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Our news articles are repeated
on our
news blog where suitable - or even possibly unsuitable - comments can be posted..
Raising yeast
New Zealand scientists at the
University of Auckland have now discovered that wild yeasts differ according to
region. This is interesting because there are some winemakers who swear by
cultured yeast and others who prefer a so called 'wild ferment'. On a recent
visit to the Douro one Port maker was adamant that he only ever made use of wild yeasts
whereas he was unsurprised that another house visited earlier (at the time owned
by a large brewing group) only ever used cultured yeast! Because of course, a
cultured yeast to a brewery is vital - it offers the possibility of consistency
of style with every brew, which are often produced on a daily basis. With wine,
produced just once a year, a certain variation in vintage is sometimes considered a
good selling point so may actually be advantageous. What is more it now seems
certain that wild yeast would play a part in this variation. It will also be a
constituent of
the mix in the 'terroir' of the wine - the individual vineyard character and regional identity. So far only New
Zealand has investigated yeast in this way, but it seems reasonable to suppose
that New Zealand is not unique. So this is just another small stitch in the
large tapestry of wine analysis....
January 2012
Legal Niceties
The loi Evin (the law
which prevents the advertising of alcohol in France) reached the ripe old age of
20 last month and there is debate as to whether it should be amended. The
French, true to their stereotype, consider that one advantage of the law is that
New World wine producers have found the French market very difficult and even
now manage to retain a level of less than 5%. Many though, consider the image of
France abroad is tarnished by such a law. Its inability to properly regulate the
digital and social media worlds - never thought of twenty years ago - is clearly
a disadvantage that could be a threat to the law itself but the principles of
the loi Evin are surely good ones. We have come out before in favour of no
advertising for alcohol as that would lead to a concentration on what is inside
the bottle rather than the frippery outside it. The majority of EU wine laws are
based on the French system - perhaps the EU could adopt their advertising rules
as well?
January 2012
Vineyard mapping
We hear the European commission
has come up with a proposal to remove all restrictions on vineyard planting by
2019. There is clearly no reason why vineyards should be any different from,
say, wheat. What has existing vineyard owners more than a little worried is that
if these vineyards are planted in existing AOC areas they will automatically be
entitled to that appellation - that could mean, for example five times as much
production in Rioja or twice as much in Burgundy. If this all gets approval then
there could well be a very interesting supply and demand inbalance in 2020.
December 2011
Britain in the
beerage
Normally when an Italian, a
Portuguese and a Greek go to the pub the Germans seem to pay, even if only with
considerable reluctance. But the Germans drink twice as much beer as the Brits
yet Britain pays more than five times as much duty and VAT. According to
accountants, Ernst and Young, Britain pays more than 40% of the European
beer tax bill! even though Britain represents just 13% of Europe's beer
consumption and 12% of the European population. Emigration anyone?
November 11
Hearty fayre
There is rejoicing at the Hôpital
de Montbard, near Dijon,
because a recent trial conducted by the Université de Bourgogne has affirmed the
efficacy of red wine in assisting recovery from - or perhaps more properly
guarding against a recurrence of - a heart attack in cardiac patients. Just a
fortnight of consumption of 1 glass of red wine with meals improved blood cell
fluidity and decreased levels of LDL (so-called 'bad') cholesterol compared with
those who were given water. What seems to get less mention however, is that both
groups were not dining on Boeuf Bourgignon and Chaource but alas, a
Mediterranean diet. They were however drinking (what else?) red Burgundy. It
would be interesting to know if the effect might have been more marked if
Malbec rich wine from South West France had been prescribed instead. But
probably this is not the piece of research that one should look to the
Université de Bourgogne to conduct...
November 11
When
NATURAL WINE is not so NATURAL
There is a growing
clamour about the so called ‘natural’ wine movement which
seems to market itself as a half way house to organic. Organic wine itself is
rather full of inconsistency and confusion (see our summary on organic wine
here) and the thinking behind ‘natural’ wine is equally muddled. The
promoters are proud of their non interventionist stance and lack of ‘treatment’ of
wine which they parade as naturally better. Reality, we feel, lies elsewhere!
If we return to first principles we can see that wine is
never natural! Because although alcoholic fermentation takes place naturally in
grapes, without human intervention it all too quickly ends up as vinegar which
is the real natural result. So it is all very much a matter of degree. Some so
called 'natural' wines are distinctly variable bottle by bottle. Interestingly,
(leaving aside Austria and Germany where producers are still conscious of the
antifreeze scandal) the natural wine
movement is largely confined to France - a country with a Roman Catholic
heritage and where not so long ago wines with what would today be regarded as
faults were routinely on sale – the Good Lord had made the wine, as it were, and
that was how it turned out, faults and all. The Protestant background of somewhere like
Australia has led to a much more widespread technical approach in winemaking as
a way of 'improving' nature. Of course this can lead to a certain
standardisation, but for inexpensive wines this amounts to a version of quality
control for the consumer. Without intervention interesting variabilty can all
too easily be a lottery. And even for wines in wide production careful
'interventionist' winemaking and cellar practices lead to wines that have more
individuality such as, for example in the barrel ageing of any number of wines
from both old and new worlds, or
Château
Buisson Redon's microbullage (oxygenation) to enhance ageing characters of a
simple Merlot based Bordeaux 'Petit Château'.
To
paraphrase the cream producers, it may not be natural but it's nice. And nicer
than it would 'naturally' otherwise be!
November 11
Has the time come to
be hard on soft drinks?
Amid the much criticised news
that the government is to continue with its cooperative approach with the food
industry in reducing fat, this does not seem unreasonable when the soft drink
industry seems to have been completely overlooked. Of course Coca-Cola is the
leading sweet drink in the world and is - irony of ironies - a sponsor of the
Olympics. The tooth decay it engenders is well-known, but less so is that unless
you burn up the energy you consume in a soft drink virtually immediately (and
here let it not be forgotten that Coca-Cola is selling not to the athletes but to
the spectators) this energy will be changed into fat. So fine if your are
running the 500 metres and like your dentist, but surely not such a good idea if
you are not or don't.
October 11
Uncontained Joy - or not
News that the container ship that
hit the reef of New Zealand's North Island has at least half a million pounds
worth of wine on board is not good tidings for wine suppliers or customers.
Certainly delays in someone's supplies are inevitable. There are no insurance
claims yet permitted as the goods aren't yet lost, though the recent revelation
that 70 or so containers have fallen into the sea may engender a rethink. Maybe
there will be scenes as there were some years ago when the MSC Napoli came to
grief off the South Devon Coast and "Sauvignon
Blanc Galore" will turn out to be the sequel to "Whisky Galore"...
October 11
Australian non
sequitur
As Autumn approaches we are
brought down to earth with a bump as an Australian health body is adamantly
declaring that alcohol does you no good at all. The 'Alcohol Policy Coalition'
says that more than half of all alcohol-related deaths globally are from
diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer or liver cirrhosis. Now here
they are undoubtedly stating no less than the truth - but what they seem to have
ignored is the length of life before death. After all, the fuss about the French
paradox was not that Frenchmen didn't die (that really would have been a
marketing gift for their wines!) but that they died later (or lived longer, to
put it a little more genteely) than most and in particular than would be
expected from their fat and alcohol intake. That seems still to hold. The
message is still that red wine in moderation is likely to help you live longer
and, we hope, more happily. But not, alas, for ever...
September 11
Mad Dogs,
Midday Sun - and wine
Now we learn that drinking wine
or eating grapes can help to prevent sunburn. According to researchers at
Barcelona University, certain flavenoid compounds found in grapes are capable of
stopping the death of cells and scarring of skin tissue caused by spending too
long in the midday sun. How extraordinarily convenient. Remember you heard it
here first - that large glass of red consumed with lunch earlier is purely and
simply preventative before stretching out for a tan. Soon there should surely be a UV protection rating on the bottle next to the alcoholic strength..
August 11
Civil Disruption
Amid the extraordinarily sad news
of the recent riots in areas of London particularly, it grieves us to have to
advise that this may adversely affect some of our deliveries - most particularly
to areas of London where there have been diversions and road closures. One or
two deliveries have been delayed and although they have all now reached their
intended destination if rioting continues it may be that some further delays
result to currently outstanding orders. At the time of writing London and
adjacent portions of the home counties are the only areas affected. There is a
useful summary on the ParcelForce website
here - though on a slightly more
optimistic note, in these areas the majority of our deliveries are undertaken by
UK Mail/Business Post which, because of their depot locations, seem rather less
affected.
August 11
Special Relationships
As those of you who keep up with
such things will already know Poland has taken over the Presidency of the EU.
They have decided to celebrate the historic friendship between Hungary and
Poland (of which in our ignorance we confess we were unaware) by serving wines
only from Hungary at the EU functions hosted during their Presidency. We wonder
if this could set a precedent? Perhaps it should even be a condition of the
presidency. It might be that only German wines could be served when the French
hold the Presidential seat or only French wine when the Brits are in charge.
Maybe only Greek wines when the Portuguese are on duty and only Portuguese when
the Greeks hold sway. The fun could be enormous...
August 11
The Nuclear Option
Some Californians have set up a
website 'beers not bombs'(link here) to change the world - they say - 'one beer at a time'. Still heavy on word play,
they want to move 'from War to Peace' and so are selling bottle openers recycled
from disarmed nuclear weapon systems. So if, when you open a beer with your new
opener you feel a warm glow - well - keep your distance and don't call us...
August 11
Sit Down, Relax
and Take Notice
Resveratrol, a compound found in
most red wines is, according to the
The Federation of American
Societies for Experimental Biology, likely to assist those with a sedentary
lifestyle back to health. This is after one group of mice were given a daily
dose and were found to have improved muscle mass and bone structure when
compared with a control group. Trouble is that a glass of even the most
resveratrol packed wine contains only one milligram of the stuff whereas a
health supplement, for example, may contain as much as 500 milligrams. Farbeit
for us to cast aspersions but after the first five hundred glasses the sedentary
lifestyle might be rather difficult to quit, but you probably could keep taking
the tablets...
July 11
Happy Birthday Pinot
Grigio..Happy Birthday to you!
Keep it quiet, but Pinot Grigio
has become middle aged.... It is now 50! First produced in the style we now know
by the Santa Margherita winery in 1961, when, as their usual style lacked market
success, they decided they would create a very lean and fresh wine by picking
grapes early and having next to no skin contact during the fermentation. This
also meant that the wine was straightforwardly fresh - even perhaps 'citrussy'-
and also clear and limpid without the slightly coppery hue that it was wont to
take on when fermented with the skins (as can sometimes be noticeable in Alsace
Pinot Gris, for example). So they invented the lean and mean, undemanding
drinking style that has been so very widely copied. Whereas the fuller style
they changed from, which is predominant now only in Alsace, remains much less
appreciated. Indeed so successful have the first fifty years been for the style
that we bet there are many that do not even know that
Pinot
Grigio and
Pinot Gris
are exactly the same grape type!
June 11
A very good
trip
Word reaches us from our
supermarket spies that one of their customers received £10,500 this month - for
slipping on a grape. But the Ambulance chasing lawyers seemed to do even better,
pocketing £18.500. Only goes to show how dangerous these grapes are - much
better to keep them safe by fermenting them.
June 11
Ripe for change
The American Association of Wine
Economists (no less) has analysed climate data from1992-2009 and decided that
the rise in the alcoholic strength of wine is primarily man-made. Climate
warming might have lead to an increase of 0.9% but the actual average increase
is 1.12%. At WineDrop Towers we never doubted that the rise was man-made. Even
the French are paying much more attention to ripeness of grapes and now tend to
harvest as late as possible. Fuller, riper wines are more crowd pleasing and
because of the riper fruit often have more alcohol. In particular Robert Parker,
whose palate is much reputed in America, likes big and forward fruit. Such has
been his influence that the French even have an expression for being mentioned
in his publications - être 'parkerisé'! The problem is the rest of us have been
well and truly parkerisé too and French wine is not like it used to be...
June 11
Raise the
bottle - then sink your ship, or is it the other way round?
We understand that a record price
was paid for a 200 year old bottle of Veuve Clicquot
that was found in a
shipwreck in the Baltic Sea off Finland's
Åland archipelago during the
summer of 2010. The buyer was from Singapore and spent 30,000 euros on his
purchase. Indeed it seems that such was the auction's success that the islands
are said to be thinking of holding a similar auction on an annual basis. Quite
how this would work is not entirely clear but would seem to involve sinking a
ship first. Still, forewarned is forearmed, so anyone finding themselves
cruising in the Baltic would do well to ensure the Captain gives a wide birth to
the Åland islands - particularly if there is Champagne on board.
June 11
Thumbs down
It is said that although the
label might sell the first bottle, it is the wine that sells the second. Yet now
there is news that Bordeaux is to fund a wine centre. It is a dramatic and
expensive modern design fronting the Gironde river and likened, apparently, to a
giant thumb. As the equally modern Copia Wine Center in California has gone bust
and London's Vinopolis has in turn only lately achieved a firm financial
footing, the record is not promising. It is important therefore that the
customers will be suitably attracted by the giant thumb to part with their cash.
But then it would need to be to really remarkable to persuade people to come
back again and again. Unless the operators are just counting on a spate of wet
Wednesdays - and Tuesdays, and Thursdays...
May 11
We are all flying
now...
News that the Meat Trades Journal
has discovered that about 17% of meat eaters think pork wings are a real cut of
meat, makes us worry that either genetic modification has gone further than any
of us here realised or that we really do believe that pigs may (not
might) fly. And what wine to accompany Pork Wings Sir? Well if only on the
grounds that one impossibility deserves another we can only recommend
the
Flying Kiwi Pinot Noir..
May 11
Warm
advance creates delay
As the UK bathes in the sunshine
of what could perhaps be called an Indian Spring, most French vineyard areas are
reporting that their vines are are at least a fortnight in advance of usual. But
worries persist about a late frost which could be dangerous or even fatal to
grape crops. As the vines race to flowering the vignerons are in turn racing to
catch up - or as one wag put it; if the crops are early then the farmer is
always late.
April 11
Wine Tunes
We understand that an Austrian
winemaker, a certain Markus Bachmann (perhaps the clue is in the name?) has
invented a special speaker that exposes fermenting grape juice to classical,
jazz or electronic music. The sound waves, he claims, produce better-tasting
wine. Aside from the fact that he is a former French horn player (although brass
players are normally reputed for their beer prowess) he says the wines seem to
get more fruity - as, it must be admitted, many of us do when we listen to
music.
Mr Bachmann has teamed up with six other Austrian wine growers to produce
so-called Sonor Wines, priced - and maybe this is another clue - north of 19 euros a
bottle and including a 2010 pinot blanc "infused with Mozart's 41st Symphony".
Whilst the sound waves may indeed have an effect on the fermentation, the waves
created by the price might be of a different kind - especially when across the
Atlantic a Mexican producer also claims to use music, but he says he cannot be
sure any of it works but is completely confident that it does ..er...no
harm.
March 11
Sweet or Savoury?
A wine critic, one Eric Asinov,
writing in the New York Times has suggested that detailed tasting notes are a
waste of time because "one critic’s ripe raspberry, white pepper and blueberry
is another’s sweet-and-sour cherries and spice box". This contains a
considerable element of truth and is one of the reasons why we at WineDrop
towers do not indulge in
too much florid prose in our own tasting notes. He continues "But the general character of a
wine: now, that’s another matter. A brief depiction of the salient overall
features of a wine, like its weight, texture and the broad nature of its aromas
and flavours, can be far more helpful in determining whether you will like that
bottle than a thousand points of detail. In fact, consumers could be helped
immeasurably if the entire lexicon of wine descriptors were boiled down to two
words: sweet or savoury." He goes on to say that rather than actually
requiring sugar in "sweet" wines or none in "savoury" they should be applied to
the tasting impression and that wines with lots of weight would count as sweet
and lean and minerally wines would count as savoury. An interesting idea that
has erm, legs, but perhaps "heavy" or "light" might be an easier description?
March 11
New Zealand
News
Amid the very sad news of the
Christchurch earthquake we are pleased to say that our nearby Marlborough wine
producers were almost completely unaffected - indeed for them the worse
earthquake was in fact the first one - last year.
NZ wine supplies should continue unaffected.
Feb 11
Head hurting
A food chemist at the University
of British Colombia has received approval from the authorities in Canada and the
USA to use a genetically modified yeast which achieves malolactic fermentation
(though the malolactic is not strictly a fermentation but a bacterial reaction -see here -
but we digress) at the same time as the alcoholic fermentation. This produces
fewer biogenic amines (the neurotransmitter, histamine is an example) that
produce allergic reactions -particularly headaches- in some people. The
modified yeast doesn't introduce any genetic material that would not be present
anyway in the normal bacterial malolactic fermentation. A gene from malolactic
bacteria was, apparently, spliced it into the DNA of some wine yeast and the
resulting yeast completes the alcoholic fermentation and the malolactic
fermentation simultaneously. Clever - and quicker. But not all wineries like to
add yeast - many prefer to let naturally occurring yeasts do the job. And
because it is genetically modified nobody will admit to using it - so if you are
looking for that wine that's not going to give you a headache you might
get the headache just looking for it. And being genetically modified it has not
been approved in Europe. So at least that's one headache we won't - or perhaps
will - be getting.
Feb 11
Logical Moderation
Word reaches us that a book by
Robert Beardsmore called Guilt-free Drinking concludes, with irrefutable logic,
that if moderate drinking actually improves health then reducing moderate
drinking or giving it up altogether makes health worse. It should, therefore, not be
encouraged by the 'nanny' state or anyone else. It would be unkind not to drink to that - in moderation of course.
Jan 11
Britain on the Pink
What we forgot to say is that the
same Vinexpo research established that Britain consumes 10% of world
Rosé
production! Still the Brits are not the only ones - we are only fourth in the
world!
Jan 11
Wine by numbers
Vinexpo, the Bordeaux world wine
exhibition, has commissioned research which reveals that China is the most
rapidly expanding wine market - but that 90% of the production is home produced.
So whilst the French cry into their Perrier (or whatever it is they drink now,
because it's much less wine!) it has been established that France, Italy and
Spain are still the largest producers of wine but their production is expected
to decline (lower yields and grubbing up of poorly performing vineyards
apparently). Argentina, Chile, South Africa and of course China are on the up.
The UK meanwhile has become the world's largest wine importing country both by
volume and value. And in the wine consumption league per head? Britain is
languishing at tenth.
Jan 11
Weathering the
storm..
The weather has naturally been
hampering some deliveries and indeed supplies (it has been snowing in Perpignan
for example) but our carriers have generally been doing a sterling job and we
are suffering - if any - only minor delays in this, the third week of December.
We have had a problem with corks on Casal Garcia so we had to suspend sales of
certain lot numbers and this situation is likely to be back to normal only in
the week before Christmas - apologies are in order for those of you still
waiting for supplies and we must hope the weather does not get too ferocious.
Weather updates appear regularly on our delivery page
here. Perhaps, after all, a
white Christmas is not all it's cracked up to be...
Dec 10
Location..location..
This is rather belated news
principally because few countries seem up to speed - although this change was
instituted from 1 August 2009. We seemed to have missed the rejoicing in the
streets but the EU wine regime is being brought
into line with that of food. So the Appellation d'Origine Protegée (AOP)
replaces Appellation d'Origine Controllée, the Italian DOC becomes
Denominanazione D'Origine Protetta (DOP), and so on. The Vin de Pays are
replaced by IGP - Indication Géographique Protegée. Gradually sub regions will
disappear - so no more Chianti - all will be Chianti Classico, no more Premières
Côtes de Blaye just Côtes de Bordeaux. So simpler in the end. But this
simplicity will
take about 10 years to 'transition'! We are likely to have two lots of
regulations running alongside each other for some considerable time, which is likely to be confusing. Additionally in France (and potentially in other
countries if they wish) Vin de Table has been abolished! In its place is Vin de
France, which like Vin de Table, can come from anywhere in France but, unlike
it, can declare the constituent grape varieties and the vintage on the
label. There is a rather strange website which gives further details here. This is really a reposte to the New World, who have for so long sold
their wines by grape variety rather than by area and is likely to help in
France's export
markets - whilst the French home market remains blissfully unconcerned by grape
varieties and is much more interested in location..location..
November 10
Not so think
as ..
There is much fuss and
reflection about the British propensity for drink (although it seems to have
gone unnoticed that Britons are actually consuming less alcohol than we did 10
or even 5 years ago) with some even suggesting that it is indicative that
English has more words for drunk than Eskimos have for snow. Whereas the sober
French for example have it so imbued into their culture that they rarely get
drunk and do not require or have the variety of synonyms that English has. (The
small matter of not actually knowing how many words the Eskimos have for snow
doesn't seem to impair the debate.) These suggestions rather miss the fact that
English has a larger vocabulary than most other languages - including French.
England and the English speaking world has Protestant traditions (the
country of the Plymouth Brethren after all) where drinking was frowned upon -
if not made illegal. So when you examine the other words for drunk it turns out
that most terms are borrowed and are either ironic or euphemistic or just
emphasise disapproval. Have you been slaughtered or just pickled? Or only whoozy
or tight? After all none of these words is unique to alcohol consumption - far
from it! Really this just doesn't prove that Britons are more drunk - or less sober -
than other nations but just that they are linguistically inventive. And no, I promise I
haven't been on the sauce.
November 10
Hello, 'ello, 'ello
Amid the frightening news that
various companies selling wine en primeur for investment, seem only to have ever
had one case of wine between them all although their turnover was £2.5m! it is
comforting to note that a national fraud line has been set up (to include wine).
With some of the eye watering prices asked - and seemingly paid - for 2009
Bordeaux (which, let us remember, is still in the barrel at the Château) wine
for investment is probably very attractive to crooks in that it involves large
amounts of money for something which, even when bought legitimately, takes about
two years to deliver. And as the market in the past has been remunerative for
genuine investors, people still think wine will bridge the recession. But, even
if we avoid the crooks, with low inflation it may be may difficult to avoid
making a loss this time round. And if you wait too long, eventually it all ends
up as vinegar.... So, now particularly, proceed with care, as the Constable
might say. - Oh and that fraudline number is
03000 123 2040.
Oct 10
Are screwcaps just
boring?
There is now debate as to
whether screwcap closures are in fact greener than cork. It has been suggested
that because the failure rate is much lower than cork (no cork taint) then in
fact the screwcap closure avoids wine spoilage and so, even though it consumes
more resources to produce in the first place, it is 'greener'. Even leaving aside that barrel
taint and cork taint can be exactly the same thing, and screwcaps cannot prevent barrel taint, since these findings generally revolve around quantities of wine that were bottled a decade or more ago (and
particularly in the New World where the systems of shipping European corks half
way round the world wrapped in plastic were not conducive to high quality outcomes), it is still difficult to draw any firm conclusions. Standards in the cork industry have definitely improved substantially of late and the days of bottling vintage port or Château Lafite under screwcap are still not with us. It is the imperceptibly slow oxidisation that cork allows that reaps such great rewards for the consumer - though clearly without a 100% pass rate. Screwcaps
seem to allow change using the oxygen already in the bottle but not anything extra. As with many things it is balancing homogeneity against high (and sometimes low) quality that has us all squabbling.
It is often considered that
this variation would not be acceptable for Baked Beans so why should it be for
wine? The answer is that Baked Beans in a can would long ago have been deemed to
be past their 'use by' date but, subject to the correct storage conditions,
should be edible. They are unlikely to improve in quality however. Baked beans
in a vacuum sealed glass jar should taste pretty much the same as on the day of
production as long as the jar seal has remained completely secure. Here wine has an
advantage, because not only is it usually in an inert glass container but also
contains alcohol as an antiseptic and preservative - so the seal to its 'glass
jar' can be less secure. Subject to the correct storage conditions many
cork sealed wines will get better. Not a certainty of course - they may just
change, but with a judicious choice of raw material 'magic' can result. Perhaps
then,
we should reckon that corked wines are for fun and screwcapped wines are just
for drinking?
Sep 10
Chilean supplies
back to normal - but not so for Argentina
We are pleased to say that
supplies of Chilean Wine are broadly back to normal. Where there are supply
problems it is that there is no Mission Peak Red - for example - until the new
vintage. But in the meanwhile
Vicuña Cabernet Merlot should be able to take the strain. The same cannot,
however, be said of Argentina where delays in analysis for Natamycin in the very
limited facilities available locally continue to cause stock shortages in the
UK. There appears little prospect at the moment of much improvement in the
situation this year and the best advice seems to be to fill your boots when you
can get hold of what you require...
Aug 10
The shape of
things to come?
In Pennsylvania, as an
addition to state controlled liquor shops, wine is now being sold from wine
bottle dispensers. See the picture
here
These machines not only require your identity and age to be verified before they
will supply but also the customer must undergo a breathalyser test before the
machine will dispense your choice! Designed to enable people to buy wine in
smaller supermarkets, it is experimental to start with but allegedly has, so far,
been well received...Just blow in this tube.
Jul 10
Organic failure -
or success
We are unsure whether to
rejoice or to be slightly worried to discover that the European Commission takes
a similar view to
ours: there is no such thing as organic wine - only wine
produced from organically grown grapes. The world of organics is very
disappointed (as well it might be) but there really is little excuse for such a
wide variation in the requirements of the supervising and approving authorities
between - and importantly often within - countries. This really needs to be
harmonised first, long before anyone gets near deciding
whether, for example, it is correct organic practice or not to ladle in the
sulphur during and after making the wine...
Jun 10
The future is egg
shaped
An 'environmental' Champagne
producer (and no, we don't believe the emphasis should be on the last two
syllables) has ordered two large oak casks that are egg shaped. He sees this
shape as giving a better fermentation as it "favours natural convection". So far
these seem to be unique and are quite a sight (see
here). Still, at least there is somebody who doesn't see the future as pear shaped.
Jun 10.
Natamycin in
Argentinean Wines
This problem - if such it is -
relates to a chemical which is widely used in the dairy industry in tiny
quantities as a mould suppressant on cheese. Under EU rules because natamycin is
not permitted in wine it is therefore illegal. (It is not legal in winemaking in
Argentina either!) A new German system of analysis first spotted it and ever
since Argentinean shipments have been delayed trying to get the only laboratory
in Argentina with the capability of such analysis to certify that there is no
natamycin in the wine... The most likely source of contamination is, it seems,
oak chips where small quantities may have been used by a supplier to ensure the
chips remain biologically 'clean'. Meanwhile all
Argentinean wines destined for the EU are subject to lengthy shipping
delays. Hence please understand that our stock levels do not currently accord
well with demand...
May 10
Top spot?
Champagne Heidseick Monopole
has, it is alleged, complained to the tiny Old Dairy brewery in Kent about an
infringement of the trade mark 'Red Top' - which seems an entirely appropriate
name for a beer from an old dairy, yet also seems to indicate a remarkable lack
of confidence by the Champagne company in their own product. Is it really
something that would get confused with beer? It is true that the champagne is
now part of the Remy Cointreau empire, but even so surely noone is going to
confuse Champagne Charlie - or are they?
May10
Some encouraging news
from Chile
Despite continuing aftershocks
- though of reducing intensity - Chilean wineries are giving their full
attention to the 2010 harvest. Many point out that, as the main event occurred
at the weekend and with fermentation tanks already standing empty and ready to
receive the new vintage, damage both to personnel and equipment has been less
and recovery has been easier than was first feared. It seems that it is probably
the infrastructure of roads and services - and housing in the worst affected
areas - that will take longest to recover.
March 10
A fino moment
We wonder if it is the start
of a trend with the UK's first sherry
bar opening this month. Certainly sherry
sales do not seem to be as buoyant as we are always told they are. Yet it seems
somehow appropriate that this sherry bar should be opening in - Islington.
March 10
South Africa Moves
up
For the twelve month period
ended 23 January this year. AC Nielsen the marketing research agency shows South
African wine sales grew by 20% in volume to 12.27 million 9-litre-cases. In
contrast, French sales fell by 12% to 12.266 million 9-litre-cases. So South
Africa has moved to third in the UK supply league table, after the USA and Italy.
Although France appears still to retain its leadership in the on trade here too
they are feeling the pressure.
March 10
Flying Cork
The Portuguese cork industry
is branching out in a bid to find new markets for its declining cork stopper
business, where the screwcap has made painful inroads. Of course there will
probably always be a place for a good unblemished long cork in a bottle of
vintage Port or
Claret, which is designed to mature in the bottle. But most wine
is consumed in the month after purchase and in this market the cork share is
only about 70% (down from over 90%). The industry needs to consider the long
term - the cork bark is first harvested when the tree is about 20 years old and
then again about every 10 years for the next two centuries. The future plan is
to make aircraft wings out of carbon fibre and cork instead of PVC, whilst
resistance to fire (and oil prices) will be used to advantage inside the
aircraft too. But they may have some unexpected competition in that land of the
screwcap: Australia is considering planting the
Quercus Subur to exploit its
resistance to bushfires. At least the Portuguese know they have to give a
minimum of 20 years notice...
February 10
Scottish Wine at
last?
A vineyard has been planted in
Perth and is due to give its first vintage in 2010. Jokes about global warming
seem inappropriate this year but as anyone who has spent a winter in Burgundy
will know, it's not the winter but the summer that's important. So here's to a
blistering Perthshire 2010 vintage!
February 10
Brand New Red
Bicyclette
What is it with bicycles?
Various wineries and co-ops in the South of France are being prosecuted by the
French authorities for selling cheap Pinot Noir, that wasn't, to Gallo for its
'Red Bicyclette' brand. One might have thought Gallo should have been able to
smell and taste the difference but, as one wag has already pointed out, probably
the overwhelming aroma was that of a nice fat, high margin...
January 10
Make Mine A
Swimming Pool - continued
Making derogatory remarks
about lager has - of course - prompted a 'friend' to point out that you
can bathe in red wine too. At
Kanagawa in Japan there is a
health resort where bathing in red wine is said to be a rejuvenation treatment
for the body. Well perhaps, but the last time this writer so much as trod grapes
for half an hour it took two months for the legs to tone down from bright pink
to pallid white. If it had been total immersion there would need to be a racial
type created. Closer inspection of the spa does reveal - doubtless to the relief
of passport authorities everywhere - that there is quite a lot of water with it
- so it is more of a dark rosé colour. Just enough probably to put you in the
pink..
January 10
The Tractor Factor
in New Zealand
Grove Mill,
the world's first Carbon Zero winery, has modified a tractor to run on vine
prunings, which as a tractor is often going six hours a day they consider well
worth the cost. Although we had visions of this new tractor looking rather like
Stephenson's rocket it turns out that the vine prunings undergo
gasification first and the result
can then be used as fuel. But the real pity is that those steaks grilled over
the vine cuttings will loose that unique tangy flavour that is so delicious...
Still, perhaps that's progress, perhaps not.
January 10
Make Mine A
Swimming Pool
Word reaches us from
Starkenberg in Austria that a health spa is offering a recuperative break where
the spa's bathing pools are filled up with - er beer. Apparently bathing in beer
has health benefits such as improving skin tone and blood circulation. Pure
prejudice leads us to suggest that this must be the proper use for lager and is
for certain miles better than drinking the stuff...
December 09
PET Beaujolais
Nouveau in Japan
Japan has for some years now
been Beaujolais Nouveau's largest market but recessionary pressure and declining
sales has led to what the trade will doubtless call 'packaging innovation'. Many
retailers are to sell Nouveau in PET plastic bottles, which are both cheaper and
-allegedly- more environmentally friendly than glass. It is certainly true that
nobody is looking to buy Beaujolais Nouveau to 'lay down' so part of the
objection to plastic bottles is immediately overcome. As the largest Burgundy
negociant supplied the USA with Beaujolais Nouveau in plastic last year, we are
left wondering whether this light, fruity and easy to appreciate wine might be
the forerunner for a major packaging change for other wines. If Australia and
New Zealand can champion the screw- cap perhaps France will be the PET champion?
At least if we are selling our
Beaujolais Nouveau
next year in PET you'll know they are!
November 09
Wine (not just
Guinness) is good for you
At the World Wine Symposium in
Italy
Jean-Robert Pitte, ex
President of the Sorbonne University, lamented the fact that the French state
did not separate alcohol from wine. That sounds rather like being able to get
alcohol out of the wine but being unable to get the wine out of alcohol.
This is entirely logical and nor should they be separate. Where he does have
more force is when he pointed out that
L'Association Nationale de
Protection contre l'Alcool et les Addictions (French quangos seem to have even
longer names than British ones) has an annual budget of 66m Euros and 1,400
employees! What on earth do they all do? We trust they don't drink at
lunchtime.. Yet Dr NK Yong, a Singapore wine enthusiast, seems rather to hope
they do - "anyone who tells you wine is not good for you is lying. If the
politicians don't understand this, you should change the politicians." This has
rather more impact when you realise that Dr Yong is 80 years young.
November 09
White wine attacks
tooth enamel shock
We were unsurprised to
discover that the acidity in wine is bad for tooth enamel and the acidity in
white wine is generally higher than red. According to the German University
study that made this earth shattering discovery, eating cheese with the wine
helps (full of calcium - like our teeth). The British Dental Association has
replied that "If you're going to have a glass of wine do so with your meal and
leave a break of at least 30 minutes afterwards before you brush your teeth."
What they don't mention is that if you brush your teeth before drinking
the wine you might never drink wine again...Please don't try this at home!
October 09
Paternoster
Lift
This lovely phrase (referring
to one of those lifts that goes on continuously without ever actually stopping
at a floor) has been used by a report in the American 'Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences' to describe the way the bubbles in
Champagne act as a flavour delivery system! It is not unique to
Champagne but also found in 'good' - for which read bottle fermented - sparkling
wine. By using mass spectometry it was discovered that the aromatic compounds
were present by a factor of up to 30 times more in the bubbles rather than the
wine. Their continuous rising and bursting delivers the flavour. (Shades of
"every bubble has passed its fizzical" which was an advertising campaign of old
for a soft drink.)
However, to anyone who has ever tasted still 'Champagne' before it passes
through its bottle fermentation this will certainly come as no surprise. Without
the improvement brought about by secondary fermentation it is doubtful if it
would be drunk at all!
October 09
Some like it
hot
French wine lovers - and
Greenpeace in particular (though it is unlikely many of us had them marked down
in this category) are warning that global warming may see off the wines of
Meursault, Montrachet and Volnay. If global warming continues at is current
rate the temperature will be six degrees warmer on average by the end of the
century. Already between 1996 and 2008 the time taken for grapes to mature in
Burgundy has reduced by ten from fifty to forty days. This is distinctly
serious for such a prestigious area, where the length of time taken to fruit
maturity is very important for finesse and complexity. France loses this at its
peril! No wonder a group of chefs, sommeliers and winemakers wrote to 'Le Monde'
in August to insist that Nicolas Sarkosy push for a strong agreement on climate
change. He would probably be all the more motivated if they were to mention that, should it happen,
Southern Britain is likely to be a major beneficiary of this particular bit of
climate change...
September 09
Record price for
Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon
It is true that we do not
unfortunately have stocks of Zonnebloem Cabernet Sauvignon 1965 and 1967, which
achieved record prices at the recent South African Nederberg wine auction, but
we do have stocks of a rather later but almost as delicious 2004 vintage at just
£7.29 a bottle!
September 09
Bring on the
Clones
Carmenère is the grape that
may well have originated in the Médoc. After the phylloxera outbreak the 1880s
it was not replanted. Chile however had been supplied with vines earlier in the
century and had no phylloxera problem (indeed still doesn't) and is now the home
of far and away the largest quantities of Carmenère vines, such that it is now
considered a (so called) signature variety for the country. Even so it is
remarkable how it can add an attractive depth to a Cabernet Sauvignon as in the
Terra Mater version. Perhaps this should be unsurprising in view of its
Médoc heritage!
With a view to improve quality - some single variety Carmenères can be a bit
'grassy' or 'herbaceous' - the Chilean government is funding the University of
Talca to try and discover the best clone. But again the attitude is very wise
"We don't want to completely lose the green or peppery character, otherwise it
won't be Carmenère" says the university. Hear, hear - a clone but not cloned!
September 09
Chilean
Sustainability
The University of Talca in
Chile is attempting to put forward a programme for sustainability, which is
"more than organics". Although
Chile is a country admirably suited to organic
viticulture, being protected from pests and pestilence by both the Pacific Ocean
to the West and the Andes mountains to the East it is admirable that there is a
realisation that producing organically grown grapes can count for very little,
particularly if, say, the vineyard contributes to soil erosion, intrusive
irrigation or large energy use. Hats off to the Chileans for working on
the complete picture!
September 09
Seriously
folks..
A professor of oceanography
and statistics (an odd combo - but at least the second is relevant) who also
happens to own a small winery in
California's Humboldt County decided to study wine competitions after seeing
his own wines win in some events and yet get no awards in others. He has upset
many by discovering that this alarming inconsisitency in the way his own wines
were rated was the norm. His suggestion that the competitions were pretty self
serving has not gone down well in the sunshine state!
It is interesting to compare with the UK's own International Wine Challenge,
where not only is it the world's biggest competition but anecdotally is fairly
consistent. The stupidity is that the long embargo on the results often means
that the wine has changed considerably since it was judged and in one or two
cases sold out! The add-ons such as Wine Merchant of the Year are though, similarly
self serving, indeed companies propose themselves in true unbiased
fashion! The panoply of competitions is however likely to be much enhanced if
the BMA get their way for a ban on alcohol advertising. This would be one of the
minor drawbacks of what would otherwise be a very good thing. Alcohol probably
needs to be made more serious..
September 09
France back as top
dog
It seems that France, after
faltering last year, is set to be the world's number one wine producer again.
Spain's production is well down this year, by 4%, in Italy - last year's top
producer - production will be little changed, whilst France's production is
scheduled to increase by 12%. According to a study by the Milan based Italian
Wines Union,
France is due to produce 48.1 million hectolitres of wine. Can the world
keep up, because French consumption is declining..?
September 09
Gloomy View from
Australia
No this is not a recessionary
new wine from
Australia, but a summary of the economic outlook given by Fosters, the
brewer that now owns the famous Australian names of Wolf Blass and Penfolds. It
has announced that its global wine volumes are down 5%. It is scrapping 37 wine
brands and disposing of 36 vineyards. It also has started selling its vineyards
in California. The bright spot? Beer sales are strong... Penfolds Grange
drinkers may be pleased that more potential investment is on its way from beer
drinkers' profits..
August 09
You heard it
here first..
Well actually no - we are
indebted to 'The Guardian' for bringing this to our notice. Italian banks are
likely to take wine as collateral for loans. And it is not as crazy as it at
first sounds because they won't be accepting cases and cases of plonk de plonks
so you can max out on the holiday money, but good wine that matures and
improves. So it should be perfectly safe as long as they ensure they get
repayment before it has turned into vinegar. Could put a whole new slant on the
idea of taking the bank manager for a drink...
August 09
Drinking not
smoking..
News reaches us from Canada's
Niagara that old kilns once used for drying tobacco leaves are to be used by a
winery to dry grapes so they can make their own version of
Amarone - but not by drying the grapes over a couple of months or longer but
just a fortnight! More intriguingly they are going to use another old kiln to
blast the harvested grapes with humidity and botrytis cinerea, which is the
mould responsible for the sweet concentration of
Sauternes for example. But in European vineyards the mould attacks the
grapes on the vine and they are late picked so the juice is highly concentrated.
Although it will be an intriguing trial, factory kiln production is unlikely to
be any great threat to Château Yqem just yet...
August 09
New Zealand
feeling the squeeze
Gisborne grape growers are
facing difficult times as Pernod Ricard, the French drinks conglomerate, seems
to have cut back its grape requirements by as much as 25%. This is predominantly
destined for its Montana label, New Zealand's biggest (but not its best) wine
producer. Constellation - another conglomerate, this time American- has not
helped by following a similar course for its Nobilo label. Chardonnay is the
predominant grape of the area and the one most out of favour with the consumer
now touched by the so called ABC view (Anything But Chardonnay). Some producers
are vowing to go back to growing avocados... Certainly fashion and farming are
uneasy bedfellows and probably it is also prudent to beware of exclusive supply
to enormous conglomerate wine companies.
August 09
From Prohibition
to McMerlot in less than 80 years
In what one American wag has
christened the arrival of the McMerlot a fast food chain (not in fact that
one) in North America has decided to sell wine with its burgers - in order
to move up into "fast food premium" according to their spokesman. Whatever that
means. Still don't they know that if there really is beef in those burgers
McCabernet McSauvignon is likely to be a better choice?
August 09
Please contain your excitement...
On the 1st August 2009 the EU
introduced new Wine Regulations. Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée(AOC or AC)
becomes AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protegée) and Vin de Pays wines, often
referred to as Country Wines, will now be known as IGP (Indication Géographique
Protegée). So that's alright then. At least any wine is now, legally, able to
put its constituent grape varieties on its label, which is how most of us start
to consider the style of wine that is likely to appeal to us. This should
certainly help Europe to compete a little more easily against the New World.
Money to subsidise distillation will now also be phased out to encourage wine
producers to be more market orientated. However this writer laments that the
addition of sucrose (one lump or two?) has at the last minute been permitted -
concentrated grape must would be much more honest!
August 09
When is a
Burgundy not a Burgundy?
A recent Wine & Spirit
Association survey has found that most UK wine consumers think that, whilst the
country of origin is probably of consequence, region is unimportant. It is
intriguing in this context to see that the Burgundians are locked in dispute
with their Beaujolais colleagues further South, who are planting Chardonnay
apace. Beaujolais has always been counted as part of Burgundy even though their
red grape is Gamay rather than Pinot Noir. But a mature Beaujolais Cru such as
Moulin à Vent is often indistinguishable from
mature Pinot Noir from further North. Yet it is the Chardonnay - the same white
grape that is grown throughout Burgundy that is really causing the problem. The
Burgundy winemakers' association considers that the Beaujolais producers should
be calling all this production Beaujolais Blanc, whereas in fact it has the
right to be called Bourgogne Blanc. They consider it is not Burgundy.. Surely
their time would be better spent on ensuring the quality was indistinguishable
from the posher stuff further North. But on second thoughts this is probably
what is worrying them...
July 09
The Real Thing
Apparently a consignment of
Bodegas Kohlberg wine from Bolivia has been found to offer rather more than was
expected. The Bulgarian authorities have discovered that over 90% of all bottles
contained just liquid cocaine. We did not know too much about Bolivian Wine
either but it is apparently much appreciated in the Czech Republic. No wonder..
July 09
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