As we noted in our recent report about the just-unveiled 2009 Neiman Marcus Christmas Book, one of the most exclusive gifts on offer this year is a HALL Artisan Wine and Art Experience for $20,000, including a bespoke bottling from the renowned artisanal Napa Valley winemaker. If that's out of your range you can still enjoy the HALL experience this holiday season with wines from their Napa Valley Collection. The collection includes HALL's signature Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from select fruit from their five estate vineyards encompassing more than 500 acres. The flagship is the Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon, a "sumptuous wine that is the amalgam of the finest wines of the vintage." The 2006 Kathryn Hall vintage was sourced predominately from the estate's Sacrashe Vineyard and captures the "deep, dusty essence" of its hilltop site, helping to earn a 95 point rating from Wine Enthusiast.

The Kathryn Hall Cabernet has a nose of effusive, high-toned exotic fruits, truffle, blackberry jam and crushed stone minerality, with a lasting richness and dense sweet texture on the palate. The 2008 Sauvignon Blanc is notable for balanced acidity, ripe, vivid citrus flavor and a clean lingering finish, with aromas of pink grapefruit, lemon-lime, gooseberry, orange blossom and guava. The 2005 Napa Valley Merlot features Intense aromatics of cedar oak accented by scents of roasted coffee beans and a hint of violets and roses. An open, textured palate of ripe briar fruit, dusty mocha and black pepper finishes with a surge of plum and soft tannin. The 2005 HALL Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon shows rich, concentrated aromatics of currant, blackberry, and ripe cherry complemented by hints of toasty oak. Flavors of leather and nutmeg coalesce with plum and vanilla in the concentrated mid-palate and settle into a seductive, chewy finish.

When fall and cooler weather arrive we look for something special to sip by the fire; this season we'll be reaching for a bottle of fine Cognac from Pierre Ferrand. Ferrand, considered "Premier Cru du Cognac", is lauded as a Grande Champagne specialist and is one of only a handful of Cognac houses in France that specializes in old Cognacs from the coveted Grande Champagne region that are not blended with lesser varieties. It is also quite a small house by most standards; as Ferrand President and Owner Alexandre Gabriel notes, "We are the jewelers of Cognac. It takes us a year to produce what the biggest company produces in a day." A core belief at Ferrand is the that to produce an exceptional Cognac you must first create an exceptional wine. To that end, Cognac Ferrand is perhaps the only house that has a full-time oenologist trained in making premium wine in Bordeaux.

Cognac Ferrand is very vested in the vines and the vineyards and the wines used in the distillation of its Cognac come from the heart of the Grande Champagne, long considered the finest growing area. "To produce an exceptional Cognac, we treasure our grapes and treat the vineyard as a great vintner would," Gabriel says. "Then we distill it right, age it well and blend it with precision. Only then are we ready to bottle it. Quality cannot be rushed." The award-winning result is a complex, yet subtle, aromatic spirit reflecting a unique history and great attention to every detail of production. Pierre Ferrand Cognac is double distilled in small copper pot stills according to the traditional Cognac method – one cask at a time. It takes them 12 hours to produce just one cask with each pot still. At Ferrand's estate, dating from 1776, it then takes several years for the Cognac to reach perfection in Limousin oak barrels.



Ferrand (which also makes Citadelle Gin in the off season) offers a wide variety of bottlings, including Ambre, Reserve, Reserve des Dieux, Selection des Anges, Abel, Ancestrale and the Collection Privée Vintages, limited edition rare Cognacs of outstanding quality, including the 1914, 1970, 1971 and 1973. They recently unveiled the Pierre Ferrand Vintage 1972 Cask Strength Cognac, one of the only cask strength Cognacs available in the United States, which sells for $600 a bottle. Only two casks of this precious Cognac remained at the historic Ferrand estate, enough to fill a mere 600 bottles. We highly suggested getting hold of one if you can.

When you think of Tuscan vineyards Staten Island is probably not first on the list of places that come to mind, or anywhere on the list of places that come to mind for that matter, but it may soon be. A large-scale educational vineyard is being planned for New York City in Staten Island, along with a signature wine called Super Staten Island Red.

The non-profit vineyard will be all of 2 acres, producing cabernet sauvignon, merlot and sangiovese varieties. It will be an educational effort in regards to how grapes are grown and how wine is made. Created with the assistance of its sister city in Italy, the Staten Island vineyard will take at least 4 years before it's expected to actually start producing grapes for wine.

The threat of a Champagne shortage and the recent decision to consider expanding the Champagne grape-growing region might be good for one small French city. The Wall Street Journal tells the story of the town of Péas, which in the 1950s decided to stop growing grapes and turn toward other agricultural pursuits such as wheat and potatoes. Legend has it that when the mayor at the time found out that his city was eligible to seek inclusion in the champagne grape-growing region, he threw the letter away.

Huge mistake. A hectare (around 2.5 acres) of agricultural land in Péas is valued at less than $9,000 while a hectare of land that can be used to grow grapes for Champagne can be worth almost $1.5 million. What a difference one letter could have made.

But Péas may be getting a second chance to earn that Champagne money with the plans to expand the regions boundaries. As you might imagine, the town is rather excited about the prospect. They will have a long wait though, the first new vineyards probably won't be planted until 2015, with a first harvest in 2017. For now, all we can do is wish Péas bonne chance.

Johnny Depp is enough to make any wine-loving woman swoon. The sexy pirate is not only a knowledgeable oenophile but now he as bought his long-time girlfriend Vanessa Paradis her own vineyard. The couple already live in France but now Depp has bought a property in Plan de la Tour, a village in the Massif des Maures hills near St. Tropez. The gift was to celebrate Paradis' new album, Divinidylle. Decanter reports that the new land is close to a villa the couple share and that they have often been seen in the area. Paradis may even take part in the village's annual wine fête.

It's not known if the land is really a vineyard, though. Decanter spoke with someone from the local wine co-operative, Les Fouleurs de Saint Pons, who said that the estate bought by Depp does not contain winemaking facilities, and that it may have some vines but that they haven't received any grapes from there.

More proof that the current trend in wine is toward being involved in the winemaking process comes in the form of a new website, Adopt a Grape. The website is an interactive experience in which you chose a grape from a specific row and vine in the vineyard and then receive video updates as the grape goes through the growing season and harvest. The site was co-founded by Duane Hoff, owner of Fantseca Winery in St. Helena which is having their hands-on harvest experience on October 6 if you want to experience winemaking first hand.

Last year the news was all about Australia's wine glut and vineyards dumping their harvests. This year the situation is much different, Australia's wine grape harvest next year could be cut by more than half because of the worst drought in a century. In the U.S. it is currently harvest season but in Australia the harvest is still months away. Still there is reason to be concerned because yields will be done in regions that rely on irrigation water from the Murray-Darling Basin. The Wine Grape Growers Australia executive director Mark McKenzie has said between 800 and 1,000 of the nation's wine grape growers could be at risk of going out of business because they cannot buy water. The news comes as Australian wine exports have reached record numbers.

I don't have a lot of details on this one but I am always a sucker for vineyard estates. This one is located in Cutchogue, New York in the North Fork area of Long Island which is peppered with farms and wineries. The estate includes a three-bedroom main home with a pool and around 47.5 acres of space, most of it planted with vineyards. I knew this one had to be associated with one of the wineries in the area so a little digging led me to the authority on New York wine, Lenn Thompson who reported on his site in November 2006 that Newsday had mentioned the estate as being owned by Mark Lieb of Lieb Vineyards. Amazingly the price hasn't dropped in the past year, it is sitting pretty at $7.75 million.

The award-winning Gravitas Estate Vineyard in Marlborough, New Zealand, is now on the market. Even though its grape production is skyrocketing (almost doubling in 12 months) and many of the wines that they produce are multiple medal winners, the owners, Martyn and Pam Nicholls, are looking to focus on a new truffle-growing project in Perth, Aus. The sale includes 40 hectares of land, only half of which is currently planted with grapes, two houses, barns and a horse training area. It also includes a 50-meter underground barrel hall and a partially completed cafe/tasting room site for visitors. All trademarks, wine stocks and equipment are included - making this a really fantastic prospect for an individual or company that was looking to get into the wine business. The label is sold in 33 countries and produces over 20,000 cases a year, with production projected to reach 60,000 in the next two years .

Your choice of wine can now make a statement about your position on same-sex marriage. The O'Brien Family Vineyard in Napa has announced their Wine for Equality program. They will donate 20% of all proceeds from their online store to Equality California, a GLBT civil-rights organization which is working helping to end California's ban on same-sex marriage. According to an article in the San Francisco Business Times, O'Brien Cellars also donates all the wine for the EQCA's Equality Awards dinner events. Their 2004 Seduction wine, a Cabernet-based blend, comes with a burgundy organza gift bag and sells for $35.

[via Towleroad]

The young RN Estate Vineyard & Winery was established in only 2001, but has already gotten off to an auspicious start. It was founded by restaurateur Roger Nicolas, who runs the 40-acre California cost vineyard almost single-handedly. Though the first vintage was released only last year, the red wines RN produces have already garnered several tasting awards and are carried in restaurants like Ortolan (Los Angeles) and La Suite (San Francisco). Tastings and tours are available at the facility, but the wines sell out quickly because only 800-1000 cases are produced each year.

 

Sonoma County Vintners has announced that the 26th annual Sonoma County Showcase of Wine and Food will be held July 13 through 15. The three-day event features a variety of wine and food events that explore the diversity of Sonoma County. Events include winery lunches and dinners, a Taste of Sonoma County sampling event and the Ultimate Winemaker Dinner and Barrel Auction which takes place on July 14 at Sonoma-Cutrer Vineyards.  Plan now for an ideal summer weekend.

Another chance to own your own vineyard and live the winemaking dream. Marco and Ann Marie Borghese have put the Castello di Borghese winery on sale for $9.2 million. The 85-acre vineyard and winery are located on the  North Fork of Long Island. They bought the estate in 1999 when it was Hargrave Vineyards for around $4 million. The Borgheses have increased production capacity and renovated the public rooms and offices. They aren't in a great hurry to sell but they have already had offers. The winery makes Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc and also hosts Wine Camp, an immersion experience in the creation of wine.

[via LennDevours]

More bad news for the Australian wine industries, they are experiencing a major grape glut. Grape growers located in South Australia's Riverland may lose millions of dollars in direct income which could amount in several hundred million dollars of loss for the local economy. The wine growers are dumping their grapes on the ground because they cannot sell them for a decent return.The prices offered are below the cost of production. Wine growers are upset and the Winegrape Growers Association is staging a rally later this month. The situation mirrors one that we heard about occurring in Chile last month.