Anteprima Amarone 2012

The preview of Amarone 2012 commences this Saturday January 30 through to Sunday January 31 2016 and is being in Verona, Italy at the historical Gran Guardia Palace in Piazza Brà. This two-day event is open to international press and winelovers.
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For any further information visit: http://anteprimaamarone.it/

Here is the list of all the participating wineries:

Albino Armani 1607
Cantine Aldegheri
Blessed court ancient
Winery Bennati
Cantine Bertani
Boscaini Carlo Azienda Agricola
Cantine-Bolla
Cantina Buglioni
Ca’botta Vini
Ca’ dei Frati
Azienda Agricola Cà La Bionda
Ca’ Rugate
Cantina Di Soave
Cantina Valpantena
Cantina Valpolicella Negrar
Cesari Winery
Azienda Vitivinicola Corte Archi
Corte Figaretto
Court lonardi
Corte Rugolin
Corte San Benedetto
Corte Sant’alda
Dal Bosco Giulietta Azienda Agricola Le Guaite
Damoli Vini-Amarone Winery in Valpolicella
Degani
Amarone & Ripasso Falezze_DE
Azienda Vinicola Farina
Fasoli Gino
Fidora Wines
Vini Flatio di Flavio Fraccaroli
Vini Gamba
Clementi-Vini Della Valpolicella
Cantina Giovanni Ederle
Latium Morini
La Collina dei Ciliegi
La Dama Vini Valpolicella
La Giuva La Giuva Fanpage
Le Bignele-Soc. Agr. Aldrighetti Luigi, Angelo e Nicola
Le Marognole Vini
Azienda Agricola Marco Mosconi
Massimago
Monte Del Frà
Montecariano
Monte Zovo
Cantine Giacomo Montresor Spa
Novaia
Pasqua Vigneti e Cantine
Recchia Vini
Vigneti Di Ettore
Cantine Riondo
Roccolo Grassi
Azienda Agricola RUBINELLI VAJOL
San Cassiano Azienda Agricola
Santa Sofia.: I Classici Vini Veronesi dal 1811 :.
Casa Vinicola Sartori
Saints
Scriani Vinicola
According to Marco
Tenuta Chiccheri
Tenute Falezza
Tenute Salvaterra
Tenuta Santa Maria Valverde
Tezza Viticoltori in Valpantena
Casa Vitivinicola Tinazzi-Italians Inside
Valentina Cubi
Villa Crine
Villa Canestrari, Museo del Vino
Viviani
Vini Zanoni
Zonin 1821
Zýmē

KRUG RELEASES 2002 VINTAGE IN LONDON, UK

Champagne house Krug launched its 2002 vintage in London, UK this week, with cellar master Eric Lebel dubbing it “a purebred stallion” that needed to be reined in due to its “assertive” and “muscular” nature.

Lebel revealed that the wines produced in 2002 had a clear identity from the outset. “From the very first tastings, we saw nature’s generosity in every parcel. The wines announced themselves as round, rich, robust, dominated by fruit and particularly aromatic. As they have continued to develop, we have seen in this blend a remarkable finesse and finish too. It is almost as if each of the 2002 wines that we have chosen to compose Krug 2002 could be their own assemblage.”

Crafted from 40% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay and and, as always in Krug cuvées, there is a high percentage of Pinot Meunier – 21 %; Olivier Krug was equally enthusiastic about the fizz, calling it “an ode to nature” due to its “abundance of pure fruit” and “audacious elegance”.

Cellar master Eric Lebel describes “when making the blend, each individual wine seemed as if it was a blend as the vins clairs were so generous and expressive – the wines had everything, from exotic fruit and citrus fruit to candied fruit, liquorice and honey – everything was in abundance.

Krug 2002 be released on February 1 and each bottle will bear a six-digit code on the back label. This number can be used to find out details on the harvest, Lebel’s tasting notes, food pairing ideas, and recommendations for optimum storage and serving. The price is yet to be revealed.

CHAMPAGNE SALES SET FOR RECORD YEAR

0000067c3-French_supermarket_ChampagneChampagne sales reached a record high in 2015. Sales were driven by a strong demand from export markets, favorable exchange rates and sales in France.

According to estimates from news service Reuters, 312 million bottles were sold last year, up 2-3% on 2014, while value sales were up 4.4% to €4.7 billion.

A flurry of prestige cuvée releases such as Dom Pérignon 2006 helped drive sales last year, along with a growing demand for rosé Champagne in Japan and the US.

A return to pre-recession decadence boosted Champagne sales in the UK, while Spain and Italy both showed a slight growth. Champagne sales are also creeping up at hypermarkets and specialist stores in its homeland after years of being on the slide.

“France is on a recovery path. Consumers need to enjoy life,” Bruno Paillard, CEO of Lanson BCC, told Reuters.
Official figures for 2015 will be published February 2016 by the CIVC.

2015 French Wine Crop Reaches 47.7 Million Hectolitres

harvestThe French Ministry of Agriculture has released its latest estimates for the year 2015. They state that France has harvested approximately 47.7 million hectolitres. The 2015 harvest is up 1% up from last year (47.1 mhl) and up 4% on the five-year average. Production of PGI wines and base wines for brandy is showing a significant increase last year, respectively +5% and +6%. Conversely, production of appellation wines, at 21.61 mhl is marginally down (-2%) on 2014 but 3% higher than the five-year average.

The Ministry of Agriculture ascribes the rise in estimated production to rainfall in August and September, which was particularly beneficial in the western part of the country, especially in Charentes. A report by Agreste states that “bunch weight is one of the highest this decade”. It also points to a surge in production of Cognac compared with previous estimates, with an extra 1 mhl harvested by producers.
France was divided into two halves this year, with the eastern part of the country enduring less favourable weather conditions than other regions. Drought affected Burgundy, Beaujolais and Corsica and reduced production potential compared with August forecasts. Alsace, which was also affected, but to a lesser extent. In the South-East of France, periods of rain in September brought forward harvesting and caused some losses. In Languedoc-Roussillon, the crop is expected to be virtually on a par with last year’s.

Source: Vitisphere

Moët & Chandon Pushes the Boundaries with Prestige Cuvee MCIII

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Moet & Chandon is set to release a new prestige cuvee into the US market early October.

Their new cuvee “MCIII” is highly unusual as it incorporates base wines from the 2003 vintage and a range of older reserve stocks, includes non-sparkling vin clair wines, with an assemblage of vintage wines aged both in stainless steel vats and oak casks.

This unique blend is 50 percent of Pinot Noir from the grand cru village of Ay, and 50 percent Chardonnay from Chouilly and Cramant.

Gouez has also included a high proportion of still, oak-aged wines: nearly 40 percent of the blend is reserve wine matured in oak barrels, hailing from the 2002, 2000 and 1998 vintages.

The Chef de cave Benoit Gouez completed this truly unique blend by uncorking vintage Champagne from 1999, 1998 and 1993 vintages.

With the price set at $450, this new prestige cuvee is being introduced gradually, with a limited production of 15,000 bottles.

The presentation is quite dramatic — MCIII is presented in a black bottle with a metallic cap, medallion base and beautiful wooden coffret.

Chef de cave Benoit Gouez has stated: “We have created a cuvee of great complexity, which is composed of three strata” or layers.”

Liz Palmer
@ChampagneHouses