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Some
of the biggest stories of the year.
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current News.
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December
2019
November
2019
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Naked Wines CEO and founder Rowan Gormley to
step down
(Decanter) Rowan Gormley will step down as
Naked Wines CEO after the Christmas trading
season and once the group’s sale of Majestic
Wine has been completed.
-
Rueda remodels DO and wine classification
system
(The Drinks Business) Rueda DO’s tiered
classification system, approved yesterday,
includes the creation of new designations
for premium wines: ‘Gran Vino de Rueda’,
‘Rueda Palido’ (Pale Rueda) and village
wines, ‘Vino de Pueblo.’ All former
classifications for still wines have been
merged into a single classification called
‘Rueda’.
-
Average British drinker consumes 108 bottles
of wine a year
(Decanter)
A study based on 2017 data shows that
Britons over the age of 15 consume 9.7
litres of pure alcohol each annually - the
equivalent of 108 bottles of wine a year.
The U.K. was 17th in the study (just ahead
of Australia) but behind Portugal (10th),
Germany (9th) and France (3rd) - Lithuania
was highest, followed by Austria.
-
Michelin Guide buys The Wine Advocate
(Decanter) The Michelin Guide said it has
become the 100% shareholder of influential
American wine publication Robert Parker’s
Wine Advocate, having initially bought a 40%
stake in the Advocate in 2017.
October
2019
September
2019
August
2019
July
2019
June
2019
-
‘Unprecedented’ French heatwave affects
vineyard work
(Decanter) Vineyard workers have faced
extra-early starts as France braces for an
‘unprecedented’ heatwave with officials have
issuing a public health alert ahead of
expected record June temperatures, set to
hit 45 degrees Celsius in southern areas.
May
2019
-
Phylloxera Outbreak Puts Aussies on Edge
(Wine Searcher) Growers and wineries in
Australia's Yarra Valley are struggling to
contain an outbreak of the deadly bug.
-
South Africa’s 2019 wine harvest is smallest
for 14 years
(Decanter) South Africa’s 2019 wine harvest
is set to go down as the smallest since
2005, with projected volumes of just over
1.2m tonnes of grapes, 1.4% down on 2018. A
‘trying year’ is due to the after-effects of
drought and ongoing dry conditions in some
areas, then wet weather at the end of the
growing season.
-
Diner mistakenly served £4,500 Château Le
Pin 2001
(Decanter) A diner at the Manchester branch
of Hawksmoor steak restaurant has been
accidentally served a bottle of the
legendary Pomerol wine instead of the £260
Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de
Lalande 2001 Pauillac they'd ordered.
-
Robert Parker formally retires from The Wine
Advocate
(Decanter) Robert Parker, arguably the most
influential wine critic in history, has
formally retired from The Wine Advocate at
the age of 71, after gradually reducing his
tasting and writing duties for the past few
years. See also "Robert
Parker: Farewell to the Emperor" (Wine
Searcher)
-
Over £100,000 worth of Burgundy wine stolen
from winery
(Decanter) More than 1,000 bottles of
high-value Burgundy, including Echezeaux and
Clos de Vougeot wines, have been stolen from
the winery of Vosne-Romanée-based Domaine
Forey.
-
Phylloxera Outbreak Puts Aussies on Edge
(Wine Searcher) Growers and wineries in
Australia's Yarra Valley are struggling to
contain an outbreak of the deadly bug.
-
The UK wine industry is "one of the
fastest-expanding wine regions in the world"
(Decanter) Three million vines have already
been planted this year, which is nearly
double that of 2018. The record number of
vines equates to an additional 690 hectares
of vineyards and a 24% increase in the
overall land now under vine – also makes the
UK one of the fastest expanding wine regions
in the world.
-
Port Houses Declare Another Vintage Year
(Wine Searcher) There was no generally
declared classic vintage between 2011 and
2016, but now we have the 2017 as well. The
2017s are powerful, but with supple, silky
tannins, very different to the pure, elegant
2016s: more opulent, more intense that
should stay younger longer than the 2016s.
April
2019
-
Port 2017 declared in rare ‘back to back’
vintage
(Decanter) Symington Family Estates and
Quinta do Noval have declared the 2017 Port
vintage, in the rare occurrence of declaring
consecutive vintages.
-
Majestic Wine says selling all UK stores is
an option
(Decanter) Plans to raise funds for both
online sales and the Naked Wines business
arm could see Majestic Wine offload its
entire, 200-strong retail store network in
the UK. ‘This is one of a number of options
we are currently exploring,’ a Majestic
spokesperson said.
March
2019
-
Russian River hit by severe flooding
(Decanter) The flooding started after 24
hours of consistently heavy rain that is
being blamed on the so-called ‘Pineapple
Express’ – a weather front moving in from
Hawaii.
-
Majestic Wine to close stores and rebrand as
Naked
(Decanter) Majestic Wine has said it plans
to close some of its stores in the UK and
rebrand itself under the Naked Wines banner
as part of a major ‘transformation plan’.
Majestic’s share price dropped by 10% in
early trading on the London Stock Exchange
today (25 March), following its
announcement.
February
2019
-
Nine Spanish producers to leave the Cava DO
(Decanter) Nine sparkling wine producers in
Penedés are to quit the Cava denomination
and bottle under a new, quality-focused
label called Corpinnat. The nine producers
account for only 1% of Cava production, but
30% of Gran Reserva Cava production and six
out of the 13 Parajes Calificados – Cava’s
new premium classification.
-
The Robots are Coming
(International Wine Challenge) How far have
vineyard robots developed and what can we
expect from the current crop?
-
Discovering the Origin of Zinfandel
(SevenFiftyDaily) For the past five years,
Ridge has successfully grown an acre of
Crljenak Kaštelanski, and an acre each of
two other Tribidrag cuttings. These three
clones, discovered in Croatia’s Dalmatia
region, were the key to pinpointing
Zinfandel’s ancestral home.
-
Last call for alcohol: French winemakers
prepare for ‘no-deal’ Brexit
(France 24) French champagne house
Taittinger has stepped up production this
year as it sends more bottles to the United
Kingdom in preparation for the likelihood of
a “no-deal” Brexit.
-
Enotria in moves to mitigate Brexit effect
(Drinks Retailing News) Enotria & Coe has
increased its stockholding and hedged
further ahead currency-wise “to prepare for
whatever form of Brexit the country takes,”
according to chief operating officer, Jon
Pepper MW. .
January
2019
-
Wine world legend Gerard Basset OBE MW MS
dies
(Decanter) Leading figures and institutions
across the wine world have paid tribute to
the warmth and genius of Gerard Basset, a
'great gentleman of wine’ who simultaneously
held both the Master of Wine and Master
Sommelier titles.
-
Oddbins falls into administration
(Decanter) Oddbins owner European Food
Brokers (EFB) appointed financial advisory
firm Duff & Phelps to advise it on a way
forward.
For 2018's wine news
click
here
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