Page 5 - Wine Journal

We certainly live in interesting times.

Today's top news was not the all-time-high of the stock market.  Rather, it is Christie's auction of an NFT for $69 million.

What is an NFT?  You may ask.  NFT stands for non-fungible token.  It is verified using blockchain technology, and is used as a proof of ownership to digital assets that the owners can replicate and sell copies of, or just look at.

It reminds us of the other non-fungible collectibles with authenticity certified, such as the 2018 Château Lafite Rothschild 150th Anniversary Almanac Case.  In the good old physical world, the quantity of such collectibles is limited, impossible to reproduce, liquid (in the most classical and literal sense), with a dwindling supply every time someone opens a bottle.

Cheers!  May you be blessed in the interesting times we live in.

"... signal the determination of both sides to embark on a fresh start in the relationship"

A week ago, we sent you an update on the 18-months long tariffs war between the US and the EU.  At the time, we paraphrased a wise man: “This, too, shall pass”.  With President Biden having declared his intention to rebuild ties with our traditional European allies, we believed it was a matter of when, not if, the tariffs war would end.
 
Well, it happened sooner than we thought.  Barely a week later, we received the first good news since October 2019 when the last US administration imposed 25% tariffs on French wine, Italian cheese, and Irish whisky (all the good things in life, one could say).  The White House announced the US and the EU just agreed to a 4-month pause in the 18-month long tariffs war, before a lasting trade arrangement is found.  The way we read the tea leaves, the lasting agreement is already under negotiations.
 
Our phone was ringing off the hook, from customers

International Women’s Day is on March 8th - just around the corner.  At Laguna Cellar, we are proud to present wines with connection to several of the many talented and hardworking women in the Bordeaux wine trade. 

Though there are past reports of Bordeaux being a traditionally male dominated industry, more and more women are taking a leadership role in the trade than ever before.  We want to take a moment and share our appreciation for a few outstanding women-run chateaux.  Not only are these women producing knockout wines, but they are also breaking barriers and remaking the image of Bordeaux.  That’s something to be celebrated, particularly around this time of the year!

Over the past 16 years, the US and the EU have been locked in a long running dispute over subsidies to Airbus and Boeing.  In October 2019, under the Trump administration, the US escalated the dispute into a trade war by imposing a 25% import tariff on French wine, Italian cheese, Irish whisky, and a long list of other EU products.  The EU retaliated by imposing tariffs on US export of fish, cheese, cotton, tractors, spirits...  Needless to say, it was an unpleasant time for importers/exporters and consumers of the products involved.  Us included.
After 16 months of tariffs war, avid wine buyers started to notice a gradual reduction in supply and increase in price of imported fine wine.  Some customers have started asking the question: "what's wine got to do with airplanes? will the price continue rising?"

On February 25, WSJ reported, Biden Trade Nominee Seeks Solution for Boeing-Airbus Dispute.  At the Senate confirmation hearing on her nomination, the nominee, Katherine

Our selections for February 2021 are:

Paul Jaboulet Aîné Domaine de Thalabert 2018, Crozes-Hermitage, rated 93-95 by Joe Czerwinski of the Wine Advocate.  Paul Jaboulet Aîné Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Thalabert is from the northern Rhone Valley.  This is a terroir known for producing good syrah, the only red grape permitted under the Crozes-Hermitage appellation's official rules.  The origin of Syrah has been confirmed to be indigenous to the Rhone Valley.  Crozes-Hermitage counts Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage as its neighbors.  While not as coveted as Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage, one does not have to pay the nosebleed price of Côte-Rôtie either.

Château Kirwan 2016, Margaux, rated 89-91 (Neal Martin).  Château Kirwanwas one of the châteaus actually visited by America's first wine connoisseur, Thomas Jefferson.  He wrote about Kirwan in his wine journal, and rated it a Second Growth (Jefferson's personal ratings system preceded the official 1855 Classification).  At the

Unlike their cousins at Mouton Rothschild who release a new wine label every year featuring a new artist's design, Lafite Rothschild almost never tinkered with its label's classic design, until the special occasion of 2018.  In celebration of the family's 150th Anniversary of ownership (1868-2018), Saskia de Rothschild, the chairwoman of Domaines Barons de Rothschild, who took over the executive management role in 2017 from her father, imagined a symbol playing on Lafite’s historic and centenary label, which has two women in the foreground looking into the distance. A hot air balloon was chosen to disrupt the label, sketched by Black Adder, a creative duo of illustrators.  Initials CL (150 in Roman numerals) are sketched on the balloon and inscribed in red on the shoulder of the bottle.

Saskia de Rothschild explains, “In 1868, hot air balloons were the absolute symbols of modernity and adventure. In 2018, we still see them fly but they have become the symbol of slowing down,

Not sure what to gift the wine lover in your life this Valentine's Day? Consider Château Calon Ségur.

A hundred years before the modern-day era of 1855 Bordeaux Classification, there lived a famous winemaker in Bordeaux.  He was the Marquis Nicolas-Alexandre de Ségur (1696 - 1755),  who was given the nickname “The Prince of Vines” by Louis XV following a glowing introduction to the royal court.  During his time, the Marquis de Ségur was considered the consummate winemaker with the magic touch in the whole of Europe.  In an unprecedented way unfollowed by anybody since his days,  he simultaneously owned these famous estates: Château Lafite (later known as Lafite Rothschild after Baron James de Rothschild bought it in 1868), Château Latour, Château Mouton (which became Mouton Rothschild in due course), and Château Calon (which later added Ségur to its name).  Exactly 100 years after his death, Lafite and Latour would be classified in 1855 as First Growths, Mouton as a Second

Fresh off the press, the Best Wine of the World competition, sponsored by the Tasting Book, named Château Mouton Rothschild 2018 the World's Best Wine of 2021.

This month's selection:

La Dame de Montrose 2015, Saint-Estèphe, rated 88-90 (Neal Martin).  La Dame de Montrose is the second wine of Château Montrose,  a heavy weight from Saint-Estèphe, just north of Pauillac.

Château La Dauphine 2015, Fronsac, rated 91-93 (Neal Martin).  For modern day wine drinkers, Fronsac is not a household name as Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien, or Saint-Emilion that define Bordeaux.  But, once upon a time, Fronsac's vineyards were among the best in the Bordeaux area.  In the 18th century, Fronsac’s wines enjoyed the best reputation in the Libourne area (i.e., the Right Bank of the Dordogne River), and sold at higher prices than those of Saint Emilion and Pomerol.

As the single largest property in Fronsac, Château de La Dauphine is mounting a major come-back, evoking its ties to Charlemagne (who built a fortress in Fronsac), Cardinal de Richelieu (who acquired the land and made its wine famous among the nobles), and its namesake title resulting