Australian wineries count cost of storm that tops A$100m in insurance claims

The bill for damage caused by the recent storm that hit parts of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia has exceeded $100m, and is expected to climb even higher.

Latest figures from the Insurance Council of Australiahave revealed that the storm has so far generated around 20,000 insurance claims, with insurance losses so far predicted to be at least $115m across the three states.  However, the final toll is likely to be higher, given that some damage is not insured.

A spokesperson from the Insurance Council said that it would “take several months for the full extent of the losses to be known.

The storm, considered by Mildura locals to be the worst hailstorm to affect the region since the 1970’s, seriously damaged or destroyed more than 24,400 hectares of crops in Victoria in one of the state’s key food producing districts.   Up to 1238 hectares of wine grapes were destroyed or seriously damaged in the storm, while other crops to be badly hit included grain, legumes and table grapes.

Wine producer Russell McManus, who farms near Red Cliffs, estimates he has lost about three quarters of his crop this season, with the grape vines stripped of developing grapes.

"|'d say that approximately 75% of our properties are wiped out,” he said. “The remainder would have damage to a lesser extent, simply because our properties are spread out over an area. It will have an effect on next year’s crop as well, because it’s damaged the buds on the canes for the following season.”

McManus has estimated that the storm will cost him “hundreds of thousands of dollars”.

Learn more here: Australian wineries count cost of storm that tops A$100m in insurance claims

Wine Behind The Label’s 10th edition includes record number of wine producers and wines

The 10th edition of Wine Behind the Label is published early next month with its most comprehensive analysis to date of wine producers, their vineyards and their wines.

The guide remains unique in that it features not only the most up to date profiles of individual wineries from all the main producing countries of the world. It also gives full ratings and scores for their wines.

As a result it has become known as “the sommelier’s best friend” and is widely used by sommeliers, and other wine professionals, both in their training, as research for professional exams, and as a day to day resource in their working lives.

Wine Behind the Label is once again published by joint editors, David Moore and Neville Blech.

The 10th edition includes full profiles of 3,700 wineries, including 160 new entries. There are 6,000 wineries featured in total, with over 19,000 different wines rated and scored.

The guide has been updated to include all the latest wines and ratings from the 2015 northern hemisphere vintage and the 2016 vintage in the southern hemisphere.

Wine Behind The Label contains the most accurate information possible about wineries and their wines as it relies on a network of some of the biggest names in the international wine writing community to help compile many of the chapters, profiles and wine ratings. It is their work and expertise that has helped Wine Behind The Label become seen as THE reference book for professional and amateur wine lovers alike.

Contributors to the 10th edition include Jim Budd (Loire Valley) , Michael Edwards (Champagne and Burgundy), Professor Kathleen Burk (Germany, Austria and Virginia), Gary White (Portugal and South America), Ilona Thompson, (Wes Coast of the USA). It also includes work from previous contributors, including Sarah Ahmed, Maggie Rosen and Stuart George.

A key feature of the Wine Behind The Label guide is its full range of regional maps, with great detail of all the main wine producing areas of the world.

It also includes comprehensive glossaries for wine and viticulture terms along with a guide to all the main grape varieties.

Previous editions of the guide have received international acclaim. The most recent coming from the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne  et du Vin which earlier this year gave it a special prize in its international wine awards for its contribution to wine education and knowledge.

As the 10th edition is about to hit the presses, plans are already in place for 2017, with more leading contributors from around the world for the next Wine Behind The Label and a dedicated app to help professionals and wine lovers alike check wines for quality and value when out buying bottles in shops and restaurants.

A new membership club is also set to be launched in 2017 where members can take advantage of attending special events and also receiving discounts on wine accessories, including glassware and the VinGarde Valise wine carrying suitcase, that are sold through its website.

The full price for a printed book of the 10th edition is £65 and £39 for a digital version.

Pre-publication discounts are available to those placing orders up to midnight on November 30 for both the printed or digital versions of the guide. 

They include a 20% for a single copy (using the code prepub20), any orders of five copies or more receive a 25% (code: 5ormore25), for 10 or more copies it is a 35% discount (code: 10ormore35) and 20 or more can get a 50% (code:“20ormore50”).

* If you would like to receive any more information or talk to one of the editors behind the book then contact Neville Blech on neville@winebehindthelabel.org.

* You can read more about the guide, plus catch up on the latest wine news, as well as read regular blogs from Wine Behind The Label contributors and the editors, Neville Blech and David Moore, at its dedicated website, wwww.winebehindthelabel.org.

See full article here: Wine Behind The Label’s 10th edition includes record number of wine producers and wines

Rioja celebrates a “superb” vintage with great weather for quality grapes

Unusually good weather, exceptional condition of the grapes and staggered picking has resulted in a “superb” Rioja harvest.

In total, 442.4m kg of grapes were picked, which was turned into 318.5m litres of wine according to the DOCa Rioja.   Both the quantity and quality of this year’s crop have been described as “highly satisfactory”, with the unusually good weather in September and October contributing to the “exceptional” quality of the grapes this harvest.

This has enabled producers to be highly selective and to be able to pick the grapes only when they reach their optimum ripeness in each vineyard.

Last year was the earliest Rioja harvest on record, ending on October 13th, but 2016 has been equally notable in that it has lasted for over two months. This was the result of the good weather, combined with an unexpected increase in production after a growing season marked by both drought and high summer temperatures.

The total grape production surface area in the region for 2016 was 62,641 hectares (759 more than in 2015). Of that total, the vast majority, 58,016 hectares, are planted with red varieties and 4,625 with white (143 and 620 more than in 2015 respectively).

The area yielded an authorised production of 400.14 million kg of red grapes (90%) and 42.22 million kg of white grapes (10%). A total of 462.5 million kg grapes were picked this year of which 442.4 million kg were approved after discarding excess production.

These were used to make 318.5 million litres of D.O. certified wine. This amount is somewhat lower than what could theoretically be approved with the maximum yields per hectare set out in this year’s Harvest Standards.

And initial impressions about the quality of the 2016 vintage wines are “very optimistic”.

The Control Board will soon start the rating process (which involves laboratory tests and tastings) to accurately assess the wine made by each winery and in the region as a whole.

Source here: Rioja celebrates a “superb” vintage with great weather for quality grapes

Wine behind the label 10th edition coming very soon

Wine behind the label 10^th edition coming very soon

We thought we should bring all our readers some important news. The 10^th edition of Wine behind the label, the authoritative guide to the best wine producers and their wines is now in preparation. The digital download will be ready at the end of November and the printed hard cover 1000 page book will be available in early December.

We are asking you to think Christmas. The book is an ideal present for rewarding your best clients or customers or for gifts to family and friends.

The full price of the printed book will be £65 and we can offer a discount of 25% for a delivery of 5 books or more, 35% for 10 books or more and 50% for 20 books or more. The book cover can be overprinted with your company logo for a one off fee of £100 once you have supplied the artwork.

We are also offering a pre-publication discount of 20% for a single book or download for all orders received before December 1st

The digital guide sells for £39 and again the same percentage quantity discounts apply.

Please contact neville@winebehindthelabel.org for your discount coupon codes

This is a must for anybody interested in wine. Over 6,000 wine producers are written up and over 18,000 wines are rated. Look them up before you buy in a shop or restaurant. There is also a useful glossary of wine terms and a grape glossary.

Wine behind the label – everything you ever wanted to know about wine and never dared to ask.

As a quick sampler please have a look at these screen grabs of a couple of new wineries we are profiling. These are work in progress from the digital guide.

Find Vilmart on wine searcher

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/vilmart+cie

 

 

Find Greystone wines on wine searcher

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/greystone+wines+waipara

 

Post source here: Wine behind the label 10th edition coming very soon

New Zealand producers count the cost of latest earthquake to hit the South Island

New Zealand is still counting the cost of what was potentially a devastating earthquake of 7.5 magnitude that hit the country's South Island on Sunday night.

However, early signs are the wine community has had a narrow escape other than a wine spillages, lost tanks and barrels. The quake could not have come at a worse time for the industry as it was gearing up for its next vintage, and was followed by a further earthquake and a series of aftershocks that have the hit the region throughout the early part of the week.

But engineers and producers are still looking at the most worst affected areas with parts of  Marlborough, the key wine growing region having been hit.

There was some damage at the Riverlands Industrial Estate, south of Blenheim, where tanks holding as much as 240,000 litres were spilled, sending wine over the road. This could prove costly for the wine companies concerned, though Wine Malrborough chairman Rhyan Wardman said that the high standard of engineering developed over a series of earthquakes should avert too much damage.

Yealands Wine Group operating manager Michael Wentworth said there had been “notable damage at the winery” and it remains closed for safety reasons while the extend of the damage is assessed and cleaned up.  Yealands is situated near the town of Seddon, the epicentre of the quake.

“We’ve got damage to tanks and as a result of the shaking we’ve lost some wine but it’s to early to estimate how much that is,” he said.

Wardman said that the winery where he worked, Giesen Wines in the Riverlands estate, escaped with minor damager.

“We’ve had a number of barrels that have toppled, but otherwise we’ve come through this pretty much unscathed,” he said. “Today is all about the assessment of our infrastructure, we’ve got engineers on site to check our tanks and cat walks, so we’ll probably have a clearer picture at the end of the day about how we fared.”

Residents living near the coast were being urged to move to higher ground after the earthquake triggered a tsunami warming. Hundreds of homes were evacuated in Kaikoura, while Rarangi residents north of Blenheim left their houses and moved inland.

The Nelson region appears to have been unscathed.

The country is no stranger to seismic activity, with a 7.1-magnitude temblor causing massive structural damage in September 2010, followed by a 6.3-magnitude in February 2011 that killed 185 people in Christchurch. Frequent smaller quakes have been recorded since then, including the 2013 Seddon and Lake Grassmere quakes, both of which caused substantial property damage.

Article source here: New Zealand producers count the cost of latest earthquake to hit the South Island

Wine producers face devastating losses following floods in South Australia

Grape producers in South Australia’s Riverland were left counting the cost after stormy weather tore through the state at the end of last week, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.

Some producers lost their entire crops, as severe rain, hail and 100 kph winds lashed the region on Friday, damaging fruit, flooding crops and ripping leaves and bark from orchards.

Riverland Wine official Chris Byrne said that producers had been on track for a good year, but many had now lost a significant amount of vines.

“Many of the vines have effectively been stripped, or the word that most growers would use to describe is it looks as though they have been shredded,” hd said.

The bad weather affected Cadell, Barmera, Berri and Monash to Yamba.   “These hailstorms came through almost in the form of very sharp ice coming at very high speed that inflicted some really serious damage on the fruit that is just forming,” added Byrne. “Quite clearly an event of this sort will have some sort of impact on the market.”

Last year Riverland vineyards supplied 63% of South Australia’s crush, and accounted for 27% of the country’s total volume.

Vineyard owner Matthew Recchia was just one producer who has lost everything. There’s nothing to salvage, it’s all destroyed,” he said. Some lost 100%, some lost 50%, we’ve lost everything.” As a result he has had to get rid of 15 employees.   Meanwhile, Mildura table grape grower Vince Cirillo described himself as “ one of the lucky ones,” as he only lost around half of his crop.

Agriculture minister Leon Bignall flew to the area, near the state’s eastern border for talk with industry officials, while the opposition leader Steven Marshall also went there to discuss the damage to crops with regional MP Tim Whetstone and grape growers.

Bignall estimated that the damage for Riverland horticultural properties could be in the region of $100 million. “We have had a terrible 12 months,” he said, describing the storm as the worst in the region for 50 years.   Meanwhile Marshall described the losses as “devastating”, and added: “We have to make sure these businesses don’t go to the wall."

See full article here: Wine producers face devastating losses following floods in South Australia

French wine producers in most regions hit by poor 2016 vintage

French wine producers are reeling from the full impact of what has been a devastating 2016 vintage in many parts of the country with some having no grapes to sell or facing losses that fear could bankrupt them.

Whilst the overall picture, according to the OIV, will see the total French wine harvest down by 12%, it is far worse than that in key areas of Burgundy, Chablis, Chiroubles, the Loire, Beaujolais and even in parts of Champagne.

"This isn't so much a harvest, as a hunt for grapes," said French winemaker Jean-Jacques Robert, of Domaine Robert-Denogent near Fuisse in Burgundy. ”It's a catastrophe, the worst harvest for 30 or 40 years.”

The organic winemaker lost between two-thirds and three-quarters of his harvest in one hailstorm in April.

"All that was missing was a plague of frogs," said Robert's son Antoine.

It has raised further calls for the government to step in and take action to help some winemakers, reports VINEX.

Some areas are taking matters in to their own hands. With restaurants and wine shops starting campaigns and fund raising efforts to help winemakers that have been hit with total or near total losses of grapes.

Particularly badly affected have been the large proportion of organic winemakers in France and natural producers, who were unable to use any sprays or preventative measures to protect themselves from the weather.

Unable to spray damaged crops, they had to watch as mildew attacked their vines.  Many refused to go "against our principles" and using chemicals.

But some did. “It’s the most difficult decision I have ever taken," said Vincent Dureuil-Janthial from Rully in Burgundy, who told AFP that he had lost the organic certification he had held for a decade as he had to use sprays. "It felt like a personal failure.” But he said he was forced to act so that he could pay his six members of staff. "I had to take a decision as a business owner to save what little of the crop was left to save."

Laurie Lacroix, of Vendanges Solidaires Group told AFP: "Many winemakers are really in a very bad situation. Many cannot afford insurance, and particularly for those who are starting out it has been disastrous. There is no state support or compensation. It is a real high-wire act.”

Jean-Jacques Robert added: "We lost €300,000 eurosin one shower, which is huge. Our insurance will hopefully cover €100,000 euros of that but the rest you have to absorb."

 

Originally published here: French wine producers in most regions hit by poor 2016 vintage

Piedmont celebrates bumper 2016 harvest and a good year for Barolos

Wine producers in Piedmont in north west Italy are celebrating what they say is going to be a good, strong harvest, with grapes for their Barolo wines looking particularly healthy.

Wine growers  across the region have been largely happy with the outcome of the harvest, reporting a bumper crop in some places and overall good high quality. Grapes are showing good sugar concentration, which is similar to last year, but with greater structure.

Compared to the early 2015 harvest which followed an exceptionally hot summer, and was then rushed due to imminent heavy rain, this year has proved relatively stress free.

“The weather during harvest was fantastic,” said Andrea Sottimano, Neive-based Barbaresco producer, speaking to Decanter.  “We were able to take our time and wait for ripening in every single variety.”   This meant that the harvest was longer than in recent vintages, with some producers only picking the last of their Nebbiolo grapes as late as the last week of October.

“The grape skins are the best I’ve seen in many years, much like they were in 2010,” he added.   Another reason for the longer harvest was the fact that there was simply more grapes to pick.

Chiara Boschis of E Pira & Figla in Barolo which farms organically, said that normally their harvest is 30 – 40% less than the legal maximum permitted, , but this year they were only down by 15%.

One producer even reported having to buy new tanks mid harvest to accommodate the quantity of grapes. “We’ve never seen anything like it,” said Stefano Ferrio of Cascina Ca’Rossa winery, who reported a great year for his white Arneis grapes.

However, not all vineyards were celebrating bumper crops. One commune not to benefit from the big Barolo crop was La Morra, which was affected by hail. However, the quality of the grapes does not appear to have been compromised.

And some areas in Lessona and Bramaterra suffered losses from frost and others from the hail at the end of May.   Meanwhile, those higher humidity regions experienced some problems with downy mildew. “It’s a vintage that showed very well who was able to best work their vineyards,” said Cristiano Garello.

Original post here: Piedmont celebrates bumper 2016 harvest and a good year for Barolos

Chile and Argentina enjoy flying sales in UK off-trade

South American wines from Chile and Argentina were the two stand out performers in the UK off-trade in the last year, according to the latest figures from IRI.

Chile's performance saw enter the top five best selling countries in the UK for the first time with sales up 4.5% by value to £441 million in the 52 weeks to October 8 2016. This is up from £422m in 2015.

What's more it was the only country in the top five nations to see any value growth. It has to thank its performance in the convenience sector for its boom in sales, as well as the performance of leading brands such as Concha y Toro's Casillero del Diablo brand which was up 37% and Cono Sur up 11.3%.

Argentina enjoyed a sales boost of some 34.1% which cements positive growth for the last few years. New Zealand was the only major wine country in growth in the UK with sales up 13.1%.

Other key statistics from the report are:

* Australia, which still has more than £500m value sales than any other country, saw its sales dip 0.9% to £1,153.1m.

* Italy had a disappointing year, Prosecco aside, dropping  7.9% to £642.7m.

* The US was also down 6.3% to £633.5m.

* South African sales were down 8.5%.

* Spain dropped 10.3% to £401.1m.

 

 

Article source here: Chile and Argentina enjoy flying sales in UK off-trade