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by Panos Kakaviatos -Police in Champagne have arrested 15 individuals under suspicion of stealing thousands of official ‘CRD’ capsule stickers.

The arrests were made in a 6am sting operation carried out last Wednesday. The ringleaders, identified only as David and Eric, have been indicted for the theft of 109,000 CRD capsules (capsules représentatives des droits) – the colour-coded round stickers on top of wine bottles sold in France that prove that tax has been paid on the bottle.

The capsules came from two companies specialising in their manufacture: Sparflex, located in the industrial area of Dizy, and AMCOR Flexibles in Mareuil-sur-Ay, Champagne police representative Nicolas Weimer told Decanter.com Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne ‘capsule thieves’ arrested”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux, and Adam Lechmere – Over 40 chateaux have released their prices today – including Haut Brion, Angelus, Calon Segur and Kirwan – causing negociants and merchant to protest many were getting lost. Haut Brion is on a par with fellow first growths Lafite and Margaux at €360 ex-negociant, down 45% on last year. Its sister wine La Mission Haut Brion has dropped 64% on the 2010 price, at €216.

Chateau Calon Segur is €39.60 (down 40%), Clinet at €50 (down 41.8%), Angelus at €138 (down 38.7%), Ferriere at €19.60 (down 14.04%), Langoa Barton at €31.20 (down 29.90%), and Chateau Kirwan at €28.50.

‘This was a drop on our 2010, 2009 and 2005 price,’ Kirwan owner Yann Schyler told Decanter.com, ‘and lower than the closest price available on the Bordeaux marketplace, the 2008.’ Kirwan, however, highlighted the effect of the flood of prices. ‘Did it come out?’ asked one negociant. ‘It got lost among everything else.’ Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Over 40 releases overwhelm negociants, merchants”

by Decanter.com staff – London merchants are reporting renewed interest in what has been a lacklustre en primeur campaign with the release of Chateau Pontet Canet, 34% down on last year’s price. The 2011 from the Pauillac second-growth, which is certified biodymic, has been highly praised by critics and merchants alike. Steven Spurrier for Decanter gave it 18 points, describing it as ‘both exuberant and classic… a wonderfully elegant Pauillac with superb vineyard expression.’ Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Pontet Canet release galvanises en primeur”

by Panos Kakaviatos – American merchants say they are buying very little Bordeaux 2011 because prices are too high for the quality – and because they still hold unsold stocks of the more expensive 2010. And in Britain, wine merchants are ambivalent but there are few who believe the campaign has any momentum: the release of Chateau Beychevelle has been met with ‘stony silence’, one reported.

US merchants are grumbling that the Bordeaux 2011 campaign has not taken off because expected price decreases are not low enough. Chris Adams, of New York importer Sherry Lehmann, came back from Bordeaux en primeur tastings last month ‘genuinely excited about the prospects for the campaign’ but now calls the high prices ‘a shame’ so far – ‘and really surprisingly so,’ he said.

‘There’s been no incentive for me to take any positions, as I still have decent stocks of 2010s that haven’t sold through, and the price decreases aren’t significant enough for me to see any real value for the consumer. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Primeurs offers being met with ‘stoney silence’, merchants report”

by Adam Lechmere – The Billionaire’s Vinegar, the controversial book about the Jefferson bottles affair, is being made into a film starring Brad Pitt.

The film, which is in development and should be released later this year, is produced by actor Will Smith, who bought the rights to Benjamin Wallace’s 2008 book. The Billionaire’s Vinegar is the story of the affair of the Jefferson bottles and its attendant court cases has enthralled the wine world for years.

At the heart of the case is a cache of more than a dozen supposedly 18th-century bottles apparently found in a walled-up basement in Paris in 1985 by German collector Hardy Rodenstock. Some of these, including the now-notorious bottle of 1787 Lafite, were engraved Th:J. According to Rodenstock they were bought by Thomas Jefferson when he was ambassador to Paris.

Three of the bottles were sold at Christie’s between 1985 and 1987: the 1787 Lafite, a 1784 Château d’Yquem, and a half-bottle of 1784 Château Margaux. Malcolm Forbes, the late publisher, paid US$156,450 for the 1787 Lafite in the 1985 auction, a single-bottle auction record that remains unsurpassed.

Another billionaire businessman, William Koch, has six different lawsuits or appeals running against retailers, vendors and major auction houses involving allegedly fake bottles, several of them connected with the Jefferson bottles.

In 2009 Decanter’s veteran columnist Michael Broadbent and former director of wine at Christie’s, who auctioned some of the bottles, successfully sued Random House, the UK publisher of The Billionaire’s Vinegar for libel, claiming the book made allegations suggesting he had behaved unprofessionally.

Random House apologised unreservedly for making the allegations and accepted that they were untrue, gave an undertaking not to repeat the allegations and paid Broadbent undisclosed damages. Michael Broadbent said he did not wish to comment.

by Richard Woodard – Wine production in Australia is set to hit a five-year low this year, impacted by the knock-on effects of widespread wet weather in the 2010-11 growing season. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), the 2012 harvest is estimated at 1.53m tonnes, the lowest total since 2007’s crop of 1.41m tonnes. Continue reading “decanter.com: Australian harvest at five-year low”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – French coopers are lobbying the French government’s forestry commission for greater transparency, and price protection, in an industry worth €300m a year.es Tonneliers de France, the group representing the coopers, has secured twice-yearly meetings with the Office National des Forets (ONF).This is vital, they say, for ensuring their survival.

by Jim Budd – Pancho Campo, who was at the centre of last year’s controversy around the organisation of wine tastings in Spain, has resigned from the Institute of Masters of Wine.Pancho Campo and Jay Miller

The Institute of Masters of Wine launched an investigation in December 2011 into whether Campo had breached its code of conduct, after allegations that his organisation the Wine Academy of Spain had effectively been charging Spanish wineries for access to Jay Miller, the correspondent for Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Decanter.com understands from a well-placed source at the Institute that the investigation had been completed. Its report had been sent to members of the IMW Council and was due to be considered this week. During the course of the investigation it is understood that the Institute had sought legal advice.

Decanter.com understands the report recommended that Campo – who became the first Spanish Master of Wine in 2008 – should be suspended from the Institute for a period of two or three years. Continue reading “decanter.com: Pancho Campo resigns from Institute of Masters of Wine”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – After a temporary pause for the first of the many May bank holidays in France, the en primeur campaign is expected to recommence with a flurry of releases today. By the end of the week, most observers believe, the 2011 campaign will have either sunk without a trace, or found its feet, all depending on whether chateaux take seriously the need to drop prices. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Releases rush expected after quiet start”

by Panos Kakaviatos, and Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Chateau Montus, one of the leading chateaux in the Madiran appellation, was severely struck by hail on Sunday evening – while Bordeaux suffered rainfall two-and-a-half times the average. Hailstones of up to 1.5 centimeters in diameter pelted the communes of Castelnau-Rivière-Basse and Madiran, ‘destroying a large part of vines,’ local newspaper SudOuest reported.

At least 50% of vines at the 85ha property were hit, owner and winemaker Alain Brumont said, with some plots losing up to 95% of their early-season shoots and buds, causing around €3m damage. In total, around 200 hectares of AOC Madiran were affected, with around 70ha almost destroyed. Further serious hail was reported in the AOC Côtes de Gascogne.

The 2012 vintage is expected to be reduced by at least 30% across both Montus and Brumont’s other wine, Torus. Prices, Brumont said, can be expected to rise for Montus up to around €400 per bottle.

The hail was part of a stormy weekend that shook the southern half of France. On Saturday 28 April the French weather station Météo France placed nine departments on alert for high winds in a zone stretching from the Alps in the Massif Central.

Eastern Bordeaux, particularly Castillon and parts of Saint Emilion, saw widespread flooding, after one of the wettest and coldest Aprils on record.

In total, rainfall during the last 24 days of the month was 178.8mm, 223% above the average of 80mm, while total sunshine hours were 32% below average, with 120 hours compared to the usual 177 hours. Local expert John Salvi MW told Decanter.com, ‘This is unheard of, and slowed down vine growth almost completely.’

Part of the concern is that the – brief – return to sunshine this week will put further pressure on the vineyards. Benoit de Guigne, director of Chateau Lagarosse in AOC Cadillac Cotes de Bordeaux, said, ‘While the rain was desperately needed after such a dry start to the year, the vineyards are now so muddy that it is impossible to get spraying machines into them to protect the vines. If the weather turns humid this week, we are going to start worrying about mildew.’

by James Lawrence – Californian grape prices are expected to rise significantly this year as demand continues to exceed supply, although talk of a crisis is overstated, say industry insiders. A surge in demand for grapes and wine in Californian’s North Coast region has led many wineries to enter long-term contracts with growers, to ensure a stable supply of fruit for the next several years.

Grape prices have risen as much as 30% in some vineyards and appellations during the past six months, John Wilkinson, a member of the board of directors for Napa Valley Grapegrowers and owner of Wilkinson Family Vineyards, told Decanter.com. Continue reading “decanter.com: California grape prices rise”

by Adam Lechmere – A number of London wine merchants are reportedly furious with Bordeaux negociants for forcing them to buy another chateau’s wines along with their allocations of Lafite 2011.Rieussec: bundled in?

In a practice known as ‘bundling in’, Bordeaux – according to the wine merchants Decanter.com has spoken to – demands that a merchant take a certain amount of cases of Chateau Rieussec in Sauternes at what merchants claim is an unrealistic price, or their allocation of Lafite and its second wine Carruades de Lafite, and sister wine Duhart-Milon will be compromised.

Merchants say they are now having to sell Rieussec – a Sauternes first growth – at a loss. It was released by negociants at €48 a bottle, which at standard margins would sell in London for over £500 a case.

This is far beyond the ‘real value’ of Rieussec, merchants say. It is on the market now for between £350 and £375 a case, meaning merchants make no money on it. ‘The situation is farcical,’ Farr Vintners director Oliver East told Decanter.com. ‘We are always annoyed by it but this year we have vented our annoyance.’ He said he had written to negociants but with no response. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Merchants selling Rieussec at a loss, blaming negociant ‘bundling’”

by Giles Fallowfield – Up to a third of some Champagne vineyards have been affected by heavy frosts earlier this month.

Temperatures dropped to – 3°C in the Côte des Blancs with villages like Avize, Cramant and Chouilly the worst hit, while there was more widespread damage in the Côte des Bar as temperatures there fell to – 5°C.

Low-lying areas in the Côte des Blancs and the Côte des Bar have been particularly badly affected.

Chardonnay in the Côte des Blancs and the Grande Vallée de la Marne was the most vulnerable: it was more advanced with two or three leaves already growing in some well-exposed vineyards.

There has been widespread damage in the vineyards around Aÿ, Mareuil-sur-Aÿ and Avenay. The relatively forward Chardonnay in the low-lying areas close to the Marne River, and also some Pinot Noir parcels, have been affected.

Moët & Chandon winemaker Benoît Gouez said that between 7% and 8% of this year’s crop had potentially been lost, with the worst damage in the grands crus of Avize and Aÿ, where up to 18% has been damaged. Continue reading “decanter.com: Champagne crop badly damaged by frost”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – A handful of releases this week all show price drops, of up to a third less than last year, but still merchants are reporting a sluggish campaign with little interest in anything except Lafite. Lafite: pointing the way to healthy 2011 sales? Since the dramatic announcement of Chateau Latour‘s withdrawal from the en primeur system, and Chateau Lafite Rothschild‘s price release at €420, not much has moved.

This week there have been a few key releases, including Hubert de Bouard’s Carillon d’Angelusand Chateau Bellevue, both at €35 ex-Bordeaux, a 30% and 21.35% drop respectively on their 2010 prices, and Chateau Suduiraut, from the AXA Millesimes stable, at €45 ex-Bordeaux, a drop of 7.22% from 2010.

Other releases include Chateau Haut Marbuzet, in Saint Estephe, at €21.60 a drop of 18%, andChateau Sociando Mallet at €20.40, a drop of 8.11%. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – New releases but Lafite dominating early sales, say merchants”

by Adam Lechmere, and David Furer – Wine critic James Suckling has confirmed that any monies he received from the Quebec alcohol board were for videos not for tasting.

It was suggested last week by bloggers and on social media that the former Wine Spectator staffer had been paid around CAN$24,000 for tasting sessions at Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) – after both he and SAQ had explicitly denied he had any financial relationship with the state-controlled alcohol distributor.

Suckling now says he was indeed paid CAN$18,000 and his business received a further CAN$5,950 in subscriptions to his website – but this was payment for videos which he made for the SAQ.

On his blog Suckling had written ‘there is no financial relationship’, but he says that was an entry from February 2011, before he had any agreement to supply videos to SAQ. The videos were shot in December 2011, under a different deal, he says. His contract with the SAQ will end in November 2013.

‘I was not paid for any tastings or promotions,’ he told Decanter.com. ‘I was paid for videos. I am a film-maker as well as a wine journalist.’ He added, ‘I am not a charity,’ insisting there was no impropriety in the SAQ paying him for his work. Continue reading “decanter.com: James Suckling: Quebec payments were ‘not for tastings’”

by Adam Lechmere, and Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Cos d’Estournel has released its 2011 today at €108 per bottle ex-negociant, 45% less than last year but still 40% more than other vintages.UK merchants are selling the wine at £1200 a case. The second wine, Pagodes de Cos, comes out at €30, down 25% on last year.

A third release comes from Pomerol’s Chateau Gazin, at €42, down 12.5% on last year.

Cos d’Estournel has for several years been one of the most renowned – or notorious – wines of the Medoc. Managing director Jean-Guillaume Prats tripled the price in 2009: the 2008 and 2007 vintages were released at €65 a bottle, while 2009 was released at €210. The 2010 was released at €198.

The general feeling in Bordeaux, one observer said, is that ‘Cos still hasn’t done enough after tripling the price in 2009, and there are lots of cheaper vintages out there.’ Those after bottled vintages of Cos from the less stellar vintages can choose from the 2001, 2004 or 2008 at around £850-900 a case.

The 2009 is now selling at around £2375, the 2010 just under £2000. After hail at the beginning of September wreaked havoc in the Cos vineyards – and those of its neighbours in St Estephe – the 2011 was subject to rigorous selection. Only 30% of the crop made it into the first wine, of which only 9,000 cases were made, compared with 21,000 last year. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Cos d’Estournel releases 45% down on 2010″

by Adam Lechmere – Chateau Lafite Rothschild has released its 2011 at €420 per bottle to the wine trade, a reduction of 30% on last year’s price of €600.

An email from Farr Vintners read, ‘Welcome news on the pricing and let’s hope that other chateaux follow this lead and allow us to sell at a lower price than we sell physical vintages.’

Both they and Berry Bros also said they were pleased there was no ‘tie-in’ with the Rothschild-owned Sauternes Chateau Rieussec, which last year merchants were obliged to buy along with their Lafite allocation. There is now a good deal of uncertainty about how the rest of the blue-chip properties will react to this price. Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011: Chateau Lafite Rothschild releases at €420 per bottle”

by Adam Lechmere – Fine wine investors have lost £100m over four years by entrusting their savings to failed wine companies, a senior accountant has estimated.  Nedim Ailyan, a director at insolvency firm Abbott Fielding, which is handling two high-profile wine investment company bankruptcies, told the BBC that some 50 such companies have failed in the last four years, costing investors up to £100m. Continue reading “decanter.com: Fine wine investors ‘have lost £100m’ from failed companies”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Bernard Magrez, owner of Chateau Pape Clement and Chateau La Tour Carnet, has extended his portfolio of estates with the addition of three new Bordeaux names. These are the 15-hectare Chateau Malleprat in Pessac Leognan, the 10ha Chateau Moulin d’Ulysse in Listrac-Medoc and the 3.5ha Chateau Romer in Sauternes, the smallest classified property in the appellation.

According to French journal Revue du Vin de France, Magrez’s intention is not necessarily to bottle the wines under their existing names, but to use them to bolster production of his current estates. For example, he already owns the nearby Chateau Latrezotte in Barsac, where he produces a wine called La Sauternes de ma Fille, and he can now integrate its production with that of Chateau Romer.

In the Medoc, he will use his newly purchased vines to create a second wine for his neighbouring classified chateau, La Tour Carnet. Magrez is now owner of approximately 40 properties, in Bordeaux, Languedoc, Spain, Portugal, Napa, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Morocco and Japan.

by Adam Lechmere – As the UK wine trade makes its way back from Bordeaux they are more preoccupied with price than at any time since the 2008 vintage. At this stage of the week there are points on which most agree. Few would argue that the vintage is not ‘mixed, to say the least,’ as Neil Sommerfelt MW of Jeroboams said. But, he added, ‘when they are good they are very good.’

Decanter‘s consultant editor Steven Spurrier has his reservations about certain wines and communes but his overall summing up is that the left bank has produced ‘a classic claret. They are straightforward, very good wines, perfectly expressive of their chateau.’ Continue reading “decanter.com: Bordeaux 2011 – Price is ‘single factor’ of vintage, say merchants”

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Herve Berland, managing director of Mouton Rothschild since 2006, and with the Rothschild family since 1977, will be heading to Chateau Montrose after his retirement from the Pauillac First Growth.

Berland was at Mouton during the 2011 en primeur tastings, and Decanter.com understands he will be starting his new job today, Tuesday April 10. Berland’s decision to join Montrose, just a few kilometres away from Mouton in Saint Estèphe, will confirm the Second Growth’s habit of attracting former First Growth directors to its 94 hectares

Jean-Bernard Delmas, formerly director of Chateau Haut-Brion, has been in charge of the property since the Bouygues brothers, Martin and Olivier, bought it in 2006. Delmas retired last year.

Nicolas Glumineau, technical director of Montrose, told Decanter.com, ‘Montrose has the terroir of a First Growth, and we certainly look to challenge them each year. Mr Berland will provide the continuity in terms of our search for excellence, Continue reading “decanter.com: Herve Berland moves to Chateau Montrose”

by Jane Anson – Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte in the Graves is to open a new €3m winery intended specifically for the second wine Les Hauts de Smith.

The new buildings, which so far have been costed at €3m, will have capacity for 1200 hectolitres across 15 vinification vats, plus 10 vats for blending.

The winery will be self-sufficient in energy, using wood from the estate’s 60ha of forest for fuel, and with a subterranean barrel cellar to ensure natural temperature control.

The architect for the project is Jean-Bernard Nadau, a specialist in landscape design and eco-architecture who has previously worked on the High Bridge Cultural Park in New York, and on the sculpture garden at Smith Haut Lafitte.

‘We also intend to be carbon neutral,’ owner Daniel Cathiard told Decanter.com, ‘offsetting our emissions and ensuring we are capturing and controlling carbon dioxide produced during fermentation.’

Technical director Fabien Teitgen said a separate winery would allow more precise work with Les Hauts de Smith by increasing the number of tanks, and decreasing their size, allowing the same plot-by-plot work as the first wine receives. ‘Both wines have their own distinct identity – this will allow us to respect and develop that.’

The winery will be ready to vinify the 2012 vintage this September, and fully open in Spring 2013.

by Maggie Rosen – The arrest by the FBI of Rudy Kurniawan is not enough to deter the tide of fake wine, alleged victims of counterfeiting say.

‘This is nowhere near the end of the story,’ said Brad Goldstein, a spokesman for William Koch (pictured), the billionaire collector who has six different lawsuits or appeals running against retailers, vendors and major auction houses including Kurniawan, Christies and Acker Merrall & Condit, and collector Hardy Rodenstock, for allegedly selling fake wines.

‘They found thousands and thousands of labels in his home. We’ll never know the extent of this guy’s damage. We don’t know what he’s done.’ Continue reading “decanter.com: Kurniawan arrest tip of the iceberg, say Koch and Frye”

by Adam Lechmere -John Avery MW, one of the country’s most renowned wine merchants and a towering figure in the UK wine industry, has died aged 70.

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux – Credit Agricole Grands Crus is to take an 18% stake in one of Bordeaux’s largest wine companies, Vignobles Andre Lurton, which will pass out of 100% private ownership for the first time.André Lurton (pictured) is owner of 264 hectares of vines in Pessac Léognan, and over 300ha in Entre deux Mers and AOC Bordeaux. He was born in 1924, and will turn 88 this year.

His succession has long been a subject of discussion in the region, and the announcement last week that CA Grands Crus is to take a stake in the company will reassure observers that the company is not to be broken up. The remaining 82% of shares will remain with Lurton and his seven children.

Among the wines concerned are Chateau Bonnet, Chateau Rochemorin, Chateau La Louviere, and the Cru Classé de Graves Chateau Couhins-Lurton.

In total, the group produces over 4m bottles of wine per year, from seven chateaux, with a turnover in 2011 of €21.8m, 60% from exports. Lurton’s two sons Jacques and François had worked alongside their father, but now each runs his own wine company. Continue reading “decanter.com: Andre Lurton sells stake to Credit Agricole”