ITALY KEEPS THE NEW WORLD AT BAY
Australian imports are huge and growing. (Yes, we know.) Yellow Tail is huge. (Right, we knew that too.) So it’s quite surprising that Australia hasn’t yet taken over Italy’s number one spot as importer to the U.S. In fact, according to M. Shanken Trade News, Italy has widened its lead to about a million cases over its new world rival.
Each of the five top-selling Italian brands (Cavit, Bella Sera, Riunite, Ecco Domani and Casarsa) grew by at least 2.5% last year. Comparatively, of the largest Australian brands in the market (Black Swan, Little Penguin, Alice White and Yellow Tail) only Yellow Tail and Black Swan increased in volume.
Moral of the story? Perhaps old world wines aren’t struggling near as much as we had thought.
BUT STILL TROUBLE IN FRANCE. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that some of France’s most celebrated vineyards are now turning their vintage wine into alcohol for disinfectants or gasoline additives. The crisis-distillation process was once reserved only for the cheapest table wines, but now even the most respected wineries are taking advantage of the practice that may not be around for much longer.
Chronic overproduction, dipping domestic consumption and fierce overseas competition have converged to create a European wine crisis of unprecedented scale. With lakes of unsold wine threatening to undermine prices, the European Union has resorted to paying vintners to destroy some of their stock each year, distilling billions of bottles of perfectly drinkable wine into pure alcohol.
A contested new EU plan aims to fix at least the production side by downsizing Europe's wine industry. The proposal would shift away from distillation in favor of ripping out huge amounts of vineyards. Some 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of vines, more than 10% of Europe's total, could be pulled up over the next five years. Across Spain, France and Italy, Europe's vintners are putting up a united front against the proposal, which they see as fatalistic.
Each of the five top-selling Italian brands (Cavit, Bella Sera, Riunite, Ecco Domani and Casarsa) grew by at least 2.5% last year. Comparatively, of the largest Australian brands in the market (Black Swan, Little Penguin, Alice White and Yellow Tail) only Yellow Tail and Black Swan increased in volume.
Moral of the story? Perhaps old world wines aren’t struggling near as much as we had thought.
BUT STILL TROUBLE IN FRANCE. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that some of France’s most celebrated vineyards are now turning their vintage wine into alcohol for disinfectants or gasoline additives. The crisis-distillation process was once reserved only for the cheapest table wines, but now even the most respected wineries are taking advantage of the practice that may not be around for much longer.
Chronic overproduction, dipping domestic consumption and fierce overseas competition have converged to create a European wine crisis of unprecedented scale. With lakes of unsold wine threatening to undermine prices, the European Union has resorted to paying vintners to destroy some of their stock each year, distilling billions of bottles of perfectly drinkable wine into pure alcohol.
A contested new EU plan aims to fix at least the production side by downsizing Europe's wine industry. The proposal would shift away from distillation in favor of ripping out huge amounts of vineyards. Some 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) of vines, more than 10% of Europe's total, could be pulled up over the next five years. Across Spain, France and Italy, Europe's vintners are putting up a united front against the proposal, which they see as fatalistic.
posted at 2:11 PM
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