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The Perrier-Jouët Bi-Centenaire Celebrates the Maison's 200th Birthday

In 1811, just a year after they were married, Pierre Nicolas Perrier and Rose Adélaїde Jouët released the first bottling of Perrier-Jouët champagne. Even at 200 it is among the youngest of the champagne brands that make Americans giddy: Moët-Chandon (makers of Dom Perignon), Veuve Clicquot and Roederer (makers of Cristal) are 18^th century institutions.

When it comes to taste and quality, though, Perrier-Jouët can easily go bubble-for-bubble with its older compatriots. And when it came to celebrating its two-hundredth year, if you ask the house itself, it might have outdone them. Luxist attended the event in Paris, where we're told, "To celebrate its Bicentennary, Perrier-Jouët is initiating a conversation with time."

It is a conversation that begins with the Perrier-Jouët Bi-Centenaire sculpture and that will last nearly 100 years. And it involves lots and lots of champagne...

Gallery: Perrier-Jouet Bi-Centenaire sculpture by Daniel Arsham

Gallery: Images from the Galerie Perrotin

Tags: champagne, daniel arsham, Perrier-Jouet, Perrier-Jouet Belle Epoque, perrier-jouet bi-centenaire, Perrier-Jouet Fleur de Champagne, wine

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Riedel Endorses Miele as Dishwasher of Choice

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Wine

Riedel stemware are beautiful "tools" (in the words of CEO Maximilian Riedel) to help you get the most out of your wine varietal or spirit of choice. But they also come with a seven step "Cleaning Guide," which is about four to five more steps than I want to perform when doing dishes. The solution came from high-end German appliance maker, Miele, who overcame Riedel's skepticism to become the first automatic dishwasher approved by the 250-year-old Austrian glassmakers for cleaning their products.

Riedel, along with Miele USA CEO Nick Ord, convened at Miele's Manhattan gallery to announce the partnership, which they said went beyond brand synergy and represented an old-fashioned European alliance, sealed with a handshake. Ord said the goal of achieving Riedel's imprimatur was a personal, as well as, professional challenge for him, as he owns Riedel glassware and naturally uses a Miele machine at home. Extensive and rigorous testing ensued with an emphasis on Miele's patented water hardness-adjusting GlassCare function and the basket design of the G 5000 series (Riedel is especially sensitive about his glasses being placed too close together).

Satisfied that their Museum of Modern Art-worthy wine glasses were in good hands, Riedel gave its blessing. When used properly, Miele owners can expect their Riedel glasses to last 1,500 washing cycles, or about 20 years on average, according to Ord. That sure beats 20 years of the seven step method.

Tags: dishwasher, gadgets, glasses, glassware, miele, new york, partnership, riedel, wine

Indulge Wines Thinks Outside the Box

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Remember back in the day when wine came only in bottles? Then came boxed wine. But even that is essentially a bag inside a box. But now Californian vineyard Indulge Wines is cutting the box out of the equation with wine in a bag.

The winery based in Buellton, Santa Barbara County, is offering a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and a 2009 Pinot Noir in 1.5-liter bags that are equivalent to two regular-sized bottles. And while they may not seem as classy, they do offer several benefits. One is portability, in that the bags are lighter to transport both for the buyer and for distribution, the "Astrapouch" accounting for only 2% of a full bag's total weight. There's also less waste, and the wine is set to keep for 30 days after opening.

[Source: Indulge Wines via Slashfood]

Source

Tags: boxed wine, indulge, indulge wines, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, wine, wine in a box, wine in a sack

Wine Review: Ponzi 2009 Pinot Noir Tavola‏

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Ponzi Vineyards celebrated its 40th anniversary last year. It's a thriving family operation founded by Dick and Nancy Ponzi back in 1970 when Oregon's wine culture was just getting started. Their philosophy centers around respectful stewardship as well as innovation and experimentation, and four decades later the vineyard is a successful leader in its industry.

Their latest release is a 2009 Pinot Noir, Tavola, which is a "blend from our Avellana, Abetina, Linda Vista, Madrona, Aurora, Buteo and Estate vineyards, as well as fruit from sustainably grown vineyards located in the Dundee Hills, Yamhill-Carlton and Eola Hills AVAs." I was able to try it myself and found it to be delightful and surprisingly refreshing for a red, with bright fruity overtones and a definite lean to the sweet side. It's smooth, well-balanced, and has a soft, lingering finish. Raspberries, strawberries, and spices are prominent on both the nose and the palate. I imagine it would go well with a variety of meals but we paired it with pan-seared salmon and a butternut/pork belly hash and it was great. Overall it gets a 7.5 out of 10.

Ponzi Vineyards 2009 Pinot Noir, Tavola, Willamette Valley, $25.

Source

Tags: pinot noir, ponzi vineyards, review, wine, wine review

Go Sideways With Author Rex Pickett In Santa Ynez

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Books

Novelist Rex Pickett just might have the best book tour ever. The author who brought us Sideways, leading to a popular movie and an epic Merlot kerfuffle, is back with a new novel, Vertical. Vertical brings us the same characters, schlubby and charmingly wine-obsessed Miles and vain but endearing Jack on a new adventure. The fortunes of both the author and his characters have changed quite a bit in the intervening years and the book is a rollicking read.

Of course there's plenty of wine involved and so Pickett has been making the rounds of both book stores and wineries. This coming weekend he's up in Oregon and future events take him to Los Angeles, New York and even London. But for the real Sideways style experience you might want to join Pickett in Santa Ynez, California at Gainey Vineyard on Friday, April 15. The event takes place between 5:30 – 8:30 pm and there is no charge. Wine will be available for sale by the glass and books will be available for purchase.

As long as you are there, why not make a weekend of it. The Sideways wine trail page has great suggestions for places to visit that are connected to the book and movie.

Tags: gainey vineyard, rex pickett, sideways, vertical, wine, wine country

Pairing Acidic and Sweet Wines with Food (video)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Video

In the video above, wine expert Neil Smith explains
why special attention needs to be paid to the Pairing wines with food (video) acidity and sweetness in wines when pairing wines with food.

"Sauvignon blanc has a high level of acidity, so you need to think about the food and whether it has the equal amount of acidity," he says. "Acidity in food can tame the wine and they can work well together."

Likewise, sweetness can make a highly acidic wine taste even sharper and even unpleasant. "A sweet wine, like a German reisling, can work well with spicy foods," he says. "The sweetness in the wines can tame the spicyness of the food." Watch the video above to learn what types of foods work well with sweet wines.

See our review of The Best Wine Clubs offered directly from wineries here.

Tags: acidic wines, awards-main, luxist-awards, pairing food with wine, sweet wines, wine

How to Open a Bottle of Wine (video)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Video

What are the best ways to open a bottle of wine? In the video above, wine expert Brandon Walsh, president of Reston, Va.-based Hosted Wine Tasting will show you how to operate the most

How to open a bottle of wine with a corkscrew

common wine opening techniques, including a waiter's corkscrew, a winged corkscrew (also affectionately referred to as the two-armed bandit) and a lever corkscrew. See our related post on how to use a wine key.

See our review of The Best Wine Clubs offered directly from wineries here.

Tags: awards-main, corkscrew, luxist-awards, opening wine, video, wine

How to Pair Wine with Food (video)

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Video

Pairing red and white wines with food. How to pair wine with food? The old adage that white wine pairs well with fish while red wine works with meat, serves as a good basis to start from, according to wine expert Brandon Walsh, president of Reston, Va.-based Hosted Wine Tasting (see video below).

Wines should always be served at their optimal serving temperatures, as well.

Another consideration, he suggests is the concept of matching weights of the wine with the food.

Lighter-bodied white wines include reisling and pinot grigio. Medium-bodied wines include sauvignon blanc while chardonnay is a fuller, heavier-bodied wine, he says.

Lighter-bodied wines go well with salads, as well as light fish, such as sushi. Medium-bodied wines works well with light and flakey fish as well as poultry. Heavier-bodied whites, such as chardonnay, pair very well with salmon or swordfish.

Red wines also range from light to heavier, fuller-bodied wines. A lighter-bodied red wine is a pinot noir or beaujolais. A medium-bodied red is a merlot, syrah (shiraz). Heavier, fuller-bodied wines include cabernet sauvignon. Pinot noir pairs well with salmon as well as some poultry. Syrah and merlot pairs well beef or pork. A cabernet sauvignon pairs well with beef, lamb and game.

See our review of The Best Wine Clubs offered directly from wineries here.

Tags: awards-main, cabernet sauvignon, food pairings, luxist-awards, main-pedia, pinot grigio, red wine, white wine, wine, wine and food matching, wine and food pairings, wine-pedia

New iPad Wine Lists Help Wineries Get Creative

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Wine

The iPad may have forever changed the wine list. Now instead of providing their guests with a book-length wine list they can hand over a slim tablet. But the iPad adds more than mere portability, part of the appeal is that the iPad can also serve as an educational tool to learn more about the wine as you choose. Tech-savvy wineries who are already using multimedia platforms have a jump on this technology. One of them is Jordan Vineyard & Winery which has created a winemaker tasting note video series, created for iPad wine lists, as well as smart phones. The ready-made videos of winemaker Rob Davis offer taste profiles for specific wines. Chicago Cut Steakhouse was the first restaurant to premiere a video on its iPad wine lists in February, which features the winemaker discussing 2006 Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon and signature Chicago Cut dishes.

Jordan Vineyard & Winery has invested in technology, becoming the first family wine estate to create an in-house department for high-definition web video production. The winery began integrating video into all aspects of its sales and marketing beginning in early 2010 and is ready to provide custom videography services to key restaurateurs and retailers. The ready-made digital wine list videos are two-minute vignettes where the winemaker briefly describes the style and taste profile of the wine, as well as cellar life span and suggested food pairings. Custom videos of similar length include subtitles to accommodate restaurant noise levels and can be tailored to suggest specific restaurant dishes that would pair with Jordan Chardonnay or Cabernet Sauvignon.

Tags: ipad, jordan winery, wine, wine lists, wines

Napa Valley Wine Auction Sets New Record

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Another sign that people are back to spending on luxury goods was the record-breaking result at the 15th annual Napa Valley Vinters wine futures auction to the trade over the weekend. The event, which brought together a crowd of around 1,000 vintners, retailers, restaurateurs and others, brought in nearly $2.4 million, beating 2008's record-setting $2.2 million bidding on rare and highly desirable wine lots.

The event at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St Helena beat last year's take by more than 23%. A total of 68 successful bidders purchased 1530 cases at an average case price of $1546, a 37% increase over the recession-stressed take of 2009 and 20% more than 2010. A record was also set for a single lot. A Japanese wine company paid $125,000 for five cases of Scarecrow Wine, easily beating the record of $80,000 set in 2007. For wholesalers, retailers and restaurant owners the auction is a chance to buy wines from top wineries that are often hard to acquire. Other top lots of the day include Schrader Cellars, Ovid, Levy and McClellan, Shafer Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery and Reynolds Family.

[via Decanter]

Tags: napa valley, scarecrow wine, wine, wine auction

First Taste: Scion Pre-Phylloxera Port

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

As the room of tasters, a veritable varsity squad of New York wine writers, took their respective places, the publicist for Portuguese port house, Taylor Fladgate, announced that this was a first: not a single invitation offered to the morning's event had been declined. It wasn't out of courtesy. The 17th-century port purveyor was here at Manhattan's Eleven Madison Park to taste through its line-up of vintage and tawny ports, culminating in a rare treat, an 1855 pre-Phylloxera port called Scion.

Christie's Head of Wine-Asia, Charles Curtis MW, made some opening remarks about Taylor Fladgate, port wine and the auction market before handing the host duties over to Adrian Bridge. The CEO of Taylor Fladgate, Bridge cut an English gentleman's mien as he guided the assembled group through such bottlings as a vintage 1992 (sweet and earthy with slightly tannic finish), vintage 2003 (like a big Cabernet, with dark fruit and a huge nose) and a 30-year-old tawny (fig cookie, bitter orange and lightly floral).

Tags: christies+auction, christiesauction, Eleven Madison Park, first+taste:+scion+pre-phylloxera+port, firsttaste:scionpre-phylloxeraport, http://www.luxist.com/2011/02/18/first-taste-scion-pre-phylloxer, New York, Port Wine, Scion, scion+pre-phylloxera+port, scionpre-phylloxeraport, Tasting, Taylor Fladgate, taylor+fladgate+scion+port, taylorfladgatescionport, Wine

Continue reading “First Taste: Scion Pre-Phylloxera Port”

Hot Air Ballon Ride and Four Wine Tastings: A Perfect Australia Travel Day

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

We at Luxist are wary of writing about every travel package that comes our way, but once in awhile, we come across an experience so absolutely exquisite that we're ready to book it ourselves -- and that's when we share it with you. This package is specific to Melbourne, Australia travel, but it's a single day worth flying down under for. How could one day be so utterly alluring it could justify a 15+ hour flight from Los Angeles? Well, it starts with a morning hot air balloon ride over the marvelous city of Melbourne, Australia and the lush Yarra Valley, then continues on to visits to four wineries, at each of which you'll enjoy a tasting. If you can recall a better day than that in recent history, count yourself lucky!

Tags: australia, hot air balloon, melbourne, travel, vineyard tour, wine, wine tasting, wine tasting package, wine tasting tour, wineries, winery tour, Yarra Valley

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Luxist Guest Post: George Miliotes, Master Sommelier at The Capital Grille Picks Valentine's Day Wines

by Unknown (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Wine can be an important part of your Valentine's Day celebration but choosing the right wine is a combination of making sure that the wine matches both the food and your beloved's preferences. George Miliotes, Master Sommelier at The Capital Grille restaurant group, offers up a few recommendations and romantic finds – including basic food pairing advice to help ease the course of true oenological love.

Best Wines for Romance
There is no magic wine that does it for everyone, as tastes vary. Find out what type of wine your special someone likes. Then research and find the best of that type. Come armed to impress with the story of why the wine is the best of its type so you can wow your loved one with the knowledge as you drink it. Nothing says romance like I care enough to get you the best. Few suggestions (across price points) are below:

If they love Red, my faves are:

LOW ON DOUGH: Juan Gil Monastrell...there is no other red wine as flavorful for less than $20 and it pairs amazingly well with a Filet.
IN THE MIDDLE: De Toren Z $40...Merlot/Cab blend at a world class flavor level. Partial to a Delmonico? The plush yet strong tannins here will match perfectly with the marbled richness of the steak.
IN THE MOOD TO SPLURGE: Lewis Cellars 2007 Reserve Cabernet ...can run $175+ depending upon market. Is there anything more American than a dry aged New York strip sirloin? Have this great American Cabernet with the great American steak.

Tags: cabernet sauvignon, red, valentines day, white house, wine, wine selection

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Jura Wine Goes For $75,000 at Auction

by David Kiley (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

What would you pay for a Jura wine? On second thought: what's a Jura?

The Jura Mountains, north of the Alps, stretch from Switzerland to Germany's Rhine River. In eastern France, the Jura is one of that country's tiniest wine regions where the grapes grown are rare and hardy: savignan, trousseau, and ploussard.

Each February, deep in the heart of a Jura winter, thousands arrive for Le Percée du Vin Jaune (piercing of the yellow wine) to celebrate opening the first bottle of the newly released white wine known as vin jaune.

Because Vin jaune must be aged in oak for six years and three months before release, this year's Le Percée du Vin Jaune was for the 2004 vintage, but an even more unusually old Jura wine showed up: 237 years-old!

Tags: francois andouze, jura, jura region, jura wine, pierre chevrier, vin jaune, wine

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Wine Critic Robert Parker Changing Things Up At Wine Advocate

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Those in the world of wine got a little shake-up recently. The emperor of wine, legendary critic Robert Parker, the founder of the Wine Advocate, is going to stop reviewing most California wine. His publication will still feature California wine of course, it's just that one of his other critics, Antonio Galloni, who has been responsible for Italian wine for several years, will be taking over that responsibility. Wine writer Jon Bonné reports that Galloni will also be responsible for influential portions of Burgundy, the Cote d'Or and Chablis, and Champagne reviews.

Meanwhile Parker will focus on his beloved Bordeaux and the Rhone Valley. He will continue to do occasional California wines including older wines. He wrote to subscribers that he would soon do a series focusing on horizontal and vertical tastings of perfectly stored California wines to see how they develop over time.

Parker's influence in wine, and specifically in California wine, is huge. Some say that you can lay the responsibility for the popular big, bold, pricey status Napa Cabs nearly wholly in his lap. But he also raised the profile of Rhone-style California wines and in general has served as a starmaker, helping to increase the critical attention paid to California wines around the world.

Wine Advocate began with one man's palate but has evolved beyond that, now a whole team of tasters cover the world. While wine scores may not be as influential as they were before social media made everyone a wine critic, they do still carry a lot of weight and Parker's Wine Advocate brand remains one of the top trustworthy institutions.

Tags: california wine, robert parker, wine, wine critic

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