Let Your Voice Be Heard

CHICAGO, Jan 19, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Past legislative initiatives that have harmed Illinois consumers' access to wine have spurred a group of Illinois wine and free trade lovers to announce the formation of the Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition (IWCC). The Internet home of the IWCC can be found at http://www.illinoiswineconsumers.org.

The mission of the new consumer-advocacy group reads in part:
"The Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition and its members provide a voice for Illinois wine consumers. Our foundational principle is that Illinois consumers should have full access to the wines of their choice from both Illinois and out-of-state sources. A well-regulated and efficient wine market should provide full access to all wines for adult Illinois consumers."

PASSAGE OF ANTI-CONSUMER WINE BILL SPURS GROUP'S CREATION
"Our goal is to educate Illinois consumers, Illinois media and Illinois lawmakers on the issue of consumer access to wine and the benefits of free trade," said Gretchen Neuman, a member of the IWCC steering committee. "In addition, we will be working with other advocacy groups and growing our membership and our voice with the goal of giving Illinois consumers access to wines via direct shipping -- access that was stripped from Illinois consumers with the implementation of HB 429 in 2008."

Illinois wine consumers were stripped of their right to purchase wine from out-of-state wine retailers in 2008. The passage of HB 429 removed this right after Illinoisans had enjoyed full access to the American wine market for 15 years. The fact that consumers were never taken into account during deliberations over HB 429 helped give impetus to the creation of the IWCC.
"As a voice for Illinois consumers, we fully believe that wine sales should be well regulated and taxed," said Neuman. "However, this can easily be accomplished while still providing Illinoisans with full access to the American wine market."

WINE LOVERS ACROSS ILLINOIS INVITED TO ADD VOICES TO COALITION
"The recent restrictions on consumer access to wine in Illinois that resulted from HB 429 were clearly nothing more than payoff to the well-heeled Illinois alcohol distributors, the only group that benefits from restricting access to wine," said Neuman. "In the past five years Illinois alcohol distributors have given more than $3.5 million dollars in political contributions to help grease the wheel's of anti-consumer wine legislation."

Wine lovers and supporters of free trade across Illinois are invited to join the IWCC. As members they will get regular updates about the state of consumer access to wine in Illinois. In addition, the IWCC will encourage its membership to reach out to lawmakers, media and other wine consumers to assure they are very clear where Illinoisans stand when bills concerning wine and consumers are being considered in Springfield. Finally, the IWCC will be actively working to overturn the anti-consumer aspects of HB 429.

"Illinois wine consumers have been ignored and punished in the past and the principles of free trade shelved for the sake of special interests," said Neuman. "That won't happen again as long as the IWCC is watching and participating in the process."

For more information on the Illinois Wine Consumer Coalition visit http://www.illinoiswineconsumers.org.

Join the fan page on facebook too!

Quality Assurance Program

Canada is doing it; so is Pennsylvania; why not Illinois? At the last meeting of the IWA members discussed the prospect of submitting Illinois wines, from member wineries, for analysis. The analysis doesn’t award the wines with bronze, silver and gold but with a stamp of approval.

There is such a plethora of wines available to consumers that having a ‘stamp of approval’ could give assurance to buyers that the wine has been tested and is well worth their money. It’s a project that IWA is doing research on and was just delighted to see someone else trying it out.

Member News: Blue Sky Winemaker Dinner

April 12, 2008 – 1:00pm – 3:00pm

Save the date for an opportunity to enjoy award-winning Illinois wines and 4-star quality food at Blue Sky Vineyard. Learn the basics of wine tasting and the rules of wine and food pairing. Meet our winemaker Karen Hand, "Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Associations" - Vintner of the Year 2006, and enjoy a delicious, catered 5-course meal.

After the class join our winemaker for a tour of our cellar. Each person that attends the course will receive a 10% off coupon good towards a purchase made that day at the vineyard.

Read what some of our guests said about our first "Wine & Food" course:

"I enjoyed this very much. This was my first wine class. I would like to repeat it someday, just to refresh. Thank You!" - Wine Drinker for 7 years

"This class was very well presented and easy to understand and best of all, a lot of fun. Great wine, great food, and great information!" - Deb Browning

"Great workshop! Very informative. - A nice way to spend an afternoon! - Wine Drinker for 20 years

Caterer and Menu Information Will Be Available March 5, 2008

For More Information Contact:

Blue Sky Vineyard

3150 S. Rocky Comfort Rd. Makanda, IL 62958
Phone: 618-995-9463 Fax: 618-995-9763

Be Informed

The passing of House Bill 0429 in 2007 has left the Illinois Winemakers’ Alliance with a battle on their hands. Our battle will begin with first informing our consumers of what HB0429 will do. Here is the letter we will be sending out to our mailing lists:


Dear Illinois Wine Consumer,

I am writing to you in regards to current wine legislation that will affect Illinois wine consumers. Recently House Bill 0429 was signed by Governor Blagojevich and will become law July 1, 2008. The media has portrayed this bill as beneficial to all Illinois wine consumers and Illinois wineries, while it actually strips the rights of the consumer and stunts the growth of the Illinois wine industry.

We want to inform you of how the bill will affect you as a consumer:

HB0429 Ignores you, the Illinois wine consumer
HB0429 Strips your rights as Illinois citizens to buy wine from out-of-state retailers
HB0429 Increases the cost of wine to you, the consumer
HB0429 Stops the function of the free market
HB0429 Is an Illegal restraint of trade and commerce
HB0429 Prevents industry competition
HB0429 Limits fair access of Illinois wines to the retail market
HB0429 Creates an Imbalance of distribution among state wineries
.
While the private interest of the commercial entities in the industry is artificially protected from the challenges of dealing with the changes in the market place, there is no noticeable advancement of the public welfare.

We will be contacting Illinois Senators and Representatives to review the Illinois Alcoholic Beverage Laws and Regulations. The Federal Trade Commission, the federal agency in charge of consumer protection and anti-trust enforcement, will be looking into wine distribution in various states.

We urge you, the Illinois Wine Consumer, to contact your state representative and senator. Further information can be found at www.illinoiswinemakersalliance.com as well as links to contact your local and state representatives.

Should you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us at 630.529.9463 or at wineinfo@lynfredwinery.com. In the meantime we, as Illinois Winemakers, will be planning our next move.

Sincerely,

Fred Koehler
President
IWA

Scott Lawlor
Vice President
IWA

Tom Stone
Executive Director
IWA

This letter will be followed by similar letters to our state representatives, senators and the members of the press. We urge you to share this letter with fellow wine lovers anyway you can, email, blog, anything! Help us fight the fight!

Back with a Force

After a long holiday season we are back to blog! The holidays are a busy time for wineries and wine retailers and I apologize for the lack of blogs but now we’re back in force.

The Illinois Winemakers’ Alliance is still fighting the effects of HB 0429 in Illinois and today the newspapers and media outlets are abuzz with the revelation of wholesaler’s political donations.

The SWRA has released monetary donation charts of the wholesaler’s political contributions and Wines & Vines printed the article today. The Sun Times and The Chicagoist also picked up on outrageous donations. Take a moment to read for yourselves and you’ll realize how hard it is for the Illinois Wineries to fight these battles, the wholesaler’s just have the money.

Stay tuned for upcoming political action by the IWA.

Kansas Governor Needs Some Wine Education

Today we were sent an article about the Governor of Kansas, Kathleen Sebelius, who probably, nonchalantly said “If you ever see Kansas wine, don’t drink it”. Naturally we were compelled to post it.

As seen in our recent post on favorite bloggers, we mention how our favorites have an open mind to wine. For many years the general perception was that only good wine came from France. About a decade ago, wine lovers realized there were also great wines from California and eventually the entire west coast. What many people do not realize is that there are wineries in every single state of the US. Great wines are being created all over our great nation and it is quite disheartening when the head of state doesn’t even realize there are wineries there.

In the past we have not followed the politics of Governor Sebelius so this is not a political bash, however this would be a great opportunity for some wine education.

Sebelius makes quip about Kansas wine


It might not be a good idea to serve Kansas wine to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

At a fundraiser Tuesday for Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington state, Gregoire praised her state’s wine, says the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

“You should be thankful we don’t make wine in Kansas,” Sebelius said. “If you ever see Kansas wine, don’t drink it.”

Norm Jennings, manager of a Salina, Kan., winery, didn’t find the joke funny: “It hurts.”

Spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said Sebelius was making the point that Washington produced more wine than Kansas. “She then made a poor attempt at humor but says she won’t do that again!” she said.

Illinois' Grape Expectations

A look at this season's grape expectations

September 19, 2007
Naperville Sun Times

Autumn is the time of year when grape growers all over the world lovingly harvest their crops and celebrate their bounty.

However, the recent adverse weather could put a damper on much of the merriment. Our world's shifting weather patterns have made it challenging for grape growers across the globe. Locally, with the recent rainstorms and flooding, I was concerned about its impact on Illinois wine production.

Harvest forecast

Overseas, it has been very difficult for grape growers. France experienced a cold, wet summer and had widespread attacks of vine mildew, translating into lower production this year. South Africa and Argentina also have repeated poor harvests. Parts of Australia have suffered from a very hot, dry growing season and fires. The resultant ash will dominate their grape juice with notes of smoke and bacon.

On the other hand, California experienced ideal growing conditions. Grapes love warm, sunny summer days, cool nights and light rain. Winemakers check the grapes pH, acidity and brix (the amount of sugar, which is available to convert to alcohol) levels. When right, the growers rush to pick the crops before any heavy fall rains occur. Grape growers prefer a drier, warm summer as it creates some vine stress (resulting in better wine) and allows a grower to add, through irrigation, the amount of water the crop needs. You can always add water, but cannot take it away.

Locally, our Illinois winemakers had a more challenging year. Kori Faltz of the Fox Valley Winery reported the early summer provided weather the grapes love. The heavy rains in August adversely affected the grape pH, acidity and brix, so more time was needed on the vine to hopefully restore the grapes to the proper levels. The recent Labor Day sun helped. Assuming some fall sunshine, our wet August will delay the harvest and only affect the winemaker's production schedule.

Andres Basso, the Director of Winemaking at Lynfred Winery of Roselle informed me they source some grapes in Illinois and Michigan, but the majority of grapes come from California and Washington. Given the West Coast's good harvest conditions, they are confident in the quality of their 2007 vintage.

Wine festivals

This past weekend, there were three separate festivals celebrating the fall harvest. The Naperville Wine festival was held at the Naper Settlement. Your entrance ticket included a souvenir wine glass and 10 tastings from more than 200 wine selections. Geneva celebrated the 25th anniversary of their Festival of the Vine. Twenty local restaurants offered their signature dishes along with 14 wines to sample. Local merchants offered Festival specials and horse drawn carriage rides were available. The Fox Valley Winery offered grapes in large vats for stomping, and participants received a complimentary shirt with space for their grape stained footprints. One of the state's largest wine festivals was held at Starved Rock State Park. This festival featured wines from 20 award-winning Illinois wineries. Both days featured Illinois grape seminars.

There's still time to enjoy this fall tradition. Coming up, there are two local wine festivals that are well worth checking out:

• Harvest Fest When: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Held at the Faltz Family Vineyards, 2714 N. 4251st Road, Sheridan.
Who: Fox Valley Winery
What: This fun day includes vineyard tours, wine tastings, a vintage baseball game, grape stomp and grape spitting contests and musical entertainment.
For more information: www.foxvalleywinery.com.

• Lynfred's Annual Oktoberfest, Pig Roast and Grape Stomp
When: 3 to 9 p.m. Sept. 29 and noon to 7 p.m. Sept. 30
Where: 15 S. Roselle Road, Roselle.
Who: Lynfred Winery.
What: Lots of wine, food and fun are guaranteed at this annual event. Activities for the whole family with German sing-a-longs, grape spitting, grape stomping, cork tossing and barrel races! Plentiful food with roasted pig, warm German potato salad and all the fixings plus bratwurst and "heavenly" sweet corn. Tasty desserts are also available.
For more information: www.lynfredwinery.com.

Bill Garlough is a Level One Master Sommelier. He also is an owner of My Chef Catering of Naperville, the 2007 Recipient of the US Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year Award. He can be reached at www.mychef.com or winepairings@mychef.com.

First Sideways, Now Ratatouille

The first time I tried telling my boss about the movie Ratatouille was quite a fiasco. Here’s how it went down. . .

Being in the wine business, any new movie featuring food and wine gets my attention! So I decided to ask my boss, a devout foodie and owner of Lynfred Winery, if he was going to take his grandkids to go see the new Disney cartoon ‘Ratatouille’. He said he had not heard of it. I, of course, said ‘oh, you HAVE to go! Not only would your grandkids love it but so would you!’ He then asks what it is about. This is where everything goes downhill.

The first words out of my mouth were ‘so it’s about this rat who wants to be a chef’. That is all I needed to say, before I could go on he was talking about how horrifying that must be, the travesty! ‘A rat as a chef? Ridiculous!’ Needless to say, I made him watch the trailer and he’s already planning a date with the grandkids.

So that leaves me with the pondering question. How will people perceive a wine with a rat on it? Well, if it goes over as well as the movie has, I would predict quite well. Here’s an article I found regarding the new ‘Ratatouille Chardonnay’:

July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Will a cartoon-movie rat on the label of a French-made chardonnay entice drinkers to pick it up?

We'll find out next week, when 2004 Ratatouille, named for Disney-Pixar's charming animated foodie flick, goes on sale for $12.99 at Costco stores in 18 U.S. states. This licensed bottling ushers in what may be a whole new trend for wine and the movies.

Plenty of films feature real wine brands, including 2004's ``Sideways,'' which doubled sales of California pinot noir. That's why wineries use product-placement agencies to get their labels on the screen.
The 2004 Ratatouille is the reverse version of this promotion strategy: It's the first movie-branded wine, and it's going retail.

The Disney wine doesn't spring from anything specific in the film's story of an ambitious young country rat named Remy who has haute-cuisine dreams and finally makes it as a four-star chef in Paris. The few wines in the film are big-deal bottles. I spotted a Cote-Rotie, a 1961 Chateau Latour and, in the scene when feared restaurant critic Anton Ego orders the legendary 1947 Cheval Blanc, what turns up on his table is Lafite- Rothschild.

Ratatouille wine is more modest, a crisp white from the Macon region of Burgundy. Louisiana-based importer D.C. Flynt M.W. Selections, which handles many wine projects for Costco, sourced the wine from an historic estate, Chateau de Messey. Owner Marc Dumont produced it from grapes in his Cruzille vineyard and put the movie label on a mere 500 cases of his regular Bourgogne chardonnay.

Costco Wine Program
The wine tie-in idea surfaced at a Disney-Costco summit in California, says Annette Alvarez-Peters, who oversees the Issaquah, Washington-based retail chain's wine program. She is coy about financial arrangements with Disney, but a typical licensing royalty is 8 percent to 12 percent of the retail price. Given the small numbers, it's hard to view the wine as more than a promotional gimmick.

But there may be a future for a limited number of movie- and TV-branded wines on retail shelves. Surely the wineries featured in ``Bottle Shock'' and ``The Judgment of Paris,'' two films now in production, will pick up on the idea and offer movie-labeled cuvees when they hit theaters next year. Both tell the story of the famous 1976 tasting in Paris when a handful of California wines beat out the best of France.

The future for real brands on the screen seems bright. Producers and set designers may be influenced by gift bags with free bottles, but serendipity sometimes reigns.

Free Publicity
Consider the appearance earlier this year of Kendall- Jackson Vintner's Reserve cabernet in the opening scene of a TV episode of ``The New Adventures of Old Christine.'' Star Julia Louis-Dreyfus pulls out a bottle hidden under her bathrobe, announces she's keeping ``Mr. Kendall Jackson'' company tonight and takes the bottle into her bedroom.
``I nearly fell out of my chair,'' recalls George Rose, head of public relations for the giant California winery, who was watching the show. He says L.A. product-placement agencies call regularly, pitching a $100,000 budget to place the brand, but this, he reports gleefully, ``cost us nothing.''

For tiny brands, the results can be big. When Demi Moore seduced Michael Douglas with a Napa Valley cult chardonnay, 1991 Pahlmeyer, in the 1994 thriller ``Disclosure,'' owner Jayson Pahlmeyer was inundated. ``I could have sold 400,000 bottles,'' he says, ``but I only made 400 cases.'' Pahlmeyer provided two free cases to the film and paid no fee.

Product Placement
Usually, though, an ``integrated entertainment marketing'' agency is the go-between. Six years ago, Napa Valley's Clos du Val was the first small winery to pursue on-screen product placement, and it paid an agency, Set Resources of Culver City, California, a $5,000 monthly retainer. Soon after, James Gandolfini was pouring Clos du Val on ``The Sopranos.'' Since late 2005, the wines have appeared in 25 TV shows and nine films, including recent figure-skating comedy ``Blades of Glory.''

Clos du Val's distinctive terra-cotta-colored label is easy to identify on the screen, where instant recognition is essential. Champagne Mumm's Cordon Rouge, with its red sash on the label, has a long movie history -- from the Bogart and Bergman scene in ``Casablanca'' (where he says ``Here's looking at you, kid'') to the more recent ``Pearl Harbor'' and ``A Beautiful Mind.''

Hollywood sells, so the bottles of 2004 Ratatouille will surely go quickly. The mystery is why Disney got involved. Profit on 6,000 bottles is a blip in the hundreds of millions the company will earn from consumer products in fiscal 2007. Maybe it's part of Disney's push to attract sophisticated adults with items like furniture.

On the other hand, how sophisticated is a cartoon rat? For movie-magic chardonnay, if budget is no object, I think I'll stick with 2005 Pahlmeyer ($70), which doesn't have a rodent on the label.