October, 18, 2012 World Wine Shortage of 1.3 Billion Bottles Seen as Output Slumps

(Bloomberg) - The world faces a wine shortage equivalent to 1.3 billion bottles next year after production slumped in France, Italy and Spain, the main suppliers, according to the biggest French wine cooperative. “It’s historic,” Bertrand Girard, chief executive officer of Groupe Val d’Or...

October, 18, 2012 DP making “richest” wines in Champagne

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Dom Pérignon is producing the “richest” Champagnes in the region today, according to its chef de cave Richard Geoffroy. Dom Pérignon chef de cave Richard Geoffroy Speaking at the launch of a temperature control experiment for the 1996 vintage of Dom Pérignon Oenoth...

October, 18, 2012 Christie's DWWA sale breaks records to raise money for WaterAid

(Decanter) - The sale of the 2012 Decanter World Wine Award wines for WaterAid broke all previous records at Christie's Fine and Rare Wine sale today. The 90 lots comprised of wines drawn from the over £10 category of the Decanter World Wine Awards, the world’s largest wine competition, raised ov...

October, 18, 2012 Wine gets in the spirit with new liquor blends

(SFGate) - Cognac blended with moscato? Pink wine mixed with port? And how about a mashup of sparkling white wine and vodka? Hard liquor is showing a softer side as producers shake things up with new blends that put wine and spirits in the same bottle. "Companies are going out of the box," observ...

October, 17, 2012 European Wine Harvest The Worst In Half A Century, Experts Say

(AP) — The European Union's farmers' union is warning that drought, cold and hail have conspired to produce the worst wine harvest for the region in up to half a century. Farmers union expert Thierry Coste said Wednesday that France's grape harvest is expected to slump by almost 20 percent comp...

October, 17, 2012 Portugal: Douro overcomes weather to produce “first rate” crop

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Heat waves, drought and hail storms have failed to dampen the Douro winemakers’ spirits as Symington Family Estates declared the initial musts “first rate”. Paul Symington, co-chairman of the company, said in his harvest report: “The accountants will not be happy with ...

October, 17, 2012 US: Washington State Vineyards Juggle Abundant Harvest

(Wines&Vines) - A beautiful, dry summer has winemakers across the Northwest looking forward to balanced wines from the 2012 harvest, but October also has meant scrambling to complete the harvest in the face of frost and rain. Wines & Vines reached out to many growers this week, finding voicemails th...

October, 17, 2012 LVMH records 22% revenue increase

(TheDrinksBusiness) - LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has recorded revenue of €19.9 billion for the first nine months of 2012, an increase of 22% on the same period in 2011. Dom Perignon is part of the LVMH group (Image © Dom Perignon)In a press statement the group said it had recorded a 15%...