Vineyards

Frazier Winery For Sale

Filed under: Wine, Real Estate Developments

Sotheby's International Realty and Pacific Union International have listed Frazier Winery in Napa Valley, California for sale. The 46 acre property at 40 Rapp Lane is located immediately adjacent to the Napa Valley Country Club golf course in the Eastern Napa hills. The property includes 9800 square feet of completed wine caves set into the hillside. The land currently has 11 producing acres that are planted with Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot plants and Napa County has approved the planting of approximately 23 additional acres. The Napa County use permit includes approval for tours, tastings and retail sales. The property includes a functioning winery building and all equipment. The price is $11.9 million and the owner's adjacent property of approximately 15 acres is also available for sale. The property is exclusively listed for sale by winery and vineyard brokers Peggy Wilkinson of Sotheby's International Realty and Robyn Bentley of Pacific Union International. The Napa Valley Register reported earlier this month that Frazier Winery filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.

Gallery: Frazier Winery

Tags: frazier winery, vineyard, vineyard for sale, vineyards, wine real estate, winery, winery for sale

Australia's Clarendon Hills Winery For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

One of Australia's most famous vineyards is up for sale. The Clarendon Vineyard and Winery is located at the northern end of McLaren Vale. Decanter reports that the vineyard has supplied grapes for esteemed wines including Penfolds Grange. It is also the source of the Clarendon Hills and Hickinbotham brands. The land is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Grenache, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier. The property also includes a winery and two unique homes-- one known as The White House designed by architect Rob Cheesman and the underground Earth Shelter House created by German architect Gerhard Schurer. The Onkaparinga River flows through the estate. Expressions of interest for the property are due to close on December 7 and is for sale for more than $10 million Australian.

Tags: clarendon hills, clarendon vineyards, hickinbotham, penfolds grange, vineyards, wine, winery for sale

Weighty Luxury Wine Book Will Come With Wine

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Books

There are plenty of coffee table books on wine but the one planned by luxury publisher Kraken Opus will require a very sturdy table. The Wine Opus will list the top 100 wineries but will weigh over 60 pounds. The book will cost and estimated £600,000 but that includes a six-bottle case of wine from every one of the 100 wineries listed, as well an invitation to visit some of them. Decanter says that only 100 copies will be made and 25 have already been pre-ordered. The list of wineries will be determined by sommeliers and wine experts and chef Marco Pierre White will also be involved in the launch. The book will be released next year.

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Tags: coffee table books, CoffeeTableBooks, kraken opus, krakenopus, vineyards, wine

Italy Is The Biggest Wine Producer

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Italy is once again the world's largest wine producer, an honor it hasn't had since back in 1998. This year's big harvest is expected to give Italy the edge over France. The Coldiretti farmers lobby estimates the production of Italian wine is up eight percent over 2007 to 4.7 billion liters, compared with 4.44 billion liters in neighboring France, where production fell five percent. The bumper crop of grapes is attributed to good weather, especially in Sicily which battled a deadly fungus last year. Production estimates by Assoenologi, an association of Italian wine producers, are slightly lower at 4.45 billion liters, or an increase of five percent which would still give Italy a squeaker of a win.

Bloomberg reports that more Italian consumers are taking another look at prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine, this season for their celebrations. For the most part prosecco is cheaper than its popular French rival, champagne.

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Tags: france, italy, prosecco, vineyards, wine

The Reserve Collection, Fractional Real Estate For Wine Lovers

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Real Estate Developments

A new private residence club has chosen a vineyard in the Okanagan valley region of British Columbia as their first offering. Bellstar Hotels & Resorts and Olympus Resorts are creating The Reserve Collection, a club that will offer fractional ownership opportunities in vineyard locations around the world. The Calgary Herald reports that the exact spot hasn't been chosen yet but that the company is looking for a place in the south part of the valley, especially wineries in Okanagan Falls, Oliver, Penticton, Naramata, the Similkameen Valley and Osoyoos.

Other potential vineyard destinations for the club may include Argentina, New Zealand, Europe, California, Oregon and Washington. Owners will also become members of the Vintners Club which will include access to wine and food-related events such as winemakers dinners, members-only barrel tastings, viticulture, activities and culinary programs. They can participate in the winemaking process, assisting the vineyard crew in tending, pruning, picking and crushing. Cost of membership ranges from $200,000 to $1 million, plus annual homeowner association fees of $5,000 to $15,000.

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Tags: canada, okanagan valley, okanagan-wines, OkanaganValley, the reserve collection, TheReserveCollection, vineyards, wine

Live Video Feed from Frank Gehry's Hall Winery Project

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

You can now monitor progress on Frank Gehry's amazing Hall Winery project in the Napa Valley via a live video feed. Last year my colleague Deidre Woollard told you about the ambitious plan for the new facility built around the original 1885 winery south of St. Helena. Progress is proceeding apace on the project, which artfully blends avant-garde architecture with existing historic structures. The live cam is the latest addition to the Gehry plan web features, which include a project gallery and time-lapse camera showing progress to date. Hall's new 110,000-square-foot complex of six buildings, which broke ground last summer, is slated to open in 2010. Pictured above is Gehry (center) and associate Edwin Chan (left) with winery owners Kathryn and Craig Hall (right) discussing the architect's model for a new Visitor's Center, an all-glass structure supported by a "floating" trellis overhang. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: Frank Gehry & Hall Wines

Gehry and his team with Kathryn Hall in front of the trellis mock-up.

Tags: Architecture, Frank Gehry, FrankGehry, hall winery, HallWinery, Napa Valley, NapaValley, Vineyards

Col Solare Opens Washington Winery

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Can it be nearly two years since I wrote about the plans for the Col Solare winery? Time flies and the winery, a home for the twelve-year-old brand, a collaboration between Washington state's Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Tuscany's Marchesi Antinori has finally been opened. The winery sits on a 40-acre site in Columbia Valley's s Red Mountain area. The 18,000-case facility will produce the well-regarded Col Solare wine, a silky blend of Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah that retails for $70. The winery has a bell tower and a Tuscan-inspired tasting room. The winery is designed to look, from the air, like the sun with paths cutting through the vineyard like sun's rays. The vineyard has been planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Syrah and Col Solare is building a two-mile water pipeline to bring the vineyard water. If you are interested in checking out the new winery they are releasing the 2004 vintage in July.

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Tags: col solare, ColSolare, vineyards, washington, wine, winery

V-Twin Zin, Wine for Harley Davidson Lovers

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Recent studies discovered that NASCAR fans are into wine, and the same can be said of Harley Davidson owners, hence a new wine aiming at the Harley fan demographic. The V-Twin Zin from the V-Twin Vineyards in Sonoma is a wine for the motorcycle lifestyle. The 2004 estate vineyard Zinfandel is sourced from a vineyard in the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, Calif., and has a label decorated with skulls and a flaming V-twin engine. The company also have a member gallery on its website for biker pictures. Other releases planned are the River Run Chardonnay, Poker Run Cabernet, Redwood Run Zinfandel and the Toy Run Rose. The 2004 V-Twin Zin sells for $24 per bottle.

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Tags: harley davidson, v-twin zin, vineyards, wine, zinfandel

Australian Wine Sales Down

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Is Australia losing its taste for the fruit of the vine? Australian wine has been grabbing a larger share of the worldwide market over the past few years but sales of wine in Australia are down 4.2 percent from last year. Red and rose wine sales were off 9.3 percent. The news was even worse for brandy, down 44.7 percent, and fortified wines, down 18.4 percent. Also with wine consumption down through much of Europe and wine surplus issues rising, the tide seems to be turning for the Australian wine industry in general. The Barossa winemaker Cockatoo Ridge saw profits fall 42 percent in the second half of the year and their chief exec, Ivan Limb was quoted in the The Advertiser as saying these are tight times for winemakers.

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Tags: australia, australian wine, cockatoo ridge, shiraz, syrah, vines, vineyards, wine, wine consumption, wine facts, wine surplus

Legends of Rock & Wine Tour

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Events

Would a recycled rock band from the 1970-1980s cause you to be more interested in a wine? Decanter reports that Foreigner will tour America and Europe with Wente Vineyards. The Legends of Wine & Rock tour will travel through eight states, the UK, Germany and Switzerland this year. A limited number of $150 tickets will include a a free CD, photo, and tickets to a tasting at Wente Vineyards with members of the band. A classic rock band seems like a pretty good way to introduce the wine-swilling baby boomers to your vintage.

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Tags: classic rock, foreigner, music, rock tours, vineyards, wine, wine promotion

Wine Protests in France

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

It's time once again for angry French winegrowers to take their disgruntlement to the streets. Growers in the southern regions of Avignon, Beziers, Narbonne, Bordeaux and Nimes are demanding that the government help out the floundering industry with a variety of measures from tax easements to special loans. Paris spent more than $130 million in aid to the wine sector in 2005 alone. As wines from the U.S., South America and Australia gain more of the market and French drinkers continue to consume less of their own wines, the problem continues to plague the growers. According to Decanter, the desperate situation, in which some growers have seen their income decline by 50%, has led to several suicides in the region. It seems to be a problem that worsens every year and no real solution, beyond turning the wine into industrial alcohol which is more of a stopgap at best, has been found.

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Tags: france, french wine, protest, vineyards, wine demonstration, WineDemonstration

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