Archive for the ‘Wine Business’ Category
I’ve been an advocate of alternative closures (non-cork closures) for wine for quite some time. Simply, I think quality control is paramount. That said, I was taken aback by a headline in The Telegraph that read: "SCREWCAPS BLAMED FOR TAINTING WINE". Given the rather intense war of words and advertising between the cork producers and pushers of alternative closures, the headline must give the cork advocates something tasting to gnaw on. The crux of the article is that at the…
So here’s what I wanted to know: What prompts you to buy a wine you’ve never had before given only the information on the bottle? The answer? In general, you told me that the producer and the varietal hold equal sway over your purchasing decisions. When asked "In general, and all else being equal, what is the most important factor in your decision to buy a wine you’ve never tried previously," 33% said producer and 31% said varietal. The price…
The governing body in France that grants appellation status to wine growing regions has added 4 new appellations to the over 400 that currently are recognized in France. There are apparently some who are quite unhappy about this further carving up of France’s vineyard lands:“France’s wine industry often operates at different speeds with little co-ordination or coherence,” said Jean Clavel, head of the Coteaux Languedoc AOC region. “This decision by INAO is the fruit of 10 years of work by…
Wow…talk about the power of the wine critic. It’s one thing to bestow a wine with a score of 75 points or one star and leave for the consumer to decide after that. It’s an altogether different thing to ban the sale of wine in an entire country because there’s something about its color, aroma or taste you don’t like. That appears to be the case in Russia where the all powerful "Rospotrebnadzor", that country’s consumer rights and sanitation department,…
If you have very little to do today at 1pm PST you can can me appearing on "WineBiz 2.4" on the mighty KSVY 91.3. Hosts Richard "Kaz" Kasmier and Erik Aho put on a great show every week at this time. They cover the news and business of wine. Kaz is the winemaker while Erik is the lawyer. Me? I guess I’m the monthly color guy. It’s a fun gig that finds the three of us ranging over a broad…
