Wine Atlas

In northern Italy, you don't need to visit a big city to see spectacular art. Harriet O'Brien presents a cultural itinerary of frescos, paintings and sculptures – all off the beaten track

Why not 'art cities'?

From Roman ruins to Renaissance masterpieces and Baroque glories, Italy is so packed with sensational sights and art collections that it is difficult to know quite how to start choosing what to see. So we have stepped away from the big cities and centres such as Rome, Naples, Milan, Florence and Venice and have opted to take in several of the most atmospheric smaller art-venues of northern Italy, which is liberally endowed with amazing masterpieces. Finding a major work of art in a minor town is a fabulous and intrinsically Italian experience.

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A decade-old domestic wine industry in India is expanding rapidly as Indians acquire a taste for wine. But as Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, high import duties continue to remain a barrier for foreign wine producers in the Indian market.

When corporate executives threw parties ten years ago, they only stocked whiskey, vodka and beer. But as a growing economy and increasing affluence changes tastes, middle and upper class Indians make sure they have wine to offer when friends come over.

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A WINE that can be bought off the bottleshop shelf for $17 was the star of the Cairns Show Wine Awards.

The 2005 Gramps Shiraz was awarded Champion Wine of the annual awards yesterday, with a host of other wines awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.

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Napa Valley wine maker who transformed the reputation of American wines by striving to enhance subtleties of flavour

Robert Mondavi, who died on Friday aged 94, played a leading part in the widespread growth in admiration for American wines, especially for the wines of the Napa Valley, California, where in the 1960s he established the Robert Mondavi Winery and did much to improve the wines produced there.

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I'm watching the sun rise over the Tuki vineyard as the harvest starts, all from the comfort of my own home. I'll not be putting in the hard graft with the pickers as I experience vintage activity vicariously via the webcam that's been monitoring proceedings at this Hawkes Bay vineyard.

Wine appears on the web in many guises, the most obvious being the recent explosion in bottles available to buy over the internet. From the virtual cellar doors of many wineries and the websites of a growing number of wine retailers, to 100 per cent online wine enterprises: wine is increasingly just a mouse click away.

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Barossa Valley, Australia

Jarrett Osborn, Riverwalk Wine & Spirits April 30, 2008

Barossa Valley produces beautiful red wines, particularly shiraz. The 2006 Earthworks Shiraz is not as dark and rich as most from this region. Instead, it’s a nicely balanced, medium-bodied wine that still displays dark berry and light mint characteristics, with a teeny-tiny hint of toasty oak on the finish. Light acidity keeps the finish clean, while a meaty, earthy body makes this red anything but a lightweight.

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Enologist Menke counsels Colorado's vintners

Raising a glass of the 2006 Creekside Cellars Chardonnay, Colorado's official winemaking guru savors what he's tasting.

"I like the direction you're going with this," Steve Menke tells the winery's owner and winemaker, seated at a table with him. "I like the overall balance."

Creekside owner Bill Donahue pours a glass of his 2006 Viognier. Then, he utters a confession.

"We learned a lot from this particular bottle of wine," he tells Menke, who's sitting at the same table in Creekside's popular cafe here.

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In less than two weeks' time the 2008 Decanter World Wine Awards entry system will close. Wine producers all over the world have been sending in their top wines to be tasted - to date we have had more entries than ever before.

Our panel of world class judges are gearing up their palates for the medal winners that will surprise and delight them. The Decanter World Wine Awards is the only competition to judged on a regional level, hence its reputation as "THE ultimate terroir competition".

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Vintners held their annual "bake sale" last weekend at Premiere Napa Valley to raise money for the Napa Valley Vintners Association, and the price tags went a mite higher than what mom's cupcakes usually fetch. Try $62,000 for the top lot, five cases of Shafer Vineyards Sunspot Vineyard Cabernet, which was auctioned off to Ultimate Distributors from Atlanta, Ga. That breaks down to $1,033.33 a bottle.

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The 2008 Australian grape harvest is set to produce higher yields than first thought.

Mid-harvest figures suggest up to one-point-six million tonnes will be picked, up around four hundred thousand tonnes from earlier estimates.

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The world's fastest developing major economy is the new exporting target for a group of Marlborough wineries setting off to China next week.

New Zealand Wine global marketing manager Chris Yorke said the eight-day trip aimed to search for distributors and increase sales, as well as to push New Zealand wines as strong, premium wine brands.

Of the 23 wineries represented on the Shanghai trip 12 are from Marlborough: Omaka Springs, Forest Estate, Babich, Nobilo, Stoneleigh, Terrace Heights, Jackson Estate, Oyster Bay, Spy Valley, Tohu Wines, Villa Maria, and Staete Landt.

Seven of the Marlborough wineries also have company representatives making the journey.

Mr Yorke, who is leading the trip along with New Zealand Wine marketing executive Kate Garton, said it would be New Zealand Wine's first visit to China. He also said it would be the largest ever tasting of New Zealand wines in China, with 100 wines on the sampling menu.

The three-day trip involves a media conference, tastings and a restaurant dinner matching the New Zealand wines with Chinese cuisine.

Ruud Maasdam, owner and winemaker at Staete Landt Vineyards, said he was looking forward to the tour.

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The 2008 wine harvest is under way around New Zealand's winegrowing regions, with an anticipated yield of about 18 million cases of wine. But as the pickers moved into the vineyards in Gisborne, a deal was being signed in Auckland that will make that wine harder to sell, at least in New Zealand.

The takeover of Auckland-based wine distributor Burleigh Trading by Vintage Wines & Spirits is the latest development in the consolidation of the domestic wine market and, by reducing further the representation of small wine producers in metropolitan markets, one that could have significant long-term effects on the health of the wine business.

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A growing number of middle class Chinese are discovering a taste for French wine, with sales experiencing triple-digit growth last year, trade figures have shown.

Sales of French wine grew 145 percent last year, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters said on Wednesday.

The growth in sales of French cognac and other spirits was equally high: Up 162 percent year-on-year by value, making China the third-largest market for the products, behind the United States and Singapore.

Chinese tipplers spent almost 247 million euros ($364 million) on French wines and spirits last year, making the country the 11th-largest market by value.

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Napa Valley vintners are turning to Auburn's Don Magorian to build often-elaborate underground caves to store their wine.

Magorian parlayed his experience in mine engineering, drilling and mechanics into a niche market that has taken off in recent years as vintners move underground to store wine in caves that maintain a constant temperature in the 55-to-60-degree range.

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Greek wine label Tsantalis makes an inconspicuous entry in Turkey's market in November. Its distributors say in the one month since Tsantalis has been available on the Turkish market they have nearly reached their sales target

One of Greece's household names in wine, Tsantalis, entered the Turkish market last November, becoming the first wine from the neighboring country available in Turkey.

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