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Thu, 05 Aug 2004
- What
is the "governo" method of making wine?
The governo method has been most frequently used in the Chianti region of Tuscany,
and is therefore sometimes actually referred to as governo alla toscana. The governo
method involves harvesting grapes in October and November, then setting them aside
to dry. These dried grapes are later pressed, and their unfermented juice is added
to wine that has already undergone normal alcoholic fermentation.
AUS:
Wine giant drives its opposition to the Wal
Orlando Wyndham has secured a deal with the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, to
sell its flagship Jacob's Creek wine brand. Under the distribution deal, more than
300 Wal-Mart stores will stock Jacob's Creek, boosting its profile right across what
is now Australia's most lucrative wine market.
AUS:
ZORK pops up to end cork taint
An Adelaide company believes it has produced a solution to the centuries-old problem
of stopping cork taint in wine. At the launch of the ZORK in Adelaide yesterday,
the new seal was hailed as a major breakthrough. It offers a solution to the estimated
5 to 12 per cent of wine bottles which suffer from cork taint.
AUS: Southcorp to
handle own asset sale
Southcorp is to use an internal team to sell off around A$25m of assets, according
to a report in the Australian Financial Review.
FRANCE: white paper divides nation
A white paper tackling wine legislation drawn up by French ministers and handed to
the government last Thursday looks set to divide a nation.
Wed, 4 Aug 2004
- Wine
renaissance reviving the glory that was Greece
It took 15 centuries for the modern world to catch up with the ancient Greeks and
reignite the Olympic flame. It took even longer for Greek wine to regain a measure
of the status it held in antiquity.
Can Oregon pinots
capture Burgundy's soul?
The vineyards at Domaine Drouhin Oregon are overseen jointly by the winery's French
owners and their American staff. Drouhin has imported special tractors from France
that can traverse the narrow, densely planted vines.
AUS: Wine exports in jeopardy from poor
handling and shipping
Heat damage is affecting about 20 per cent of the nation's $2.1 billion packaged
wine exports, major producer Orlando Wyndham believes. Chief winemaker and director
of winemaking Philip Laffer said the damage resulted from poor shipping and warehousing
AUS:
Surge in wine exports ending
The surge in Australian wine exports may have come to an end with new figures showing
just a small increase in overseas sales. The Australian Bureau of Statistics said
total wine exports for the 2003-04 financial year was $2.47 billion, a new record
for the industry.
UK
holds opportunity for SA wines
After having made significant inroads into the UK wine market over the past five
years, the opportunities for further growth for South African wines are still plentiful
despite tough competition, according to Charlotte Hey, publisher of UK beverages
magazine "The Drinks Business".
US: Wal-Mart to
Sell Jacob's Creek Wine
Australian wine maker Orlando Wyndham has sealed a distribution deal that will see
its popular Jacob's Creek range stocked at Wal-Mart stores in the United States.
Tue, 03 Aug 2004
- French wine: From whining to winning?
There's just no pleasing France's mighty wine makers. Last year, a grape-shrivelling
heatwave led to panic about wine supplies drying up.
ITALY: Vodka Company
Uncorks Wine Deal
Vodka group Blavod Extreme Spirits (BES) today said it had done a deal to distribute
two of Italy's most famous wine labels. The London-based firm, whose flagship brand
is Blavod black vodka, said it had signed partnerships with Italian wineries Baroncini
and Bruno Rocca to market their wines exclusively in the United States.
US:
Discussion over 'Frankengrapes' growing in Napa
The movement to ban genetically engineered crops appears to have bypassed Napa County,
at least for now. In March, Mendocino County voters passed the first ballot initiative
of the kind, banning farmers from growing genetically engineered crops within the
county. Currently in Marin, Sonoma, Butte, Alameda and Santa Cruz counties, activists
are organizing petitions and collecting signatures for ballot initiatives which,
if passed by voters, would place new bans on genetically engineered crops.
US:
Bush administration silent on Internet wine sales
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is keeping quiet in a fight over Internet wine
sales, in a move that steers clear of potential political pitfalls while leaving
the Supreme Court to find its own way. Plenty of other people are weighing in on
the high-profile Internet wine sales case. These legal kibitzers range from conservative
activists who decry alcohol proliferation to several dozen state attorneys general
eager for Supreme Court guidance.
Alcohol is good
for you: research
Give your brain a boost - have a drink. Astonishing new research from United Kingdom
academics appears to show that people who drink alcohol - up to half a bottle a day
- have more agile minds.
FRANCE: Overhaul
of wine labelling system
France is to change centuries of tradition by labeling bottles of its wines from
the Bordeaux and Burgundy wines regions according to grape variety as part of an
urgent effort to recover declining world market share from upstart vineyards in the
United States, Australia and South Africa. The decision, agreed in an emergency of
wine-makers and Agriculture Minister Hervé Gaymard, is seen as radical
in a country where up to now wine has been sold purely according to region, and is
often labeled as coming from a particular village or chateau.
Mon, 02 Aug 2004
- NZ Wine Company
profit down on last year
The New Zealand Wine Company posted a 31.6 per cent fall in net profit for the year
ended June 30. The company reported net profit for the period of $739,000, compared
to $1.08 million the previous year.
Robert
Mondavi Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and Full-Year Fiscal 2004
The Robert Mondavi Corporation (NASDAQ:MOND) today announced results for its fourth
quarter and full fiscal year ended June 30, 2004. The company reported net income
of $4.3 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, for the quarter ended June 30, 2004,
compared to net income of $0.8 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, during the same
period a year ago. This year's fourth quarter included $2.4 million in net charges,
or $0.09 per diluted share, while last year's fourth quarter included $6.9 million
in net charges, or $0.27 per diluted share. Details of these charges are listed in
the notes following the Financial Highlights.
CANADA:
Vincor swallows U.K. wine firm
In a move that is becoming vintage Vincor, the once quaint but ever-expanding Ontario
vintner has acquired a U.K. wine company for $323 million. Mississauga-based Vincor
International Inc., parent of the Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs brands, announced
yesterday it purchased privately held Western Wines, owner of the South-African Kumala
brand and the largest independent wine importer and distributor in the United Kingdom.
US:
Bottled-up dreams
California vintners are courting a vast Asian market that lacks a big taste for wine
Sun, 01 Aug 2004
- AUS: Heat souring wine exports
Heat damage was affecting about 20 per cent of Australia's $2.1 billion packaged
wine exports, a leading winemaker has claimed. The damage caused by poor shipping
and warehousing, was not making the wine undrinkable. However, it was causing it
to lose appeal for overseas consumers, said Orlando Wyndham's chief winemaker and
director of winemaking, Philip Laffer.
Gallic
wine fans losing their thirst
An increasingly heated row is raging in France between wine makers and the medical
establishment about how, or whether, this once most bibulous of countries should
be persuaded to drink more wine. The crisis facing French wine exports, reeling from
an onslaught of New World competitors' cheaper, easier to identify, and often far
more drinkable, is well documented.
Trellising the Grape:
An Unsung Aspect of Wine Quality
Most wine drinkers never think about how the grapes that made their wine hang on
the vine. Yet every winemaker worries intensely about the details of how to best
trellis their vineyard vines in order to get the optimum ripeness for their grapes.
Grape vine trellising is, for us consumers, an unsung yet vital component of what
we finally taste in the bottle.
Vincor International
Announces Acquisition of UK-Based Western Wines Limited
Major acquisition greatly increases scope and scale of Company, provides South Africa's
largest export brand, `Kumala', and significant sales, marketing and distribution
infrastructure in the UK.
US:
Harvest starts early this year
The 2004 wine grape harvest has gotten off to a very early start this year, with
growers keeping their fingers crossed that the near-perfect weather will hold. Wineries
are harvesting two to three weeks ahead of normal because of an early spring. When
Korbel Wine Cellars in Guerneville trucked in its first grapes last Thursday -- Chardonnay
from the Sacramento Delta -- it was the bubbly-maker's earliest crush on record.
US: Wine group opens drive to pay for
direct shipping battle
The wine industry advocacy group fighting to open up direct shipping to all states
has started a drive to raise $750,000 from California wineries to pay the cost of
its upcoming Supreme Court battle. The Coalition for Free Trade, founded in Sacramento
seven years ago specifically to get the issue to the Supreme Court, over the past
few weeks has sent letters to 2,900 wineries seeking the support.
UK: Women break
wine glass ceiling
The proud history of wine-making has been dominated by men, with the practices and
traditions of the vineyard passed from father to son for generations. In the macho
world of the wine trade, women scarcely made it above secretarial level, and were
traditionally told to stay out of the cellars because their presence brought bad
luck.
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