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January 31, 2006

New Release: Smirnoff Lime

Norwalk, Connecticut-based Diageo has released its newest flavor addition to the Smirnoff portfolio, a lime-flavored vodka that aims to bring “everyone’s favorite garnish” front and center.

“Smirnoff Lime is a natural extension to our flavor line as lime has long been a staple flavor in the creation of cocktails,” says Mark Breene, Smirnoff’s vice president.

Smirnoff Lime is made using the same triple distillation and proprietary filtration methods as the original vodka and is highly mixable, according to the company. Diageo recommends it in drinks ranging from the simple vodka and tonic water or cola to cocktails such as the Cosmopolitan or the Lime Island Ice Tea, made with Smirnoff Lime, gin, rum, Tequila, Triple Sec and sour mix.

At 35-percent alcohol-by-volume, Smirnoff Lime retails for $12.99 a 750-ml. bottle and joins a portfolio that includes Watermelon, Strawberry, Cranberry, Raspberry, Vanilla, Citrus, Green Apple and Black Cherry.

Source: “Diageo Launches Smirnoff Lime,” Laura Pelner, January 27, 2006

Posted by fortna at 10:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Climate Expert Silenced By NASA

The top climate scientist at NASA says the Bush administration has tried to stop him from speaking out since he gave a lecture last month calling for prompt reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases linked to global warming.

The scientist, James E. Hansen, longtime director of the agency's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said in an interview that officials at NASA headquarters had ordered the public affairs staff to review his coming lectures, papers, postings on the Goddard Web site and requests for interviews from journalists.

Dr. Hansen said he would ignore the restrictions. "They feel their job is to be this censor of information going out to the public," he said.

Dean Acosta, deputy assistant administrator for public affairs at the space agency, said there was no effort to silence Dr. Hansen. "That's not the way we operate here at NASA," Mr. Acosta said. "We promote openness and we speak with the facts."

He said the restrictions on Dr. Hansen applied to all National Aeronautics and Space Administration personnel. He added that government scientists were free to discuss scientific findings, but that policy statements should be left to policy makers and appointed spokesmen.

Mr. Acosta said other reasons for requiring press officers to review interview requests were to have an orderly flow of information out of a sprawling agency and to avoid surprises. "This is not about any individual or any issue like global warming," he said. "It's about coordination."

Dr. Hansen strongly disagreed with this characterization, saying such procedures had already prevented the public from fully grasping recent findings about climate change that point to risks ahead.

"Communicating with the public seems to be essential," he said, "because public concern is probably the only thing capable of overcoming the special interests that have obfuscated the topic."

Dr. Hansen, 63, a physicist who joined the space agency in 1967, directs efforts to simulate the global climate on computers at the Goddard Institute in Morningside Heights in Manhattan.

Since 1988, he has been issuing public warnings about the long-term threat from heat-trapping emissions, dominated by carbon dioxide, that are an unavoidable byproduct of burning coal, oil and other fossil fuels. He has had run-ins with politicians or their appointees in various administrations, including budget watchers in the first Bush administration and Vice President Al Gore.

In 2001, Dr. Hansen was invited twice to brief Vice President Dick Cheney and other cabinet members on climate change. White House officials were interested in his findings showing that cleaning up soot, which also warms the atmosphere, was an effective and far easier first step than curbing carbon dioxide.

He fell out of favor with the White House in 2004 after giving a speech at the University of Iowa before the presidential election, in which he complained that government climate scientists were being muzzled and said he planned to vote for Senator John Kerry.

But Dr. Hansen said that nothing in 30 years equaled the push made since early December to keep him from publicly discussing what he says are clear-cut dangers from further delay in curbing carbon dioxide.

In several interviews with The New York Times in recent days, Dr. Hansen said it would be irresponsible not to speak out, particularly because NASA's mission statement includes the phrase "to understand and protect our home planet."

He said he was particularly incensed that the directives had come through telephone conversations and not through formal channels, leaving no significant trails of documents.

Dr. Hansen's supervisor, Franco Einaudi, said there had been no official "order or pressure to say shut Jim up." But Dr. Einaudi added, "That doesn't mean I like this kind of pressure being applied."

The fresh efforts to quiet him, Dr. Hansen said, began in a series of calls after a lecture he gave on Dec. 6 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco. In the talk, he said that significant emission cuts could be achieved with existing technologies, particularly in the case of motor vehicles, and that without leadership by the United States, climate change would eventually leave the earth "a different planet."

The administration's policy is to use voluntary measures to slow, but not reverse, the growth of emissions.

After that speech and the release of data by Dr. Hansen on Dec. 15 showing that 2005 was probably the warmest year in at least a century, officials at the headquarters of the space agency repeatedly phoned public affairs officers, who relayed the warning to Dr. Hansen that there would be "dire consequences" if such statements continued, those officers and Dr. Hansen said in interviews.

Among the restrictions, according to Dr. Hansen and an internal draft memorandum he provided to The Times, was that his supervisors could stand in for him in any news media interviews.

Mr. Acosta said the calls and meetings with Goddard press officers were not to introduce restrictions, but to review existing rules. He said Dr. Hansen had continued to speak frequently with the news media.

But Dr. Hansen and some of his colleagues said interviews were canceled as a result.

In one call, George Deutsch, a recently appointed public affairs officer at NASA headquarters, rejected a request from a producer at National Public Radio to interview Dr. Hansen, said Leslie McCarthy, a public affairs officer responsible for the Goddard Institute.

Citing handwritten notes taken during the conversation, Ms. McCarthy said Mr. Deutsch called N.P.R. "the most liberal" media outlet in the country. She said that in that call and others, Mr. Deutsch said his job was "to make the president look good" and that as a White House appointee that might be Mr. Deutsch's priority.

But she added: "I'm a career civil servant and Jim Hansen is a scientist. That's not our job. That's not our mission. The inference was that Hansen was disloyal."

Normally, Ms. McCarthy would not be free to describe such conversations to the news media, but she agreed to an interview after Mr. Acosta, at NASA headquarters, told The Times that she would not face any retribution for doing so.

Mr. Acosta, Mr. Deutsch's supervisor, said that when Mr. Deutsch was asked about the conversations, he flatly denied saying anything of the sort. Mr. Deutsch referred all interview requests to Mr. Acosta.

Ms. McCarthy, when told of the response, said: "Why am I going to go out of my way to make this up and back up Jim Hansen? I don't have a dog in this race. And what does Hansen have to gain?"

Mr. Acosta said that for the moment he had no way of judging who was telling the truth. Several colleagues of both Ms. McCarthy and Dr. Hansen said Ms. McCarthy's statements were consistent with what she told them when the conversations occurred.

"He's not trying to create a war over this," said Larry D. Travis, an astronomer who is Dr. Hansen's deputy at Goddard, "but really feels very strongly that this is an obligation we have as federal scientists, to inform the public."

Dr. Travis said he walked into Ms. McCarthy's office in mid-December at the end of one of the calls from Mr. Deutsch demanding that Dr. Hansen be better controlled.

In an interview on Friday, Ralph J. Cicerone, an atmospheric chemist and the president of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's leading independent scientific body, praised Dr. Hansen's scientific contributions and said he had always seemed to describe his public statements clearly as his personal views.

"He really is one of the most productive and creative scientists in the world," Dr. Cicerone said. "I've heard Hansen speak many times and I've read many of his papers, starting in the late 70's. Every single time, in writing or when I've heard him speak, he's always clear that he's speaking for himself, not for NASA or the administration, whichever administration it's been."

The fight between Dr. Hansen and administration officials echoes other recent disputes. At climate laboratories of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for example, many scientists who routinely took calls from reporters five years ago can now do so only if the interview is approved by administration officials in Washington, and then only if a public affairs officer is present or on the phone.

Where scientists' points of view on climate policy align with those of the administration, however, there are few signs of restrictions on extracurricular lectures or writing.

One example is Indur M. Goklany, assistant director of science and technology policy in the policy office of the Interior Department. For years, Dr. Goklany, an electrical engineer by training, has written in papers and books that it may be better not to force cuts in greenhouse gases because the added prosperity from unfettered economic activity would allow countries to exploit benefits of warming and adapt to problems.

On Friday, January 27, 2006, Dr. Goklany said that in the Clinton administration he was shifted to nonclimate-related work, but added that he had never had to stop his outside writing, as long as he identified the views as his own.

"One reason why I still continue to do the extracurricular stuff," he wrote, "is because one doesn't have to get clearance for what I plan on saying or writing."

Source: “Climate Expert Says NASA Tried to Silence Him,” Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times, January 29, 2006

Posted by fortna at 10:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Global Warming Is The World's Biggest Worry Eludes President Bill Clinton

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told corporate chieftains and political bigwigs Saturday, January 28, 2006, in Davos Switzerland that climate change was the world's biggest problem _ followed by global inequality and the "apparently irreconcilable" religious and cultural differences behind terrorism.

Clinton's comments provided something a freewheeling and philosophical finale _ ahead of Sunday's formal wrap-up _ to several days of high-powered discourse on the state of the world, and the mostly admiring audience seemed to hang on his every word.

"First, I worry about climate change," Clinton said in an onstage conversation with the founder of the World Economic Forum. "It's the only thing that I believe has the power to fundamentally end the march of civilization as we know it, and make a lot of the other efforts that we're making irrelevant and impossible."

Clinton called for "a serious global effort to develop a clean energy future" to avoid the onset of another ice age.

He also said the current global system "works to aggravate rather than ameliorate inequality" between and within nations _ including in the United States, where he lamented the "growing concentration of wealth at the top," alongside stagnation for the middle classes and rising poverty.

"I don't think we've found the way to promote economic and political integration in a manner that benefits the vast majority of the people in all societies and makes them feel that they are benefited by it," he said. "Voters usually see ... issues from the prism of their own experience."

Clinton won frequent enthusiastic applause _ not a common situation at the annual gathering in the Swiss Alps _ for articulating a global vision more conciliatory and inclusive than the one many of the assembled tend to associate with U.S. politics.

People around the world "basically want to know that we're on their side, that we wish them well, that we want the best for them, that we're pulling for them," he said.

Clinton called on current world leaders to seek ways of easing the "apparently irreconcilable religious and cultural differences in the world, that are manifest most stunningly in headlines about terrorist actions but really go far beyond that."

"You really can't have a global economy or a global society or a global approach to health and other things unless there is some sense of global community."

Former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans was listening. "He's a great performer and then he's got the greatest convening power of anyone now in the world, I think, and the greatest capacity to articulate things that matter," said Evans, who now heads the International Crisis Group, a think tank.

Clinton also dispensed advice on the issues of the day.

In Iraq, he said, the United States should not "give this thing up and say it can't work," but should consider "drawing down some of our troops and reconfiguring their components, trying to increase the special forces (and) putting them in places where they're not quite as vulnerable."

Iran, he argued, must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, and neither economic sanctions nor "any other option" should be ruled out as ways of preventing this. But he warned there would be "an enormous political price to pay if the global community ... looked like they went to force before everything else has been exhausted."

Clinton also suggested the West should be more open to eventual dialogue with Hamas, the radical Palestinian group whose election victory stunned the world this week and clouded the prospects of any resolution to the conflict with Israel.

"One of the politically correct things in American politics ... is we just don't talk to some people that we don't like, particularly if they ever killed anybody in a way that we hate," he said. "I do think that if you've got enough self-confidence in who you are and what you believe in, you ought not to be scared to talk to anybody."

"You've got to find a way to at least open doors ... and I don't see how we can do it without more contact," he said. Hamas might "acquire a greater sense of responsibility, and as they do we have to be willing to act on that."

Klaus Schwab, the forum's founder and organizer, asked Clinton to advise the next U.S. president, noting that this person might either be married to Clinton or listening in the audience _ an apparent reference to Sen. John McCain, seated in the first row along with Microsoft's Bill Gates and other invitees.

"In this world full of culturally charged issues I think we should make it clear that Senator McCain and I are not married," Clinton joked as the audience burst into laughter.

The comment earned Clinton a slap on the back from the Arizona Republican, who fought a crowd to get to the former president after the event.

"Interesting talk," said the beaming possible 2008 presidential contender. "You got us both in trouble!"

Source: “Climate change is the world's biggest worry,” Dan Perry, Newsday, January 28, 2006

Posted by fortna at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

More Jobs Than Mestizoes

They press for more Mexican workers, but others blame low pay. Imperial Valley farmers say they can't hire enough field workers. A harvesting machine working in a lettuce field near Westmorland operates with half a crew.

Thousands of Mexicans will be streaming toward the Imperial Valley by 3:55 any weekday morning, accepting jobs from farmers who say they can't find enough American workers in a county with the state's highest unemployment rate.

Rising as early as 2:30 a.m., the men and women flowing north will come to pick lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli in the Imperial Valley and Yuma County, Ariz., home to 90 percent of the nation's winter vegetables.

They will come with legitimate permanent resident cards - or counterfeit ones - knowing that they may have to wait up to three hours for work. This job will pay in one day what it would take most of them more than two weeks to earn in Mexico.

So many will come that it seems inconceivable that any work could go begging, but growers here and elsewhere in California say it does. In fact, they are making the case to Congress that they are experiencing a labor shortage in the state's $32 billion farm industry.

Economists say the shortage of workers exposes a raw truth about today's farm work: It is undesirable to virtually all but the poorest Mexicans.

By one economist's estimate, 85 percent to 90 percent of all California farmworkers are Mexican-born.

The industry pays low wages and lacks benefits but demands back-aching work. Add in a security-heightened border since Sept. 11, 2001, and the abundance of new construction, hotel and retail jobs available to legal day laborers from Mexicali, and labor market forces are speaking loudly to farmers.

Help-wanted ads in state employment offices draw "very minimal response," said Joe Colace, who farms 4,500 acres as president of Five Crowns Marketing.

"They say we're 20 percent unemployed, and we put in requests for help, and they don't come. Where are they?" said Mark McBroom, who owns and manages 2,000 acres of trees.

For Michigan State University's Vera Bitsch, the answer is simple.

"The expectation of many people is not to work that way," said Bitsch, an agribusiness management specialist. "They want work that's less physical and cleaner and not seasonal. And with that salary, it's really not a lifestyle."

In a field of irrigated lettuce near Westmorland in Imperial County, Colace's harvester is visibly lacking help.

"They're cutting seven beds, and it's designed to cut 14. It's half full," the farmer said.

In citrus groves it's the same.

"I'm short half the people I need," McBroom said. "I need 50 today. I have 25. It's not fun."

Last summer, San Joaquin Valley farms had similar complaints. Yet farmworker advocates challenge the notion of a shortage, saying that farmers use it to ensure more visas, a surplus of workers and the attendant low wages.

Organized Western agribusiness, instead of shrinking from discussion about labor conditions or pay, has begun highlighting the undesirability of its jobs to locals. Farmers are making their labor shortage prime fodder for a Washington, D.C., lobbying campaign - for a Mexican guest worker program.

"If we paid $15 an hour, we won't attract more people to agriculture," said Thomas A. Nassif, president of Irvine-based Western Growers Association.

Nassif, a former Reagan administration official and agricultural labor lawyer for California growers, has gone so far as to ask the U.S. Border Patrol to lighten up, even as he pursues federal permission to legally bring in Mexican labor for U.S. farms.

"We're the only one to say we rely on an illegal work force and say we want to make it legal," he said.

As the voice of the fresh produce industry, Western Growers favors a provision of immigration reform commonly called Agjobs, that would allow undocumented Mexican farmworkers who have worked at least 100 days in U.S. fields during a recent period to become temporary legal workers and, after six years, earn immigrant visas for themselves and their families.

It would be similar to the bracero guest worker programs from 1917-21 and 1942-64. Both programs ended after opposition from advocacy groups that decried abuse of workers or from organized labor, which said the bracero programs undermined wages for U.S. workers.

Decades later, labor's concern is being echoed by other groups.

"With the wages the farmers want to pay, they can't attract workers. That's not the same as a labor shortage," said Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform in Washington, D.C. "If you can get American workers to go 12,000 feet down a mine shaft to get coal, there's no reason you can't get Americans to do just about any job that needs to be done in this country."

If farmers have to match mining or construction wages, Nassif said, they will price their produce out of the market, and U.S. farms will die as consumers opt to buy cheap, foreign food.

Mehlman suggested an alternative: "Invest in mechanization, which farmers in this country have not done to the same extent that agriculture in other countries has done. That's the way you compete."

If machines were available, say agricultural interests, they would gladly switch to them.

"There are no machines available for certain crops," said Western Growers spokesman Tim Chelling. "If you look at strawberries, if you mechanize that, you end up with strawberry jam."

Even as farmers cited a labor shortage, Imperial County reported an average unemployment rate last year of 15.6 percent, more than triple the state figure. In this, one of California's poorest counties, workers earn an average of about $10 an hour, plus benefits in many cases.

In the fields, workers will average $8.84 an hour with no benefits, according to a survey by the Institute for Socio-Economic Justice. Still, the pay is appealing to Mexican citizens because the minimum wage at home is roughly $4.50 a day.

So, they head to the fields and U.S. workers look elsewhere.

Wherever one goes, to any public or private employment office in El Centro or Calexico, few people are willing to do farm labor, and almost everyone has a negative attitude toward it. In interviews, job-seeking teenagers, single moms and Mexican men living legally in Imperial County said: anything but farm work.

"I'd rather keep looking. I've seen what they do, and it's tough," said Jonathan Cuevas, an El Centro high school student looking for part-time work.

"The work is too hard, and the pay is too low," said Alejandro Alejos of El Centro. He just got his U.S. driver's license and wants a trucking job, "because the field is not good."

Griselda Lira, 27, is living in Imperial County without a full-time job. In November she was among 11,400 jobless people in the county who would do almost anything except work in fields that feed Americans their greens from November through March.

To hear experts and locals tell it, Lira represents a change on both sides of the California-Mexico border as younger people become more educated and seek opportunities elsewhere.

A high school graduate with a two-year degree in childhood education from Imperial Valley College, Lira did farm work once for six months, harvesting winter lettuce and broccoli. A caste system was instantly made clear to her.

"The (Mexican) workers said to me, 'You have (citizenship) papers, and you're working in the fields?' I said, 'There's no jobs.' They said that was not a good job for me. How can people who speak English work in the fields?"

Lira lives with her sister, dabbling in temporary jobs as a taxi dispatcher in her hometown of Brawley and earning as little as $87 a month as a government-funded home health-care worker for her mother.

Like many residents here, she is the daughter of farmworkers. And like many of a second generation, her brothers and sisters have studiously avoided the hard labors of their parents.

Lira said her mother worked in the fields until hurting a knee 10 years ago. Her father is still a farm laborer, part of a generation that associates real work with hard physical labor, sweating and toil, coming home tired. He has teased his daughter about working at fast-food restaurants, she said, and invited her again this year to work the harvests.

But Lira watched her parents develop arthritis from stooping and bending for years. She's seen her father "working in the fields with pneumonia. We tell him not to work no more, but he said 'Who's going to pay the bills?'

"I want to go back to school and finish my career, but I can't because I'm taking care of my mom," Lira said.

Eric Reyes, president of El Centro-based Institute for Socio-Economic Justice, recently surveyed 185 Mexican farmworkers. Among his findings: The average age is about 50, meaning even fewer younger Mexicans are coming across the border. Nearly 40 percent of those surveyed have noticed less labor around them in the fields.

"The young people that won't do it, they're lazy or they don't have a need," said Maria Rodríguez, coming through the border inspection station from Mexicali at 4 a.m. recently.

"It's because they're deciding to get an education," said Lilliana Zuniga Cervantes, coming to California about 30 minutes later.

A few miles to the north, Jonathan Cuevas' father, Fred, himself in the farming business, said he can't even interest his son in it temporarily.

"You gotta be in real good shape or desperate to eat," Fred Cuevas said.

Source: “Jobs go begging, farmers say,” Jim Wasserman, Sacramento Bee, January 30, 2006

Posted by fortna at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Consumer Taste For Wine Grows Vintners cheer

But as wine-drinkers become more savvy, retailers must be sharp to keep up, observers say.

There was a time when wine was merely an afterthought for the average U.S. drinker. Something to be had at stuffy formal affairs. Something that said "elite."

That was before wine became more affordable and more plentiful. Before experts began touting its health benefits. And before it played a key role in the 2004 hit movie Sideways.

Now the pressure is on everyone -- from grape growers to wineries to wholesalers to retailers -- to meet the increased demand by consumers in America, considered one of the world's top growth markets.

From 2001 to 2005, there was a 31 percent increase in the U.S. wine-drinking population, according to a recent study of drinking trends by the Wine Market Council, which represents growers, producers, distributors and retailers.. And just last year, wine eclipsed beer as the beverage of choice for U.S. drinkers.

That has opened opportunities and presented challenges for the industry -- around the world and in Central Florida -- as it deals with buyers who are more educated, driven by a desire to live healthier, and more demanding than in the past.

"Consumers like choices, and they like varieties. And that's being offered to them by the intelligent retailers," said John Gillespie, the wine council's executive director.

Keeping up

It used to be that the best, or at least best-known, wines came from France, Italy and California. But today there are many more regions receiving attention, from Spain to Australia to South Africa.

"Now you could name the countries that don't produce great wines faster than you could name the ones that do," said Shayne Hebert, wine marketing supervisor for Orlando-based ABC Fine Wine & Spirits, one of the state's oldest liquor-store companies.

The company, founded in 1936, is in the midst of a major rebranding effort aimed at shedding the corner liquor-store image in hopes of being known for quality wines.

Just a decade ago, ABC stocked fewer than 1,000 brands of wine. Today, that number has more than tripled, with bottle prices ranging from $3.99 to $900.

ABC now has some 85 wine consultants spread throughout its 148 stores statewide. And select stores have added wine vaults, where customers can store their precious bottles in climate-controlled safety.

Larger stores feature tracts of floor space set aside for wine, which requires lots of real estate. Consider that a strong offering of vodka requires space for 20 brands. Offering a nice selection of Chardonnays, on the other hand, demands space for some 200 brands.

Hebert, who has been choosing wine for ABC for a dozen years, has seen a steady change in customer attitudes and desires.

"They are not only buying more wine, but they are more savvy," Hebert said. "Today, you really have to be sharp to keep up with them."

Younger drinkers

Conventional wisdom once held that drinkers didn't make a serious move to wine until they hit their 30s or 40s, ready to leave their beer-drinking days behind.

Today, some are making the transition in their 20s, encouraged by funky and irreverent brands and labels. Termed "adventure brands" by some, they often appeal to younger, novice buyers shopping for cool labels.

Such was the case with two lines launched last year by Constellation Wines. "Smashed Grapes" and "3 Blind Moose" both carry consumer-friendly $9.99 price tags and colorful marketing aimed at drinkers younger than 35.

"You have to find something that's going to jump out at people," said Charla Metcalf, a company spokeswoman.

Many local wine shops also cater to the younger drinkers -- as well as those coming later to the game -- by offering tasting and sampling events with an educational bent.

Olivier Uteschill has been running Pierre's Wine Cellar in Lake Mary for seven years, and he has seen his clientele grow younger with each passing year. One of his goals is to help novice drinkers become more comfortable, through tastings and events that put them in touch with the wine.

"Wine is like riding a bicycle. You can read about it. But until you experience it, nothing happens," Uteschill said.

New opportunities

Consumer demand also is opening avenues for local wine producers, large and small.

Both the Lakeridge Winery in Clermont and the San Sebastian Winery in St. Augustine have started distributing their brands -- once sold almost exclusively on-site -- through outside retail operations, including Publix Super Markets and ABC stores.

Now, those outlets account for as much as 15 percent of sales, while making life easier on loyal customers, said Charles Cox, vice president of Seavin Inc., which owns both wineries.

"Driving out to Clermont or St. Augustine, or having it shipped, may not have been as convenient," Cox said.

On a much smaller scale, Mount Dora's Ridgeback Winery, which opened in 2003, has found itself a niche of wine fans interested in more whimsical offerings.

Touting names like "Smelly Sneaker" and "Rosco's White Woobie" -- inspired by a pet dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback -- the wines appeal to drinkers interested in younger vintages free of any traces of snobbery, said co-owner Ellie Thompson.

"So many people come in and are very intimidated by wine," Thompson said. "But we try to tell people all that matters is whether you like it or not."

On the extreme end of winemaking is Orlando's Grapes to Glass, which lets customers add their own touch to the process.

After picking their flavors, customers return four to eight weeks later to bottle, cork and label their wines. It's perfect for folks who like the idea of pulling out a bottle of "Scott's Special Reserve'' or "Mary's Vineyard" at dinner time. The wines -- aging is left up to the buyer -- cost $170 to $250 for a batch of 28 bottles.

Originally, the plan was to let customers take part in the mixing and preparation of ingredients. But that turned out not to be such a good idea.

The problem, said owner Denise Karst, is that there is little room for error. Lots of things can kill a batch -- a stray eyelash or the oil found on human skin, for example.

"It's human nature. You want to stick your finger in there and see what the juice tastes like," Karst said.

That being a big no-no, Karst decided to reserve participatory winemaking for groups -- under close observation.

Even so, business has been good. Grapes opened last summer, and already Karst is looking to expand to Tampa and at least one other location.

The appeal is easy to see for customers like Joe Mills, owner of CRM Janitorial Service, who has ordered several personalized batches.

"It's really the perfect professional gift because so many people are into it these days," Mills said.

Source: “Vintners cheer growing taste for wine,” Tim Barker, Orlando Sentinel, January 30, 2006

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Record Crowd Marks 12th Annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium

A record-breaking 10,200 wine and grape industry professionals filled the Sacramento Convention Center this week to hear and see the latest industry developments at the 12th annual Unified Wine & Grape Symposium.

The three-day symposium, held January 24-26, saw a 7 percent increase in attendance over last year. Featuring an international lineup of speakers with a trade show that highlighted the latest equipment and services, the event attracted wine and grape industry professionals from around the world.

“We had the heaviest traffic we’ve ever witnessed on the trade show floors,” said American Society for Enology and Viticulture Executive Director Lyndie Boulton, whose organization is a co-host of the Symposium.

“Interest in understanding the global wine market is keen, and globalization and its challenges were recurring topics during the Unified Symposium,” said Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, which also co-hosts the Unified Symposium. “However, overall there’s a strong sense of optimism that the American grape and wine community is well positioned for success.”

Now in its 12th year, the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium continues to be developed and refined each year with the joint input of growers, vintners and allied industry members. With informative seminars and nearly 500 vendors displaying their products and services, it is the largest wine and grape trade show anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

In 2007, the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium will again be held at the Sacramento Convention Center, January 23-25. For additional information, go to: UnifiedSymposium

Posted by fortna at 12:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 30, 2006

New Pomegranate Liqueur

Capitalizing on the cocktail craze and the newest “it” flavor in mixed drinks, Bardstown, Kentucky-based Heaven Hill Distilleries Inc. has released Pama Pomegranate Liqueur. The new spirit is a blend of imported Tequila, super-premium vodka and all-natural California pomegranate juice.

“Pama Pomegranate Liqueur is a product of the cocktail revolution,” says Reid Hafer, Pama’s brand manager. “Pomegranate has become one of the hottest flavors in bars and nightclubs throughout the United States and this liqueur captures the true flavor of the unique fruit.”

Heaven Hill, which saw huge first-year success with Hpnotiq liqueur — the brand went from roughly 100,000 nine-liter cases in 2002 to 615,000 cases in 2003, according to Impact Databank — has high expectations for Pama. Originally the company planned to make the new spirit available nationally by the end of the third quarter of 2006, however it has accelerated distribution and will now have Pama in roughly 75% of its markets nationwide by the beginning of this year’s second quarter.

Though they won’t say how many cases of the red liqueur they’re releasing, Josh Hafer, Heaven Hill’s corporate communications manager, says Pama will receive similar resources in its first year as Hpnotiq did at its introduction. “It will fit into our portfolio as a component that helps drive a variety of mixable products,” Hafer explains. “We can leverage Pama’s success much in the way we did Hpnotiq’s. This is another component of our on-premise portfolio and is a rising tide for all of our brands.”

The liqueur’s mixability is a major focus for Heaven Hill, which will be emphasized on-premise. Off-premise, Pama has p-o-s support and each bottle comes with a mini booklet featuring six cocktail recipes.

Pama has already received praise in OK Magazine, US Weekly and Cosmopolitan, and was featured on “The Tony Danza Show” and “The View.” Additionally, a marketing program for Pama is in the works and Heaven Hill expects to use trade and consumer advertising to further publicize the brand.

At 17-percent alcohol-by-volume, the liqueur is packaged in a sleek glass bottle that highlights its deep red color. It retails for $24.99 a 750-ml. bottle and $3.29 a 50-ml. bottle (a 375-ml. bottle is in development).

Source: “Heaven Hill Introduces New Pama Liqueur,” Laura Pelner, January 20, 2006

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Hardy Australian Harvest Bring Strikes

Australian winery workers are threatening a lengthy strike that could hurt supplies of some of the country's best-known wines.

Staff at the Stanley Winery near Mildura, in Victoria, south east Australia, staged a 24-hour strike last week over pay and conditions and are now understood to be threatening an eight-week strike.

The Stanley Winery, which crushed over 100,000 tons of grapes in 2004, is part of Australian group Hardy Wine, which makes Hardys and Banrock, among others. It is owned by US drinks giant Constellation.

Bruce Rowe, group operations manager at Hardy Wine, was locked in meetings with unions throughout Friday as management tried to stave off the threatened action.

However, a Constellation spokesman said the company would not cave in at any price. "The management in Australia is working to resolve this, but from what I have seen of the situation, it has to be reasonable."

The Australian Workers' Union said it decided to strike after four months of negotiations foundered. The company is believed to be offering a 10 per cent pay rise, whereas the union wants a 15 per cent rise over three years.

The timing is particularly bad as it is at the peak of the region's vintage, and could affect supply. But the Constellation spokesman insisted consumers would not go short: "There's an ample supply - it's not as if people will go to the store and the shelves will be empty."

Australian wines have become intensely popular in recent years. A survey by Merrill Lynch found that Californian wines had lost market share in the US, which tends to favour domestic brands, as drinkers opted for imported wines instead. Australian wines showed particularly strong growth during 2005.

Australian winery workers are threatening a lengthy strike that could hurt supplies of some of the country's best-known wines.

Staff at the Stanley Winery near Mildura, in Victoria, south east Australia, staged a 24-hour strike last week over pay and conditions and are now understood to be threatening an eight-week strike.

The Stanley Winery, which crushed over 100,000 tons of grapes in 2004, is part of Australian group Hardy Wine, which makes Hardys and Banrock, among others. It is owned by US drinks giant Constellation.

Bruce Rowe, group operations manager at Hardy Wine, was locked in meetings with unions throughout Friday as management tried to stave off the threatened action.

However, a Constellation spokesman said the company would not cave in at any price. "The management in Australia is working to resolve this, but from what I have seen of the situation, it has to be reasonable."
The Australian Workers' Union said it decided to strike after four months of negotiations foundered. The company is believed to be offering a 10 per cent pay rise, whereas the union wants a 15 per cent rise over three years.

The timing is particularly bad as it is at the peak of the region's vintage, and could affect supply. But the Constellation spokesman insisted consumers would not go short: "There's an ample supply - it's not as if people will go to the store and the shelves will be empty."

Australian wines have become intensely popular in recent years. A survey by Merrill Lynch found that Californian wines had lost market share in the US, which tends to favour domestic brands, as drinkers opted for imported wines instead. Australian wines showed particularly strong growth during 2005.

Source: “Strikes bring bitter harvest for Hardy,” Abigail Townsend, The Independent, January 29, 2006

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Naples, Florida Winter Wine Festival World's Most Generous Event

For the third year in its six-year history, the Naples Winter Wine Festival has raised more money than any charity wine event in the world! And today's total sets a new record--raising nearly $14 Million!. No other charity wine event has ever raised as much money.

Today's auction pulled in a record $12.2 million. The total amount raised with ticket sales, the raffle and sponsor monies is more than $13.7 million.

Featuring an all-star lineup of world-renowned vintners, celebrity chefs, wine aficionados, culinary enthusiasts and celebrities, the weekend's highlight was Saturday's International Wine Auction at The Ritz-Carlton, Naples Golf Resort. A sellout crowd of 500+ bid on outstanding lots, presided over by auctioneers Ann Colgin, a consultant for Sotheby's and the proprietor of Colgin Cellars in Napa Valley and Humphrey Butler of Simon C. Dickenson Group, a former director at both Sotheby's and Christie's.

The auction included rare wines, exceptional food experiences and one-of-a-kind luxury travel packages all donated by festival trustees, vintners, chefs, sponsors and wine lovers.

"While I'm thrilled that we set another record this year, records aren't what we are all about. The most important result is all the good this money will do for the children," said wine festival chair Grace Evenstad. "I am so proud of all the participants in this year's auction."

Two lots finished in a tie as the highest for the day: the Ferrari F-430 Spyder and a Mediterranean yachting excursion for five couples featuring 3-three liter 2002 Gargiulo wines both went for $520,000.

Other highlights include:

Lot 28 - A 2006 Bentley Continental Flying Spur sold for $440,000.

Lot 35 - Two one-week western Mediterranean excursions for 6 couples went for $420,000 each.

Lot 56 - A seven-day Argentine excursion with 3-three liter 2004 Antucura, 6- 1.5 liter 2004 Antucura and 12-750ml 2003 Antucura went for $380,000.

Lot 63 - A 12-day South African adventure with tennis great Johan Kriek for three couples with safari, tennis and dining went for $320,000.

Celebrities gracing the wine festival this year included chef Emeril Lagasse, actress Jane Seymour, Judge Judy Shiendlin, former MLB pitcher Sterling Hitchcock, Regis & Kelly producer Michael Gelman, and Phantom of the Opera star Franc D'Ambrosio.

On Friday night, guests participated in one of 17 simultaneously held vintner dinners, each of which paired a well-known chef with a visiting vintner, at some of Naples' most beautiful homes and exclusive addresses. Featured vintners included Shari & Garen Staglin of Staglin Family Vineyard, Ann Colgin of Colgin Cellars, Grace & Ken Evanstad of Domaine Serene, Valerie Boyd and Jeff Gargiulo or Gargiulo Vineyards, Ann & Dick Grace of Grace Family Vineyards, and Elizabeth and Clarke Swanson of Swanson vineyards pouring their best vintages in the name of charity.

Saturday's auction was held under a tent at the Ritz-Carlton, Naples Golf Resort, which is also the venue for Sunday's Celebration Brunch.

The Naples Winter Wine Festival and The Naples Children and Education Foundation were established by Naples families who share a passion for great wine, fabulous food and bettering their community. In just five years they've brought the charitable dollar amount to more than $38.8 million, all benefiting local children's charities.

Past beneficiaries include The Boys & Girls Club of Collier County, Collier County Child Advocacy Council, Collier Health Services, The David Lawrence Center, Early Years Education Foundation, ELLM Program, Foster Care Council of SW Florida, Fun Time Early Childhood Academy, Guadalupe Center, Learning Connection of Naples, Marco "Eye-Land" Eradicate Amblyopia Foundation, Naples Equestrian Challenge, PACE Center for Girls, Redlands Christian Migrant Association, Ricky King Foundation, Shelter for Abused Women & Children and Step by Step-Childhood Education and Therapy Center.

The next festival will be held February 2-4, 2007. For further details and information surrounding the 2006 event please visit our web site at NaplesWineFestival or call the wine festival office at (239) 514-2239.

Press Release, January 28, 2006

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Defining 'Family Winery' Traditions

When a mass-produced wine has "family" written on the label, it might mean "family of stockholders."

This is written on the back label of a 1.5-liter bottle of 2004 RH Phillips Dunnigan Hills Sauvignon Blanc: "Our family has lived in the Dunnigan Hills in Northern California since our grandfather, R. H. Phillips, planted our land to wheat in the 1940s. Today the wines of R.H. Phillips Vineyards testify to three generations' knowledge of the land."

That sounds wonderful, though it doesn't mention that Phillips' grandchildren sold the business to Canada's largest wine company, Vincor International, in 2000. Kim Brown, sister of winery founder Lane Giguiere, still works at R.H. Phillips, but she's not exactly trampling grapes with her feet -- her title is communications manager.

This is fairly common. E. & J. Gallo Winery employs David Mirassou as national sales manager for Gallo-owned Mirassou winery, whose 2004 Mirassou Monterey County Riesling "embodies the optimistic spirit passed down through six generations of America's oldest winemaking family."

Similarly, James Concannon maintains an office at Concannon Vineyard, though that Livermore winery is now the flagship of the large San Francisco company the Wine Group.

Such marketing strategies are targeting a group of consumers that Constellation Brands called "Traditionalists" in an extensive marketing survey released late last year. Called "Project Genome," the survey divided consumers into six types. "Traditionalists," who the company says "need to feel that their wine is made by a well-known winery that's been around for a long time," make up 16 percent of the U.S. market, the company says.

In other words, almost one of every six wine buyers is a sucker for labels like this one on the side of a 5-liter box of NV Franzia White Zinfandel: "A new beginning -- Teresa Franzia, my grandmother, planted her first vineyard along the road to Yosemite in 1906. Her family survived Prohibition by selling these grapes to home winemakers back East. When Prohibition ended, my father and his six brothers and sisters rebuilt the winery brick by brick, barrel by barrel."

What the Franzia label history omits is that some members of the family engineered the sale of the business to the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New York in 1973. Coke of New York later sold Franzia to the Wine Group, which ranks third in total U.S. wine sales according to Wine Business Monthly.

But the Franzia family is still involved in the wine business in a big way. Fred Franzia owns Bronco Wine Co., the nation's fourth-largest wine company by sales, according to Wine Business Monthly. And Bronco is the producer of one of the most popular "assumed name" wines in the country: Charles Shaw, also known as 'Two-Buck Chuck.' Bronco bought the brand name from a bankruptcy trustee and the wine now has no connection with its namesake.

But really, Traditionalists, how much family connection do you expect for $2?

Source: “What does 'family winery' really mean?,” W. Blake Gray, January 26, 2006

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Indiana House Trying To Restrict Farm Based Wine Sales

Members of Indiana’s House of Representatives are considering a bill that would likely keep a loose lid on a growing agribusiness in the state if passed.

House Bill 1190 pertaining to farm winery sales would allow Indiana vintners to sell their product to consumers by the bottle at three locations apart from the winery, and increases from nine days to 30 days the amount of time per year a winery could participate in a trade show.

What it doesn’t do is allow shipping inside or outside of Indiana, and it does limit sales to retailers, which would essentially cut potential revenues the growing Indiana wine industry might experience from those sales.

Dorothy Gahimer, owner of Terre Vin winery in Rockville, Ind., and the WineShop in Monticello, said at least 40 percent of their customers are from out of state and would purchase more of their product if it could be shipped.

“Being able to ship wine inside and outside Indiana will increase our business growth."

“At least 40 percent of Terre Vin’s customers come from Illinois and we get several requests a month from customers who have bought wine in Rockville or at the WineShop, to ship them more of the wine,” Gahimer said.

She explained that Indiana wineries have been making direct sales to groceries, liquor stores, and restaurants for many years, but most wineries are too small to interest distributors.

“We have been in business for 10 years and have talked to distributors several times. They have had no interest in carrying our wines. We have been working to expand our direct sales to retailers, if this avenue is closed to us, it will result in a decrease in our income and that of our outside salesman.” She said.

HB 1190 states that it, “Prohibits a farm winery from selling wine directly to the holder of a retailer permit.”

“The legislation removing shipping and direct sales from Indiana wineries will adversely affect an industry that has been growing for several years, and many wineries say they will suffer a severe loss of income,” said Gahimer.

The bill was passed out of the House Committee on Public Policy and Veterans Affairs and up for a second reading and discussion Thursday afternoon. Rep. Don Lehe (R- Brookston)said he had heard from constituents concerning the bill including Larry Pampel, a Monticello businessman and owner of a vineyard.

“The good stuff was taken out of that during committee,” said Lehe.

“Currently the way I understand it, the bill strips the benefits wineries had, and we need to look at something to benefit them. I’m going to be looking at what we can do to get the benefits back in,” he said.

Retail sales and allowing wine to be shipped are pro-business efforts to try to develop the industry in the state Lehe said.

On the Senate side, SB 0110 allowing shipping and retail sales, still lingers in the Commerce and Transportation Committee according to a report from Sen. Brandt Hershman’s (R- Wheatfield) Statehouse office.

That’s where it may stay considering Monday morning is the last day for committee hearings and the bill isn’t on the list yet.

Hershman said in general his philosophy on alcohol laws is they are meant to prohibit illegal sale and consumption by minors.

“I don’t think there is a problem with illegal consumption for small wineries. It (HB 1190)does limit their ability in the marketplace. My general tendency would be to relax the restriction,” said Hershman.

Pampel, in addition to Whyte Horse Farm and Vineyard, is building a winery south of Monticello. HB 1190 may affect his decision to develop the business.

“That will essentially restrict small wineries. This bill went from favorable to unfavorable for small business,” Pampel said.

Where Indiana has been promoting agribusiness, to restrict sales of small, family-owned businesses that hire local workers, Pampel said, will cause them to go away.

Pampel suspects there may be influence from distributors and wholesalers behind the restrictions, but said only 8 percent of total state wine sales are by small wineries and shouldn’t affect distributors.

“HB 1190 was a compromise with distributors at first, but when it came out of committee it was changed with no chance to comment,” Pampel said.

He added that wineries are typically destinations for tourists, and with the tourism industry in Monticello, they add diversification to what the area already offers.

“This could affect our decision on whether to go ahead (with the winery),” he said.

Source: “New House bill would restrict farm wine sales,” Kevin Howell, The Herald Journal, January 26, 2006

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January 29, 2006

Record High Imported Varietals Reached

Imported Varietal Wine Consumption by Type

(Millions of Nine-Liter Cases)

In spite of a weak U.S. dollar which persisted through the first half of last year, imported
varietal table wines had another solid performance in 2005, increasing an estimated 8% by
volume to a new record of 46 million nine-liter cases, according to the current edition of The
U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast. Varietal imports are projected to grow by another 10 million cases by the end of the decade.

Red imports surpassed their white varietal counterparts for the first time ever in 2005, after an
estimated 9% gain to 23 million cases. Much of their continued popularity can be attributed to
Shiraz/Syrah, which led all red varietal imports at an estimated 8 million cases. Predominantly
from Australia, Shiraz/Syrah surpassed Merlot as the largest selling red varietal import in
2004. Imported Cabernet Sauvignon is only half the size of Shiraz/Syrah, but is estimated to
have attained the fastest growth among all major imported varietals (+15% in 2005).

Among imported white wines, two types account for the lion’s share of the varietal market.
Pinot Grigio surpassed Chardonnay in 2001, but Chardonnay once again regained the
number-one slot in 2004. Imported Chardonnay rose 7 percent last year to an estimated 10
million cases, due primarily to the continued growth of Australian Chardonnay. Pinot Grigio,
mostly from Italy, kept pace at 9 million cases, in spite of significant price hikes taken by
Italian producers beginning in late 2003.

For more information about the 2005 edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review
and Forecast, click here.

Source: The US Wine Market, Impact Databank Review & Forecast, 2005 Edition

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Consolidation ‘Big Gulps’ Wine Industery

Will consumers be able to swallow consolidation? Wineries keep getting bought and sold. From bargain-brand HRM Rex Goliath to prestigious Taittinger Champagne, familiar brands are being purchased by large companies.

Does it matter to consumers? It depends on what you want out of wine. If you just want a decent cheap bottle, industry consolidation may be a good thing. If you prefer a more individualistic wine, you may have to do some research to learn who owns the brand.

HRM Rex Goliath, for example, is now one of many labels owned by Constellation Brands, the world's largest wine producer, and Taittinger -- France's third-oldest Champagne house -- is currently owned by Connecticut's Starwood Capital. But the sales last year of these brands might not affect their wines' quality.

This hasn't always been true. In the 1960s and '70s, some famous brands -- Inglenook is the best example -- were transformed from prestigious labels to plonk by buyers in search of short-term profit on their name value.

Richard Peterson was an enologist at historic Beaulieu Vineyard in 1969 when it was bought by the Connecticut spirits company Heublein Corp., which also owned food brands such as Grey Poupon mustard. Peterson says then-Heublein executive Andy Beckstoffer -- now one of the largest vineyard owners in Northern California -- tried to persuade Peterson to use Thompson seedless grapes, cheap grapes meant for eating, rather than pricier wine grapes in BV's sparkling wine.

"Heublein never caught on," Peterson says. "The big wine companies today, they're all very sharp."

Peterson and many others say inexpensive wines today are more consistently palatable than ever, and the wine savvy of the industry's leading corporations has much to do with it.

In the United States, the big three -- Constellation Brands, E. & J. Gallo Winery and the Wine Group -- combined to sell 171 million cases of wine in 2005, according to Wine Business Monthly. This is roughly 60 percent of total U.S. wine sales.

All three are wine-focused, and international to boot. Constellation passed Gallo as the world's No. 1 wine producer in 2004, according to Euromonitor International, when it bought Australia's largest producer, BRL Hardy. In addition to California, Gallo owns wineries in Italy, France and Australia.

Names change, power remains

"There's always been a big three, as long as I've been in the business," says Woodside-based Jon Fredrickson, who has been a wine industry analyst for 35 years. "United Vintners used to be No. 2 to Gallo. Coca-Cola of Atlanta used to be No. 3. Seagram was a big factor at one point.

"The difference now is the big players are creating big brands overseas," Fredrickson says. "Gallo has Ecco Domani from Italy and Red Bicyclette from France. That's a really radical change."

Industry analyst Barbara Insel says corporations used to fight mostly for the lower-priced market, but now they also make high-end wines.

"There's a very strong growth rate in high-end wines," says Insel, managing director of St. Helena-based MKF Research LLC. "You didn't used to find $30 wines at Safeway. Even if the wine turns over slowly, it's part of the marketing strategy. My sense is that Gallo is trying to strengthen the wineries it bought. They see the market going up."

In a recent interview (see related story, Page F1), Constellation chairman Richard Sands cited a survey in which sales of wines priced at $9 to $12 are up about 9 percent compared to the previous year; sales of wines priced $12 to $20 are up about 14 percent and sales of wines priced over $20 are "up in the high teens."

The dark side of consolidation is that corporations staring at juicy sales figures are ruthless competitors. Small wineries can carve out a niche, especially with high-priced wines. But Insel says wineries that aspire to producing more than 10,000 cases per year must fight the giants for attention from distributors, space on shop shelves and slots on restaurant wine lists.

"If you're making mediocre wines, the market is not forgiving," says Pete Seghesio, CEO of Seghesio Family Vineyards in Healdsburg. "There's no breathing room. Twenty or 30 years ago it didn't matter as much. But now, if we have five years of mediocre wine, we'll probably be out of business."

Seghesio is exactly the size of winery that is most threatened by corporate giants. The company makes 80,000 cases of wine per year -- a pittance compared to the 75 million cases that Gallo sold in the United States alone in 2005. Though respected for the quality of its Zinfandel, Seghesio is too big to be a trendy "cult" winery -- which might be able to sell all of its wine through a mailing list -- and too small to compete with Gallo or Constellation for large national accounts.

Yet after all the wine-brand buying that has gone on in the last few years, Constellation's Sands likes to point out that "the wine industry is still very fragmented."

Euromonitor International, a business research and analysis firm, reports that in 2003, the most recent year for which this statistic is available, the top 20 global wine producers accounted for only about 16 percent of total international wine sales.

In contrast, in the carbonated soft-drink industry, the top three companies (Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Cadbury Schweppes, which owns 7Up and Dr Pepper) account for 75.7 percent of international sales, according to Euromonitor.

Consolidation of distributors is a bigger threat than Gallo and Constellation to small- and medium-size wineries. In some states -- not including California -- one wine distributor has created a monopoly by buying up or squeezing out its competitors. Once such a monopoly exists, there's no incentive for a distributor to deal with smaller brands that may not be able to provide a year-round supply of their product.

Consolidation of retailers and restaurants is also a problem. Gallo spokesman Tim McDonald says, "Large retailers want to have a Cabernet or Chardonnay or Merlot that nobody else has," and his company is large enough to create retailer-specific brands like Winking Owl for them. The low prices on these relatively anonymous brands make tough competition for smaller producers.

Insel says the wine lists at national restaurant chains like Red Lobster "are dominated by Beringer and Gallo. The very large guys have to maintain supply and volume to maintain their distribution channels."

Large wine companies benefit from getting even bigger, Insel says, so they have even more marketing clout. She says she expects more wineries to be bought up in 2006. At the same time, she says, "There's still plenty of room for small wineries."

Six types of consumer

Part of the reason for that can be found in Constellation's marketing survey, Project Genome, which divided U.S. consumers into six categories.

The good news for Constellation, Gallo and the Wine Group (which owns Corbett Canyon, Franzia and Glen Ellen Vineyards & Winery) is that plenty of wine drinkers don't care where their wine comes from.

"Savvy shoppers," defined as people "looking for a great wine at a great value," make up 15 percent of the market. "Satisfied sippers," who are partly defined by the statement, "I always buy the same brand and I'm happy with that. When I go to a restaurant, I always order the house White Zinfandel," are 14 percent.

The largest category, at 23 percent, is "Overwhelmed," those who are confused by the many types of wine available -- seemingly easy prey for companies that specialize in marketing. Add up those three, corporate-friendly categories and you've got 52 percent. Throw in "Traditionalists," who want a winery that has been in business for a long time but might not care who owns it now (see related story below), and it's 68 percent.

But that still leaves nearly a third of wine buyers, who are divided into two types. Image Seekers (20 percent) "need to feel sophisticated and fun, adventurous and trendy." The Wine Group might sell these folks some wines labeled FishEye or Running with Scissors, but at the same time, small Sonoma Coast wineries might sell them some trendy, expensive, cool-climate Pinot Noir.

Then there are hardcore Enthusiasts (12 percent), who "are passionate about the entire wine experience." Enthusiasts read wine reviews in publications like The Chronicle and will seek out small-production wines based on good scores.

That brings up the big question: Can a corporate-owned winery make wine as fine as a privately owned one?

Scott Harvey, who has worked for corporate wineries and now makes wine under his own label, says, "It all depends on the corporation. If the corporation is geared toward quality, then you can make quality. I like doing the niche stuff better, myself. But corporate winemakers sometimes have access to pretty good vineyards."

Is there an objective way to answer this question of quality?

Of The Chronicle's Top 100 wines of 2005, 20 were produced by corporate wineries. Eleven of 32 whites on were corporate, but only seven of 62 reds were. (The other six were rosés and bubblies.) The average price of the corporate wines on our list was $25.85, while the privately owned wines averaged $33.36.

Corporate strength in lower-priced wines is not surprising. Corporations get volume-buying discounts on glass, corks and labels. They can share vineyards across brands, raising cheaper brands' quality.

Do corporations have difficulty with high-end reds, which often require expensive decisions like dropping usable grapes on the ground to reduce overall yield? It may be too early to tell, as Constellation's high-end winery shopping spree, which kicked off the current round of prestige label buys, started with the purchases of Simi Winery and Franciscan Estates in 1999 -- a short time to assess viticultural changes.

Sold and sold again

Ken Brown founded Byron Vineyard and Winery, a high-end Pinot Noir and Chardonnay specialist in Santa Barbara County, in 1984. In 1990, he sold it to Robert Mondavi Winery.

"Working with the Mondavis was great," Brown says. "I knew the family. I felt their passions and their vision for the area was the same as mine was."

In 1993, the Mondavis took their company public to raise funds, some of which were used to build Byron a new gravity-flow winery, crucial for gentle processing of finicky Pinot Noir. Brown, who had stayed on as winemaker, was happy -- for a while.

"It took a little while for the Mondavi family to learn what Wall Street is all about," Brown says. "Things changed. Once you're in the Wall Street mainstream, it's really not about the passion of winemaking, it's about the bottom line."

Yet Brown stayed until June 2004, five months before Constellation bought Mondavi and quickly sold Byron to Legacy Estates. Eight months later, Legacy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the future of the Byron brand is unclear. That's no problem for Brown, who now has his own winery, Ken Brown Wines in Solvang.

But it is an irritant for Richard Arrowood, who sold his eponymous winery in Glen Ellen to Mondavi in July 2000. Arrowood Vineyards & Winery went the same route as Byron -- sold to Constellation, then to Legacy, which is now in bankruptcy.

Arrowood is still there as "winemaster," and says, "Because of the bankruptcy, it's been difficult."

"True gems are going to be in small quantities," Arrowood says. "Large companies aren't interested in that. A truckload of diamonds is called rhinestones."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Large wine companies add muscle by buying brands in the United States and abroad.
-- Mid-sized wineries are caught in a pinch -- too big to be boutique, too small to have clout.
-- Small wineries can create a must-have image and are able to bypass the middleman.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Source: “The big gulp,” W. Blake Gray, San Francisco Chronicle, January 26, 2006

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January 28, 2006

COPIA Wines of Mexico

Saturday, 1/28 – 12:00 – 3:00 pm, A COPIA Walk-around Wine Tasting

FREE-FREE-FREE-FREE-FREE-FREE-FREE

Taste the sophisticated wines of our neighbors to the south in this festive celebration, and meet vintners, restaurateurs and artists from this vibrant region. Representing the top artists of the entire peninsula, the premiere art gallery in Baja, La Caja, will display selected art pieces.

Participating wineries:

Monte Xanic -- Hans Backhoff
Viña de Liceaga -- Eduardo Liceaga-Campos
Adobe Guadalupe -- Don Miller
Cavas Valmar -- Fernando Martain
Bodegas Santo Tomas -- Enrique Zamora
Chateau Camou -- Fernando Favela & Victor Torres
Mogor Badan -- Antonio Badan
Casa de Piedra -- Gloria Ramos (and possibly Hugo d'Acosta)
Viñedos Lafarga -- Roberto Lafarga
Vinos Tanama -- Ricardo González & Alfonso González
Vinisterra -- Christoph Gaertner & Abelardo Rodriguez
Viñas Pijoan -- Pau Pijoan
Vitivinicola Tres Valles -- Joaquin Prieto
Vinos Shimul -- Álvaro Ptacnik
Vinos y Terruños -- José Luis Durand
Vinos JCBravo -- Juan Carlos Bravo
Vinicola L.A. Cetto -- Camilo P. Magoni & Don Luis Cetto

COPIA Wines of Mexico Link: let's hope!

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South African Cellar Action In Wellington, Tulbagh, Worcester and Paarl

A random check of cellars South African Cellars finds that a few more are easing into action, but many haven't got their tanks wet yet.

As the Boland nears the end of January, harvesting is only beginning for the majority of producers. Tulbagh's Twee Jonge Gezellen started picking for sparkling wine production on Sunday January 15th. Nicky Krone says they're picking quite a bit earlier than in 2005: 'We're about halfway through Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It's looking good but we've got to run fast with these fairly warm temperatures. Fortunately we've got very cool nights when we're picking.' With a show of entrepreneurial flair, 19-year-old Luke Krone is also organising night-harvesting dinners for the month of February (on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays). Participants arrive for a tasting and casual dinner in the tasting centre, then join regular pickers at 10pm on the 'starlight express', the farm tractor loaded with grape bins.

Pierre Wahl of Rijk's in Tulbagh wrapped up harvesting on February 20th in 2005, but he expects to only lock up his cellar in 2006 during the first week of March. 'I brought in our first Sauvignon last Thursday [January 19] with a lot of green fig flavours. I added yeast two days ago so can't really assess quality right now,' he says. 'We'll buy in Sauvignon from the Darling side of Malmesbury as usual, and they're 10 days behind 2005.' Wahl expects the farm's Pinotage and Chardonnay to come in during early February. 'Pinotage sugars shot up quite dramatically over the weekend but are not phenolically ripe, so we're giving it a few days. We're hoping for cooler weather to slow the sugar climb and keep the phenolics and tannins in balance,' he continues.
Rijk's also only harvests at night (from 11pm to 8am) and Wahl is upbeat about 2006 quality. He says Tulbagh experienced double their 2004 winter rains during winter 2005; hence vines don't look too stressed. Strong wind had a negative effect on the first few rows of some blocks, but they've acted as windbreaks for remaining rows.

Diemersfontein started processing Wellington grapes on Monday 23 January. Operations manager Simon Springthorpe confirmed that the cellar will likely harvest their own grapes within seven days. 'We've brought in 55 tons of Pinotage this week from a Wellington supplier. It'll go into the 32,000 cases of Pinotage we'll be making this year - our Corolla Tazz of the range,' he quipped.

Bernard Smuts reports that Boland Kelder started harvesting their first 200 tons in Paarl on January 25. With 21,000 tons to go, he's upbeat. 'We started with Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinotage. It's from the Perdeberg and from Drakenstein on the Wellington side of Paarl,' he shouts over the cellar din, while tasting juices from grapes received. 'At the moment, it looks good. Acids are high and Ph is low - what we want. Something different this year is that berries are smaller, which provides a better skin/juice ratio for the reds.' Smuts predicts a slow ripening period for whites and reds, noting that cool evenings could be contributing to their 2006 harvest dates being 10 days later.

Over in Worcester, Natalie van Rooyen is working her second harvest at Overhex Private Cellar. She suspects cooler weather is responsible for slowing grape development compared to late January 2005, when Overhex cellar was harvesting in full force. Van Rooyen concentrates on white wines but says Overhex expects Pinotage at the end of January. 'We've brought in some Chardonnay [17 tons] and it's looking really good. Some of our neighbours are starting to bring in Sauvignon Blanc and sparkling wine grapes, but generally sugars are still low,' she says. 'We're bringing in Sauvignon Blanc today too but I haven't seen any grapes yet. We were in the vineyards last week and some of the Sauvignon blocks were looking really good though: very grassy, green pepper flavours.'

Source: “Cellar action in Wellington, Tulbagh, Worcester and Paarl,” Kim Maxwell, January 26, 2006.

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Attack In Languedoc Garners Bordeaux Response

Three heads of the Bordeaux wine industry have written an open letter to the French wine community in a bid to end the 'stigmatisation' of the region.

Implicitly in response to recent accusations of complacency by Languedoc winemakers, the letter defends the Bordeaux region and calls for nationwide reforms, saying the industry needs 'respect, not charity'.

'It has become a habit to stigmatise the Bordeaux wine sector,' says the letter, written by Allan Sichel, who is head of the Bordeaux négociants' federation, CIVB boss Christian Delpeuch and Jacques Bertrand, head of the 'Grand Vins' union.

'The facts do not justify the accusations', they say, launching into a three-part defence of the Bordeaux wine industry.

In an attempt to 'put paid to a few generally accepted ideas', the authors defend over-production by asking, 'Can we blame a generation of winemakers and negociants for doubling their production when they could double their sales?'.

They also make the point that Bordeaux is not immune to the current crisis in the French wine industry, highlighting the plight of 'hundreds of growers in serious trouble'.

'The fall in the market is general,' they said.

In a proposal dubbed 'Plan Bordeaux', the letter puts forward several nationwide measures including state-aided grubbing up of vines and stricter production controls.

Admitting that wine production in France is in need of reform, the three writers aim their criticism at the way French viticulture is run, calling the current system 'centralised, inflexible and obsolete'.

Finishing with a paragraph headed 'French winemaking deserves something other than charity', the letter said the usual solutions would not help.

'In the short term, and without these urgent reforms, the usual tricks of distillation and a sprinkling of subsidies will be of no use. French winemaking deserves something better than charity. It … deserves the respect of the state.'

Earlier this week, Languedoc winemakers accused the Bordelais of 'twirling their moustaches' while southern wine producers suffered the brunt of the French wine crisis.

Source: “Bordeaux responds to Languedoc attack,” Oliver Styles, January 26, 2006

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January 27, 2006

Another Phylloxera Infestation Uncovered In Southern New Zealand

Affected area appears to be small, but Central Otago wine growers remain concerned about the vineyard pest

The stress level among vintners in New Zealand's Central Otago region has ticked up a notch, following confirmation last week of another infestation of the destructive root louse phylloxera. This is the second such discovery in Central Otago, which until 2002 was thought to be free of phylloxera since the parasite typically prefers ground softer than the region's sandy, rocky soils.

"This is a bit of a wake-up call for everybody," said Martin Anderson, president of the Central Otago Winegrowers Association.

This infestation appears to be confined to a relatively small subsection of Central Otago, which is known primarily for producing Pinot Noir. The pest was found in about 580 square feet of a vineyard in Lowburn, located near the center of Otago. The town is about 25 miles northwest of Alexandra, the site of the region's previous phylloxera infestation.

Options are limited once phylloxera establishes a toehold in a viticultural area. The aphid feeds on vine roots, starving infected plants as they gradually lose their ability to ingest nutrients. The only solution is to uproot infected vineyards and replant them with vines grafted onto rootstock that is resistant to the pest.

The European vine species Vitis vinifera—which includes the world's finest grapes, such as Pinot Noir—is particularly susceptible. Native to the New World, where the local vine species developed resistance, phylloxera first arrived in continental Europe in 1862, on a batch of American vines sent to a grower in the Rhône. (Read a history of phylloxera here.) By 1890 it had devastated vineyards throughout France; the country's wine industry was saved only by grafting vinifera onto the rootstock of a hybridized native American variety. In California, during the 1980s and 1990s, a mutated form of phylloxera forced growers to replant tens of thousands of acres of vines, at a cost of more than $1 billion.

It looks as though replanting will be necessary at many estates in Central Otago, where about 40 percent of the region's 2,800 acres of vines in production are on native rootstock. "We have to accept that over time it will come our way, and someday we'll have to do some replanting," said Jeff Sinnott, winemaker at Amisfield, which has a vineyard located about two miles from the site of the most recent outbreak.

Only 15 percent of Amisfield's vines are on native roots, leaving Sinnott with better prospects than many Otago producers. The region's older estates were planted by the mid-1990s, before many non-native rootstock options were widely available in New Zealand. And expansion in Central Otago has been so explosive—vineyard acreage in the region increased tenfold in the last decade, according to the trade association New Zealand Winegrowers—that even some recent plantings have native roots, though it's predominantly older vineyards that are at risk.

There's no way to pinpoint the source of the current infestation. To date, only one type of phylloxera has been identified in New Zealand's different viticultural regions. The best-case scenario is that the insects in Lowburn arrived from the Alexandra site, rather than from another, as-yet-undiscovered outbreak.

After the discovery of Central Otago's first phylloxera infestation, growers established protocols intended to slow its spread. These include restricting the movement of vehicles between vineyards and cleaning shoes and equipment. "The protocols will certainly be practiced with great regularity from now on," Anderson said, but admitted, "I'm not sure they have been in the past."

Source: “Southern New Zealand Uncovers Another Phylloxera Infestation,” Daniel Sogg, January 20, 2006

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Wine Glut Goes Worlds Wide

On the heels of a record 2005 California wine grape harvest, an Australian wine glut, high inventories of unsold French wine and big harvests in Chile and Argentina, the nail-biting has just begun for the Golden State's growers and vintners.

For U.S. wine drinkers, whose livelihoods don't depend on the profit margins of a bottle of wine, the future is plentiful, tasty and inexpensive.

"It's a great time to get people into wine," said Glenn Proctor, a wine broker with San Rafael-based Joseph W. Ciatti Co.

Proctor was among numerous experts Wednesday detailing the state of the global wine business for thousands of wine industry members gathered in Sacramento for the Unified Wine and Grape Symposium.

While all speakers painted a picture of too much wine swirling about the globe in search of too few consumers - and cautioned against planting more grapes - they also painted a bright scenario of vintners expanding their inroads in the United States.

"We're gaining traction in the U.S. market. Wine is entering the mainstream of American life for the first time," said Jon Fredrikson, a wine analyst and consultant with the Woodside-based Gomberg-Fredrickson Report

. With beer consumption still nine times higher in the United States than wine - and even hard liquor still having an edge - U.S. wine consumption of 2.4 gallons per capita has huge potential for growth, he told wine industry officials.

The United States, led by California, is the world's fourth largest wine producer, but its individual wine consumption ranks about 35th globally, according to the San Francisco-based Wine Institute. Most Europeans and South Americans drink far more wine than Americans.

Fredrikson said U.S. wine drinking has climbed steadily the last 15 years and jumped dramatically in recent years. Last year's consumption of 300 million cases was 59 million cases higher than 2001, he said.

Wine sales are rising amid baby boomer drinking preferences, a middle generation beginning to switch from beer to wine and a baby boom echo generation that already prefers wine, said Barbara Insel, managing director of St. Helena-based MKF Research LLC. Men, especially, are leading the trend, she said.

"You have people wanting affordable luxuries, wanting to be comfortable, wanting to feel special, and they have this nice, reasonably priced, nicely tasting product that they can have to make them feel special and privileged," she said. "All of this is driving demand for wine up."

But the U.S. wine industry is increasingly nervous about a global rush to fill that demand. California wineries have seen their dominance of U.S. sales slip to 66 percent from 75 percent in a decade as Australia, Chile and Argentina have geared up production.

"The U.S. market is where everybody wants to be. It's the most attractive market for producers," said Fredrikson.

He said 27 percent of wine consumed in the United States comes from abroad, compared with about 13 percent in 1990. California wineries have continued to grow sales by exporting about 17 percent of their production.

Now China, with its ability to produce low-cost manufactured and farm exports, has nearly 700,000 acres of wine grapes - and aims to have planted 1.2 million acres by 2009, said Proctor.

In contrast, California's 4,000 wine grape growers harvested 473,000 acres last year.

Escondido grape grower and winery owner Leon Santoro said he doubts optimistic expert scenarios about California wineries expanding alongside growing U.S. demand. Global competition will force all but small tourist-oriented boutiques out of California within 20 years, he said.

"There will always be an oversupply," said Santoro.

He pressed wine industry leaders Wednesday to form an alliance similar to the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries to limit world production, but they rejected the idea as impossible.

Proctor, indeed, cited growing acreages and unsold inventories across the planet for a continuing wine oversupply and downward price pressures.

"We think after 2006 some of the growers are going to start removing vines in Australia," he said. Australia last year sold 19.2 million cases of wine in the United States, compared with 419,000 cases 15 years ago.

French farmers, too, are considering pulling out 70,000 to 80,000 acres of grapes amid flat demand and high wine inventories, he said. Argentina, likewise, is accumulating an excess of wine after three big harvests and a population increasingly switching to beer.

Chile, despite falling prices and a 2005 harvest that was 25 percent bigger than the previous year, is planting still more acreage.

"They're good at cabernet sauvignon and can do it well and cheap," Proctor said referring to Chileans.

Meanwhile, California vintners are storing a 2005 wine grape harvest estimated at a record 3.4 million tons. and fearing extended life for the "Two Buck Chuck" phenomenon pioneered by Ceres-based Bronco Wine Co. - especially if the 2006 harvest is big.

Last year's harvest was 18 percent more than in 2004.

Smaller harvests in 2003 and 2004 had largely eliminated a wine glut that resulted from the 2002 crop of 3.1 million tons.

"If it's a big crop, Guy from the Sky help us," said Nat DiBuduo, president of Fresno-based Allied Grape Growers

.

Even as Insel said rising demand for the most costly California wines could produce local wine acreage shortages in coming years, DiBuduo suggested growers largely avoid planting more grapes in California.

Source: “World awash in glut of wine,” Jim Wasserman, January 26, 2006

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William Reed Drinks Newly Structure

William Reed has announced the new structure of its drinks division following its purchase of Wine International, Wine & Spirit International and Drinks International from Wilmington.

After a period of independent research involving readers and advertisers, and consultations with Wilmington staff, it has been confirmed that a new-look UK-facing magazine, Wine & Spirit, will appear in February 2006. This magazine will follow on from Wine International and Wine & Spirit International and be a groundbreaking title reflecting the energy, imagination and personality of the drinks world.

Like fellow William Reed title Restaurant magazine, Wine & Spirit is aimed at the "professional and the passionate". It will have strong consumer appeal, but will also be required reading for anyone with a career in wines, spirits and beer.

William Reed is delighted to confirm that Catharine Lowe, formerly editor of Wine International, is part of the team and joins as consulting editor. Other roles are being confirmed in the coming weeks.

The new structure gives William Reed by far the broadest spread of any publisher in the sector, with publications aimed at all areas of the drinks trade. This competitive advantage will be used to give greater publicity to the International Wine Challenge and International Spirits Challenge – both events that will be managed by the company’s Events & Exhibitions division. Consumer marketing will also be a priority.

Graham Holter, currently editor of Off Licence News, will assume a group editor role spanning OLN, Wine & Spirit and Drinks InternationaI and will have day-to-day editorial control of Wine & Spirit. Holter said: 'We are confident that the new Wine & Spirit will have an appeal that spans the entire drinks sector. We’re not thinking of it as either a trade magazine or a consumer magazine – it will inform, entertain and stimulate readers with any level of interest in wine, spirits and beers.

"In Wine & Spirit International and Wine International we have an impeccable pedigree. But we are determined that Wine & Spirit will be even greater than the sum of its parts and bring something new to the table."

Wine & Spirit will have a better targeted circulation than any other drinks trade title, backed by an ABC figure.

Patience Gould continues to be editor of Drinks International, which also relocates to Crawley. Off Licence News will appoint a managing editor in due course.
Source: “New structure for William Reed drinks titles,” Wine International, December 8, 2005

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World's No. 1 Wine Market Forecasted

Noted industry analyst predicts American sales will pass France, Italy by end of decade

The U.S. wine market is stronger than ever and will surpass France as the largest wine market in the world by the end of the decade, industry analysts forecast Wednesday.

"From the perspective of 3½ decades in the wine industry, I can assure you right now that things have never been better in this market and the future looks outstanding," Woodside wine analyst Jon Fredrikson said in a speech at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, the largest wine conference in the United States.

His closely-watched report indicated 2005 was a stellar year for U.S. wine market, reaching record volumes and sales as Baby Boomers and 20-somethings bought more - and more expensive - wine.

Americans purchased an estimated 300 million cases of wine last year, worth more than $25 billion, both of which are records, Fredrikson said.

If Americans continue their love affair with U.S. and imported wines, the United States soon could surpass France and Italy as the world's largest wine market. Wine consumption in France and Italy is still far higher per capita than the United States, but it has been steadily sliding in both nations.

"If we continue to grow at just 3 percent through the end of the decade, we will be the largest wine consumer nation in the world," Fredrikson said.

The news was reassuring to winemakers like Stephen Lindsay, general manager of Adler Fels Winery in Santa Rosa, who is hoping to grow the winery's popular Leaping Lizard and Big Ass Cab labels.

"I was very encouraged," Lindsay said. "They say a rising tide lifts all boats."

The strong market also should be good news for consumers as fierce competition and low grape prices here and abroad have increased the numbers of good, inexpensive wines on the U.S. market, Fredrikson said.

The upbeat report is particularly welcome news because California's 2005 grape harvest was far larger - as much as 25 percent by some estimates - than predicted. The huge harvest raised fears about a return of a grape glut in the state, which triggered price wars that drained profits from 2001 to 2004.

"Let's not panic over the '05 crop," said Nat DiBuduo, head of Allied Grape Growers, the largest grower's trade group in the state. "We're going to get through it."

Indications are that the 2006 crop should be smaller, helping even out the supply, DiBuduo said. Combined with strong demand and no significant new acres of grapes coming into production in the state, DiBuduo said grape prices should continue to rebound.

While California wineries are well positioned to take advantage of this growing market, their success is by no means assured. Competition from other states and imports is stronger than ever, Fredrikson said.

Sales of imports grew nearly three times as fast as California wines sales, accounting for more than half of last year's increase.

Wine drinkers bought an estimated 187 million cases of California wine last year, 6.5 million more than 2004 and a 4 percent increase.

They bought 8.4 million more cases of imported wine than in 2004, soaring to 81.5 million cases, an 11 percent increase.

But while Americans are drinking more Italian, Australian, New Zealand, German and South African wines, those countries aren't drinking more U.S. wines. For the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. wine exports dipped last year.

U.S. exports, which account for 17 percent of total California volume, fell 3 percent to 38 million cases, Fredrikson said. While the dip is troubling, it may be an anomaly, tied partly to Diageo moving production of its Blossom Hill label from California to Italy to be closer to the European market.

A host of factors are behind the increasing strength of the U.S. market.

The popularity of the movie "Sideways" continues to boost pinot noir sales and dog merlot.

"It made wine tasting and going to Wine Country a great adventure," said Barbara Insel, with MKF Research in St. Helena.

Another factor is "the graying of America," Fredrikson said. Baby Boomers have money and they are spending more money on wine as their palates are becoming more refined, he said.

The sheer number of drinking age adults in the United States is growing as well, from 164 million in 2000 to an estimated 184 million in 2010.

Fredrikson also singled out Sonoma's Don Sebastiani & Sons as his winery of the year for 2005, citing its strong sales growth, up 35 percent to 1.4 million cases.

Sales of the winery's Smoking Loon and Pepperwood Grove wines were up 69 and 75 percent, respectively, while its other brands, such as Screw Kappa Napa, showed the kind of creativity and humor the industry needs to become a more approachable beverage, he said.

Source: “U.S. forecast to become world's No. 1 wine market,” Kevin McCallum, The Press Democrat, January 26, 2006

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Damaged Australian Vineyard From Arson Attack

Grape vines and olives estimated to be worth $300,000 have been destroyed in an arson attack in South Australia's Riverland.

Police said a fire started by arsonists at Cooltong about 9.30pm (CDT) yesterday burnt out 10 acres.
It was one of four arson attacks in the area overnight.

Meanwhile, in Adelaide, arsonists caused $60,000 damage to a house.

Source: “Arson attack damages vineyard,” News Australia, January 24, 2006

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Speed Aging Wine

Wine connoisseurs skeptical of electrolysis as aging method

Aging is the name of the game when it comes to fine wine. Top producers mature their brews in oak barrels; connoisseurs will keep a bottle in the cellar for years so they can savor the complex bouquet at its peak.

For Hiroshi Tanaka, all that waiting is just a waste of time -- and he says he's got the machinery to prove it.

Tanaka claims to have perfected a machine that can transform a bottle of just-fermented Beaujolais Nouveau into a fine, mellow wine in seconds, all by zapping it with a few volts of electricity.

"We can now electrolyze young wine and ship bottles of fine wine out in no time at all," declared Tanaka, president of Japanese startup Innovative Design and Technology Inc., which runs a small laboratory in Hamamatsu, west of Tokyo.

"Think of the savings we'll make. Shorter production time, no need for storage, no need to invest in barrels," he said.

Wine connoisseurs are skeptical of the whole idea of immediate aging, but Tanaka's company is not the only laboratory chasing instant wine. He says his method is the most advanced and a key part of the machine that accomplishes the process has been patented.

The company is in talks with wineries in California and Washington state to start providing its U.S. affiliate, BW2 Holdings, with young wine to treat and sell, Tanaka said. BW2 hopes to sell the bottles on the Internet later this year for an affordable US$5 (euro4.14).

The road to the Champs Elysees, however, won't be an easy one: the company has brought the machine around to Japanese wine producers, restaurants and even sake rice wine and "shochu" sweet potato spirit distillers, but so far only a small shochu maker in southern Japan has agreed to get involved.

In Eu