Summer,
2006
Napa
Wine Auction Nets More Than $8 Million
Total falls short of last
year’s record
American Idol host Ryan Seacrest was master of ceremonies
for the 26th Auction Napa Valley, which
took
place in June.
Seacrest poked fun at the tabloid rumors about his sexuality
by joking, “I’m into
chicks— and wine.
I like women, in spite of how I dress.”
The grandfather of all wine auctions raised $8.4 million for local health,
housing and children’s charities,
mostly through a live auction, an e-auction
and a barrel auction. Despite the fact that festival organizers
were happy
with the event, many felt this year’s bidding was tame by past year’s
standards. The Napa
Valley Register reported that several longtime auctiongoers
said they were surprised by “subdued bidding.”
Still, at least one record was broken. Lot nine, billed as “ a new French
Connection,” was provided by the
Staglin Family Vineyard and offered
five large-format bottles and a trip to France with Staglin owners
Shari and
Garen Staglin. The resulting bidding frenzy ended up in a record bid for a
single lot, $1.05 million.
Making the record bid was second-year auctionattendee
Joy Craft of Woodside, California.
Another celebrity, Oscar-winning actress Geena Davis, star of the cult film
Thelma & Louise and the recently cancelled television series Commander
in Chief, vigorously hawked a lot that included a walkon role in an upcoming
television movie based on that TV show and wine from Frank Family Vineyards.
The winning bid came from vintner Koerner Rombauer, co-owner of Frank Family
Vineyards.
U.S. Swills $25
Billion In Wine
The 2005 dollar amount continues a 12-year growth trend in wine sales
Wine, wine, wine and more wine.
According to a report from the Wine Market Council, a nonprofit association
of wine business groups such as grape growers, wine producers and importers,
Americans drank 249 million cases of table wine in 2005. They drank just 205
million in 2000 and 177 million in 1996.
Despite these gains, the United States lags behind several othercountries in
per capita consumption and will need to buy a lot of vino to catch up with
Luxembourg, France and Italy, the world’s top three drinkers espectively.
Most of the time, Americans go for the homegrown stuff, with 69 percent of
American wine drinkers usually buying domestic wine and 31 percent usually
buying imported wine.
APRIL, 2006
The
High Gets Higher
Atlanta
High Museum wine auction breaks its own record
The 14th Annual High Museum Wine
Auction raked in a grand total of $2.6 million
this year, with several events that spanned five days
from March 28 to April 1. The event’s crown jewel
was the high-spirited live auction that lasted for several
hours on the event’s final day and raised more
than $1.3 million. The remaining money came from other
events earlier in the week. Total revenues for all auction
events rose by almost $400,000 over last year’s
total.
Among the more interesting lots was a collection of French wines that were
all given Robert Parker’s 100-point rating. There was also a trip for
six to Paris, Champagne and Bordeaux, including a specially arranged trip to
the Louvre. That package went for $40,000. Two weeks in Africa, including a
wine-country adventure and a one-week safari, went for $36,000.
The auction ran under a French theme, partly because famed French museum designer
Renzo Piano designed the High’s recent expansion and partly because the
Atlanta museum has a celebrated upcoming partnership with Paris’ great
art institution, the Louvre. This partnership involves showing pieces from
the Louvre at the High Museum over a period of about three years. Starting
in October, the Louvre will share Greek statues, Roman sculptures and a Rembrandt
with the museum.
-Steve Stevens
Growing
Up
Wine
South Festival Expands to Buckhead
Wine South, the largest food-and-wine event
in the Southeast, has announced an expanded program, adding
a premium event in Atlanta’s Buckhead district and
a full day dedicated only to the wine, food and hospitality
trade. This is the event’s seventh year.
“ We feel the changes will add choices for both the consumer and the trade
attendee,” said Dan Thompson, the festival’s founder. “It has
been several years since we held a part of the festival inside the perimeter,
where the festival unfolded in 2000. We look forward to expanding our reach to
a broader range of Atlanta wine enthusiasts.” Thompson is also The Wine
Report’s publisher.
A new, special reserve wine event will be held Friday, Sept. 15 in the Windsor
Ballroom of the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta Hotel, featuring “library” and
reserve wines from around the world poured by the vintners themselves. A silent
auction will benefit the Angel Flight of Georgia charity.
Festival director Karen Siegel, who is also the events director for The Wine
Report magazine, said there’s a reason for the new event. “We listened
to our attendees, who also wanted really fine wines in an elegant setting for
a special evening, and the InterContinental is the perfect venue. The food,
music, auction and reserve wines will be among the highlights of the Wine South
weekend. We plan to go all out to make this night a permanent part of the festival.” Black
tie is optional, and the event will be limited to 250 guests.
Saturday’s main event will remain at the Gwinnett Convention Center and
will feature more than 600 wines, live entertainment, wine seminars, cooking
demonstrations, art exhibits and food prepared by dozens of restaurants. This
day will be open to the public, and special weekend packages will include shuttle
service to the center from nearby hotels.
Sunday’s finale, also at the Gwinnett Center, will bring the hotel, restaurant
and retail trade to Wine South to allow private tastings with attending wineries,
importers, brokers and distributors only. The Sunday event is not open to the
public.
– Greg McCluney
THOSE OUTBACK® STEAKHOUSE
COMMERCIALS AREN'T HELPING
SACRAMENTO -- Make room Kangaroos. With
a dedicated history of creating top quality wine in Australia,
the six-generation family of expert winemakers that craft
McWilliam's Wine is leading the effort to ensure expert
winemaking ability is top-of-mind when Americans think
of "Down Under." According to a recently conducted
1,100-respondent survey of U.S. consumers, there is considerable
room for an educational effort as a whopping 81 percent
of Americans first think of kangaroos or The Outback when
asked about Australia. Furthermore, less than five percent
of survey respondents currently think of winemaking expertise
when asked about "Down Under." If hard work,
rugged determination and a 129-year history of artisan-crafted
quality wine has anything to do with it, Americans will
soon sip and take notice.
Conducted in February 2006 by Dr. Dennis Tootelian, Professor
of Marketing, College of Business Administration, California
State University, Sacramento, the survey also revealed
the following perceptions about Australia and U.S. consumer
wine preferences:
Significantly more survey respondents report they generally
drink more wine than beer (52 percent vs. 29 percent);
When asked which single factor is most important in selecting
wine, respondents favored taste first (66 percent), followed
by price (20 percent), brand familiarity (11 percent),
country of origin (2 percent), and wine rating/award status
(less than one percent);
While more than half of survey respondents (52 percent)
reported they've never tried wine from Australia, more
people said they'd like to try wine from "Down Under" over
wine from any other country (Australia -- 65 percent, Chile
-- 60 percent, Spain -- 59 percent, Italy -- 58 percent,
France 55 percent);
An extraordinarily high number of survey respondents (86
percent) said they did not realize Australia has a longer
history of winemaking than the U.S.; When asked what comes
to mind when Australian wine is mentioned, the top answer
cited was "a category of wine emerging in popularity
in the U.S." (61 percent);
Overwhelmingly, an outdoor porch or veranda was identified as the perfect location
to enjoy a glass of wine and share conversations/stories with friends and family
(57 percent), followed by dining room/kitchen (16 percent), restaurant/bar
or family room (each 14 percent);
Frequent wine drinkers are much more apt to feel that
knowing the history of the wine producer or a story about
the wine from the wine maker would make a wine more enjoyable
than those who are occasional or seldom wine drinkers (frequent
wine drinkers -- 70 percent, occasional -- 34 percent,
seldom 16 percent).
Founded in 1877, McWilliam's Wines is one of Australia's
oldest and most highly respected family owned wineries.
The company has premium vineyards in Australia's most important
growing regions, including Coonawarra in South Australia
(SA), Hunter Valley and Hilltops in New South Wales (NSW),
Yarra Valley in Victoria (Vic) and the Riverina (SA).
Note: Commissioned by McWilliam's Wine, the 1,100-respondent
survey was conducted via a telephone survey of respondents
located in three different regions of the U.S. (states
surveyed include Florida, Texas and California).
FEBRUARY, 2006:
Carlos Santana knows about notes. They're
his business. And when he's creating something, it matters
a whole lot where and when those notes show up.
Along with Mumm Napa - the Rutherford, Calif.-based
méthode champenoise
sparkling wine producer - Santana recently helped create a sparkling wine
of his own: the 1999 Mumm Napa, Santana DVX. With notes
of honeysuckle, wild strawberry
and pear, both parties are hoping the wine's release makes beautiful music
in the marketplace.
Santana, though he's not a wine pro, took an active part in the creative
process. He worked with Mumm over several weeks to develop a choice dosage
(a syrupy
mixture of sugar
and wine added to sparkling wine during the winemaking process that helps
define the wine's taste and sweetness). But Santana said it was another Napa
producer
that got him interested
in the wine game.
"A few years ago, I discovered Silver Oak," Santana told The
Wine Report. "I liked it instantly and decided one day to
take a drive to their tasting room. They were very gracious to
me and have continued to be throughout the years, so I think it was an awakening
with the Silver Oak when I realized the rhythm and harmony created by the
winemakers."
About 1,600 cases of the Mumm DVX were produced, and $1 from each bottle
will go to the Milagro Foundation, established by Santana and his wife Deborah
in
1998 to give
global support to non-profit organizations and programs working with children
in the areas of art, education and health.
The release of the wine coincides with the release of Santana's
new album, "All That I Am."
JULY, 2005
Has Joe Six Pack been replaced by Donnie
Decanter? Wine is the preferred alcoholic beverage of 39
percent of Americans, while only 36 percent prefer beer,
according to a recent Gallup poll. But the nation's
wine lovers shouldn't gloat: the poll's plus-or-minus
4 percent margin of error means the battle to become America's
favorite alcoholic beverage is pretty much a draw.
However, wine and beer are certainly moving in opposite directions. In 1992,
wine captured just 27 percent of the vote, while beer pulled in 47 percent.
This year's numbers show a dramatic shift in American attitudes toward
wine over the past decade. So wine is up, beer is down. All of those beer drinkers
must have switched to wine, right?
No, because liquor is in the mix as well. In fact, young adults ages 18 to
29 are drinking less beer and more liquor; for them, wine's popularity
has stayed about the same. But middle-aged folks (ages 30 to 49) are drinking
less beer and more of both liquor and wine. And older Americans, folks 50 and
up, are drinking less liquor and more wine; in this group, the percentage of
people who say beer is their preferred drink has stayed
steady over the long term.
But beer's overall downward trend is certainly not evident everywhere. "Georgia
is strong in beer,"says Adam Tolsma, beer buyer for Green's Discount
Beverage, one of Georgia's largest beer retailers. Tolsma remarked that
these downward trends are not evident in Georgia right now.
Over the long term, the percentage of American adults who say liquor is their
drink of choice has remained at or very close to 21 percent. Though the picture
is complex, it seems beer's losses have indeed been wine's gains.
—Steve Stevens
JUNE, 2005
HOT
OFF THE VINE 
Let
The Good Wines Roll!
Supreme
Court strikes down discriminatory wine shipping
restrictions,
but maintains the integrity of states’ right to control
wine sales
BY STEVE STEVENS
The dramatic case pitting winemakers and consumers
against wine distributors kept the multibillion-dollar
wine
industry on the edge of its collective seat for months.
And in the
end, it was decided by the slimmest of margins.
In a classic David vs. Goliath court battle, David came out
on
top May 16 when the Supreme Court of the United States ruled
5-4 to throw out New York and Michigan laws banning the
interstate shipment of wine. The decision clears the way
for many
United States wineries to bypass traditional wholesalers
and ship
their wines directly to out-of-state consumers; it also jeopardizes
laws in 22 other states that currently ban out-of-state shipments.
The decision is a boon to many small wineries currently shut
out
of those states and possibly to consumers as well, who could
now
have a plethora of new wines from which to choose.
The
wine producers in the cases before us are
small wineries that rely on direct consumer
sales as an important part of their businesses.”
– JUSTICE ANTHONY KENNEDY
(Majority)
In the days following the decision, a swirl of scenarios
emerged
depicting the case’s short- and long-term impact. “Short
term, I
don’t see it changing for the people of Georgia,” said
Charles
Willey, director of public information for the Georgia
Department
of Revenue. Willey said there are presently two ways for
wineries — in-state and out-of-state — to ship
wine to Georgia
consumers. If a distributor in Georgia does not represent
the
wineries, wineries can obtain a special license and ship
a limited
amount of wine; or the consumer must be physically present
at
the winery to place an order and have it shipped to his
or her
home. Because Georgia already treats in-state and out-of-state
wineries the same in this regard, the court’s decision
probably won’t have much of a short-term effect. However,
state legislators
may take note of the court’s loosening of shipping
restrictions
and make it either easier or more difficult for wineries
to ship
wine directly to consumers. Georgia vintners are certainly
hoping
the state eases shipping restrictions.
“The
court does this nation no service by
ignoring the textual commands of the
Constitution and acts of Congress.”
– JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS
(Minority)
“Georgia is one of the more restrictive
states in terms of these
regulations,” said Martha Ezzard, co-owner of Georgia’s
Tiger
Mountain Vineyards and a former attorney. “But the
positive side
is that there’s been a lot of press on this issue,
and some leading
people in the community are saying maybe these small guys
are
being treated unfairly. I’m hopeful this will cause
our state leaders
to make our wine laws less restrictive, especially when
it comes
to shipping.”
North Carolina recently dealt with the same shipping issues
in its own federal case, the result of which was that both
in-state
and out-of-state wineries must get a permit, according to
Fred
Gregory, chief deputy counsel for the North Carolina Alcohol
Beverage Control Commission. Gregory says now it is actually
less expensive for out-of-state wineries to ship to North
Carolina,
so the court’s decision will have little or no short-term
effect in
that state either.
Alabama, on the other hand, does not allow any direct shipment
of wine to consumers, said Renee Ferraz, spokeswoman for
the
state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. Alabama requires
all
wineries to obtain written approval from the state before
sending
their wine to state-run stores where residents can pick it
up.
Alabama courts and the legislature will almost certainly
be
addressing the ramifications of the Supreme Court decision
for
years to come, but a version of current laws could ultimately
remain in effect. All the Supreme Court requires is that
states
treat in-state and out-of-state wineries equally.
Rules Must Be Fair For All
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion for
the high court, concluded that although the Michigan and
New
York laws were different, they had the same effect: “The
object
and design of the Michigan and New York statutes is to grant
in-state wineries a competitive advantage over wineries located
beyond the states’ borders,” Kennedy wrote. Kennedy
saw this as
a clear violation of the Constitution’s commerce clause.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that
since the ratification of the 21st Amendment, which repealed
Prohibition, the court and Congress have said consistently
that
states may indeed discriminate against each other where alcohol
regulations are concerned. He sharply disagreed with the
majority,
claiming that he would just as soon rely on the wording of
the laws themselves “rather than the Court’s
questionable reading
of history.”
Despite the vintners’ victory, there are troubling
aspects to the
decision for both sides. Wineries worry that some states
might
outlaw the direct shipment of wine altogether. Alternatively,
states
worry that the decision may erode their powers to tax and
regulate
alcohol that comes across their borders.
While there are differing opinions on precisely what the
national
ramifications of May’s decision will be, everyone seems
to
agree on at least one thing. “The decision reaffirms
the basic
constitutionality of the three-tier system that heavily regulates
the sale and distribution of wine,” said J. Alexander
Tanford,
lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the Michigan case and
professor
of law at Indiana University-Bloomington. At the same time,
Tanford continued, the decision said that certain aspects
of that
system were unconstitutional.
Clint Bolick, who argued the case before the Supreme Court
on behalf of the wineries, said a scenario where a state
bans direct
shipping outright is unlikely. “Because all 50 states
now have
wine industries, I don’t think many will ban shipments
altogether,
because small in-state wineries could not survive such a
regime,” Bolick said.
Tanford agreed with Bolick’s take on the situation. “This
would
have a huge impact on local wineries, putting many of them
out
of business,” Tanford said. “I cannot imagine
the states would
do this.”
Despite those opinions, some state legislators will undoubtedly
consider the “nuclear option” of completely halting
direct
shipments of wine. “There’s a long road ahead,
with a lot of discussion
as to what we should do to best serve the state,” said
Ken Wozniak, director of executive services for Michigan’s
Liquor
Control Commission. He acknowledged that banning direct shipment
of wine for everyone was one of several options that are
on
the table. In fact, the commission’s chairwoman, Nida
Samona,
was quoted by ABC News as saying her organization would “urge
lawmakers to bar direct shipments for both local and out-of-state
wineries.” But Wozniak backed away from this statement,
saying the state has other options.
Although the immediate effects of the court’s decision
will be
slight, the thrilling end to a long and tense legal battle
has clearly
left the victors jubilant. “It has been a long journey
since becoming
a wine fan at law school at [University of California]
Davis, finding I could not order my favorite wines once I
moved
to the East Coast,” Bolick said. “And I’m
celebrating triumph
today. It is a victory for consumers and small wineries against
the
forces of protectionism. Let the good wines roll! We are
ecstatic.”
Editor's note: for a listing of the Statutes and two other
news stories on this topic, please jump to News
Archives.
More will be posted on a state-by-state relevance soon.
FEBRUARY, 2005
Presidential Wines
Former President Jimmy Carter
with his handmade wines sold
to
benefit Carter Center in Atlanta
Wines made by President Carter sell for nearly $4,000 at
auction;
proceeds go to human rights’ programs worldwide
Is
$875,036 a lot of money? Well, it ain’t
peanuts. That’s how
much the Carter Center, President Jimmy Carter’s
Atlanta-based
organization that advocates programs for peace and health
all over the
world, raised by auction during its 13th annual Winter
Weekend in
Snowbird, Utah.
As part of the auction held in February, President Carter
donated two
bottles of red Muscadine wine that he made in his hometown
of Plains,
Ga. The bottles are stamped on top with the presidential
seal and have
Carter’s signature on the label, which features a
sketch of the streets of
Plains. “I used to help my father make wine, using
equipment and a recipe
inherited from his ancestors,” Carter says. “[And]
the label was given to
me by my children one Christmas a few years ago.” The
bottles fetched a
total of $3,900 for the center’s endowment.
The bids for the wines, while impressive, were not nearly
the highest
bids at the auction. An oil painting by Carter went for
$200,000, and
two Carter-signed photos of presidents Carter, Clinton,
Ford and the
elder Bush went for $75,000 apiece.
When Dr. Patrick McGovern, a research scientist
from the University
of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology,
joined Chinese and American researchers in the effort to
learn more
about ancient Chinese wines, he figured it was just another
job.
“I got invited by Anne Underhill from the Field Museum
in Chicago
to help analyze material they were finding [at various
sites in China],” McGovern says. “They
were looking for jars and cups and bronze vessels
that were used in various ceremonies for different kinds
of wine.”
Among artifacts discovered in the Neolithic village of
Jiahu, in Henan
province, Northern China, were a few rather interesting
clay jars. Chemical
analyses of the liquid and organic material in those jars
determined
that the Chinese in that village were making blended, fermented
beverages
of rice, honey and fruit (possibly grapes or hawthorn fruit)
as early
as 9,000 years ago. This is approximately the period when
people in the
Middle East were beginning to make beer and grape wine.
Scientists and historians have widely believed that people
in the Middle
East had been the first to produce wine, but this new discovery
throws
that into doubt.
Also, bronze vessels discovered in the ancient Chinese
capital of Anyang
and at a site in the Yellow River Basin still held rice
and millet wines dating
back to the Chinese dynasties of 1250-1000 B.C. “
When they excavated tombs with [the 3,000 year-old bronze
vessels],
they were elated when sometimes half of the sealed vessels
still held liquids.
When opened, they were amazed by the aromatic scent of
the liquids.
You actually do get a scent of a rice wine,” McGovern
says.
Dr.
Patrick McGovern gets a whiff of the historic find.
© 2006
- 2007 The Wine Report® All rights reserved.
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