April Frost Decimates Bordeaux Harvests

The frost on 5 April has wiped out 60-70% of the whites in the Pessac-Leognan area of Bordeaux, according to James Ryland, sales director for Andre Lurton wines, one of the large producers in the area.

May was also the second wettest on record since 1946 in Bordeaux, meaning producers all over the region have been contending with high levels of mildew. Lussac St-Emilion was hit hard by hail in June, totally ruining the vines in one of Chateau Barbe Blanche's vineyards.

Despite this doom and gloom, the 2008 vintage has not been written off yet. July and August have had good amounts of sun and by delaying the harvest until as late as early October, producers still hope to salvage a good crop. Indeed, the story is not dissimilar to the 2007 Bordeaux vintage, which was saved from a similarly inauspicious beginning by the combination of an Indian summer in September and late harvesting. Ryland claims that Andre Lurton's remaining unscathed grapes are of "exceptional" quality. Time will tell.

Info Mine - Biodynamic Wine

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1. So what's all this about biodynamic wine then? It's a bit presumptious of me to think it can be covered in 5 paragraphs, but I'll give it a go. The theoretical roots of biodynamic agriculture lie in eight lectures given in 1924 by Austrian philosopher/scientist Rudolf Steiner. The lectures were entitled Spiritual Foundations for the Renewal of Agriculture and drew on Steiner's lifetime mission to reconcile the spiritual and physical worlds.

2. In practice, biodynamic viticulture is not that dissimilar to organic - think of it as "organic +". The most important difference is the biodynamic preparations used instead of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. For example, cow manure fermented in a cow horn, stinging nettle tea and oak bark fermented in the skull of a domestic animal.

3. Each biodynamic producer seems to follow a slightly customised system which, while anchored to the wide Steiner principles, tends to vary in the particulars from winegrower to winegrower. Something they all agree on is the importance of soil health and the central role of compost in achieving this. Pinning the vineyard's annual cycle to planetary movements appears less common.

Rudolf Steiner

4. The international organisation Demeter (www.demeter.net) is the principal certifying body. To become certified you first need to have organic certification (from the Soil Association or other equivalent body). You must also have used the full gamut of biodynamic preparations (sprays and compost) for two years. Keeping animals (chickens, sheep) among the vines is recommended, although not mandatory. Some biodynamic producers, such as Michel Chapoutier, have complained that the Demeter certification process is not rigorous enough.

5. Lastly, it is sometimes said that biodynamics is cultish and anti-scientific. The fact that it has been invested in and is practiced by large, profitable producers such as Chapoutier in the Rhone Valley, Pontet Canet in Bordeaux, Matetic in Chile and Milton and Seresin in New Zealand suggests there must be something to it. Limited proper research is so far available, although, a 21 year comparison of traditional and organic/biodynamic farming was published in 2002 in the scientific journal Science. It concluded that although biodynamic yields were lower, it outperformed traditional agriculture on counts such as biodiversity, resource utilisation and soil microbes.

Sources: wineanorak.com, Demeter, quaffersoffers.co.uk

Dollar Exchange Rate Gloom for New World Wine?

Just a quick thought on the implications of recent falls in sterling against the dollar (see graph). The situation as against sterling at the beginning of the year was a strong euro and a relatively weak dollar. One of the effects seen by the London on-trade was that, coupled with the additional pinch of April's duty rises, a significant number of bars and restaurants de-listed their French and Spanish house wines in favour of suppliers from the US and other nations who sell in dollars (such as Chile).

The dollar hit a 7-month high last Friday, apparently due to a combination of downbeat UK and Eurozone forecasts and falling commodities prices. I don't have an answer to this, but I wonder if a recovering dollar (and relatively weak euro) will by the end of the year prompt a switch back to old world house wines. And if so, if that will be an early indicator of tough times ahead for New World dollar-driven exports into Europe.

French 2008 Harvest Begins

The first French grapes of the year were picked yesterday in Rousillon, marking the start of the 2008 northern hemisphere harvest. Domaine Cazes, 2km north of Perpignan, is the largest organic and biodynamic producer in France. It began picking for its white vin de pays, according to the local wine body, the Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins du Roussillon. It is about a week earlier than last year's harvest.

The 2008 French wine harvest is expected to be even smaller than last year. Viniflhor, the French agricultural body, has predicted a 12% drop in wine volumes on the five-year average.

Info Mine - Grape Ripeness

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1. Starting with the basics - the purpose of grapes is to entice birds to eat them and disperse the seeds, thereby propagating the grape vine. But they don't want to be eaten too early, which is why when unripe they are green (camouflage) and have high levels of tannins and acids (not tasty), turning an appetising red/purple-black when ripe. This colour-change process is known as veraison and is an indicator of chemical ripening within the grape. (Before you ask "what about yellow grapes", these have been shown to be the result of a mutation in the gene regulating pigment.)

2. Without wanting to get too technical, there are two separate, although related, types of ripeness in grapes - phenolic (or physiological) ripeness and sugar ripeness.

3. In a nutshell, phenolic ripeness has to do with changes in the tannins in the seeds, skins and stems and is influenced primarily by "hang time", the amount of time the grape is left on the vine. Sugar ripeness involves the breakdown of acids and the increase in sugar levels and has more to do with the amount of sunlight and warmth which the grape has experienced (which obviously varies from vintage to vintage).

4. Depending on climate, growers will harvest according to phenolic or sugar ripeness (depending on which tends to occur first). In warm regions, phenolic ripeness occurs after sugar ripeness, meaning it is farily easy to produce wines with high levels of sugar (and therefore potential alcohol), but the challenge is to ensure phenolic ripeness is not delayed so long that the wines become seriously alcoholic. By the same token, picking before phenolic ripeness is achieved to avoid excessive alcohol will leave a bitter green taste.

5. Some new world producers tend to err on the side of over-ripeness ("excessive hang-time"), rather than risk green, under-developed wines. This can produce sweet, sugary wines which are easy on the undemanding palate but have undesirable side effects such as high levels of alcohol and the so-called "dead fruit" phenomenon.

Bilbao - Tapas Capital of the World?

My goodness Bilbao has got a lot of tapas bars! What a fantastic way to spend an evening, sauntering from one establishment to another, an Albariño here, a cañita there, with a plentiful supply of jamon serrano and quails eggs on toast to soak up the booze the keep things on the right side of civilised.

On a recent weekend trip there we spent an evening making our way around the arcaded main square in the old town (known as the Casco Viejo). Children played by the fountains in the centre of the square late into the evening, while their parents (presumably) kept a watchful eye from behind servings of olives and crianza. The bars all have service hatches leading onto the pavement, meaning you don't even have to go inside to order. This turns the English "grab a corner seat and don't move all evening" mentality completely on its head - outside in the street is where it all happens.

On our second evening we visited a tapas bar-lined street in the central shopping district which someone had recommended. Again, the same challenge applied - i.e. how far can you make it along the street, putting in pit stops in all the likely looking tapas joints along the way? In our case the answer was less than 100 yards in about three hours!

Spanish friends tell me that as far as tapas culture goes, Bilbao has nothing on nearby Santander. Could there be a rival contender for the title of Tapas Capital of the World? One thing's for sure - I intend to go back and find out.

Sardinian Vermentino

On a recent trip to northern Sardinia I was surprised by the overall quality of the white wines. Even the bog standard house whites were highly quaffable, not to mention thirst-quenching in the sweltering heat.

On closer inspection far and away the most prevalent white varietal is Vermentino. Originally from the Iberian peninsula, Vermentino is now widely planted in northern Sardinia (the link with Spain is also cultural - the port of Alghero has strong Catalan roots and the language is still spoken and even appears on restaurant menus).

Sardinia's only DOCG is Vermentino di Gallura, upgraded from DOC status in 1996. Its typically aromatic, almost bitter palate apparently comes from the soil of sandy clay on a granite base. Check it out!

Info Mine - Malbec

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Malbec is one of the 6 grape varieties permitted in red Bordeaux. Its primary function in Bordeaux is in blends with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

2. It is a thin-skinned grape, is darker in colour than Cabernet and has an earthiness on the palate, with touches of spice.

3. Originally from Cahors, Malbec is becoming increasingly identified as the signature Argentinan varietal. Most of the Argentinian plantings of Malbec are in Mendoza, which has the requisite high levels of heat and sun (partly due to its high altitude).

4. Synonyms for Malbec include Auxerrois and Cot Noir (in Cahors) and Pressac.

5. For a good entry-level Malbec check out the offering from Argentinian winery Terrazas de los Andes, retailing at around £7.25.

The En Primeur Game

Influential wine people have been railing against the Bordeaux en primeur system recently, on the back of record levels of trading for the recently released 2005 vintage. Ex-Petrus winemaker Jean-Claude Berrouet has called the system a "madness" and Jancis Robinson has understatedly lamented the "shortcomings" of the en primeur "game".

The financial argument against en primeur is roughly that "us poor drinkers shouldn't be forced to tie up our money so far in advance of taking delivery of the wine". As wine journalist Stephen Brook puts it, en primeur is a system "designed to transfer large amounts of cash from your pocket into the pockets of wealthy Bordeaux proprietors and merchants at the earliest possible moment". I don't actually think this cuts the mustard as a reason to get rid of en primeur. Any valuable commodity in short supply will give rise to a futures market. Like it or loathe it, the majority of buyers of top flight Bordeaux are primarily investors, not drinkers. The fact that it is not possible to predict exactly how good a bottled wine will be from a barrel sample is simply another variable to take into account if you want to dabble in an investment that is per se something of a lottery.

Economics aside, I believe there is a much better argument against en primeur in Berrouet's observation that wines now have to be "as seductive as possible far earlier, to the detriment of the Bordeaux style". If the crucial tasting moment becomes the moment of purchase, i.e. the time when the barrel samples are tasted by buyers, winemakers may feel pressure to create younger developing wines aimed to drink well at the moment of en primeur purchase (when they should still be in malolactic fermentation) rather than the ultimate moment of drinking. If this were the case, it would be a sad development for the world's top wines.

I am not qualified enough to know whether or not this trend is in fact yet the case but if it is, what can be done to modify the en primeur system? Presumably some sort of regulatory intervention would be required, either by the French government or at EU level. It is hard to imagine such intervention suceeding on economic grounds - as we have seen, there is no real consumer protection issue at stake and futures markets already exist for almost every conceivable commodity. Intervention would have to come from the wine/agricultural authorities and the case would have to be made on the basis of preserving the quality of the wine, for example by imposing minimum timetables for development of a wine before it can be offered for sale and requiring transparency of volumes produced and offered for sale.

We live in capitalist times and we do to an extent have to accept that. If there are people out there prepared to pay £3,000 for a bottle of wine then - at least in financial terms - that is what it is worth. However, regulatory powers can and should be used to safeguard quality, which, after all, should be the main concern of wine drinkers the world over.

Sources: O. Styles, Decanter

Info Mine - Pétrus

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1. Pétrus is a red wine made principally from the Merlot grape in the Pomerol appelation in Bordeaux.

2. The vines on the Pétrus estate are only replanted after they reach 70 years of age. The grapes are hand-harvested only in the afternoon, once the morning dew has evaporated, to avoid absolutely any dilution of the grape juice.

3. Demand for Pétrus far outstrips supply. UK agents Corney & Barrow rigourously control primary allocations on the basis of how much dosh customers have spent in the previous year. Secondary market trading then tends to see prices shoot through the roof - for a bottle of the 2005 vintage today don't expect much change out of £3,000.

4. Photographic records are now kept of every bottle stored at the 11.4 hectare property to combat the growing phenomenon of wine fraud.

5. The company refused to allow the makers of cult wine film Sideways to use Pétrus as the wine which protagonist Miles can never find a special enough occasion to drink. Bah pourquoi?

Info Mine - Phylloxera

The Wine Mine Blagging Toolkit - 5 wine nuggets with which to impress your friends...

1. Phylloxera is a louse which feeds on the roots of grapevines.

2. In the late 19th century, Phylloxera destroyed the majority of Europe's vineyards, hitting France especially hard.

3. North American grapevine roots are tolerant of Phylloxera, whereas European roots are not.

4. The best way to evade the ills of Phylloxera is therefore to "graft" North American rootstock onto your vine (i.e. physically stick the roots and the upper part of the vine together).

5. The only countries in the world not to have been affected by Phylloxera are Cyprus and Chile - both of which are geographically isolated (the former is obviously an island and the latter is hemmed in by the Andes, the Pacific and the Atacama desert).

Quality or Quantity: The Chilean Dilemma

A current hot topic is whether Chile is finally getting rid of its boring image as a source of cheap and cheerful wine which, whilst it serves a purpose and hits a price point, does not exactly set the palate racing. Obviously as wine drinkers we would like to see some new and exciting stuff coming from Chile. But I wonder if it really makes sense for Chile to move away from what it does best, i.e. off-trade targeted value-for-money varietals.

It is generally agreed that Chile has been slowly but surely emerging from the doldrums over the past decade and that it now has the potential to be far more than a cheap source of reliable plonk. When I first visited Chile in 1997, the nascent export market was almost entirely dominated by the three big players (Concha y Toro, San Pedro and Santa Rita) and the vast majority of the wines exported were straightforward Bordeaux varietal gluggers.

Quality - develop regionality and introduce premium varieties

A strong image is a prerequisite in order to break into the premium wine arena - think Argentinian Malbec, South African Pinotage, Barossa Valley Shiraz. Chile's image is currently badly defined (indeed, it has been said that more than a problem of bad image, Chile has no image). Its Andean neighbour Argentina, on the other hand, didn't export for many years during the era of dollar equivalency and high export tarifs and so was able to develop "behind the scenes" and present a fully-formed wine industry to the world once the impediments to exports were reduced.

Nonetheless, if Chile gets its act together with the right PR and marketing, it certainly has the ability to establish itself in due course as a producer of premium wines. The keys to this will be increased regionality and more imaginative planting and blending. The emergence of Carmenere as a "signature" premium varietal (a la Malbec) will also be interesting to watch, although Chile should probably not pin all its hopes on it. New up and coming areas include Elqui and Limari for Syrah (see 31 July post below) and Bio Bio for Pinot Noir and aromatics such as Riesling and Gewurztraminer. The main advantage of the south of the country is the cool climate and Pacific fog, although levels of rainfall can be rather high. Jancis Robinson has commented on the lack of fruit concentration in Chile's southern whites, but the vines are still young and if this remains a problem in future years winemakers will have the option to reduce yields (and so increase concentration in the remaining grapes). Importantly, vineyard sites remain relatively cheap in the sparsely populated south.

Quantity - stick to the popular grapes and sell, sell, sell!

The bigger companies in the more established areas are pursuing a different tack by going after the mass market. Concha y Toro and Viña Ventisquero, both based in the Central Valley, have recently thrown down the gauntlet to Italian producers by introducing Pinot Grigio. Casablanca could offer excellent growing conditions for the fashionable grape. Whereas Italy is incredibly reliant on Pinot Grigio, Chile's breadth of wines would allow its larger wineries to take on the Italians without exposing themselves unduly. There are synergies with their existing portfolios too - buyers of Concha y Toro's Sunrise brand are also likely to be in the market for some gluggable Pinot Grigio and will probably be more concerned about its drinkability than its country of origin.

Chile's export volumes are growing. According to market research company Nielsen, it has now overtaken Spain to become the sixth biggest importer to the UK. It is predicted to overtake South Africa by the end of 2008, and is breathing down the neck of Italy. The comparison with South Africa highlights the million dollar question for Chile. Both countries export similar quantities of wine to the UK, but whereas Chile has a strong off-trade offering, largely built around Bordeaux varietals, South Africa also includes the premium end of the market in its portfolio. Should Chile try to compete in this premium arena or stick to pursuing volume by offering discounts to the off-trade? Daniel Hart, senior New World buyer at Enotria, acknowledges that this is a "tough choice in tough market conditions", but notes that if Chile decides to pursue volume in the off-trade market, it could do so at the expense of its drive for regional and premium recognition.

So...

The fundamentals of Chile's wine industry (infrastructure, economy, training) are all in place. The big companies are getting better and better at pursuing volume. Quality winemaking is developing in interesting new directions and the wine map is being stretched both north and south. The greatest impediment to the premium market is image: if Chile wants to play the premium wine game, it will need a combination of the right marketing (both by individual wineries and national trade bodies) and a shift in focus by the big producers towards the upper end of the market. As far as the second of these goes, the need for profitability in the big players may prove to be the sticking-point. What may well develop over the coming decade is a two tier system of big producers of cheap table wine and smaller wineries targeting the premium market. Which is workable in theory but doesn't make solving the image problem any easier.

Sources: (1) Edmundo Bordeau and Gonzalo Vargas, "Prospects for the Fine Wine industry: Competitiveness and development for Chile 2010"; (2) Jancis Robinson, "Hot Spots for Chile's Vineyards"; (3) Mark Lewis, "Chile pins hopes on Pinot Grigio"

The Mondavi Legacy

Three months after the death of "legend", "colossus" and "father of Napa" Robert Mondavi seems a good time for an impartial sift through the eulogies. What did he actually change and is the world of wine a better place for his influence?

The received wisdom is that Mondavi opened the world's eyes to non-European wine by playing an instrumental role in California's emergence as the first serious New World wine region.

The grandson of Italian farmers, Mondavi was the driving presence behind the Robert Mondavi Corporation until well into his 90s (to the frustration of his sons, who left their positions as vice-chairman and winemaker partly due to the overbearing presence of the old man).

The historic 1976 "Judgement of Paris" consisted of a blind tasting in Paris of French and Californian wines by nine French judges, in which the majority of the top prizes went to Californian wines. None of Mondavi's wines won their categories but those of two of his disciples did. Californian wine was on the map.

Mondavi's first landmark achievement was the development in 1978 of Opus One, still in production today, with Baron Philippe de Rothschild. The Robert Mondavi Corporation's initial public offering in 1993 was a disaster and was costly both financially and to Mondavi's credibility. Joint ventures with Errazuriz in Chile and Rosemount in Australia as well as a longtime presence in Italy raised Mondavi's profile. Constellation Brands' acquisition of the Robert Mondavi Corporation in 2004 secured Constellation's place as the biggest wine company in the world (ahead of California's Gallo) but caused further family frictions and was seen by Mondavi as an undignified end to the autonomous company he had nurtured since 1966.

An interesting tension can be seen between the Mondavi style of winemaking and the tastes of omnipotent wine critic Robert Parker. Parker duly praised Mondavi after the latter's death as having had "the single greatest influence" on U.S. quality wine (although for many that epitaph will be reserved for Parker himself). Parker's and Mondavi's approach to wine was fundamentally different however, the Parker preference being big, alcoholic wines. Recurring words of praise in Parker's publication The Advocate are "opulent", "complex", "muscular", "harmonious", "expansive" and "full-bodied". By contrast, the Mondavi style of winemaking is more understated, to the extent that Parker has criticised its wines as "increasingly light and to my way of thinking, indifferent, innocuous wines that err on the side of intellectual vapidness" (Can a wine be intellectually vapid?! Discuss...)

While the lasting Mondavi legacy may be his role in the emergence of Californian wine in the 70s, he played an equally valuable role in providing a Californian alternative to the prosaic Parker Points-driven wines which have sadly become today's norm. Whether this role will be preserved under the Constellation banner is doubtful but only time will tell.