The 20th Canberra International Riesling Challenge starts today

One of the biggest international promotions of Riesling starts today at the Albert Hall in Canberra, Australia.

The Riesling challenge has attracted 502 entries from 228 wineries from across nine Riesling-producing countries.

Judges from China, the UK, New Zealand, and Australia will rate the wines by region, country, and the world over three days, with results announced this Friday evening at an awards ceremony at the Hotel Realm.

The week will conclude with one of the biggest consumer tastings of Riesling in the world.

A feature of this year’s entries is what may be the first-ever entry from China to an Australian wine show.

“… one remembers the early days when Riesling was regarded as a cheap low-quality wine. Riesling’s profile is now that of the greatest white wine in the world” states CIRC chair James Service

Riesling Week Events

  • Judging: 14-17 October 2019: Albert Hall, Yarralumla – Media only
  • Riedel Riesling Master Class: Thursday 17 October 2019, 6.00pm – 9.00pm at the Hotel Realm
  • Awards Presentation: Friday 18 October 2019, 5.30pm – 7.00pm at the Hotel Realm
  • Hotel Realm Riesling Dinner: Friday 19 October, 7:30pm, Buvette Restaurant, Hotel Realm
  • ActewAGL Trade and Consumer Tasting: Saturday 19 October 2019, 11.00am-3.00pm Albert Hall, Yarralumla

rieslingchallenge.com

Organic wine production in Spain has grown 10%

The number of organic wine producers in Spain has jumped 10% in 2018 to 1,033 – from 939 in 2017.  The regions of Catalonia, Valencia, and Andalucia accounted for the largest growth in organic wine for 2018.

Statistics show that Spain is the EU Country with the largest organic vineyard area, with production growth from 11,841ha in 2001 to over 113,000ha in 2018.

Organic vineyards in Spain represent less than 12% of the country’s total vineyard area, which is a similar percentage share to that of France and Italy.

In a bid to drive-up exports, Spain will be focusing on organic and biodynamic wines.

Spanish Organic Wines (SOW), an association created in 2014 which facilitates wines exports for 38 producers, said the majority of Spain’s organic wines are now exported with domestic consumption of these wines lagging behind international demand.

Barcelona Wine Week will be held February 3rd to 6th 2020 and will be dedicating space to organic and biodynamic wines.

https://www.barcelonawineweek.com/

Spain has been looking to increase export prices, but the country’s wines continue to provide value compared to France and Italy.

Reyka ‘Icelandic’ vodka is opening a bar on a glacier

Cocktails at Reyka’s five-day pop-up are free, if you can get there.

As part of an ambitious new promotion, fans of the Icelandic vodka brand Reyka are being encouraged to try it at the source. No, not at the distillery, but at the source of their water, the Langjokull Glacier. For five days Reyka will be opening a pop-up bar on top of the massive ice sheet—billed as “the world’s first bar on a glacier.”

If you missed your chance to drink gin at a pop-up bar at the North Pole earlier this year, you now have a chance to participate in this unique pop-up.

There are two ways to attend:

The easy way is to enter to win a trip on Reyka’s website – “those selected will be whisked off to the land of fire and ice by air before being taken on an off-road adventure to reach the source of Reyka Vodka and the home of the world’s first bar on a glacier.”

 

Secondly, the more free-spirited types are being encouraged to simply invite themselves: Reyka has posted the coordinates on their website—64.565653°N-20.024822°W—and are essentially saying that if you think you can make your way there, by all means, stop by. (Just please don’t try to make the arduous journey while consuming alcohol, they add. That’s for after you arrive.) Meanwhile, if finding random global coordinates isn’t your specialty, for one day only October 20, you can also book a paid tour through Activity Iceland who will be making a special stop at the bar.

The five-day Arctic Circle pop-up—which will last from October 16 to 20 has been ten months in the making, including teaming with local craftsmen to build the structure before moving it to the site for the opening. The menu will consist of free samples of cocktails made with Reyka Vodka, including the brand’s signature drink, the Puffin Collins. Once the pop-up has ended, the plan is to remove it “without trace” so as not to disturb the beauty of the glacier.

“We’re puffin-chuffed to bring the charmingly offbeat spirit of Reyka Vodka to the world with this one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to drink our vodka in the world’s first bar on a glacier,” Rekya Vodka Brand Ambassador Fabiano Latham said in the announcement. “Reyka Vodka is not just made in Iceland, it’s made of Iceland—so where better to host our Reyka Bar than at the very source—Langjokull Glacier!” Technically, I think that depends on your personal definition of the word “better”—but a pop-up bar on a glacier is definitely “cool.”

Celebrating 40 Years of Bollinger and James Bond

Champagne Bollinger is celebrating its 40th-year partnership with James Bond with a Limited Edition Millésimé 2011.

To mark the release of the upcoming movie No Time To Die, the 25th installment of the James Bond series, Bollinger has created a limited-edition dedicated to 007, with a 2011 vintage. The jet-black 75cl bottle is adorned with the number “25”, formed from the titles of the previous films, which are similarly etched on the glass of the wooden box. The 2011 vintage, created entirely from Pinot Noir from the Grand Cru village of Aÿ, where the House was first established in 1829. This is the first time that both the vintage and village have been used exclusively by Bollinger to make a dedicated wine. The 2011 harvest in Aÿ, produced complex, powerful and harmonious Pinot Noirs, fully expressed in this characterful wine.

Released by pre-sale on 5 October to mark James Bond Day, with an RRP of £150.

Tasting notes:

The decision to use Pinot Noir for this 2011 vintage, exclusively from the home village of Aÿ with its mighty fruit is nothing short of brilliant. Perhaps wait about ten years until the wine has reached its peak and completely integrated its enormous fruit with the barrel notes, but the wine is already magnificent with its deep ripe aroma of apples, backed by fresh wooden notes. House typical and powerful.

The first bottle of Bollinger appeared alongside 007 in 1979 with the release of Moonraker. Since then, the association has gone on to inspire numerous limited-edition bottles, with the Bollinger cooperage also home to a collection of vintage Bond posters.

Commenting on this milestone, Etienne Bizot, CEO of Société Jacques Bollinger, states: “It brings me an immense amount of pride to be celebrating 40 years of partnership between Bollinger and James Bond, it is a testament to the friendship started in 1979, between my father Christian Bizot and James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli. A friendship based on our shared values such as excellence and elegance.”

www.champagne-bollinger.com

 

Fall WestJet wine tasting at The Kelowna International Airport (YLW) 

The Fall Okanagan Wine Festival kicks off tomorrow. One of the first signature events is October 5th’s Fall WestJet Wine Tasting at YLW in the Carson Air hangar at Kelowna International Airport.

The event will have the largest capacity of any indoor wine tasting in the Okanagan, at a venue that will be quite memorable.

Details

Location: Carson Air hangar – Kelowna International Airport

Time

7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

List of some of the participating wineries

Quinta Ferreira Estate Winery

Lake Breeze Vineyards

The View Winery

Rollingdale Winery

Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery

Little Straw Vineyards

Quails’ Gate

Tinhorn Creek Vineyards

Dirty Laundry Vineyard

River Stone Estate Winery

Summerhill Pyramid Winery

Recline Ridge Vineyards and Winery Ltd.

House of Rose Winery

Volcanic Hills Estate Winery

Ancient Hill Estate Winery

Black Hills Estate Winery

Sandhill

Hester Creek Estate Winery

Red Rooster Winery

Okanaganvilla Vineyards and Events Corporation (The Vibrant Vine)

St Hubertus & Oak Bay Estate Winery Ltd.

For further details and tickets:

https://www.thewinefestivals.com/events/view_event/1893/9961