Wine & Spirits Daily: EU Adopts Wine Sector Reform

EU Adopts Wine Sector Reform

The European Commission formally adopted new EU wine sector reforms today as
a way to take back share from new world wine producers. It follows the
agreement reached by ministers in December 2007 after a long, drawn-out set
of negotiations and compromises took place. The reform will take effect
August 1.

One of the most controversial elements of the package is that the government
will pay less-successful wineries to dig up vineyards and voluntarily leave
the business. The scheme will last for three years and apply to a maximum of
175,000 hectares of vineyard in the EU.

More at

http://www.winespiritsdaily.com/2008/04/eu-adopts-wine-sector-reform.html

Police in Toronto alerting public to homemade wine sold in convenience stores

TORONTO (CP) - Police in Toronto say they have come across large amounts of
possibly unsafe homemade wine being sold in local stores.

Investigators allege Confira Import and Distributing sold homemade wine to
various convenience stores in the Toronto area. Police say the wine could
pose a health risk.

Investigators say they found an unlicensed wine-making facility on Monday
that was producing both red and white wine.

They seized more than 46,000 litres of wine.

Chimo!

www.deantudor.com

10 Top Reasons to Buy Ontario wines (from Larry Paterson)

TOP TEN LIST OF REASONS FOR ONTARIANS TO BUY ONTARIO WINE

10. The average bottle of Ontario wine sold returns $4.29 to the Ontario economy. The import is good for only 56 cents.

9. Transporting subsidized imported wines of dubious quality (much of the LCBO General list!) leaves a horrible environmental footprint. YOU make it bigger every time you buy such products.

8. Remember the last time you asked a local business to contribute to your local charity? Why not support those who support local charities?

7. When you buy local, you reduce your eventual taxation by giving government other working people to tax.

6. Those 130 members of LCBO senior management who on average had salaries $18,789.79 ABOVE their maximum salary range don't need further bonuses. Deny them by purchasing directly from the smallest local winery you can reach.

5. Buying local wine helps protect local farmland from being paved over. A time will CERTAINLY come when we will wish we had that farmland again.

4. Buying local wine helps create jobs for YOUR relatives and descendants.

3. You may actually feel better when you purchase local. Most people that I saw over my 30 years as an LCBO employee who purchased only imports purchased wines that were not available in the countries they came from. Did you never wonder why these non-English speaking countries use English names?? The image projected was certainly not what these twits desired!

2. The vast majority of people cannot tell which continent a wine came from without seeing the label. Why not buy local? You may well THINK that you can tell them, but I've seen hundreds of you in blind tastings, all of whom were convinced that, while not experts, they could tell.

1. In blind taste tests, especially over food, it is amazing how often people prefer the local wine. Act on it!

 

More at www.littlefatwino.com

Chimo!  www.deantudor.com

 

 

Magrez luxury gifts rebuffed by journalists (decanter.com)

Magrez luxury gifts rebuffed by journalists
April 22, 2008

By Jane Anson

Wine magnate Bernard Magrez has outraged a group of journalists by offering each of them a Cartier wristwatch worth €1,650 (£1,322/$2,641).

The watches were distributed after a press lunch hosted by Magrez and French actor Gerard Depardieu on 26 March. The lunch was held at the Alain Ducasse restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris. Around 50 journalists attended – including wine critic and ex-Revue du Vin de France editor Thierry Desseauve, Philippe Bidalon from L'Express magazine and Gérard Muteaud of Le Nouvel Observateur.

Upon leaving the lunch, journalists were offered a bag that contained a press kit and a box that most did not open until after leaving the restaurant. The box contained the watch, and a certificate of authenticity signed by a Bordeaux jeweller.

One journalist, who requested anonymity, told decanter.com> that many journalists discussed the situation and agreed among themselves that keeping the watches could be misconstrued. It is understood that the majority have been returned.

In response to the gift, Desseauve wrote a letter to Magrez, detailing that he had donated the watch to French homeless charity Restaurants du Coeur.

'Together with my colleague Michel Bettane {also ex-Revue du Vin de France}, who was not there, we wanted to show Mr Magrez that his gesture would not change

More at http://www.decanter.com/news/253458.html

Book review, Pig Latin style

EVIEWRAY: OTAY ORKCAY ORyay OTNAY OTAY ORKCAY

OTAY ORKCAY ORyay OTNAY OTAY ORKCAY; aditiontray, omanceray, iencescay,
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$26USyay ardhay
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ofyay Arispay" ayay ookbay ofyay ethay
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aboutyay ineway andyay ethay
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entionmay ofyay ethay "Ieslingray ithway ayay Isttway Ampaigncay". Ethay
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Ualityqay/Icepray Atingray: 98.

www.deantudor.com

April 18, 2008

Sticker Shock in the Organic Aisles

By ANDREW MARTIN and KIM SEVERSON

Shoppers have long been willing to pay a premium for organic food. But how much is too much?

Rising prices for organic groceries are prompting some consumers to question their devotion to food produced without pesticides, chemical fertilizers or antibiotics. In some parts of the country, a loaf of organic bread can cost $4.50, a pound of pasta has hit $3, and organic milk is closing in on $7 a gallon.

"The prices have gotten ridiculous," said Brenda Czarnik, who was shopping recently at a food cooperative in St. Paul.

Food prices in general have been rising, but organic food lagged somewhat behind last year because of a temporary glut of organic milk and other factors. Some grocery chains adopted private-label organic products, which are cheaper than brand products, while others hesitated to raise already high organic prices.

In recent months, however, these factors have been giving way to cost pressures in the industry. On grocery shelves across the nation, sharp price increases are taking hold.

"It's probably the most dynamic and volatile time I've seen in 25 years," said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, an organic dairy business. "It's extremely difficult to predict where it's going."

More at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18organic.html?_r=1&ei=5088&en=36e5c1c

 

www.deantudor.com.

"GRAPPA ALEXANDER, FOREVER YOUNG" WITH THIS SLOGAN DISTILLERIA BOTTEGA RELIVES THE MYTH OF MARILYN MONROE

 PRESS RELEASE

Distilleria Bottega is considering the possibility of associating the everlasting myth of Marilyn Monroe with the image of the grappa, a distilled liqueur which has won over the female public over the years.

The slogan "Grappa Alexander, forever young" is an ideal blend of the company trademark and the beautiful blond icon, who has left her indelible sign in the collective imagination. Beyond the pillars of Hercules of the year 2000, Marilyn Monroe continues to be the epitome of seduction and has really remained forever young. In the same way the grappa which contains the beneficial properties of the grape, if consumed in moderation, aids digestion, protects from coronary artery disease and stimulates the conviviality, helping the organism to keep itself young.

The initiative of Distilleria Bottega comes from a sentence of the district court of Los Angeles which liberalised the rights on the image of Marilyn. Indeed, Judge Margaret Morrow declared that when she died Monroe was resident in New York and not in Hollywood in California. A crucial difference, because according to the law of New York the rights of a celebrity end when they die. In California, on the other hand, they are always passed on to their heirs. American law thus makes Marilyn a real heritage of humanity.

Therefore, the image of Monroe connected to grappa Alexander is not a desecrating exercise in itself, but concrete evidence of the eternity of a myth.

 

www.deantudor.com.

 

OntarioWineReview.com - Newsletter 0078 - Vincor Fallout

Ontario Wine Review: Vincor Fallout (By Michael Pinkus)

Well it's been almost two years now since Constellation (a New York based company) bought out our very own beloved Vincor and by all outward appearances nothing has changed.  Jackson-Triggs is still Jackson-Triggs, Inniskillin is still Inniskillin, etc. etc. etc. It looks like business as usual.  Sure there was all that fear-mongering and gnashing of teeth about how the sale would change the face of Canadian wine ... and yet all's quiet.  Sure it looks like Le Clos Jordanne will never be built, Frank Gehry (architect) made a "shipload" of money designing a winery that is now a pie in the sky dream, instead of a floating roof in the sky reality ... and Jack Diamond (architect) is rubbing his hands together with glee because his project beat Gehry's into the Niagara region (Southbrook); but otherwise nothing has changed, except everytime I see the name Vincor, it is followed by the parenthetic (a Constellation company) ... otherwise, nothing has changed - nothing.  And believe it or not, that should bother you.  

I hear you asking, "why grape guy, why should the long thought ruination of the Canadian wine industry by that bohemoth from the south (Constellation) NOT happening bother me?  If everything is status quo, shouldn't I be happy that we have not lost our Canadian identity?" Ah, but my fine reader friends we have lost something, or let me put it to you this way, we've lost sight of something – something we should be rallying around and making a fuss about: VQA wine stores.

 

More at  http://ontariowinereview.com/joomla/content/view/225/61/

 

 

www.deantudor.com

 

Wine heavyweights attack heavy bottles

Wine heavyweights attack heavy bottles
February 22, 2008
By Jo Iivonen

 

Two influential wine personalities, Jancis Robinson and Oz Clarke, have attacked heavy wine bottles over the past week.
Robinson launched a 'name and shame' campaign on her subscription-basis website to put the heaviest wine bottles in the spotlight. 'I'd like to introduce a feature in which you name and shame below the wines you come across that are packaged in ridiculously heavy bottles,' Robinson wrote last Saturday.

 

Speaking at the 2008 Climate Change and Wine Conference in Barcelona, Clarke attacked luxury winemakers' habit of using heavy bottles as environmentally irresponsible. 'I think its one of the biggest nonsenses when the empty bottle weighs as much as a full bottle from another winery,' Clarke told Harpers TV.
The average wine bottle weighs 500g in Britain, according to British Glass, an organisation that works in government's Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP). The results of a two-year WRAP study will be available at the end of March.
British Glass says UK glass waste could be reduced by 20,000 tonnes by encouraging the lightweighting of wine bottles – something that several retailers and mass-market brand owners have already said they will do.

 

Prestige winemakers have remained more reluctant to abandon their heavy bottles, but experts are now urging them to reconsider. 'Climate change is here. It's frightening and thrilling at the same time but companies can make lots of profit out of being socially aware,' Clarke said.

 

Lighter packaging represents a win-win situation as savvy winemakers can position themselves as environmentally-aware while enjoying reduced transportation costs.

 

More comments from ordinary people at http://www.decanter.com/news/182202.html

 

 

 www.deantudor.com.

St. Catharines Standard - Ontario, CA: Government shouldn't be in the booze businesss?

By Rick VanSickle

It's enough to drive you to drink.

We just don't get it here in Ontario. Well into the year 2008, almost a hundred years since Prohibition, the lasting hangover of government-run liquor boards still lingers.

It's not the government's fault. It's our fault for letting government after government get away with it in this province for this long.

Here's a serious sober thought: The government has no business deciding what you or I have to drink. It has no right, and there is no reason, for it to be in the business of pushing, promoting or pricing booze be it wine, beer or liquor.

We were reminded of this yet again last week when the LCBO admittedly goofed when it ran an ad in a beautiful full-colour glossy magazine (paid for by the good people of Ontario) suggesting that we all do our part for the environment by buying local.

More at http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=987867

About The LCBO: More song and dance, with videos and podcasts to confuse the message.

 

http://www.lcbo.com/aboutlcbo/annualreport2007.shtml

Vintages versus Vintages Essentials

Boys and girls, here is a sad tale...Just about all of the smaller LCBO outlets, which used to have a selection of Vintages products every two weeks as per the release schedule, are being switched over to stocking Vintages Essentials only. The reasoning seems to be sound, in that the few stores in Toronto that I checked with reported "low" or "no" sales at all for the rotation. But by switching over to the Essentials programme, the stores will just be stocking regular product which will be featured week after week with no changes or new labels. In other words, it will just be an extension to the General Listing, albeit at a more expensive price point. Vintages Essentials is beginning to drive Vintages. One source confirmed to me that the Essentials make up 27% of Vintages sales (not sure whether this is dollar value or volume).

 

As time goes by, more and more products are released through Vintages, but there seems to be fewer and fewer choices of availability being made for the public.

The wine media are denied the opportunity to taste and report on the InStore Discovery (ISD) product, for fear that the publicity would create a panic and a run on the stores. Since the beginning of this year, more and more wines now have a pricepoint of $19.95 -- check the biweekly catalogues yourself...

 

 

 

 www.deantudor.com.

Niagara Wine and Government Kerfuffel

 From Steve Kocsis -- February 15, 2008  The Grimsby Lincoln News

Niagara this Week

Mr. Mike Williscraft

Letter to the Editor

 

                 Your editorial support for local farmers is much appreciated.  I grow pears for processing and the fresh market in orchards started by my parents in 1958.  I grow grapes for juice and wine in vineyards that I planted in 1983, the year my second child was born, 25 years ago.  We started a farm based winery in 1999 hoping to remain economically viable by further processing the products of our family farm.

               We have seen Minister after Minister showboating through Niagara during icewine harvest posing for mock harvest pictures.    We have seen them engaged in heart wrenching displays of public hand wringing over the demise on Niagara's economy.

          Imagine a government whose monopoly agency (LCBO) scours the remotest corners of the world for foreign subsidized wines to dump into our Ontario marketplace. Imagine a bloated and arrogant bureaucracy  whose prime mandate is self-preservation and who effectively blocks from their shelves the 100% Ontario wine from more than three quarters of all Ontario wineries.

          Imagine an American conglomerate that has veto power over decisions made by the Wine Council of Ontario and together collaborate to dump their foreign subsidized 99% import blended and misleadingly labeled wine into our market.

          Imagine a greedy and gutless government who with quaking knees in fear of the unions shelved their own study that recommended the elimination of the LCBO and foreign controlled wine retailing monopoly in Ontario.

          I do not have great expectations of our government; do not expect the government to sell my wine in the markets that the LCBO sources subsidized imports from to dump into my market.  I am not asking permission from the Greenbelt Government to sell my now useless pear orchards and juice grape vineyards for residential development. 

          All I am asking for is some honesty in labeling ( a federal issue ), access to the marketplace without a bloated LCBO blocking every move and bleeding off all hope of profit for a small winery ( a provincial issue ) and the continued support of our local media and consumers to pick 100% Ontario when given a choice.

          Perhaps as we see opportunistic and hypocritical governments come and go the integrity of our land and vineyards and wine will outlast them to survive for another generation.

 

                                                                   Sincerely,

                                                                   Steve Kocsis

                                                        Steve Kocsis

                                                        4016 Mountain Street

                                                                   Beamsville

 www.deantudor.com.

Twenty Bees Shocker

Rumour on the street (or is that "between the vines"?) is that former 20 Bees Winemaker Sue-Ann Staff and her company Laneway Holdings (maybe that should be "rumour in the laneway") have sealed a deal to produce high-end premium wines for an as-yet unnamed winery...Stay tuned to learn what Ms. Staff is up to...

 

 www.deantudor.com.

Washington State takes second place in US.

Another myth is shattered...

No more New York as next best to California..

Well, surprise, surprise. Today there are 500 wineries in Washington,
growing 20 kinds of grapes, selling $3 billion worth of wine a year - more
than any other state but California.

www.deantudor.com

Wine trade wars on Wednesday May 7, 2008!

For years, the Lifford wine agency has had its Grand Tasting on the first
Wednesday in May. The afternoon is trade; the evening is for consumers. Even
the trade pays something in admissions for charity. About 200 wines from
their portfolio and fine imported cheese are available for sampling.

For years, Sante has had its International Tasting on the first Thursday in
May. The afternoon is trade; the evening is for consumers. About 375 wines
and Canadian cheese are available for sampling.

For some reason, this year Sante decided to have its tasting on the
Wednesday. This means that for fine wine lovers, and the trade (media
included), a choice will have to be made. One cannot attend both since they
overlap. And who wants to taste 500 plus wines anyway?

This is a real shame, and it is no excuse for Sante NOT to look ahead when
making its bookings...What was the reason, Steve? Did California put on
pressure? There are some wineries who are at both Sante and Lifford....

www.deantudor.com

LCBO and Constellation Brands Shocker

Breaking news in the wine world...

In a move which took everyone by surprise,
Constellation Brands Inc. has made a bid to take over the LCBO from the
Ontario
Government. Sources say that the offer was between 4 and 6 billion US
dollars.
The leveraged buyout, supported by the International Tetra Pak Consortium,
will
apparently solve the problem of what to do with the former Vincor wine
stores.
Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation, said, "It was either those stores go or
the
LCBO stores go. So we decided to merge the two". Toronto's Mayor David
Miller,
recognizing that the GTA is home to most of Ontario's drinkers, demanded
that
the Ontario Liberal Government turn over a portion of the sale for the
city's
use in the construction of an incinerator to burn off used tetra paks. He
said,
"We could create a lot of electric power this way, even adding juice boxes
to
the mix. It is certainly not acceptable that the Ontario government take
money
out of Toronto".

The Liberal Government, responding to questions from the media, has said
that a
portion of the sale would go to help the "Cellared in Canada" program by
subsidizing the delivery of concord grapes. The recent closing of the
Cadbury
plant in Ontario has freed up an enormous quantity of grapes formerly meant
for
jams and juices. They can now be used as a replacement for off-shore wine
content.

On a related matter, the first container-shipment of sparkling wine in tetra
paks arrived yesterday at the LCBO Durham Warehouse. Unfortunately, the
skids
heated overnight and blew up, taking out the rest of the Vintages releases
for
2007. As a replacement for the Vintages catalogue, sources say that the LCBO
will be releasing some wines from its rich hoard of pre-phylloxera French
Bordeaux which were recently re-discovered when a computer software glitch
was
repaired.

For more news as it happens, check www.deantudor.com

=======================================================

CORRECTION to previous breaking news on sale of the LCBO --

Due to an error in editorial data transmission, the LCBO has NOT been
purchased by Constellation Brands Inc. Instead, the LCBO has BOUGHT
Constellation Brands Inc. Also, the dollar figure is NOT 4 to 6 billion
dollars, but rather 46 billion dollars.

Mayor David Miller did NOT ask for a portion of the sale price since
there was no sale of the LCBO. Rather, he had asked for one cent of the
bottle return money, as part of his "one cent" campaign.

Later on in the story, the mention of "pre-phylloxera French Bordeaux"
should have read "POST-phylloxera French Bordeaux".

Gothic Epicures regrets the errors. For all wine news updates, please check
the
Wine News section of www.deantudor.com

=========================================================

CLARIFICATION TO PREVIOUS CORRECTION NOTE on LCBO sale -

Constellation Brands did not buy the LCBO. The LCBO did not buy
Constellation Brands. The Ontario Government has now announced that
both companies have merged in a private-public co-ownership, and the
dollar figure of 46 billion was a mistake. The "4 to 6 billion US
dollars" mentioned in the story now refers to administrative savings.
Constellation Brands will have preference on LTOs, shelf-talkers, end-
of-aisle displays, samplings, Food & Drink magazine placement, etc.

The reference to "pre-phylloxera" is still correct (no longer "post-
phylloxera"), except that the region referred to is now "Chilean red
table wines", as in "pre-phylloxera Chilean red table wines".

Mayor David Miller now says that there are more drinkers in the non-
Toronto section of the GTA.

Gothic Epicures reports clarifications as they happen...For all wine
news updates, please check the Wine News section of www.deantudor.com.

===========================================================

FINAL CLARIFICATION to previous CLARIFICATION re: CORRECTION NOTE -

The merger of the LCBO and Constellation Brands means that all LCBO
stores and all former Vincor stores will now carry ONLY Constellation
Brands products. Confirmed sources say that both the LCBO Queens Quay
store and the Scrivener Square store will be administered and managed
by Churchill Cellars.

The Ontario Government has denied the municipality of Concord, Ontario,
the right to change its name to Merlot, Ontario.

The "Cellared in Canada" program now becomes known as the "Cellared by
Constellation Brands" program.

The container-shipment of sparkling wine in tetra paks was originally
supposed to have been packed in pressurized cans, but the wine was sent
to the wrong plant in Italy. Sources confirm that Italian managers,
when learning of the explosion in the Durham warehouse, said "Told you"...

The Vintages program, which had been nailed by the explosion, has been
cancelled for the balance of the year. Sources say that it has been
replaced by the Classics Catalogue and the In-Store Discovery program.
Each Vintage Boutique or Vintage Store in Ontario will receive only one
bottle for each CSPC number. There will never be any in-store
transfers.

These clarifications have been brought to you by World Wine Watch
Online, the newsletter of Gothic Epicures. For more wine news, check
out the Wine News section at www.deantudor.com.

Closure Dan, part three -- more news as it happens!

Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 1:52 PM
From: Tony Aspler, Wine Writer
Subject: RE: FauxVoix VinCuisine: Closure Dan

Dean, I just got off the phone with Jean-Charles Boisset (he was in
Sausalito)and he tells me there is no truth to the rumour. It may have
started because they (Vincor/Boisset)had to change the structure of the
agreement so that they could get an Ontario license to e-trade the wines.
'It's business as usual,' was his final comment. Co-incidentally, Jay
Wright
had to answer the same question in the St. Catharines Standard. Cheers,
Tony Aspler.

eG Forums -> Le Clos Jordanne, part two

posted Nov 27 2007, 06:07 AM

In theory Le Clos Jordanne did the release of their 2005 wines last weekend
in Ontario through Vintages in LCBO stores.

Looking down the web site though almost nothing in volume terms was actually
released and as such these wines are unavailable as they sell out in minutes
with these tiny volumes.

I am interested in what people feel about the release of their own local
wines and their availability to the general public (ie not restaurant owners
or people with friends in high places in the LCBO).

I was looking because I had some very pleasant Le Grand Clos at a restaurant
last year and would like to acquire some for drinking at dinner parties etc.

I actively dislike the american system of cliquey mailing list only sales
and much prefer the egalitarian european en primeur system.

To me the LCJ release is a move towards the US system where a cult is
attempted to be built up rather than a brand based on the quality of
product.

Anyone get any / have an opinion on their release strategy ?

post Nov 28 2007, 07:15 AM

It was really screwed up.
Incompetence rules!
Last year the first 'formal' release was via the LCBO "v-mail" notification.
I ordered all the wines offered and obtained them in quantity (but the
smaller production wines weren't available).
Then came the 'normal' release through Vintages. Line-ups out the door and
restricted to 1 bottle per person. Sold out immediately (although a good
quantity of the 'village' wine cropped up later - possibly lost in the
warehouse).
I picked up the 1 bottle per person wines at the SAQ months later. In
quantity! Case upon case sitting out undisturbed (the Chardonnays just
picked up this month).
Hype sells (in Ontario anyway - just release small quantities and watch the
people dance).
The 2005's just released were a disaster organizationally. Another "v-mail"
told us to phone the stores - but no stores knew what they were getting.
Eventually a retraction was issued, promising they would appear with the
'regular Vintages release'. However there were a couple of "pre-release
tastings" which were not widely advertised. At those, all the 2005's were
tasted and 'theoretically' orders taken. However, no money was collected and
no confirmations given - we're still waiting. If they're not honoured, we've
now missed our chance to get them on the release. And for the rarer wines
(e.g Le Grand Clos Pinot Noir) I'm not sure how many bottles actually
reached the shelves. At my local store only 3 bottles were available -
wonder how they shipped that as they come in packs of 6!!!!!!!!!
But there will be other releases - let's hope the remainder is handled more
professionally.
But does anybody care about the public?????

PRIVATIZATION PLEASE. Maybe I still won't get any - but at least I'll have
somebody with a face to complain to.

More at
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?s=7ae1e2141969fcc980c9a1be382b905d&showtopic=110276

Closure Dan

The word on the street is that Vincor, A Constellation Company, and Boisset
have parted ways over LCJ (Le Clos Jordanne). Some in the company say that
there are negotiations still going on. Other industry heavies say that it
is a done deal...The Gehry sturcture will never be built? Meanwhile Jack
Diamond is chortling over at the new soon-to-be-open Southbrook
Winery....Can anyone confirm or deny the fate of Closure Dan?

www.deantudor.com

The French are running...

From: Vins de France_Canada VinsdeFrance.CA@SOPEXA.com
Date: Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:09:53 -0400
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: MEDIA INFO_A Canadian Wines of France Press Office: a primary
sourceof information made for you!

Greetings,

With the aim of answering the growing demand from Canadian journalists,
the Canadian Press Office for Wines of France has just been created! It
will consistently keep you updated and informed on the latest news from
the French wine regions. Whether you need the latest information on
vintages, new releases or upcoming events; the Canadian Press Office for
Wines of France is your reference on French wines!

It provides you information in key areas:

* Key figures on the wine regions & news updates
* Close follow-up on every inquiry made on French wines
* Distribution of press releases and press kits; technical or
lifestyle
* Photo library of the vineyards
* Samples of products and technical sheets
* Advice on wine and food pairings
* Invitations to different press events

We also welcome editorial submissions or any suggestions you may have
for the Wines of France Press Office. Please feel free to share your needs!

You will be receiving press releases on Wines of France. If you do not
wish to appear on the contact list, please let us know.

We look forward to keeping you informed.

Regards,

Wines of France Press Office of Canada

www.deantudor.com

TOPIC HEADLINE: GEGEC ARRIVES IN STYLE!

CLWS – Press Release for April 1, 2008

TOPIC HEADLINE: GEGEC ARRIVES IN STYLE!

GOTHIC EPICURES has announced a new annual wine competition for Ontario
– the Great Expectations of Grand Expectorations Challenge (GEGEC). It
will be held in conjunction with each fall's wine harvest.
There will be sixteen participants: four teams of four members,
representing the various wine trade constituencies in Ontario: wine
writers from the Wine Writers' Circle of Canada, winemakers from
Vintners Quality Alliance Ontario, agents from the Ontario Imported
Wine-Spirit-Beer Association, and product consultants from the Liquor
Control Board of Ontario. All of the wine industry partners are on
board with this one. Because of their native advantage, gap-toothed
personnel are to be excluded from the teams but may serve as back-up
judges.
Competition rules specify four categories of expectoration:

1) distance
2) accuracy
3) volume
4) spillage control

and there will be a contest for each one. Contestants will wear white
shirts or blouses, but advertising space on their backs is available
for rent. Final judging will have aggregate totals for all team
members.
Base material will come from "Product of Canada" red wines. The
colour is needed for determining the winners, particularly in checking
for minimal dribble down their fronts. Special guest Chris Bosch will
adjudicate. In case of a tie, there will be a grand spit-out based on
the accuracy of hitting a Champagne bucket from increasingly farther
distances.
Sawdust has been contributed by the Canadian oak barrel industry.
Bibs come from Vincor, A Constellation Company. The winning team
receives an award trophy: the Golden Spittoon, which is custom-designed
in the shape of a TetraPak. Winners' names will be inscribed on this
prize, whether they like it or not.
Location: Bocce/boules courts at the patio of Allen's. Tickets are
available from major liquor outlets at a modest cost (just over $10),
subject to the usual LCBO mark-ups and delivery fees. Sadie Darby is
the chief organizer. Note: special guest Paul Giamatti will reprise his
role from "Sideways", and Tony Aspler from the Ontario Wine Awards will
present the Golden Spittoon after he cleans and polishes it. Final
judging is by Dean Tudor of Gothic Epicures, Larry Paterson of the
Amateur Winemakers of Ontario, and free-lance investigative journalist
David Menzies. It is hoped that the event will pay for itself by
renting protective space suits to observers in the audience.
Refreshments will be served.

www.deantudor.com