Wine industry news

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WINE INDUSTRY NEWS
	Headlines: week ending April 12, 2003
	Australia: Red in stock, but white wine shortage looms Australia's 2003 grape harvest is expected to fall 12 per cent because of the drought and heatwave conditions, allowing vintners to draw down the surplus of red wine stocks and keep prices up...Sat, 12 Apr 200 New Zealander's can be reached online says report A new survey of online activity in New Zealand by Phoenix Research shows that for many people, the Internet is now a part of their everyday life. Forty nine percent of adults use the Internet regularly, and the majority of these use the net to browse for products and services they are thinking of buying...Fri, 11 Apr 2003 Oz wine industry swimming in it There is an oversupply of grapes in the Australian wine industry. Between 1998 and 2002, the number of wineries rose to 1,465, an increase of 32 per cent. The area planted to vines rose to 158,594 hectares, an increase of 61 per cent. Production of wine rose to 1,174 million litres, an increase of 72 per cent.....Fri, 11 Apr 2003 Rising dollar will force change in wine industry Australia's leading wine business and viticulture consultancy, Wine Network Australia, says the Australian wine industry will have to work harder to increase its technical skills and create new efficiencies if it is to remain competitive in the international market......Fri, 11 Apr 2003 NZ: Supermarket CEO warns of wine glut New Zealand's wine industry is in danger of overheating, the chief executive of supermarket group Foodstuffs South Island says.....Fri, 11 Apr 2003 UK: Industry slams 'scandalous' wine duty hike Outraged wine industry commentators say UK wine lovers are being driven to buy abroad by the Treasury's punishing taxes.....Fri, 11 Apr 2003 UK: Gallo signs UK on-trade alliance The US wine giant E&J Gallo is to target the UK on-trade having signed a strategic partnership with the wholesaler Waverley Wines & Spirits.....Fri, 11 Apr 2003 Australia: Government plans winery rescue Australia's federal government is to fund a national series of workshops to rescue small wineries facing financial difficulties. The initiative follows widespread concerns about how many of the country's 1600 wineries can survive in an industry dominated by four major producer companies and two major retail chains......Thu, 10 Apr 2003 Italy: Web-surfers Prefer Buying Wine In-Store Than On-line They love wine, they are Internet experts, but they'd rather buy wine bottles personally in wine shops than on the web: this is the result of a survey carried out by the website www.winenews.it, one of the most popular wine sites, which proves that on-line purchasing of wine bottles still hasn't taken off in Italy...Thu, 10 Apr 2003 Americans drink to Australian exports Sales to the United States have helped push the value of Australian wine exports to new heights - up 31 per cent to $2.4 billion in the year to March 31 - according to the Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation.....Thu, 10 Apr 2003 Merchants need dramatic price fall in order to sell Bordeaux Wine merchants are gearing up for a 'difficult' en primeur campaign with some saying they won't be able to sell anything unless prices are reduced by at least 40%......Thu, 10 Apr 2003 Australia: Proposal to fortify wine tax Cask and cheap bottled wine prices will increase under proposed reforms to Australia's taxation laws being considered as part of a strategy to combat alcohol abuse.....Weds, 09 Apr 2003 New Zealand winemaker charged over ship protest New Zealand winemaker Logan Petley, 33, was among a group of 10 protesters arrested Tuesday after disrupting the departure of the Australian warship HMAS Sydney as it left for the Persian Gulf ....Weds, 09 Apr 2003 Dealer Wonít Sell US $2M of French Wines Michael Zeiger, owner of Admiral Wine Merchants in New York City, has over $2 million worth of French wines in stock and he won't sell a single bottle. Moreover, he says the idea is catching on among fellow wine merchants.....Weds, 09 Apr 2003 Cork making a comeback The stink over "corked" wine has persuaded dozens of New World wineries and some North Coast producers to switch from agglomerate and natural cork finishes to alternative closures made from plastic, metal, or something in between in the past several years. However, a reverse migration might be afoot.....Tue, 08 Apr 2003 Napa company develops twistoff-stopper hybrid A new Napa company has developed what it calls a consumer- and trade-friendly transitional product between stopper-finished wine closures and stopperless closures.....Tue, 08 Apr 2003 Wines Of Egypt Of the four North African countries---Morocco, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria---only Libya has no wine production industry. The same situation existed in Egypt until March 1999 when the government gave permission for the Gouana Beverage Co to start up wine production from imported Sicilian bulk, and the Al-Ahram Beverages Co to buy the long defunct Gianaclis winery, its Greek owner having died 12 years before.....Tue, 08 Apr 2003 New Zealand voted best wine region New Zealanders are the best in the world at making wine, according to an international publication. Wine Enthusiast Magazine awarded New Zealand the prestigious title of Wine Region of the Year, at their 2002 Wine Awards......Tue, 08 Apr 2003 First growths may come down to US $64 The Bordeaux first growths are set to release their 2002 wines at around the US$64 mark but there is still no real indication as to when the majority of top Bordeaux will go on the market.....Tue, 08 Apr 2003 Australia: Wine glut will hurt US margins The fat returns for Australian winemakers in the massive US market may soon evaporate as the industry grapples with the emergence of a new, budget category of wine, referred to disparagingly in the trade as "two-buck chuck"....Mon, 07 Apr 2003 US wine producers, fear effects of war The war in Iraq threatens to sour the US wine market, deepening problems caused by overproduction, which has dragged down prices in the industry for the past two years. Experts say that while it is too soon to gauge any "Iraq effect" on the sector, producers who do more than 30 percent of their business with hotels and restaurants are among the most vulnerable.....Mon, 07 Apr 2003 Online Sales Growth Overtakes Shop Retailing In UK Although the December 14, 2002, issue of the Financial Times reported that on-line sales of wine are increasing 15 times faster than shop retail sales, on-line sales in South Africa are still believed to be a small portion of total wine sales....Mon, 07 Apr 2003 What The Experts Are Saying About Screwcaps In its December edition, the US Wine Enthusiast, when voting New Zealand Wine Region of the Year, comments: 'Contrary to fears that these closures (screwcaps) might cheapen the image of New Zealand wines, this willingness to innovate has struck a chord with American consumers.....Sun, 06 Apr 2003

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