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Thu, 05 Feb 2004
- 'Vine police' to patrol French vineyards
The French INAO (Institut Nationale des Appellations d'Origine) is introducing squads
of 'vine police' to step up quality and quantity control. In an attempt to ensure
growers respect yields and production regulations, the INAO and its affiliated unions
are sending out squads of three officers, one representing the ministry of agriculture,
one administrator from the appellation, and one from the commune itself. They will
tour the parcelles offering advice and ensuring proper care is being taken of the
plants.
Can I Be Allergic
to Alcohol?
Numerous requests have filtered through this site seeking information on allergic
reactions caused by wine, beer and/or alcohol. The common question is "Can I
be allergic to alcohol?" Although alcohol can be the culprit, it usually is
not. The culprits are usually the additives used in the manufacturing process.
Wine
company profits fall
Wine companies' bottom lines are feeling the cold after the devastating 2002 frosts.
The Marlborough-based New Zealand Wine Company has reported a 46 per cent drop in
its half-year profit, citing frosts and changing markets for the drop. Other wine
companies say they are also feeling the impacts of the cold snap and the hot dollar.
Merger Creates First
and only Global Investment Bank Dedicated Exclusively to Wine Industry
From the vineyards of Napa Valley, to Australia's Barossa Valley and the Chateaux
of Bordeaux, the world of wine just got something it didn't have: its first and only
global investment bank dedicated exclusively to the business of wine.
US:
Wine report editor predicts tough year for smaller wineries
Increased competition from imports and inexpensive "super value" wines
could equal tough times for Lodi's small- and medium-sized wineries in the coming
year, the editor of a national wine industry publication said Tuesday.
Wine Show in India
In view of our fourth coming trade fair in the month of Aug 2004, we are please to
inform you that "PROSIGHT" is organizing an event titled "India Buyer
Seller Meet" focused specially on Wine and Cigars.
Australia wine makers
to battle weak US earnings
MELBOURNE: Australian beer and wine maker Foster's Group Ltd is expected to report
its interim profit dipped on weak US wine earnings, but smaller rival Southcorp Ltd
is likely to show signs of a turnaround.
CHILE: Wine exports
up despite US slip
Exports of Chilean wine were up 12% in value and 13% in volume in 2003, compared
to 2002, the industry body Chilevid said yesterday. The boost was through all its
major markets, except North America.
Wed, 04 Feb
- Bulgarian Wine Expo
VINARIA 2004 Opens Doors
The southern traditional expo town of Plovdiv opens doors on Wednesday to this year's
12 international exhibition Vinaria 2004, dedicated to viticulture and wine-making.
A record number of 354 companies from 27 countries have been recorded this year,
including 166 Bulgarian participants.
Huge profits drop for NZ Wine Co
The New Zealand Wine Company has seen its half-year profits plunge. The winemaker
announced today that unaudited net profit for the six months to 31 December dropped
by 46% to NZ$321,000 from $596,000 year-on-year.
AUS: Wine Industry Taxation Campaign
The Winemakers' Federation of Australia (WFA) has commenced a national campaign seeking
targeted reform of the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) in the lead up to the 2004/05
Federal Budget. Over the coming weeks, local winemakers and industry representatives
will be meeting with Members of Parliament representing wine regions to lobby for
an exemption from WET on the first 600,000 litres of domestic sales and urging these
MPs to express their support for this policy to the Prime Minister and Treasurer.
Press releases will be distributed to regional media following each of these meetings.
AUS: Rain not a problem for wine
The heavy rains in Northern Tasmania were just what the Tamar Valley wine region
had needed, vigneron John Vincent has said. He said he was not put off by the annual
game of roulette with nature, but even the welcome rain had a possible downside.
AUS:
No cheer in wine sales to US, figures confirm
Analysts have warned beverage investors to look further ahead as the latest batch
of US wine trade figures suggest that Foster's and Southcorp's earnings are likely
to be hit by slowing sales and falling prices in what has been Australia's most lucrative
market.
US:
Wine Growers Adapt To Save Grapes
The extreme cold in the Rochester-Finger Lakes region this winter has grape growers
worried. Low temperatures can do significant damage to their crops and reduce the
output of fine wine.
Tue, 03 Feb 2004
- Digital
Dionysus
It was a cheap stunt, but effective. Leo McCloskey lined up a dozen vintners from
the Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, Calif. in the corporate tasting room and asked
them to rank the contents of ten bottles. When they'd finished swirling, spitting
and recording their verdicts, McCloskey pulled out a sealed envelope. Inside was
a list of the same wines ranked by a computer system he'd programmed to determine
quality. The list matched dead-on the Mondavi judges' winner and loser.
Allied
Domecq predicts earnings growth
LONDON - Strong demand for its spirits, wines including its New Zealand Montana brand,
and fast foods would help Britain's Allied Domecq Plc increase earnings this year,
despite a negative impact from the weaker US dollar, the firm said on Friday.
Fake
goods leave bitter taste in vintners' mouths
A boom in counterfeit ice wines sold in parts of Asia is threatening legitimate Canadian
exports of the sweet desert wine to one of its biggest export markets, according
to worried vintners and trade officials. "Imitation is the highest form of flattery,
but people are making ice wine in their garage and selling it in China. It's ridiculous,"
complained Charles Pillitteri, owner of Pillitteri Estates Winery.
US: Building a better wine cork
On a spotless concrete floor, seven huge molding machines sit in a row, pressing
out little nubs into pallet-sized cardboard boxes. Each box contains some 50,000
of these synthetic doodads, just wide enough to fit the neck of a wine bottle. And
that's precisely where they end up.
GERMANY: New MD
for Hess wine division
The Hess Group has appointed a new MD, and is looking to expand in 2004, according
to press reports. Germany's Lebensmittel Zeitung reported late last week that the
Swiss group has appointed Jean-Marc Amez-Droz as the new managing director of its
Business Development Wine division.
Poor harvest leaves sour taste for NZ
Wine Company
The impact of last year's poor grape harvest has flowed onto the books of one of
the country's two listed wine producers. The AX-listed New Zealand Wine Company yesterday
reported a 46 per cent drop in its half-year profit.
What
kind of wine is made with vacuum distillation?
In short, dealcoholized wine. Vacuum distillation is one of a few methods that is
intended to extract all of the alcohol from a wine, without removing any of the key
elements that define its flavor.
Mon, 02 Feb 2004
- AUS: Ruined lives
and sour grapes as investments go bad
Graham and Miriam Tier's lives are on hold. The surgeon and his wife plunged $365,000
of their savings into Jeffrey Meads's Miles Block vineyard grape growing scheme in
1999. Now they are facing an amended tax assessment for more than $500,000 - which
along with the loss of their original investment would knock a huge hole in their
retirement savings.
Argentina's
Wine Industry Rises Above Country's Economic Crisis
Two years ago, the world watched in shock as Argentina's economy crumbled into chaos.
After defaulting on $95 billion in state bonds, the country went bankrupt and foreign
investment fled. Poverty rates soared, and civil unrest brought down five successive
presidential administrations. The country looked down for the count.
Wine
glut over, industry insiders say
SACRAMENTO -- The wine glut is over, industry experts declared Wednesday, and while
California grape growers may not be planting vast new vineyards anytime soon, they
shared a sense that the price crash has bottomed out.
Days of wine and
rages
Fraud accusations not vintage 2000 Bordeauxs pour forth as the grape expectations
of collectors and aficionados are shattered after they paid $12 million for bottles
that still haven't arrived.
Wine
Sales May Spur Growth at Chains
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cabernet with your quesadilla? Rioja with your ribs? U.S. chain
restaurants, responding to American consumers' increasingly sophisticated and health-conscious
tastes, are focusing on wine more than ever.
Rats
Bred to Drink Alcohol Live Longer Than Those Bred to Avoid It, Study Finds
A team of scientists at Finland's National Public Health Institute are scratching
their heads over their latest findings: Rats bred to drink alcohol live longer, healthier
lives than rats bred to refuse alcohol -- whether or not the rodents actually consume
alcohol during their lifetimes.
'Vine-therapy' ice
cream
A South African company has created a world first with a range of organic fruit flavoured
'vine-therapy' ice creams. Instead of opting for the more traditional vanilla, strawberry
or chocolate flavours, the Renewal Centre is offering a scoop of 'Chardonnay Grape
with Fig & Honey - Reserve 2004' or 'Blackberry & Cherry Pinotage Limited
Edition 2004' ice cream.
Wine Notes: Going
beyond the cork
Do you still snicker at screw caps? Does boxed wine scream "cheap jug wine"
to you? What about smaller bottles, like the 375-milliliter half bottle or the 187-milliliter
airline-type bottle? What if those bottles are plastic rather than glass?
From
the best land comes the best wine
CHILE can best be described as a land of contrasts. Sandwiched as it is between the
majestic Andes and the Pacific it is some 5,000km long yet only about 150km wide
on average, the climate varies from one of the driest places on earth, the Atacama
desert to the north, to the glacial southern tip.
WINE: Let nature
takes its course
With all the recent headlines about bird flu and mad cow disease, caused by man's
mass manufacturing of animals, one hardly feels safe anymore. But here's a place
where mother Earth, not technology, sets the pace--the world of organic and biodynamic
wines. Organic wines are made from healthy grapes grown without chemical fertilizers,
pesticides or fungicides.
Driving and wine: the doggy bag
PARIS - With its smoke-stained walls, paper tablecloths and grandmotherly cooking,
Chez Paul doesn't take kindly to change. But the government's crackdown on unsafe
driving has had a sobering effect on wine consumption at this century-old, corner
bistro just off the Bastille, as it has at restaurants and bars throughout France.
Sun, 01 Feb 2004
- Wine for a Sweet
Tooth
Many young adults, especially in the US, have grown up not being allowed to drink
any wine at all. Instead, they grow up drinking soda, Hi-C, and eating chocolate
and candy. Is it any wonder that when they try their first wine, they find it incredibly
sour or tart?
Introducing Burgundy:
Morey-Saint-Denis
Does proximity matter when it comes to seeking value in the world of Burgundy? It
certainly helps market a wine when the producer can boast that his vineyards lie
close by a more noteworthy property.
Are
UK wine drinkers becoming snobs?
CAPE TOWN - 29 January, 2004 - The latest research on wine drinking habits reveal
that UK drinkers are choosing even more expensive bottles of wine, resulting in the
average value of wine, per bottle, going up. 'If one considers the latest statistics,'
said Colin Collard, MD of the direct wine marketer, The Wine-of-the-Month Club, 'then
UK drinkers are upgrading, and are perhaps becoming more snooty when it comes to
wine consumption.' - www.wine.co.za
Wine Column - Big,
and rich
No, I'm not talking about a new Cabernet Sauvignon. My words relate to the American
market for wine. The US is the world's third largest consumer of wine, getting down
more than 2100 million litres of wine a year. But America rates only 38th in per
capita consumption, with 7.38 litres.
Growing Chinese market ready to be uncorked
China's burgeoning middle class population offers an opportunity for New Zealand
wine exporters, says an Auckland University postgraduate student who has researched
the market.
California snaps at France's heels
California is set to overtake France as the UK's second largest wine supplier, decanter.com
has learned. According to the latest figures from analysts AC Nielsen, the USA (of
which California accounts for 95% of wine produced) overtook Italy in both value
and volume in the UK off-trade in 2003, taking the number three position behind Australia
and France.
Itatilan
Wine: Regulations, EU Alarm over counterfeits
It's a free-for-all when it comes to selling so-called Brunello wine from the cellars
in Argentina or the Amarone in South Africa, the Morellino in New Zealand, the Vinsanto
in Australia, the Recioto in Chile or the Gutturnio in the USA.
Wine
Sales May Spur Growth at Chains
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Cabernet with your quesadilla? Rioja with your ribs? U.S. chain
restaurants, responding to American consumers' increasingly sophisticated and health-conscious
tastes, are focusing on wine more than ever. Since 1997, wine sales at U.S. restaurants
have surged more than 65 percent to $9.9 billion, according to the Adams Beverage
Group, a market research firm in Norwalk, Connecticut.
N.Y.
Lawmakers Propose Take-Out Wine Law
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)--Two state legislators are proposing a law that would allow diners
to take an unfinished bottle of wine home from a restaurant. If the bill passes,
New York would be one of at least a half-dozen states that allow take-out wine. California,
Oregon, Maine, Hawaii and Connecticut all have "doggie bag'' laws.
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