The Luxury Collection Hotels & Resorts group has planned a "Super Vintage" wine auction weekend at the incredible Frank Gehry-designed Hotel Marqués de Riscal in Rioja, Spain in October. To celebrate 150 years of the region's famed wines, the culinary-themed weekend will culminate in a gala dinner and charity auction of local vintages conducted by Christie's - including the Riscal Superlot, a single lot consisting of 131 bottles dating back to 1862, proceeds from which will go to UNICEF. Details on the once-in-a-lifetime event, which will take place from Oct. 24-26, can be found here.
Rapper Lil Wayne is the latest celebrity to announce his own booze brand. Lil Wayne is partnering with Milestone Brands and French grower Voirin-Jumel to create Halo Champagne. A bottle of the appeared in the video for his song "Lollipop." The Halo Champagne will be available in four styles, Brut, Brut Vintage, Rose and Halo Pinnacle and will be out this fall. He joins a long list of actors and musicians with their own wine-related projects, check out the gallery below.
Due to strict wine limits set by the EU excess wine cannot be sold on the regular market and instead ends up getting converted into environmental fuel. Besides his Aston Martin (which he only drives an average of 300 miles a year) Prince Charles has also converted several of his other cars to alternative fuel: his Jaguars, Audi, and Range Rovers all run on biodiesel made of cooking oil.
More and more wineries are offering hands-on experiences that range anywhere from an engaged winery tour to week-long immersions. Judd's Hill in Napa Valley is now offering Barrel Blending Day Camp, a chance to spend a couple hours in a winemaker's shoes. The winemakers help you taste and choose from four barrel samples (two Cabernet Sauvignons, one Merlot, one Cabernet Franc---all Napa Valley appellation) and then talk you through the blending and hand-bottling processes right down to dipping the tops of the bottles in wax. The whole thing takes around two hours and you leave with your wine on that day.
The camp is available by advance reservation and can be open to one to 12 people per session. The Barrel Blending Day Camp at Judd's Hill has several options priced by how much wine you want to take home: $175 per person enables you to take home 3 finished bottles of wine; $325 per person results in 6 bottles; $600 is a 12-bottle adventure.
When quality meets affordability in a wine that also speaks to your heart, I would say that is a win-win! The White Rocket Wine Company's Dog House line featuring California grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Grigio, Zinfandel and Chardonnay supports Guide Dogs for the Blind by donating fifty-cents of each bottle purchased to their life changing programs. Not only do you get to enjoy your wine but you can improve the quality of life for many blind and visually impaired individuals across the country.
Guide Dogs for the Blind is a charitable organization that does not benefit from any government funding and therefore relies on donations to provide free guide dogs and training to those in need. Since Dog House Wines pledged their support for the non-profit, over $214,000 have been donated to its cause. Not only are Dog House Wines champions in terms of philanthropic giving but the wines have also earned over sixty individual awards making this brand a worthy selection for anyone... plus, who could resist that adorable dog on the label!
You can now monitor progress on Frank Gehry's amazing Hall Winery project in the Napa Valley via a live video feed. Last year my colleague Deidre Woollard told you about the ambitious plan for the new facility built around the original 1885 winery south of St. Helena. Progress is proceeding apace on the project, which artfully blends avant-garde architecture with existing historic structures. The live cam is the latest addition to the Gehry plan web features, which include a project gallery and time-lapse camera showing progress to date. Hall's new 110,000-square-foot complex of six buildings, which broke ground last summer, is slated to open in 2010. Pictured above is Gehry (center) and associate Edwin Chan (left) with winery owners Kathryn and Craig Hall (right) discussing the architect's model for a new Visitor's Center, an all-glass structure supported by a "floating" trellis overhang. See the gallery for more.
Following fast on the heels of Spanish wine, Mundo Gay comes France's first gay wine. Decanter reports that Tendre Bulle Gay Vin will be launched by Domaine de Boyer on July 1.The wine is a sparkling rosé from Languedoc-Roussillon. The bottle will show two heads in profile facing each other. The words 'Gay Vin' appear underneath and the letters G and L, for gay and lesbian, will appear on the capsule. About 13,000 bottles have already been made of the non-vintage, méthode champenoise Gay Vin. Sounds like the perfect wine for a gay marriage celebration.
Posted Jun 17th 2008 3:02PM by Rigel Gregg Filed under: Wine
The French Foreign Legion has gone into the wine making business. Fine wine isn't the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of the many skills mastered by the famous military force but that isn't holding the group back from taking this innovative approach to raising money for its aging veterans.
The wines are sourced from grapes grown in southern France and tended by retired legionnaires, so they not only provide profits for supporting the Legion and its veterans but also work to keep the men feeling busy and productive well into their retirement years.
Napa Valley is buzzing about the rumors that one of the most esteemed wineries in the region, Chateau Montelena might be up for sale. Wine Spectator tracked down Bo Barrett, the winemaker and son of founder Jim Barrett, who was mum about a possible sale. But sources say that the winery has been but up for sale and offers over $100 million have come in. The Barrett family is currently considering offers. Chateau Montelena makes fine estate-grown Cabernets which currently sell for $125 a bottle. The winery is also one of the oldest in the area, dating back to 1882 when Alfred L. Tubbs bought the land and built the beautiful chateau. It was in bad shape in the late 1960s when Jim Barrett and a team of investors came along and with famed winemaker Mike Grgich started producing respected wines. Montelena's second vintage, the 1973, won the tasting in Paris in 1976.
Woo hoo! Alright, here is the scoop. No calories, no carbs, yet still delicious. Last Saturday in Indiana, Chateau Thomas Winery revealed their new wine called Slender -- quite the fitting name! Although its a standard wine in most ways it is sweetened with erythritol, which is somewhat like Splenda in that it brings flavor without costly calories. Although it only retails for $10, which is obviously not top-shelf enough to compete with our usual wine highlights, a wine that brings enjoyment without the pounds is certainly worth celebrating.
Posted Jun 7th 2008 12:05PM by Rigel Gregg Filed under: Wine
City Winery is scheduled to open this fall in an unlikely place: right in the middle of Soho, New York. It will not only be the first winery in New York City but it's the first in any major urban area. City Winery will be a combination members-only winery and public nightclub -- only members will have access to where and how the wine is made. Three membership options will be offered starting at $5,000 and going as high as $15,000 annually, with membership owners getting the title of "barrel owner" with their own 50 gallon American oak barrel, 4 classes each year with wine makers, and a special venue to swap their vintages with other members.
The seven deadly sins are now represented in wine glass form in a set created by Kacper Hamilton. Intended to "celebrate passion" and "encourage the user to be sinful in a theatrical fashion," each sin (wrath, greed, gluttony, sloth, pride, envy, and lust) has its own artistic interpretation that will have you drinking your wine in the most interesting ways (the aggressive and dangerous looking pointed rim on the glass above represents wrath). The "Deadly Glasses" come all together in a set, packaged neatly in a velvet-lined mahogany case.
There is a new fancy label in Napa Valley with a not so expensive title. Pennywise, released under Don Sebastiani & Sons, is offering two luxury line wines, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Napa Valley Petite Syrah priced between $25 and $30 per bottle. Although the exact requirements of a wine to be considered at the luxury end of the spectrum are a bit hazy in my mind it seems the combination of early drinkability combined with aged character in its Cabernet makes Pennywise an affordable label with distinction. And the power and rustic beauty of the Petite Syrah is equally compelling. Don Sebastiani & Sons which markets Pennywise through The Other Guy division has certainly shown it can grow an upscale product as witnessed by the 200% increase in sales last year... sounds like Pennywise should have a more expensive nickname.
For grape growers, vino viticulturists, syrah sippers and green gods and goddesses, the day has come when wineries both domestic and foreign can compete for glory to bring us, the consumer, the best eco-friendly wines available. The Green Wine Competition has chosen its champions from over 271 entries originating in six states and eleven foreign countries within four categories: Class I - certified biodynamically grown; Class II - organic; Class III - transitional & third party certified; Class IV - natural (international imports only). With 153 award-winning bottles, broken up into gold, silver and bronze medals, and a shopping list to make your next selection of wine easier, the search for a fantastic bottle of green wine is bound to be simpler. (And in case you are wondering who took home the most medals, Bonterra Vineyards blew the competition away).
Champagne producer Louis Roederer has put a new twist on aging their sparkling wine, they are testing out aging the wine in the cold seawater 50 feet down in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel off the coast of Normandy, France. Roederer has placed several dozen bottles underwater and plan to bring them up in one year and hold a tasting session to compare them against wines aged the traditional way in their sellers. Roederer is the first producer to test aging sparkling wine in this way but others use this message for still wines including the Cavas Submarinas wine from Chile.
