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Wine for a TV star and film noir, minis for models, Chile for penguins and a license for a Reagan

Posted: Wednesday, January 25, 2006

• Wine really is the perfect escape! At least, that's what Unfiltered thought when we heard that Prison Break star Rockmond Dunbar served Clos du Val at his recent birthday party. Last time we saw "C-Note," Dunbar's character on the hit TV show, he and his merry gang of inmates were attempting to break out of prison. Dunbar's real life is much more glamorous, with birthday bashes at Chicago's Victor Hotel, magazine cover shoots and a fashion model wife. (Rockmond and Ivy Dunbar were recently deemed one of the 10 hottest couples by Ebony magazine). Prison Break won Best New Drama Series at the 2006 People's Choice Awards, and it was there that the actor was introduced to Clos du Val, the event's wine sponsor. For the Dunbars' 250 friends and fellow cast members, Clos du Val served its 2003 Chardonnay and 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. Must be better than the stuff they make in prison toilets.

• From Pinot Noir to film noir: In another example for the annals of creative wine marketing, Roessler Cellars wines are now starring online in an interactive short film, The Naked Wine, which allows viewers to choose from three endings (based on three wines and their corresponding characters: Sonoma, Cliff and Anderson), solve a mystery and win prizes. The Sonoma County Pinot Noir producer is trying to get the attention of New Yorkers, as they can now order directly from California wineries, thanks to the shipping law passed last year. Digital video and e-mail marketing must be a cheaper way to do that than buying ad space in the city. If you figure out the passcode needed in the film, you can win a personal wine tasting in the Big Apple hosted by the winemaker. And if you actually order wine, you get a bonus video to find out what really happens in the end. Our guess: The FedEx guy shows up at your door with a case of Roessler, and a charge of at least $50 shows up on your credit card statement.

Feuillatte targets the fashion crowd with its new quarter-bottles.

• I'm too sexy for Feuillatte, too sexy for Feuillatte. Champagne producer Nicolas Feuillatte chose the Ford Models 2005 Supermodel of the World runway show last week to launch its new Feuillatte One Fo(u)r minis in the United States, where they join Pommery Pop, Baby Piper and Sofia Mini in the market for single-serving sparklers targeted at the fashion-conscious crowd. The labels for the quarter-size brut and rosé are colored bright blue and bright pink, respectively, making them look like the sort of wines that Barbie and Ken would have in their cellar. The bottles even come with a convenient wrist strap, just about the right size to be used later as a leash for your teacup chihuahua. The minis were served at the Ford after-party, complete with extra-long drinking straws—hot pink, of course. But looks can be deceiving. Lest you think this isn't serious Champagne, the wine is produced in the traditional method in 750ml bottles, disgorged and then poured into and sealed in the minis. Same Champagne, smaller bottle. So maybe Feuillatte is too sexy for you.

March of the Pengwines: Antarctica hosts an odd meeting.

• Normally a guy in a tux asks if you want your wine put on ice. But at a recent tasting, the wine was already on ice while little guys in tuxedos more or less ignored the whole thing. The Antarctic Dream, a luxury liner that ferries tourists from Chile to Antarctica and back, recently made a stop at Yankee Harbor, Antarctica, and brought ashore the latest releases of Chilean brand Pengwine, a penguin-labeled line produced by American Chris Milliken and Chilean Max Eyzaguirre. The tasting almost didn't happen, said Milliken. "A few of the bottles, like penguins, didn't fly. The case went crashing to the tarmac before the plane headed to the South of Chile." But the wines that did survive the journey were tasted in the presence of Gentoo, Chinstrap and Adelie penguins, all of which were tending to hatchlings. This probably wasn't the first wine tasting ever held in Antarctica, but it may have been a first for the penguins. Hopefully, a bottle or two was left behind to help them celebrate the arrival of their chicks.

• If you live in Eureka, Ill., you might want to stop by Eureka College on Feb. 6. For one night only, you'll be able to obtain wine in this otherwise dry town. Just outside Peoria, Eureka has been dry for more than 150 years, and though voters repealed the ban on liquor sales last spring, the city has yet to issue a single license. Eureka College also had an alcohol ban until 2001, when it started allowing wedding parties renting space there to bring in wine and beer with less than 12 percent alcohol. But Eureka is Ronald Reagan's alma mater, and when officials invited his eldest son, talk-radio host Michael, to speak at a fundraiser marking the college's 151st anniversary, they asked the city for a one-day license to serve wine. Furrow Vineyard & Winery, central Illinois' first winery, is donating wines for a dinner, while a store in Peoria is donating one case each of Ironstone Petite Sirah 2002 and Louis Latour Grand Ardèche 2001 for a reception. But drinking in Eureka will cost you: $225 a ticket for the reception, dinner and an autographed copy of one of Michael's books. Go drink a glass for the Gipper.

• Bordeaux and Canadian wines faced off last week—and New Zealand won! The Ontario Wine Society, dedicated to learning about and enjoying Canada's best, held a blind tasting on Jan. 16 between four red Bordeaux and five Canadian Bordeaux-style blends. Much like the legendary 1976 Paris tasting in which California wines beat top wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy, the idea was to see which country's wines performed better and whether the group could distinguish between them. Society director Sadie Darby tossed in a Kiwi wine—Newton's Forrest Vineyard Cornerstone 2002—as a ringer. While Canuck wines took spots two through six, after the 140 tasters sniffed and tasted, they ranked Newton first.

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