After 10 years since being listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, the jurisdiction of St. Emilion will be celebrating the anniversary and relishing their coveted distinction with a bit more “gusto” throughout 2009.  St. Emilion is an absolutely amazing city that one must visit if they are even remotely close to the Bordeaux area. It’s small alleyways and steep streets are filled with wine shops, patisseries, boulangeries, and wonderful boutiques where one can buy incredible cognac and wine paraphernalia. Due to the fact the the vineyards are included along with the city itself for the UNESCO distinction, the Saint Emilion Wines Council has created a 10 year annivesary logo for the occasion. The vineyards surrounding the city and their long standing history are what ultimately sets St. Emilion apart from other wine producer regions, and were a major part of the distinction as seen from UNESCOS’s criteria; 

Criterion (iii): The Ancient Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion is an outstanding example of an historic vineyard landscape that has survived intact and in activity to the present day. 

Criterion (iv): The intensive cultivation of grapes for wine production in a precisely defined region and the resulting landscape is illustrated in an exceptional way by the historic Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion.

 Even more impressive and excited for the P.R. Grisley Company is the fact that we are honored to be able to work closely with one of the distingushed people that worked to establish St. Emilion as a UNESCO site. Baron de Montfort was the “major” of  one of the villages included, St. Etienne de Lisse, and worked hard for the distinction that would ultimately preserve the area and the land he loves. The listing was a major success as it deters any future building or development in the St. Emilion area and helps to preserve what many consider to be the most prestigious wine region in France. 

Our hats are off to Baron de Montfort and the countless other individuals involved who helped to secure St. Emilion its place among the many treasured places in the world. We hope that everyone will be able to visit this wonderful place at some point in their life, but if not, the true charm of the region shines through in the amazing wines being produced there. Fortunately, we have worked hard to make several of these wines available to you here in the US market, so please discover this amazing region and its wines with us!

Sante,

Michael 

Much like the recent surge in trying to find, restore, and cultivate ancient varieties if grapes in the wine world, there might be a push in the beer world to find ancient recipes and techniques. A scientist recently revived an ancient strain of yeast in a beer recipe that he is producing in California. While his original goal was to find ancient microscopic creatures for some sort of medical value, he ended up with a beer that has garnered some good reviews on the West Coast of the US. Much like Jurassic Park, the ancient organism was extracted out of a piece of amber, and while no medicinal properties were found, at least something positive came out of the hard work…………..Beer!

With Rioja still the most well known region in Spain, it’s nice to see the magazines and reviewers turning back north. After spending much of the past years focused on the fantastic wines and regions exploding onto the US market from other areas of Spain, it’s comforting that they are once again focusing on the region that put Spanish wine on the map. A few months ago the dynamic duo from Catavino.net put up an impressive amount of wine reviews on their blog about Rioja, especially when you think that two people powered through all those wines. Dedication. Along with Catavino’s review recently, the International Wine Review just released their review on Rioja and also has an amazing list of wines from all over Rioja, from the classic styles to the more modern Rioja wines. Both will be great information sources for the novice to the aficionado, and highly recommend reading and searching each different review. Wines of note in both reviews, Bodegas Ondalan, Bodegas Medrano Irazu, Bodegas Miguel Angel Muro, Bodegas Ruiz de Vinaspre and Bodegas Santiago Ijalba.