September, 24, 2012 France: Bordeaux white harvest finishes 20% down

(Decanter) - The majority of white grapes in the 2012 Bordeaux harvest have been brought safely in to the cellars under warm and sunny conditions, but the forecast for the week ahead is rain, complicating decisions over when to bring in the red grapes. First estimates of yields for the white wines, ...

September, 24, 2012 Top 10 biggest beer brands

(TheDrinksBusiness) - We count down the world’s largest beer brands according to case sales and consider their performance over the last year. Chinese beer brand Snow continues its dominance of the global beer market, although it is showing signs of slowing down. Coors light is the major mover ...

September, 24, 2012 US: Wineries' Direct Shipments Reach $1.4 Billion

(Wines&Vines) - Small wineries dominated the fast-growing market for direct-to-consumer wine shipments, according to a report to be released Monday by ShipCompliant and Wines & Vines. U.S. wineries producing less than 50,000 cases per year collected 74% of the $1.4 billion 12-month total for DtC shi...

September, 24, 2012 France: Moët forces grape prices up

(Decanter)- In an unprecedented move Moët and Chandon has announced it will be paying 4% more for its grapes this year compared with last. This is in a move to secure supplies as it seeks to increase production as its new facility at Mont Aigu in Oiry opens for business. ‘The leaders of the di...

September, 24, 2012 Oregon: Part 1 – 50 years in the making

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Oregon wine country as we know it today really started to formulate in the 1960s. In 1961, Richard Sommer, a UC Davis graduate, began making wine south of Portland in the Umpqua Valley under the Hillcrest Vineyard label. In 1964, David Lett, ignoring UC Davis professor, Mayn...

September, 23, 2012 ‘Chateau’ isn’t made in America, French vintners say

(WashingtonPost) - When Dominique Haverlan pastes the label “Vieux Chateau Gaubert” on his wine bottles, he proclaims this to his customers: I am selling you 400 years of French pedigree, the shadow of aged Palladian buildings restored at a cost of nearly $2 million, the fruit of 87 acres of vin...

September, 23, 2012 AUS: Wine industry adopting health warnings

(ABC) - The wine industry is adopting health warnings on labels, including about the risks to pregnant women of drinking alcohol. The Winemakers Federation said it wanted to extend the labelling push in a partnership with the organisation DrinkWise Australia. "[It] will give all winemakers the...

September, 23, 2012 BEER STILL DRINKABLE AFTER NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE

(TheDrinksBusiness) - Atomic bomb tests conducted by the US military in the 1950s found that beer and soft drinks remained drinkable after a nuclear explosion. The experiment took place as part of Operation Teapot in 1955, with cans and bottles of beer and soft drinks placed in three positions ra...