On Wine Report

HERE’S SOME clever marketing. A Florida funeral home said its newly installed wine cellar is intended to offer a different type of memorial gathering than the traditional service. Seth Minso, general manager at Hodges Funeral Home in Naples, said he believes the business is the first funeral home in the... Read More

IT CERTAINLY was a banner year in South Africa as the country’s wine industry exported a record 5.52 million hectoliters (hl) in 2O13. The figure is a 26% increase on the previous record on 4.17 million hl achieved in 2O12, with shipments to the UK driving the growth. It is... Read More

IT WAS a good year for the wine business in the US.  Winery production was up 6.3% in 2O13, according to the latest data from wines & vines magazine.  The number of wineries grew to 8391, a gain of 4.3%.  Additionally, the average bottle price rose from $9 to $1O.85.

FOR YEARS debates have raged as to the proper closure for wine bottles. Now, the cork industry has come up with a new-style stopper to halt the wine industry’s search for alternatives. Called the Helix, it ‘twists to open’ and uses a special glass bottle with an internal threaded neck... Read More

IT WAS SIGNED into law more than three years ago but a bill requiring Sonoma County wines to include the words “Sonoma County” somewhere on the label finally came into effect January 1. Given all the time they’ve had to prepare, not to mention the marketing potential the new law... Read More

IN ONE OF THE LARGEST cases of wine fraud to date, Rudy Kurniawan of Los Angeles has been found guilty of operating a fake wine factory and selling counterfeit wines – acts called “a betrayal” of the wine community. Some of the wines Kurniawan sold privately or at auctions fetched... Read More

A Chinese billionaire and a French wine maker have been killed in a helicopter crash after going on a flight to celebrate the sale of an historic Bordeaux chateau.  Lam Kok, 46, a hotel magnate who had diversified into the upmarket wine trade, was killed along with his 12-year-old son... Read More

FRENCH BULK WINE prices are rising as the outlook for the 2O13 vintage deteriorates, crop office data show, with the government cutting its forecast for volumes for a fourth time in recent weeks because of grape rot. The price of bulk red and rose wines without geographic indication jumped 15... Read More

TO PROMOTE the continued growth and development of Italian fine wine in the US on-premise sector, VeronaFiere is offering the Taub Family Vinitaly Italian Wine Scholarship. Now in its fourth year, this annual scholarship provides applicants the opportunity to be awarded an all-expenses-paid professional, educational trip to the 48th annual... Read More

YEP, YOU READ THAT RIGHT.  Oregon-based producer Union Wine Company has released a Pinot Noir in a 12-ounce can to appeal to beer-loving consumers.  The cans will go on sale next year for around $5 each.  The idea for the cans, carrying both Underwood Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, came... Read More