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Fri, 25 Jun 2004
- Winemakers purple
over $2 tax on bottles
Winemakers steeling themselves for the arrival of cheaper Aussie plonk have taken
another hit after excise tax added nearly $2 to the cost of a bottle of wine. Another
new, separate tax yesterday added a further cost to the price of a bottle of wine,
though it works out at less than one cent a bottle.
US:
Massachusetts Sues Four Online Wine Retailers for Illegal Sales and Shipping
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly is suing four online retailers for selling
alcoholic beverages to minors and violating the state's liquor laws. His move comes
only two weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear two cases that could
shape the future of direct-to-consumer wine shipments, and forces opposed to online
alcohol sales are seeking to use the Massachusetts lawsuits to bolster their arguments.
US:
Vineyard Pest Makes a Return Appearance Near Napa
Just one year ago this month, the discovery of a glassy-winged sharpshooter -- an
insect that transmits a fatal vine disease -- in Vacaville, Calif., sent local and
state agriculture officials scurrying to check for signs of infestation in Solano
County, not far from the prime wine regions of Napa County.
US:
Cultivate Systems answers the #1 challenge of Direct to Consumer sales
A recent study at the Stanford Graduate School of Business identifies data management
as the number one concern among wineries seeking to grow direct-to-consumer sales.
The study's conclusion -- that a web-based, integrated system for tracking and administering
direct sales is best practice -- highlights the strengths of Cultivate Systems' sales
management system now expanding throughout the wine industry.
What
Makes a White Grape White? Scientists Think They've Found the Color Key
Scientists have long observed that, in the wild, all grapes are dark-skinned. Few
and far between in nature, white grapes represent a genetic mutation of grapes' typical
color, but no one understood just how they developed.
Thu, 24 Jun 2004
- French
chief toasts NZ wine purchase
The head of the world's third-largest wine and spirits marketing company has made
a whistle-stop visit to New Zealand to toast the business's latest brand acquisition.
Paris-based Patrick Ricard, chairman and chief executive of Pernod Ricard, met Auckland
staff of subsidiary Orlando Wyndham. He also visited Orlando's newly acquired Framingham
Wine Company in Marlborough.
AUS:
Price drop will affect wine producers
A softening in prices for red grape varieties this vintage is forecast to worsen
next year and impact local vignerons. Cowra Region Vineyard Association President
Andrew Holmes said that expected price drops, especially for Cabernet and Shiraz
varieties, would have a significant effect by next vintage for Cowra producers.
US:
A $45 billion behemoth
The ongoing growth of California's wine business has turned it into a juggernaut
with a $45 billion annual impact on the state's economy, according to an industry-sponsored
study released Tuesday.
US:
Bronco wines' big challenge -- consistency
The massive Central Valley facility where Two Buck Chuck is made feels more like
an auto plant than a winery. Three hundred refrigerated storage tanks tower four
stories high next to Bronco Wine Co.'s parking lot. The adjacent crush pad is equipped
with traffic lights at each of seven stations to direct the trucks that work all
day and all night during harvest, fetching machine-harvested grapes from around the
state and dropping them off for processing.
French winemakers say outlook is bleak
The vast majority of French wine producers are worried about the performance of their
wines on the international stage, a report has revealed. Exactly 50% of winemakers
thought French wines were in crisis and 41% said they were having difficulties. The
main reasons for this were cited as foreign competition, falling consumption and
tightening legislation - in that order.
The French fume
over New World orders
The reaction in France to a recent TV documentary is starting to sound like sour
grapes. Tempete dans un Verre de Vin (Storm in a Wine Glass), which was broadcast
in France last month, said only 25% of the wine drunk in the UK now comes from French
vineyards, compared with 40% from New World terroirs .
Robert Parker attacks French wine producers
Robert Parker yesterday criticised French wine producers for the way they package
and promote their product. Speaking at Vinexpo Americas 2004 in Chicago, the American
critic blamed the Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC) system for putting off American
consumers brought up on wines distinguished by grape type rather than location of
vineyard.
Russian-speaking
wine people sought
This year's Geoffrey Roberts Award, the 3,000 pound international travel bursary,
has been won by a 31 year-old Georgian who wishes to visit good quality wine producers
in France and Italy during the 2004 vintage with a view to learning more about modern
viticultural and oenological techniques. He will apply what he has learnt to his
family wine farm in Imereti, Georgia and promises also to spread the word throughout
Georgia, 'the cradle of viticulture' ,which has some truly magnificent indigenous
grape varieties, admirable traditions and suitable natural resources but is at the
moment a bit short of modern expertise. He also travels frequently to Moscow, is
well plugged into the burgeoning wine scene there, and further promises to share
what he learns with any Russian who is interested.
US:
Hailing from Italy's first family of wine
The wines Angelo Gaja is pouring pretty much sum up how the making and the stature
of Italian wine have changed during his four decades in the trade. He begins with
the Gaja 2001 Gaia & Rey ($117), a proprietary chardonnay so lush with fruit
and so built to age that he recommends that younger vintages be decanted, rare for
white wines.
US:
Heat of 2003 a boon for rose
In the beginning, Bacchus created white wine. He saw that it was good and awarded
it a score of 90 points. On the second day, Bacchus created red wine and, finding
it even tastier, gave it 99 points. On the third day, the god made rose and saw that
it was pink. He started laughing.
Wed, 23 Jun 2004
- French
wine-makers stirred by US losses
French wine producers need to radically rethink the way they package and market wines
to US consumers if they hope to stem the decline in their share of the multi-billion
dollar US wine market, a panel of industry experts said here.
New South African
wine venture set to tackle US market
Five wine cellars in the Paarl-Wellington district have invested in a new marketing
company aimed at increasing market share in the United States, the Far East and Europe.
Price
drop will affect wine producers
A softening in prices for red grape varieties this vintage is forecast to worsen
next year and impact local vignerons.
Restaurants
uncork huge markups with wine by the glass
Ordering wine with your meal is a ritual of dining out. But if you knew how much
extra you're spending on that bottle of vino, you might choke on your chateaubriand.
Restaurants routinely impose a threefold markup per bottle - and, for wines sold
by the glass, may charge you the cost of an entire bottle for a single glass.
Talking
wine: Gallo's come-back kids
Right after the end of Prohibition in the early 1930s, Ernest and brother Julio Gallo
started a winery that would grow into one of the largest on the planet. In the course
of their expansion, the Gallo brand paralleled the arc of America's growing appetite
for wine.
ALH
launches new concept in Brisbane
Pubs and bottle shops operator Australian Leisure & Hospitality Group (ALH) launched
what it said was a new concept in liquor barns, in Brisbane on Tuesday.
California
Wine Industry Contributes $45.4 Billion to State's Economy
The California wine industry generated $45.4 billion of economic activity within
the state in 2002, according to a study commissioned by the Wine Institute and the
California Association of Winegrape Growers.
US:
Restaurants uncork huge markups with wine by the glass
Ordering wine with your meal is a ritual of dining out. But if you knew how much
extra you're spending on that bottle of vino, you might choke on your chateaubriand.
Restaurants routinely impose a threefold markup per bottle - and, for wines sold
by the glass, may charge you the cost of an entire bottle for a single glass.
Winemaker seeks
$35m
A $35 MILLION capital notes offering will give investors their first taste of investment
in winemaker Delegat's as it seeks funds to build substantial wineries in Marlborough
and Hawke's Bay.
Tue, 24 Jun 2004
- US:
The cheap stuff: passing fad or permanent fixture?
The launch of bargain basement wines over the past 10 years has boosted US wine sales,
but many question whether these "super value" wines can survive the passing
of the global grape glut that spawned them.
Eat,
Drink and Get Serious: A School of Food and Wine
AFTER years of relegating food studies to nutrition programs and limiting wine studies
to agriculture departments, universities in America and Europe have started taking
another look at gastronomy as a serious academic pursuit.
FDA Labels, Nutrition
Info and Wine Bottles
Why don't wine bottles have the Nutrition Fact labels on them that just about every
other food and drink in the US contain?
Low-carb
craze extends to wine country
Wine is fine for those counting carbohydrates. The typical dry white wine contains
1.2 grams of carbohydrates per 5-ounce glass. Dry red wine has 2.5 carbs. (Sweet
wines tend to be higher in carbs - because less of their grape sugar has been converted
to alcohol.)
Ecstasy
'imported in wine bottles'
THREE British citizens were charged with drug trafficking after the discovery of
ecstasy in wine bottles at Sydney airport.
US: Conformia Software
Announces WinePRO 3.0
Conformia Software Inc. today announced the release of WinePRO 3.0, the Global Enterprise
Edition of its flagship product, which is the first true web-based, multi-site production
and compliance solution designed for and built with the global wine industry.
US:
Upcoming economic impact report shows positive growth for smaller wineries
It was just a year ago the De La Montanya family, longtime Sonoma County grape growers,
opened an idyllic Russian River winery to produce small lots of wine under their
own label. "We are primarily grape growers, that is our dream," said co-owner
Dennis De La Montanya. The winery, however, was "the next logical step. We knew
we were growing some very desirable grapes, it was fun to see the fruits of our labor."
US
consumers want 'simpler' French wines
CHICAGO - French wine producers need to radically rethink the way they package and
market wines to US consumers if they hope to stem the decline in their share of the
multi-billion dollar US wine market, says a panel of industry experts. Sales of French
wine has been held back by confusion over the type of wine being sold, perceptions
that the wine is over-priced, and an inability to distinguish between the hundreds
of different brands on the market, said panelists during a seminar at Vinexpo Americas
2004, a wine trade fair being held in Chicago.
SA: New JV for international
arena
A group of five Boland wineries have joined forces to create a new marketing company
aimed at tackling foreign markets as a unit, rather than fight each other for crumbs
in strategic US, European and Far East markets.
Mon, 21 Jun 2004
- German brewer lures
drinkers with promise of youth
Germany's thirst for beer is drying up but one small brewer on the Polish border
has added seaweed and minerals to the traditional drink in the hope of luring back
drinkers with the promise of longevity.
AUS: Are we having
fun yet?
As they do the Crocodile Rock and ride on the Sheep's Back, wine drinkers in Australia
have entered a new, devil-may-care era, writes Ben Canaider. With a massive oversupply
of grapes and a new wine brand born every 64 hours in Australia (yes, this is true),
our winemakers are looking for even smarter ways to market what many cynical wine
drinkers refer to as "the product".
French
wine producers beaten at point of sale in US
Chicago - French wine producers need to urgently review the way they label and market
their products if they hope to arrest a long-running slump in US sales, a leading
US wine commentator warned Sunday.
US:
Redefining Wine
QUILCEDA CREEK Vintners of Snohomish is the classic garage-to-riches wine story.
Twenty years ago, Alex Golitzin, while still working as a chemical engineer for the
Scott Paper Co., had just made the jump from gifted amateur to commercial winemaker.
Granted, the family winery was a humble, homemade affair ó converted milk
tanks from nearby dairies, a few rows of barrels. But Golitzin's enormous talent
and single-minded dedication to making a world-class, Bordeaux-style cabernet were
already apparent.
Tourism
goes double decker
Imagine kicking back in a London double-decker bus stacked with wine and food visiting
hotspots while enjoying panoramic views of Taranaki.
AUS:
Gen X goes wine clubbing
Young drinkers are turning away from beer and quaffing cases of wine. Wine clubs
are booming with almost 20 per cent of new members aged under 35. Though the new
form of clubbing might sound a bit daggier, young drinkers said the hangover wasn't
half as bad.
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