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Archive for the ‘Grape-news’ Category

Grapevine & Parras de La Fuente

02 Mar

Parras de la Fuente Parras, located in the northern Mexico in the state of Coahuila, is an agricultural town with sprawling vineyards. Parras has its own annual grape festival, Fiesta de la Uva, and is also home to the oldest winery in the Western Hemisphere – Casa Madero – which was founded in 1597. Grapevine and Parras celebrated their 10th anniversary as sister cities at GrapeFest 2006. Parras is located 150 km west of the State’s capital, Saltillo (21 km south of Federal Highway 40) in the State of Coahuila, Mexico; is one of the most colorful and typical towns in Coahuila. Parras de la Fuente, with many colonial buildings, is noted for its beautiful places to swim and its huge trees. These features have given it the name “Oasis of Coahuila”. Parras is also famous for its wines, produced by wineries that date from the 16th century and which have received many international awards. One of the most important attractions of Parras is the wonderful colonial building “Museo del Vino” (Museum of Wine), with displays of grinding machines, stills, and retorts that were brought from Paris during the 19th century. The main festival in this town is la Feria de la Uva y el Vino (Grape and Wine Festival), which takes place in August. Another winery currently producing for over 400 years is the Antiguas Bodegas de Perote, producing wines from port style, muscat, table wine and brandy.

In 2004, Parras de la Fuente was recognized as a “Magic Town” by Mexico’s Secretariat of Tourism as well as State and Federal entities. This is a symbol of the magic experience visitors get while visiting such a picturesque location full of legend, history and charisma. The following link is a promotional video for the Pueblos Magicos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGIu4kQUaH8

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AoC to be AoP in France

26 Feb
Cote-Rotie Label

The French government, not too long ago, officially announced that the long standing AoC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) system for wine is being replace by an new quality ladder with the top step being an AoP (Appellation d’Origine Protégée).

The AoP concept is suppose to be adopted by all EU countries over the next few years. So, we may be talking about the Italian Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) possibly becoming a Denominazione di Origine Protettivo (DOP).

For France, the complete wine quality classification stair-step was first put in place in 1937 with the adoption of the AoC and Vin de Table (VdT – “table wine”) steps. That is, the “quality” and “table” wine steps.

In 1954 the Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS) step was added to the system as a step being used as a place to classify land being considered for promotion to (then) AoC status.

In 1976 the Vin de Pays (VdP) step was added as a “superior table wine” that could better compete with varietally labeled wines in countries like the US.

So, the quality stairstep in France, until December of last year, was:

  Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AoC – top step)

  Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS)

  Vin de Pays (VdP)

  Vin de Table (VdT)

The new quality stairstep is:

  Appellation d’Origine Protégée (AoP – top step)

  Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (VDQS)

  Indication Geographique Protegée (IGP – replacing VdP)

  Vin de Table (VdT)

However, it will be a couple of years before you see many labels with the new AOP designation. For wines that have many years of life you will continue to see the AOC statement for decades to come.
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Merlot on the News…

26 Feb
Merlot

Although Merlot is a varietal that many people believe they should not like, a new study by Nielsen and commissioned by Blackstone Winery found that Merlot “has the single largest consumer base of any varietal wine in the U.S. and, of the major wine varietals, is the one most closely associated with high quality at an affordable price.”

Many believe that Merlot took a big hit from Sideways, while Pinot Noir benefited. This is untrue. It is true that Pinot Noir sales increased by about 48% – and stayed up. Merlot sales actually increased by about 5% and stayed up.

Maybe the Merlot drinkers never got the word that they were not suppose to drink Merlot. Forty-five percent of participants in Nielsen’s survey of Merlot drinkers never saw the movie, and 93% of those that saw the movie say it had no effect on their opinion of Merlot. Since Sideways, Merlot dollar sales and volume have grown steadily and the number of US households purchasing Merlot more than doubles those purchasing Pinot Noir. Of course, Pinot Noir sales have never been higher than 9% of total red wine sales.

More American households purchase Merlot than any other wine variety, red or white. The varietal is reportedly enjoyed for its taste, value and approachability, and also has the highest repeat purchase rate of any wine variety in the U.S.

A majority of 90% of respondents say “taste” is the most important factor in their wine-buying decisions, with “good value” ranking second. Not surprisingly, 80% of respondents consider Merlot “a good everyday food wine,” while roughly 70% find Merlot to be “a good value” (rising to “great” when priced under $12 per bottle), “a good wine to drink at home,” and “approachable and reliable.”
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