Sip Me Baby One More Time

There was so much to cover this week, and most of it seemed to be coming from France – even the stories that didn’t make it. These included: the death of Charles Taittinger, the former guiding light of the eponymous Champagne house; winegrowers in the Argonne region of eastern France (on the eastern border of Champagne) looking to establish a local wine industry; and the Alsace cooperative Cave de Ribeauvillé launching the region’s first de-alcoholized wines (Ribo blanc is made from Muscat and Silvaner and the sparkling Ribo mousseux is made from 100 percent Muscat).

But here below are some of the stories we did have time to cover:

Britney Spears has first red wine in 13 years

Pop queen Britney Spears drank her first glass of red wine in 13 years it emerged last week, following the end of the US singer’s court-enforced conservatorship in which her father, Jamie Spears, controlled wide-ranging aspects of her life and career.

According to US entertainment magazine, Billboard, Spear’s lifestyle choices, “from whom she dated to the color of her kitchen cabinets” was controlled by her father since the conservatorship was put in place following widely reported mental health breakdowns over 13 years ago.

Spears, finally freed (Google “FreeBritney” for more background on the movement to end the conservatorship) by court order in November last year, posted “I mean I had my first glass of red wine last weekend!!! I’ve waited 13 years … that’s long enough!!” on Instagram on Wednesday. No news, however, on what the wine was or whether or not she used the “Sip me baby one more time” wine glass set available from her official online store.

All the same, here’s to you, Britney.

France adds eight new varietals to approved wine grape lists

News filtering out through official channels in France takes a little while but the bylaw of 23 December 2021 (published on 30 December) slipped through quietly last week, establishing eight new grape varieties on the country’s official list of approved grapes for wine production (they were introduced on a temporary basis seven years ago).

Of the eight, Xarel-lo (or “Xarello” in the official French text) is probably the best-known and can now cross the border from its Catalonian home into France. The remaining seven would be quite the test of a casual ampelographer’s knowledge.

Five hail from Corsica. They are the white Brustianu (likely originating from the Ajaccio region), Rossula bianca from southern Corsica, Cualtacciu (from the Balagne region in the north, near Calvi), and Uva Biancona. Vintaghju is the sole Corsican red variety of the bunch, remarkable for the deep color of its wines.

Another officially sanctioned French native is Felen, a white grape reportedly from the Aveyron department in southern France.

Finally, Fleurtai is a white, disease-resistant, interspecific hybrid produced at the University of Udine, Italy, by crossing Friulano (also known as Tocai, Sauvignon Vert, or Sauvignonasse) with the Kozma 20-3 hybrid. Fleurtai has the same parentage as Soreli (Blanc), already adopted in France and a permitted grape in the IGP Côtes Catalanes region.

No news yet on which IGPs or appellations will adopt the latest varieties although for many it appears drought tolerance and disease resistance is a prominent factor in their adoption.

Jura’s Percée du Vin Jaune and Organic fair postponed due to Omicron

You have to feel for the organisers of the Jura’s major annual wine fair, the Percée du Vin Jaune, which has had to be put back to April due to the new wave of Covid’s Omicron variant. The 24th edition of the festival was due to be held in Cramans, just north of Arbois, on 5 and 6 February.

The 2021 edition was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic (although a cellar door system was implemented for visitors in the area at the time) and hopes were high for a return of the festival in 2022. The event attracts thousands of visitors from across Europe and further afield.

Indeed, only last month optimistic news reports were bouncing around proclaiming that the festival’s “famed” (according to local news site Creusot-Infos) glassholders were being produced in France – they are usually shipped in from China. Local newspaper Le Journal de Saône-et-Loire reported that 23,000 glassholders were being produced by a ten-person team in a public-social enterprise in Saint-Eusèbe, just outside the industrial town of Le Creusot some 120km (75 miles) west of Cramans.

The 24th edition is now slated to go ahead on 1-3 April. According to organizers, the programme remains the same as that of February. The head of the festival, Benoît Sermier told national radio station France Bleu he was hoping “the [Omicron] wave would pass quickly”.

For its part, Millésime Bio, the organic wine fair due to be held in Montpellier from 24 to 26 January has been postponed to 28 February to 2 March. However, the online component of the fair (24 to 25 January) is going ahead as planned – at the very least showing the benefits of virtual events in these uncertain times.

© Wikipedia
| Like countless events around the world, Rioja’s Carnaval del Vino has once more been suspended.

Rioja’s Carnaval del Vino suspended

And so to Rioja where, for the second year in a row, organisers have suspended the Carnaval del Vino wine fair due to be held in February in the regional hub of Haro. The event, which centered around a themed masquerade held in the historic cloisters of the Los Agustinos hotel building in the center of town, drew local winery sponsors and saw wider events and tastings across the area.

In a press release, the Haro town council said that the recent wave of Omicron infections meant “usual types of celebration were discouraged” and that it had decided to suspend the event. The Carnaval was established in 2010.

Ampuis’ Marché aux Vins on the line

At the time of going to press, organisers of the northern Rhône’s stellar Marché aux Vins in Ampuis, in the heart of the Côte-Rôtie, were due to meet to discuss whether the popular trade and general public tastings of local wines would go ahead. The popular event sees winemakers from across Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, Cornas, Hermitage, Saint-Péray and Crozes-Hermitage pouring wines to both the wine trade and general public (attendees can also make purchases on the day).

Something of a crush in previous years (it was canceled in 2021), the Marché aux Vins is due to be held from 21 to 24 January 2022, although in the light of recent wine festival cancellations, the signs are not good for lovers of Syrah and Viognier.

“We will analyze all the factors. For moment, we’re waiting for everyone to come back from the holidays,” president of the Côte-Rôtie winegrowers’ union, Michaël Gerin, told regional news outlet Le Progrès.

Emmanuel Macron named wine personality of the year by RVF

You’d have thought it likely came with the job but French premier Emmanuel Macron has been named personality of the year 2022 by French wine publication La Revue du Vin de France (RVF).

“We wanted to pay tribute to the President’s deeds as his premiership comes to an end,” RVF editor Denis Saverot told news agency APF. “For the first time in decades, a president of the Republic said loud and clear that he loved wine.”

In 2018, Macron told journalists he drank wine at lunch and dinner. The French president is due to receive the award in person this week.

Storm in a flute returns as Champagne reverts to “sparkling wine” in Russia

Following a two-month moratorium on the move, Russia has resumed the requirement for the back-labels of Champagne bottles sold in the Russian Federation to bear the title “sparkling wine” in cyrillic. Meanwhile, the title “Shampanskoye” (Russian for Champagne) is reserved for domestic sparkling wine.

The spat caused by the Kremlin’s move dates back to July last year – see Russia’s storm in a Champagne Flute – and diplomatic and legal wranglings (the Champagne wine trade body, the CIVC, is well-known for its aggressive litigation policy) culminated in a moratorium on the new law two months ago.

The moratorium has now ended with Russian authorities showing no signs of a change of heart. While French language headlines are predictably outraged, it is worth pointing out the term “Champagne” itself is still prominent on the main label.

Indeed, US critics of the Russian move may want to consider their position given that, as French national news outlet RFI pointed out this week, the US (along with the Russian Federation) is still to formally recognise the term Champagne as coming from France.