Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 16, 1993 TAG: 9306160152
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Mighty E&J Gallo Winery, which has struggled for years to cast off its jug-wine image, announced the release of its most expensive wine ever - a 1991 chardonnay that will retail for $30 a bottle.
The wine, produced at Gallo's Laguna Ranch Vineyard in Sonoma County, Calif., represents the company's first foray into ultra-premium varietal wines, that is, those that cost $14 and up.
Gallo, which produces about 50 million cases of wine a year, made only 3,000 cases of the chardonnay, which will be available in early August.
The pricey white will not be Gallo's only offering in the high-end market.
The Modesto-based vintner - which sold one of every four bottles of wine in the United States last year - plans to release a 1990 cabernet sauvignon in the fall that will sell for $60 a bottle, placing it among the most expensive red wines made in California.
For Gallo, the world's largest winery with an estimated $1 billion in annual sales, the move into the ultra-premium market fulfills a dream long held by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo, who built their empire on inexpensive jug wines.
"My brother and I achieved nearly every goal we set for ourselves," said Ernest, 84. "There is one left, however - to create wines that would be recognized as among the world's best. . . . It's a matter of personal satisfaction - [to produce] a very small amount of very fine wine."
Julio Gallo, who spearheaded the creation of the new estate-bottled chardonnay, died on May 2 in an automobile accident.
The wine already is receiving praise. In a blind tasting conducted by Wine Spectator, a leading industry publication, Gallo's chardonnay was judged to be among "the best of the 1991 chardonnays we've tasted."
Nonetheless, Gallo may have a difficult time convincing consumers to buy its pricey new wines.
"It doesn't seem to be where the market is," said Bill Hamilton, chief financial officer of San Francisco-based Chalone Wine Group, a producer of ultra-premium wines which has experienced a big slowdown sales. "People these days are buying more wines in the $10-to-$15 range." - San Francisco Chronicle
\ Oyster lovers, beware
ATLANTA - People who eat raw oysters, beware: A bacteria in the shellfish can cause diarrhea, even death.
Nothing can screen for the natural, microscopic organism called Vibrio vulnificus, which lives in warm sea water and accumulates in the flesh of shellfish, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last week.
"This isn't a common illness," said Dr. Cynthia Whitman, a CDC epidemiologist. "But it's a serious one, and it can be avoided. Don't eat raw oysters."
The number of vulnificus cases totals fewer than 100 a year nationwide, but the mortality rate is 45 percent to 60 percent, she said.
Most of the deaths occur in people with liver disease, because they lack cells to remove bacteria from the bloodstream, the CDC said. People with diabetes, kidney disease and other ailments that weaken the immune system also are at heightened risk.
Antibiotics can fight off the illness in healthy people, if it's caught early.
"Prevention is really the best option," Whitman said.
The United States prohibits oyster harvesting in water contaminated by pollution or fecal matter. So people who eat legally harvested raw oysters may have a false sense of security, the CDC said.
The natural bacteria is easily killed during cooking. But in an oyster eaten raw, the bacteria can cause illness ranging from diarrhea to a bloodstream infection that shuts down the body's vital organs.
In very rare instances, the bacteria can infect a person through an open wound while someone swims or harvests shellfish.
Only four states - Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas - track illness from the bacteria, which was first discovered in 1979.
Louisiana and California require consumer warnings to be posted wherever raw oysters are sold, and Florida is working on similar labeling regulations.
The Food and Drug Administration provides information through its seafood safety hot line: 1-800-332-4010. - Associated Press
by CNB