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Fri, 19 Mar 2004
- Marlborough
wine growers facing botrytis challenge
Many grape blocks in Marlborough are carrying high levels of botrytis, with harvest
still a month away for some. HortResearch scientist Rob Agnew said the region was
probably having its worst botrytis year since 1996, with some blocks carrying more
bunches with the fungus than without.
US:
Vinexpo Americas exhibition
The world's biggest wine show blows into the Windy City in a few months. From June
20 to 22, 600 producers from 30 countries will gather at McCormick Place, hoping
to attract 10,000 trade visitors to Vinexpo Americas. Attendance is limited to wine,
spirits and hospitality professionals but consumers, mark your calendar anyway. The
excitement of Vinexpo is sure to trigger a bevy of winemaker dinners, special tastings
and sales in our competitive market.
US:
California Pinot and Burgundy -- one grape, two approaches
About a year ago, a small group of Bay Area writers was invited to a private tasting
of 2000 Vintage First Growth Bordeaux. It was a remarkable event both because of
the quality of the wines presented and the unusual turnout of writers who often stay
away from such tastings in droves. The importer who ran this amazing tasting was
encouraged by those assembled to do it again, but perhaps with Burgundies next time.
And so it came to pass that the leading wine journalists living near San Francisco
gathered to sample a collection of red Burgundies.
Screw-cap
wines pass taste test with ease
Wine dates back thousands of years. Using cork to close wine bottles dates back only
400 or so. Yet some cork aficionados would have you believe that cork is as important
as the grapes when it comes to wine. Not so, says Ronni Lacroute, whose WillaKenzie
Estate in Oregon has begun bottling 15 percent of its output with screw caps.
Thu, 18 Mar 2004
- Breast Cancer Risk Tied to Wine, Fat
Intake
A new Swedish study finds postmenopausal women who consume high amounts of alcohol,
especially wine, are at a higher risk for breast cancer. According to the study,
women who drank more than roughly 1.5 glasses of wine per day were twice as likely
to get the disease compared to women with little or no alcohol intake. Moderate drinkers,
meanwhile, were found to be at a 12 percent lower risk of breast cancer.
Great marketing,
great grapes define Spain's 'best' wine
Spain - A decade ago, Vega Sicilia offered to recall 120,000 bottles of its Valbuena
5 red wine because of cork taint. Only 5,000 came back, most owners apparently preferring
to take their chances rather than lose something they might not get to taste again.
South African wines
internationally acclaimed as leading wines of the new world
Meerlust Rubicon 1999, was recently hailed as the Best New World Red in the March
edition of Decanter. Steven Spurrier, Consultant Editor of Decanter Wine magazine,
recently acknowledged as one of the 'best shoes in the wine business' after 40 years
in the industry, said 'Hannes Myburgh's Bordeaux blend, Rubicon, maintains its position
as one of the Cape's greatest reds with this superb 1999.
Weda, 17 Mar 2004
- FRANCE: UK leads
Champagne export growth
Champagne producers exported close to 34.5m bottles into the UK last year, making
it the largest market outside France in the world. It was a record year for the French
region, beating even 1999 and the run up to millennium celebrations when 32.2m bottles
were shipped to the UK.
Breaking News on Screws
We are pleased to announce that Guala Closures in conjunction with TOPenz Ltd, its
present distributor, have decided to invest in New Zealand. In July 2003 the Guala
Closures Group purchased Global Cap. Guala Closures are the largest producer of safety
closures for alcoholic beverages in the world with 22 plants in three continents.
Italians pay millions for grapes here
One of Italy's most prestigious wine making families has bought a 13 hectare vineyard
in Marlborough for $2.8 million. Members of the Antinori family, through the company
Campo Di Sasso Limited, have purchased a 12.7 hectare block, with 10.8ha planted
in sauvignon blanc, an Overseas Investment Commission report shows.
Esperto Pinot Grigio
by Livio Felluga
It will come as no surprise to anyone perusing a wine shelf these days that pinot
gris, or pinot grigio as it's known in Italy, is really hitting its stride. It is
the United States' most imported white wine and consumers can't seem to get enough
of it. Demand for pinot grigio even has eclipsed the ubiquitous chardonnay in some
sectors.
Tue, 16 Mar 2004
- The Largest Solar System in the World
of Wine Is Complete and Generating Electricity
The power of the sun is helping make some of the most distinctive wines to come out
of Sonoma County. The largest solar-powered system in the wine world with 4,032 panels
is up and running at Rodney Strong Vineyards' 100,000 square-foot barrelhouse, which
contains 40,000 barrels for aging wine. The solar energy from the Barrel House supplies
power throughout the winery.
US:
Washington Wine Commission plans national ad campaign
When most American consumers think about domestic wine, they think California. The
Washington Wine Commission aims to change that with its first national advertising
campaign. "We want that recognition," said Stacie Jacob, wine commission
spokeswoman.
Winemakers on three continents commit
Winemakers are particularly partial to terroir, those unique environmental qualities,
from soil composition to climate, that determine the character of a vineyard and
in turn, the wine. The elaborate French appellation controlee system, now modified
and used by most wine-producing countries, places a premium upon this natural environment,
viewing it as a living organism.
NZ wine cup runneth over
New Zealand was on the verge of producing its largest sauvignon blanc vintage yet,
30 per cent more than ever before, an industry executive said yesterday. The crop,
in the lucrative Marlborough district at the top of South Island, was about two weeks
away from picking, New Zealand Winegrowers' chief executive Philip Gregan said.
Mon, 15 Mar
- US: 2003 spirit
and wine sales hit 10-year high
Sales of spirits and wine cases last year hit their highest levels for over a decade,
according to figures released yesterday. The recently-released 2004 edition of Adams
Handbook Advance published by Adams Beverage Group also showed that, despite a slight
dip in beer consumption, all three segments of the business posted record retail
dollar sales.
US:
Wine debate grows sharp
New York's wineries, supermarket chains, liquor stores and alcohol wholesalers are
locked in an escalating political fight at the state Capitol that could determine
how New Yorkers and out-of-state residents get wine.
Geneticists Ferment With Facility
Representative Sherwood Boehlert announced the allotment of $2.7 million to the USDA-ARS
Grape Genetics Research Center last December. Cornell researchers plan to work with
United States Department of Agriculture scientists in a new federal research facility
to establish a national grape program for grape research. The facility will be located
at the Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park at Geneva, a research park focused
on food, agriculture, and bio-based technologies.
Jury
awards winemaker $250,000
After an arduous 12-day, high-profile wine industry trial, Helen Turley -- perhaps
the best-known winemaker in America -- was awarded $255,000 Wednesday in her breach
of contract case against vintner Don Bryant.
Wine production analysis monitor
LT Industries Wine-Analyser-II wine analyser systems, available from The Novasys
Group, are a family of near infra-red (NIR) analysers with modules for the various
stages of wine production and testing. Wine producers are able to measure an extensive
array of properties beginning with quality of grape delivered, to must and finished
product.
Amid
painful transition, Wine Brats regroups, looks to future
The Wine Brats are having growing pains. Wine Brats, a wine appreciation group that
launched 10 years ago, revolutionized wine education by reaching out to the previously-ignored
20- something population -- a demographic that has become one of the most avid segments
of wine drinkers in the country.
Sun, 14 Mar
- Cut-price quaffing as quality wines
go under hammer
A wine glut later this year should cheer wine drinkers as prices plummet. While tickets
on bottle-shop shelves will herald good news, even better bargains are likely at
wine auctions. Until recently, auction houses have been niche players in the wine
industry, providing a market for connoisseurs to sell premium excess stock from private
cellars.
SA:
Sales up at Winecorp but hot rand puts a cork on profits
CAPE TOWN Volume gains scored in international markets in the past 18 months have
failed to translate into increased profit for wine producer and marketer Winecorp
in the six months to January as a result of the unfavourable exchange rate.
The
wave of wine
Leading wine industry players forecast a dramatic shake-up over the next two years
as many small to medium sized wine companies come to terms with the economics of
finding a market for their product.
Consumption
of U.S. spirits, wine and beer up
Consumer demand for products with flavor and panache drove U.S. spirits and wine
case-sales in 2003 to heights not seen in more than a decade, according to the recently
released 2004 edition of Adams Handbook Advance published by Adams Beverage Group.
UK: Champagne Popularity Hits New Heights
Champagne is more popular than ever in the UK, according to figures published today.
Almost 34.5 million bottles were imported into the UK last year ñ more
than any other country in the world. The USA, the second largest foreign market,
imported 18.9 million.
Tuscany's
Tenute Silvio Nardi Organizes a Tour of Wine in Art
Tuscan wine producer Tenute Silvio Nardi has put together a guide to wine-related
artworks in Rome that spans three millennia of history. The self-guided tour, called
Degustazioni d'Arte, covers 36 works of art in the permanent collections of seven
museums, all located in the Villa Borghese, Renaissance and Baroque areas of Rome.
White Meritage
Curiously enough, one of the most frequently mispronounced wine words is not French
but English. But it looks French, and therein lies the problem. "Meritage,"
a registered trademark coined as a contest entry in 1988, is intended to rhyme with
"Heritage," but that doesn't deter many wine experts from giving it a French
twist as "Mehr-uh-TAHJ." True confessions: I have to fight a tendency to
do this, myself.
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