Announcing Liz Palmer is Guest Speaker at the 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism

I’m so thrilled to have been invited as a guest speaker at the upcoming 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism!!

The topics for the 7th Edition include “Inclusive, Sustainable and Digital Wine Tourism: Building Stronger Territorial Cohesion”

This yearly conference has become a leading international forum on trends, tools and opportunities to advance global wine tourism. It also provides opportunities for experts and professionals, as well as consolidated and emerging destinations in this tourism segment to exchange knowledge and experiences.

Since 2016, the Conference has highlighted the importance of wine tourism to the socio-economic development of destinations and has served as a platform to exchange experiences, identify good practices and promote wine tourism as a tool for sustainable development.

The 7th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism will be held November 22 – 24 in Logroño, Spain. Participants include government officials from international and national tourism administrations and organizations, regional and local authorities, international and national destination marketing organizations, UNWTO affiliate members, private sector representatives, wine estates, infrastructure providers and international academia.

I believe everyone in the wine tourism industry can certainly attest to Massimo Garavaglia, Italian Minister of Tourism, statement at last year’s conference, in Alba Italy: “Wine tourism is much more than just selling wine, which clearly is important.  When you sell a bottle of wine, you are selling the territory behind that bottle, the culture of that territory, the history of the men (and women) who designed these landscapes with the rows of vines.”

I have the extreme privilege of sharing insights on the topic of:

Unlocking the Benefits of Digitalization
Digital transformation can revolutionize and enhance wine tourism experiences, provide data and insights, optimize marketing strategies, and foster sustainable growth.

Conference Link: https://www.unwto.org/7-UNWTO-Global-Conference-Wine-Tourism

Hope to see you there!

Liz Palmer

 

Bodegas Familiares de Rioja leaves the Plenary Session of the Regulatory Council due to its strategic policy

The Rioja Family Winery Association withdraws from the management tables of the Denomination of Qualified Origin (DOCa) Rioja, the Plenary of the Regulatory Council, and the Interprofessional of Rioja Wine, due to its disagreement with the strategic policy, which goes against the business model of the small and medium-sized wineries.

The announcement was made public this week by its President, Eduardo Hernáiz, in an information conference, together with his Vice President and spokesperson on the Regulatory Council, Juan Carlos Sancha, and manager, Ana Jiménez, after the two assemblies of the association, which They have supported the decision, unanimously, they have indicated.

The group was established in 1991 by twenty winegrowers and small wineries in Rioja and currently has almost 70 members with 216 which are accredited in the management bodies of the Denomination of the Interprofessional and Regulatory Council tables.

This representation translates into over half of the total of the commercial branch in both management bodies. Still, its participation is limited to only 8% of this branch and 4% of the votes, as the system of representativeness of the Council.

The departure of this association from the management boards of the DOCa Rioja does not imply its abandonment of the Denomination, a region that is “the best in Spain for making wines of value and quality”, which, from its point of view, has currently lost, where volume is what prevails, the President stated.

The decision was formally communicated this week to the Rioja Wine Interprofessional Regulatory Council, the autonomous governments of La Rioja, the Basque Country and Navarra, as it is a Denomination shared by the three communities, and to the Ministry of Agriculture, as the guardian administration.

“We are Rioja, and we are going to continue being so because we have all our investments in this land and because we continue to believe in it and in its potential to make great wines,” assured the President of the Association.

However, “we do not have the capacity to redirect Rioja’s course towards a model of value, of quality”, which focuses on “sustainable viticulture and the production of quality artisanal wines”, he said.

“We are convinced – he added – that the current situation of Rioja, its wineries and winegrowers, would be very different if the policy followed in recent years had been more concerned with protecting the value of the grapes, the wines and the territory, than to produce more grapes and wine to bring Rioja to its current situation.”

Currently, the DOCa Rioja is going through “one of the biggest surplus crises in its history, sending wines to distillation,” said Hernáiz, who added that, “despite the fact that we have been producing clearly more grapes than we are capable of since 2017 to sell, large companies continued asking for new plantations until very recently.”

For his part, Sancha, one of the oldest members of the Plenary Council, has said that the historical model of the social distribution of the vineyard and wealth is being broken in favor of industrial companies, for which the bills continue to come out, among other aspects, because they sell wines from numerous sources, not only Rioja, as well as liqueurs and spirits.

“We find ourselves unable to change a business model that we do not share, since it is based on the production of wine for food shelves at prices with which small and medium-sized wineries cannot compete,” Sancha states.

The president of the Regulatory Council, Fernando Ezquerro, has conveyed to the association his interest in changing the representation system, but there is no concrete proposal and until there is a modification, which will have to be in the next elections in 2025, Bodegas Familiares will not participate in the decisions of these management bodies.

Source: https://agroinformacion.com/

 

Rioja Adds 15 New ‘Singular Vineyards’

A new order from the Ministry of Agriculture from the Government of Spain recently published in the BOE (APA/873/2023) adds 15 new wine-growing areas of the Rioja Qualified Designation of Origin with the qualitative distinction of “Viñedo Singular”.

The Rioja Qualified Denomination of Origin currently has 148 “Singular Vineyards” in a total area of ​​more than 246 hectares.

The “Singular Vineyard / Viñedo Singular” [Incorporated in 2017] rating is directly linked to the terroir. They were defined as wines from vineyards with a series of unique characteristics and quality guarantees: being over 35 years old; yields not exceeding 5,000 kg. per hectare for red varieties; 6,922 kg. per hectare for white varieties; and is limited to 65 liters per 100 kg. of grapes.

Fernando Ezquerro, President of the DOCa Rioja Regulatory Council states “The initiative demonstrates the Denomination’s commitment to provide differentiation resources to operators to value the specific origin of their product.”

Wine made from “Viñedos Singulares” also has to pass a second qualitative tasting, the first, freshly produced, and the second, just before it is marketed,  it must be considered excellent by a committee of tasters.

The back labels will also mention “Viñedo Singular” which will allow consumers to have the guarantee that the characteristics described are certified by the Regulatory Council.

Here is the list of the 15 new Singular Vineyards: https://shorturl.at/dewF3

Research Findings: High-Power Ultrasound Improves the Quality of Spanish Rosé Wine

A recent study by Spanish researchers concluded that ultrasound improves wine quality by shortening maceration time.

In 2019, The International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) approved the use of ultrasound to favor the extraction of grape compounds, its application in obtaining superior quality red wines has been widely studied.

Spanish researchers have turned their attention to rosé, a booming market that has experienced strong growth over the past 15 years. A research team from the University of Castilla-La Mancha, and the University of Murcia in Spain used high-powered ultrasound technology to treat crushed Monastrell grapes, a process known as sonication. They compared the resulting rosé with the wine obtained after a four-hour maceration period.

The research team described the improvements in color and sensory profile of the sonicated wine compared to the macerated sample, here are their findings: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsfa.12757

Professor Encarna Gómez Plaza, from the University of Murcia explained the importance of the research for the wine industry. He stated that “the ultrasonic application was primarily designed to reduce maceration time in red wine vinification. However, experiments with white wines have shown that the aromatic fraction can be increased by sonicating crushed grapes. Therefore, we decided to study the effect of ultrasound on rosé wines, something that had not been done before.”

Prolonged maceration can cause oxidation of certain compounds in the wine, leading to a bitter taste and other undesirable effects.. This is where ultrasounds come in. Ultrasonic sonication causes the cells in the skin of the grape to rupture, allowing the desirable compounds to be extracted in a significantly shorter steeping time, thus reducing the adverse effects of oxidation.

Sensory analysis of the wines by a panel revealed that the ultrasonic rosé had superior aromas

“Sonication resulted in wines with intense aromas of red fruits and flowers, with higher scores than wines from macerated grapes,” the authors note.

Analysis of the chemical composition supported this claim: ultrasonication improved the extraction of several volatile aroma-enhancing compounds, such as terpenes, which can give off a floral or citrus fragrance.

The team hopes that this study will draw attention to the potential of ultrasonic technology to produce high-quality rosé wines. Now they are studying other applications of high-power ultrasound in the wine industry.

Old World Wines Gaining Share Across US On-Premise

CGA by NIQ’s latest On-Premise Measurement Research explores the share of total wine, with a focus on domestic white and red wine categories across the US, to highlight the opportunities for suppliers as old-world wines continue to gain share.

Using insights from the latest 52-week period of CGA’s OPM data to 12/31/2022, it is apparent that domestic wines account for the largest share of total wine across the US On-Premise (66.4%), but opportunities emerging for suppliers and operators to capture changing consumer preferences as they explore and consume old-world origin varietals.

At a total US level, domestic wines still hold the largest share of the market, however, old-world wines have continued to gain share. While domestic share has largely been maintained (-0.8pp), recent share changes demonstrate that US consumers are increasingly opting for old-world wines, specifically of regions including Italy (+0.5pp), New Zealand (+0.3pp) and France (+0.2pp).

Within red, domestic wine continues to hold a significant proportion (72.8%) of the share of red wine, up 0.8pp vs YA – continuing to increase its importance in comparison to all other major origins. Within the category, international origin wines tracked are losing share, including Italy (-0.1pp), Argentina (-0.4pp) and Spain (-0.1pp).

Whereas, white domestic wine has lost share (-1.6pp) and holds 61% of total share of white wine. Consumers are increasing looking to old world regions for white varietals in the US On-Premise. Most notably, from Italy (+0.9pp) has seen the largest increase in share gain, followed by New Zealand (+0.5pp) and France (+0.3pp).

Andrew Hummel, Client Solutions Director for North America, states: “Category and varietal insights are so important to help shape effective strategies for the On-Premise. Consumer preferences are changing, and being armed with the knowledge and insight to adapt offerings will enable success in 2023. While domestic wines still hold the largest share of the market across the US, increasing competition and innovation is gaining traction with consumers. OPM data tracking over time gives a comprehensive view of how the channel is evolving and helps identify opportunities for growth.”

Here is the research link: https://cgastrategy.com/unlock-the-potential-of-opm/