Wine Atlas

In the middle of summer, wine should be light and refreshing, like the 2005 Domaine de la Louvetrie Le Fief du Breil Muscadet.

If there is any wine that separates generations in this country, it has to be Muscadet. Americans older than 50 drank this light-bodied, high-acidity, citrus-tasting wine with shellfish and flounder decades before New Zealand ever sent a bottle of sauvignon blanc to these shores.

Conversely, those younger than 40 have rarely if ever chosen a bottle of Muscadet over the explosively citrus-flavored, intensely aromatic, fuller-bodied, bracingly tart New Zealand sauvignon blancs like Cloudy Bay, Craggy Range, Spy Valley, Matua Valley and many more.

One has only to look at restaurant wine lists to see the change. Muscadet has been reduced to an afterthought.

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It’s ironic, given the recent massive bailout of Wall Street in the guise of making nice to Main Street, that some of the best advice on inexpensive wines should come from The Wall Street Journal. “Tastings,” by Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, recently examined Italian primitivos (often cited as kin to Zinfandel), and the second-favorite on their Dow Jones Primitivo Index was a Flaio 2006 Salento. It was $10.99. Forget the fickle barometers of bonds and not-so-securities; the Wine Index is a much more reliable bellwether of economic conditions.

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SIAL Paris 2008, the world summit for food and beverage decision-makers scheduled October 19-23, 2008, will feature a new Hall 7 for the expanded Wine and Fine Food sectors. Launched in 2006, the Wine sector draws more than 16,000 visitors and 154 exhibitors from 23 countries.

For the second time, the Best Buy selection in the Wine sector will allow visitors to discover wines that offer an outstanding value. These wines have been chosen by a panel of independent judges made up of leading figures from the wine world. There will be four categories based on the ex-cellar price: wines under €2, wines at €2-€4, at €4-€6 and at €6-€10. There will be a tasting area in the center of the wine section where visitors will be able to try more than 200 showcased wines from 14 countries.

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A growing number of middle class Chinese are discovering a taste for French wine, with sales experiencing triple-digit growth last year, trade figures have shown.

Sales of French wine grew 145 percent last year, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters said on Wednesday.

The growth in sales of French cognac and other spirits was equally high: Up 162 percent year-on-year by value, making China the third-largest market for the products, behind the United States and Singapore.

Chinese tipplers spent almost 247 million euros ($364 million) on French wines and spirits last year, making the country the 11th-largest market by value.

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Champagne producers have nominated 40 villages in north-eastern France that may be allowed to produce the sparkling wine as the Champagne region around Reims reaches maximum yield and producers try to meet demand from Russia, China and India.

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A unique collection of fine wines amassed by Jacques Chirac during his time as Mayor of Paris has gone on sale.

The Antique Wine Company is offering one fortunate wine collector the opportunity to acquire the complete collection.

Bids open from May 16 on this assemblage of exceptional wine, personally selected for Chirac across his years in mayoral office, from 1977-1995.

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One of the best things about watching the annual Tour de France bike race on TV is the incredible views of the French countryside taken by helicopter.

The video tapestry shows quaint towns and villages dotting the landscape, each with its own incredible architecture and character. You sense that some piece of history was made in each one. Miles of agricultural lands span the horizon, often dominated by vineyards.

Some of the most spectacular scenery is in the Rhone Valley in southeast France, home to many of the most special wines in the world. The Rhone River begins in the Swiss Alps and flows into France through the Jura Mountains. It was here that the syrah grape was first nurtured into fine wine, a tradition that is celebrated to this very day.

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Don't miss: Château du Pav- illon 2005 Bordeaux, France

Style: Medium-bodied red Bordeaux, dry, balanced and subtle. An excellent example of an Old World Merlot blend.

There's an elegance to traditional red Bordeaux that sets it quietly apart from New World renditions of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Château du Pavillon displays this sleek refinement in full. The wine offers pretty black and red cherry fruit, a touch of cedar-scented oak and as clear-cut an expression of "terroir" ("earth") as you're apt to find. Wines that display terroir have a sense of place, a sensory identity that reflects a specific growing region. To a practiced nose, this wine smells of Bordeaux and nothing else! Merlot dominates the blend at 80 percent, the balance made up by Cabernet -Sauvignon.

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WITH VINES cropping up here and there all over the world, Chardonnay is a rather promiscuous grape variety and one that is equally happy in the sun-drenched valleys of Chile as it is in the frosty vineyards of Champagne. It is so much an integral part of New World wine history that it is easy to forget that home for this variety is on a bed of limestone and fossilised shellfish in the northern French region of Burgundy.

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France is to launch a national wine brand later this year in its latest attempt to drain bulging cellars and take on rivals in foreign markets.

French wine authorities have officially backed plans for the brand, which will cover vins de pays wines and is set to be called ‘Vignobles de France'.

Supporters of the move say it will allow winemakers to be more flexible and help to reduce the pools of unsold wine that have become a regular feature in the bowels of the industry.

“It contains the crucial word ‘France', which is meaningful for consumers,” Anne Burchette, the French managing director of Castel UK, owner of Oddbins wine stores, told BeverageDaily.com.

Talks over a ‘France' wine brand became more serious after the government included the proposal in its national wine strategy last spring, drawn up as a blueprint for re-launching French wines on the international market.

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One of Sweden’s top restaurants was robbed of its rare collection of French Bordeaux wines while it was closed for summer holidays.

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Artisan Wines is expanding its individual collection of pace-setting French wines by supplying a selection of biodynamic wines. Biodynamic wines are produced through an understanding of nature and its cycles. Grapes are grown in accordance with the lunar cycle and the alignment of the planets in 100 per cent organic soil, utilising the rhythms of nature to produce a truly natural and revolutionary style of making wine.

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René Renou, the president of the Institut National des Appellations d'Orgine (INAO), and one of the most influential men in French winemaking, has died aged 54.

Renou goes down as one of the great reforming characters in the French wine industry and was overseeing one of the most turbulent chapters in the INAO's history.

He was in the middle of effecting deep reaching changes, first attempted two years ago, and which had just been introduced early this month.

Recognising that the sheer number of Appellation d'Origine Controllées (AOCs) had become confusing for the consumer, he was attempting to divide the offer in two – a top category to remain as AOC for wines of excellence to be made under very strict conditions, and a second to be known as Appellation Controllée (AC) with more relaxed rules of production.

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The best Sommeliers of Europe Take centre stage at the Champs Elysées Theatre, Paris, for the "Trophée Ruinart"

For the first time in the history of international sommellerie, the Trophée RUINART du Meilleur Sommelier d’Europe, will be hosted in the majestic Champ Elysees Theatre in Paris on 18th June. This exceptional event will be held from 2 to 6.30pm, followed by a cocktail and prize giving from 7 to 8 pm.

Entrance fees: 30 Euros. Student fees: 15 Euros

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The theme of the evening may well have been smooth. Smooth as in the air in the courtyard of Chez Maria in Liguanea; smooth as in the mostly guitar jazz deftly selected by Drew Lawrence; smooth as in the passage of the chicken mousse and other buffet delights going down the palate.

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