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Sep
1
Benziger, French Rabbit Top Greenopia’s Green Wine Rankings
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Greenopia released its updated list of the most sustainable U.S. wineries this week with some big changes from last year's rankings. The wineries, rated on factors including transportation, growing practices, transportation, building logistics, and packaging, performed better than ever, and for the first time, two wineries took the top rating of four leaves.
Benziger and French Rabbit share the top spot, with both wineries scoring four out of four leaves (last year, Benziger scored two leaves and French Rabbit scored three). French Rabbit is, according to Greenopia, "the one vineyard who has put together all the pieces of the green puzzle" thanks to its biodynamic farming techniques, TetraPak packaging (which we delved into recently), and thorough environmental reporting. Benziger also features a selection of biodynamic and organic wines. The winery received kudos for natural cork-bottled wines, green building practices, and stringent environmental reporting.
At the bottom of the rankings, Greenopia lists perennial favorites like Yellow Tail (no organic or biodynamic wines, synthetic cork on bottles), Stag's Leap (minimal environmental reporting), and Charles Shaw (grapes grown and processed far from the bottling plant).
Cheap wine enthusiasts need not despair, however–the ultra-tasty French Rabbit wines retail for under $10. And as we recently discovered, organic wines are a bargain more often than not.
By Ariel Schwartz | Source :: Fast Company
Aug
21
The recession hurt U.S. wine exports last year, but not to Hong Kong, where American imports surged 138 percent to $40 million, according to U.S. trade data.
In recent years, China's newfound wealth has been feeding a demand for luxuries. As part of that new appetite, the Chinese – who once mixed wine with soda – are developing a taste for wine. The number of Chinese who drink imported wine – those willing to hand over $20 or more for a bottle – will grow to about 50 million within the next 15 years, estimates Wine Intelligence. (That's nearly the number in the U.S. who now drink imports.)
Not surprisingly, California wineries currently account for 90 percent of the U.S.'s total wine exports, but small wineries from Washington and Oregon are doing their best to grab a piece, particularly in emerging markets. The value of Washington's shipments to Hong Kong leaped fivefold last year, according to figures cited by the Associated Press.
Hong Kong – a major re-exporter to the Chinese mainland – is fourth-largest export market for U.S. wines, after Canada, the European Union and Japan. Since Hong Kong scrapped an 80 percent import tax in 2008, the country's wine imports leaped to a record $491 million – of which 8 percent was from the U.S. (The bulk of the wine was from France.)
Jonathan Ryweck, a one-man exporter for three Washington wineries, ships a few pallets at a time to the Far East.
"This is not a get-rich scheme, let me tell you," Ryweck told the AP of his Port Townsend, Washington-based company, Transnational Ventures. "It's growing very nicely but it's still real small volume and it's a tough sell."
But it's coming along.
"The Chinese love the taste profile of Washington wines," Ryweck said. "If you can get the product in their mouth, you can sell it." (Read more on American wine in China.)
In May, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke signed an agreement with the Hong Kong Commerce and Economic Development Bureau to help promote U.S. wine sales in China.
Earlier this year, a survey commissioned by wine fair Vinexpo revealed that red wine still is king in China, with 88 percent of annual total sales by volume. But as more Chinese women develop a taste for wine, white wine drinking is rising and is expected to grow by 41.7 percent by 2013.
By Courtney Rubin | Source :: Inc.com
Aug
18
Brooklyn New York is getting its own custom crush wine-making facility. Brooklyn Winery has been under construction for the past few months. The plant will import grapes from both California and the New York State wine regions and will have customers working on custom barrels or shared community barrels. Wine Business reports that the facility should open next month. It will also offer classes and professional events. Currently the entire New York area only has one similar facility, City Winery.
Resident winemaker Conor McCormack was formerly with the company that started it all, San Francisco's Crushpad and he will supervise production and instruct amateur winemakers in hands-on sessions. McCormack will also make house wines which will be sold at the wine bar and tasting room. A full barrel costs $5,700 and delivers 300 bottles. The price includes a barrel planning session with McCormack to help you select your varietal and region, and discuss wine style options.
After that the potential winemakers learn more by taking part in five private winemaking sessions covering topics like fermentation, pressing, racking, barrel tasting and finally bottling. The bottles are finished with your own custom-designed wine label including the name of your choice. Custom Barrel may be shared by a group of up to 12 people and 1/2 barrels are also available.
By Deidre Woollard | Source :: www.luxist.com
Aug
3
Peregrine Wines of New Zealand: Awards-Winning Wines, Architecture, Philanthropy
Filed Under Wine Trends | Comments Off
What is this? And where is it?
Actually, it is not a secret defense weapon in the US Air Force arsenal, but upon approaching it, it does look numinous and otherworldly. It is actually the Peregrine Winery, situated in Gibbstown, New Zealand, on the famous Central Otago Wine Road, a road that takes the oenophile 20 minutes outside Queenstown, NZ on a great tasting trip, beginning with Peregrine.
Before discussing the wine, it is important to mention this architecture's many awards, the most recent being the New Zealand Supreme Architectural Award. Judges from UK magazine The Architectural Review like it too, placing it, in 2004, in the top five of its annual emerging architecture awards. The jury described the Winery as "an elegant blade of light [that] contrasts with the rugged and sublime natural landscape.
But Chris Kelly, the architect, described the building in a more avian manner: "It was recognized early on that the building would be important in reinforcing the Peregrine wine brand, so the changing roof gradient was inspired by old images freezing the kinetic rotation of a bird in flight. The roof is evocative of the majesty the Peregrine or native falcon has as it glides on the thermal uplifts off the heated land."
However it is interpreted, it is also on DesignCrave's 2009 list of the Ten Architectural Wonders Of The Wine World, for among other things, its inventive handling of space and light.
Continue reading Peregrine Wines of New Zealand: Awards-Winning Wines, Architecture, Philanthropy.
By Susan Kime | Source :: www.luxist.com
Aug
2
Chateau Haut-Brion’s Prince Robert of Luxembourg’s Latest Venture
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Prince Robert of Luxembourg, the 42 year old managing director of Domaine Clarence Dillon, oversees, and owns along with his family, two of the most prestigious Premier Grand Cru estates in Bordeaux: Chateau Haut-Brion and Chateau La Mission Haut-Brion. The Prince sat down with Luxist to discuss his strategy to expand his family's business by producing a more affordable wine on a larger scale. His newest creation is "Clarendelle", which he hopes will be the first super premium-branded Bordeaux wine.
Named in honor of his maternal great-grandfather, Clarence Dillon, a New York banker who bought Chateau Haut-Brion in 1935, Clarendelle is offered at a lower price point than the wines produced by the Prince's well known estates—$15 to $25 a bottle compared to well over $300 a bottle for Chateau Haut-Brion and La Mission Haut-Brion. Domaine Clarence Dillon is able to accomplish that by buying wine from dozens of other Bordeaux winemakers and blending it together. Only a small portion of the wine comes from the Domaine Clarence Dillon estates.
Continue reading Chateau Haut-Brion's Prince Robert of Luxembourg's Latest Venture.
By Carrie Coolidge | Source :: www.luxist.com
