Welcome at Flying Wine Writer | Jan Rook

Viognier is an example in the world achieving success as stand-alone wine. It creates diversification on the internal market and provide an open door for potential international consumers. At Vinisud 2014 was presented a spectacular tasting about Condrieu. The report gives an international impression about how is now viognier best wine-style. Read more...

Friday, March 21, 2014

There are two strategic options available to Spain to improve its competitive positioning - Spain must either increase production of international varietals or build foreign market consumer demand for its traditional varietals.

From a strategic standpoint, a focus on increasing production of international varietals quickly opens up new export opportunities for Spain, but will generally force Spanish producers to compete on price with New World producers (e.g. Chile, Australia and South Africa) in the more commoditised segment of the market where prices can be more volatile. Rabobank report click here...

Monday, March 03, 2014

One very simple and economic strategy to help winemakers reduce alcohol levels in their wines is to inoculate grape must first with M. pulcherrima AWRI1149 and then, to finish the fermentation, add a wine strain of S. cerevisiae. Whilst this strategy carries some risk of compromising wine quality in some grape musts, as the Chardonnay used in this study, it might improve sensory attributes in Shiraz and reduce the alcohol level by up to 1.6% (v/v). A decrease in ethanol concentration of this magnitude will be a significant advantage to winemakers sourcing grapes from warm, sunny regions; reducing ethanol content from, for example, 15% (v/v) ethanol to 13.4% (v/v) is a significant development in the generation of reduced alcohol wines. Read more...

Monday, February 24, 2014

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Vinisud confirmed 1642 exhibitors to attend the 2014 exhibition. Mediterranean vines become the focal point of the wine industry. In 2013 they represented 50.93% of global wine production. Mediterranean producer countries have recorded a rise of over 4% in their revenue from wine exports, in spite of a 9.2% fall in volume. Currently, they account for 65% of exports, worth a total of 26.billion euros. The first day was crowd. There was every second full of taste. Excellent Master Classes about Spanish wines with Gérard Basset and Jose Peñin, then Paolo Basso presenting a tasting with Mediterranean wines. Condrieu presented three beautiful viogniers which shows the elegance of the varietal. Sicilian wines presented a wine and food combination with autochthones grapes. It was an amazing day. Later more...

Monday, February 17, 2014

Rabobank wine quarterly Q4 report announces good news for the wine market in the UK. Wine consumtion habits continues to shift into the home. France wine production falls due to poor weather conditions. New Zealand returned to growth, due to strong demand from Northern Europe and the U.S. In the US, bottled wine imports experienced solid growth in both volume (7%) and value (9%). Read more...

Record-setting dryness for many locations in California reported by United States Drought Monitor last days. Moreover, it is drought emergency declared for Mendocino County. Bill Koehler of Redwood Valley Water said “if we do run dry, the economic impact on our community is going to be huge, not just for the individual domestic (users), but agro and the wine grape industry in general, and so there may be some access to those folks who are seeking compensation."

Monday, December 02, 2013

The study demonstrates that regional, site-specific, and grape-variety factors shape the fungal and bacterial consortia inhabiting wine-grape surfaces. It could be mean that the taste of wine is determinate by 'microbial terroir'. Read abstract...

Thursday, November 07, 2013

The Vinea Association in 2012 replaced the printed Swiss Wine Guide, the essential reference work for wine-lovers in our country, with a free iPhone app. It has now been downloaded more than 5,000 times and updated more than 12,000 times in one year: the app has truly been a success. The heart of the app is 500 wine producers who were selected on the basis of their results in the largest wine competitions and/or for their renown - Switzerland's pride, the best wine producers in the country. More information...

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

According to the forecasts, the world should produce 281 million hectolitres of wine in 2013. Spain has recorded a high level of wine production, of over 40 Mhl. With 45 Mhl, Italy has produced 2% more than in 2012. There has also been an increase of 7% in France (44 Mhl) and in Portugal (6.7Mhl).

Development has taken place in the United States, along with record production in Chile (12.8 Mhl) and New Zealand (2.5 Mhl). Read more...

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Take a picture of your favorite wine and share it with your friends. Then, check in your network who is drinking the same. The App works as a face recognition programme developed for the wine industry. So you can remember the wines you are drinking and learn about them. Click here Delectable...

Friday, September 13, 2013

The announcement brings the total number of Masters of Wine to 312, in 24 countries, and comes days before the Institute celebrates its 60th Anniversary with a week of special events in London. The eight new MWs include the first ever Turkish Master of Wine. Dilek Caner, who is originally from Istanbul. Read more...