Beaujolais Nouveau

enjoying Beaujolais Nouveau with persimmon, missed it at the Sonoma Wine Shack on Wednesday, thank you Whole Foods for having it today. A Votre Sante!

$100 Million in Premium Wines Destroyed in Attempt to Elude Debtors

Anderson Pleads Guilty to Arson in Wines Central Blaze
$100 Million in Premium Wines Destroyed in Attempt to Elude Debtors
By Bradley Gray – Special Report to Grapelive

Four years and one month later, Mark Anderson of Sausalito pleads guilty to setting the fire at Wines Central, a 240,000 square foot wine storage facility that housed the cellar inventory for about 100 Napa Valley premium wineries. Anderson’s fire destroyed an estimated $100 million dollars worth of wine.

Why did he do it? Apparently to cover up for embezzling his clients out of wine he was storing for them and erase $290,000 he owed in taxes.

http://www.grapelive.com/?p=832

Magura Winery

Magura Winery was founded 40 years ago in the village of Rabisha. It is located in one of the most mystical and beautiful places in Bulgaria — between the Danube River and the red sand rocks of the town of Belogradchik and the natural phenomenon of Magura cave. The winery has the most modern equipment for wine producing in accordance with all European standards. A part of Magura Cave — The Bat Gallery has been a place for ageing of selected wines for tens of years.

With its soil and climate conditions the region around The Rabisha mound is similar to the French region of Champaign so the best Bulgarian natural sparkling wine is produced here according to the classic technology. The wine is preserved and slowly aged in the deep undergrounds of the cave. The constant temperature of 12°С and the appropriate humidity in the cave provide excellent conditions for the natural production of sparkling wines. The traditional method with bottles and the controlled three–year aging turn the grape juice into a delicate sparkling wine with unique taste.

http://www.magurawinery.bg/en/about.htm

I loved that day

I loved that day - 20 years from the fall of the Berlin wall

US embassy wine-tasting

US embassy wine-tasting

On November 5 a wine-tasting evening was held at the US embassy in Kozyak Street during which visitors were able to sample and buy some of the Balkan’s most prestigious wines presented by vintners.

Russia threat to nationalise wine is 'political'

Russia threat to nationalise wine is 'political'

November 13, 2009
Jane Anson in Rioja

The Russian government is threatening to renationalise the wine industry, putting a million jobs at risk, a leading wine distributor said today.

Dimitri Pinski, of DP Trade in Russia, told delegates at the Winefuture conference in Rioja that he considered the situation had more to do with political expediency than a desire to control alcohol abuse.

'I don't need to polish the truth, it is all very alarming,' he said, adding he believed the timing of the crackdown was 'artificial and suspicious.'

Since August 2009, levels of alcoholism in Russia have been under the spotlight, with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's deputy, Igor Sechin, championing tighter controls over the drinks industry, and ultimately the reintroduction of a state monopoly.

A government committee was created on 29 October to look into regulation of the alcohol markets. Its results will be announced in March 2010.

Sechin has brought in increasingly draconian measures in recent years, including the banning of internet sales since 2007, laws banning secondary wine trading, and wines over 15% alcohol being treated as fortified.

'Russia's problems with alcohol are well documented,' Pinski said. 'But since 2005 levels have been brought back down to those of 1990.

'There are people who think the timing of this crackdown is more to do with the volume of the alcohol market, and that is has become too attractive and therefore worth nationalising.

'There is an opinion that it will then be re-privatised to a few key companies.'

Pinski said 'over a million jobs of those who work in the trade' would be threatened by nationalisation, and that his company was lobbying to have wine excluded from the monopoly.

'We will find out in March next year if we are successful.'

Selling VINI in Hawaii

Katarzyna Estate

Our goal was to reveal to the greatest extent the terroir, or how the combination between superior land, climate and fully dedicated team can be a guarantee for a great wine. We create the Katarzyna Estate wines for those to whom a real experience means to discover new and unique flavors.

Karolinka In & Around Bulgaria

Today I was out and about running some errands. At some point, I was struck by the thought that today would be the perfect day to sit outside and enjoy a glass of wine. The sun is out with only a few clouds in the sky, it’s not too hot and the city seems to be turning green. If that doesn’t warrant a glass of wine, I don’t know what does.

The thing is when I got home after my errands instead of having a glass of wine I started reading up on Bulgarian grape varietals, growing regions and wineries. In fact I’ve just spent the last two-plus hours reading about wine. Obsessive? Maybe. Interesting? Oh, yes.

http://karolinkabulgaria.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/bulgarian-wine/#comment-1393

China’s changing palette

VINI Merlot 2006 in the Wine Enthusiast 2009 Top 100 Best Buys

The global wine market in 2010

Prognoses about the economic health of wine companies must focus on the potential and opportunties for export.

This is because in nearly all wine producing countries, with the notable exceptions of the USA and Australia, per capita wine consumption is decreasing.

Most producers will start to commercialise their 2009 harvest in 2010, even if not sending out the actual bottles of wine, apart from Prosecco which is always precociously sold the year of its harvest. The quality in Europe looks promising. Harvests for 2009 push France once again into the top spot as the world’s top producer with 48,1miohl (an improvement of 12% over 2008 which was particularly low yielding).

According to recent estimates Italian wine production is estimated at 46,5miohl for 2009 harvest. Spain will likely be in 3rd place, with a volume around 39,9miohl.

Climate change may bring some positive ffects for producers in the short term and certainly the Champenois, for example, are sangine on the issue of global warming despite recent figures showing a catastrophic collapse of Champagne sales worldwide — a 30% decline year on year[1]. One would expect these to improve in 2010 along with the economic fortunes of its importers.

The CIA World Fact Book lists countries in order of their GDP real growth rate. Three of the largest countries performing best in 2008, China (16), India (18) and Russia (69) offer increasing opportunities for wine exporters. However, the recent recession has demonstrated the fragility of these as importer partners (viz. Champagne). Nonetheless, particularly where blue chip wines are concerned, China has become a major force with many of the larger international auction houses and brokers turning their attention on Hong Kong. This will likely continue through 2010.

Italy is and will probably remain the highest exporter of wine worldwide in 2010. This is linked to a number of factors not least of which are the diversity, quality and innovative approach of the country’s winemakers. France may well continue to lose ground (in volume terms) but it is still the number one exporter worldwide for premium wines, a position it is unlikely to lose in the forseeable future. However, both South America (Argentina and Chile) and the USA are likely to increase market share in the future.

Sources: OIV, ISMEA, finewinejournal.com, MPRA, CIVC, CIA World FactBook.

Tables

Estimated vineyard coverage for 2008 (mha):

Spain 1165
France 852
Italy 840
USA 411
Portugal 250
Argentina 225
Romania 201
Chile 198
Australia 173
South Africa 132
Greece 116
Germany 102
Brazil 100
Bulgaria 95
Russia 75
Hungary72
Austria 51
New-Zealand 35
Switzerland 15

Source: http://wineindustryreport.finewinepress.com/2009/10/16/the-global-wine-market-in-2010/