Wine Spectator June 2015

Francis Ford Coppola reached un-foreseen heights in his journey as a filmmaker. As the story goes, he never wanted to make The Godfather, perhaps the most beloved movie in American cinematic history. He took it on only because he desperately needed money. While he knew filmmaking, he knew little about the Mafia, though Mario Puzo’s book proved a valuable guide. Soon after The Godfather’s release, Coppola drove out to visit Napa Valley and became en-thralled with the landscape. Later, he and his wife, Eleanor, bought a weekend home there to escape urban life in San Francisco. But there was no plan to buy a winery or make wine. Today Coppola oversees a wine empire—a portfolio of properties and brands that includes Inglenook, perhaps the single most historic winery in Napa…

Deferential Equation I am a little surprised that so few people, professionals and amateurs alike, see the beauty in bottle variation (“The Curse of Bottle Variation,” columns, Jan. 31 – Feb. 28). Where in the “natural world” do we get two living organ-isms that are identical? Every-thing varies, from snowflakes to flowers. [Given] the multitude of elements that make up a bottle of wine, inevitably there will be variation from one bottle to the next. And over time those differences will magnify. But doesn’t this add to the excitement and anticipation we feel? I have had Châteauneuf-du-Pape at three, five or seven years of age and thought, “blah,” and laid them down a few more years and thought, “wow.” By that stage, while each bottle may have similar characteristics, there…

A class-action lawsuit against many of California’s biggest wineries filed in a state court on March 19 alleges that the companies “produce, manufacture and/or distribute wine in California that contains inorganic arsenic in amounts far in excess of what is allowed in drinking water.” The suit goes on to accuse the defendants of “secretly poisoning wine consumers.” Representatives for several wineries named in the suit argue that the accusations are spurious and based on misinformation. The plaintiffs “decided to file a complaint based on misleading information in order to defame responsible California winemakers, create unnecessary fear, and deceive the public for their own financial gain,” said a spokesman for Livermore-based The Wine Group (TWG). The lawsuit is built on claims that a Denver laboratory found inorganic arsenic in bottles from…

A Napa Valley vineyard became a crime scene in March when a business meeting ended with two men dead in an apparent murder-suicide over a loan gone bad. Vintner Robert Dahl allegedly shot his former investor, Emad Tawfilis, in the head and then fled his Yountville winery with Napa sheriff’s deputies in pursuit. The chase continued for 10 miles to a remote country road where, according to the Napa sheriff’s office, Dahl killed himself. The two men were at Dahl Vineyards and on a conference call with their attorneys when they took a break. “It was a usual business meeting,” said Dahl’s attorney, Kousha Berokim. “There was nothing dramatic or violent or odd about it.” According to a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, after the call, Dahl allegedly shot Tawfilis.…

Drink From the Deep A wine bottle recently salvaged from the 1864 wreck of a Civil War blockade runner near Bermuda and opened at the Charleston Wine & Food Festival illustrated that wine from a sunken ship isn’t always treasure. “I did not dare put the vile liquid in my mouth,” said sommelier Larry Stone. In the glass, he got “citrus, camphor, stale fish tank, gasoline, sea-water at low tide and slightly herbal notes like Chartreuse.” Stone attributed the wine’s dreadful showing to an invasion of seawater, saying the cork had shrunk to about 4 millimeters in diameter, with a salt crust forming between the cork and the glass. —Robert Taylor An Extra J for E. & J. E. & J. Gallo, the world’s largest wine company, has purchased J…

China may be importing less wine from Bordeaux, but Chinese investors are still looking for châteaus there to buy. Three such properties have recently sold to Chinese investors, and more acquisitions are under way. The wineries are seen as safe, sophisticated investments for both industrial conglomerates and tycoons, say experts. “To own a château is as big a trophy asset as it gets,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of the Hurun Report, which tracks the wealth and habits of China’s superrich from offices in Shanghai. “A château is a new way to show you are wealthy without looking like a nouveau riche—they don’t want that image in China,” said Li “Lily” Lijuan, China desk broker for Bordeaux realtor and Christie’s affiliate Maxwell-Storrie-Baynes. Most Chinese acquisitions have been modest estates, but many…