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Sun, 12 Sep 2004
- U.S. drinking more wine
The hypothetical "average
American adult" drank almost 3 gallons of wine last year, or about 16 standard
bottles, a level of consumption that the Palm Springs-based Adams Beverage Group
declares the highest since 1989; that earlier peak, however, reflected that era's
affection for wine-flavored "wine coolers."
Wine tasting
enhances flavor of Geneva fest
In some towns, wine tastings
easily could turn into the War of the Wine Shops, as each specialty liquor store
tries to set itself off from the pack.
Shiraz boxed wine is sweet deal
Drinking wine out of a
box is not what most people think of when they are looking for a premium wine experience
- and with good reason.
LA's last winery
survived by serving immigrants, churches
The sole survivor of the
city's once booming wine industry is located in a gritty area just north of downtown,
surrounded by a cement plant, parcel shipping depot and commuter rail line.
America's Wine School Announces New
Wine Programs
One of the most popular
wine schools in America just got bigger. Just months after announcing its new building,
The Wine School of Philadelphia is unveiling an expanded curriculum for the fall
semester, along with a long list of weekly wine tasting classes.
FRANCE: Taittinger Champagne turnover
down again
Taittinger has posted
a fall in net profit for the first half of this year.
EU trade tsar
eyes a bigger prize
Europe's trade tsar Pascal
Lamy is already moving on to his next big agenda - promoting global principles to
ensure trade liberalisation does not crash amid a cultural backlash
Starwine competition
puts emphasis on consumer enjoyment
For generations, European
winemakers have submitted their vintages to competitions including Vinexpo in France;
Vinitaly, Italy; the International Wine and Spirit Competition, England; and the
Concourse Mondial, Belgium. Panels of industry experts award bronze, silver and gold
medals, plus the ultimate Best of Class.
Australian Winemakers support Fifth
International Chardonnay Challenge
Organizers of the fifth
annual International Chardonnay Challenge this week announced a large increase in
the number of overseas entries, with those from Australia now making up 33% of the
total entries received for 2004.
Building A Brand: New wine tests Gallo
savvy, taste
Suppose you wanted to
introduce a new wine label to compete with the thousands of wines in the market.
To add to the challenge, you choose to develop a new French wine brand, at a time
when the French wine industry is in a tailspin, battered by exchange rates, a stodgy
image and fallout from political decisions.
Mon, 13 Sep 2004
- Sleuthing out
what's in wine
Fish bladders, eggs, copper,
milk - are they really in that bottle of Syrah? They might have been at some point.
Winemaking may be called an art, but there's plenty of science involved in the process,
and some of the substances thrown in the tank along the way might surprise you.
New events put fair's spotlight on Kansas
wine, cheese
A wine-and-cheese party?
That's not the first thing that usually comes to mind at the Kansas State Fair. But
agriculture officials hope to change that.
North Georgia
squeezes fine wine
Winemaking in Georgia
started in the early 20th century, where labels of wines, brandies and vodkas could
be found in local businesses.
New Zealand pinot
noirs a much improved lot
Quite frankly, I have
not been a fan of the New Zealand pinots. The prices were high and their quality
was a couple of notches below competitors in the same price range. That is, until
the 2002 vintage. Then things began to turn around.
County says Cosentino
producing too much wine
The Napa County District
Attorney's Office is claiming Cosentino Winery in Yountville was too big for its
legally-defined britches, in violation of a court injunction fashioned almost five
years ago
Southcorp restructures
"to close winery"
Southcorp will reportedly
shut down the first of its big wineries on Friday as part of a restructure of its
Australian assets. (Subscription)
9th Annual Epcot
International Food and Wine Festival
Immerse yourself in a
Valencia, Spain, cultural experience. Sip to learn at a Napa Valley wine school.
Discover Australia "down under," and drop by the Specialty Beer Garden.
World Showcase is your oyster, your Shiraz, and even your lager during the first-ever
six-week-long Epcot International Food and Wine Festival Oct. 1 through Nov. 14.
Drought takes
toll on county's syrah grapes
Drought conditions may
be a major cause of syrah disorder, which can make grapes unusable for winemaking,
according to recent research from Mark Battany, the county's UC Cooperative Extension
viticulture and soils farm adviser.
GM Grapevines May Soon be Planted in
France
A new strain of grapevines
resistant to Fanleaf disease may soon be planted in a test vineyard in Alsace, France.
The project hopes that modified vines might improve vineyard health, raise wine quality
and reduce pesticide use, as well resurrect the French wine industry, currently suffering
from competition from emerging wine leaders South Africa, Australia, New Zealand,
and South America.
GMO vine pest
research continues as organic methods are tried
Since the discovery five
years ago that a ravenous insect was spreading grape-killing Pierce's Disease in
California, grape growers have contributed millions of dollars to fund research projects
they hope can end the scourge.
U.S. Wine Market
Enjoys Another Banner Year
After an impressive increase
of more than 6 percent in 2002, the U.S. wine market gained nearly another 6 percent
last year to reach a new record level, with consumption approaching 260 million 9-liter
cases, according to the just-released The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review
and Forecast, 2004 Edition.
Sundance Creates
Its Own Wine Label
Utah's Sundance Resort,
which is owned by movie star Robert Redford and home to the Sundance Film Festival,
has launched its own wine label and is showcasing the winemakers in a dinner series
as part of its new "Celebration of Wine as Art" program.
Wine trends leave
Bordeaux awash in rot
Two years ago Australia
passed France as the No. 2 importer, after Italy, of wines into the United States.
How could this be? Don't the French make good wine anymore? Sure, they do. But Americans
seem to prefer the fruity, easy-drinking taste of Australian chardonnay, merlot and
shiraz.
Tue, 14 Sep 2004
- Call It the "Fleetwood Uncorked"
Tour: Rock Star Drums Up Own Wine Label
It's not often that a
vintner releases a new rock album at the same time he releases a new wine. But Mick
Fleetwood, who has a solo project coming out this month, took time out yesterday
from the tail end of a worldwide Fleetwood Mac tour to promote his Mick Fleetwood
Private Cellar label.
Wed, 15 Sep 2004
French varietals thrive in Sonoma County
valley
"Dry Creek"
is an oxymoron in itself, so it's no wonder that zinfandel, the wine for which the
California wine region has become nearly synonymous, is not its most widely planted
grape.
Merlot - ugly sister syndrome
There is a theory that
merlot is in the doldrums because - lucky us - we have simply too much choice. There
are shiraz, cabernet and merlot, and variations on all of the above that sometimes
include grenache, sangiovese, malbec, petit verdot - even pinot noir.
US: State wines
toasted in August
Washington is the second-largest
wine producer in the country, but the state wine commission doesn't think enough
people in the state drink wine that is made here.
US: Pension fund
invests in wine
California's public employees
pension fund allocates several millions to develop 440 acres of pinot noir grapes
near Carlton
Mondavi to Sell Its Luxury Wine Ventures
The Robert Mondavi Corporation
announced today, following its Board of Directors meeting, that after careful consideration
of strategic alternatives it plans to focus entirely on the premium and super-premium
lifestyle wine segments
Chateau d'Yquem
Drops Its Price Dramatically for Release of 1999 Vintage
In a surprise move that
delighted buyers around the world, today Chateau d'Yquem released its 1999 vintage
to the trade for 75 euros (nearly $92) a bottle, the lowest price in more than a
decade.
US: Boxed Wine Put To The Test
Most people buy wine by
the bottle or by the glass, but what about wine by the box? Consumer Reports recently
tested boxed Chardonnay and Merlot to see how they stacked up.
Tue, 14 Sep 2004
- Will Oregon win the race to be organic?
Need the rest of the
world care about the wines of Oregon? Perhaps not that much - although a rash of
new plantings is at last resulting in some bargains among them.
AUS: Wine Equalisation Tax continues
The Winemakers' Federation
of Australia today applauded the commitment and support shown by the South Australian
Government in confirming the continuation of the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) State
Cellar Door Rebate Scheme.
Institute of
Masters of Wine 2004 Examination Results
The Institute of Masters
of Wine is delighted to announce the results of the 2004 Theory and Practical Examinations,
which were held in London, San Francisco and Sydney in June of this year.
Wine Buyer beware
There are traps for the
unwary in the business of wine investment.
India: Here's to wine-lovers
Rajbir Singh of Arjun
International held a soft launch at The Forum, GK II, of Spanish wine as the first
in the long list of products in the pipeline. The two wines launched were Cappel
and Bodegas valle Delcorche.
Professor Denis
Dubourdieu from France is to be the keynote speaker at a Workshop on Sauvignon Blanc
This Sauvignon Blanc workshop,
for grape growers and winemakers, will examine strategies to ensure that the New
Zealand wine industry maintains its competitive edge in an ever increasingly competitive
world. Winemakers and viticulturalists can influence its expression. The day's focus
will be on Sauvignon Blanc, it's aroma, it's origins and how to influence its flavours.
Giving wine industry business executives
something to talk about
Skalli & Rein Europe
is preparing to hold the next edition of Wine Evolution: Global Sales and Marketing
Forum at the Palais des Congres de Paris. During this sixth annual international
forum, wine managers, journalists and specialist speakers will meet on the 31st January
and 1st February 2005, network and discuss current issues and trends such as trade,
discounting and developing markets.
INTEREST ENHANCES
IN VITICULTURE AND WINE-MAKING
The Azerbaijan Viticulture
And Wine-Making Research Institute has created a gene pool numbering over 310 sorts
of grapes.
Wine Network
uncorks in Germany
A new US-based TV channel
aimed at wine lovers is set to launch in Germany in the autumn, German broadcasting
regulators said.
U.S. wine exports
suffering from price gap
Wine Institute says foreign
buyers lack quality mid-range products between cheap, highly expensive
Coveted Vinitech Gold Award for Sabate's
New Diam Wine Closure
The Vinitech 2004 Gold
Medal for Innovation in Packaging was awarded to the new supercritical CO2 "Diam"
composite cork wine closure, it was announced today by Sabate USA's parent company,
Oeneo, in France.
Thu, 16 Sep 2004
- With wine, reign
of Spain to come, in main
Seven years ago I had
the opportunity to taste a variety of Spanish wines and it was love at first sip.
Not that everything I tasted was fabulous, but the majority of what I tried had the
characteristics of a well made, well-balanced wine at very reasonable prices.
AUS:Our nation's
best wine
A Bleasdale cabernet blend
red wine has beaten off all the Australian red wine entries to take the prestigious
Australian Red Trophy in the London International Wine Challenge.
Fri, 17 Sep 2004
- Feds bust collectors
who sell wine online
Neil Monnens, a San Francisco
ad executive and wine buff, decided last year that his taste was veering away from
Bordeaux and Napa Valley Cabernets. So he went online and sold 500 cases of his 2,000-case
collection at WineCommune.com.
Wine price forecast will have corks
popping in Bordeaux
FINE wine prices will
continue their dizzy ascent into the stratosphere, corks will become a rarity, France
will be overtaken by Spain and instead of Australian chardonnay we?ll all be drinking
Argentinean malbec.
Costa gives wine a bad name
A group of wine-growers
from north-eastern Spain has asked permission to drop the name Costa Brava from their
place of origin.
No longer an
all-male domain
Adding a female touch
to the bouquet: Women enter the German wine business.
Rooted in France, eyeing the world
As France's third-largest
wine company, Boisset should have its hands full at home - tending to more than two
dozen wine properties. Why, then, does this family-run wine conglomerate have such
a keen eye on the New World
Sharpshooter infestation near Napa
Californian wine country
could face widespread devastation if an infestation of the glassy-winged sharpshooter
cannot be contained.
Time is ripe
for change
It's harvest time once again, and West Coast winemakers are anxiously walking their
vineyards and pondering weather forecasts as they try to predict the moment when
their grapes will reach a perfect balance and be ready to pick. As Shakespeare pointed
out, "ripeness is all."
Web Wine Sales Still Bottled Up
For David Lucas, Internet
and mail-order wine shipments have allowed him to make a living as a winemaker. He
can directly reach customers far from his small winery in Lodi, California.
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