Winefuture limps into action
Thursday 12 November
Winefuture should’ve started with a bang – it was more like a wet weekend.
I can’t say it’s been that enlightening. There haven’t been many new and interesting things said to be honest with you. I am covering the event for a number of magazines and boy oh boy has it been hard to find anything really newsworthy.
Plenty of speakers have had their chance to unabashedly promote their company – Xavier Pages, CEO at Codorniu told us about his grandfather and the history of the company for the first ten minutes before he actually got to something interesting. And while I like Stephen Spurrier his speech on the future of wine writing was a Decanter advertorial. The twitterati at the event had a field day. The magazine should’ve sent a real journalist like Adam Lechmere or Guy Woodward (editors) who could’ve made a real contribution to the debate.
I sloped off before the “How to improve sales and consumption through fairs and competitions” but from all the tweets, it seems that I didn’t miss much. Rob McIntosh of wineconversation.com tweeted from the event: “BREAKING NEWS: Mel Dick announces a wine event in Florida experienced great weather”
If I had been paying for the ticket, I might be feeling robbed by now if it weren’t for Ryan Opaz of Catavino and Gary Vaynerchuk livening the day up
Nevertheless I’ve met a lot of old and new faces, which is great, and I’m ever the optimist for a better day tomorrow.
Quotes of the day
“People are obsessed with wine scores…scores have become involuntary sellers of wine or a defence tribunal for consumers” - Jose Penin, founder of Penin guides
I don’t give a crap about about facebook and twitter but I care about consumers. “You should be embarrassed if you don’t recognised that this platform allows you to talk to them.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
“Bordeaux Grands Crus are the Champs Elysee of Bordeaux but also the Silicon Valley”- Matthieu Chardronier, CEO CVBG Dourthe
Rioja and the build up to WineFuture
Wednesday 11 November
The hotels of Logrono are full, all the restaurants are booked out and most flights into Bilbao are packed with the wine trade. Welcome to the eve of Winefuture 2009.
But a trip to Rioja wouldn’t be complete without a winery visit. We almost managed to avoid the wineries by visiting a monastery and a cathedral in Santa Domingo this morning. However my preferred place of worship would be a barrel cellar. They offer the same peace, calm and reflection of a church but the added bonus of wine. Call me a sinner.
Pernod Ricard-owned Campo Viejo has the largest barrel cellar I have ever seen and I would happily be left there. A whopping 70,000 barrels are housed here and 10% of those are new - it must cost a shed load. With the markets as they are, these expenses must hurt. Koldo Santamaria, the charming international director at Domecq Bodegas, said: “We still make a profit. In the current climate we all suffer but are going to have these kind of moments.
There’s been a definite move to 100% Tempranillos and a shift towards French rather than traditional American oak. It is certainly getting more difficult to spot a Rioja in a blind line-up, which is worrying for a Master of Wine student. I asked Santamaria if the region was in danger of losing its personality. “We don’t think we are breaking anything but bringing a new expression to Rioja,” he said.
“Rioja has been traditionally American oak aged but today the wines are finer but still keep the aromas you are used to. You don’t have any astringent taste at all and I think that has a lot to do with more French oak. It brings complexity too.”
Less oxidative ageing and fresher fruit has got to be welcomed but the garnet Gran Reserva wines of Rioja with their coconutty American oak still have a place in my heart.
Wine Future, felt tips and a safety pin
Tuesday 10 November
The wine world is descending on Rioja this week for Winefuture, a conference asking: what are the major challenges and opportunities facing the wine industry in 2009?
Big names including Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson MW and Constellation’s Troy Christensen will be speaking at the event so I’m heading along with more than 900 others to see what they have to say.
The technical director of Winefuture, Kevin Zraly, said: “Not many events in this industry focus on global sales and marketing of wine. Moreover, not only the event will bring together the most important wine industry professionals but also the most prestigious wine writers in the world.”
Does that “prestigious wine writers” bit include me Kevin?! I don’t think so. There was a bit of confusion over my press accreditation yesterday. The organisers couldn’t find any trace of me despite sending confirmation of my place by email back in July. Luckily I still had the official email and the conference has happily found me again. Confusion caused by a changeover of staff, they said. I will wait to see if I get a name badge or I’ll have to make my own. Perhaps I should take some card, a felt tip and a safety pin to Rioja with me, just in case.
Priorat: the lowdown on its new appellation system
Wednesday 17 June
If you’re a member of just-drinks you can get access to my article on Priorat’s new appellation system at just-drinks.com
If not, here’s a full run down on what’s happening in the Catalan region.
The Priorat Consejo Regulador has just approved a new Burgundy-like pyramid for its wines from the 2007 vintage.
At the bottom of the pyramid will be generic Priorat DOCa wines. Sitting above this, will be 12 named villages such as Gratallops, Poboleda, Escala Dei and Falset. These villages will now be able to label their wines as Falset and so on.
René Barbier’s Clos Mogador sits alone at the top of the pyramid. Funnily enough René was the instigator of the proposal 15 years ago and his vineyard has managed to achieve its own domaine status…
Barbier was keen to stress that there were great terroirs in Priorat and they needed to be championed. ‘People are obsessed with brands in Spain but it’s not Vega Sicilia that is important it’s the terroir. There are great terroirs in Priorat and we need to talk about them.’
Gratallops-based producer and supporter of the changes, Alvaro Palacios, criticised transient Spanish brands and claimed the region needed to emphasise the unchanging individual areas of Priorat. ‘Gratallops will never disappear and it makes a brand for everyone,’ he said.
However, I’m not sure this is a great idea for anyone apart from the producers. Isn’t it better to know the good producers with the old vines and low yields than which village it comes from? While wine has been made here for centuries, it has only recently witnessed a renaissance. The phrase running before it can walk springs to mind.
Barbier’s next door neighbour Carlos Pastrana at Clos de L’Obac, doesn’t think much of the idea either. If you wish to make an Gratallops wine, all the fruit must come from that area. ‘This is a marketing question,’ he said. ‘The majority of the wineries buy and sell grapes from all over the region.’
How the authorities will keep a check on which grapes go into which vat is another issue. Barbier told me each grower will have an electronic card that identifies the parcel’s provenance when it arrives at the winery and can be swiped like a bank card. Come on guys, I’m not convinced there won’t be some sneaky cross blending.
What do you think? Too much too soon? Greater confusion for the trade and consumer? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Communion wine and more…
Sunday 14 June
I haven’t got a religious bone in my body but you can’t avoid communion wine in Tarragona.
I’m afraid there still isn’t much to get excited about in this region. A 1954 sweet Moscatel and a 1964 dry version from De Muller winery were pretty delicious but oddities. Its £3.99 rosé (available in Morrison’s) is more mainstream and fab value for money: dry, zippy with lots of creamy raspberry and red fruit. Other than that, the wine scene seemed rather dull.
Things didn’t get much better in Conca de Barbera. The region is dominated by co-operatives who need to pull their socks up. Most of the wines here (70% ish, but don’t quote me) are sent to Cava houses as base wines to be made into the Spanish sparkler.
There’s so much diversity here and it lacks a clear identity. The wines range from boring boring Macabeo to pale Syrahs and meaty Cabernet Franc/Syrah blends. The highlight was Torres’ Milmanda barrel-fermented Chardonnay. It’s not cheap but it does show this region has the potential to make decent stuff.
And what about rosé? Why aren’t these guys listening to the market? Rendé Masdeu’s 2008 Rosat Syrah sells for three euro in Spanish shops. It’s great commercial stuff: dry, lots of fresh acid, light body and raspberry jolly ranchers. We’d lap it up. More of this please.
Native variety Trepat is thin-skinned making wines with pale colour, the light body of Pinot Noir, and the peppery spice of a northern Rhône Syrah. It has potential, but it’d be a hard sell.
Anyway, it’s time leave the serenity of our Priorat base (and the mosquitoes - little buggers have eaten me alive) to go back to London. I can’t contain my joy of returning to the sweaty tube and police sirens. Still lots of interesting stuff to cover but I’ll save it for another day…