vineyard

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

Rhode Island's Sakonnet Vineyards for Sale at $10.5 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wine

Christie's Great Estates is offering a rare opportunity to own an established and award-winning vineyard on the east coast of the United States. Sakonnet Vineyards in Little Compton, Rhode Island, celebrating its 35th anniversary, is being offered for $10.5 million by Christie's affiliate Lila Delman Real Estate in Newport. Recognized as a pioneer in the New England wine industry, Sakonnet is located in the heart of a burgeoning wine-growing region producing wines under the Southeastern New England viticultural appellation. The property consists of 170 acres of which approximately 37 acres are planted in vines producing an average of 8,000 to 9,000 cases of "Estate Grown" wine annually.

The wines have received national and international acclaim winning numerous medals, including "Best of Show" for a Gewurztraminer at the 2004 Monterey International Wine Competition. Boston Magazine also named Sakonnet "Best Winery in New England" for 2006. The vineyard was founded in 1975 on the well-researched premise that the microclimate and soil conditions found along the Southeastern New England coast closely resemble some of the great wine regions of the world, particularly, the maritime climates of northern France. A residential component contiguous to the vineyard property is located on a plateau of open fields, laced with stone fences that slope gently down to Watson Reservoir.

Gallery: Sakonnet Vineyards

Tags: Christies, Christies Great Estates, New England, Rhode Island, vineyard, wine

The Classicist: Cheers to the 1st Ever Independent Champagne Invitational

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Events, The Classicist

On April 16th -18th in New Orleans, more than 50 of the nation's top sommeliers will be on hand to pour some of the world's most sought after wines at the Independent Champagne and Sparkling Wine Invitational (ICSWI), the nation's first ever conference devoted exclusively to independently produced champagnes and sparkling wines. Industry experts will educate attendees, pouring wines produced in the grower and independent spirit ranging from the superb high-end cuvées of the Grande Marques to the terroir-driven jewels of the small producers. ICSWI sommeliers will represent cities and regions from across the nation, with restaurant representation including Per Se, The French Laundry, NYC's Eleven Madison Park, Aspen's The Little Nell, and Blue Hill at Stone Barns. All have broad wine industry experience including winemaking, retail, restaurant management and buying for private collectors.

Today, there are over 19,000 independent growers in the Champagne region, accounting for nearly 88% of all vineyard land in the region, with around 5,000 of these growers producing wine from their own grapes. These "fizz farmers" if you will are master artisans, controlling what happens on their farm every day unlike at some of the more large-scale industrial operations at the corporate labels. Worldwide, independent Sparkling Wine production includes Cava in Spain, Asti and Prosecco in Italy, Cap Classique in South Africa, Sekt in Germany and the sparkling wines of California. All together, there are thousands of champagne and sparkling wines to chose from, making the grower category ideal for authenticity, quality, value and ultimately choice. Smaller vineyards allow more site specific wines to be created for a truer reflection of terroir, and their extraordinary attention to detail is reflected in each grower's unique product.

Gallery: Independent Champagne

Tags: champagne, New Orleans, NewOrleans, sparkling wine, SparklingWine, vineyard, wine

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Owning a Vineyard, an Interview with the Shadicks

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

Many of us visit vineyards and wineries as a way to escape. We take in the sweeping, lush scenery and enjoy the aromatic, literally intoxicating fruits of the winemakers' labors. Often, we wax poetic about how serene it would be to have a vineyard of our own, but few of us ever have the means or the drive to actually do so. On a snowy evening in Minnesota, we sat down with Patti and Tom Shadick (pictured), two Minneapolis residents who own their very own vineyard in Sonoma.

Before you scoff at the notion that a married couple in the icy north could possibly have any real involvement in California grape growing, consider who these two are: two wildly successful entrepreneurs whose magnificent backyard garden transformations have been featured in the pages of many magazines, including Renovation Style and the cover of Better Homes & Gardens.

As we sat at their handsome dining room table, Tom told the story of how his Elk River, Minnesota school superintendent used to feed the schoolchildren with vegetables from a local peet bog, which he was allowed to help farm. "That's what brought us to this," he said, referencing a history in several industries including importing Wusthof knives, "I love digging in the dirt."

With that, we dove into chatting with the growers about the pleasures and pains of owning a vineyard over 2,000 miles away. The Shadicks poured us a glass of Deux Amis, a Shadick Vineyard '06 Zinfandel, which has a charming eucalyptus nose. Eucalyptus trees from the next property hang over the Deux Amis area of the vineyard.

Luxist: So, how do you operate a vineyard all the way from here in Minneapolis?

Patti Shadick: We have a vineyard management company that operates it for us.

Tom Shadick: So, we have no employees, which is ... (thumbs up). John Clendenon and Kathy, natives of the area in their mid-fifties, they have 85 employees. They have expertise in every end of the business, they own all the equipment, they take care of all the farm labor problems, everything.

PS: We just have to write them a good sized check.

TS (laughing): Every month we get a bill, and we send them a check.

Gallery: Shadick Vineyard

Tags: interview, owning, property, Shadick, vineyard, wine

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HALL Wines for the Holidays from Napa Valley

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

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.

Tags: California, HALL wine, Hall winery, HallWine, HallWinery, Napa Valley, NapaValley, Vineyard

The Classicist: Keeping Warm With Cognac Ferrand

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, The Classicist

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.

Gallery: Cognac Ferrand

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.

Tags: brandy, cognac, France, Pierre Ferrand, Pierre Ferrand Cognac, PierreFerrand, PierreFerrandCognac, vineyard, wine

Staten Island Wine

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

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.

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Tags: New York, New York City, NewYork, NewYorkCity, NY, NYC, Staten Island, StatenIsland, Tuscan, Tuscany, vineyard, wine

French Town Hopes For A Second Chance To Make Champagne

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: 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.

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Tags: champagne, expire-images:2008-12-15, france, grapes, vineyard

Johnny Depp Buys His Girlfriend A Vineyard

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wine, Celebrity Shopping

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.

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Tags: expire-images:2008-11-29, france, johnny depp, JohnnyDepp, vanessa paradis, vineyard, wine

Adopt A Grape

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

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.

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Tags: adopt a grape, AdoptAGrape, expire-images:2008-9-25, grapes, vineyard, winemaking, winery

Drought Threatens Australia's Grape Crop

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine

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.

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Tags: australia, grapes, harvest, vineyard, wine

Cutchogue Vineyard Estate, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

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.

Gallery: Cutchogue Vineyard

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Tags: cutchogue, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, new york, north fork wineries, vineyard

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Gravitas Estate Vineyards for Sale

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

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 .

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Tags: gravitas, gravitas estate, new zealand, vineyard, wine, wines

Spanish Address Totem

by Nicole Weston (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Garden

This is the perfect accessory for a vineyard villa - or if you just want to make your house look like one. The Spanish Address Totem from NapaStyle has a rustic elegance that is understated, but certainly won't go unnoticed. All of the tiles are made of stone and you can have up to six of them, out of seven, customized with a combination of letters, numbers or a grape-cluster graphic. The tower supporting the tiles is steel and stands 34" high, with a base that is 12" square. Price: $350.

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Tags: address, house, numbers, Spanish Address Totem, SpanishAddressTotem, totem, vineyard

Drink Wine To Support Same Sex Marriage

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wine, Charity

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]

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Tags: gay rights, o'brien, same sex marriage, vineyard, wine