By Jack Heeger
The Napa Valley Register

Friday, July 27, 2007

Do ratings help to sell wine? It depends on whom you talk to. A recent survey of about 500 wine industry leaders by Scion Advisors, a Napa Valley-based consulting firm, asked about the influence of ratings and scores by the “Pillars of Wine Criticism” — Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate (Robert Parker’s newsletter).

The results showed that 32 percent said their influence is the same as five years ago, 36 percent said it’s less, and 32 percent said the influence is greater. The survey also indicated that 61 percent of the respondents said they would not pursue a strategy specifically to improve scores. To see the complete results, go to www.scionadvisors.com.

(Try to tell someone who gets a 79 that ratings don’t matter.)

NRA now selling wine

The National Rifle Association has created a wine club, and a donation of its proceeds go to the NRA in its battle to preserve the Second Amendment.

According to winespectator.com, NRA members can go to the organization’s Web site and shop for a variety of “vintage boutique wines handpicked for club members.” Buy $500 worth of wine, and you’ll get a rebate that pays for your NRA membership, the Web site said.

(“We think they want to shoot the empty bottles,” the Web site concluded.)

Wine fails to pass budget

When Assemblywoman Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) found that California Legislature leaders had a few glasses of cabernet sauvignon while discussing the overdue budget bill, she sent over a couple more bottles of Napa Valley wine to help push the deal along.

They originally were drinking Joseph Phelps Insignia and Quintessa, and she sent along some cabernets from Heitz Cellars and Stags Leap Wine Cellars to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. “There’s more where that came from, if necessary,” she said.

Thus far, Evans’ efforts have been to no avail. The budget was due on July 1, and as of the date this was written, a budget agreement had not yet been reached. This is not unusual — late budgets have become quite common over the years.

(Maybe she should have waited until they reached a deal and rewarded them with the wine — made it the carrot instead of the stick.)

Brewer gets into wine

Carlsberg, the Danish brewer, has expanded into the wine business, offering 15 different wines from eight countries under the Invenio brand, according to harpers.com. Invenio, which means “to discover” in Latin, has been introduced in the UK thus far.

The brand includes wines from California, Chile, South Africa, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Australia, and will be “reasonably priced,” although prices were not indicated.

Carlsberg said the aim is to allow consumers to easily navigate around the world of wine.

(Too much of it and navigation will be difficult.)

Dutch growers face crisis

If the European Union’s proposal to “reform” the wine industry goes through, it could mean the end of Dutch wines.

One of the proposals in the EU’s plan is to eliminate the addition of sugar to wine. Holland is not a major player in European wine — there are only 135 growers and, according to radioetherlands.nl, most of the wine produced there is sold in local shops and restaurants that like to serve local products. A spokesman said, “Bigger companies can afford to invest in new technologies to replace the sugar … by concentrating the juice in such a way that the alcohol percentage is high enough. But that’s so expensive that 80 to 90 percent of the winegrowers can’t afford it.”

The Netherlands’ agriculture minister added, “We are talking about a process that has been used for centuries; you just can’t wreck it like that.”

(They need someone to put a finger in this modern version of the leaking dike.)

Petty theft — cheap wine

For stealing wine worth less than the price of three bottles of Two Buck Chuck, a British shoplifter has been fined more than $200. This wasn’t the first time he was accused of stealing wine — the nwemail.co.uk Web site said the suspect was given a six-month conditional discharge (essentially, that’s probation) in June for stealing a bottle worth $2.

This time, it was two more bottles. The prosecutor said, “It’s very straightforward. He was seen leaving the store with a big bulge in his jacket.”

(You could say he was caught red-wine-handed.)

Web site with wine answers

Napa Valley-based Wine Market Council has re-launched its wineanswers.com Web site, offering answers to just about any question a consumer might ask about wine.

The site offers a complete listing of wine and food pairings and even breaks pairings down by sauces or flavorings — for example, type in “pesto” and you’ll see how chardonnay and sauvignon blanc works with pesto.

There’s another section for folks into the dating scene: “Date Night…Uncorked” and a short quiz tells you how you should approach ordering wine based on age, personality traits, dating habits and wine knowledge.

(I tried it, typed in my age and it said, “fuggedaboutit.”)

Quote of the Week

“My Grandmother is over 80 and still doesn’t need glasses. Drinks right out of the bottle” — Henny Youngman

Jack Heeger can be reached at jheeger@napanews.com.