World Wine News 2012

December 2012

• Chateau d'Yquem will not make 2012 vintage 
  (Decanter) Quality not up to scratch so the 20 year curse continues as d'Yquem (and later Rieussec) declassify 2012

• Natalie MacLean: World’s Best Wine Writer or Content Thief? 
  (Palate Press) Canadian wine critic and author embroiled in controversy over tasting notes accreditation and wine pay-to-review claims

• The peach tree in Cascina degli Ulivi 
  (The Feiring Line) Biodynamics & biodiversity not high on Piemonte authorities common-sense list as Gavi "natural" wine producer Stefano Bellotti under appellation investigation for labelling (NOT using his organic certification!) and planting (having peach trees amongst the vines) concerns.

• Freezing temperatures bode well for Eiswein 
  (Decanter) Temperatures of -12°C in early December gave some Rheingau & Pfalz producers their first Eiswein crop for several years.

• Parker Sells Wine Advocate?
  (Wine Doctor) Robert Parker relinquishes control of the Wine Advocate to Asian investors but remains as CEO. Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW becomes editor-in-chief of the Wine Advocate based in in Singapore.

• Wine Myths That Need Shattering
  (Wine Spectator) Think you know what it takes for successful wine aging? If it involves "Structure", "Money" or "Humidity" then maybe you should read this!

• Duty to more than double by 2017, says Wilson Drinks Report
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) Between 2012 and 2017 wines duty will rise by 52% as HMRC expects large increases in wine sales to accompany an increase in economic growth.

• Soldera: making sense of the unfathomable
  (DoBianchi) 60,000 litres destroyed by vandalism as barrel taps are opened on 6 years of Case Basse Brunello.

• Irish reel under 'savage' tax increase 
  (Decanter) Ireland adds extra €1 tax onto a bottle of wine sparking panic buying and fears of market decline.

 November 2012

• France’s wine consumption hits a record low
  (The Drinks Business) The average French adult consumes 57 litres per year (compared to 160 litres in 1965) with wine served at only 1 in 4 meals. UK average consumption is 22 litres per year.

• DNA Sleuth Hunts Wine Roots in Anatolia
  (Wine Searcher/AFP) Grape geneticist Jose Vouillamoz and biomolecular archaeologist Patrick McGovern suggest Anatolia as the first place to domesticate the grapevine between 5,000 and 8,500 BC.

• Doubt about value of new Chilean denominations
  (Decanter) Costa and Andes may have some value, but will anyone put Entre Cordilleras on the label?

• Raventos i Blanc to quit Cava appellation
  (Decanter) Crisis in Cava as sparkling producers in Penedes abandon appellation. "Since last week, nine producers have asked to leave the Cava DO..." with more to follow.

• Tesco to sell 2009 blue-chip Bordeaux
  (Decanter) UK Supermarket has 40,000 bottles of 2009 wines for online, by the case sale - including Chateau Lafite, Mouton-Rothschild, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Cheval Blanc, Palmer, Pavie and Yquem.

• Own-label wine sales flat
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) With large tax hikes own-label prices rise by 13% over 2 years, slowing growth. 

• Domaine Lucien Albrecht bankrupt
  (Decanter) Orschwir-based estate was one of region's Top 30 producers, second largest exporter of wine to the US. Dozens of growers still owed money for their grapes.

• Mosel bridge news
  (Jancis Robinson) Work on the Hochmoselübergang across the Mosel at Ürzig restarts threatening some of the greatest Riesling.

• Costco starts selling wine online in UK
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) Wholesaler offers wines on its new Costco.co.uk website for members & non-members alike. Yearly fee required and non-members pay 5% surcharge but free delivery in UK.

• New York wine merchants count cost of Hurricane Sandy 
  (Decanter) With potential damage to private cellars "considerable" the collectibles market may be in for an upsurge once Insurance payouts have been made.

October 2012

• John Radford dies
  (Decanter) Spanish Wine expert, writer and educator dies aged 65. "A quill now mute yet still glorious".

• Winemaking Takes a Plunge
  (Wine Spectator) Experimentation with underwater ageing reaches new depths.

• Global wine production hits 37-year low
  (The Drinks Business) A difficult year for Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and Argentina could see 2012 production drop by 8%. France & Argentina hit the worst.

• Italy approves synthetic closures for DOC, DOCG
  (Decanter) Italian authorities approve the use of synthetic corks and screwcaps on DOC and DOCG wines and Nomacorc eyes the 30% of the market it was blocked from approaching.

• Italy allows use of screwcap – with compromises
  (The Drinks Business) Italian Ministry of Agriculture allows use of Stelvin closure on some DOCG wines but not those that include a sub-zone or the name of a vineyard on the label.

• Jean-Guillaume Prats to leave Cos d’Estournel
  (Decanter) After a lifetime at the estate Prats will hand over Directorship to Christophe Ranger in January 2013.

• Bordeaux harvest three weeks late 
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) An Indian summer, complete with light winds, has meant grapes are now ripening well and not suffering too much from disease pressure.

• Nyetimber abandons 2012 harvest
  (The Drinks Business) "The decision to not make wine from 2012 is a difficult one...However, we all know that maintaining quality is paramount" (also see the FT article English wine withers on vine free registration required)

• English harvest “not all doom and gloom”
  (The Drinks Business) Despite Nyetimber's news other producers move along. Volumes will be “measurably lower,” but “the quality of fruit reported … is very good.”

September 2012

• Wine trade expects five more years of downturn before UK economy improves
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) UK economy to remain "unexciting" for next 4-5 years. For the wine trade "being good at wine essential, but not enough"

• Morrisons shakes up wine merchanidising
  (The Drinks Business) The UK Supermarket to trial wine display based on 12 range "Wine Flavour Scale"; sweet, fresh, smooth or intense.

• Patrick Sandeman - a bright light extinguished
  (Jancis Robinson) Wine merchant Patrick Sandeman of Lea & Sandeman dies in freak skydiving accident.

• Is Britain home to the world’s most beautiful wine estate?
  (The Drinks Business) Nyetimber Estate's West Chiltington HQ in West Sussex, owned by Eric Heerema, is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086.

• IMW elects first ever American chairman
  (The Drinks Business) Colorado born Jean-Michel Valette MW has become the first ever American chairman of the Institute of Masters of Wine.

• FDA Takes a Growing Interest in Winery Safety
  (Wine Spectator) Hairnets, cats & bird poop; A Washington State winery experiences the US FDA in unfamiliar territory!

• A sneak preview of Wine Grapes
  (Jancis Robinson) 1,200 pages, 1,368 varieties, £78. Is the most comprehensive guide to grapes ever about to be published?

• Austria faces huge quantity drop after devastating conditions earlier this year
  (Decanter) 2011 vintage is expected to have excellent ripeness but with volume down by nearly a quarter.

• Science helps Spain's natural cork industry pop back
  (Reuters) Spain is the second largest cork exporter in the world, each year selling 3 billion corks, and the future is looking brighter.

• Topsy-turvy Weather Leaves Winemakers in a Spin
  (Discovery News (AFP)) 2012 could be a vintage to remember for quality despite devastating weather across Europe

• Only three chateaux dropped in new St Emilion classification
  (Decanter) Chateau La Tour du Pin Figeac fails again, but good news for new Premiers Grands Crus Classés A Chateau Pavie and Angelus

• Joy for brand new Masters of Wine
  (Institute of Masters of Wine) Catriona Felstead, Annette Scarfe & Andreas Wickhoff take the number of MWs to 300

• Greek grape takes root in Aussie soil
  (The Drinks Business) After five years seeking quarantine approval Assyrtiko has been planted for the first time in Australia by Clare Valley’s Jim Barry Wines

August 2012

• Thieves plunder Californian vineyard
  (The Drinks Business) Old Vine Zinfandel stolen by night-time raiders

• Celebrating the Wine Blog Awards with Taittinger Comtes 2000
  (Wine Anorak) Wine Blog Awards name UK Jamie Goode as best in class

• Etna wildfires threaten 'Sicilian Montrachet'
  (Decanter) Wildfires devastated the northern slopes of Etna, destroying large swathes of Mediterranean scrub, forests and some of Passopisciaro's Chardonnay vineyards.

• Waitrose first UK supermarket to stock Chinese and Brazilian wines
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) Changyu Cabernet Gernischt & Miolo Brut Rosé NV on sale from mid August.

• Hail hits Burgundy vineyards again
  (Decanter) Tough year for Burgundy as 3rd hailstorm in a month damages vines in the Hautes-Cotes-de-Beaune and Hautes-Cotes-de-Nuits.

• Our expensive tastes revealed..
  (Mail Online) 16% of UK consumers spend £7 or more on a bottle of wine, doubling in last 4 years, but overall consumption falls slightly.

• Asian tycoon buys historic Burgundy estate
  (The Drinks Business) Macau gambling tycoon pays €8 million for Château de Gevrey-Chambertin, outbidding locals who wanted to use it as a visitor centre by €3 million.

• Shanghai police crack wine counterfeiting ring
  (The Drinks Business) 684 bottles of “Margaux” and 4,000 bottles of “Lafite” worth $1.6m seized as police arrest gang.

July 2012

• Historic wine made from Robben Island vines
  (South African Wine) First bottle of Robben Island wine presented to Nelson Mandela on his 94th Birthday by Weltevrede Wine Estate

• The genetic parents of the Tempranillo grape identified
  (Wines from Spain) Native Albillo Mayor and Benedicto are 1000 year old ancestors of Tempranillo grape.

• French wine commands respect: President Hollande
  (New Zealand Herald) Francois Hollande is partial to a glass of wine, "My parents educated me that wine was a product to be respected..."

• Russian floods 'destroy' state winery
  (Decanter) Flash floods claim more than 170 lives and destroy at least one winery in the Krasnodar region of southern Russia.

• Etienne de Montille buys Chateau de Puligny-Montrachet
  (Decanter) Château Director and owner of Domaine de Montille buys the Burgundy Estate from the French bank Credit Foncier.

• Port prices set to rise
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) Authorities limit yields to reduce stock and increase prices to offset wine brandy price increases.

• Condrieu: old wood passes the acid test
  (The Telegraph) Victoria Moore drinks some Viognier and talks with Christine Vernay of Domaine Georges Vernay.

• Phonies make wine sleuth see red
  (SFGate.com) Anti-counterfeit expert Maureen Downey talks to Elin McCoy on the darker side of wine auctions

• Chateau Calon Segur Sold To Suravenir Insurance
  (Bordeaux Undiscovered) Subsidiary of French banking group Arkéa buys Saint-Estèphe 3rd Growth for an estimated €170 million.

• English wine harvest 'not looking good', say winemakers
  (Decanter) As England suffers the wettest summer since records began, winemakers wonder if they are going to have any grapes to harvest...

• Changyu to build a new wine city
  (China Daily.com) China's Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. to establish a 413ha international wine city for research, wine making and tourism by 2016.

• Top police body backs minimum alcohol pricing
  (Harpers Wine & Spirits) "Alcohol misuse ruins lives...the introduction of a minimum unit price...would have a major impact on reducing... crime...deaths, hospital admissions and absenteeism." Jon Stoddart, Chief Constable of County Durham Constabulary.

June 2012

• Decanter relaunches Buying Guide to include 100-point scale
  (Decanter) 5 Star rating system dropped and tastings down to 3 expert panel members.

• Phylloxera-resistant French vineyard awarded protected status
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) 200 year old vineyard in Saint Mont (South West France, near Madiran) classified as a Monument Historique, containing 20 different ungrafted varieties, some unidentified.

• Julia Harding MW goes native!
  (The Wine Detective) 50 Great Portuguese Wines 2012 selection focuses on indigenous varieties.

• Majestic go halves
  (Jancis Robinson) Majestic now offer free delivery on any 6 wines over £40, whether bought on-line or in-store.

• Top Burgundian négociant implicated in “massive” wine fraud
  (The Drinks Business) Labouré-Roi embroiled in a wine scam with four directors, including owners Armand and Louis Cottin, taken into custody.
  See also Decanter "Laboure-Roi directors detained in wine fraud probe".

• Record numbers attempt MW exam
  (The Drinks Business) 98 candidates from 21 countries taking MW exams this year.

• Liberty Wines spends £4.5m on bespoke premises
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) "..we’re confident the business will grow" says David Gleave MW, Liberty’s founder.

• Mosel bridge still going ahead
  (Decanter) "There is no freeze" government officials for the Rheinland-Pfalz region say.

• Is English wine really as good as anything France has to offer?
  (The Independent) A brief history of recent English winemaking and some examples of why the answer should be yes.

• Glass cork's the way forward: Henschke
  (The Shout) Barossa Valley winemaker Stephen Henschke has abandoned cork for screwcap and Vino Lok, including his iconic Hill of Grace.

May 2012

• EU wines may now be labelled 'organic'
  (Decanter) New EU regulations means a new logo and ‘Organic Wine’ or ‘Vin Biologique’ will be appearing on some wines from August 2012

• Sauvignon Blanc Drinkers to See Red
  (Wine Searcher.com) Yealands Estate in Marlborough plans to dye Sauvignon Blanc wine red and call it "sauvignoir" to appeal to Chinese drinkers.

• Monster Mosel Bridge May Be on Hold!
  (Dr. Loosen blog) The Hochmoselübergang (High Mosel Crossway), opposed by top Mosel winemakers, sees a construction freeze.

• Scottish minimum alcohol pricing passed
  (The Drinks Business) Alcohol pricing bill has cleared its final parliamentary hurdle...SNP government will set the price of alcohol at 50 pence per unit.

• Champagne passed off as British!
  (Jancis Robinson) Outrage at 'Best of British' sign on the Lanson display stand at Gatwick airport.

• First sparkling screw caps released
  (Decanter) 'Viiva' is the result of five years of R&D between Guala Closures Australia, glass manufacturer O-I, and De Bortoli Wines.

• Scotland's Alcohol limit to be reduced to a pint of beer or glass of wine
  (Daily Record) Prospect of reducing alcohol driving limit to 50mg/100ml blood from current UK 80mg by end of 2012.

• Brad Pitt to star in The Billionaire's Vinegar
  (Decanter) The Billionaire's Vinegar, the controversial book about the Jefferson bottles affair, is being made into a film starring Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt.

• India's much-trumpeted wine boom fails to bear fruit
  (The Guardian) Many farmers in India are uprooting their vines and swapping wine grapes for local staples such as onions and tomatoes.

• Michael Broadbent MW - tribute to resveratrol?
  (Jancis Robinson, full article only for subscribers)Michael Broadbent MW celebrates his 85th birthday and thanks guests including Steven Spurrier, Hugh Johnson and Jancis Robinson in a speech over Cockburn ’67 vintage Port.

• Pancho Campo resigns as an MW
  (The Drinks Business) Following the furore involving The Wine Advocate’s Jay Miller the ex-MW resigns before the IMW investigation into alledged breaches of its Code of Conduct.

April 2012

• Champagne crop badly damaged by frost
  (Decanter) April frosts damage vines across the region, with some vineyards predicting a crop loss of 15-20%

• Château Latour Abandons Futures System
  (Wine Spectator) The First Growth Bordeaux pulls out of the En primeur system and will only make the wine available for sale after it's bottled & when the estate feels it is ready - 10 to 12 years for the Grand Vin.

• 1p payment for Oddbins creditors “stinks”
  (The Drinks Business) Complaints as some creditors of the defunct Oddbins only get 1p in the £, while HMRC gets a full return.

• Fine wine investors lose millions as companies go under
  (BBC) More than 50 UK-based vintage wine investment firms have collapsed in the last 4 years... "examples of "colossal" mismanagement."

• English Malbec "impossible to buy"
  (The Drinks Business) European Law scuppers plans for Chapel Down to sell an "English" produced Malbec.

• Other estates must not follow Lafite’s lead
  (The Drinks Business) Bordeaux 2011 release pricings, Chateau Lafite only offer a 30% cut on 2010 prices which is not seen as enough! See also http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2012/04/lafite-leads-big-name-2011-releases/

• Neusiedlersee is Austria's latest appellation
  (Decanter) Latest DAC appellation in Austria, focussing on 100% Zweigelt matured in steel or oak and at least 12% abv.

March 2012

• Chateau Brane Cantenac reintroduce Carménère to Grand Vin
  (Bordeaux Undiscovered) 0.5% of 2010 Vintage will be Carménère - one of the 6 historical varietals in Marguax - making a reappearance as a result of climate change, claims owner Henri Lurton.

• FBI Arrests Wine Collector Rudy Kurniawan
  (Wine Spectator) Millionaire wine collector was at the heart of long term counterfeit wine fraud.

• Co-op to rethink its wine range
  (Harpers Wine & Spirits) The UK Supermarket is to take a more aggressive approach to its wine range, decreasing its reliance on own-labels and Fairtrade.

• Kurniawan arrest tip of the iceberg, say Koch and Frye
  (Decanter) "They found thousands and thousands of labels in his home. We’ll never know the extent of this guy’s damage".

• Consumers need education that 'less is more' on flavour
  (Harpers Wine & Spirit) Australia's Neil McGuigan: Trade must work together to educate consumers around the quality of more "elegant" and "refined" wines.

February 2012

• Domaine Huët's Noël Pinguet Retires
  (Wine Spectator) Noël Pinguet leaves the famous Vouvray estate after 36 years.

• California wine arsonist gets 27 years
  (Decanter) 63 year old Mark C. Anderson is effectively handed a life sentence for the 2005 arson & insurance fraid - "like a piece of fine art trashed by a barbarian sacking a city".

• Fine wine sales soar at Tesco
  (The Drnks Business) Fine wine product development manager, Laura Jewell MW, oversees a “strategic revamp”.

• Fine wine company disappears leaving clients empty-handed
  (Decanter) Beaumont Vinters disappear but have the same directors as another wine investment company – Alexander Barclay Wines Ltd.

• M&S to stock Lebanese wines
  (Decanter) Wines from Chateau Ka, Chateau Ksara and Domaine des Tourelles will be available from May in UK stores.

• Russian producers 'on brink of wipe-out' ..worst winter for decades
  (Decanter) Worst winter weather in 50 years could have wiped out up to half of this year's harvest - the reality of the damage will only be seen in May.

• Bogus Burgundies?
  (Wine Spectator) Suspect bottes pulled from Spectrum Wine Auctions (Vanquish) London auction, Rudy Kurniawan implicated.

January 2012

• China overtakes UK to become 5th largest wine-consuming nation
  (Decanter.com) Vinexpo data release shows the UK has dropped behind China in total volume consumption, with the US overtaking France & Italy for the top spot.