July, 10, 2011 US: Washington cabs stand tall against Napa

Ask almost any sentient wine-guzzling being on the planet where the best American cabs are made and they will immediately bellow "Napa!" This despite the irrefutable fact that Washington has older cabernet vines, a higher percentage of high-scoring wines at lower prices, and a climate more suitable ...

July, 09, 2011 US: Economist Sees Red Over Rep. Paul Ryan’s $350 Wine Choice

On Wednesday night, Economist and Rutgers associate business professor Susan Feinberg kept tabs on Rep. Paul Ryan’s dinner tab at Washington’s Bistro Bis, and confronted the Congressman after his meal for partaking in $350-a-bottle wine, while his party seeks painful cuts to government programs ...

July, 09, 2011 Canada: Wine gaining on beer as favoured drink

Canadians are moving from grain to grape, with a new report confirming the wine industry here is outpacing growth in the overall drinks sector. The output of the country's wineries has grown at an average annual rate of 7.6% since 1998, outstripping the overall beverage sector which grew at 1%, a...

July, 08, 2011 US: Will Napa Valley Be Able To Produce Wine In 30 Years?

By 2040 Northern California might have 50% less land suitable for growing premium wine grapes due to climate change. According to a new study by Stanford University, increased temperature can significantly alter the viability of certain grapes in Napa Valley. But, on the flip side, cooler parts of O...

July, 08, 2011 US: NY wineries want feds to speed up bottle labeling

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New York's wineries say the federal government is putting a cork in their business by taking too long to approve new labels for wine bottles. Sen. Charles Schumer is heading Friday to two wineries in New York's Finger Lakes region to press the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade...

July, 08, 2011 The Rising Price of Bordeaux

It's been 12 years since I started taking a serious interest in Bordeaux's en primeur market. Back then, when I was just starting out in the wine trade, the top wines—Château Lafite, Latour, Mouton Rothschild—were around £90 a bottle, or £1,080 a case. As a young graduate, I remember think...

July, 08, 2011 AUS: High dollar opens door to Europe's wine

AT a time when per capita beer consumption is at a 62-year low, Australian drinkers seem to be developing a taste for finer things, such as French champagne. The currency boom that has devastated wine exports is a boon for adventurous drinkers, who are increasingly eschewing the domestic stuff fo...

July, 07, 2011 Wine adulteration 101

The history of the wine trade is filled with stories of wine that has been manipulated, adulterated (substances not related to grapes being added) and even counterfeited. We have grown used to spinning cones and reverse osmosis, electron dialyses and ion exchange, thermoflush and decanting, cmc’s ...