Category: Wine Trends

Gérard Bertrand Launches Organic Orange Wine “Orange Gold”

Languedoc producer Gérard Bertrand has launched his first organic orange wine, which aims to blend Georgian tradition with a southern French modern twist.

Orange Gold 2020 is Gérard Bertrand’s first orange wine called “Orange Gold.” The wine is made from a blend of Chardonnay, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, Marsanne, Mauzac and Muscat.

Bertrand was inspired to create a modern, fresher expression that respected Georgian traditions.

Chosen for their aromatic complexity, the six grapes used to make the wine are fermented in whole bunches on their skins to add colour and tannin to the wine.

According to Bertrand, Orange Gold has “an unusual profile and remarkable finesse and subtlety, reflecting the vibrancy, minerality and freshness of the south of France.”

The aromas you will find in the wine are white flowers, candied fruit, grapefruit, orange water and white pepper. Bertrand is very proud of the wine’s “light bitterness” on the finish, which he believes “whets” the appetite.

“Orange Gold was bottled a week ago and I’m very proud of it. I’ve tried a lot of different orange wines from around the world, some of which I enjoyed, others I was disappointed by,” Bertrand said.

“I wanted to create an orange wine that blended the tradition of the Georgians with the modernity of the South of France, so it sees oak and stainless steel.”

Bertrand believes the wine offers a new taste experience and pairs well with hard cheeses and spicy dishes. Orange Gold 2020 is on sale via the Gérard Bertrand website priced at €12.50 a bottle.

“Human beings have forgotten that nature has given us the chance to be here. We feel like we’re the king of the world now, which is not true. We created the brand to put nature first again, which is what we need to do,” Bertrand said.

 

 

Louis Roederer Launches Single-Vineyard Still Wines

Champagne house Louis Roederer has launched a pair of single-vineyard Coteaux Champenois wines, known collectively as ‘Hommage a Camille’.

Named after Camille Olry-Roederer, the great-grandmother of the house’s current CEO, Frederic Rouzaud, the wines are single-site, varietal Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

The Pinot Noir is made from a plot of 43 ‘ares’ (100 ares to a hectare) in the ‘Charmont’ lieu-dit in Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, while the Chardonnay is from an old 55-ares plot in the ‘Volibarts’ lieu-dit in Le Mesnil-Sur-Oger.

The Pinot Noir is known as ‘Camille Charmont’ and the Chardonnay known as ‘Camille Volibarts’ are from the 2018 vintage.

The house said in a statement that both wines are the result of, “a long process of observation and experimentation”, which reveals, “another facet of the Champagne terroirs”. The house’s cellar master, Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, has been experimenting with still wines since at least 2002.

Camille Olry-Roederer took over the running of the Roederer company after the death of her husband Léon in 1932. She remained in charge until 1975 and was known to be especially fond of the house’s still wines.

The wines will be released in March, with the Pinot Noir priced at €160 (£155) and the Chardonnay at €140 (£130). Production figures are low: 1,631 bottles of the Pinot and 2,880 of the Chardonnay.

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The World of Pinot Noir announces March 2021 will be ‘WOPN Wine Month’ 

This year, the largest annual gathering of Pinot Noir producers and fans is going virtual it’s going to be bigger and longer.

During the month of March every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday will feature a series of virtual tasting seminars, events, auctions, and winemaker happy hours via Zoom, Instagram Live and Facebook Live.

“Each year, our 3,000-plus attendees often say they’d love even more content and more opportunities for intimate experiences with winemakers,” says Laura Booras, president of the World of Pinot Noir Board of Directors. “This year, we actually have an opportunity to grow those opportunities.”

New this year is the “WOPN Wine Case Experience.” Each guest will receive a carefully selected case of hard-to-find pinot noirs handpicked by our esteemed World of Pinot Sommelier Team. Then, each Wednesday (beginning March 3), David Glancy, Master Sommelier and Founder of the San Francisco Wine School, will host an exclusive winemaker seminar and discussion featuring three of the 12 wines.

Every Thursday (beginning March 4), WOPN will present a different deep-dive tasting seminar. These winemaker panel discussions will feature esteemed personalities in the winemaking community and delve into sites such as Bien Nacido, the terroirs of the Santa Lucia Highlands and explore the rugged elegance of the Sonoma Coast. Each tasting seminar will feature a collection of wines for purchase.

In addition to the eight tasting seminars, WOPN will host a series of free live Facebook and Instagram winemaker discussions and Happy Hours every Wednesday at noon (PST) and Friday at 5 p.m. (PST), respectively.

WOPN’s popular annual silent auction also goes virtual. Bid throughout the month on large-format bottles, exclusive library wines, and one-of-a-kind experiences from scores of producers from around the world.

For further information please visit the World of Pinot Noir website

Institute of Masters of Wine Webinar: Climate Change & Global Wine Trade – February 17th, 2021

The Institute of Masters of Wine is continuing its webinar series next Wednesday February 17, 2021 with a session on “The Impact of Climate Change on the Global Wine Trade.”

This webinar will examine the impact of climate change from vine to glass with leading experts climatologist Dr Greg Jones, economist Mike Veseth and CEO of Wine Intelligence Lulie Halstead sharing their views in a discussion covering the impact on growing grapes and wine quality, trade and distribution and on wine consumers. 

Climate change is having an impact on wine production. Increasing temperatures affect vine phenology with reduced winter dormancy, and earlier physiological ripening. They also affect the spread of disease and pests. Climate change is leading to more frequent and more extreme, extreme weather events with increased drought conditions and wildfires in regions such as Australia, California, Spain and South Africa, spring frosts and more violent storms leading to flooding. This means greater variation in quantities of wines produced from one year to the next with increased volatility in wine prices. Climate change imperils the smooth flow of goods as transport infrastructure and ports are vulnerable. Wine consumers are increasingly concerned about climate change and are becoming more demanding in terms of wanting to know what goes into the products they buy and how they are made. This discussion will cover each of the aspects across the entire global wine supply chain.

The event will be moderated by Jane Masters MW and there will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

The panel includes:

Dr Greg Jones – Chair, Evenstad Center for Wine Education / Wine Studies
Lulie Halstead – CEO Wine Intelligence
Jane Masters MW (moderator) – view MW profile
Mike Veseth – Wine Economist, Professor emeritus of International Political Economy at the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Washington)

This webinar is open to everyone, but capacity is limited. Follow this link to register.

Wine News: Bourgogne wines held up on the International Market in 2020

BIVB has announced their 2020 export report –  After a very good November in terms of volumes, exports of Bourgogne wines over the first 11 months of 2020 were slightly higher than over the same period in 2019 (up 0.5%), confirming a trend already witnessed in October. Revenue was also close to the record level seen in 2019, down just 2.6% by the end of November, having recovered from being down 9% just a month previously.

However, these figures should be set within a sluggish economy, impacted by both COVID and the 25% Boeing/Airbus tax, which severely penalized sales to the United States, down 14% by volume and 21% in terms of revenue, representing a loss of some €44 million. However, with volumes up 16% equating to 2.2 million bottles, the British market almost entirely offset the loss in volumes from the United States and once again became the leading export destination for Bourgogne wines.

Several territories saw big upticks in numbers, like Sweden, up 18.4% by volume and 14.2% in terms of revenue compared to the same period in 2019, and Denmark, up 24% by volume and 25.6% for revenue. Others enjoyed more moderate growth but for big volumes, like Canada (up 6.4% by volume and 6% in terms of revenue) and Belgium (1.2% and 5.5% respectively).

In France, Bourgogne wines grew their position in the retail sector, up 4.7% by volume and 5.7% in terms of revenue over the first 10 months of 2019, thanks in particular to their popularity in convenience stores and via click-and-collect. As yet, there is no data regarding the restaurant sector, which is in free-fall, or for wine stores that are enjoying a boom.

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