Moses comes down from Ararat Robert Parker releases his judgments on the 2006 Bordeaux crop in
The Wine Advocate today. London merchants are panicking, but the Bordeaux negociantes are more hopeful. To the North American wine-seller who counts on using shelf tags covered with Parker raves to sell his wines, the early scores look catastrophic.
It’s all the fault of those damn secular humanists, again 75% of the Texas wine crop
was wiped out by a late spring frost. Texas is the US’s fifth largest producer of wine, having 139 commercial wineries and 3700 acres under vine. (There are more wineries in Texas than in British Columbia.)
Bring on the usual billionaires Non- subscribers to
The Wine Advocate looking for a succinct summing-up of the prospects for Bordeaux 2006 will find a friend in Jancis Robinson, who notes that (contrary to producer claims)
yields were higher in 2006 than 2005 or 2004;
quality was spotty at best with wines generally being over- tannic, over-acidic and short on fruit; and that the negociantes are going to
have to rely on the suckers, marks and wannabes to keep prices up.
But would you want to have a beer with him? An informal
poll of French winemakers revealed a preference for right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy over the socialist Segolene Royal in the upcoming French Presidential election. Sarkozy has hinted that he might roll back the
Evan Law, which bans most forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages in France. (A teatotaler, Sarkozy has also hinted at changes to France's 35 hour work week.)
But would you want to have a beer with him? An informal poll of French winemakers revealed a preference for right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy over the socialist Segolene Royal in the upcoming French Presidential election. Sarkozy has hinted that he might roll back the Evan Law, which bans most forms of advertising for alcoholic beverages in France. (A teatotaler, Sarkozy has also hinted at changes to France's 35 hour work week.)
