European wine bloggers are set to descend on Izmir in Turkey for the 2012 EWBC conference. The event, which this year took place in Brescia, Italy, will take place on November 9 to 11, 2012. The conference is organised by Ryan and Gabriella Opaz and Robert McIntosh of social media company Vrazon, and next year’s sponsor is Wines of Turkey, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.
European wine growing regions are battling European Commission plans to allow massive vineyard expansion. To boost the wine sector’s competitiveness by reducing production costs, the EU has included an amendment to liberalise planting rights, from January 2016, within proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – a policy which one lobbyist said would have ‘catastrophic’ consequences. If the reform goes through, by 2019 there will be no restrictions to planting vines across the European Union, even in countries that today have no vineyards, reports Decanter.
Veteran English wine writer Hugh Johnson is quite right when he observes that a wine tastes best in the village where it is made. I’m not suggesting that wine doesn’t travel well but there are factors that come into play when strolling among the vines, glass in hand, with a wine made from the soil on which you are walking, writes John Hawkesby in The New Zealand Herald.
Winegrape growers in South Australia’s Riverland have spent the weekend spraying chemicals to prevent disease after significant rainfall. CCW Co-op viticulturist Andrew Weeks says the wet and humid weather has increased the risk of downy mildew spreading. He says growers need to monitor their vineyards closely over coming days, reports ABC News.
The evacuation of the Margaret River region has ended, as the devastating bush fires that swept through a series of National Parks last week are brought under control. After struggling to control the fires for several days, the Australian Department of Energy and Conservation told local newspaper WA Today on Sunday that ‘the fire is now within containment lines and weather conditions are favourable.’ Nick Power of the Margaret River Wine Association told Decanter the fires’ impact upon the 2012 Margaret River vintage would be ‘minimal’.
Riverland growers have vowed to rebel against the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s “discriminatory” plan. Farmers, irrigators, politicians and local business owners have united to reject the plans to cut the area’s water allocations by up to 30 per cent. This is despite soaring production costs that already have forced many embattled operators off their land, reports Adelaide Now.
A quarter century ago, the Russells planted their first vines, giving birth to Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery, what would ultimately become New England’s largest vineyard. The South Coast Today, reports they started out with 40,000 vines — ordered from the Finger Lakes region of New York because they were thought to be hearty.
A quarter century ago, the Russells planted their first vines, giving birth to Westport Rivers Vineyard & Winery, what would ultimately become New England’s largest vineyard. The South Coast Today, reports they started out with 40,000 vines — ordered from the Finger Lakes region of New York because they were thought to be hearty.
Wine writing can some-times be lip-puck-eringly dry. Maybe that’s why Natalie MacLean, an irreverent, lively and often self-deprecating wine writer, is so popular, reports the Vancouver Sun. Her first book, Red, White and Drunk All Over, won Best Wine Literature Book at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and sold 50,000 copies in Canada alone.
Wine writing can some-times be lip-puck-eringly dry. Maybe that’s why Natalie MacLean, an irreverent, lively and often self-deprecating wine writer, is so popular, reports the Vancouver Sun. Her first book, Red, White and Drunk All Over, won Best Wine Literature Book at the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and sold 50,000 copies in Canada alone.