Smaller Supply, Higher Prices for French Vintages

As if American wine lovers hadn’t already noticed, the French national statistics institute confirms the fact: French wine prices are on the rise.

Price increases were forecast for all wines because of smaller than expected production, the institute said in a report. However, the report said price increases for premium wines would not be as sharp as in 1989, when the price of higher quality wines, mainly from the 1988 harvest, soared 35%.

The institute’s report called 1989 a vintner’s dream year in which drought and other weather conditions created top-quality wines. The institute said 1989 could turn out to be “the vintage of the century” for French wines.

Roger Livdahl, a Los Angeles wine appraiser, has been awarded the Accredited Senior Appraiser designation by the American Society of Appraisers.

Sparkling wine made in Canada may continue to be called Champagne, a court in Toronto has ruled.

Wine makers from the Champagne region of France lost a bid to ban the term “Canadian Champagne,” which has been legal in Canada. The French argued that the word Champagne is a place name in France and thus does not apply to products not made there.

The 16 French wineries who filed suit lost an appeal of a 1987 court decision that said Canadian wines are distinct products and their bottles are always clearly marked “Canadian” by federal law.

For 15 years, French wine makers have tried to stop Canada and countries like Brazil and Australia from labeling their sparkling wines “Champagne.”

But Tom Hawkins, a lawyer for the Canadian wineries, said: “If one is selling for $30 and one is selling for $8, there’s got to be something different about them.”

The term champagne is used generically in the United States by some wineries to refer to sparkling wines, and although the French oppose its use in this country, no legal opposition has been mounted.

Greg de Lucca, president at Chateau St. Jean in the Sonoma Valley, has resigned to take a position with a wine bottle packaging firm, the winery said. A replacement for de Lucca has not yet been selected.