger Champagne began many decades before, but “Aunt Lily,” as she was known to her family members, still figures prominently in the House’s style and legacy ever since she was at the helm of the house in the 1950s until her passing in 1977. She is probably one of the most quoted dames of Champagne (see below).

Originally a Scotswoman, she married her husband Jacques, at one point the Mayor of Aÿ, in 1923 who himself had become the managing director of Bollinger Champagne at the tender age of 24. By the age of 42 she was a war widow and it was then that she stepped in, like other famous champagne widows before her, and took the reins of her house and steered it with an eye to perfection and unwavering dedication to excellence and innovation. This is the modern legacy “Madame Jacques,” became known for.

But going back to the previous century, 1829 to be exact, when the house was first formed is really to delve into the annals of international history. Original founder of Bollinger Champagne, Count Athanase de Villermont, was a nobleman and a war hero from the American Revolution. He became fascinated with the wines of Aÿ, Champagne when he inherited an extensive estate in this choice viticultural area of the Marne upon his return to France. The reason why the house did not take the name of “de Villermont” is because, at that time, the French aristocracy were forbidden to engage in trade. So Count Athanase partnered with Joseph Bollinger, a German, and Paul Renaudin, a Champenois.  And thus, on Feb. 6, 1829 a champagne house was born – one that has ever since become synonymous with excellence, quality… and international intrigue (as in, Diamonds Are Forever).

Since 2008 Ghislain de Montgolfier, a great-great grandson of Joseph Bollinger, passed the reins, for the first time in the house’s history, to a non-family member, Jérôme Philipon. In 2007 Ghislain’s great sense of humor coupled with his technical expertise got him elected as Head of the Board of the Union des Maisons de Champagne and co-Chairman of the Comité interprofessionnel du vin de Champagne (CIVC).

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad.
Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory.
I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and I drink it when I am.
Otherwise I never touch it, unless I'm thirsty."

Lily Bollinger,
17th October 1961, Daily Mail

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♥Chérie Du Vin

As a Thank You we’re giving you a Holiday Bonus Perk

We’re optimistic that we’ll reach our film production fundraising goal for Wine & Climate Change, but we can’t do it without people like you.  Word-of-mouth and shared links have really helped and we truly appreciate your support.

IndieGoGo.com/WineAndClimateChange

AS A SPECIAL HOLIDAY GIFT, WE’VE ADDED THE BONUS PERK OF A 3-DAY 2-NIGHT VACATION IN CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE.
Yes, that’s right. A Champagne Vacation for two.

To Qualify:
1. Click Like on our Wine & Climate Change Facebook Page. You’ll find it here:  http://www.facebook.com/wineandclimatechange
2. Go to IndieGogo.com/WineAndClimateChange and click on Contribute, for a minimum of $20 or higher.  Add in the comments section that you wish to qualify for the chance to win the Champagne Vacation.

It’s that easy. You may contribute more than once to increase your chances.  We will choose One Winner the week of January 16th, 2013. Winner will be chosen randomly.

What YOU Get
A 3-day, 2-night vacation for two to Champagne, France. This includes two nights’ lodging in a luxury residence, a Tour and Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Champagne Cellars in Reims, France, a visit and lunch to Hautvillers, where the monk, Dom Perignon, first invented champagne.
@LocalFoodWine
*Transportation/airfare is not included. Some meals not included. Must be of legal drinking age to participate in the Tasting at Veuve-Clicquot Cellars. Must be 18 yrs. or older to participate.

Corton Grand Cru - Charlotte Dumay

 

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they “babies,” they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

For sentimental reasons, it was a very special experience for me to taste this wine. My grandmother, all her adult life, sat by the fire in the evenings and knitted bandages that she would donate for the patients at the Hospice. Her name was Charlotte. 

Corton Grand Cru - Cuvée Charlotte Dumay

Tasting Notes: Deep brilliant ruby red. Light funghi on the bouquet, mineral, ripe red berry fruit finish. Altogether too drinkable. Open late 2013 and keep for up to 10 years and longer. 

 

*Read More ♥Chérie Du Vin Tasting Notes HERE*

 

Roland Masse (pictured above), the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

 

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This gift to the Hospices was made in gothic lettering on parchment, in 1534. "For the cure and salvation of her soul," the childless Charlotte Dumay, wife of the King's Keeper of the Mint in Dijon, gave 100 ouvrées of vineyard and fallow land in the territory of Aloxe, with a house in stone. Today, this is one of the Hospice's longest-lived, most sumptuously structured wines. 

This was this year's "La Piece des Presidents" which is the auction item donated entirely to an elected charity. This year it was First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's foundation.

Hospice de Beaune Auction Price 2012: €27000 [$343,818] (tonneau - 350 liters) 

 

@♥Chérie Du Vin - YOU WILL LOVE MY WINE PICKS! ♥CHÉRIE DU VIN

 

 

Meursault-Genevrieres Premier Cru - Cuvee Philippe le Bon

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they “babies,” they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

Meursault-Genevrières Premier Cru - Cuvée Philippe le Bon

 

Tasting Notes:  Philippe Le Bon was the Duke of Burgundy (1419-1467). This is one of the most, if not the most, popular Burgundy White in Japan. 2012 vintage has top-notes of white flowers, tint of butter. Delicate citrus and white flowers on the mouth. Drink from late 2013 on or keep 3 - 5 years or more.

 

Roland Masse, the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This Cuvée pays homage to Philippe le Bon, Duke of Burgundy, who gave his backing and authority to Chancellor Nicolas Rolin, during the latter's establishment of the Hôtel-Dieu [that's "hospital" in French], from 1443. It is regularly one of the finest whites, and fiercely contested at auction. 

Est. Hospice de Beaune Auction Price 2012: €8000 - 12000 (barrel)

 

@♥Chérie Du Vin - YOU WILL LOVE MY WINE PICKS! ♥CHÉRIE DU VIN

 

Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru - Cuvée Dames de Flandres

Recently I was privileged to taste some of the great Hospices de Beaune (Burgundy) wines. These were the 2012 vintages, so not only are they "babies," they are still infants.

Which made them all the more remarkable for how present they already are and how their destinies of future greatness are unmistakable.

Cuvée Dames de Flandres, Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru

Tasting Notes: Golden robe with brilliant reflections. Elegant mineral nose. Citrus, green apple. Creamy mouth, terroir, mineral, taking on butter hint. Drink from mid 2013 on; Best to keep 3 - 8 years (or longer even). 

Roland Masse, the Manager of the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune said this:

When the grapes arrived at the wineries, they were in perfect health. We knew it was going to be a good year as soon as we tasted the musts.

Cuvée Dames de Flandres

[Excerpted from Christie's Auction Catalogue]: This vineyard was planted in 1974. It was acquired by the Hospices in 1989, and named after the Ladies of Flanders, in commemoration of the origins of the community of Sisters who have cared for the sick of the Hôtel-Dieu, down the centuries. The vines lie in the commune of Chassagne-Montrachet. They regularly produce a great white wine which is striking for its minerality, its length of flavour, its capacity to age and its exceptional complexity.

Est. Barrel Price (at 2012 Auction):  €40,000 - 60,000

2012 Sold For: €57,780  ($76,302) - Barrel

 

@♥Chérie Du Vin - YOU WILL LOVE MY WINE PICKS! ♥CHÉRIE DU VIN