The Grand Vol de Raisin de Champagne

The biggest novelty in wine this week was, of course, the appearance in Napa of Just the Tipsy wine in penis-shaped bottles, which is basically the logical (and classier) conclusion of wineries putting their production in. ever heavier bottles.

Wine journalists rarely need an excuse to walk around this kind of story, so this correspondent will leave it up to others to get hold of it with double meanings.

Sure, Croatiathe offer to lobby for the legal protection of its sweet white wines Prošek (in the face of Italian opposition on behalf of its sparkling white wines Prosecco producers) took another step forward with lawmakers agreeing to hear their submission, but here are some of the stories you may have missed:

Two hectares of stolen Champagne grapes

Believe it or not, this is a classic movement. It also takes a few balls, as the French would say, to secretly harvest 80 ares (two acres) of Champagne grapes under the nose of a local winemaker – and a veteran of the French army.

But that’s what happened to Morgan Moutaud, 34, this week at Mesnil-le Huttier, 15 km west of Epernay, in the Marne Valley sub-region in Champagne. Moutaud says the thieves took off with about 70 percent of his production. But he is not alone.

“We are several winegrowers in this situation,” Moutaud told the Union regional news channel. “We walk around at night and try to organize – as best we can – to avoid this theft.”

This is not, however, an isolated incident in Champagne. It looks like the region is in good shape with the grape theft occurring in the rough years, although there is.

“It’s a classic move,” Ay producer René Goutorbe told French newspaper Capital in 2019, “especially in low-yielding vintages. You often hear that someone has had 400 kg. [of grapes] stolen from their vines. “

The 2021 season has been difficult in France and Champagne has not been spared. Spring frosts at the start of the year and the appearance of late blight in vineyards during the season could explain a reduction in yield of about 50 percent in some areas, according to recent reports. Recent rains will likely have had an additional detrimental effect (in parts of southern France and Languedoc, midweek rains ruined entire blocks) and it is possible that fruit theft is not limited to the Champagne.

First agrovoltaic wine in the world in the south of France

The first commercial cuvée from a pioneer vineyard using automated sun protection started this week in the south of the Pyrénées-Orientales department. Domaine de Nidolères, in Tresserre, in the Rivesaltes and Côtes du Roussillon regions has been, since 2009, a test bed for the shading of vines by solar panels, but it was not until 2019 that the estate installed an automated louver system programmed to shade the vines when they were considered sufficiently sunny.

In a broad collaboration with, among others, Sun’R (specialist in solar energy and its agricultural applications, known as “agrovoltaic”), INRA, national researcher in vineyards and the Chamber of Agriculture of the Pyrenees, the project would protect leaves and grapes from sunburn, slows down ripening (and the over-accumulation of sugars in grapes), retains acidity and reduces evapotranspiration (effective reduction of irrigation requirements).

At night, the panels, which each have their own motor, can be placed parallel to the ground to reduce heat loss while, day or night, the panels can be adjusted to deflect wind or rain, potentially reducing heat loss. disease pressure. Although they are subjected to a pre-programmed algorithm, the panels are controlled from the Sun’R headquarters in Lyon.

The panels themselves sit a few feet above a five-hectare (12-acre) block in the estate (an adjacent 2.5 hectare / six additional acre control site) which in total covers approximately 50 hectares (120 acres). The panels are high enough for machine harvesting, which started midweek and Grenache Blanc, Chardonnay and Marselan.

“Today, sunburn destroys a whole bunch of trace elements in the grape and reduces the acidity of the fruit,” Domaine owner Pierre Escudié told the regional newspaper Actu-Perpignan. “In 20 years, I don’t know how many vines there will be in the department. The yields are lower and lower because of global warming … If we want to maintain a Mediterranean culture with our grape varieties, we will have to take measures like this. “

No news yet on the availability of the wine to come – probably a Table wine. Although not the first agrovoltaic system in agriculture – Japan is a world leader – it is the first known vineyard to use the system.

Wine bar produces video game wine

In another world premiere, Argentine creative agency Juju and Buenos Aires wine bar Anfibio Vineria have collaborated to bring the first wine created in a video game to life. Indeed, the Watcher may have spotted a bottle of wine in the famous Call of Duty video game franchise – specifically the Piccadilly multiplayer map in the controversial Call of Duty: Mondern Warfare 2019 game (often abbreviated as “MW” , by the way).

The wine in question is the fictitious Bodega Dominio Reserva de la Familia Malbec of Mendoza, on sale in the Cork & Glass wine merchant. And in a curious case of life imitating (gaming) art, Anfibio Vineria and The Juju have teamed up to research and label an imitation bottle, now on sale in Argentina’s capital.

“So that the whole world can experience the taste of a real Argentinian Malbec,” says a slogan on the promotional short.

Bordeaux has a dedicated canned wine factory

Not a milk-based laxative, but iconic French canned chocolate drink brand Cacolac has announced that it is losing 5 million euros (US $ 5.8 million) for the expansion of its canning factory in Léognan, in the southern suburbs of Bordeaux, to host an expansion of its canned wine program.

The company, which has been making its chocolate and canned milk drink since the 1950s, began canning wine in 2011. With the growth of its “In Can We Trust” wine division, the company invested the 5 million euros ($ 5.86 million) in a new 2000 square meter building, which will allow expansion into the hard seltzer category and bring production up to 9 million cans of seltzer and of wine per year.

According to the packaging industry publication Packaging magazine, the new facility will allow production of a wider range of packaging options and formats, and is expected to be live by the end of 2022.