If you've ever wanted to be part of a Guinness World Record you might want to check out one of the many pubs across England in the JD Wetherspoon group on May 21. The British pub chain is holding a free wine tasting on May 21 at 6p.m. hoping to get the record for the world's largest synchronized wine tasting. We aren't talking a great vintage here, they are offering free 1.7-ounce servings of Fetzer Coldwater Creek Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Grigio or white Zinfandel but it might be fun to be part of such a huge undertaking.

[via Wine Spectator]

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the Spottswoode wine dinner held at Chinois on Main, Wolfgang Puck's restaurant in Santa Monica. With an entire food empire to tend to you wouldn't think that Wolfgang Puck would still get in the kitchen but last night he cooked beside chef Rene Mata. The restaurant has been open since 1983, making this year the 25th anniversary of this California landmark.

Spottswoode wine has an even longer history. Spottswoode is a family-owned historic vineyard and winery which was established in 1882 by George Schonewald. The estate features a Victorian home which is shown on the Spottswoode label. The Spottswoode name comes from Mrs. Albert Spotts, who owned the property from 1910 until 1972 (the "woode" part of the name was added for fancy effect). In 1972, Mary Weber Novak and her husband Dr. Jack Novak purchased the winery, moving their family from San Diego to St. Helena. The vineyards were planted with a variety of grapes but were then replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Shortly after this Dr. Novak died and Mrs. Novak continued to sell the grapes to other producers. Finally in 1982, the first Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon was produced. Today, two of Mary's daughters, Beth and Lindy, work for the family winery which currently produced around 3,000 cases a year of Spottswoode Estate Cabernet Sauvignon. They also produce the Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc, which is made from grapes purchased elsewhere and the Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon, which is the estate's second label. The estate also produces a limited amount of olive oil. The winery has been certified organic since 1990 and is committed to environmentally sensitive practices.

The dinner at Chinois was definitely not for vegetarians but the rich food was well complemented by the various Spottswoode vintages served. The 2001 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon is particularly noteworthy and well worth finding if you can get your hands on it. The wines are pricey, the 2005 Spottswoode Cabernet Sauvignon is $130 and the 2005 Lyndenhurst Cabernet Sauvignon is $60 but the wines are everything you'd expect from a Napa Cab, rich with cherry flavors that straddle the line between being fruity enough to appeal to the nose but spicy and layered enough to tempt the tongue. The 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, which sells for $32 is a great summer wine. It doesn't have the grassy and mineral flavors of some Sauvignon Blancs. Instead it has tastes of pineapple and citrus and is a crisp white that would be a great wine for drinking on its own or with light food.

The gallery below shows each course and the wines served for this very special meal.

When it comes to recycling most people don't think of the wine cork. Usually people either save them as mementos, turn them into trivets, bulletin boards or in one rare case a suit, or the simply place them back into the wine bottle and toss the bottle in the recycling bin. FOr personal consumption it's perhaps not that big an issue but when you are talking about restaurants and wine tasting rooms, that can be a lot of corks. ReCork America is a new recycling program sponsored by Amorim, a Portuguese cork manufacturer. The project began as a pilot program in Oregon is in place in many San Francisco businesses and restaurants and is spreading into Napa Valley, the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena recently came onboard. The plan is to eventually take cork recycling nationwide. Used corks can be recycled and remade into floor tiles, insulation, gardening products and more. According to an article in the Napa Valley Register, the biggest problem is logistics, if it takes more energy to pick up the corks than it negates the worth of the recycling. So far, this has been a grassroots program with people getting the word out and working to gather corks to deliver to collection centers as well as starting to brainstorm new uses for the recycled cork. For more information, visit the ReCork America website.

I'm far too lazy to have my own winery but I love stories of small family-owned wineries. Foursight Wines is a new Anderson Valley family owned and operated winery producing just a few hundred cases of cool-climate Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc each year. Foursight Wines is a collaboration between two generations of the Charles family: Bill and Nancy - local winegrowers - their daughter, Kristy (the executive director of the Anderson Valley Winegrowers Association), and her fiancé, Joe Webb (a Sonoma State Wine Business graduate, currently working with Londer Vineyards). That's Kristy and Joe hard at work in the picture on the right. The name refers to the four people behind the wine as well as to four generations that have lived and worked on the same land which has in the past been a timber mill, farmland, grazing land for livestock, and now a winery.

The 2006 Charles Vineyard Pinot Noir was hand-harvested from the family vineyard and sells for $46 (425 cases produced). The 2007 Anderson Valley Sauvignon Blanc came from the Ferrington Vineyard and was made in 100% stainless steel and sells for $20, (189 cases produced). All vineyard work is done by the family, with help only during pruning and harvest. A tasting room is in the works and should be open in fall 2008, for now the wines can be ordered at the winery website.

California Chardonnays sometimes get a bad reputation for being overly oaky. While big, oaky Chards definitely have their place, especially with richer foods, an unoaked Chardonnay can offer a light and fruity taste that is perfect for summer. Summers Estate Wines in Calistoga has released their "Le Nude," a limited-production un-oaked Chardonnay which is fermented in stainless steel and produced from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley. This is the first time Summers Estate Wines has produced a "naked" Chardonnay. The wine is made from grapes grown in the Alexander Valley and has flavors of tropical fruit and yellow flowers. This wine sells for $24 and has a screw cap, making it an easy choice for outdoor picnics.

This week will mark the release of the 2005 edition of the Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. The wine benefits the Lasallian Education Fund (LEF), the West Coast Educational Foundation of the De La Salle Christian Brothers. This is the second release of this wine created to honor a grand icon of California's wine industry. The collectible wine is crafted by The Hess Collection Winery and for the first time, this wine was made from a tiny, single vineyard using the Mont La Salle Vineyard estate grapes grown at the site of the original Christian Brothers winery where Brother Timothy worked as cellar master for more than 50 years. The wine is a blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Malbec and 5% Petit Verdot and has rich cherry and plum flavors. It was aged for 18 months in French oak.

The 2005 Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon will release on May 15, 2008 at a reception held at Wilson Daniels Ltd. and retails for $94 per 750-mL ($194 per 1.5 liter).Approximately 100 cases were made, including a number of large-format bottles. Pre-sale orders, which will receive a 10% pre-release discount, will be taken by phone and by mail May 1 – June 15, 2008. All proceeds benefit the Lasallian Education Fund, the fundraising arm of Lasallian schools located in the District of San Francisco, which exists to serve low-income families who do not have access to a quality education. Currently, some 10,000 students in four western states are benefiting from education in the tradition of the De La Salle Christian Brothers.

I've seen a few real estate developments that combine vineyards and residences in the States and it seems that idea is becoming popular elsewhere. Decanter reports on La Melonera, a new 200 hectare (approx. 495 acres) development in southern Spain's winemaking region, Ronda's Serrania. Buyers will take on a section of the vineyard and make their own wine with the help of expert winemakers. The plots vary between 12 and 48 acres. The estate is planted with local grape varieties including the La Melonera which gives the property its name and the first harvest is expected in 2011. Sales of the properties will begin in June and prices start at 3.5 million euros.

Bordeaux chateaux are starting to release their prices for the 2007 vintage but there is already bad news. The emperor of wine, famed wine critic Robert Parker has slammed the latest vintage handing out low scores and branding the vintage as overpriced. Wine buyers often look to Parker's scores to see if they should buy wine futures which are sold two years before a vintage's release. In his vintage review titled "2007 Bordeaux: Who Will Buy Them and at What Price?" he has basically told buyers not to bother unless prices are lowered dramatically.

The news is devastating for some Bordeaux producers for whom Parker's scores may mean less sales. Certainly his advice carries considerable weight and may influence wine dealers not to purchase simply because they are afraid they won't be able to sell to wine collectors in the long run. Should any one man have this much power?

Parker gave only three of his coveted 100 point scores this year and all three were for whites, Chateau Pape Clement white and Haut-Brion, were both marked 96-100, and Chateau Climens, a sweet white tasted by Parker's British sidekick Neal Martin, got 98-100. Even Bordeaux's top five, first growth wines didn't even hit 95 with Chateau Margaux earning a 92-94, Chateau Haut-Brion a 91-94, and Mouton-Rothschild a 90-94. Chateau Lafite and Chateau Latour both got a 90-93.

Recently the Alabama Wine Trail opened to some controversy. The winery trail, which offers a map to the state's eight wineries has run afoul of a Baptist group which is against the promotion of alcohol. Wineries are driving increased tourism to unlikely places. While California is still the top wine tourism stop in the U.S. and Oregon and Washington are quickly gaining ground, the rest of the country is also working hard to lure wine tourists. With travel expenses running higher and higher, these destinations might be more appealing to those looking for a shorter trip closer to home. New York's Finger Lakes region has a number of different wine trails but some other winery trails are located in Iowa, Indiana and Virgina. Check out our gallery below for a look at wine trails around the country.

Italian motorcycle company Ducati has a wide variety of licensees, just check out our gallery below for a few, but they have now joined with a winemaker. Desmorosso is a Ducati's first licensed wine which is created with the Le Pignole winery. The first wine is the Desmorosso 2006, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, and 10% Carmenere grapes. The grapes come from hillside vineyards in the Colli Berici area, Municipalities of Brendola and Arcugnano. It is only available in six bottle packs which sells for 168 euros (around $260).

[via BallerHouse]

Small Califonria winery Jepson Winery north of Hopland in Mendocino County is back on the market. The Press-Deomocrat reports that the listing comes less than three years after the winery was acquired by an investment group that planned to create high-end estates on the 1,200-acre property. Facing a softening real estate market and tough building restrictions, the investment group opted to sell rather than pursue the project.

The property includes a turn key operating winery (which also has a special permit to distill and produce brandy and vodka) and a custom crush facility with 121 acres planted to vineyard under contract consisting of 12 different varietals plus an additional 100 acres plantable. The building also includes a winery building with a permit for 44,000 cases, tasting room, Victorian office/residence, guest house, shop, storage barn, pond and those other 1,000+ acres which can be developed as real estate. The property is listed at $10.5 million with NorCal Vineyards.

Ordinarily I cover wine events in the U.S. but this event n London caught my eye. Estates & Wines, the Moët Hennessy Wine Division (part of the LVMH) will be hosting a new wine event to showcase their collection of "New World" wines. The inaugural 'Discover the Flavours of the World' will take place in London on May 14, 2008 at Il Bottaccio, Grosvenor Place, Belgravia, London, UK . It will feature LVMH brands including Cloudy Bay from New Zealand and its sister winery Cape Mentelle in Australia; Australian sparkling wine Green Point; Terrazas de los Andes from Argentina which plants specific plants at the optimal altitude; Cheval des Andes also in Argentina; and Napa Valley's Newton winery which is a new addition to the LVMH portfolio. I had no idea LVMH had so many New World labels.

A limited number of free tickets are available, and can be reserved when ordering a special case of Moët Hennessy wines (£60 for a case of six bottles, plus p&p in the UK) of either Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Malbec 2006 or Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Chardonnay 2006. Alternatively, tickets can be purchased for £60. For further information, to purchase a case and ticket, please contact Rosalyn.LANE@mhuk.co.uk.

Tetrapak wines are not the newest thing but I think the typical consumer would assume the wine is cheaply made and would lack the taste of a finer wine. Yellow+Blue begs to differ. Moving towards a greener packaging product (get it -- yellow+blue makes green!) and getting away from heavier shipments which use more gasoline, Yellow+Blue has decided to choose light tetrapak over heavy glass bottles for their new Malbec. The tetrapak is the same kind of material which typically stores juice in boxes for kids -- I guess this means adults have "juice" boxes of their own now! The Argentinian Malbec is set to sell for about $11 per one liter pak which would have cost $20 per bottle. Drinks on the go, good for the earth and less expensive to boot! I'm in for a taste.

The Mojave Desert of Nevada does not make you think of rows of plump vines but surprisingly there is a vineyard there -- Pahrump Valley Winery. Boasting three red wines, three white wines, two blush wines and a sherry, this vineyard even has a restaurant to feed their hungry visitors. Recently, they released their first estate red wine deemed Nevada Ridge, a 2005 Zinfandel made exclusively from grapes grown in Pahrump Valley. Supposedly, this is the first commercial red wine ever made in Nevada which is quite the exciting turning point for the young industry. With only 1,100 bottles expected to be released the $75 Nevada Ridge wine is much anticipated.

Wine tycoon Bernard Magrez has run afoul of journalists by offering them what looks to be a classic bribe. Decanter reports that Magrez and his partner in wine, French actor Gerard Depardieu hosted journalists at a press lunch at the Alain Ducasse restaurant at the Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris on March 26. At the end of the lunch, journalists were giving a press kit and a box that contained a Cartier watch worth $2,641.

After what must have been some interesting moments of desire versus ethics, many of the journalists decided to either donate or return the watches. Magrez told Decanter he wasn't trying to buy good press, he was just using the watch as a way to commemorate the special occasion. The French website Backchich certainly isn't buying that. In their article titled The Advantages of Being a Wine Journalist, they feature a cartoon of a woman dressed in sparkling jewelry with a note pad and a glass of wine. My French is a bit rusty but I the caption roughly translates to this wine is rich and generous just like Mr. Depardieu.