Violent thunderstorms brought the harvest in southern France to an abrupt halt last week. An alert rouge' was issued on 6 September for the Gard, Hrault and Aude departments - the second time since 2001
Read more...While demand has been stronger than some traders expected in the UK, Europe and the Far East, it has been feeble in the US: the weakness of the dollar, the high prices paid for the 2003s, and the less-than-enthusiastic reports of influential reviewers such as Robert Parker and Wine Spectator have shrunk the market there. Some US shippers have even been declining their allocations of first growths.
Read more...PLB Wines has joined forces with Bordeaux specialist Cordier to distribute its wines in the UK off-trade.
Read more...Cantina La Vis, the Trentino cooperative that took over the privately owned Casa Girelli earlier this year, has pledged to put its region on the map'.
Read more...Despite the drought that has gripped Spanish wine regions in 2005 (with early reports suggesting yields will be down between 15 and 40%, depending on who you listen to) the Iberian nation can wipe the sweat from its brow and look to the future with a renewed sense of optimism.
Read more...Bibendum has joined forces with the NSPCC for its latest fine-wine quiz.
Tio Pepe is sponsoring Hell's Kitchen USA, the American version of the show that once again features top chef Gordon Ramsay.
Read more...Wines of Argentina Annual Trade Tasting
Date: Tuesday 20 September 2005
Venue: Nursery Pavilion, Lord's Cricket Ground, London NW8
Time: 10am-5.30pm
The Wines of Argentina Annual Trade Tasting will take place on Tuesday 20 September at the Nursery Pavilion, Lord's Cricket Ground. Approximately 70 producers have registered to participate, and a separate, themed tasting will look at Malbec and More', for which exhibitors have been asked to submit wines that retail at 5.99 and above. For further information, please contact Tina Coady: call or fax 01480 384 806, or e-mail t.coady@ntlworld.com
On a balmy evening last March, at the tail end of the Chilean summer, a group of local vineyard workers from the Colchagua Valley gathered on the terrace of Franois and Jacques Lurton's house in Lolol to enact a song-and-dance dramatisation of the local grape harvest. Soulful and entertaining, this involved a slightly gawky but winsome teenager in a fetching cowboy hat plucking' the grapes from a busty matriarch, doing double duty as a vine', as she sang about the trials and tribulations of the harvest, as well as the challenges facing the itinerant grape pickers.
Read more...Was there ever anybody better at selling himself than Chris Carson? If ours had been a job interview I'd have given him the job. In fact, I'd probably have given him my job. It says a lot for the resilience of the Sands family of Constellation that they're still in charge.
Read more...Is the City clientele different from that of other parts of London?
The City clientele is very civilised, although in some ways it is a very clinical audience. They don't really want us to talk that much. It's really about providing them with food and beverages, then leaving them to discuss the business that they need to. We don't check back on customers, which is very different after working in a hotel. We try to drum into the staff an awareness of body language. Could there possibly be a problem? If so, then we will ask if everything is satisfactory. We don't really get into conversations with people, apart from finding out the pet likes and dislikes of some of our regular customers.
Islay malt producer Laphroaig has launched a more accessible' single malt, partly matured in 100-litre quarter casks'.
Read more...On-trade giant WaverleyTBS is investing 1.6 million to raise awareness of the South African brand Cape Promise in the
run-up to Christmas.
Multiple specialist Thresher has announced details of its plans to revitalise' Wine Rack.
Read more...TV chef James Tanner has created a series of cocktails
with Plymouth Gin.
The world of Italian wine is in trouble. If we don't come out
of this crisis in a hurry, I see thousands of jobs being lost
in vineyards, in cellars, in distribution and in the media,' according to Gianni Zonin, one of Italy's principal wine producers with 1,800 hectares of vineyard spread over 11 estates.
Cento Per Cento is a new Web-based wine supplier, dealing exclusively with Italian wines.
Read more...All the country reports from the Harpers Wine and Spirit Directory 2005, packaged together in one downloadable file.
Please note that as the 42 pages are taken from the Harpers Wine and Spirit Directory 2005, page numbers are not concurrent.
The INAO has seen off an attempt by members of l'Union Viticole du Beaujolais to derail proposals designed to shore up Beaujolais's depressed prices through a yield reduction.
Read more...Fergal Tynan is the latest person to pass his Master of Wine exam, becoming the third MW of 2005.
Read more...
