Category: News

Wine Paris 2020 set to launch initiative to identify and understand eco-friendly certifications

Wine Paris is launching a new initiative “Wonderful” which will be aimed at helping global buyers identify and understand the eco-friendly certifications and endorsements developed by winegrowers, estates, co-operatives, and negociants.

The aim of “Wonderful” will be to “improve visibility for winegrowers, estates, co-operatives and negociants that have committed to at least one organic or eco-friendly scheme; clarify existing certifications and endorsements, top buyers, while also highlighting market and consumer developments; and signpost future trends and solutions”.

In order to achieve this, the dedicated “Wonderful” day February 11 2020 will comprise of presentations, round table debates and workshops in which trade and industry experts will share their experience of the market.

Topics selected for the day include: Family portrait: gaining a better understanding of the range of organic and eco-friendly certifications; How valuable are organic certifications in the global marketplace? Does biodynamic winegrowing change the flavor of wine? When vine growing goes green, what are the effects on supply, with more to be added.

Wine Paris, which is It is organized by Comexposium and overseen by 13 French wine marketing boards, is poised to welcome over 2,200 exhibitors at its second international trade show in 2020, with more than 30,000 visitors expected to attend the event.

In addition to “Wonderful”, other new features include ‘Wine Match’ – a 100% business and 100% online networking system designed for all exhibitors and visitors to help participants arrange pre-planned meetings with targeted and bespoke contacts.

https://en.wineparis.com/

The main vintage has started in Germany

The main vintage has started a little earlier than originally expected in many German wine-growing areas. The German Wine Institute (DWI) announced yesterday, the vines have experienced an enormous development spurt during the very sunny days in late August and early September.

Promising vintage 2019 expected

The ripeness of the grapes are ahead of the long-term average. The summer brought lots of sun and was rain-free. The grapes are still very healthy at present. The weather forecast predicts warm days and cool nights. This favors the formation of aroma in the grapes. In terms of quality, the German wine producers are looking forward to a promising vintage in 2019.

Among the first grape varieties that are harvested for the actual winemaking, include the precocious Müller-Thurgau or the Frühburgunder. Pinot Noir is currently being harvested for rosé and sparkling wine. The Riesling grapes, which dominate the Moselle, the Rheingau or the Middle Rhine region, generally mature a little longer, so that the main harvest of these varieties is expected later on in September.

Volume: presumably below nine million hectolitres

The heavy precipitation from last weekend has had a positive effect on dry vineyards and the juice content in the berries. Before, the grapes were still relatively small-berried due to a summer with little rainfall. In addition, sunburn damage to the grapes and regionally limited hailstorms have brought a slight yield-reducing effect. According to current estimates, the 2019 vintage is unlikely to reach the level of an average crop yield of around nine million hectoliters.

“The Ultimate Guide To Champagne” is recommended as one of the ten best Champagne books

Megan Starr, Travel Editor, Content Editor, and Marketing/SEO Specialist, based in Frankfurt, Germany has recommended The Ultimate Guide To Champagne as one of the ten best Champagne books to read.

“Liz Palmer’s The Ultimate Guide to Champagne is one of the best books available for those looking to learn everything about the world of Champagne. A perfect accessory for a beginner, it takes you through the history and makings of Champagne, from how to shop for it to how to store it. The book’s exquisite detail and the clear in-depth knowledge possessed by the author is easily transferred from writer to reader.

Hailing from (Toronto) Canada, the author has spent plenty of time traveling throughout the region getting to know the area in great detail that you would easily believe she spent her whole life living and working there.”

https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Guide-Champagne-Liz-Palmer/dp/0991894634

https://www.meganstarr.com/best-champagne-books/

Austrian Wine Harvest – Vintage 2019

Austrian winegrowers are looking forward to a good vintage with fully ripe grapes this year. Compared to the big harvest in 2018, an average volume of approximately 2.4 million hectolitres is expected. And after the record-breaking early harvest last year, picking will begin around Lake Neusiedl at the beginning of September. In other regions, the primary harvest will begin in mid-September’, states Johannes Schmuckenschlager, president of the Austrian Winegrowers’ Association.

No late frost damage
After a normal budding, late frost damage could be avoided once more this year, despite a few anxious nights. In contrast to the previous year, flowering took place about two weeks later – at the normal time. Excessive heat in June 2019 with record temperatures over 30°C then led to rapid progress of the vegetation. The dry and hot weather conditions also provided very healthy grapes; this dryness worked against the development of any fungal diseases during and after flowering. The very high temperatures around blossoming led, in some areas to a poor fruit set.

First drought, then relief
In the wine-growing regions of Burgenland and Krems, the heat brought severe drought stress in June and July. At the end of July, however, the onset of rainfall provided relief in most winegrowing regions. Occasionally there was also heavy precipitation in the form of downpours and thunderstorms, and some hail damage was recorded. At present, the vegetation is progressing due to the rainfall.

How does 2019 look?
The development of the vegetation cycle in 2019 points to a fully ripe vintage. Due to the arid stretch after flowering in June and July, the berries are on average a bit smaller, which is also an indicator that there will be some very aromatic wines. And because of the postponement of maturity to a normal, slightly cooler period, growers expect high sugar concentration but sufficient acidity as well. 2019 should offer very harmonious and nicely balanced wines.

All in all, it is quite likely that this year’s wines will have finesse and freshness on top of ripeness and opulent texture because there is plenty of acid backbone to go with the depth of fruit.

Fast facts for vintage 2019

Quality
-Very healthy, fully ripe grape material throughout the winegrowing regions of Austria
-Aromatic wines with good acid backbone, finesse and freshness expected

Harvest volume
-Approx. 2.4 million hectolitres expected
-Vegetation cycle

-Budding at the normal time, no late frost damage
-Hot June/July: rapid progress of vegetation, coloure in some instances; drought stress in most regions relieved by rainfall in late July
-Isolated hail damage

Australian Cabernet Sauvignon Insights

According to Wine-Searcher, Australia produces seven of the world’s top 10 value Cabernet Sauvignon. Based on wines with at least a 90-point rating + and dividing the rating by the wine’s price, Cabernet Sauvignon from Australian regions Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Langhorne Creek and Margaret River out-performed wines from international competitors Napa Valley and Bordeaux.

This comes on top of Australia’s strong performance at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards. Of the 27 gold medals awarded to Cabernet Sauvignon, Australia received the most with seven golds ahead of France and South Africa.

Gold medals awarded to Cabernet Sauvignon at the 2019 Decanter World Wine Awards:

Australia 7
France 4
South Africa 4
Chile 3
China 3
USA 2
Italy 1
Romania 1
Bulgaria 1
Israel 1
Total 27

Did you know that Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s most planted grape variety?

According to IWSR, Cabernet Sauvignon is the world’s largest selling variety with 163 million cases (9-liter case equivalents) sold across the globe in 2018. Cabernet Sauvignon is Australia’s second most planted red variety behind Shiraz.

In 2019, while the overall Australian grape-crush declined by 3 percent, the Cabernet Sauvignon crush increased by 3 percent to just over 250,000 tonnes and reflecting growing demand, the average purchase price of Cabernet increased by 14 percent to $846 per tonne. Reflecting the premium nature of Cabernet Sauvignon, 12 % of the Cabernet Sauvignon purchased by Australian wineries was at prices above $1500 per tonne (vs 7 % for all grapes).

Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is shipped to over 114 markets around the world, with China and the United States the two biggest export destinations with a combined 70 percent value share.

The premium status of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon is also evident in the latest export figures. Exports of Australian single variety Cabernet Sauvignon averaged A$6.71 per liter in 2018–19, well-above the total average for all red wines of A$4.54 per liter. Australian Cabernet Sauvignon was destined for 114 markets

According to IRI Worldwide, in 2018–19, sales of Australian Cabernet Sauvignon grew 6 % in value in the USA’s off-trade market, double the overall Cabernet market growth rate of 3 %. For Australia, the strongest growth is coming at US$8–14.99 per bottle and, albeit off a small base, above US$25 per bottle.

The Clones
Wine Australia is also investing in R & D into Cabernet Sauvignon. The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is currently into the final year of a three-year project, ‘Cabernet Sauvignon trials to evaluate response to climate and management.’ Three field sites of Cabernet Sauvignon plantings will be established in contrasting climates and soils. Each will contain at least 10 Cabernet Sauvignon clones that will be selected in collaboration with the sector and monitored to ensure that vines are well-established.

In the future, clone performance will be evaluated via a range of parameters including vine phenology, vegetative and reproductive growth, water relations and berry traits. The construction of the trial will allow comparison between different clones at the same site and between the performance of each clone in different.

SARDI
https://pir.sa.gov.au/research/about_sardi

Wines Australia
https://www.wineaustralia.com/