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Thu, 28 Oct 2004
- UK: Storm over Which? guide criticism of
cheap wine
A fierce attack on cheap
supermarket wine was launched yesterday by the consumer watchdog Which?, which said
many under a fiver were inferior and made with sub-standard fruit.
Italian whites grow up
The last couple of years
have been good for Italian white wines. In the United States, pinot grigio has been
a favorite during recent years, but other quality whites, especially from the Piedmont
region, are making the search worthwhile on the Italian shelves of your wine store.
Chardonnay is so passe; sip a sampling
of viognier
If you actually read a
wine list - instead of skipping straight to your favorite wine - you've probably
seen it, wondered what it was and wondered how to pronounce it. Well, you've come
to the right place: Viognier is a dry white wine made from the viognier grape originally
grown in the Rhone region of France.
Mondavi Posts Loss After Restructuring
The Robert Mondavi Corp.
swung to a loss in its latest quarter as the wine maker recorded restructuring and
sales charges.
US: "Brand California" aims to
overtake France by 2007
The Californian wine industry
will overtake France as the UK?s number two wine region by 2007. That is the goal
of Brand California ? a new project devised by the Wine Institute of California.
US: Grape growers
seek study of late harvests
The Napa Valley Grape
Growers Association and the California Association of Winegrape Growers are taking
steps to address mounting concerns that leaving grapes on the vine too long to gain
concentrated flavors is damaging the health of vines.
Wed, 27 Oct 2004
- US: As weather cools,
big reds heat up
It's fall, and it's finally
cool. Our interest in eating changes along with the weather, and the light reds and
crisp, low-alcohol wines of summer don't have enough substance to keep up.
Wine's dark side
An important part of life
involves facing your fears and taking advantage of the chance to conquer them. Emotional
cohorts panic, dread, hysteria, resentment, worry and others are different faces
of fear, which is why on Halloween, fears can be faced only after we put a mask on
them.
History of Glass Wine Bottles
When did the wine industry
start using glass bottles, and how did they settle on their current size of 750ml?
For the answer to these questions, you have to go back in time - back thousands of
years to when wine was first cultivated and enjoyed.
Red wine helps protect against male lung
cancer, says study
Red wine may help protect
against the development of lung cancer in men, according to research published in
the specialist British Medical Journal (BMJ) Thorax.
Tue, 26 Oct 2004
- Obituary: Jim Barry
Jim Barry, the pioneering
Clare Valley winemaker and producer of the legendary Armagh Shiraz, has died aged
79.
US: Beaujolais Nouveau
Sales up This Year; U.S. Retailers Bullish on Beaujolais for 2004
Since the first vintage
of Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau arrived on these shores in 1981, this fresh,
fruity first wine of the harvest has quenched the thirst of millions of wine drinkers.
Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau 2004 arrives on November 18, 2004, but #1 producer
Georges Duboeuf and U.S. importer W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd. already know that
it will be a very good year.
When is a table
wine not a table wine?
Usually when we talk wine,
we mean the unfortified, still sort, otherwise known as table wine. But hasn't this
term become something of a misnomer if, by table, we mean dining table?
Australia's wine glut good news for Cleanskins
The grape and wine glut
in Australia has turned cleanskins into a growth industry and provided new opportunities
for players, including former executives from the troubled Australian wine group
Southcorp.
AUS: Winning the
wine war
AS Woolworths and Coles
Myer spar over the pubs and pokies chain Australian Leisure & Hospitality, concern
among winemakers about the tightening grip of the big retail chains on the packaged
liquor market is balanced by the prospect of cheaper supermarket prices for consumers.
Georgia faces problem
of falsified wine
The government has declared
war against falsified Georgian wines, so that Georgian wines can become an important
export. The opening of the EU market should help the government in its quest.
Mondavis get paid
off
The Robert Mondavi Corp.
is paying severance packages of more than $1 million to brothers Tim and Michael
Mondavi. Tim Mondavi, who recently resigned his position as vice chairman and winegrower
is getting payments of almost $1.2 million, as well as his salary and other benefits,
according to filings with the Security and Exchange Commission.
FRANCE: Wine spiral abroad continues
Wine exports have continued
their downward trend, according to recent figures. The Federation of Wine and Spirits
Exporters (FEVS) said late last week that the amount of wine exported in the period
from January to August this year in terms of volume dipped by 5.6% year-on-year,
not including Champagne and other sparkling varieties. In value terms, exports fell
by 9.6%.
Mon, 25 Oct 2004
- Greener grapes:
new study helps establish Canada as leader in sustainable vineyard growing
Ontario's tiny Pelee Island
is about to become the focus of a groundbreaking study that may change the way grapes
are grown for winemaking in Canada.
Major new Chicago auction house opens
In one of 2004's key developments
in America's hotly competitive wine-auction world, next January Hart Davis Hart will
return big auctions to Chicago for the first time since 2001.
American wines hold
their own
Are Washington wine prices
too high? That is certainly a recurring theme in the letters and e-mails that I receive
from readers.
Nothing 'girlie'
about this sauvignon blanc from Styria
In his native Austria,
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a stadium named after him and a postage
stamp in his honor. Can a wine label with the governor's likeness be far behind?
The best of Carignane
is underwhelming
Is the Carignane grape
-- known as Carignan in France and so widely planted there that for ages it was the
most widely planted red wine grape in the world -- good, bad, ugly or great? I have
been consistently critical of the poor old Carignane vine over the years, which is
why, I suspect, the organizer of the first known international celebratory Carignane
tasting last summer was so keen for me to attend.
Is tempranillo the
next syrah or sangiovese?
Though cabernet rules
in Napa, anyone who has been to southern Europe with its climate so similar to ours
-- or tasted its wines -- realizes that there must be many other grapes that would
do well here.
SA: Wine industry
plays growing role in GDP
The South African wine
industry's position as an increasingly important player in the national economy has
been confirmed by a recent study that has pegged the industry's contribution to the
country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at 16.3 billion rand, relative to South Africa's
total nominal GDP of well over 1.2 trillion rand.
US wine play felt
by ASX listings
A billion-dollar US wine
industry takeover bid fortified the image of Australian wine producers yesterday.
AUS: India vital
to hopes of trebling exports
India's burgeoning middle
class with a growing appetite for wine and lifestyle products will become a prime
target of the state's new export strategy.
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