BLUE's NEWS 2013 Round-up

absolute favourite roses’, Kristen Bieler admired its ‘silky smooth’ character in Beverage Media, and many more.  Bit of a supply problem as our pink princess was sold out at the winery by May. Sarah Bray writes in Saveur that ‘this is a rose worth drinking in autumn’.Winning Whites Our Aliot 2010 has filled us to the brim with pride earning 93 points from James Molesworth at Wine Spectator while our Viognier took Gold at this year’s International Wine Challenge, Heston Blumenthal serving it at Dinner and Michel Roux pouring by the glass at Le Gavroche.  Our favourite Wine Chap Tom Harrow and the gentlemen at Thomas Pink in Jermyn Street named Aliot ‘The Hermitage Blanc of Ventoux’ following their wine-tailored event in September.Hairy HarvestSpared the tyrannies of coulure, hail and storms that afflicted many in the region, but lots of nail biting as some of our grapes failed to mature until well into October…  Quantities down 26% this year, quality uneven:  the Grenache is Great, our Syrah, well, So-so.  Will have to play around with the blends to even out the differences in Abelard and Heloise when that time comes.Sustainable Sustainability : ) Pleased the topic was very much in focus at Wine Vision, the interesting forum that took place this fall in London, honoured to participate in the panel on redefining sustainability and pushing the boundaries on all forms of sustainability, including human resources management.Grenachy GratitudeSo satisfying to see the Great Grape coming into the limelight:  the first World Tasting of Grenaches, hosted by the CIBV in association with our association (www.grenacheassociation.com), in Perpignan (a noble first attempt, though needing to be improved upon, like many first editions), then flew the flag at Vinisud in Shanghai, hosting what we are told is the first masterclass on Grenache in China (I believe Eddie Cheung of Winespace and Grenache Ambassador to China, will be hosting a Grenache competition in Guangzhou in 2014-- have we started a trend? And let’s not forget the Big Bad Barge Party our association hosted on the river in honor of Grenache at Vinexpo : )The Last DropFinally, we’ve already sold out our Extreme Wine course 2014, regarded by many as ‘the best wine bootcamp in the world’ (John Stimpfig– The Financial Times). Booking for 2015 now open!  Have created 'Beyond Extreme' (that includes WSET Level 3) for returning students happy to be our wine slaves for another week, and 'Extreme Wine Pro' for the somms looking to connect-the-dots between their tasting skills and actual terroir.  Pilot program for Mandarin Oriental Somms from Bar Boulud and Heston: hands on in the tasting classroom, the vineyard, the winery and… the kitchen.  Selected as World Expert in WineIinstruction by Conde Nast Traveller 2013Alright, so much for the bragzone. Of course, as ever, there have been dons to even out the ups ...but who wants to read about the hard parts or setbacks in a holiday report? Merry Merry One and All!