It’s an emblematic wine-world row. Wine made on “natural” principles – both with organically or biodynamically grown grapes and with minimal intervention in the winery – makes up little more than a thimbleful of the total on sale, writes Andrew Neather in The Evening Standard. Yet its proponents are passionate – and they articulate a wider unease among winemakers and critics about the steady homogenisation of wine.
Winemakers and food producers involved with the twenty-first annual Grampians Grape Escape next May are going all out with an impressive line-up of mini foodie events leading up to the stalwart food and wine spectacular. The Stawell Times reports first up will be ‘Christmas in the Vines’ at Grampians Estate this weekend, followed by a Delightful Dinner in Dunkeld on January 21 and Tastings @ Troopers, Beaufort on February 18.
Up in the mountains north of Cape Town, the revolutionaries are massing. This is Swartland – ”the black land’’ – a place of big skies, where wheat fields blaze, grey-barked renosterbos (”rhinoceros bush’’) grows in abundance and the landscape is chequered with vineyards, writes Victoria Moore for The Telegraph. The revolutionaries are gathering in the small town of Riebeek Kasteel. They are wearing identical striped scarves emblazoned with a red star but, instead of Kalashnikovs, each one is armed with a wine glass.
Stellenbosch, a region rich in culture and heritage and famous for its wines, is home to the oldest and largest organised wine route in the country. Cape Times writer Biance Coleman reports established in 1971, when South Africans were still more spirit and beer fans than wine – despite vineyard being planted in the Cape for 300 years – the route now encompasses around 150 wineries, farms and estates and even has sub-routes. It can be mind-boggling and it takes many, many dedicated visits to become an expert. But hey, it’s a lot of fun along the way.
English sparkling wine is set to become a mainstream drink of choice, according to new report that shows over half of sparkling wine drinkers in the UK have tried sparkling wine from English vineyards at least once, reports Harpers. Wine Intelligence’s new research points to a better supply of English sparkling wine and a growing reputation for quality.
A tourism body in central New South Wales says it is sustainable, after securing its annual funding request from the State Government. Several members, including Dubbo and Coonamble, left Central New South Wales Tourism when it decided not to amalgamate with the Outback and New England North West Organisations earlier this year.
Yes, Malbec may be the grape—and wine—of the moment, but there are other offerings on the Argentine wine list. This was the gist of the wine exposition organised by the Embassy of Argentina last month at the Rockwell Club, writes Cecile G. Mauricio in The Business Mirror. Philippine importers and distributors of Argentine wines were invited to present their selections and set up tasting tables, but before the event, Minister Jaime Goldaracena, the embassy’s trade attaché, made the rounds of hotels and restaurants to personally invite chefs, restaurant owners, food and beverage directors and wine buyers.
A minimum price for alcohol in the UK would help prevent thousands of deaths from related diseases, a group of leading doctors and academics has said. In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, 19 experts said Scottish plans for minimum pricing were a “simple and effective” way to tackle alcohol-related deaths.
Bad weather is usually the worst thing that vintners have to worry about in Santa Barbara County, but a decision last week to require full-scale environmental review for a proposed winery in Ballard Canyon is making some wonder whether the county’s planning department is putting a cork in the growth of the Santa Ynez Valley’s wine industry. So says vintner Michael Larner, whose plans for a winery on his 134-acre property — already home to some of the most coveted Grenache and Syrah vineyards in the state — were thwarted on December 3 when the county’s long range planning director Jeff Hunt determined that, due largely to the 20 special events proposed each year and a number of vocal opponents, the winery should produce an environmental impact report.
The US. economy may be in a funk and consumer spending in a slump, but there’s one glass that seems to be more than half full flutes of Champagne to be precise. After seeing sales tumble as the recession hit, Champagne shipments were up nearly 22% comparing the first six months of this year to the same period in 2010, with a total of 7.5 million bottles shipped to the US. as of June, according to the Washington-based Champagne Bureau.