Jack Heeger

One of the most respected names in Napa Valley wine history — Brother Timothy — died just two years ago at age 94.

To honor him, the Lasallian Education Fund is releasing a special wine — a 2004 Brother Timothy Mont La Salle Vineyard cabernet sauvignon, made entirely from grapes grown at the small vineyard at the site of the original Christian Brothers winery on Mt. Veeder where Brother Timothy was cellarmaster for more than 50 years.

The wine is 90 percent cab, and 5 percent each of malbec and petit verdot, made by the Hess Collection. It will be released on Nov. 20, Brother Timothy’s birthday. It’s priced at $94, and only 294 cases were made.

All proceeds go to the Lasallian Education Fund, which helps children of low income families gain access to a quality education. For information, go to www.lasallianeducation.org.

(Let’s tip a glass to Brother Timothy — a legend in the wine industry.)

Election news

Massacusetts voters Tuesday turned down a proposal to sell wine in grocery stores by a 56 to 44 percent margin. Both sides combined to spend more than $11.5 million on the issue, and it was the most expensive ballot measure in the state’s history.

Australia’s frosts

In Napa Valley we were concerned about early rains which could have hurt the harvest, but in Australia, where it’s now equivalent to our May, a severe frost has killed about a third of new vine growth in the Coonawarra, Padthaway and Wrattonbully regions, and it’s even worse in some parts of the Barossa area, where up to 90 percent of the crop has been lost.

This could translate to a reduction of nearly 100 million gallons of what had been forecast. Australia’s news.com reports that the smaller crop could help restore the supply-demand balance and reduce the existing glut of wine.

(But it also could be devastating to many small growers who have struggled with lower prices during the past few years.)

Grape beer?

French wine consumption has decreased in recent years, so the French industry is looking at alternative uses for their juice — like vine soda, grape beer and other low alcohol products, according to an item on the UK’s Times Online.

The industry has chipped in more than $3 million to sponsor a research project by nine laboratories to develop low alcohol wines, as low as 8 percent. One lab has come up with a carbonated alcohol-free drink, and another has come up with what it called a “sort of beer” with 6 percent, and another has made a wine with only 0.5 percent alcohol.

The goal is to develop something between 8 and 9 percent, because by French law, anything less than 8 percent cannot be legally called wine.

(One French wine official with the Institute National des Appellations d’Origine said, “It would be easier just to add water to the wine.”)

Wine, chocolate & coffee

Much has been said about the healthy attributes of red wine. But if you really want to get healthy, have some red wine, eat some chocolate with it and then finish off the evening with some coffee or a cup of green tea.

The Daily Record of Scotland quotes a Scottish cardiologist as reporting that all of those are rich in antioxidant properties, which “protect the heart and arteries from oxidative damage, similar to the rust that develops on metal over a period of time.”

He said New World wines with ample sunshine, including those from Chile, Argentina, Australia and South Africa, were the best when it comes to producing the antioxidants. But he didn’t mention California. ... hmmm.

(Wouldn’t you rather have red wine, chocolate and coffee remove your rust than Rustoleum?)

Kiwi mystery compound

Under a research program carried out by Auckland University in New Zealand, a researcher said he has discovered a mystery compound in New Zealand sauvignon blancs that is not found in the same varietal grown elsewhere in the world. It’s part of a study we reported on earlier in which the Kiwi industry is trying to find what makes their wines so different.

The compound is a tiny part of the wine — it was described on the stuff.co.nz Web site as at the nanogram level, and measuring such small amounts could be compared with “detecting a human hair on the surface of the earth and then trying to measure its diameter.”

(Cat pee has been a descriptor for New Zealand’s sauvignon blancs. Maybe they could have saved all that research money and just checked out a litter box.)

Triple play

Alexander Valley Vineyards has produced a gift pack called “Wicked Weekend,” which consists of three of the winery’s zinfandels — Temptation Zin for Friday, Sin Zin for Saturday and Redemption Zin for Sunday. The brochure closes with, “For the rest of the week you’re on your own. Be good.”

(A great way to sell three bottles at a time.)

Happy Birthday, Vivienne           

We’ve often reported items about how drinking wine has some health benefits, but perhaps serving wine can have some, too. Vivienne Flesher, who has been working at Mount Palomar Winery in Temecula for nearly 30 years, recently celebrated her 90th birthday, and attributes her long life to positive thinking, good genes and staying active. She has worked in the tasting room, conducted tours, put labels on bottles and even bottled wine.

(Maybe sampling the wines had something to do with her longevity.)

Jack Heeger can be reached at jheeger@napanews.com