Dom Perignon Sues Armand de Brignac Champagne.
August 31, 2012
Dom Perignon has filed a false-advertising lawsuit suit, seeking to end a competitor’s claim that its Champagne is: “The No. 1 Rated Champagne in the World.”
Moët Hennessy USA (the makers of Dom) say Armand de Brignac “is intentionally misleading consumers” about the quality of its bubbly, a champagne highly favored by hip-hop star Jay-Z, and also allegedly helped spark the notorious SoHo club brawl between Chris Brown and Drake earlier this year.
The lawsuit by Dom alleges that the “Ace of Spades” — also known as Brut Gold — is the only Armand de Brignac champagne to be rated number one by FINE Champagne Magazine, “and that rating occurred in 2010.”
Court papers allege that the Armand de Brignac champagne rating has slipped in subsequent tastings, down to #23 in 2011 and #22 in 2012.
Click here for the full article from the New York Post.
Releasing Wine Before it’s Time.
August 31, 2012
This is an issue I’ve been contemplating writing about for a few years now, but it appears Dan Berger beat me to the punch! He writes:
I’ve heard winemakers and wine geeks say: “A pinot noir isn’t wine until it’s five years old. Before then it’s like robbing the cradle.”
Tasting many of the 2010 pinots recently, that particular phrase came to mind! Many are tasty (partially a result of the cool temperatures throughout California that particular year), but terribly “backward.” In fact, some of the most expensive pinots, selling for $60+ a bottle, are so young that even these wineries’ 2009’s aren’t yet developed to the point where they are drinkable compared with what they’ll be in two to four more years.
It therefore came as a shock to me when I recently visited Clouds Rest Vineyards, a tiny producer atop a west-facing ridge on Sonoma Mountain. The winery has just released its 2007 pinot noir. True, at $100 a bottle this is one of the priciest of pinots, but as owner John Saemann notes, had this wine been released three years ago (as many wineries did), it too would have been backward and hard to appreciate.
Posted in News | Tagged California, Pinot Noir, Young wine | Leave a comment //Lamadrid Cabernet Franc, Agrelo, Argentina
August 30, 2012
Grapes
100% Cabernet Franc
Facts
- Cabernet Franc isn’t exactly the first grape that springs to mind when you think of Argentina. Maybe that’s why this one wasn’t that pricey!
Cab Franc shouldn’t be named the “red headed stepchild” of Argentine grapes; it’s actually more like the: “some guy who showed up a party (hosted by a guy named: ‘Mal Bec’) without an invitation, and was ignored by everyone there, even though he has a charming personally if you only took the time to get to know him a little better” grape…if you know what I mean. I know you probably don’t…and that’s OK!
- Unlike the vast number of wine producing regions, Reserva on a bottle of Argentine wine DOES actually have a legal definition:
– Reserva wines must be produced from a minimum of 297 lbs. of grapes per 100 liters of wine, with a minimum aging of 12 months for red wines and 6 months for whites and roses.
– Gran Reserva wines must be produced with a minimum of 308 lbs. of grapes per 100 liters of wine, with a minimum aging of 2 years for red wines and 1 year for whites and roses. - The La Madrid actually goes a little above and beyond the aforementioned Reserva requirements, and spends 14 months in oak, with 50% in “first use” and 50% in “second use” French oak barrels. The wine also only has a 1,000 case production.
- The name “Lamadrid” comes from the family name of the owner and founder of the winery: Guillermo García Lamadrid. He’s originally from Cuba and emigrated Argentina (via Puerto Rico) in 1961 and became a successful winemaker.
Vintage Port Wine For Sale – Jacksonville
August 30, 2012
So this is kind of a different post for me!
I have a gentleman who approached me a week ago, asking if I know anyone interested in buying from his collection of Vintage Ports.
According to the seller, the wine has been stored in a temperature-controlled environment at the ABC Liquor at Sunbeam & San Jose.
Since this is not my wine, and I get no “kickback” if these wines are sold, I make no claim as to their quality/authenticity. His collection does look decent though, and if you’re looking to buy wine from your birth year or anniversary etc., Port is usually the way to go!
Seller Information:
Fred Akel
akel.fred@gmail.com
904.363.9009
Inventory:
WARRE’S — 1970 $99, 2 bottles, 1977 $120. 1 bottle
CROFT— 1977 $120 (1) 1963 $Average Price $237, (3) PROTOCROFT –1977 115 (1)
DOW’S—1970 $199 (2), 1977 $157 (1)
COCKBURN’S — 1963 $ 230 (1), 1983 $133 (1)
SANDEMAN — 1977 $108 (3)
QUADY — 1978 $25 (1)
Posted in Events, News | Tagged Port, Portugal | Leave a comment //10 Reasons Why Wineries (and Other Businesses) NEED a Mobile Website. Part 2
August 29, 2012
#6 Mobile sites load faster.
How many times have you gone to a website, only for it to take a little too long to load, so you shouted “Screw this!” and ended up clicking somewhere else? I do it daily.
There is no reason to believe that businesses around the world don’t lose customers due to the load time of their website. Amazon.com are the perfect example, who after a lot of research, found that just one second of extra page load time could cost it $1.6 billion in sales each year!
The issue of load time becomes even more magnified on mobile devices, since the download speeds are slower than desktop computers. Mobile websites are built to load much quicker than regular websites, as the content is optimized specifically for mobile. Mobile websites get people to exactly to what they are looking for, without all of the other “fluff” which is contained in a full website. However, there will still always be a link at the bottom of the page, should mobile users want all the information from the full site.
#7 Mobile websites are cost-effective.
The first concern for any business, and particularly wineries, who are looking to build a new website is the cost i.e. is it worth throwing $10,000 at a new website design, if you’re only a 1,000 case winery? Luckily, mobile websites are available for a fraction of the cost of a regular website, mainly due to them not having as many features as a full website and a more streamlined design. On the whole, mobile websites should be kept as clean and simple as possible. Cluttering them up with multiple videos, slideshows, large volumes of pages and high resolution photos will only slow them down. Then you’re back at square one!
It’s worth mentioning that there are quite a few free/cheap mobile website templates online, but some of the results can be less than desirable. As an example of this, a winery actually approached me recently, asking me to evaluate their web presence. I was obviously happy to do so (free of charge) and was quite surprised to hear that they already had a mobile website in place! “Great!” I thought. Then I went to it….
The problem was that they had, in an attempt to save some cash, opted to use a cheap website builder, with an extremely generic theme. The end result was…how do I put this politely….terrible! I’m not being a website snob. I wish I could show it you, and I promise, no matter how much experience you may or may not have with websites, you would think the same thing! Sometimes it’s best to get the professionals involved!
The Finest Napa Valley Crop in 1889 was….
August 28, 2012
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