Pomerol's Petit-Village sale delayed

The former hypermarket owner Gérard Perse (Château Pavie, Monbousquet, Pavie Decesse) has recently decided to delay the purchase of one of Pomerol's most renowned properdine Château Petit-Village by 12 months or more. Perse had agreed in March this year to buy the 12ha estate from AXA Millesimes. 

In a detailed document he explains why he temporarily pulled back from the deal: "The present economic situation has convinced Gérard Perse that he would be making a disproportionate investment". The 45 million EUR deal was suspended as Perse declared that at 53 years old he couldn't afford to take risks like that. "The stock market has continued to come down everywhere until recently and the 2001 vintage in Bordeaux is not selling well. There is no guarantee that 2002 would be any better". (Source: Decanter)

Château Le Gay on sale to save family assets

Château Le Gay  is likely to be sold by the family of Marie Robin, the unmarried nonagerian owner of two of Pomerol's jewels Château Lafleur and Le Gay after she died last December. 

Robin's younger cousins took this decision as they had to come up with enough cash to pay the heavy succession taxes. The decision to save Château Lafleur at the expense of Le Gay reflects a judicious move by its owners to retain the better of the two estates. 

In late August, Catherine Péré-Vergé, the daughter of late Jacques Durand, the well known manufacturer and industrial glassmaker in northern France made a generous EUR 25 million offer for Le Gay's remaining 37 acres of land out of which 15 acres of vineyard. Many in Bordeaux now fear that inflated vineyard prices could lead to higher estate valuation and crushing estates taxes that would hurt the long-term stability of the family-owned wineries. (Source: Decanter)

Dourthe aims to blend his best grapes by Adam Lechmere

After the garage wine saga, Bordeaux negociant Dourthe-Kressmann could be sparking a new revolution with a radical blend. The wine, Essence de Dourthe, is a blend of the finest grapes from the four major Dourthe properties – Château Belgrave (Haut-Médoc), Château Le Boscq (St Estephe), La Garde (Pessac-Leognan-Graves) and Clos de la Tour, a Bordeaux Superieur. 
For the 2000 vintage, each winemaker in every property was given "carte blanche" to produce the finest possible grapes from small – 1 to 3ha – parcels of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The results were blended. 

The selection was taken from 8ha of vines in total, from the four different appellations, and 6,000 bottles were produced. They should be on the shelves by the end of the year, priced at around €30 (£20). 

Jean-Marie Chadronnier of Dourthe-Kressmann said that the blend, which cannot carry any appellation nor vintage on the label and will be simply classed 'Bordeaux', is 'far superior' to the first wine of each property. He said it was an exercise in taking Bordeaux winemaking to its limits. 

'With garage wines people did something no one had ever thought of before. We have gone as far as possible doing what Bordeaux is supposed to be best at blending he said. 'We have done the best we can with what we have and what we know.' (Source:  Decanter)

Customs send first-growths down the drain

A shipment of 29 cases of wine along with large-format bottles and several Grand-Crus wines was confiscated in January 2002 by the U.K. customs near Dover. According to the lawyers representing the shipping company's insurance, the reason for the seizure was a technical error involving the timetable for paying a 1,500£ duty fee. Apparently the customs didn't have enough room to store the wines and so it was simply destroyed. 

A custom's spokesman declined to confirm the news but said that in such cases Customs act within its rights. "If goods enter the country illegally, then according to an act of Parliament, it becomes property of the Crown. We can sell it off at auction or destroy it, as we see fit" . 

Couldn't have this been sorted out with a bit more common sense and good will? (Source:  Vinum - Wine Spectator)

Government tries to restore French vineyards' reputation

The French wine sector is in deep crisis and the Government is introducing a new A.O.C production legislation, which would force growers to dump vast quantities of wine. A French producer who exceeds the absolute maximum permitted yield will lose the right to the A.O.C for the entire harvest, unless the excess is sent for distillation. The conditions of production and yields will now be assessed on a parcel-by-parcel basis, making it more difficult to average yields per hectare for the combined area of production. These changes are activly supported by René Renou, head of INAO. In another recent report presented to the French government, Jacques Berthomeau blamed the crisis on a massive lack of rigor among French growers. Vineyears are increasingly being run without reference to quality, being instead farmed at high levels of intensity. Berthomeau proposes a dramatic change in the way French wine is labelled. Presently the A.O.C seal covers a broad sweep of quality, but the lower-end wines are dragging the whole brand down. His proposals would introduce a separate elite brand aimed at the export market. (Source: Harpers)

Mouton 2000 gets a special bottle

Mouton Rothschild has unveiled its unique Mouton 2000 design in New York. There are only 5000 for sale. Some bottles were auctioned off for about 10,000 $ each! When I see that I really believe the NASDAQ has to plummet another 80%!
 
Have a look at it at the following link:
http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily/News/0,1145,1866,00.html

Using my friend David's words (see link): "Looks to me like a bottle of plonk from some trendy winery in Bulgaria. All presentation and no substance."

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