PUT a ZORK in IT
Once opened, resealing a bottle of bubbly with its cork has long been impossible . . . until now. The world’s first resealable, reusable and recyclable sparkling wine closure has appeared on the market. Zork’s SPK debuted in July on bottles of Zamphire, a $22 sparkling wine produced by McWilliam’s... Read More
WINE and DRUGS: NOT a GOOD PAIRING
This gives new meaning to the expression “counterfeit wine”. Bulgarian customs officers have seized more than 7OO liters of concentrated cocaine worth an estimated €1O million (US$13.94 million) found concealed in over 1OOO wine bottles. The drugs, found hidden in a container which had been loaded in Bolivia and shipped... Read More
The MILLION DOLLAR WINE BOOK
Got an extra million dollars lying around? You can always buy a book on wine. Weighing in at 66-pounds, and set to be released in the spring of next year, Wine Opus will list the world’s top 1OO wineries. It’s being published by Kraken Opus, which has launched other extravagant... Read More
BUILD A WINNING WINE LIST
Restaurants have long enjoyed robust and profitable wine sales. And the last decade has only seen consumer enthusiasm increase as wine has skyrocketed in popularity. But are restaurants selling wine as effectively as they could be? Perhaps not. A recent Cornell University wine research study has identified four key strategies... Read More
SPAIN TAKES NUMBER 2 SPOT
These are good days for Spanish wines. Spain has overtaken France as the number two exporter of wines in volume terms according to figures from the International Organization of Vine & Wine. The data shows that Italy still leads the export charts with 17.2 million liters sold abroad in 2OO8.... Read More
ORGANIC WINE? NOT SO FAST
Everywhere you look these days products tout themselves as organic. But are they really? It would seem that some companies have taken liberties with their definition of organic. Restrictions, however, are tightening. Based on a memorandum between the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA),... Read More
HELLO VINO!
How did the world ever get along without the iPhone and its apps? You can learn to dance study a language, find a restaurant and now select a wine. “Hello Vino” is a free app available through iTunes that delivers personalized wine recommendations to an iPhone or iPod Touch. The... Read More
WHAT’S YOUR WINE KNOWLEDGE?
Perhaps we’re not as wine savvy as we all think we are. According to new research consumers in both the US and the UK are comfortable with some concept of regionality, but New World regions are the biggest sufferers. The study was conducted by Wine Intelligence using the Vinitrac consumer... Read More
GERMAN PROSECCO GOES POP
The laws of bubbly making are nothing if not stringent. France has its Champagne Spain its Cava and Germany its . . . Prosecco? A German law court has ruled that sparkling wine produced in Germany but made from Italian Prosecco grapes can be labeled as “Italian”. If the basic... Read More
COPPOLA WINERY CHANGES NAME
Francis Ford Coppola is changing the name of his Sonoma winery from Francis Ford Coppola Presents Rosso & Bianco to the more concise Francis Ford Coppola Winery. “We are just a few months away from finishing the new tasting room and restaurant. For a place that is meant to be... Read More