Australia could get broader GI zone
Discussion is under way about the creation of a broad Greater Australia Geographical Indication.
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Wine News Archive
Vintages don't really matter any more, says Hugh Johnson
It might be hard for some wine connoisseurs to swallow, but wine critic and author Hugh Johnson has declared that wine vintages hardly matter any more.
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No Penola GI leaves grape-growing community nameless
Penola community grape growers appeal against decision not to have a GI
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Oddbins reports increased losses
Wine merchant Oddbins saw losses almost triple last year to £8.7 million from £3m in 2005.
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Supermarkets take different route with greener packaging
After trialling two own-label wines in PET for three months, Sainsbury’s is putting them back into glass because it is worried that they won’t sell fast enough during the winter for the wine to stay fresh.
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RidgeView wins gastronomic prize
English sparkling wine producer RidgeView has been awarded the prestigious Grand Prix of Gastronomy.
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Waitrose wins Wine Buyer of the Year again
For the fifth year in a row, Waitrose has picked up the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Wine Buyer of the Year award.
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Champagne aims to expand its vineyards
France is looking to extend its Champagne region in a bid to keep up with increasing demand.
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Co-op excels at Fairtrade Wine Awards
Supermarket chain Co-op scooped half the prizes at the first-ever Fairtrade Wine Awards last week.
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Russian fizz beats top Champagnes
A Russian sparkling wine beat far more expensive bottles from some of the top champagne houses in a recent blind tasting.
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Brazilian wine crops at the double
Anyone who knows anything about wine knows that vines produce grapes once a year, but just to prove there’s always an exception to the rule, Waitrose is selling a Brazilian wine called Rio Sol, which is a double-cropper.
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Top chef opts for English wine list
Michelin-starred chef Tom Aikens is to have an all-English wine list at the fish-and-chip restaurant he is opening next month.
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NZ company stops grape seeds going to waste
A New Zealand company has devised a way of turning the grape seeds from wine production – usually a waste product – into a saleable commodity.
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Middle classes labelled hazardous wine drinkers
Middle-class wine drinkers have been slammed by the media after a study showed them to be the worst offenders when it comes to hazardous levels of drinking alcohol.
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Oz and James take a New World wine adventure
‘Wine buff’ Oz Clarke and ‘petrolhead’ James May returned to TV screens last week for a second series of their Big Wine Adventure.
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Stopper makes wine preservative-free
An Australian winemaker has invented a stopper that will remove the preservative from wine as the bottle is opened.
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Australia is top scorer in wine competition
Australia has excelled in this year’s International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) by being awarded a third of all the Gold medals.
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Wine scanners to detect spoilage without opening the bottle
American scientists have invented two devices that can detect cork taint and oxidation in wines without having to open the bottles.
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Namibian vineyard proving it's possible to make dry desert wine!
Who would imagine anyone could produce good wine – let alone wine at all – on the edge of the Namibian desert, but a British-born businessman is proving just such a thing is possible.
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Argentinian wine on the up in the UK
The Argentines got us into salsa and now it seems our interest in their wine is stepping up too.
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Torres takes global warming seriously
Spain’s leading winemaking family is reaching new heights in its fight against global warming – by planting vineyards at altitude.
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Asda launches mini taster bottles
Asda has launched a range of mini taster bottles designed to give consumers the confidence to try new wines.
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Drought may slash Australia's 2008 vintage
Australian wine looks likely to be hit hard by the country’s relentless drought.
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Glass still wine buyers' first choice
The majority of consumers still think wine should come in a glass bottle rather than any other type of packaging, according to a recent report.
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Different wine whiffs are down to our genes
If you think you smell a wine differently to those around you, chances are you do.
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Bordeaux is best-known wine region
Bordeaux is the world’s best-known wine region - followed by Champagne and Chianti.
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Checkout staff check if pensioner old enough to buy alcohol
A 72-year-old man was asked if he was old enough to buy wine at a Morrisons checkout.
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High costs force Corney & Barrow to close shop
Corney & Barrow has shut its London shop in Notting Hill.
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Heat machine helps to rid Chilean vineyard of pests
Chilean winery Casa Silva has found a new way to control pests in the vineyard – by blowing 100°C dry heat at 200 kilometres an hour on to the vines.
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Woolies champagne at a fiver sold out
A week after Woolworths introduced the cheapest champagne ever to go on sale in the UK, it has already sold out.
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Bulk wine on the up
Wine imported in bulk and then bottled in the UK has increased significantly in the past 12 months.
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New British Standard will measure carbon footprints
From next year we could be seeing a battle for the most carbon-friendly wine brands as a new standard is being drawn up to measure and promote greenhouse gases.
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Consumers uncorking more German Riesling than ever
In spite of the fact that Germany produces two thirds of the world’s Riesling, the country can’t make enough to meet consumer demand.
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Local sourcing gives Waitrose 25% of English wine market
Waitrose’s local-sourcing policy has made the supermarket a favourite for English wine.
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Scotland to ban buy one get one free
Three-for-two and other multi-buy discounts on alcohol are to be outlawed in Scotland as part of the country’s crackdown on binge drinking.
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NZ beats Burgundy at its own game
New Zealand made its mark as a producer of fine Pinot Noir this week by triumphing over Burgundy in the Decanter World Wine Awards.
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Rising temperatures force early harvests in Europe
Whether it’s the result of climate change or just the vagaries of nature, the weather has heralded an early harvest in parts of Europe.
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Research shows pull and twist corkscrew is best
It is easier to remove a cork from a wine bottle by twisting and pulling rather than pulling alone, according to a team of Italian and French researchers.
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FSA halts sale of low-alcohol wines
Two low-alcohol wines have been prevented from going on sale by the Food Standards Agency, which says they are illegal because they use ‘artificial’ winemaking practices.
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Zork pops into the US
The Zork closure, which seals a bottle like a screwcap but pops like a cork, is now being made in the US. The move gives more American wineries the option to use Zork as these closures are being manufactured for US bottle specifications rather than Europe
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Oz to stop naming wines 'tokay', 'sherry' and 'port'
Australia is searching for names to replace ‘tokay’, ‘sherry’, and ‘port’ on its fortified wines.
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Bag-in-box wine container shortlisted as Australian beauty
Australia’s bag-in-box wine container has been shortlisted in a poll to find the country’s most iconic design.
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Germans name region in one word: Mosel
The Germans are really going all out to make their wines as consumer friendly as possible.
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What women want: 'sophisticated' rosé
Women are turning their backs on lager in favour of rosé wines, which they see as more ‘sophisticated’ and better for their figures!
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Alcohol units still a mystery to wine drinkers
Three quarters of UK wine drinkers don’t know how many units of alcohol there are in a bottle of wine, says a new survey.
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Scientists find the key to designing peppery wines
Australian scientists have identified the single aroma compound that produces the spicy ‘black pepper’ smell so popular with many Shiraz drinkers, so paving the way for winemakers to design wines to better suit the tastes of drinkers in the future.
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Spinning cone in Spain could open doors for lower-alcohol wines
A spinning cone sounds more like a ride at an adventure park than something involved with winemaking, but its recent arrival in Europe could be almost as exciting for those wanting to enjoy a couple of glasses of wine without being on the floor. This is b
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Screwcaps emit four times the CO2 emissions of cork, says study
Screwcaps create over four times more greenhouse gases than cork, according to the world’s first carbon-footprint study into the impact of wine closures on the environment.
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Tesco doubles NZ wines and expands Finest range
Tesco is hoping to satisfy UK consumers’ growing desire for New Zealand wine by more than doubling its range of Kiwi bottles.
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Wine industry working towards getting greener
Recyclability and environmentally friendly seem to be the wine industry’s current buzzwords, as companies search for ways to make their products greener.
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