Cox issues NZ price erosion warning (NZ)
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
New Zealand producers should use the latest price statistics as a “wake up call” as it “continues to erode our well-earned price premium, reputation and image,” according to New Zealand Winegrowers European director David Cox. Even though New Zealand looks set to overtake Spain’s value share of the UK market in the next two years as it continues to outperform all other countries on value and volume in the UK, its average price in the UK has now slipped to below £6.
8 out of 10 drinkers choose wine with strong reputation in home market (UK)
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
Eight out of ten British wine drinkers prefer to buy wine that is well-thought of in its home country than wine endorsed by celebrities. A survey of 175 wine drinkers, carried out by Do I Like It? discovered that 78% of drinkers would rank how a wine was rated in its own country and that it grows all of its own grapes (67%) as the most important factors influencing them when buying a bottle of wine for the first time.
Grape downy-mildew threat
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The worst conditions for the downy mildew fungus disease in more than a decade has led to a dire shortage of control chemicals. The most-affected winegrape growers are in northwest Victoria, where crops are at a critical stage. If not treated, the vines will drop leaves and berries will rot or shrivel and fall off.
The expanding world of wine (UK)
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
I have been intimately involved with updating The World Atlas of Wine, a picture-book classic of wine literature that has been a much loved and constantly consulted standard in my own library since Hugh Johnson prepared the first edition back in 1971, writes Jancis Robinson. One of the double-page spreads I have referred to most comes at the very beginning, a map of the world showing two neat bands around the earth, one in each hemisphere, indicating the countries where wine is produced.
South Africa must boost wine to China: Standard Bank (South Africa)
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South African wine producers need to look at increasing exports to China, which is set to become the seventh largest consumer of wine by 2012, according to Standard Bank Group. China “offers real opportunities for South African wine makers,” Willie Du Plessis, director of agricultural banking at the Johannesburg-based bank, said in an emailed statement yesterday.
True alcohol data to help policy makers
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Accurate information on per capita consumption of alcohol is essential for combating alcohol-related harm, according to researchers. A study using corrected data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which took into account the rising alcohol content of wine for the first time, showed alcohol consumption among Aussies aged 15 or older has been steadily increasing over the last 10 years.
A pill with the benefits of red wine - but no hangover (UK)
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
Could a daily pill reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, slow the ageing process and even help you lose weight? According to some supplement manufacturers, a pill made from resveratrol — the plant chemical that gives red wine its colour — can, indeed, do all these things.
Penfolds new tipple to topple the Grange
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Foster’s wine major Penfolds is set to release an ultra-premium tipple with a price tag that could exceed even its flagship Grange. And Grange sells for $550 a bottle. The new wine is expected to be dubbed Bin 620 - a label used once before, in 1966 - and will be released in May 2012 at the same time as the 2007 Grange.
Mining Minister defends his silence on Vasse Coal
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
Western Australia Mining Minister Norman Moore says remarks he made in parliament on the subject of coal mining in the Margaret River region have been misrepresented. Greens MLC Lyn McLaren contends that the Minister accused the region’s vineyard owners of hypocrisy for wanting to stop coal mining in the district.
Colonial history destined to lie undiscovered
Posted by Daily Wine News | Filed under Wine Reviews
You’re looking at the spiritual home of Australian winemaking, the birthplace of an industry worth more than $2 billion a year that employs more than 30,000 people. This particular paddock splits Cartwright Street, in Bonnyrigg Heights, and contains archaeological remains of the first male orphanage built in the colony of New South Wales. James Busby, the man regarded as the father of Australia’s wine industry, planted a vineyard here and taught viticulture to the boys in 1825.