International Wine News | January, 2021
Jan 31st: Tannins in wine could help to inhibit Covid-19 - Mien-Chie Hung, President of China Medical University, Taiwan, led a scientific research on the anti-coronavirus treatment. They discovered that tannins in wine can effectively inhibit the activity of two key enzymes of the virus. Read More...
Jan 31st: Decanter appoints new Editor-in-Chief - Future plc, the international media group and leading digital publisher, has announced the appointment of Chris Maillard as Editor-in-Chief of its world-leading wine and spirits brand Decanter. Read More…
Jan 31st: You can now buy fancy two-litre 'bag in a box' wines like Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay for just $13.99 - A South Australian winery has launched a new range of fancy 'bag in a box' wines - including Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz. The Calabria Family Wines Banta Box offers premium quality wine in a two-litre carton, which is the equivalent of almost 14 glasses of wine. Read More…
Jan 31st: Santa Barbara’s Grimiest Dive Bars Are the Inspiration for This Artist’s Work - When we picture dive bars, the images that come to mind often include scuffed-up floors, worn barstools, and quirky decor. But when Michael Long enters a local dive, he envisions his next masterpiece. The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based artist uses grungy bars as inspiration for his lifelike, miniature dioramas. Read More…
Jan 30th: Bordeaux Approves Six New Grape Varieties to Battle Climate Change - As climate change continues to affect the French winemaking industry, the Bordeaux wines we've come to know and love may be different, but at least the region is actively preparing for its survival. In 2019, perhaps the world's best-known wine region proposed adding seven new grape varieties to the six red and eight white varieties already permitted to be used in bottles of Bordeaux. All of the new suggestions were specifically chosen for their potential to flourish even in the less hospitable conditions caused by global warming. Read More…
Jan 30th: Constellation Brands Wins Trademark Dispute Over ‘To Kalon’ Wine - Robert Mondavi Winery’s parent company Constellation Brands U.S. Operations Inc. won a permanent injunction in California federal court that will prevent Vineyard House LLC from using the “To Kalon” name in relation to “any wine, wine-related product, reference to a wine product, or event or activity where such wine is present or referenced.” Read More…
Jan 30th: Virtual Classes and Tastings Change the Wine World’s Barrier to Entry - James Abraham, a 40-year-old member of the Army Reserves, enrolled in a digital wine course while deployed in Eastern Africa last summer. “It was entirely self-paced,” he says of the program, which took him about two weeks to complete. “You were able to customize how you studied and scheduled your time.” Read More…
Jan 30th: Jackie Fast on how Covid has made Okanagan wineries stronger - Wine entrepreneur Jackie Fast gives this on the ground report from one of Canada’s most respected and premium wine regions – the Okanagan Valley – examining how its producers have not just responded to Covid-19, but are actually coming out of the pandemic stronger than before. She talks to a number of its key producers about the steps they have taken and the innovations they have made which she believes could act as an inspiration for other wineries and wine regions around the world. Read More…
Jan 29th: 4 Wine Trends You’ll Be Seeing Everywhere in 2021, According to a Master Sommelier - A new year means a fresh start; a chance to hit 'reset' on your habits, let go of the past (2020 = never again), and look forward to the future. It also gives us an excellent excuse to passionately preach about our favorite new food trends, what's going to be mega popular in home décor this year, healthy eating movements to try and skip, paint color trends; even the best beauty trends and hair color trends for 2021. What's missing, you ask? Wine trends—but no longer. Read More…
Jan 29th: Release your inner wine snob: Choosing the right glasses - Certain wine glasses perform better than others depending on what you’ve poured into them — and there is some science to back this up. Of course you can drink wine from whatever vessel you want, be it a wine glass, coffee mug or even a plastic tumbler, but the right glass will bring out the best of your chosen wine’s character and nuances.Read More…
Jan 29th: Swallowing the Reality of Natural Wine - I think it's time to move on. I'm not entirely sure where we are in the 15-plus year-old debate about natural wines, but surely the time is up? It's here to stay, so let's just all get on with it. They say there are five stages of grief and I'm quite certain we're past denial; I'm reasonably sure anger is also behind us (although in some cases, I have my doubts); there was, perhaps, some depression (I like to envisage the tears of repentance on an old-school critic's cheek in front of a Poulsard from Philippe Bornard, for instance); but I suspect we're at the bargaining stage. We really should just take acceptance in our stride and move on – for everyone's sake. Read More…
June 29th: Oeno appoints Almudena Alberca MW as brand ambassador for Spain - Wine investment firm Oeno has appointed Almudena Alberca MW, Spain’s first female Master of Wine, as its brand ambassador for Spain. Alberca became a Master of Wine in 2018, balancing the notoriously demanding MW programme with working full-time as a winemaker. Read More…
Jan 26th: The 2020 wildfires could cost California’s wine industry $3.7 billion — but it doesn’t have to be that way - If the wildfires of 2020 hadn’t already served as a wake-up call for California’s wine industry, just wait until it sees the bill. The damage to the state’s wine companies by last year’s fires, according to one industry analyst, may amount to as much as $3.7 billion. That’s taking into account the losses of property, wine inventory, grapes and future sales of the wine that those grapes would have made. Read More…
Jan 26th: Winemaker Interview: Randy Meyer - As our regular readers know, from time to time, we pose a series of questions to a winemaker to probe their winemaking philosophy and to gain insight into how they became who they are. This week, we are featuring Randy Meyer, the Director of Winemaking for BARRA of Mendocino in Mendocino County, California. Read More…
Jan 26th: Nonalcoholic Drinks Finally Taste Great — Here Are 12 of Our Faves - For too long, the options in the nonalcoholic section of restaurant menus or liquor stores were cloying “mocktails” and syrupy fruit sodas, or maybe a dusty bottle of barely-hoppy 0 percent ABV beer. Not the case these days. As sobriety, “dry” months, or even just saying “I’m not drinking tonight” become more socially acceptable than ever before, the beverages had to catch up. Read More…
Jan 26th: The Aroma of Progress at the Court of Master Sommeliers - It has been six weeks since the installation of a newly-elected board of directors for the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas. Earlier today, I sat in on the first of several “listening sessions” conducted by the board to discuss the way forward following the allegations of sexual misconduct and assault brought to light in a harrowing series of New York Times articles at the end of October 2019, to which I responded with a post entitled “The Wine World Owes Women More Than an Apology, It Owes Them a Reckoning.” Read More…
Jan 26th: Why Is Screaming Eagle’s Winemaker Making $90 6-Packs of Lager? - Screaming Eagle famously makes some of the most well-regarded, limited, and absolutely jaw-droppingly expensive wine in all of America. Owned today by billionaire Stan Kroenke, Screaming Eagle’s Sauvignon Blanc sells for over $5,000 a bottle on average, and currently has a waiting list that reportedly takes over a decade to ascend to the top of, simply to be allowed to purchase bottles from the mere 400 to 750 cases released per year. This remains such an achievement to would-be buyers that it’s the third most prominent link on the winery’s website. Read More…
Jan 26th: Luczy: Why it’s time to revisit California Chardonnay - We might be past the ABC years, but Chardonnay still sparks debate. Matthew Luczy questions why, even though the style of California Chardonnay has evolved, many perceptions of the wines have not. Read More…
Jan 26th: Why ‘Active Agers’ Could Help Drive Post-Pandemic Sales - Consumers over 50 are drinking more, spending more, and embracing innovation more than past generations. The industry should stop ignoring them. Read More…
Jan 26th: Cartier, Cahors, natural wine and dead Brit bits - Alain-Dominique Perrin is the man who tipped our tastes toward luxury. Credited with transforming Cartier into a global brand, he is hugely well known in his native France. Rugby player, art aficionado and A-list-celebrity mate, he’s known famed consultant winemaker Michel Rolland since the 70s. Read More…
Jan 22nd: ‘We’re Very Proud of What We Do’: Florida’s Growing Wine Scene - A state known for humidity, uneven rainfall and infertile soil, wine production in Florida would seem like a farce. But grapes have been grown, crushed and turned into wine in the Sunshine State since 1564, long before states like California. Read More…
Jan 22nd: A New Cure for Cork Taint - Amorim, the world’s largest cork company, today launched Naturity, a new technology that the firm asserts will help bring an end to cork taint. Naturity is a treatment for natural cork stoppers that removes a range of potential taint compounds. Read More…
Jan 22nd: Why Bolivia Should Be Your Next Wine Destination - 2013, Montevideo, Uruguay hosted a blind wine-tasting contest. Tasters sampled tannat wines, made with a grape originating (but not universally beloved) in France, that is now a prized export of Uruguay. The surprise winner: a Bolivian wine.
Jan 22nd: “All the deliciousness of gin with none of the alcohol”: Sea Arch Drinks eyes global market - “It is no secret that the no and low alcohol sector is growing worldwide” – International Diplomatic Supplies Founder and Chief Executive Patrick Doyle. Doyle said he approached Sea Arch founders Geoff and Sarah Yates after trying the brand’s Coastal Juniper non-alcoholic spirit and quickly recognising the product’s quality and potential. Read More…
Jan 21st: Bordeaux: Château du Tertre sold in Margaux - Château du Tertre, the fifth growth estate in Bordeaux’s Margaux appellation, has been sold by the Albada Jelgersma family as part of a strategic shift. Read More…
Jan 21st: American Airlines Set To Begin Selling Its On Board Wine Online - American Airlines has launched Flagship Cellars, a wine delivery service that brings its onboard wine menu to your doorstep. Read More…
Jan 21st: British SME’s call for duty and on-trade VAT cut to support Covid-19 recovery - UK Vineyards, distillers and retailers ask government to give them “breathing space” to keep businesses afloat. Britain’s best loved wine and spirit SMEs have joined forces to urge Rishi Sunak to cut wine and spirit duty and extend hospitality’s VAT cut to alcoholic drinks to help boost British business. Read More…
Jan 21st: Is this Australia's worst winery? - Land that once produced award-winning wine is now at risk of starting a grass fire after the vineyard was left to rot for five years. The Old Orchard Winery operated for nine years in Melbourne's eastern outskirts under the hands of David and Pat Smith before the couple's lease from the council expired in 2015.
Jan 20th: Freixenet Copestick acquires Jascots Wine Merchants - Freixenet Copestick has purchased the assets and business of Jascots Wine Merchants from the administrators. All current Jascots employees will transfer to a new business which will trade as Jascots Wine Limited. Read More…
Jan 20th: The Incurable Plague of Wine Influencers - Even Covid can't kill off the infestation of shameless self-promoters on social media. More than two million people dead; massive disruption to our lives; job losses and depression – but take heart, the world's influencers have managed to keep snapping. Read More…
Jan 20th: Angelus restaurant gains Michelin star - The L’Observatoire restaurant owned by Saint-Emilion grand cru Angelus has been awarded it first Michelin star, a mere three months after opening. The restaurant is located in ‘Le Gabriel’, the fine dining institution Angelus acquired on Bordeaux’s Place de la Bourse in January 2019. Read More…
Jan 20th: The Future Of Wine: Israel’s Desert Vineyards Show Us How To Cope With A Changing Climate - In the Negev Desert, the sun beams down onto desolate earth. The air is dry and the land arid. But up on a mountain ridge near the town of Mitzpe Ramon, rows of vines sprout from the scorched soil - the only glimmer of green in a barren landscape. Read More…
Jan 20th: Man arrested after trying to steal floating bar - A drunk man was arrested in Florida for stealing a floating tiki bar after he was found slumped over the wheel off the Florida coast. Read More…
Jan 19th: Williams Selyem Owners Sell Stake in Winery to Burgundy's Faiveley Family - The owners of Williams Selyem, one of Sonoma's best-known Pinot Noir producers, announced that they have sold a minority stake in the winery to the Faiveley family of Burgundy's Domaine Faiveley. The price and share of ownership were not disclosed. Read More…
Jan 19th: IWSR announces acquisition of Wine Intelligence - IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, the leading authority on the worldwide beverage alcohol industry, today announced the acquisition of London-based Wine Intelligence, the top global experts on wine consumer research and insights. Read More…
Jan 19th: Return of the Roaring Twenties? Anatomy of Wine’s Next Chapter - Will wine’s next chapter be characterized by continued crisis and austerity? Or is a return of the Roaring Twenties on the cards? Herewith some thoughts about the changing wine market and where it might be going next. Read More…
Jan 19th: Wine of the Day, No. 641 — and the First Wine of the Day of 2021 - If you want to try a Zinfandel that’s not over-the-top, super ripe, sweet and gratuitously alcoholic, look for the Dry Creek Vineyards Old Vines Zinfandel 2018, made from 100+ year-old, sustainably farmed vines in Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Valley. Read More…
Jan 19th: Trivia, Tasting and More: Six Games Perfect for Wine Lovers - If you can’t stand to spend another minute on Zoom and have binge-watched all of Netflix, there’s another way to curb your boredom at home: game night. Read More…
Jan 18th: Post-Brexit red tape could add £1.50 to bottle of wine warn importers - Wine lovers have been warned they face paying a “Brexittax” of up to £1.50 more for bottles from countries such as France, Italy and Spain as a direct result of “ludicrous” red tape. Read More…
Jan 18th: 10 High-Scoring California Chardonnays To Sip and Savor - California is the center of winemaking in the United States, and has come to be known for rich, big and bold Cabernet Sauvignon. But the most widely planted grape in the state is Chardonnay. Read More…
Jan 18th: Hot Toddy Recipes For Winter Sipping - Beyond being a wintertime staple and soul-soothing curative for well more than a century, the Hot Toddy is also exceptionally adaptable. Though a glug of whiskey may be the traditional dosage, nearly any spirit can fit the toddy’s pliable mold. Read More…
Jan 18th: From Trial to Trellis: How Hop Breeders Determine the Frontier of Flavour - Scott Dorsch was in a bind. The agronomist for Colorado’s Odell Brewing had begun working on a new double IPA with the brewing team and they were confident that they’d found the hero hop for the recipe. Read More…
Jan 18th: Burgundy 2019 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines - After tasting more than 700 Burgundy en primeur samples, Charles Curtis MW says 2019 is a hedonistic vintage that will take its place alongside other exceptional recent years in Burgundy. Read More…
Jan 18th: Hot Toddy Recipes For Winter Sipping - Beyond being a wintertime staple and soul-soothing curative for well more than a century, the Hot Toddy is also exceptionally adaptable. Though a glug of whiskey may be the traditional dosage, nearly any spirit can fit the toddy’s pliable mold. Add a little sweetness, then balance with some citrus if you like, then top with hot water or tea. Bonus points for a fragrant garnish to waft upon the steam with each sip. Scroll through the gallery above to see some of our greatest toddy hits, and below are three more versions to keep you warm through winter.
Jan 18th: From Trial to Trellis: How Hop Breeders Determine the Frontier of Flavour - Scott Dorsch was in a bind. The agronomist for Colorado’s Odell Brewing had begun working on a new double IPA with the brewing team and they were confident that they’d found the hero hop for the recipe. Read More…
Jan 18th: Burgundy 2019 en primeur: Full report plus top-scoring wines - After tasting more than 700 Burgundy en primeur samples, Charles Curtis MW says 2019 is a hedonistic vintage that will take its place alongside other exceptional recent years in Burgundy. Read More…