Jonathan Maltus, producer of cult St.-Emilion Grand Cru Le Dome, released his inaugural 2008 Napa Valley wines last week under the brand name “World’s End,” an homage to the American wine lover. The red wines range from exclusive single-vineyard cabernet sauvignon wines from Oakville to regional Napa Valley wines.
Making Napa Valley wines was a natural move for Maltus, who was born to be a man of the world. Although English by citizenship, he comes from a family of expatriates going back to the …

Stephane Derenoncourt, deemed the “world’s hottest winemaker” by Wine Spectator last November, will release his 2007 Derenoncourt California wines at a dinner and fundraiser for Wine to Water at Las Vegas restaurant Twist by Pierre Gagnaire on March 3rd.
Wine to Water is an international aid organization that seeks to help the more than 1 billion people in the world who don’t have access to adequate or sanitary water, leading to water-related childhood deaths every 20 seconds.  To date, they have helped communities in …

Domaine Clarence Dillon is the holding company of Premier Grand Cru Classe Chateau Haut-Brion as well as for the branded wine, Clarendelle, launched in 2005.  In the 75th anniversary year of Clarence Dillon’s acquisition of Chateau Haut-Brion, I had the chance to speak to Prince Robert of Luxembourg, President of Domaine Clarence Dillon, about the future the Bordeaux and the role of brands.

Chateau Haut-Brion, one of the five premier cru classes and arguably the first grand cru classe, has always demonstrated it is first-in-class.  The only 1855 grand cru classe …

HRH Prince Robert of Luxembourg was in Los Angeles Wednesday for the 7th of 8 grand dinners being held around the world celebrating the 75th anniversary of the acquistion of Bordeaux’s first grand cru classe Chateau Haut-Brion by his great grandfather, American investment banker Clarence Dillon.  The lavish dinner held at the Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles was prepared by Chef Thomas Keller of Napa Valley’s French Laundry for an exclusive group of wine lovers, industry tastemakers and the creative elite including Jennifer Aniston, Marg Helgenberger, Quincy Jones and Adrien Brody.
Clarence …

Americans are appreciating Beaujolais more than ever for its fresh, fruit-driven and lower alcohol red wines at an attractive average price of $9.  And consumers are discovering Beaujolais beyond the tutti-frutti “Nouveau” style with basic Beaujolais now representing 49% of U.S. sales vs. 28% for Nouveau.  The remainder are top of line Beaujolais-Villages which sells for around $13 and the Beaujolais Crus averaging $17.  These are tremendous values given the high cost of mandatory hand-harvesting – the only appellation outside of Champagne to require this – and low authorized yields …

 
There should be more Napa Valley rosé.  We live in a Mediterranean climate and eat Mediterranean cuisine.  Most of us live outdoors on our decks and patios in the summer and nothing is more appealing on a hot summer day than a chilled glass of rosé.  Even better?  A dry, ethereal rosé made in the Provencal style of southern France.  France is the world’s largest producer of  rosé with 28% of global production and Provence represents 40% of that.  Americans love these wines apparently, with retail sales of Provence wines rising 28% for the year ending …

Iconic Bordeaux consultant and winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt introduced his small, 1,500 case production Napa Valley wines to an intimate group of wine professionals at Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford today.  The wines represent the 2006 vintages of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Syrah, and 575 cases of Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon from Red Hills Vineyard.  The consumer allocations of the 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc have been pre-sold, with the 2007 vintages expected to be released sometime between September and November. 
These are not Bordeaux-style wines but …

The inaugural Wine Entre Femme trade tasting of over 50 international wines by female winemakers/owners will take place on February 2nd  at the Metropolitan Club, 640 Sutter Street, San Francisco from 1 – 4 pm.  Founder Sharon Harris calls the trade tasting “the most beautiful wine tasting in the world” tongue-in-cheek, but there is no question that it is the most beautiful if measured by quality.  The trade seems to recognize this as the rsvps are already more than three times larger than expected.  According to Carissa Chappellet, only winemakers and/or …

Wine Entre Femme, a consortium of quality-minded female winemakers and winery owners from around the world will be meeting next week in the Napa Valley to share best practices and learn the latest in viticulture, winemaking and marketing techniques.
Wine Entre Femme has grown organically from its inception in 2007, with the first official meeting between Napa Valley and Bordeaux winemakers in January 2008.  The group was organized by founder Sharon Harris, owner with her husband of Amici Cellars in Napa Valley.  Having a second home in Bordeaux and knowing many …

The good news is that inexpensive, everyday Bordeaux wines are widely available in the US, ranging from under $10 to $25.  The major names to look for on the label are: 

Basic Bordeaux red, rose, white, semi-sweet and sparkling wines, from the greater Bordeaux region.  Reds predominantly merlot and whites predominantly sauvignon blanc.  Bordeaux  and Bordeaux Superieure appellations represent about half of the 60 million or so cases the region produces each year.  Bordeaux Superieure requires slightly higher minimum potential alcohol, slightly lower yields/hectare and for the red wines, longer minimum ageing of …