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Fri, 23 May 2000
- US: Two bills introduced
to raise taxes on alcohol
North Carolina should raise its beer and wine excise taxes to stave off more spending
cuts to mental health programs, a group of House and Senate Democrats said Wednesday.
The proposed bill would raise about US$105 million a year.......
US: Goldman Sachs
upgrades Mondavi
The investment bank, Goldman Sachs, has upgraded shares in the Californian winery,
Robert Mondavi Corp., from "underperform" to "in-line........
Giants tipped to
dominate industry
The global wine industry is to be transformed with the emergence of five to 10 borderless
"mega" wine groups within five years that will control a giant slice of
wine sales around the world, it was claimed yesterday......
Only
a matter of time before screw-cap sales explode
That whooshing sound up in Napa is not the tail wind of a wine cork leaving a bottle
- it's the sound of steam gathering behind the screw-cap movement. While still a
tiny portion of wine bottle closures used in California, screw caps are gaining momentum
at a surprising rate......
U.S. 2002 wine exports
decline 7 % , increase 1% in Value
Although California wine exports looked a little watered down in 2002, the overall
trend is robust, according to The Wine Institute.....
South Australia's
water shortage
South Australian industries are reeling today after news of strict new water restrictions
to be imposed on the state from July 1st. Wine grape growers fear they may have to
leave some of their valuable vines to die. ....
WineVision's Global
Exporting Website to Aid Wine Exports
The new Global Exporting website, found on the main Internet site of www.winevision.org,
will provide tools to aid American wine companies from New York to Napa Valley to
increasingly sell their products in overseas markets......
The
Land Time Forgot
In Contra Costa County, some of California's best wineries have been buying grapes
for decades. If someone told you that within an area of a dozen square miles a single
Bay Area town contains hundreds of acres of century-old grapevines whose fruit has
been purchased over the past 20 years by such illustrious wineries......
Up
there, where the grapes grow slow
An old quip in the wine trade asks, "What do you get when you combine grape
juice, brown sugar, white spirits and a few extra-large dollops of oak flavoring?"
The answer, which should be obvious to anyone who has trawled the bargain-bin section
of Japanese wine shops in the last few years, is "Shiraz, mate.".....
Thu, 22 May 2003
- New era of New Zealand
wine and olive oil exports
Russell Briggs Selections has exported its first offering of high-end, artisanal
wines and olive oils from New Zealand. The Nelson-based company features a carefully
chosen portfolio of boutique NZ wineries and olive oil producers, whose very best
creations are destined for discerning wine buyers and gourmands in the United States.
France: Steep hike
in French table wine prices
In the first four months of the current sales campaign (September 2002-February 2003)
the average price of French table wines per hectolitre/degree rose by just over 19%
on the previous year to 4.08 Euro, figures from trade association, ONIVINS show......
Spanish Sparkling-Wine
Giant, Expands into Argentina
Freixenet, the family-owned Spanish sparkling-wine giant, is expanding even further
with the launch of a new brand in Argentina and the purchase of a winery in Spain......
NZ: Prospectus available
for Waikato winery share offer
A $1.12 million share offer for Waikato wine company Mystery Creek Wines has been
extended and now closes a month later on June 30. Get a prospectus ....
Australia: New laws
could outlaw vintage wines
It could become illegal to sell vintage wines like Grange Hermitage from the end
of next year as an unforseen consequence of recent changes to food safety laws. The
oversight by the national food safety regulator has got up the nose of the wine industry.......
Brits still prefer
Aussie wine
The British passion for wine shows no sign of slowing - and Australian winemakers
are among those reaping the benefits.......
US:
Glut of good chardonnay is good for consumers
In every vintage year, the best grapes and the best wines go first into the more
expensive chardonnay lines, then the remaining juice is used for less expensive chardonnay.
In the '90s, there was over planting of chardonnay grapes and, for the 2000 and 2001
vintages, there was plenty of excellent juice left after the expensive wines got
what they needed......
Archaeologists Shed
Light on Ancient Wine Orgies
An archaeology project in Bulgaria is the key to understand what ancient mystery
rituals said to involve wine orgies really looked like. At an excavation site in
Southeastern Bulgaria -- Halka Bunar -- indigenous archeologists explore an ancient
Thracian sanctuary for a third year in a row. Their discoveries begin to shed light
on what is still a riddle to modern science.....
Ice
wine and cool technology
On arid slopes overlooking British Columbia's Lake Okanagan, vineyard owner Don King
is coaxing 30,000 plants to grow grapes of exactly the right colour, size and sweetness
to produce great ice wine and other fine vintages.....
Wine Spectator School
Enrolls 1,500th Student
Wine Spectator School, an online wine school launched by Wine Spectator in September
2002, enrolled its 1,500th student last week. With the flexibility offered by the
Internet, consumers and wine-trade members from more than 35 countries are taking
advantage of wine-appreciation courses backed by the magazine's more than 25 years
of experience....
Wed, 21 May 2003
- Australia:
Southcorp surges 5pc on bid talk
Fresh speculation that a takeover bid will be launched for Southcorp, Australia's
biggest winemaker, sent shares in the embattled company soaring yesterday.......
US:
De Loach Vineyards Files Chapter 11
De Loach Vineyards, Inc. has filed a Chapter 11 reorganization proceeding. The Tuesday
filing is the part of a debt restructuring plan that began in January of this year.
"We regret the need to file, but the reorganization will allow us to complete
the plan we have been working on for the past 4 months," owner Cecil De Loach
said......
Australia:
Wine giant fined $97,600
Wine giant BRL Hardy has been fined $97,600 for inadvertently polluting the environment
with wine waste effluent. More than 2000 kilolitres of the waste water flowed from
the company's wineries at Berri and Renmark.......
The rain in Spain
brings white delights
There are only three wine regions in Spain that are not known for their reds. One
is the famous sherry district of Jerez in the south. Another is near Barcelona, in
the northeast, where sparkling wines known as cava are produced. The other is in
the northwest corner -- the region of Galicia.......
High Score For Jancis
Robinson
In an industry that scores everything drinkable out of 20 or 100, it was only to
be expected that someone would one day rate wine commentators. Which is just what
the UK broadsheet the Independent did last September and came to the, not unexpected,
conclusion that Jancis Robinson, wine scribe for the Financial Times, author, TV
presenter and 'non-bimbo broadcaster', wine selector for British Airways and all
round vinous identity, was the UK wine trade person best regarded by her colleagues......
NZ: A taste of ownership
Fancy owning your own Waikato vineyard, helping out with the harvest, buying wine
at discount prices, having regular wine tasting sessions with family and friends
and eventually making money? The owners of Mystery Creek Wines on 4ha of prime viticultural
land bordering the Waikato River 10km south of Hamilton want to expand their boutique
winery......
NZ: Foreign firms
pump millions into Marlborough wine
Foreign companies have invested more than $100 million in Nelson and Marlborough's
wine industries over the last year. Overseas Investment Commission figures to May
18, 2003 show $100,191,925 "net" foreign investment in Nelson and Marlborough
vineyards over the last 12 months.
Wines'
New World order
A new study shows that German wines' share of the British market has nosedived by
74 per cent in the past decade. By contrast, New World wines have soared in popularity,
increasing their market share more than fivefold in the past 10 years......
California
delights in decade of UK growth
California's wine industry was in jubilant mood today as it published research showing
its sales in the UK had increased eight-fold in the last decade - at the expense
of Old World producers.....
Tue, 20 May 2000
- Australia: Risky
business
The dizzying dreams of large and small wine entrepreneurs do not always reach fruition
in these volatile times. A Yarra Valley producer has 40.4 hectares - count them,
that's 100 acres in the old measure, or around 500 tonnes of fruit or 35,000 potential
cases of wine - of juicy grapes, hanging on the vine, screaming to be picked now,
but he hasn't got a contracted buyer......
Salinity could cost
wine grape growers $20 million
A report, released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
- ABARE, has warned that increased salt content in wines may become a barrier for
Australian exports. Tony Spawton from the Wine Marketing Research Group at the University
of South Australia says salt content in wine is already becoming an issue.....
US: City to perform
recycled water study
St Helena will soon test-drive its plan to use recycled water to irrigate local fields
and wineries.On Tuesday, the City Council voted unanimously to spend $315,360 for
Oswald Engineering and Associates to set up a recycled water system and use it to
find the cheapest way to produce high quality recycled water......
US:
Riesling grapes are in demand
It's as unthinkable as Corning without glass or Maine without lobsters, but Finger
Lakes wineries don't have enough Riesling to meet the demands. For years, local wineries
have pleaded with growers to plant the grape the region has built its reputation
on. For reasons ranging from skepticism to finances, growers haven't......
US: Duckhorn acquires
vineyard
The Californian wine producer, Duckhorn Wine Company, has announced that it has acquired
the former Floodgate vineyard in the Anderson Valley, Mendocino County.......
Australia: Grange
immune from Southcorp woes
While leading Australian wine group, Southcorp, struggles with corporate woes, demand
for its flagship wine, Penfolds Grange, has reached bizarre heights. At a secondary
bidding, a bottle of the 1998 vintage fetched A$700 (US$460), against the already
awesome original price of A$395 (US$260).......
Canada:
The wine is already chilled
Vignoble de L'Orpailleur, which accounts for one-quarter of Quebec's wine production,
stands out in a tough industry where many wineries are operated by 'gentleman farmers'
with other jobs.....
Austria Introduces
New Wine Appellation System
In an effort to develop a clearer image of Austrian wines abroad, the country's producers
have begun phasing in a new appellation system, Districtus Austria Controllatus......
Light
Drinking May Keep Colon Polyps at Bay: Study
Raise a glass or two to your colon's health: new research suggests moderate drinking
may help prevent the growth of cancer-linked polyps.......
Younger People Are
Drinking More In The USA
'Research in the USA,' said Collard, 'points to a different consumption trend. It
appears that the younger population is drinking more wine these days. They are also
more likely to pay higher prices, particularly at the premium end of the range, than
consumers in the 65 and older age bracket.'......
US:
Alcohol sales illustrate risk
Why should wine not be sold online in the same way as books, CDs, movie tickets,
American flags, low-rise blue jeans, 800-thread-count designer sheets, Mark McGwire's
rookie baseball cards, the latest spring sandals and other products such as, say,
cheese? Because wine is alcohol! A ''controlled substance,'' an intoxicating liquor,
a product once banned in the US...
Mon, 19 May
- US:
Corkage survey has some surprises
Restaurateurs say it's hard to understand why patrons expect restaurants to waive
their corkage charges. No one would take steaks to a restaurant and expect the chef
to prepare them for free. Why do they expect that for wine?.......
Sun, 18 May
- Austria:
Wine hit by hail storms
Wine growers fear that up to 70 per cent of this year's wine harvest has been destroyed
after Tuesday's hail storms. The freak hail storms, some of the worst on record,
sent torrents of egg-sized hail stones raging down onto Vienna and the surrounding
hills. ".......
US: Boycott of French
wine losing fizzle with public
Wine importers bet big on American consumers' taste for French wine ó before
political differences over war in Iraq spilled into the economic realm. Trade figures
from the first quarter of the year show French wine imports increased more than 40
percent.....
France fined Euro
23.15m for misspent wine grants
France has been ordered to pay back Euro 23.15m of EU expenditure on wine, which
the European Commission says has been "misspent."....
Former Head of UC
Davis Wine Program Returns as Chairman
In an unexpected move, James Wolpert, former chairman of the wine program at the
University of California, Davis, reassumed leadership of the department of viticulture
and enology this month......
Germany:
Exporters See Price Advantage Evaporate
Wilhelm Steifensand's family has exported elite German wines to the United States
since the early 19th Century, and they're not going to stop just because of the strong
euro.......
New world oak in wines raises Europe's hackles
New Zealand winemakers are backing their Australian counterparts in a wrangle with
the European Commission over the use of oak chips to flavour some wines......
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