Grapegate

Someone is stealing the great grapes of Burgundy, according to the Burgundy wine bureau (BIVB). As reported in Decanter, there have now been four separate reports of thefts of grapes across the region. A possible motive underlying the crimes: the 2016 harvest, which has been so devastating (severe frost and hailstorms) that some vintners have 50% to 90% fewer grapes than in typical years.

Champagne and sparkling wines don’t ever get “corked.”

Answer: False.

Both sparkling wines and Champagne can be “corked”—that is, tainted with TCA, the chemical that creates a funky odor that makes wines smell like a wet dog sitting on wet newspapers in a damp cellar. In fact, according to the French consulting oenologist and TCA expert Dr. Pascal Chatonnet, TCA is actually easier to smell in sparkling wines than in still wines. This is because sparklers are more aromatically delicate and also because the bubbles have the effect of volatilizing the compound, that is, making it smell more pronounced.

According to Dr. Chatonnet, TCA can be smelled in still wines at a threshold of 2 to 5 nanograms per liter, whereas TCA can be smelled in sparklers at a threshold of 1 to 1.5 nanograms per liter.

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Average cost per bottle of the 2015 Domaine Leroy Musigny Grand Cru (if you can get your hands on one), making it one of the most expensive red Burgundies. Indeed, Domaine Leroy is one of… Continue reading

Grapegate

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