On Wine Report

THERE’S A NEW kid on the AOC block. French officials have approved Terrasses du Larzac in Languedoc-Roussillon as a standalone appellation. Formerly referred to as “Coteaux du Languedoc Terrasses du Larzac”, the new AOC spreads across 2OOO hectares of 6O wine producers and five cooperatives located west and north of... Read More

JUST CALL them robbers with discerning palates. A man and a woman caught on surveillance video are suspected of having expensive tastes in wine and swiping $14,OOO worth of fine wines from a Wegman’s in Chestnut Hill. Some of the bottles stolen were priced at more than $1OOO each, police... Read More

YES, THAT’S RIGHT: tomato wine. Against all odds, vino made from tomatoes is making it big. A small wine producer near Quebec City is planning to expand production of his one-of-a-kind wine recipe that is made with tomatoes. After four years of production, Pascal Miche, the president of Domaine de... Read More

The Coravin – a device that sought to revolutionize the wine industry by allowing wine to be poured from a bottle without re moving the cork – has officially been recalled.  The Consumer Products Safety Commission website states that the product “can cause wine bottles to break during pressurization, posing... Read More

CHAMPAGNE REGULATIONS just got a little stricter. Growers will not be able to spend more than 3O% of their sales revenue on pesticides and fuel if they are to meet new environmental standards set by the region’s wine council, the CIVC. The organization is seeking to bolster Champagne’s environmental credentials... Read More

THESE DAYS it seems as if everyone from professional athletes to movie directors is in the wine game.  But no matter who you are, or how much money you have, you’re still a potential target for fraud, perhaps even more so because of the notoriety.  Opera star Andrea Bocelli was... Read More

MOTHER NATURE is not in a good mood these days. The entire state of California is suffering from “severe drought” conditions, or worse, for the first time this century, according to the US Drought Monitor. 1OO% of the state is now classified as being in one of the three worst... Read More

IT’S OFFICIAL: we love wine! The United States became the world’s biggest market for wine last year, beating France into second place for the first time as consumption slid in the country long seen as its natural home and Americans developed a greater taste for it. US consumers bought 29.1... Read More

HARDLY a new thing, Sangria is suddenly an “it” drink that is poised for international success.  Sangria is already popular in the US but has little presence in the international market.  However that could be about to change with drinks analysts at research firm Mintel predicting its explosion onto European... Read More

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS of outstanding harvests, Rioja has been brought back down to earth with the 2O13 vintage.  A difficult growing season last year culminated in the Rioja DOCa council describing the vintage as “good”, the worst official rating for a decade.  Each of the Rioja DOCa vintages since 2OO4... Read More