DAN'S WINE BLOG- THE BIG AND THE SMALL

Friday, February 11, 2022

This week is about the big and small ends of town. Starting at the big end with the vast volume of bulk wine and finishing with the minute end with wine in Tibet.

BULK WINE:??I recently read the latest insightful Bulk Wine Report from Jim Moularadellis of Austwine at around the same time that I received notification from the World Bulk Wine Exhibition mob advising that they will be holding their first exhibition in the USA this year – June 8-9. Apart from their regular Exhibition which they have been conducting in Amsterdam each year in late November over the last 13 years, in 2019 they conducted their first WBWE Asia in Yantai China, which was very successful as I reported in WBM Magazine (see link below). Given the turmoil in the global wine market over the last two years, the move to Santa Rosa (Sonoma County) California makes huge sense.

Article Link:

WBM - Bulking Up www.wineassist.com.au/dans-articles/article-bulking-up.

The US market is the biggest wine market in the world, and with growing environmental awareness, more are more wine is being shipped in bulk and being bottled at destination. Therefore, the sale of bulk wine is becoming increasingly more important across the globe. The current shipping container supply crisis is helping to further enhance the appeal of bulk wine sales and shipments.

Contrary to popular belief “bulk wine” does not mean inferior wine. It means wine that is produced, usually by co-operatives or larger wineries, and sold in bulk rather than under a producer’s brand. Some of these wines are outstanding. In my tenure as one of the 25 international judges involved in the competition for WBWE in Amsterdam, I have seen a considerable number of gold medals awarded – including a Coonawarra Chardonnay and some truly world-class Uruguayan Tannat.

Given the oversupply in Australia caused by China, larger wineries should seriously consider participating in this year’s WBWE and smaller wineries should talk to Austwine and Ciatti about having their wines included.

If the past WBWE are anything to go by, the WBWE USA will well be worth a trip to see how the global bulk wine market operates and what the opportunities are –?Oh,?and if you are Covid-19 concerned, WBWE Amsterdam was one of very few events held successfully in November last year, under very strict rules imposed by the Netherlands government, without any incidents.

Think about your bulk wine strategy and then contact WBWE at the links below.

Website:

www.worldbulkwine.com/en/

Email:

[email protected]

TIBET:??These days wine grapes are grown just about everywhere in the world other than in the Antarctic.?Yep,?they make wine in Bali, Alaska, Sweden and now even in Tibet.

A retired couple Hua and Lu Sheng in Tibet, who learned grape growing from Catholic nuns, have set up a vineyard in the town of Tsalna just outside the city of Lhasa (3,600 metres above sea level). They currently have just under seven hectares of cold and drought resistant vines (varieties not named), organically planted on a sunny plateau on the outskirts of the town.

Well that’s it for another week, have a good one, stay safe and remember to?#chooseaustralianwine?and when possible enjoy?#emergingvarieties.

Cheers!