The Feiring Line

The Wine Cop: Pure Food & Wine (and Bette)

I love a great salad, especially in August with big, juicy, drippy, purple tomatoes standing in for a big, fat juicy duck. But, I really am not into a raw food regime, which seems more like a religion. So big surprise when friends took me to Pure Food and Wine (54 Irving Place) and I found the food delicious. This was some of the most flavorful food I've tasted in New York this summer. In their garden, mosquitoes feasted me upon, while we were all chomping down on algae (was great) and barely mushy barely warmed over samosas-- punchy complex concoctions. Skip the huge morels though, without butter and high heat, kind of a waste. The wine had a different plot line. The wine is coded. O for organic B for biodynamic S for sustainable (aka chemical farming) V for vegan (made without egg white fining) Nothing the matter with that, except so much of the code was wrong. In fact, justs eyeballing it, 13 wines were miscoded. It didn�t take much for the Wine Cop to come in and crack it. Hedges:B (not for another three years) Yalumba: B (hah!) Drouhin: B (Though the vineyards they own are biodynamic, I doubt the grapes sourced for their bourgogne rouge are.) Ch. Routas: O (not as far as the winemaker knows. had lunch with him last month.) Bonny Doon: B& O (double eek! I think. I could be wrong but I think it was double. I think the Santa Cruz vineyard got certified in June 2007 which means the first bioD vintage didn't happen yet.) Vietti: B (like hell) Alois Kracher: B (ha!) Amisfield: B (no) Mas de Daumas Gassac: B (oops!) It goes on and on. Whoever put the list together is clueless and it pisses me off. Why? It's not that I'm tolerant of mistakes, I make plenty myself. The reason is because someone knows that biodynamic and organic are buzzwords and if you call some manipulated crap either, you can sell it. Because the general public won't know, right? Endearingly, when I brought up the discovery to my server he wasn�t threatened. However, I have a feeling he thought I was a nut job. While he listened, seeds of discontent planted even as he insisted the Australian Yalumba was biodynamic as well as the Hedges from Washington State. That was what he was taught in staff training, after all. I wonder if the sales person in charge of training lets the staff know that sustainable means a grower can use the weed-killer Round-Up? Or that biodynamically grown doesn't necessarily mean naturally made? I know. I�m probably the only one in the room that cared. And I've got to wonder sometimes why I care. I suppose because I hate to see the wool being pulled over a wine drinkers eyes? Because I can see that biodynamic, organic and sustainable are marketers words? Ah well, such is the world. Do you think the model Giselle, a fan of the cuisine, cares that they put down sustainable for Domaine Chandon? (Of course, Sustainable means LOADS OF CHEMICALS. Do they know it?) But maybe she could care if given a chance. Like, who would have believed the diners across town gave a hoot? If the wine director of Pure want to see how they could incite passion in their patrons Super Models or plain folk, they should head cross town to Bette. (461 23rd Street (212) 366-0404) Wine Director Byron Bates invited me in and I was glad he did because I had heard about this miracle but never actually saw it in action. While I was drinking a charming Brignot rouge (gamay, pinot) and contemplating the Dard & Ribo St. Jo, I was amused to eavesdrop on the table next to me; some club types, a little Goth and a little Sex in the City. They were talking about Mr. Bates behind his back as their Wine God who could take them anywhere.

The Wine Cop: Pure Food & Wine (and Bette)

(Since this was published, Bette is no longer with us and Pure Food & W has gotten it together)

 love a great salad, especially in August with big, juicy, drippy, purple tomatoes standing in for a big, fat juicy duck. But, I really am not into a raw food regime, which seems more like a religion. So big surprise when friends took me to Pure Food and Wine (54 Irving Place) and I found the food delicious. This was some of the most flavorful food I've tasted in New York this summer. In their garden, mosquitoes feasted me upon, while we were all chomping down on algae (was great) and barely mushy barely warmed over samosas-- punchy complex concoctions.

Skip the huge morels though, without butter and high heat, kind of a waste. The wine had a different plot line. The wine is coded. O for organic B for biodynamic S for sustainable (aka chemical farming) V for vegan (made without egg white fining) Nothing the matter with that, except so much of the code was wrong. In fact, justs eyeballing it, 13 wines were miscoded. It didn't take much for the Wine Cop to come in and crack it.

Hedges:B (not for another three years) Yalumba: B (hah!) Drouhin: B (Though the vineyards they own are biodynamic, I doubt the grapes sourced for their bourgogne rouge are.) Ch. Routas: O (not as far as the winemaker knows. had lunch with him last month.) Bonny Doon: B& O (double eek! I think. I could be wrong but I think it was double. I think the Santa Cruz vineyard got certified in June 2007 which means the first bioD vintage didn't happen yet.) Vietti: B (like hell) Alois Kracher: B (ha!) Amisfield: B (no) Mas de Daumas Gassac: B (oops!) It goes on and on.

It's not that I'm tolerant of mistakes, I make plenty myself. The reason is because someone knows that biodynamic and organic are buzzwords and if you call some manipulated crap either, you can sell it. Because the general public won't know, right? Endearingly, when I brought up the discovery to my server he wasn't threatened. However, I have a feeling he thought I was a nut job.

While he listened, seeds of discontent planted even as he insisted the Australian Yalumba was biodynamic as well as the Hedges from Washington State. That was what he was taught in staff training, after all. I wonder if the sales person in charge of training lets the staff know that sustainable means a grower can use the weed-killer Roundup? Or that biodynamically grown doesn't necessarily mean naturally made? I know. I'm probably the only one in the room that cared. And I've got to wonder sometimes why I care. I suppose because I hate to see the wool being pulled over a wine drinkers eyes? Because I can see that biodynamic, organic and sustainable are marketers words? Ah well, such is the world. Do you think the model Giselle, a fan of the cuisine, cares that they put down sustainable for Domaine Chandon? (Of course, Sustainable means chemical farming. Do they know it?)

But maybe she could care if given a chance. Like, who would have believed the diners across town gave a hoot?

If the wine director of Pure want to see how they could incite passion in their patrons Super Models or plain folk, they should head cross town to Bette. (461 23rd Street (212) 366-0404) Wine Director Byron Bates invited me in and I was glad he did because I had heard about this miracle but never actually saw it in action. While I was drinking a charming Brignot rouge (gamay, pinot) and contemplating the Dard & Ribo St. Jo, I was amused to eavesdrop on the table next to me; some club types, a little Goth and a little Sex in the City. They were talking about Mr. Bates behind his back as their Wine God who could take them anywhere.

The Skurnik Tasting Report---And a Krug Dream

From the line outside of the Puck Bldg on Wednesday you'd think it was the Tre Bicchieri tasting instead of Michael Skurnik. The tasting was just as jammed as it used to be in the old days, when Skurnik was the only game in town. Back in the early 90's, Skurnik was the BMOC and I was selling for Victor Schwartz (VOS). My seven clients loved me but they would not give me a pour because they had to pour Skurnik! So of course I hated the firm. What the hell were they doing that I didn't? Why couldn't I twist elbows like they could? In the end, they stood between me and health insurance. Now, the world is a happier place because I'm out of the selling game, Skurnik (and Victor, for that matter) are still around. And there is plenty of competition but Skurnik still has some good people on their roster. As part of my self-improvement program, I made a pact with myself to taste wines outside of my radar. BIBI GRAETZ (Tuscany) I used to dance Morris with someone named Shag Graetz during my Boston years. He was an ageless, mustachioed, walking, dancing Flemish painting. His galleys and double -steps were close to the ground but he was a very smooth dancer and had no trouble getting into the pants of girls twenty-thirty years younger. Smooth, there you go. That's what I think of mostly after tasting these wines and smooth is not one of my favorite wine terms. ( More on that later.) This Graetz (no relation), is a fanatic about teensy yields, so the notes say. I'm reporting that at his table he exhibited photos of grapes fermenting inside of barrique with small plungers for punch down. OK. Fanatic. Misguided but fanatic. I suppose some people think anything worth doing is over doing. Technique aside, this $780 case (wholesale!) of sangiovese grosso and canaiolo called Testamatta, was terribly typical. Yes, very concentrated, concentrated out of personality. It was vanilla coated ink. I would doubt it could age but would love someone to call me up in ten years to give it a sip or two. There was a $96 case of vermentino called Bianco di Casamatta. Very pineapple. Not what I think of with vermentino which in the perfect world, reminds me of the sea. TERRE NERE "This is not your typical Sicilian estate, mass-producing jammy reds that could be mistaken for Shiraz." (From the official Skurnik booklet.) That was true. They were something in middle between mass and authentic. In other words, the wines had a little work done, not a complete face-lift. I had the chance to try Marco deGrazia's own Nerello Mascaleses from Sicily. First up was the Etna Rosso. Not bad. Cherry. But enough earth to make the cherry sensible. It was a pleasant wine. Sure, I would drink this but for a retail price at over $24? Probably not. On a wine list for $40? No. I admit I had hopes for the wines. The two others, so barriqued up ( about $36 retail) made me sad. Why? Why? But let's talk about the wines I liked for a change. The wines I would put on a list or seek out in wine stores? Here we go: WHITE: Chablis: Domaine Boudin 05 Lovely, stony, lean, classic. At around $28 a bottle on the shelf, not pas mal at all. Vin de Savoie Apremont: Tete de Cuvee, Marc Portaz '06 Gentle, stony, chalky, it brushes your teeth for you. RED: Chinon: 'Bonnaventure' Chateau de Coulaine '05 I don't understand why Joe Dressner doesn't have them. It makes no sense for Joe not to have them. Why are they in Skurnik's portfolio? Just awesome cabernet franc. ($22 retail) Cotes-du-Ventoux La Martinelle '05 Prune nose with oats? I don't think I ever perceived oats before. This could go down to $12 at the shop. Other producers I liked? In Burgundy, Domaine Olivier Guyot for Marsannay and Gevrey-Chambertin. Domaine St. Gayan in the Rhone (Rasteau, Gigondas and Chateauneuf) even though they definitely have a mercaptan (garlic) thing going on reminiscent of Chteau Rayas of old. Next up: My Californian experience at Skurnik and a rant on the word handcraft. Night. Night. Speaking of which, all of those dream watchers? Here's one for the Jungian's amongst us: I'm over at my friend's house in Fes, but it is actually a trendy loft in Soho. I'm looking over the wines we can drink and there's hardly anything in the rack. I am drawn to one wine in a paper bag. I'm thinking great, an older Krug before they went to hell. Champagne. Perfect. But the brown bag is mushy. In fact it's a cat that has melted. This cat is jellified. The poor thing slips out in a pudding like a ...substance. The form is crawling with maggots, no perceptible smell, not even a little mercaptan, but the creature is alive! Maybe it has to do with everything I've been reading about LVMH?

The Skurnik Tasting Report---And a Krug Dream

From the line outside of the Puck Bldg on Wednesday you'd think it was the Tre Bicchieri tasting instead of Michael Skurnik. The tasting was just as jammed as it used to be in the old days, when Skurnik was the only game in town. Back in the early 90's, Skurnik was the BMOC and I was selling for Victor Schwartz (VOS). My seven clients loved me but they would not give me a pour because they had to pour Skurnik! So of course I hated the firm. What the hell were they doing that I didn't? Why couldn't I twist elbows like they could? In the end, they stood between me and health insurance. Now, the world is a happier place because I'm out of the selling game, Skurnik (and Victor, for that matter) are still around. And there is plenty of competition but Skurnik still has some good people on their roster. As part of my self-improvement program, I made a pact with myself to taste wines outside of my radar. BIBI GRAETZ (Tuscany) I used to dance Morris with someone named Shag Graetz during my Boston years. He was an ageless, mustachioed, walking, dancing Flemish painting. His galleys and double -steps were close to the ground but he was a very smooth dancer and had no trouble getting into the pants of girls twenty-thirty years younger. Smooth, there you go. That's what I think of mostly after tasting these wines and smooth is not one of my favorite wine terms. ( More on that later.) This Graetz (no relation), is a fanatic about teensy yields, so the notes say. I'm reporting that at his table he exhibited photos of grapes fermenting inside of barrique with small plungers for punch down. OK. Fanatic. Misguided but fanatic. I suppose some people think anything worth doing is over doing. Technique aside, this $780 case (wholesale!) of sangiovese grosso and canaiolo called Testamatta, was terribly typical. Yes, very concentrated, concentrated out of personality. It was vanilla coated ink. I would doubt it could age but would love someone to call me up in ten years to give it a sip or two. There was a $96 case of vermentino called Bianco di Casamatta. Very pineapple. Not what I think of with vermentino which in the perfect world, reminds me of the sea. TERRE NERE "This is not your typical Sicilian estate, mass-producing jammy reds that could be mistaken for Shiraz." (From the official Skurnik booklet.) That was true. They were something in middle between mass and authentic. In other words, the wines had a little work done, not a complete face-lift. I had the chance to try Marco deGrazia's own Nerello Mascaleses from Sicily. First up was the Etna Rosso. Not bad. Cherry. But enough earth to make the cherry sensible. It was a pleasant wine. Sure, I would drink this but for a retail price at over $24? Probably not. On a wine list for $40? No. I admit I had hopes for the wines. The two others, so barriqued up ( about $36 retail) made me sad. Why? Why? But let's talk about the wines I liked for a change. The wines I would put on a list or seek out in wine stores? Here we go: WHITE: Chablis: Domaine Boudin 05 Lovely, stony, lean, classic. At around $28 a bottle on the shelf, not pas mal at all. Vin de Savoie Apremont: Tete de Cuvee, Marc Portaz '06 Gentle, stony, chalky, it brushes your teeth for you. RED: Chinon: 'Bonnaventure' Chateau de Coulaine '05 I don't understand why Joe Dressner doesn't have them. It makes no sense for Joe not to have them. Why are they in Skurnik's portfolio? Just awesome cabernet franc. ($22 retail) Cotes-du-Ventoux La Martinelle '05 Prune nose with oats? I don't think I ever perceived oats before. This could go down to $12 at the shop. Other producers I liked? In Burgundy, Domaine Olivier Guyot for Marsannay and Gevrey-Chambertin. Domaine St. Gayan in the Rhone (Rasteau, Gigondas and Chateauneuf) even though they definitely have a mercaptan (garlic) thing going on reminiscent of Chteau Rayas of old. Next up: My Californian experience at Skurnik and a rant on the word handcraft. Night. Night. Speaking of which, all of those dream watchers? Here's one for the Jungian's amongst us: I'm over at my friend's house in Fes, but it is actually a trendy loft in Soho. I'm looking over the wines we can drink and there's hardly anything in the rack. I am drawn to one wine in a paper bag. I'm thinking great, an older Krug before they went to hell. Champagne. Perfect. But the brown bag is mushy. In fact it's a cat that has melted. This cat is jellified. The poor thing slips out in a pudding like a ...substance. The form is crawling with maggots, no perceptible smell, not even a little mercaptan, but the creature is alive! Maybe it has to do with everything I've been reading about LVMH?

A Great Alte Reben

Lars Carlberg, an American living in the German city of Trier (which I managed to miss when I visited--a pity because it's supposed to be gorgeous) is trying to launch a collection of terroir driven Mosel wines in this country. The collection is Mosel Wine Merchant. This Riesling is one from the portfolio.

The 2005 Alte Reben Riesling is a juicy little number at an old fashioned 10% alcohol (so expect it to be a little off dry) old -fashioned acidity and splashy spritzes of peach and orange oil.

Lars wrote the copy for the catalogue (http://moselwinemerchant.com/).
I'm so glad I didn't read before I tasted the wine. Why? Whoa, would I have been prejudiced in the wine's favor? Of course! How could I not have been? Heartbreaking stuff.

About Moritz he wrote:

"His lifestyle reflects his hand-to-mouth existence with neither investors to back him nor loans from the bank. He has an independent and outdoorsy spirit, working his mostly steep vineyards all by hand with no capital investment. Expensive tools and machines are borrowed from fellow growers. The wines are handcrafted in a cellar he has rented in the center of Oberemmel from the widow of a deceased winegrower. Trained in the hotel trade both as a chef in the kitchen and as a waiter on the floor, he changed course to become a winegrower. To make ends meet, he still waits tables at a local restaurant but he is not a hobbyist."

I feel the same way about struggling to make words pay the bills. Unfortunately I don't have waiting skills. The wine is delicious.

Sunday's Quiz

Pat de nez seen all over Paris last February. From the moment Freud had a whiff of Martha Bernays he was smitten. Freud believed in love at first sight, or was it first smell?

Sunday's Quiz

Pat de nez seen all over Paris last February. From the moment Freud had a whiff of Martha Bernays he was smitten. Freud believed in love at first sight, or was it first smell?

A New Job For Karl Rove: Advising eBob?

The email popped in to my box at about 7pm on Friday night.

***
Wow, you have become the NAME that CANNOT be NAMED! Congratulations, that's like Bea, Pepe and Soldera not even being in the INDEX of the Gambero Rosso. I got an email from a customer with your latest article about Champagne and the big houses, squeezing the growers this morning and I started a thread about the subject with quotes from you and other sources. It was IMMEDIATELY deleted with Mark reasoning that it was �not correct to take content from a professional's blog�.

When I noted that huge chunks of The Purple Pages, Tanzer, DrinkRhone.com not to mention CNN, EXPN and more are posted daily and then asked ""Now I am really confused, is the SUBJECT of my post forbidden for some reason? Or are there now forbidden sources of information?" his response was basically that promoting �Ms. Feiring�s blog is the problem.�

**

Well, the gentleman was not flogging my site. He cared about the Champagne issue I wrote about and naturally cited the source of the news--me.

My role on the eBob site has been limited. Oh, I chimed in when they were discussing my irrigation article. At times I silently lurked to sniff out story ideas, and of course I couldn't keep my mouth shut in that moment of blabbermouth weakness--an event that might have to the boot. (Or maybe what really paved the way the boot was nervousness about--"What the hell did that Feiring woman write in her forthcoming book?" ). So everything that I heard about the site was just that hearsay. However, for years I did hear the chatter about censorship and vindictive behavior on eBob. Until I was the text book example of she-who-must-not-be-mentioned, (except for reading Bob's reference to "Terroir Jihadists," ) I had not seen the full colorful behavior on that site in real time.

This kind of censorship raises all sorts of broader issues in the world of message shaping....especially in spots where free speech is assumed, bulletin boards.

Don't get me wrong. Opening up issues for comment on your own blog or BB is akin to inviting people into your home for a salon. If a guest starts to behave uncivilly they might have to be asked to leave, put on a muzzle or take a hit of Haldol or Xanax.

I get to control my blog. Parker gets to control his board. While mine is my private little box in Hyde Park, his is a huge and vibrant community. Its members give the cyberspot life and pump it filled with spirit. The eBob site is his Golem....or at least it seems as if that is the administrator's belief.

Many of its community don't know the level of eBob editing and revisionism. But those who do know are getting prepared to revolt. In fact, the other night it seemed ready to explode.

Observers of group dynamics and sandbox play, should trot over to the erobertparker.com board and check out this sometimes specious, vindictive, name calling thread, Well-respected retailer calls for abandonment of 100-point scale . Experience passionate mudslinging unleashed! Witness wine-lovers reduced to sand box tactics! Watch masterful twists and curls of language as writers struggle to keep their calm! Answer, the question, is Squires losing it? And poor David Lillie, the most honorable wine merchant in New York and possibly in the states gets undeserved upper right cuts.

Spending some time on the board in the basement of my friend's Boston cottage, brought back memories: my brother and I hanging on every jab coming from BoBo the Giant's glove as we stared at the tube's Saturday Night Fights. But BoBo was an act. This one is actually for real.

A New Job For Karl Rove: Advising eBob?

The email popped in to my box at about 7pm on Friday night.

***
Wow, you have become the NAME that CANNOT be NAMED! Congratulations, that's like Bea, Pepe and Soldera not even being in the INDEX of the Gambero Rosso. I got an email from a customer with your latest article about Champagne and the big houses, squeezing the growers this morning and I started a thread about the subject with quotes from you and other sources. It was IMMEDIATELY deleted with Mark reasoning that it was �not correct to take content from a professional's blog�.

When I noted that huge chunks of The Purple Pages, Tanzer, DrinkRhone.com not to mention CNN, EXPN and more are posted daily and then asked ""Now I am really confused, is the SUBJECT of my post forbidden for some reason? Or are there now forbidden sources of information?" his response was basically that promoting �Ms. Feiring�s blog is the problem.�

**

Well, the gentleman was not flogging my site. He cared about the Champagne issue I wrote about and naturally cited the source of the news--me.

My role on the eBob site has been limited. Oh, I chimed in when they were discussing my irrigation article. At times I silently lurked to sniff out story ideas, and of course I couldn't keep my mouth shut in that moment of blabbermouth weakness--an event that might have to the boot. (Or maybe what really paved the way the boot was nervousness about--"What the hell did that Feiring woman write in her forthcoming book?" ). So everything that I heard about the site was just that hearsay. However, for years I did hear the chatter about censorship and vindictive behavior on eBob. Until I was the text book example of she-who-must-not-be-mentioned, (except for reading Bob's reference to "Terroir Jihadists," ) I had not seen the full colorful behavior on that site in real time.

This kind of censorship raises all sorts of broader issues in the world of message shaping....especially in spots where free speech is assumed, bulletin boards.

Don't get me wrong. Opening up issues for comment on your own blog or BB is akin to inviting people into your home for a salon. If a guest starts to behave uncivilly they might have to be asked to leave, put on a muzzle or take a hit of Haldol or Xanax.

I get to control my blog. Parker gets to control his board. While mine is my private little box in Hyde Park, his is a huge and vibrant community. Its members give the cyberspot life and pump it filled with spirit. The eBob site is his Golem....or at least it seems as if that is the administrator's belief.

Many of its community don't know the level of eBob editing and revisionism. But those who do know are getting prepared to revolt. In fact, the other night it seemed ready to explode.

Observers of group dynamics and sandbox play, should trot over to the erobertparker.com board and check out this sometimes specious, vindictive, name calling thread, Well-respected retailer calls for abandonment of 100-point scale . Experience passionate mudslinging unleashed! Witness wine-lovers reduced to sand box tactics! Watch masterful twists and curls of language as writers struggle to keep their calm! Answer, the question, is Squires losing it? And poor David Lillie, the most honorable wine merchant in New York and possibly in the states gets undeserved upper right cuts.

Spending some time on the board in the basement of my friend's Boston cottage, brought back memories: my brother and I hanging on every jab coming from BoBo the Giant's glove as we stared at the tube's Saturday Night Fights. But BoBo was an act. This one is actually for real.

The Champagne Grapes of Wrath

OK. Enough about me and the Squires bulletin board--for now. It must be the season, because there's another David & Goliath story going in the fair land of golden bubbles. Over a year ago, biodynamic wine leader, Nicolas Joly, told me that a Champagne producer we both knew had seen the Big Boys of Champagne putting the screws on small producers--threatening to withdraw their grape growing contracts from them if they don't stop production. I had visions of cars on fire and broken knee caps. I snooped around as best I could from my perch, which wasn't really good enough. I asked this particular grower's importer what he knew. He kindly inquired on my behalf and in turn told me that the grower refused to talk, yet added, �He's hearing from his buddies that negociants are telling them that if they want to keep their (grape growing) contracts that they need to not let the world know that they are making their own (terroir-based) wines. � The nice grape grower and champers producer was scared. Out of the blue I got an email from the syndicate --who I had not contacted--laughing off my hunt for truth. Then I got an email from the Washington-based Champagne board, telling me that there was no fire under that smoke. Now, 1.5 years later, August 2nd, on the Decanter site I see that was truth to the mess. Jane Anson reported: "Moet et Chandon is facing serious supply issues, the director of the Champagne house has revealed." She relates that Frdric Cumenal, President of Moet & Chandon, who started out marketing for Procter & Gamble, said that a part of the problem is; �Small growers storing up to 100m bottles of Champagne in their cellars to limit tax bills and provide a source of income for their retirement.� And so�.�a new rule has been introduced in the region for the 2007 harvest. Growers must save any excess grapes in years of good supply to put onto the open market in years of limited supply, which should help ease problems.� A few years ago I wrote a story on mono-cru and focused on David (grower champagne) and Goliath (symbolized by LVMH who owns Moet, Krug, Ruinart, Clicquot and Mercier) story. I wrote that it would not be long before the big houses ran scared. They were losing prestige (as geeks praised the small houses and turned up their noses, even at Krug as plonk) and at some point they were going to be hit in the pocket book because 1) they'd lose market share. 2) they wouldn't be able to have supply as more growers made sold their one instead of handing over their babies (grapes) up for adoption. I�m not sure how this will play out. How can they be forced to put their �excess� into the market instead of in their own bottles? But they are the all powerful LVMH--as a friend of mine who used to work in fashion said, "They are in business of the allusion of luxury." Anything can happen. Like, the growers take their chances and say, fine, get your grapes elsewhere. Then they would have to take the risk on bottling all of their grapes. Of course that's a whopping risk. Champagne takes a while to cook. How will they make money while the bottles are marinating? With grapes they take in a certain amount of cash flow, up front, in the bank allowing them to produce their bottles, often far superior to the mass stuff. If they had to survive on their own champagne there would be a long time before they could float themselves to solvency. This is a seriously sour pickle. Champagne had always been based in a symbiotic relationship. Big Boy needs the Little Guy and Little Guy need Big Boy. LVMH should not be so smug about winning their battle. They just might lose this one because there may be a way out for the grower. Even though they represent a little over 2% of the entire production, they have more muscle than you'd think, and organized properly, the group might be able to sling the winning stone.