your new wine

What can you tell us about the new wine project that you are bottling or have bottled? How did you come up with a blend from different grapes from different regions of the world. I love the concept, and finally what is the distribution going to be (any of it making it to the NYC area?)?

Mike

Here is what i wrote on my Facebook page:

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My Idea of OneWineOneWorld
by James Suckling on Friday, September 17, 2010 at 1:41pm
Yesterday in London I went public with my charity wine – OneWineOneWorld. Wine writer and Master of Wine Jancis Robinson and Adam Lechmere of Decanter magazine attended a friendly lunch in the office of my friend David Khalili, the well-known UK property developer, philanthropist, and art collector. I made my wine, among other reasons, for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom this week – the first visit of his holiness in almost 30 years. The proceeds from my wine go to Khalili’s interfaith charity, The Maimonides Foundation, whose mission is to promote understanding among Jews, Christians and Muslims.

It’s hard for me to believe that 1W1W began a few months ago in Ensenada, Mexico, and now it’s in bottle and being served to the pope this Sunday in Birmingham as he finishes his tour. It all began in a small local restaurant near the harbor where I was having lunch with my friends: film director and producer James Orr (he is now my partner in JamesSuckling.com) and Mexican vintner Humberto Falcon. Orr, Falcon, and I were talking about making wine – since we have been making a barrel of our own for the last couple of years in Valle de Guadalupe near Ensenada – and how wine could be more than wine. It could be a statement of life. It could embody hopes and dreams.

Something came into my head during lunch. “What if we made a wine from Mexico and the United States as a statement of what the two countries had in common instead of how they were different?” I said. “That would be really cool,” said Orr. We talked for a while about the whole concept and whether it would actually work. Would the wine be any good? In fact, it has already been done. My friend and winemaker Hugo D’Acosta of Ensenada makes a Mexican/Californian red called Contraste, and it’s very good quality.

“Forget it man,” I said. “Let’s make a wine for the world. Let’s call it One Wine One World.” May be we had drunk too much? May be we were just dreamers? But we believed in the idea, and I found out the same day that D’Acosta had just shipped some wine in bulk from his estate in the South of France, and he had some California wine from Wente in his cellar. I was going to call some small producers in the Valle to ask if they would sell me some wine as well. It seemed that it was our destiny to try to blend a global wine. I called D’Acosta, and he said he would help us in any way he could.

The idea was that I would buy the wine from D’Acosta as well as a handful of other Mexican producers. I would make the blend and D’Acosta would bottle, and label it for me. I would pay for everything. And any money left over would go to local charities in each country where the wine came from.

It was just a dream when I flew back to Europe a few days later. I landed in London to see my children, and I happened to go for a coffee with my friend David Khalili in his office in Mayfair. We were having our usual philosophical conversations about life, love and religion, when for some reason I began to speak about my idea about OneWineOneWorld. And I asked Khalili his advice about finding a charity, or charities, and he just looked at me with a big smile. He asked me to link OneWineOneWorld to his charity The Maimonides Foundation.

Khalili said that his foundation was actively involved in bringing Jews, Christians and Muslims closer together through communication. He said that it was all about promoting the idea of love and respect for all peoples of the world regardless of their religion or lifestyle. Moreover, he was active in organizing Pope Benedict XVI visit to the United Kingdom and that he wanted the wine to be served to the pope at a special dinner. I had to try to make OneWineOneWorld.

It’s a whirlwind story afterwards of joy, trails and tribulations with many trips to Mexico to blend, to bottle and to ship the wine in time for the pope’s visit. I did the same thing in Italy for the white. The former is a blend of mostly Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon The later is a blend of Pinot Grigio, Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and a little Furmint and Chevalier. The white is from Italy, Slovenia and Hungary.

I would like to thank everyone involved for his and her friendship and help with OneWineOneWorld. I hope that the wine can some how better illustrate that wine is more than a beverage. It’s something that brings us together and enhances our life. It reminds us that we all have so much in common and to share, no matter where we are in the world, who we worship or how we live. I believe that the fact that the wines for OneWineOneWorld came from different places yet blend so easily together and taste so delicious in harmony illustrates this. I hope Pope Benedict XVI enjoys the wine on Sunday.


THE WINE WAS SERVED FOR A LUNCH ON THE FOLLOWING SUNDAY AND FRIAR PAUL REPORTED THAT THAT BISHOPS “HAD NOT COMPLAINTS.” NOT SURE IF THE POPE ACTUALLY TRIED IT.

THAT’S “NO” COMPLAINTS.

I think “HAD NOT COMPLAINTS” sounds better. It’s more biblical!