Penfolds has claimed a new Australian record for the
price of a new-release wine.
A six-pack of 2004 Penfolds Bin 60A Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon Kalimna Shiraz set the record when it was sold
for US$4,935 at the recent Christie's Fine and Rare Wines auction in New York.
According to Stewart Langton, managing director of Langton's Fine Wine Auctions, the price of US$822 (A$1,084) per bottle (including buyer's premium of 17.5%) is an Australian record for a new-release wine. He says that up until that point no new-release wine had achieved more than A$1,000 for a 75cl bottle.
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A new online auction site that aims to sell wine along the lines of eBay hit the Net last month.
Twickenham-based Cellar 21 aims to match up consumer buyers with mostly trade sellers (who must comply with the new Licensing Act).
Cellar 21's Michael Phelps commented: For a small fee, you can list any item for other auction users to bid on. You may want to dispose of bin ends or stock that you are finding hard to sell through your usual channels, or you may want to create a new, inexpensive sales channel for all of your products.'
Visit www.cellar21.com for more details.
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Despite the margin and oversupply pressures gripping the industry, Australia will bounce back and reach a 30% share of the UK wine market by value in five years and then keep going and going', according to John Phillips, UK managing director of Australia's largest wine company, FGL Wine Estates.
I'm a Californian, but I think that Australia will reach 30% of the UK market five years from now. It's already on around 24% by value, and I can see it getting more than 1% growth year on year,' said Phillips.
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The Russian tsar of petrol is set to spend a fortune buying his way into the world of Brunello. Having been turned down by Castello Banfi, he has entered into negotiations with Argiano, Col d'Orcia and Il Poggione.
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The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) will complete its rebirth' early this year, with Christopher Carson - non-executive chairman and former CEO of Constellation Europe - expected to take the position of chairman, alongside the Association's recently appointed chief executive
Jeremy Beadles.
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Washington State gains its eighth official wine district following the US Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau's designation of the Wahluke Slope as an American Viticultural Area (AVA).
The new area will be the fifth subregion of the well-recognised Columbia Valley appellation and, with more than 5,000 acres under vine, will represent close to a fifth of the state's overall production, supporting the nation's second-largest wine region.
Warmer temperatures and earlier ripening are among the reasons for this development, and the Columbia River to the west and south and wildlife refuges on the east and north provide natural definitions to the appellation.
Wahluke Slope is one of the state's premier wine-growing regions, and government approval will allow the industry to differentiate itself,' says Robin Pollard of the Washington Wine Commission.
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Sweeter way to pop
Champagne Pommery Elixir NV is the latest addition to the UK from the second-largest Champagne house. It's a sweeter style (Sec) than the Brut Royal NV and is primarily on-trade focused. Sara Hicks of Vranken Pommery Monopole comments: By introducing the Elixir Sec to the UK market, we feel we can truly say that Pommery has the right Champagne for every occasion.' Percy Fox and Justerini & Brooks represent Pommery in the UK.
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Threshers has snapped up 200 outlets from Unwins, and as Harpers went to press, the administrator of the failed off-licence group was evaluating final offers for the remaining 150 shops in the chain and its freehold head-office premises in Kent.
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Focus PR has appointed Susannah Grant as account director. She will look after both the Wines of Argentina and Pernod Ricard Travel Retail accounts.
Susannah has spent the past two years travelling the globe, and prior to that she worked for Berkmann Wine Cellars as marketing manager and had stints at The Sherry Institute and Wines from Spain.
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Patriarche Wine Agencies has been appointed UK importer for Cooprative Rgionale des Vins de Champagne and its brand Champagne De Castelnau.
General manager of Patriarche Wine Agencies Keith Isaac MW said: Castelnau is an excellent, quality Champagne, which we will be aiming at the on-trade and specialists. In addition, we have the capacity to fulfil own-label requirements and develop brands for supermarkets.'
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Robert Cecil, international sales director of Cutty Sark International will retire at the end of the year after nearly 33 years with the Whisky Division of Berry Bros & Rudd. Cecil joined BBR in February 1974 and has spent the subsequent years building a distributor network for Cutty Sark and The Glenrothes in European markets.
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After working in an export role for the past six years, Martin Kember returns to a UK base as a global sales consultant'.
Kember, who previously worked with Champagne Lanson and Mondavi, stated: I will specialise in UK and international opportunities for premium and ultra-premium brands, looking to improve their clients' bottom line.'
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We have sought to be impartial, authoritative and above all stimulating and readable, since this important subject affects virtually everyone in the business of selling wine. And we hope to do this again next year and for however long it takes to establish which closures are best for whatever wine you are selling. We don't have the answers - frankly, nobody really has. But the issues and choices are becoming clearer and easier to understand.
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Jancis Robinson MW OBE has called for better communication and cooperation between the various companies holding tastings of the latest vintage of Burgundy next month.
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The Wine Institute of California has a new address: 83 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0HW.
Tel: 020 3008 8060; fax: 020 3008 6180; e-mail: info@calwine.co.uk
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Wine Invest 2006, a one-day seminar on fine-wine investment, takes place on 7 February at Trinity House in London. Speakers include Serena Sutcliffe MW of Sotheby's, Christopher Burr MW of Uvine, and Adam Brett-Smith of Corney & Barrow.
Topics under discussion will include the US and UK auction markets, wine in the wider economy' and developing a portfolio-investment approach'.
Go to www.wineinvest2006.co.uk for more information.
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Michael Cox, the UK director of Wines of Chile, is the latest trustee of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).
Cox replaces Mickey Davies as a representative of The Vintners' Company. Born into the wine trade - Matthew Clark was his maternal great-great-great-grandfather - Cox has also been a WSET Diploma lecturer and set up the Wines of Chile UK generic office in 2003.
WSET chief executive Ian Harris said: It is a pleasure to welcome such a well-known figure from the trade into our rapidly evolving organisation. Michael is a dynamic, popular character and a strong asset to the Trust.'
Other WSET trustees include Julian Brind MW, Lynn Power and Nick Clarke MW.
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Charlemagne, three anonymous Cistercian monks, Duke Philippe the Bold, Duke Philippe the Good, Louis XI, Pasteur... It was quite a reception party that Bouchard Pre & Fils had lined up for the opening of its new purpose-built winery outside Savigny-ls-Beaune on Saturday 19 November, the famous figures from Burgundy's rich history present in sculptures that cast long shadows along the 140 metre-wall.
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The new style of single-vintage Colheita or Harvest Madeiras has helped to revive interest in the category as a whole and almost doubled like-for-like sales between the year to October 2003 and the year to October 2005. According to the latest figures from the Instituto do Vinho da Madeira (IVM), sales of all vintage-dated wines have almost doubled since 2003, rising from 14,620 litres to 21,341 litres in 2004 and 26,848 litres in 2005.
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Riesling producer Moselland is the first-ever German producer represented by PLB. The winery has more than 3,000 member-producers in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Nahe, Pfalz and Rheinhessen regions, and its brands include Divinum and Insignum.
PLB chairman Jeffrey Fredericks said: Moselland is a major wine producer with an annual sales volume of 28 million litres, providing plenty of scope to supply both excellent branded products and good-quality bulk wines for our customers.'
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