Pictured on the left is Reva Singh of Sommelier India, Patrick Maroteaux, President of the UGC, Serena Sutcliffe of Sotheby's International. On the right is Georg Josef Riedel of Riedel Glas and Philippe Casteja of Chateau Batailley at the Bordeaux En Primeur dinner, April 2007.

Some say that the Bordeaux 2006 vintage could be as special as the famous 1982. Most critics however, argue that the 2006 are not even up to the 2005 let alone the 1982. While on the surface this might appear to be just wine critics bickering among themselves, huge amounts of money are involved. How the world perceives the vintage, determines how the wines appreciate in time.

Baron Elie de Rothschild, the banker who revived Chateau Lafite after World War II, died of a heart attack at the age of 90. He was the former head of the board of the Swiss bank Rothschild AG in Zurich.

He led a program to restore the vineyards and buildings after the war and led Chateau Lafite through some excellent vintages such as the 1945, 1947 and 1949 and later the 1955, 1959 and the 1961. Baron Elie was a founding member of the Bordeaux wine guild. Chateau Lafite is one of the largest in the Médoc and produces around 35,000 cases annually of which between 15,000 and 25,000 are of its famous first growth.

The French reputed the world over for their fine wines, exquisite flavours and traditional businesses are forging into the Asia Pacific to deepen their footprint in the Asian wine Industry. Ms Christine Gilguy, Deputy Chief Editor of MOCI reported at Vinexpo recently that French wine exports to Singapore jumped by 43% to €360 million in 2006. This is more than 3 times the value of French wine exports to China which stood at €100 million the same year.” Sommelier India partners with Wine for Asia.

Researchers, specialists and farm advisors at the University of California at Davis have done a important viticulture research over many years. They have created a website so that wine growers can keep up with the latest viticulture research. Called the Integrated Viticulture Online, the website is designed and maintained by the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Integrated Grape Production Workgroup.

Torrential rains in northern Europe has left French vineyards at risk of losing a significant percentage of their vintage from rot and mildew according to Decanter magazine. The Bordeaux wine region is especially hard hit. There's been heavy rain in May, June and so far into July with mildew spreading to the grapes. The southern Graves is the worst affected region with a few vineyards losing up to 90% of their crop.

Robert Parker is recognized as probably the most formidable wine critic in the world. His opinions make or break vintages. Now not only is he going to formidable now but omnipresent too. As the San Francisco Chronicle and other newspapers have reported, Robert Parker tasting notes will be laminated onto airplane pull-down tray tables as part of a deal to sell advertising on US Airways planes.

These tasting notes will be from Robert Parker's column in Businessweek. One can't help but wonder whether US Airways will serve wine that is criticized on the pull out trays. Arguably, this is more a reflection of the dire financial straits that the American airline industry is in than it is of the growth of wine in America.

On a separate note, if you're wondering what wine Virgin Airways serves in economy on its Delhi-London sector, we have the answer for you. It's a French Vin de pays bottled by Berry Brothers & Rudd.

This time it was the Telegraph UK, newspaper's turn to discuss the emergence of wine across the Indian subcontinent. What was nice about the article is that rather than focusing on statistics or the industry, instead it focused on consumers and their introduction to wine. A Tulleeho wine appreciation event was featured and Magandeep Singh who writes for Sommelier India was quoted discussing wine.

But probably best of all, the article reminded readers that India's 16th and 17th century Mughal emperors drank wine - mostly Shiraz from Persia. Wine is gaining popularity across the country but by no means are we completely new to wine. Indians had wine before many New World countries even existed!

Decanter Magazine is reporting that the French winemakers are clear on who they would like to win the French Presidential election. Nicolas Sarkozy is being backed by Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne winemakers for one simple reason - he has hinted that he may loosen the restrictions on wine advertising by the Evin Law.

Newsweek magazine recently covered the Indian wine industry. According to them there are some 200 million Indian whisky drinkers and only 700,000 regular wine drinkers. It is hard to believe that there are only 700,000 regular wine drinkers however we do know that the numbers are growing. The article also cited retail sales of $100 million and growth of 35% annually with 1.3 million cass being turned out a year.

Most interesting though was the author's list of favorite Indian wines. He chose 12 wines from 4 vineyards. Among those included were Sula's Sauvignon Blanc (a favorite among many Indians), Chateau Indage's Chantilli Chardonnay, Mountain View Winery's Cabernet Shiraz blend and Blue Star Winery's Bluefolds Syrah. Pictured above is the Mountain View Winery in Nasik, Maharashtra.

Just as the Indian retail sector is opening up for the wine industry with the availability of wine in supermarkets like Hypercity and Food Bazaar, the French are facing new challenges. Decanter magazine is reporting that French wine activists torched supermarkets in the early hours of April 20th in the Herault region. This appears to be the work of CRAV (comite regional d'action viticole), a group of wine sector protestors who want greater protection for the French wine industry including restrictive tariffs on imports, subsides and other measures to protect France's share of the global wine market.

Ironically, Indian wine importers and consumers alike are pushing the central government to reduce tariffs here.

Mouton Cadet, the world's leading Bordeaux AOC wine has been named the official wine sponsor of the Tribeca Film Festival. Taking place April 25 through May 6 in Lower Manhattan, the Tribeca Film Festival has quickly become the fastest growing film festival in North America, featuring over 250 films from more than 40 countries and attracting nearly half a million attendees in 2006.

Founded in 1930 by the late Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton Cadet is essentially the world’s first wine “brand.” Rothschild’s goal was to market high-quality wine made from declassified (those not used by his Chateau) grapes, to a world of burgeoning quality-conscious, wine consumers. While some members of the Rothschild family felt that Mouton Cadet was hurting the premium image of the Rothschild, the late Baron went ahead with the creation of Mouton Cadet.

The 2006 En Primeur season certainly did not provide the same excitement as the 2005 one did. Unlike last year, critics aren't declaring this to be the best vintage of the decade let alone the century. Wine makers and négociants alike while being positive are more muted in their praise. The weather has a lot to do with this response. The weather patterns in Bordeaux during the latter part of harvesting set the tone for the vintage.

Sharp contrasts in the weather alternating between very high temperatures in July and September with low ones in August heavily influenced the vintage. The stormy weather during mid September forced wine growers to pick more quickly as they were worried about rot.