Add another critter label to the collection.

Napa Valley’s Juslyn Vineyards is producing a Bordeaux-style blend called Rescue, with proceeds designated for the Golden Triangle Elephant Foundation. According to winespectator.com, Juslyn proprietors Carolyn and Perry Butler visited Thailand and saw a mother elephant and her baby weaving in and out of traffic in Bangkok, and the baby was almost hit several times.

Elephants were an important part of Thailand’s teak logging industry, which has been cut back by the government. That left the elephants among the unemployed, and they strayed far from their natural habitat. The foundation which the Butlers support rescues elephants from cities and takes them to a safe jungle habitat.

(Maybe someone will come up with a similar wine in Italy and source the grapes in Tusk-any.)

Know any of these wine snobs?

Natalie MacLean, who has written a book, “Red, White and Drunk All Over: A Wine-Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass,” offers a ways to spot a wine snob but admonishes that not all wine snobs are alike and has divided them into some subspecies.

The “borus nonshutuputus” who, “when nosing the wine, will scent not only the region and winery, but also what the vintner and his wife were arguing about on the day the grapes were harvested.”

There’s the “borus technotalkatus, who is similar, but uses such phrases as “carbonic masceration,” while the most frequently heard call of the “collectorosa completeca” is “I own that wine, too.”

The “healthus maniacutus” keeps “a list of various wines’ resveratrol levels in his breast pocket. He’s recalculated his expected lifespan based on his reduced risk of heart disease from drinking 1.5 glasses of wine daily.”

For complete descriptions, go to Natalie’s Web site at www.nataliemaclean.com.

(There must be a lot of wine snobs or wannabes out there. Typing “wine snob” in Google showed 873,000 sites, including one that says it will teach you how to be a wine, coffee, tea or beer snob.)

French violence

It’s getting violent in France. Bombs were set off at a wine co-op headquarters in Languedoc, apparently fulfilling the threat by the Comité Regional d’Action Viticole (CRAV), a group unhappy with the way the government has handled the oversupply of wine in the country.

According to harpers.co.uk, attacks over a 10-day period have sent more than a million liters of wine gushing into the region’s streets. The militants say they are fighting for survival and have lost 40-50 percent of their income because of falling prices. There’s a huge oversupply — European countries produce far more wine than they sell.

The EU has announced a plan under which growers will be paid about $3,800 per acre to remove nearly 500,000 acres from throughout Europe. The plan also eliminates funds for distilling excess wine into fuel, and adding sugar to wine will be banned. Vintners also will be allowed to blend their wine with wine from other countries — critics have already dubbed it “Europlonk.”

The plan will be voted on by the European Parliament next year.

(If CRAV keeps up the violence, there will be little need for removal of vines.)

Vinexpo is big draw

Talk about a grand tasting. More than 50,000 people from the wine trade representing 154 countries attended Vinexpo in Bordeaux June 17-21 this year, and one-third were from outside France. More than 1,300 media people attended (none, sadly, from the Register).

Some 2400 exhibitors poured their wines.

(So much wine, so little time.)

Green wine bar

There’s a new “green” bar in San Francisco that will feature only wines made from grapes by wineries that use organic, biodynamic or sustainable farming practices.

The Yield Wine bar also features a light menu that offers organic and sustainable foods. It’s believed to be the first all-green wine bar, at least in the West.

(It would be a good place to go on St. Patrick’s Day.)

Tobacco liqueur

A ban on smoking in British bars and restaurants took effect July 1, but there’s still hope for those who like a cigar after dinner — Perique Liqueur de Tabac, a new tobacco-based liqueur, can give them the flavor of tobacco and keep the sophistication of an after-dinner drink.

The liqueur is made from Perique tobacco, considered one of the rarest in the world — a true “Grand Cru of tobacco,” the press release said. The tobacco is grown in a small area in Louisiana, and the beverage is made by “steeping Perique tobacco in grape spirit followed by distillation.”

A half-liter bottle costs about $44.

(It’s a bargain — two vices in one.)

Quote of the week

“No, Agnes, a Bordeaux is not a house of ill repute.” — George Bain, late Canadian newspaper columnist

Jack Heeger can be reached at jheeger@napanews.com