Archive for January, 2010
Posted in January 29th, 2010
During the month of February De Krans Wine Cellar, situated in the quaint little town of Calitzdorp alongside the well known Route 62, will once again be offering visitors to the area the opportunity to pick delectably sweet Hanepoot grapes. This fun-filled picking experience will take place from 10 to 27 February and will be [...]
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Posted in January 29th, 2010
The wine industry received sobering news this week: California wine shipments dropped in 2009 for the first time in 16 years. Analyst Jon Fredrikson says wine consumption is up 2.1 percent nationally, but consumers are turning to cheaper imports to tantalize their palates.
Figures show that sales appear to be down for all wines that cost [...]
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Posted in January 27th, 2010
Membership of the Cape Winemakers Guild has increased to 41 leading South African winemakers after the induction of five new members this month.
The latest winemakers to have joined this prestigious association are Rianie Strydom (Haskell Vineyards), Andries Burger (Paul Cluver Estate Wines), Frans Smit (Spier Wines), Boela Gerber (Groot Constantia) and Pierre Wahl (Rijks Private [...]
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Posted in January 21st, 2010
British wine drinkers will soon be quaffing New Zealand sweet riesling for the first time after Europe lifted a long-standing trade barrier on sweet wine imports.
New Zealand winemakers were given the all-clear to export sweet wines, such as botrytised riesling and pinot gris, to Europe last month, and some are already pushing their way on [...]
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Posted in January 15th, 2010
Bordeaux is facing a new challenge with a vine disease, Flavescence dorée, threatening to be become a bigger problem than Phylloxera.
The disease is caused by phytoplasmas, microscopic plant pathogens similar to bacteria, but much smaller and lacking cell walls. They live in the vascular system of plants and are spread by sap-feeding insects, including leafhoppers [...]
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Posted in January 14th, 2010
It is no secret that there has been an over-supply of wine throughout the world for several years now. On an almost daily basis we read or hear about yet another winery closing doors or going into receivership. Irrespective of your nationality, it hurts.
The latest casualty from Australia is Coonawarra’s largest privately owned winery, The Poplars Winery. [...]
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Posted in January 13th, 2010
The Australian and international wine glut is an example of market forces working normally. The call for vines to be pulled, with either implied or express government subsidies, is human nature working normally: the desire to privatise profits and socialise losses.
There’s nothing new about wine industry figures calling for vine culling. In the early 1980s, [...]
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Posted in January 12th, 2010
Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz 2009 has been released in South Africa this week and we decided to see just how jammy this wine could be. The wine was created for Cape Classics, New York, by winemaker Bruwer Raats,with grapes sourced from Paarl. The wine has done extremely well in the USA, primarily due to the demand for sweeter, ripe fruit, [...]
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Posted in January 11th, 2010
At first glance a newcomer to wine might assume that all barrels are the same and serve the same function. So why do we put wine into barrels in the first place?
Wood has chemical compounds responsible for various aromas and flavours we experience in the wineglass. Sweet, vanilla tones or smoky, peppery notes are derived [...]
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Posted in January 10th, 2010
Robertson Wine Valley: Innovative Wine Tourism Experiences
Cloof Wines: Sustainable Wine tourism Practices
Waterford Wine Estate: Wine Tourism Services
Vergelegen Wines: Art and Culture
Grand Provence Heritage Estate: Architecture, Parks and Gardens
Rust en Vrede Restaurant: Wine Tourism Restaurants
Devon Valley Hotel: Accommodation
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