Wine~Works
Wine & Beer Tastings with a Difference
Ridley Scott Wine Label to Launch in the UK
The wine comes from a domaine called Mas des Infermières within the Oppède commune in the Luberon AOP, which itself is situated in the Provence region of southeast France.
Made from Grenache and Syrah, the first bottle of wine produced under Ridley Scott’s own label was from the 2009 vintage, after the nearby winemaking facility, Caves de Lumieres, agreed to vinify grapes from the film director’s domaine separately.
The full name of the wine is Mas des Infirmières “Source”, inspired by the natural springs which have been fed for centuries by the nearby Luberon mountains.
Ridley Scott was born in 1937 in north east England and gained global recognition as a film director and producer after the success of Alien in 1979, although he is also renowned for Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise and Gladiator, among other high profile films.
He is not the only celebrity to be making wine in Provence after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt bought the €44 million Chateau de Miraval with 30ha of organically run vineyards.
How many bubbles are there in your glass of fizz?
So just how many bubbles are there in your glass of Champagne? We know that the average number in an open bottle varies wildly from 49 million to an astonishing 250 million! That;s some variation.
We read the following article in a recent issue of Science News.
The importance of fizz, more technically known as effervescence, in sparkling wines and champagnes is not to be underestimated -- it contributes to the complete sensory experience of a glass, or flute, of fine bubbly. A scientist has now closely examined the factors that affect these bubbles, and he has come up with an estimate of just how many are in each glass. The report appears in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. Gérard Liger-Belair notes that effervescence plays an important role in the look, taste, aroma and mouth feel of champagne and other sparkling wines. Wine journalists and bloggers often cite 15 million as the average number of bubbles fizzing in a single glass of champagne, based on some simple mathematics. Sounds impressive, but Liger-Belair suspected that the formula leading to this estimate oversimplified the matter. It didn't take into account the fact that some of the dissolved carbon dioxide escapes from a glass without forming bubbles. Also, the size of the bubbles changes over time, and this could affect the final number. Liger-Belair wanted to set the record straight.
Taking into consideration temperature, bubble dynamics and the tilt of a flute, Liger-Belair came up with a new way to calculate the number of bubbles in a glass of champagne. And the result is far lower than what has been cited. "One million bubbles seems to be a reasonable approximation for the whole number of bubbles likely to form if you resist drinking champagne from your flute," he concludes. He also found that if you prefer more fizz in your bubbly, serve it warmer than you normally would and be sure to tilt the flute when pouring.
First Scottish Wine to be Bottled This Year
A white wine from Fife, believed to be the “world’s first” Scottish wine, is to be bottled this year by chef and food writer Christopher Trotter.
As reported by Bloomberg, the effects of climate change have made it possible for Trotter to ripen grapes at his vineyard located to the north of Edinburgh.
While the country remains too cold for Sauvignon Blanc to ripen, Trotter has had success this year with early budding German variety Solaris, along with early ripening white Siegerrebe and red grape Rondo.
Around 75% of his 200-vine vineyard in Upper Largo on the southern coast of Fife is planted with the Solaris variety, which was developed in Germany in 1975.
While Scotland has a rich history of both whisky making and brewing, due to the cold climate, grape growing and wine making has thus far eluded the Scots.
“Scotland has been more of a beer-drinking nation than anything else. Wine hasn’t been part of the culture until now,” Trotter told Bloomberg.
Last year however, Trotter experienced his hottest summer since childhood, with temperatures averaging 21.4 degrees in Fife last July – the second highest on record, leading the vines to undertake “incredibly vigorous” growth.
Bloomberg reports that Trotter is considering scattering seashells under his vines in order to retain daytime warmth, having been inspired by French growers who use limestone to the same effect.
While Trotter’s inaugural vintage remains an experiment, if the results are successful, he will seek investors in order to plant his entire 2.4-hectare site.
Victory as UK alcohol super tax is scrapped
Campaigners are toasting the success of a hard-fought campaign after it was announced that the “unfair” alcohol duty escalator on wines and spirits is to be scrapped and duty on all spirits frozen.
Earlier this month– dozens of MPs and representatives from the wine and spirits sector gathered to see the launch of 'Call Time on Duty'a campaign spearheaded by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), Taxpayer’s Alliance and Scotch Whisky Association to end the alcohol duty escalator (ADE).
Since it was introduced in 2008 tax on wine has increased by 50% and by 44% on spirit, tax on wine has increased by 50% and by 44% on spirits which campaigners argue is costing the industry “vital jobs and unfairly hitting consumers in the pocket”.
Today their efforts were rewarded as Chancellor George Osborne announced he would be scrapping the ADE in this year’s Budget, announced today.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, said: “It is great news that our Call Time on Duty campaign has been successful. This will be widely welcomed by consumers and businesses across the UK. The Chancellor’s decision to scrap the alcohol duty escalator a year early and freeze alcohol duty for spirits is fantastic news and will be widely welcomed by consumers and businesses.
“The move will help British pubs, bars, and restaurants up and down the country, and will boost jobs and investment in the great British drinks industry and in the hospitality sector more widely. While we would have liked to have seen a complete freeze on wine duty, the WSTA and our Call Time on Duty campaign partners applauds the Chancellor’s decision to scrap the escalator and will be raising a toast to George Osborne.”
David Frost, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: “This show of support for distillers from the Coalition Government will be warmly welcomed across the Scotch whisky industry.
“We are delighted that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury listened to our case for scrapping the unfair alcohol duty escalator and freezing whisky duty. It is a move that supports hard-pressed consumers, a major manufacturing and export industry and the wider hospitality sector.
“This fairer tax treatment in the UK, the third biggest market for Scotch whisky, also sends the right signal on excise policy to the governments of the 200 countries to which we export. So its effects will be felt around the world.”
The decision to scrap the ADE follows the scrapping of the beer duty escalator in 2013.
Campaigners are toasting the success of a hard-fought campaign after it was announced that the “unfair” alcohol duty escalator on wines and spirits is to be scrapped and duty on all spirits frozen.
Earlier this month dozens of MPs and representatives from the wine and spirits sector gathered to see the launch of ‘Call Time on Duty’ – a campaign spearheaded by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), Taxpayer’s Alliance and Scotch Whisky Association to end the alcohol duty escalator (ADE).
Since it was introduced in 2008, tax on wine has increased by 50% and by 44% on spirits which campaigners argue is costing the industry “vital jobs and unfairly hitting consumers in the pocket”.
Today their efforts were rewarded as Chancellor George Osborne announced he would be scrapping the ADE in this year’s Budget, announced today.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the WSTA, said: “It is great news that our Call Time on Duty campaign has been successful. This will be widely welcomed by consumers and businesses across the UK. The Chancellor’s decision to scrap the alcohol duty escalator a year early and freeze alcohol duty for spirits is fantastic news and will be widely welcomed by consumers and businesses.
“The move will help British pubs, bars, and restaurants up and down the country, and will boost jobs and investment in the great British drinks industry and in the hospitality sector more widely. While we would have liked to have seen a complete freeze on wine duty, the WSTA and our Call Time on Duty campaign partners applauds the Chancellor’s decision to scrap the escalator and will be raising a toast to George Osborne.”
David Frost, chief executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, said: “This show of support for distillers from the Coalition Government will be warmly welcomed across the Scotch whisky industry.
“We are delighted that the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary to the Treasury listened to our case for scrapping the unfair alcohol duty escalator and freezing whisky duty. It is a move that supports hard-pressed consumers, a major manufacturing and export industry and the wider hospitality sector.
“This fairer tax treatment in the UK, the third biggest market for Scotch whisky, also sends the right signal on excise policy to the governments of the 200 countries to which we export. So its effects will be felt around the world.”
The decision to scrap the ADE follows the scrapping of the beer duty escalator in 2013.
Spain becomes world’s biggest wine producer
The massive crop vaulted Spain to the world's biggest wine producer, forcing its vintners to compete abroad in a tough market to sell off the surplus.
Spain overall produced 50 million hectolitres (6.7 billion bottles) of wine in 2013, a 41 percent surge from 2012, the Spanish agriculture ministry says.
The ministry's figure for Spanish production exceeds the estimates from the Italian and French wine industries for their own production — 47 million and 42 million hectolitres respectively.
Unfortunately domestic consumption isn't keeping up and the industry is now faced with increased competition in foreign markets.
Wine Medicine Could Prevent ‘Loss of Limbs’
A pharmaceutical company has extracted a molecule found in red wine and turned it into a medicine which could prevent loss of limbs in diabetes sufferers.
The grape molecule, trans-Resveratrol, (t-RSV), is derived from red grapes and is said to have antioxidant, anti-cancer and anti-ageing properties.
Studies to extract and develop this molecule have been hampered by the fact that when this molecule is used not as a part of red wine, but in its isolated form, it “loses its metabolic activity”.
However now a pharmaceutical company Lycotec, based in Cambridge, has developed an oral medicine, LycosomeTM, which laboratory tests have shown has the potential to prevent and treat numerous diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular pathologies and cancer, to use in anti-ageing products.
In its first trial, Lycotec tested LycosomeTM on diabetic patients with a foot ulcer, the most severe clinical complication of Diabetes which causes 90,000 amputations in the US, and 5,000 in the UK each year.
Of the 280 million people affected by diabetes worldwide, 25% will develop a foot ulcer with 1 in 5 requiring amputation, with 50% of amputees having their other limb amputated within two years.
The study showed that daily administration of 50 mg twice a day of t-RSV-LycosomeTM, on top of regular care and general diabetes treatment, resulted in a 95% closure of the ulcer.
The study, based on 24 patients, was the first of its kind and led by Dr Yuriy Bashmakov, the results of which have now been published in the Journal of Endocrinology.
As reported by the drinks business earlier this week, a separate study found that moderate wine consumption can also decrease the risk of cardiovascular events and death in type 2 diabetes sufferers.
Lycotec has said that these results need to be confirmed with further and larger clinical trials required, but that this first trial has given hope that a treatment for diabetes patients with severe complications could exist.
The company is currently looking for licensing and partnering opportunities to take its research to the next level.
Global Prosecco Sales Overtake Champagne
Global sales of Prosecco have overtaken Champagne, as the worldwide thirst for the Italian sparkler shows no sign of abating.
As reported by The Independent, according to figures released by the Italian Sparkling Wine Observatory (OVSE) last Friday, Prosecco sales edged ahead of Champagne sales in 2013.
The Italian sparkler shifted 307 million bottles globally last year, while Champagne sales lagged behind at 304 million bottles.
The OVSE also reported that global value sales were up 16%, while volume sales increased by 11.5%.
Sales of Prosecco have shot up in recent years as penny-pinching consumers sought to trade down during the recession to a more affordable sparkling wine alternative to Champagne.
Prosecco’s light body, citrus flavour profile, off-dry nature and approachability also tick a lot of the trend boxes consumers are seeking from their wines today.
Last January, we reported that Prosecco sales were outstripping Champagne at a number of the UK's largest retailers, with year on year Prosecco sales at Tesco at the time up 50%.
Prosecco was also singled out as the star performer at Waitrose in December 2012
US Wine Exports Reach Record High
US wineries exported a record $1.55 Billion of wine last year, an increase of 16.4% on 2012, and the fourth consecutive years rise by value.
Volume shipments reached 435.2 million litres, 48.4 million cases, up 7.5%, with 90% of all exports coming from California, according to figures released by the Wine Institute of California.
The European Union’s 28 member countries accounted for $617 million of exports, up 31% on last year, followed by Canada, $454 million, up 12%; Japan, $102 million, down 7%; Hong Kong, $78 million, down 12%; China, $77 million, up 6%; Mexico, $22 million, up 21%; South Korea, $18 million, up 16%.
Robert P. Koch, president and CEO of the Wine Institute, said: “Consumers across the globe continue to recognise the quality, diversity and value of California wines, despite significant trade barriers and heavily subsidised foreign competitors.”
“While the U.S. remains our largest, most important market, California exports a fifth of its wine, and we are on track to reach our goal of $2 billion in exports by 2020. Our outstanding 2012 and 2013 California vintages, heralded for quality as well as quantity, were a record high so we have the ability to expand.”
The Wine Institute has launched a marketing program in 25 countries promoting California as an “aspirational place with beautiful landscapes, iconic lifestyle, great wine and food, and as an environmental leader”, said Linsey Gallagher, vice president for international marketing at the San Francisco trade group.
Its consumer website, www.discovercaliforniawines.com, has been translated into Chinese and will soon be launched in seven other languages, Gallagher said.
“Our programming in China has greatly expanded and allowed us to continue to show gains in that top priority market when our key competitors saw losses last year,” Gallagher said.
Sales in Asia, California’s fifth largest export market, grew by 3% in 2013 despite “detrimental effects” on China’s new government austerity program.
Other growth markets in Asia included South Korea, up 16% by value, and Singapore up 10%, while sales in Mexico grew by 21% and by 26% in Brazil.
The Institute is also working to lower tariffs and eliminate technical barriers that hamper US wineries from selling wine in key export markets, said Tom LaFaille, international trade counsel at the Wine Institute.
“In particular, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation ‘Wine Regulators Forum’ helps developing countries to implement science-based regulations and eliminate burdensome and duplicative regulations. This five-year project will help significantly reduce the costs of cross-border wine trade, stimulate demand and increase U.S. exports to this important region,” LaFaille said in a statement.
The record export figures come as California struggles with one of the worst droughts in recent years,
WSTA Ramps up bid to end alcohol super-tax
Earlier this month dozens of MPs and representatives from the wine and spirit sector gathered to see the launch of 'Call Time on Duty'– a campaign spearheaded by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), Taxpayer’s Alliance and Scotch Whisky Association to end the alcohol duty escalator.
Since it was introduced in 2008, tax on wine has increased by 50% and by 44% on spirits which campaigners argue is costing the industry “vital jobs and unfairly hitting consumers in the pocket”.
UK consumers now pay more in alcohol duty than France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland combined.
Independent research from Ernst and Young has found that scrapping the Alcohol Duty Escalator will create over 6,000 jobs and boost the public finances by £230 million in 2014 alone and will actually help the Chancellor reduce the deficit and cut unemployment.
Miles Beale, chief executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association said: “If the drinks industry unites to make its voice heard, then our campaign will be increasingly hard to ignore. With only four weeks to go until the Chancellor delivers his Budget we need to ensure our voice rings out loud and clear in the corridors of power.
The Escalator is bad for the economy, bad for business and bad for the consumer. It is vital to spell out clearly to the Chancellor the significant contribution of a great British industry to jobs and growth in the UK – as well as its potential if he scraps the Escalator one year early in next month’s Budget.”
The alcohol duty escalator has automatically increased the rate of taxation on wine and spirits by 2% above inflation each year since 2008.
This means that for an average bottle of spirit 79% of its purchase cost is accounted for by tax, and 57% for wines.
Unless the escalator is scrapped in 2014, this figure will go up to 80% and 60% respectively.
Wine and Chocolate can guard against diabetes
A really interesting read.
From a recent article published in The Drinks Business.
According to scientists at the University of East Anglia and Kings College London, eating high levels of flavonoids found in berries, tea, and chocolate could offer protection from type 2 diabetes.
Nearly 2,000 healthy women were asked to complete a food questionnaire to estimate their total flavonoid intake which are found in herbs and vegetables such as parsley, thyme, and celery, and anthocyanins, found in berries, red grapes, wine and other red or blue-coloured fruits and vegetables.
Results showed that those with high intakes of these foods had lower insulin resistance and better blood glucose regulation.
These foods were also found to lower inflammation which, when chronic, is associated with diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, according to results published today in the Journal of Nutrition.
Professor Aedin Cassidy, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School led the research, said: “We found that those who consumed plenty of anthocyanins and flavones had lower insulin resistance.
“High insulin resistance is associated with Type 2 diabetes, so what we are seeing is that people who eat foods rich in these two compounds – such as berries, herbs, red grapes, wine– are less likely to develop the disease.
“We also found that those who ate the most anthocyanins were least likely to suffer chronic inflammation – which is associated with many of today’s most pressing health concerns including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
“And those who consumed the most flavone compounds had improved levels of a protein (adiponectin) which helps regulate a number of metabolic processes including glucose levels.
“What we don’t yet know is exactly how much of these compounds are necessary to potentially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.”
Professor Tim Spector, research collaborator and director of the study from King’s College London, said: “This is an exciting finding that shows that some components of foods that we consider unhealthy like chocolate or wine may contain some beneficial substances.
“If we can start to identify and separate these substances we can potentially improve healthy eating.
“There are many reasons including genetics why people prefer certain foods so we should be cautious until we test them properly in randomised trials and in people developing early diabetes.”
Wine and Sex: The New Tupperware Party?
We heard about this type of 'event' from various sources thinking it was a joke? Follow the link below and read on!
And before you ask, we do not host similar tastings!
oops they have taken it down 🙂
http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/01/wine--sex--the-new-tupperware-party
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All the girls loved it and most were quite giggly by its conclusion. Look forward to the next one!
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It was a fantastic experience and great to do something different. And, most importantly, my brother had a great time’
- Ed
We were absolutely delighted to be chosen to host Hagar’s Charity Fundraising event in Central London! Lots of fun and importantly…lots of money raised for a very good cause!
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Hagar Charity EventThank you for a well-organised and entertaining event last week at Luton Hoo. We had much fun and I thought you handled the crowd of “would-be-wine-boffins” very well.
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100 VoucherThe Wine Guy says...
"I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food."
"I should say upfront that I have never been in a cellar in my life. In fact, I can see no reason why anyone should ever go into a cellar unless there is wine involved."
"Beer is made by men, wine by God."
"Wine gladdens the heart of man."
"Wine is the most healthful and most hygienic of beverages."
"In wine, there's truth."
"High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water; but everybody likes water."
"This is one of the disadvantages of wine, it makes a man mistake words for thoughts."
"If we sip the wine, we find dreams coming upon us out of the imminent night"
"Give me wine to wash me clean of the weather stains of cares"
"Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, Make the sage frolic, and the serious smile"
"Wine enters through the mouth, Love, the eyes. I raise the glass to my mouth, I look at you,I sigh."
"Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized."
"Wine is like the incarnation--it is both divine and human"
"Wine makes all things possible."
"Sir, I did not count your glasses of wine, why should you number up my cups of tea?"
"Wine can be a better teacher than ink, and banter is often better than books"
"Life's too short to drink cheap wine..."
"The first kiss and the first glass of wine are the best."
"A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover"
"I prefer my water in wine form."
"White wine is like electricity. Red wine looks and tastes like a liquified beefsteak."
"Great wine works wonders and is itself one"
"To take wine into our mouths is to savour a droplet of the river of human history"
"Wine gives one 'ideas,' whereas champagne gives one 'strategies."
"Men are like wine-some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age."
"Most days I juggle everything quite well, on the other days there's always red wine."
"There is truth in wine, but you never see it listed in the ingredients on the label"
"Always carry a corkscrew and the wine shall provide itself."
"Wine is like the incarnation-it is both divine and human."
"Wine improves with age. The older I get the more I like it."
"Age is just a number. It's totally irrelevant, unless, of course, you happen to be a bottle of wine."
"My only regret in life is that I did not drink enough Champagne."
"Consuming wine in moderation daily will help people to die young as late as possible."
"Wine is the thinking person's health drink."
"Wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, makes weariness forget his toil"
"The wine cup is the little silver well, where truth, if truth there be, doth dwell"
"Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance"
"Good wine is a necessity of life for me"
"Champagne is one of the elegant extras in life"
"I drink Champagne when I win, to celebrate and I drink Champagne when I lose, to console myself"
"God made water, but man made wine"
"Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy"
"Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life's most civilized pleasures"
"A bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect"
"Like human beings, a wine's taste is going to depend a great deal on its origins and its upbringing"
"Compromises are for relationships, not wine"
"Language is wine upon the lips"
"Wine is wonderful stuff, but so many people are put off by the snobbery of it"
"I'm only drinking white wine because I'm on a diet and I don't eat"
"Wine has been with civilised man since the beginning"
"Whenever a man is tired, wine is a great restorer"
"Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues"
"A waltz and a glass of wine invite an encore"
"Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been brought to the greatest perfection, and it offers a greater range for enjoyment and appreciation than, possibly, any other purely sensory thing."
"Good wine carrieth a man to heaven"
"Drink wine, and you will sleep well. Sleep, and you will not sin. Avoid sin, and you will be saved. Ergo, drink wine and be saved."
"A meal without wine is like a day without sunshine."
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