弗吉诺金宝博188官方博士的葡萄酒博客

Charlie Trotter has been sued for selling a fake wine. In the complaint, Bekim and Ilir Frrokaj allege that they contacted Trotter about purchasing a magnum of 1945 Domaine de la Romanée Conti from the restaurant’s cellar (the restaurant closed last August). They allege that Trotter told them to book a table at the restaurant and discuss it with him over dinner. On June 15, 2012 they dined at the restaurant. Here’s an excerpt from投诉：

During dinner, Charlie Trotter and the sommelier explained the rarity and value of the DRC magnum to Benn and Ilir. Charlie Trotter and the sommelier also spoke about wines from the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti estate and how those wines are some of the rarest and most valuable in the world. A Charlie Trotter’s employee negotiated the price – $46,227.40 – with Benn and Ilir. Based on Defendants’ representation of the rarity and value of the DRC magnum, Benn and Ilir agreed to purchase it. Ben and Ilir paid Charlie Trotter’s $40,000 in cash and $6,227.40 by credit card for the DRC magnum.

They continue that their insurance provider required an outside authentication of the bottle, during which they discovered that DRC didn’t bottle any magnums in 1945. They are demanding a refund, damages in excess of $30,000, court fees, and reimbursement of some expenses including travel to Chicago.

Charlie Trotter told the芝加哥Tribune：“It was a disgruntled client who probably paid a lot more money (for the bottle) than he’s ever paid before,” Trotter said. “It’s buyer’s remorse.”

When I was in Chicago a few months ago, I met up with Alpana Singh at her new restaurant, The Boarding House. Alpna has reinvented herself, stepping down as host of “Check, please!” and from a corporate job at Lettuce Entertain You to open her own restaurant. Stretched vertically over three public floors, the main floor bar area at The Boarding House serves wine and pizzas made to pair with wines under the arttistic installation of 9,000+ wineglasses (only takes about36人小时干净！）。一种lthough I didn’t eat there, I checked the availability of a table for two in the vaulted dining room: they were booking 10 weeks out. I think that officially makes it a hot spot.

She told me about how she got into wine, what she’s doing to resolve the dearth of sommelier jobs, wither Chicago wine is restaurant-driven or shop-driven, and which wines make people say “wow.” Oh, and which is the greatest country in the world to be in as a wine consumer. Check out my接受她在葡萄酒--Searcher.com上的面试。

SPIT: Bling champagne
援引一位不愿透露姓名的来源cham 50 - 85%的下降pagne sales with pricey stuff hit hardest. The story by Alice Feiring in this weekend’sWSJ.。magazinealso suggest price wars may be imminent. (Lack of) Money quote comes from Roberta Morrell, a NYC retailer: “The trouble with dropping prices is how will they raise them?”

SPIT: reporting on Champagne
一种n article onJancisRobinson.com批评最近报道的香槟2009哈尔vest. Main quibble: “After the harvest there will not be masses of grapes left to rot on the vine.”

SIPPED: changes in Chicago
Sam’s Wine & Spirits closed their South Loop location last month and now willclose their Highland Park store。与此同时，伊利诺伊现在有一个increased tax on wine那rising $0.13 per bottle to $0.28. As a result, distributor Rocky Wirtz has起诉国家。其他五个国家最近在葡萄酒上提高了税收。

SIPPED: Binge shopping
一种nnual wine sales at big box stores in France bring out “legions” of consumers. Carrefour sold six million bottles during its sale last year. [AP]

葡萄酒是多么自然？这是今天葡萄酒世界中最热门的问题之一。

上九月tember 12, join me at the University of Chicago’s Graham School for a Saturday seminar entitled: “Red, white and “green” wines: can you taste the difference?” We will discuss issues relating to organic and biodynamic wines, talk about some leading wines and wine makers, and see if we can taste the difference between some conventional wines and their eco-wine counterparts in a blind tasting. No previous wine experience is necessary. Hope to see you there!

Registration and details

I’ll be in Chicago at the end of the month for a Saturday seminar at the University of Chicago Graham School. The class will explore in greater depth some of the themes related to my bookWine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters and Critics influence the Wines We Drink。We’ll also be tasting through some excellent wines as we have done in previous installment of this course. No previous knowledge of wine is necessary and the session is non-degree and noncredit. It’s Saturday, June 27, 2:30 – 6:30 PM just off Michigan Avenue.上another book related note, in case you are puzzling what to get for Father’s Day, I’m happy to reinstate my offer ofsigned gift copies。Send me via PayPal the amazon price, tax, and shipping (say, $25) of eitherWine Politics或实用指南，一种Year of Wine: Perfect Pairings, Great Buys, and What to Sip for Each Season（which actually has more wine-related Father’s Day gift ideas in it), and I’ll send a copy of either book inscribed as you please to whatever domestic address you like. So much more interesting than a tie! Don’t delay since Father’s Day is rapidly approaching! There’s also aKindle版of一种Year of Winebut I can’t sign that one for you without smudging your screen.

吐：伊利诺伊州的自由！
Wine-loving residents of the Land of Lincoln now have fewer choices: It’s confusing, but in a law effective today, wineries (both out-of-state in-state) will have caps on the amount they can ship to Illinois and out-of-state retailers will be banned from shipping to the state. While it’s a sad day and you can chalk one up for special interests let’s just hope this legislative folly goes the way of thefoie gras bansoon enough. [芝加哥Tribune]

吐：法国自由
Libertétakes a back seat in France too where wine ads are strictly controlled in France and Microsoft has taken the unusually cautious step of removing wine ads from their ad service (Google ads still include wine on the internets in France). If anyone is looking at this site in France, remember,ceci n’est pas une pub![thepost.ie]

SIPPED: wine education
在美国侍酒师协会的葡萄酒教育内部。[纽约]

SPIT: jugs!
Almaden和Inglenook，两种葡萄酒为主水壶，现在将以轻质的袋装形式。它听起来像新的葡萄酒中的旧酒，但由于涉及的量，它将有助于减少葡萄酒的碳足迹。[bizjournals.]

SIPPED: corks in space
Schramsberg winery reports that Navy Commander Kenneth Ham is flying with bottles of the bubbly on board the space shuttle Discovery! If only. But he is taking some corks and labels from the Napa sparkling wine producer on the flight with him.

SIPPED: Wine books
一种今天在NYT书评中审查三本葡萄酒书籍follows one by埃里克·艾斯米夫从十天前审查春季葡萄酒书籍。并且，是的，我的评论将遵循soon今年夏天去海滩之前！

RIP: Robert Mondavi那the American wine colossus, who died at 94. [SF chron.那纽约]

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This fall, I’ll have the good fortune to return to Chicago. No, I won’t be contender on Top Chef though I do hope to eat in some of the city’s great restaurants orBYOBs。

这两次旅行将由芝加哥大学的格雷厄姆学校课程锚定，这对选择注册的每个人都开放。上九月tember 20，我将领导周六下午研讨会，称为“法国和美国：葡萄酒政治和品尝摊牌”。我们将从即将到来的书中讨论主题，Wine Politics那and then have a wildly fun, blind and competitive tasting of wines from the two countries. The wine budget for these events is good and in the past we have had someexcellent mature wines in a variety of sizes.所有参与者将获得本书的签名副本作为注册的一部分。Details and registration。

上December 6那we’ll be talking and tasting holiday wines in another Saturday seminar. This time the discussion will be centered around my second wine book, “A Year of Wine,” which will be published in November by Simon & Schuster. As with the September event, the wines will be fun and participants will receive a signed copy of this book too.Details and registration。

一种lthough this may seem like eons from now, apparently we get a nicer room if signups are strong early. So sign up! See you there!

（豆子的形象）

为所有剩余葡萄酒制定战略！本月在芝加哥和纽约，我将成为收集，葡萄酒拍卖市场和如何战略投资或享受的领先课程。两个地方都有可吸收葡萄酒的品味。

我们将于9月29日在芝加哥大学进行一场马拉松会议。（details and registration）

从9月25日开始，我们将在纽约大学的火炬俱乐部分布三个星期二晚上。（details and registration）

上ly five spots are left in Chicago and a few more in NY so sign up now or never! Hope to see you there.