wine industry

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World Wine Production Drops to 62-Year Low

Bad weather in both hemispheres is to blame

(Newser) - In some places, it was drought and wildfires, in others, it was heavy rains and flooding, but the result was the same: A drop in wine production that has led to the lowest annual output since 1961, according to the International Organization of Vine and Wine . The OIV says information...

France Is Spending a Lot of Money to Destroy Wine

$215M is being spent to convert surplus into products like hand sanitizer

(Newser) - Craft beer is a lot more popular than it used to be in France, and the change in drinking habits is among the factors that have left the country with a massive surplus of wine. Some $215 million is being spent to destroy surplus wine and turn the alcohol into...

California Winemakers Doubling Up as Firefighters

'We play with pumps and hoses, too, except our hoses are full of wine'

(Newser) - Wildfire season is approaching in California—and winemakers are prepared. After devastating fires in Northern California wine country in recent years, winemakers have rebuilt with fire-resistant materials and learned firefighting techniques, the BBC reports. Alan Viader at Viader Vineyard and Winery in Napa Valley became a qualified firefighter after the...

A Conclusion for Man Who Duped the Rich With Fake Wine

Rudy Kurniawan was deported to his native Indonesia after serving 7 years

(Newser) - A one-time California man who bilked wine collectors out of millions by selling cheaper booze he rebottled in his kitchen has been deported to his native Indonesia, US immigration officials said Tuesday, calling him a "a public safety threat because of his aggravated felony conviction." Rudy Kurniawan , 44,...

They Passed the Wine World's Most Brutal Test. Then It Fell Apart

Vice looks at the scandal that has followed the 2018 Master Sommelier test

(Newser) - For almost everyone on the planet, an email that simply read "PG" and "CndP" would be meaningless. For 24 sommeliers, it was devastating, and the start of a wine-world scandal that still has more questions that answers. Writing for Vice , Adam Elder has the story of the 2018...

Wine Consumption Slips as Millennials Turn Elsewhere

Baby boomers had kept sales flowing until now

(Newser) - In another what-is-it-with-millennials moment, they've been found to be drinking less wine than their elders. Consumption fell last year in the US for the first time since 1994, a 0.9% drop, the Wall Street Journal reports. An industry researcher said baby boomers had driven the good years. "...

Grape-Harvesting Accident Claims Napa Worker's Life

Leon Marcelo Lua was 49

(Newser) - A grim work-related death out of California's Wine Country, where a Napa man working at Beaucanon Winery's Deconinck Vineyards got pulled into a grape harvesting machine with fatal results. KTVU identifies the victim as Leon Marcelo Lua, 49. The San Francisco Chronicle reports his clothing got caught in...

US Is Making More Wine, but Italy Is Crushing Us

And overall, there's going to be 5% less wine made this year

(Newser) - It may be too early for panic buying, but wine production has taken a hit from climate events this year and is close to a 20-year low, the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) warns. According to estimates released Thursday, global wine production will be down around 5% for...

Wasps: The Wine Lover's Best Friend?

The insects leave behind yeast from their guts

(Newser) - Wasps: What are they good for, again? Wine-making, for one thing. Scientists say that wine drinkers can thank wasps and hornets for the complex aroma and taste of their favorite vino, NPR reports. The insects help by biting grapes on the vine and leaving behind yeast from their guts that...

After Pouring a $300 Bottle, White House Mum on Wine

Ends state dinner tradition of releasing info about the wine list

(Newser) - Last night, British PM David Cameron enjoyed his very first taste of March Madness, compliments of President Obama. At tonight's state dinner, he'll likely enjoy some American wine as well—but don't expect too many details about the winery, year, or appellation. That's because Obama put...

Forget Snobbery: Drink Cheap Wine
 Forget Snobbery: 
 Drink Cheap Wine 
OPINION

Forget Snobbery: Drink Cheap Wine

You won't be able to tell the difference: Brian Palmer

(Newser) - Studies have shown that wine drinkers can’t tell the difference between cheap and expensive bottles, and may actually prefer the cheap stuff in a blind taste test—so why are we still paying at least 15 bucks for a supposedly “everyday” bottle of wine? Because, as other studies...

Finally, World-Class Wine From Japan

Critics applaud vino from local grape

(Newser) - For decades, critics wouldn’t give Japan’s wine industry a second sniff—but a new wine from a local grape could change all that. One firm’s koshu wine has won over taste buds from France to the US, the Guardian reports. The “crisp and pleasant” Cuvée...

French Wines Wither Under Climate Change

Industry pushes President Sarkozy for carbon emission cut

(Newser) - A warming world has French winemakers sweating more than a little, experts tell the Financial Times. “Current research suggests that by the end of the 21st century, one summer out of two will be at least as hot as 2003,” the year of a record-breaking heat wave that...

In Search of Profit, Tobacco Farms Morph Into Vineyards

(Newser) - A falloff in demand and an end to subsidies has tobacco farmers across the country turning to the vino, the Wall Street Journal reports—farming grapes and making wine, that is. “The small-plot tobacco farmer is a thing of the past,” says a North Carolina wine official, who...

Chianti Makers Not Toasting Powdered Wine

(Newser) - Angry Italian winemakers say a product that changes water into wine is more insulting than miraculous, Der Spiegel reports. The vintners complain that the "wine powder," made by a Swiss company that caters to hikers, is a "terrible copy" of Italy's Chianti and gives the entire...

S. African Wines Aim to Put Brakes on 'Burnt Rubber' Rap

Exporters try to cast off a critic's harsh judgment

(Newser) - South African is the ninth-largest producer of wine, with several distinctive varietals that should be poised to break into the global marketplace, the New York Times reports. But the country’s wines have been dogged by comments made in 2007 by an influential British wine critic, who said after a...

Genetically Altered Yeast Ends Wine Hangovers

But remedy doesn't sit well with purists

(Newser) - A Canadian scientist has found a genetically modified hangover cure. He distributes an altered yeast, MLo1—which eliminates compounds that cause headaches in red and many white wines—to 40 winemakers in the US and Canada. But some vintners and winos are resisting the genetic alteration of their craft, which...

US' Yellow Tail Fever Taints Aussie Wines
US' Yellow Tail 
Fever Taints
Aussie Wines
analysis

US' Yellow Tail Fever Taints Aussie Wines

Australia's bargain reputation hurts exports of primo stuff

(Newser) - Droughts, wildfires, and weak currency have hurt Australia's wine exports—but for losing their reputation as premium vintners, the Aussies have no one but themselves to blame. When $7 Yellow Tail flooded US markets three years ago, "Australia made itself synonymous with cut-rate, generic wines," Mike Steinberger writes...

In Recession, Wine Drinking Falls—But Not in US

(Newser) - Shun that bottle and save your euros: That's what French and Italians are saying as the recession cuts into wine consumption—but only in traditional lands of the vine. New World drinkers are still sipping steadily, with US tippling surpassing Italy's for the first time. After years of non-stop growth,...

In Wine Market, a Bubble Has Burst

Futures sales in trouble after years of spiraling prices

(Newser) - The most serious wine collectors buy their bottles "en primeur"—paying vineyards for futures of wines that haven't been produced yet. Futures prices for wine had spiraled higher and higher in recent years, even for inferior vintages, as a new class of big spenders moved into the market....

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