Looking for 600 bottles of Bordeaux?

Imagine owning a restaurant with a wine collection involving every vintage of all five Bordeaux First Growths (Lafite, Mouton, Haut Brion, Latour and Margaux) from 1900 to 2000. Add to it a complete set of the same vintages of Chateau d'Yquem. Then imagine returning from vacation and finding that the entire collection has been stolen while the restaurant was closed.

That's what happened to a couple in Stockholm, Sweden, who operate a restaurant that features the collection, listed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the most complete, according to decanter.com. The wine was not for sale -- it was more of a museum attraction, a restaurant employee said, and was mostly undrinkable. The collection is valued at nearly $550,000.

The manager said only the collection was taken -- "They did not take any of the cheaper wines. They were real professionals." No clues were left, no fingerprints were found and only one shoeprint was noted.

(Now that's really a wine thief.)

Another one

bites the dust

360 Global Wine, the company that assumed a half-interest in Kirkland Ranch Winery in Napa Valley in 2004 and bought Viansa Winery in Sonoma last year, has declared an operating loss of $24.2 million, with $8 million in revenue, according to northbaybusinessjournal.com.

The report also indicated that the company is divesting itself of its interest in Kirkland Ranch. It's in default of a $20 million note which was taken out by Larry Kirkland and guaranteed by 360 Global. The loan is held by Metropolitan Life, and it's expected that a foreclosure sale will occur.

360 Global said it was divesting its share of Kirkland Ranch along with another investment in order to concentrate on its "premium wine production and retailing business," referring to Viansa.

(You might say that 360 Global has gone full circle.)

Drink wine,

save your gums

Swishing wine around in your mouth gives you the full flavor of the wine. It also might help to prevent gum disease.

A study conducted by some Canadian researchers and published in the Journal of Periodontology, indicated that resveratrol helped to prevent the spread of bacteria that produce gingivitis, a swelling of the gums, which can lead to periodontitis, a serious gum disease. In a test on mouse cells infected with the bacteria, the researchers found that higher amounts of resveratrol reduced bacteria levels by as much as 60 percent, compared to untreated cells.

There's still a concern that the acid in wine can cause problems on tooth enamel, though, so further research will be required to see if the benefits to gums are offset by detriment to teeth.

(That problem might be easily solved. Drinking red wine leads to purple teeth, so if you brush your teeth, it will get rid of the purple and probably eliminate the acid on the teeth at the same time.)

AVAs are busting

out all over

The Trade and Tariff Bureau (formerly Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) has granted American Viticultural Area status to seven areas in the Lodi area, bringing to 106 the total number of individual AVAs in California. (Each county also is an AVA, making the grand total 146.)

The new AVAs are Alta Mesa, Borden Ranch, Clements Hills, Consumnes River, Jahant, Mokelumne River and Sloughhouse. Most wineries will use the new designations on the labels, but will also attach the Lodi name to it, and the Lodi-Woodbridge Winegrape Commission will continue to promote the wines as from Lodi, rather than from a specific AVA.

Lodi was approved as an AVA 10 years ago and now has 52 wineries. Many others from outside the area are now designating Lodi on their labels, as well.

(Too bad it's not gold country -- they could put "Grown in the Mother Lodi" on the label.)

New grape varietals

One day soon "noiret," "corot noir" and "valvin Muscat" may be appearing on wine labels in your neighborhood store. Well, probably at stores in the East, anyhow.

Those three grapes, developed by Bruce Reisch, a researcher at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Lake Geneva, N.Y., are adapted to the winegrape growing regions in the East, and he said, "produce high quality varietal wines that are superior to those currently available to Eastern growers today."

An item on winebusiness.com identified noiret (pronounced nwahr-ay) as a hybrid red grape, corot noir as a mid- to-late season red hybrid, and valvin muscat as a mid-season white grape.

(Anyone want to take me up on a bet that cabernet sauvignon outsells all three combined?)

Brief notes

Mount Veeder wineries will sponsor its eighth annual tasting on Sept. 15 at the Napa Valley Museum in Yountville, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fifteen wineries will pour. A winemakers dinner will be held on Sept, 14 at Celadon in Napa, featuring 10 winemakers. For information, call 255-1144, ext. 227, or e-mail khaddeland@hesscollection.com.

David Francke has been named general manager of Folio Wine Partners, and importer and producer of wines founded by Michael Mondavi. Most recently Francke was senior VP of the Estates Group at Young's Market Co., a major wine distributor.

Word comes that a bottle of Grgich Hills chardonnay was included in each of the "goodie bags" given to winners at the recent Emmy Awards. It's only fitting that a winner gets a winner.