The chenin blanc grape gets a bad rap in California.
Sure, it makes some wonderfully quaffable wines — good examples are the Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc and Dancing Coyote Chenin Blanc, both made from grapes grown around Clarksburg — but few would call California chenin blanc world class. Most California chenin is grown in Fresno and Madera counties and ends up in inexpensive jug blends.
It's in the middle section of France's Loire Valley where chenin blanc finds its finest expression in such appellations as Vouvray, Montlouis-sur-Loire, Savennieres and, for dessert wines, Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux du Layon.
The wines, labeled with the name of the appellation rather than the grape variety, can be bone dry, off-dry or very sweet, and many age extremely well. There's even sparkling wine made from chenin blanc. All Loire chenin blancs have a core of racy acidity, wrapped by flavors that range from green apple to white stone fruit to honey and even marzipan.
Vouvray and Montlouis-sur-Loire are near the city of Tours. The appellations are on either side of the Loire River and have similar climates. But the best wines of Vouvray, from south-facing hillsides overlooking the river, have a greater intensity. The most common Vouvray style is off-dry, but there are excellent dry wines and, when weather conditions are right, dessert wines.
Vouvray's benchmark producer is
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Domaine Huet L'Echansonne. Founded in 1928 and directed for years by Gaston Huet, the winery was sold in 2003, after Huet's death. Huet's son-in-law, Noel Pinguet, who stayed on as winemaker, was instrumental in the winery's conversion to biodynamic practices in its 88 acres of vineyards. The winery's maze of damp, mold-lined caves snake through the hillside under one of those vineyards.
No matter the sweetness level, the Huet wines can be spectacular. The dry 2007 Vouvray Sec "Le Mont" ($31), for example, is racy and tight, with citrus and mineral flavors, while the sweeter 2008 Vouvray Demi-Sec "Le Haut-Lieu" ($36) is very aromatic, with pear and nectarine flavors and a long finish.
Other good producers in the 5,000-acre appellation include Champalou, Bourillon-Dorleans and Vigneau-Chevreau. At Bourillon-Dorleans — where the caves are sculpted into scenes depicting the history of humanity — there is a lovely 2008 Vouvray Demi-Sec ($21), which is fairly sweet, with pretty apple, pear and white stone fruit flavors.
The smaller (fewer than 1,000 acres) Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation is on the south side of the Loire, facing Vouvray. Sparkling wines account for slightly more than half of the area's production, but there are some very good still wines, too. One vivid wine is the 2007 Domaine Deletang Montlouis Sec "Les Batisses" ($17), which is quite floral and fragrant, with bracing acidity. Domaine La Grange Tiphaine is another good producer to look for.
To the west, near Angers, lie the appellations of Savennieres, Quarts de Chaume and Coteaux du Layon. The chenins of Savennieres, where the vineyards lie in a narrow band on the north bank of the Loire, are usually dry, with a strong mineral component. They're not immediately appealing to everyone — Savennieres is a wine you need to think about — but they age incredibly well.
At Domaine Baumard, for example, I tasted a 1973 Savennieres "Clos du Papillon" that had been open for two days, and it was amazing, with vivid green fig and honey flavors and a very long finish. A more recent vintage, the 2005 ($32), is lean, tight and spicy, with a long finish. It needs more time in the bottle but shows great promise.
Probably the most famous Savennieres producer is biodynamics proponent Nicolas Joly of Coulee de Serrant; Baumard is known not only for Savennieres but also for sweet wines. And they are stunners.
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Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Judge Puts Calif. Toyota Claims on a Single Track
Lawsuits filed in California's state courts against Toyota Motor Corp. over sudden unintended acceleration will be coordinated in a single proceeding, a Los Angeles judge ruled tentatively on Tuesday.
The proceeding was the first to address at least 21 lawsuits filed in California's state courts over a myriad of claims that include economic losses on behalf of consumers, lemon law violations and damages for those who have been injured or died in a Toyota.
"The common thread is unintended acceleration that binds these cases together," Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Carl West told a group of 30 lawyers in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
The state court actions are separate from nearly 300 lawsuits pending in multidistrict litigation in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif.
Lawyers on both sides of the state court cases have attempted to coordinate them into a single proceeding to expedite and streamline the discovery process, particularly as it relates to depositions. Leading that effort has been Mark Robinson, senior partner at Newport Beach, Calif.-based Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson, who was named co-liaison counsel of the personal injury and wrongful death plaintiffs' steering committee in the federal MDL.
Five plaintiffs lawyers with eight personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits argued against coordinating the cases.
"We'll be slowed down considerably," said Garo Mardirossian, managing partner of Maridrossian & Associates in Los Angeles, who represents the husband of a woman who died on Aug. 28 after her Toyota accelerated to 100 miles per hour, crashing into a median.
Also opposing coordination was John Gomez, of The Gomez Law Firm in San Diego, who represents the relatives of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor. Saylor was killed, along with his wife, his daughter and his brother-in-law, when his Lexus crashed after suddenly accelerating to 120 miles per hour on a San Diego highway.
The Aug. 28 crash prompted Toyota's first wave of recalls, which now number more than 8 million vehicles worldwide.
Gomez told the judge that in the state court claims against Bridgestone Corp.'s Firestone Tire Co. years ago, not all the individual personal injury cases were coordinated even though there were far more of them than in the Toyota litigation.
The judge did not seem persuaded. "We have five to eight here to begin with. How many more are there?" he said.
Toyota's lawyer, Lisa Gilford, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Alston & Bird, said she preferred to have all the cases in a single proceeding. But she recognized the individual facts inherent in the personal injury and wrongful death cases, which could number as many as 15 in California's state courts.
"We are acknowledging certain types of cases will likely move along different tracks," she said.
In the end, West issued a tentative order coordinating the cases under a state procedure called Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings, or JCCP.
"I'm sympathetic to the concern you have but also think that there are significant issues to be addressed" in all the cases, West told the lawyers opposing the move. Among those issues are the defects and claims regarding failure to warn and negligence. He offered two options for combining the actions, however. One option would create a second coordinated proceeding before the same judge to address specific issues unique to the personal injury and wrongful death cases. Another option, he said, would allow the cases to move forward in the same proceeding but on a separate track that would be "reflective of their different characteristics."
The judge refused to rule on where the coordinated proceeding should take place. He left that decision to California's chief justice, Ronald George.
Most of the plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the cases should be coordinated in Los Angeles, while Gilford requested Orange County, where the federal MDL is taking place. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said the Orange County, Calif., Superior Court is "not terribly congested."
"We are certainly able to come to L.A. if that's what is determined, but we think Orange County makes sense," he said.
Source
The proceeding was the first to address at least 21 lawsuits filed in California's state courts over a myriad of claims that include economic losses on behalf of consumers, lemon law violations and damages for those who have been injured or died in a Toyota.
"The common thread is unintended acceleration that binds these cases together," Los Angeles County, Calif., Superior Court Judge Carl West told a group of 30 lawyers in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
The state court actions are separate from nearly 300 lawsuits pending in multidistrict litigation in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif.
Lawyers on both sides of the state court cases have attempted to coordinate them into a single proceeding to expedite and streamline the discovery process, particularly as it relates to depositions. Leading that effort has been Mark Robinson, senior partner at Newport Beach, Calif.-based Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson, who was named co-liaison counsel of the personal injury and wrongful death plaintiffs' steering committee in the federal MDL.
Five plaintiffs lawyers with eight personal injury or wrongful death lawsuits argued against coordinating the cases.
"We'll be slowed down considerably," said Garo Mardirossian, managing partner of Maridrossian & Associates in Los Angeles, who represents the husband of a woman who died on Aug. 28 after her Toyota accelerated to 100 miles per hour, crashing into a median.
Also opposing coordination was John Gomez, of The Gomez Law Firm in San Diego, who represents the relatives of California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Saylor. Saylor was killed, along with his wife, his daughter and his brother-in-law, when his Lexus crashed after suddenly accelerating to 120 miles per hour on a San Diego highway.
The Aug. 28 crash prompted Toyota's first wave of recalls, which now number more than 8 million vehicles worldwide.
Gomez told the judge that in the state court claims against Bridgestone Corp.'s Firestone Tire Co. years ago, not all the individual personal injury cases were coordinated even though there were far more of them than in the Toyota litigation.
The judge did not seem persuaded. "We have five to eight here to begin with. How many more are there?" he said.
Toyota's lawyer, Lisa Gilford, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Alston & Bird, said she preferred to have all the cases in a single proceeding. But she recognized the individual facts inherent in the personal injury and wrongful death cases, which could number as many as 15 in California's state courts.
"We are acknowledging certain types of cases will likely move along different tracks," she said.
In the end, West issued a tentative order coordinating the cases under a state procedure called Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings, or JCCP.
"I'm sympathetic to the concern you have but also think that there are significant issues to be addressed" in all the cases, West told the lawyers opposing the move. Among those issues are the defects and claims regarding failure to warn and negligence. He offered two options for combining the actions, however. One option would create a second coordinated proceeding before the same judge to address specific issues unique to the personal injury and wrongful death cases. Another option, he said, would allow the cases to move forward in the same proceeding but on a separate track that would be "reflective of their different characteristics."
The judge refused to rule on where the coordinated proceeding should take place. He left that decision to California's chief justice, Ronald George.
Most of the plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the cases should be coordinated in Los Angeles, while Gilford requested Orange County, where the federal MDL is taking place. Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said the Orange County, Calif., Superior Court is "not terribly congested."
"We are certainly able to come to L.A. if that's what is determined, but we think Orange County makes sense," he said.
Source
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