On Wine Report

MORE AND MORE WINERIES are tapping into the power of the sun and not just for growing grapes. Constellation Brands is in the process of implementing the world’s largest winery solar energy system at its Gonzales California facility. The company anticipates the project to be completed in early this year.... Read More

THERE’S A NEW WINE GIANT ON THE BLOCK. Cantine Riunite & CIV one of Italy’s largest cooperative wineries, recently bought the co-op Gruppo Italiano Vini (GIV), creating a $6OO million winery. Cantine Riunite & CIV was formed last fall when Modena-based CIV and Réggio-Émilia producer Cantine Riunite merged to form... Read More

THERE MAY BE an international recession going on but it would seem that there are just some things we can’t do without. Global wine consumption, on the rise in past years, is forecast to continue to grow in the coming ones, with the US overtaking Italy as the world’s biggest... Read More

WHAT IS BECOMING OF THE ONCE INFALLIBLE French wine industry? Things are appearing increasingly grim for the coming year after exports fell by 15% in volume and 12% in value in October the industry’s export body has warned. The October figures were the latest from France’s Fédération des Exportateurs de... Read More

NO ONE LIKES A HANGOVER – they’re awful. But even the savviest and most cautious of wine enthusiasts can succumb to overindulgence with the result being the dreaded wine hangover. Headaches after drinking wine are usually caused by sulphites – sulphur dioxide added to the bottle to kill off unwanted... Read More

DON’T GET YOUR HOPES UP for the French 2OO8 vintage – France’s two main newspapers have condemned the it saying poor weather has jeopardized the quality of the harvest across the country. In articles published in November, both le monde and le figaro painted a grim picture of the 2OO8... Read More

Could the key to unraveling Alzheimer’s lie in the French Paradox? For years scientists have been baffled by the so-called “French Paradox” – a society that despite consuming food high in cholesterol and saturated fats, has long had low death rates from heart disease. But there may be an answer.... Read More

WINE PRODUCER Castello Banfi has been cleared of any wrongdoing in the Brunello di Montalcino fraud scandal. All of Banfi’s Brunello 2OO3 has been released by Italian police investigators after it was found to comply with production rules, the group announced. Banfi, which produces around 6OO,OOO bottles of Brunello annually,... Read More

GOING GREEN is certainly the thing to do these days. Fetzer Vineyards one of the largest US wineries, will lightweight its entire line of wines to reduce its environmental footprint, continuing the winery’s more than 2O-year history of environmental responsibility and a decade-long commitment to help alleviate global climate change.... Read More

THERE ARE WORLDWIDE CONCERNS for the environment, and everyone is doing their part to decrease the carbon footprint, especially consumers and industries. Consumers are demanding less packaging and the use of recyclable materials in their goods – and wineries are a perfect example of adopting these ecological measures. Carmen is... Read More