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Fri, 27 Feb 2004
- Tuscan patriarch
Antinori still perfecting his chianti
Thirty years ago, a young Marchesi Piero Antinori helped lead a revolution that scandalized
the Italian wine scene and changed forever the way they make wine under the Tuscan
sun. Now 65 and hinting at retirement, Antinori is touring the U.S. to prove how
right he was. He's bringing five vintages of the wine he created -- the 1983, 1990,
1997, 2000 and 2001 Tignanello -- and demonstrating that they are uniformly generous
and rich, youthful at all ages, bursting with blackberry fruit.
US:
California Vineyard Expansions Hurting Wildlife?
The cost of producing wine may be higher than what price tags on bottles show. According
to a recent conservation study, the rapid expansion of California's vineyards also
inflicts a serious cost on the state's rich wildlife.
AUS: Industry calls for wine tax cut
Australia's wine industry - producers and suppliers - has united in a push to get
the federal government to cut a tax that effectively adds 40% to the retail price
of a bottle.
Is
wine above the law in France?
For French winemakers, what they bottle is not to be confused with mere spirits like
vodka or brews like beer. So they claim they deserve exemption from a tough law on
liquor advertising that they say is hurting sales of the national drink. Wine, they
argue, is not just alcohol but a product of French culture.
US: Champagne Shipments
to the U.S. Continue to Sparkle in 2003
The Office of Champagne, USA announced today that Champagne shipments to the United
States increased in 2003, building on the very strong 2002 shipment figures. The
United States imported 18,957,031 bottles of Champagne in 2003, an increase of four
percent over the 18,227,280 bottles imported in 2002.
US: World Wine Market
Exhibition Now 'Matchmaking' Premium Wineries With Fine Wine Distributors
The fourth annual World Wine Market Exhibition and Conference, April 29 - May 1,
2004, Fort Mason Center, San Francisco -- http://www.world-wine-market.com -- has
announced a new Matchmaking Program to link participating wineries with distributors
from around the country.
Sassicaia's Successor
If there's one moment, one person and one wine that can be said to be the starting
point of the Italian wine revolution, it was in 1970 when Marchese Mario Incisa della
Rocchetta (1899-1983) introduced the first vintage of his new wine, Sassicaia.
Francis
Ford Coppola
The scene is deserving of a screenplay. A Napa Valley chateau, a grand work of stone
covered in ivy, splendidly decorated for a holiday fete. In the shadow of plump and
polished Taransaud oak tanks, guests gather around glasses of wine. Not just any
wines, but Inglenook Cabernet Sauvignons from the 1930s through the 1960s, some of
the rarest and most- esteemed wines ever produced in California.
Thu, 26 Feb 2004
- Time for Wine
Are you an oenophile? Then Oenorama 2004, Greece's bi-annual trade show for the Greek
wine industry, opens March 12th at the EKEP center in Athens. The show is free to
foreign visitors and offers a chance to taste wines from dozens of producers in Greece,
from giants like Boutari to tiny undiscovered vineyards offering artisanal wines.
If you think that Greek wine begins and ends with retsina, you have a very palatable
surprise in store.
Raffarin
seeks to console ailing wine growers
Prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin will meet French wine-growers today in Paris
to discuss how the government can mitigate the unintended consequences of its successful
road safety campaign on an already crisis-ridden industry.
US:
2003 Australian wine exports up 24 percent
Australian wine exports rose by 24 percent in 2002-03, the Australian government
reported Wednesday, even as French wine sales are slipping.
Grapegrowers facing end of golden harvest
Grapegrowers say their golden days of selling grapes on the spot market appear to
be over because 5000 tonnes of "uncommitted" grapes are set to be harvested
in the next couple of months.
French
wine exports up in value, down by volume
Exports of French wine and spirits rose 1.7 percent in 2003 to EUR 7.81 billion (USD
9.8 billion), the country's federation of wine and spirits exporters reported Wednesday.
AUS:
Winemaker counts the high cost of takeover
Costs associated with a $150 million foreign takeover cut deeply into first-half
results at Peter Lehmann Wines. The Barossa Valley winemaker yesterday said $2.79
million in legal and adviser fees had dragged its net profit down 86 per cent to
$403,000, compared with $2.94 million previously. "It was fairly expensive but
it's working out well," managing director Doug Lehmann said.
Wed, 25 Feb 2004
- Aussie tawny port,
wine to sell in EU
Australian tawny port and vintage wine will be sold in European wine shops with their
labels intact under new European Commission regulations. After years of argument
over the use of traditional wine terms, the commission has agreed to allow certain
descriptions used by worldwide wine producers to remain unaltered.
FRANCE: Wine leaders
to hold crisis talks
Leaders from the French wine industry are to meet with the prime minister, Jean-Pierre
Raffarin, this week for talks to demand that the government takes action over the
growing plight of the French wine industry.
Winegrowers expect record vintage
New Zealand's wine growers are expecting a record grape crop in the currnet vintage,
which has got underway.
Pruned
Southcorp recultivates brands
There's a world of differences between Southcorp chief executive John Ballard and
his predecessor Keith Lambert, but their attitude to wine brands is a good place
to start. Lambert put Southcorp through an enormous pruning exercise. The aim: cull
historic labels and product lines and focus on a fistful of profitable brands in
Penfolds, Rosemount and Lindemans.
SA: Wine Spectator gives top score to
Raats Chenin Blanc
Local winemaker Bruwer Raats' 2002 Raats Chenin Blanc has set a new standard for
Chenin that is growing in popularity in the United States of America when the world-renowned
Wine Spectator magazine gave the Chenin Blanc an unprecedented rating of 91.
Spectator
Selections
Highly Recommended: The issue's most impressive wines. Includes top-scorers and wines
that represent optimal purchases based on their combination of score, price and availability.
Collectibles: Wines that will improve most from additional bottle age and that show
the greatest potential to gain in value. Smart Buys: Wines that deliver fine character
at affordable prices and that are broadly available.
Que syrah, syrah
Most Kiwi winemakers will tell you they prefer the name syrah to shiraz because their
style has more in common with the French than with any old Aussie shiraz.
Wine Health Labels
Questioned
The U.S. Surgeon General has testified that labels on wine bottles urging consumers
to learn more about the health effects of wine would probably lead to irresponsible
drinking.
Inside
Wine: Decanting
Decanting is one of the more traditional elements of formal wine service -- and one
of the most controversial. Opinions differ widely as to which wines reward decanting
and on how long before serving to decant a wine. The stakes can be high.
Sun, 22 Feb 2004
- 'Skywalker'
Wine Debuts
Filmmakers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas have collaborated on a new release:
a $30 Chardonnay made at Coppola's winery from grapes grown at Lucas' Skywalker Ranch
in Northern California, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. A $40 Merlot is due
out this summer.
Take
heart, red wine still best for coronary health
How much red wine is good for the heart? The French people have a low incidence of
heart disease despite a relatively high fat diet. Scientists speculate that this
might have something to do with their habit of quaffing lots of red wine. In fact,
by the early 1990s, a chemical found in wine called resveratrol had been identified
as possibly the molecule doing the trick.
Wife's wine glass
runneth way over
I am extremely concerned about my wife, "Jackie's," drinking. She has only
two glasses of wine every night after work, but the glasses are large, and two of
them measure out to an entire bottle.
Ritz knows what
to do with leftover wine
It is not what one would expect at the Ritz. Sitting down to dinner accompanied by
a glass of expensive wine, patrons of one of London's finest hotels demand the best.
They do not expect to be swigging leftover vino. But Simon Girling, restaurant manager,
revealed to an employment tribunal that open wine left over from functions at the
hotel's Trafalgar suite was sold, for a second time, to customers in the restaurant.
US: Wine in a box:
Upscale wineries trade cork for cardboard
As Americans stock up for family gatherings and parties, wineries in California and
Australia are giving us a taste of how grape lovers in many other countries purchase
their wine - in a box with a spigot.
CANADA: B.C. scientists
pop cork on $3.1 million wine project
Canadian wineries are turning to scientists to help guarantee grape quality. Researchers
are mapping the DNA of grapes. They're finding the genes for sugar and acid, tracking
the master switches that guide when grapes ripen and discovering what biochemical
signals lead to tastier wine.
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