Wine Atlas

It was out with the old and in with the new during November as Houghton Wines made two important decisions about its future.

On the one hand David Woods, CEO of parent wine company Hardy Wines, and Houghton senior winemaker Rob Bowen were on hand to officially open the winery’s new cellar door facility.

On the other, Houghton’s White Classic was announced as the new name of Houghton’s White Burgundy.

Both events will prove pivotal for Houghton’s viability in the coming decades of growth for the Western Australian wine business.

Having decided to expand its base of operations in the Swan Valley, Houghton unveiled its $1 million cellar door facility on November 20.

A dramatic increase in visitor numbers forced Houghton to revamp its existing resource, making this new work the biggest growth in more than two decades.

Continue reading

Greetings from the vine!

Today I bring you a collection of wine terms, tips, trivia and events I call "Wine Wanderings." Without further ado, let the wandering begin!

Quote of the Week: "One barrel of wine can work more miracles than a church full of saints."

- Italian proverb

b Did you know that Champagne is only made in Champagne? Wine-growing in France's Champagne region dates to the end of the third century A.D. Until the 17th century, only still (non bubbly) white, red and rose wines were produced, different than the champagne we know today.

Continue reading

You've heard of chick lit? Of course. But do you know junk lit? I do. I encounter it all the time. It's verbiage from people pretending to be experts, when all they're really doing is selling their spiel.

"Wines From Spain: Far From Ordinary Wine Guide 2005-2006" is decidedly not junk lit. It's a thoughtful, insightful, informative guide to the finest wines America imports from Spain, which is the world's third largest wine-producing country. The guide, published by Wines of Spain, spotlights history and winemaking laws and offers a comprehensive glossary of Spain's wine grapes as well as a thorough list of the country's disparate and intriguing wine regions. Best of all, it's got clearly written, user-friendly tasting notes written by one of the great wine minds in the world, Doug Frost, one of three wine pros in the world to attain both master of wine and master sommelier honors.

Continue reading

Fifty years ago, France dominated the wine world. Fifty years ago California's Napa Valley was a sleepy agricultural community, as was Oregon's rain-soaked Willamette Valley. Fifty years ago, American wines were the beverage of choice for hobos and alcoholics, not wine connoisseurs.

A lot has changed in 50 years.

Continue reading

Two Edmonton happenings last week proved Italy is a strong challenger to be crowned the next "in" wine country.

First, the local Italian Chamber of Commerce hosted a trade delegation from Latina, located 60 kilometres south of Rome in the region of Lazio.

Italy is second to Australia in wine exports to Canada and the quality-cost ratio of the Latina wines showed why Italy is knocking hard on Alberta's door.

Second, a "mini" Italian wine festival staged by Liquor Select, at 8924 149th St., attracted a sell-out crowd.

There were a handful of old favourites there, such as the Antinori and Fontanafredda offerings. But there were some exciting wines new to the market.

Continue reading: canada.com

Vinexpo 2006 is to be held in Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre from from 23rd to 25th May 2006.

Bordeaux is the fifth biggest city in France and one of the leading wine regions in the world. Bruno·Lacoste, the vice president of Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce, said Bordeaux chose to hold Vinexpo 2006 in China, and Shanghai and Hong Kong are the optioned cities. Bruno·Lacoste said we believed Hong Kong was the better choice to exploit Asian markets compared with Shanghai, so we chose Hong Kong in the end. Hong Kong has ever hosted a Vinexpo in 1998, and it will be the second time that Vinexpo was held in Hong Kong next year.

Continue reading: wines-info.com

Mourvèdre, an important Spanish grape that was once the dominant varietal in Provence, has become the murmur du jour as more varietals associated with the southern Rhône assume increasing popularity worldwide. A late ripener, it needs warm summers to yield its rich, gamey or meaty flavours, sometimes likened to truffles. Several leading producers at the Cape have established plantings but these are still too small to warrant a mention in the statistics provided by SA Wine Industry Information & Systems (SAWIS).

Continue reading

Wine & Vine: Make an effort to enjoy a wider choice

TWO or three wine tastings a week are tedious. Spare me your mock sympathy; my gripe is simply the tiresome chat of certain wino colleagues.

Wine attracts its fair share of anoraks and I'm not talking cagoules here. Some are absurdly fixated on wine of one region, roundly dismissing all else. Unsurprisingly, two biggies frequently figuring are Bordeaux and Burgundy. I regularly encounter blimpish oddities who are expert in the (mostly top end) vineyards of both, but indifferent about the rest of the vinous world.

And that's my key point. In two decades, production of serious quality wine has blossomed internationally, springing from vinous nowhere land.

Continue reading

THE Hunter Valley wine industry has sniffed, swished and spat out a report that says its wines are the most profitable in Australia.

Local experts say the industry is straining under intense competition from supermarkets and most of its wineries are financially threadbare.

The annual financial benchmarking survey for the wine industry, released by Deloitte last week, found the Hunter region kept the highest proportion of its revenue as gross earnings, at 23 per cent.

South Australia's Mt Lofty region was the least profitable, with just 8 per cent of its revenue as earnings.

Earnings in the Barossa Valley and the Fleurieu Peninsula, both in SA, were 16.5 and 15.9 per cent respectively.

Continue reading