A unique wine school has been founded in the Puligny-Montrachet France to help deepen the knowledge of wine professionals as well as devoted amateur wine lovers. The Ecole du Vin et des Terroirs is a non-profit organization created by members of the Burgundy wine world to broaden wine and viticultural knowledge with an ecological, environmental and humanistic approach. The Ecole du Vin et des Terroirs holds seminars (one half-day to two days long) which focus on understanding soils, wine techniques, biodynamics, tasting, botany, and many other topics. The seminars are limited to just 12 people and are taught by a variety of people including an ethnobotanist, a creator of tasting glasses, authors, engineers and of course, winemakers. The seminars are taught primarily in the vineyards and are resuming now that harvest season is ending.

Golfers and wine seem to be a natural match. Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Nick Faldo are just a few of the golfers with a label to their credit. Now the list swells to welcome one of the best female golfers to play the game, Annika Sorenstam Sorenstam has been working with fifth generation Winemaker Karl Wente of Wente Vineyards on her own namesake Syrah, Annika, which will be released in May 2009. The ultra-premium Central Coast Syrah will sell for $75.

Another grim sign of the global economy comes from the Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne, the Champagne producers' professional body. The Times Online reports that the committee has released its most recent figures which show that Champagne sales are down for the first time in almost a decade. In eight months, global sales have fallen by 2.6 percent. Exports to the States have really plummeted, down by 22 per cent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2007. Sales in the UK are also down but only by 4 percent, and the French consumption of Champagne fell by 4.2 percent. This may actually be a little bit of good news for Champagne producers who have been struggling to keep up with demand for the past few years. Also it may allow time for vineyards in the newly assigned Champagne districts to flourish before an increase in cork popping begins anew.

The HBO show may be long over but the branding power of "The Sopranos" lives on. A new Sopranos branded wine group has been launched featuring Italian wines from several different wineries in Italy including several Tuscan labels. The wines include a Chianti D.O.C.G., Pinot Grigio, and Pinot Noir and are already on sale through Mondo Wine online priced from $14.99 to $33.99. There will be a multimedia national campaign for the wine which will start in New York and expand coast-to-coast throughout the fall and holiday season.

[via Wine Spirits Daily]

On October 18 in Napa Valley four wineries are joining forces for a day of harvest-themed open houses. Visitors can visit Judd's Hill winery, Salvestrin Estate Wines, Schweiger Vineyards and Titus Vineyards in any order between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. At Judd's Hill Winery visitors will have the opportunity to sample different "press-cuts" from the 2008 harvest, tasting samples ranging from "free run" juice all the way to "heavy press," to experience the difference a little pressure can make. At Salvestrin, visitors can enjoy an educational barrel tasting of Salvestrin Estate Wines and taste Salvestrin's current release wines paired with cheeses. The Schweiger family offers a vineyard tour, winemaking discussions and homemade food pairings with the wines. At Titus Vineyards, wich is usually closed to the public, guests can go on a guided walk through the estate vineyard along the Silverado Trail and the winery will be offering food fresh from the grill.

Visitors will have the opportunity to buy one-time-only mixed cases of wines from the four small producers. The Cab Lovers mixed case contains three bottles each of 2004 Judd's Hill Winery Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Salvestrin Winery Estate St. Helena Cabernet Sauvignon, 2004 Schweiger Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Titus Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and sells for $465 while the Hidden Gems mixed case contains three bottles each of 2005 Judd's Hill Winery Old Vine Zinfandel, 2005 Salvestrin Winery Napa Valley Retaggio, 2004 Schweiger Vineyards Merlot and 2006 Titus Napa Valley Petite Sirah and sells for $349.

As my colleague Deidre Woollard reported earlier, the product tie-ins to the upcoming James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, are beginning to hit the market.

The latest is from famed French champagne house Bollinger, founded in 1829. Bollinger has been featured in Bond films as 007's favorite celebratory tipple since Moonraker back in 1979.

Conceived by French designer Eric Berthès, the lockable steel bullet-shaped case engraved "Bollinger 007" holds a magnum of Bollinger's Grande Année 1999 champagne.

Packaged in a wooden box, the whole weighs over 50 pounds and costs about $5,800; only 207 numbered Bullets will be produced.

[via Born Rich]

For years the invention of Champagne has been attributed to Benedictine monk Dom Perignon, shown above. Now new research suggest that it was British scientist Christopher Merrett who first invented the process and bottle for making Champagne. The Daily Mail reports that Merrett used techniques from the cider industry to control the second fermentation which adds the fizz and he also pioneered the use of stronger glass needed to prevent the bottle exploding. He gave a paper to the Royal Society in 1662 describing a process of adding sugar and molasses to make a wine taste sparkling. This was over 30 years before Dom Perignon's work at the Abbey of Hautvillers at Epernay. The research comes from author James Crowden, whose new book, Ciderland, looks at the history of cider in the West Country.

Wilson Daniels Films Trailer from Wilson Daniels on Vimeo.
Bret Lyman, a Napa Valley-based filmmaker has created an interesting series of short documentary films on the vineyards, wineries and principals of Wilson Daniels Ltd.'s French and Hungarian properties. The individual films will premiere online over the next six weeks, beginning with the October 2, 2008, debut of "The Renaissance of Tokaji," showcasing Royal Tokaji. Wineries Lyman profiled in the series of Wilson Daniels films include: Royal Tokaji of Tokaj; House of Champagne Delamotte and House of Champagne Salon of Champagne; Domaine Faiveley of Burgundy; Domaine Leflaive of Burgundy; Domaine Pierre Morey of Burgundy; Domaine Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet of northern Rhône; and Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss of Alsace and southern Rhône.

The films can all be downloaded as well as viewed online. The goal of the series is to give U.S. wine lovers a look at the Wilson Daniels properties in Europe and foster interest in their wines. Each mini-documentary explores the history, setting, and distinct personality of the properties through lush imagery and interviews with winery principals. It's like a five minute wine vacation. Check out the trailer above for a small taste.

Swiss sculptor and mixed media artist Sylvie Fleury has turned her talents to a pair of limited edition crystal wine glasses for Dom Pérignon. Each glass is marked with a seductive hand-painted lipstick stain, hence the title "Stolen Kisses." Each pair is signed and numbered and comes with a bottle of Dom Pérignon's Rosé Vintage 1998.

Produced in a limited edition of 999, these are bound to disappear quickly, unlike Fleury's beguiling statement. The set will be available in November for $600.

[via Vogue UK]

Wine connoisseurs come in all shapes and sizes, from the old-fashioned purists to the cutting edge trend setters, and this product would definitely be for the latter. The Skybar Wine Preservation & Optimization System is designed to do it all. It chills up to 3 bottles of wine at once (all in separate compartments with individual temperature controls), dispenses the wine smoothly and without disturbing the natural sediment, preserves open bottles of wine for up to 10 days with vacuum technology, and displays the bottles attractively with LED lighting.

I don't know which type of wine drinker I am (old fashioned or trendy) because although I think this wine system is great I also think I would miss pouring the wine from the bottle. $999

Via acquire

I'm not savvy at all to the nuances in what makes a dinner party a success, but I hear that entertaining in your home is as much about the presentation as it is about the company -- the homes that people feel most relaxed in and want to go back to are usually the ones that have are enjoyable for both the company and the dining experience. And the key to making a dining experience enjoyable is in the details of food and presentation.

Makes sense to me, which is why this how to lesson on how to wrap your wine bottles like the fine restaurants do could come handy the next time you have friends over. I would certainly be impressed.

The Gorenje SmarTable: It's a sleek, albeit fairly plain, dining table that turns into an all-inclusive wine and dessert mini-bar at the press of a button.

Awesome.

I think this is the perfect furniture/gadget for a sleek outdoor gathering on the patio -- after dinner is finished and everybody is relaxed but too lazy to get up you can have a cool glass of wine ready with just the flick of a finger. And clean-up, at least for that moment, is as easy as pressing a button and closing it all up again!

I want one.

£1000

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.

The Wall Street Journal has created a new website just for selling wine. The newspaper has joined with Direct Wines to create WSJwine which will offer wine from all over the world. Customers will have the option to purchase individual bottles, full cases or receive ongoing shipments of mixed cases. The wine website is separate from the Wall Street Journal and isn't connected to the Journal's wine writing at this point. The introductory rate for the Discovery Club offers a 12-bottle case of quality wines, including Rioja, French Chablis, Californian Pinot Noir and Chardonnay for $69.99 and includes tasting notes on each of the wines and a binder in which to keep them as well as a corkscrew in wooden presentation case. After this morning's rough stock market, I'm sure a glass of wine sounds pretty appealing to many WSJ readers.

The Wall Street Journal's move follows recent reports that Amazon.com is ramping up their efforts to get into the wine business.

The ultra-luxe Byblos hotel in St. Tropez is selling ten limited edition $150,000 wood and leather caskets containing an oversized bottle of Perrier-Jouët Belle Époque champagne and a Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set. The casket, available from the hotel's exclusive club Les Caves du Roy and made to celebrate the Byblos' 41st anniversary, contains a Salmanazar of the vintage 1999 Belle Époque, which is 9 liters or the equivalent of 12 standard bottles. In addition to the Van Cleef & Arpels jewelry set, which is designed to resemble the Anemone, the flower that adorns the Belle Époque bottle, there are four hand-decorated champagne glasses in the casket.

[via Elite Choice]