“Vero” is how winemaker Peppe Randazzo describes Luca Martini di Cigala of San Giusto a Rentennano. Vero translates from the Italian as any or all of these: authentic, true, unfeigned, genuine, real. He said this was how Luca interacted with the people who worked on the family farm; how he was with all those around him. This authenticity, I believe, is reflected in the wines of his estate. I love ’em.
MOVE over, wine snobs. Millennials are disrupting wine marketing. The age group is outguzzling baby boomers in terms of wine consumption: 36 percent of winedrinkers in the U.S. are millennials versus 34 percent of baby boomers, according to the Wine Market Council. And to appeal to these millennials, wine brands are busy crafting innovative packaging, clever labels and more approachable messaging.
Grape byproduct has been identified as the main cause of pollution which turned a rural stream to a “black jelly” sludge. The Marlborough District Council has confirmed test results from the groundwater and surface water samples of Puka Puka Stream, 12 kilometres south of Blenheim, showed leachate from grape marc compost dumped nearby was the “most likely” cause of pollution.
For the first time, sales of wine in New Zealand have been overtaken by sales into the United States and United Kingdom, New Zealand Winegrowers chairman Steve Green says. Despite this drop, New Zealand Winegrowers’ just released annual report shows exports have risen 10% in the last year as expected, to just under $1.6 billion.
Organisers for the Royal Hobart International Wine Show have extended the closing date for entries to 26 August 2016 after requests from several producers. John Ellis, managing director of Hanging Rock Winery and chair of the Show’s organising committee, said he was impressed with the calibre and class of entries received so far. “The response to the 2016 Show so far has been good.”
Entries for the Canberra International Riesling Challenge are the highest since 2009 with over 500 entries from eight countries received when entries officially closed on 14 August. The increase has come from both Australian and International entries. Entry levels from Australia and from Austria are the highest ever achieved, while entries from the USA and Germany are at their highest levels since 2009.
The last 15 years have been a roller coaster for the Australian wine business as demand in the U.S. nearly went from first to worst. It was the rage in the early 2000s thanks in large part to Yellow Tail Shiraz, with a Kangaroo on its label and its low price tag. It became the biggest selling imported brand in the U.S. The demand for Aussie wine crashed some 10 years later for a number of reasons according to Paul Dietz with Negociants USA.
Food and wine producers are being urged to forge stronger links with the hospitality industry to promote their produce and regional brand. Viticulture and education manager at TasTAFE’s Drysdale Institute in northern Tasmania Christopher McGimpsey said partnerships between hospitality trainers and the food and wine industry could help capture more of the tourist dollar. He said it was about “yield management”.
The wines of Domaine Georges Mugneret-Gibourg in the Burgundy village of Vosne-Romanee are exceptional and, in the last several years, their fame has begun to catch up to the quality of their wines. As the Mugneret-Gibourg name has become more widely known in America, retail price increases for their wines have outpaced those of other Burgundy wines. These prices increases do not, in my opinion, correlate to any qualitative changes in the Domaine: their approach and the wines have remained consistent since the 1990s.
What is the hippest wine destination you’ve never heard of? That was a question I asked in a popular post from earlier this year. I supported my answer — the lush, mountainous Serra Gaúcha region of southern Brazil — with eight reasons why from creative winery tourism to lower alcohol wines to a strong cultural heritage of wine.