Argentina's U.S. exports on a winning streak

Published on Decanter.com 16 February 2009 - click here to read.

Argentina’s 2008 wine exports to the U.S. increased by 29% in value and 13% in volume on the previous year, making Argentina the only country to significantly increase its American sales during what proved to be a challenging year for the global wine trade.

These figures, from the U.S. Department of Commerce, revealed that by contrast, Australian exports to the U.S. dropped by 10.5% in value and 8% in volume over the same period. Total wine imports by the U.S. stagnated in 2008.

James Forbes, UK Director of Wines of Argentina, paints a similar picture for Argentinian imports in the UK, which have seen 20 months of consecutive growth in both value and volume terms. He also notes that Argentinian wines are being sold increasingly in the on-trade and the specialist wine sector.

This pull to the premium end of the spectrum suits Argentina well for two reasons. Its wine market is predominantly domestic, with only 17% of wine produced being exported. Producers can therefore sell their lower-end wine at home and concentrate on quality in their export products.

Secondly, the Malbec grape is a marketeer’s dream – easy on the palate, easy to pronounce and, despite its French origins, increasingly becoming synonymous with Argentinian winemaking.

New phylloxera outbreak in Yarra

Published on Decanter.com 19 January 2009. Click here to see the article on the Decanter website or on the image below for a larger version.


A new outbreak of phylloxera was declared in Australia's Yarra Valley last month.

According to Victoria's Department of Primary Industries, 'a detection of the grapevine pest phylloxera has been made in an existing control area in the Yarra Valley, north east of Melbourne'.

The so-called Maroondah Phylloxera Infested Zone (PIZ) was declared after phylloxera was detected in the region in December 2006.

The declaration restricts the movement of grapevine materials, machinery and equipment out of the PIZ.

Senior DPI plant standard officer Greg King said that following a recent notification of poor vigour in a number of vines, 'samples were taken from the affected vines and DPI's reference entomologist confirmed the presence of the pest'.

The Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of South Australia is the only body of its type in the world established specifically to deal with phylloxera. It publishes information on recognising phylloxera and warns that detections tend to be made up to several years after the initial occurrence of the infestation.

Grape growers in other regions, especially those who have had regular contact with the Yarra Valley or with high volumes of wine tourism, have been advised to be particularly vigilant in looking for signs of phylloxera.

Phylloxera is a small yellow root-feeding aphid. It only targets grapevines, which it kills by attacking their roots.

For Sale - Chateau Latour

According to the Sunday Times, the renowned Pauillac estate is being discreetly offered to potential buyers by French investment bank Lazard. The Château Latour estate covers 78 hectares, but only grapes from the 47 hectares that directly surround the château - known as L'Enclos - go into the flagship first wine.

While the Sunday Times cites a potential pricetag of €150m-200m (£145m-193m), sources in Bordeaux suggest that the property would “not go for less than €600m”.

Chilean appellation review

Chile is looking at renovating its outdated system of wine appelations in order to better reflect the country's increasing regional diversity. The present system, established in 1986, defines Chile's viticultural areas with reference to political boundaries.

The new approach would involve consulting wine producers and would attempt to create a series of DOs based on factors such as predominant grape varieties, soil types and climate. In a country which has such diverse topography and weather systems - ranging from the Andes in the east to Pacific coastal regions in the west, to arid desert in the north, to lush Patagonian vegetation in the south - this undoubtedly makes sense!

Whereas some Old World countries, notably France, have extremely precise delimitations based on centuries of knowledge of local terroir, Chile at present has only the broadest of regional classifications. The 'Central Valley' covers a vast expanse of land and includes regions as varied as maritime Casablanca and sun-baked, high-altitude Aconcagua. The Chilean government is apparently keen for these improvements to be made and is prepared to act quickly to make them law.

All of which is good news for the Chilean wine industry and another step towards becoming a more complex, interesting wine producing nation.

Champagne in trouble?

Champagne exports in October were down by at least 20% in Europe, Japan, the US, Russia and China, according to the Champagne promotional arm, the CIVC. The drop is of course due to the evil credit crunch, but I suspect increased consumer confidence in other sparkling wines is also a factor.

Drinkable Champagnes retail for well into double figures in the UK, whilst a decent Prosecco or Cava costs half as much. As the snobbery surrounding 'imitation' fizz disappears and consumers' wallets encourage them to focus on quality, Champagne will find it no longer has a stranglehold on the sparkling market.

Sparkling wines from Italy, Spain and the New World are getting better and better and can be produced more cheaply. Grapes tend to be machine harvested, the wine does not legally have to spend so long on its lees and secondary fermentation takes place in tanks rather than in the bottle. Champagne, on the other hand, is a premium product and producers should concentrate on quality, which includes selecting only the best grapes from low yielding vines.

Wine duty up again

Chancellor Alistair Darling has put UK alcohol excise duty up for the the second time this year, raising the duty component on a bottle of still wine to £1.58. This represents a further increase of 8% in a year which has already seen record duty increases in April's annual Budget.

Whereas the cost of a bottle of wine would have been brought down by the recent VAT rate cut, it has now gone up overall due to this duty rise. Exactly what the Chancellor is trying to achieve with all this is unclear. Is there method in his madness?

New Zealand wine exports at record high

Over $100 million of wine was shipped out of New Zealand in September, a new record in terms of both value and volume.

Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir continue to be New Zealand's best sellers. Trade body New Zealand Wine Growers claims demand remains high in key markets despite the economic downturn.

New Zealand's wine industry has set itself an export target of $1 billion a year by 2010.

Wine may protect against dementia

Published today on Decanter.com - click here to go to the webpage or click on the image below for a larger version.

Organic Shrinkage

Whole Foods Market, the American-owned Kensington organic temple, has lost £10m in its first year. Does this point to an underlying malaise in the controversial and seemingly unstoppable organic food revolution? Say what you will about the economic slump/recession/catastrophe, but it seems to be engendering some much-needed consumer perspective. The principles of pesticide-free 'natural' food are unimpeachable. But what irks the organic movement's detractors is the culture of snobbishness and elitism that has grown up around it, resulting in what AA Gill calls "the sort of exploitative, chic pricing that is generally reserved for celebrity perfume". Whole Foods' company motto is "Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet". The way the organic bandwagon has learnt to serve up its food with moral value is clever marketing, but is frankly bananas (see picture).

The vagueness of organic certification is also a sticking point. The Soil Association is the most respected organics body in the UK, but its blessing is not required in order to sell products as organic. In wine, stories are rife of organic vines growing right next door to non-organic vineyards and being polluted by their pesticides which freely waft over in the air and soak through in the soil. Biodynamics, sometimes branded as 'organic plus', has even less regulation.

Maybe a tightening of consumers' wallets will bring organics back into perspective and keep the focus on quality rather than smoke, mirrors and marketing.

Chilean wine boss dies

Ricardo Claro, chairman of Chilean wine empire Santa Rita, has died of a heart attack aged 74. Claro made his fortune in shipping and the media, before branching into wine with the acquisition of Santa Rita in 1980. A politically divisive figure, Claro has been labelled by some as one of the 'civilian generals' behind Pinochet's 1973 coup.

Politics notwithstanding, he will be remembered for his role in putting Chile on the international wine map. Click here for the El Mercurio obituary (Spanish).

Credit crunch claims Tom Aikens

The company of London chef Tom Aikens was put into administration last week, owing thousands of pounds to suppliers. The collapse comes only two months after eco-friendly fish and chip shop Tom's Place closed following complaints from local Chelsea residents. Aikens' remaining two restaurants, Tom Aikens and Tom's Kitchen, were bought by private investment company Oakley Capital. AA Gill described the purchase as "one clever body swerve that nutmegs all those impertinent creditors and suppliers".

New Côtes de Bordeaux AOC Approved

An enlarged but simpler appellation system has been introduced in Bordeaux. From next spring, the following new appelations will be appear on Bordeaux bottles from producers in the Côtes region: Côtes de Bordeaux Blaye, Côtes de Bordeaux Castillon, Côtes de Bordeaux Francs and Côtes de Bordeaux Cadillac.

The Côtes account for 10% of Bordeaux's production and cover 1,600 producers, or 120m bottles.

April Frost Decimates Bordeaux Harvests

The frost on 5 April has wiped out 60-70% of the whites in the Pessac-Leognan area of Bordeaux, according to James Ryland, sales director for Andre Lurton wines, one of the large producers in the area.

May was also the second wettest on record since 1946 in Bordeaux, meaning producers all over the region have been contending with high levels of mildew. Lussac St-Emilion was hit hard by hail in June, totally ruining the vines in one of Chateau Barbe Blanche's vineyards.

Despite this doom and gloom, the 2008 vintage has not been written off yet. July and August have had good amounts of sun and by delaying the harvest until as late as early October, producers still hope to salvage a good crop. Indeed, the story is not dissimilar to the 2007 Bordeaux vintage, which was saved from a similarly inauspicious beginning by the combination of an Indian summer in September and late harvesting. Ryland claims that Andre Lurton's remaining unscathed grapes are of "exceptional" quality. Time will tell.

French 2008 Harvest Begins

The first French grapes of the year were picked yesterday in Rousillon, marking the start of the 2008 northern hemisphere harvest. Domaine Cazes, 2km north of Perpignan, is the largest organic and biodynamic producer in France. It began picking for its white vin de pays, according to the local wine body, the Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins du Roussillon. It is about a week earlier than last year's harvest.

The 2008 French wine harvest is expected to be even smaller than last year. Viniflhor, the French agricultural body, has predicted a 12% drop in wine volumes on the five-year average.