DAN'S WINE BLOG- WARMING UP!

Friday, November 4, 2022

This week is all about a few obscure wine snippets from around the world starting with:-

FINLAND: Just to prove that the Poms weren’t totally bonkers when bitching about the EU rules as the reason for Brexit – here’s one – EU naming regulations block Finnish domestic "wines".

?As a result of global warming the first wines (sparkling) have been made in Finland BUT the EU rules are such that it prevents the producers from calling their wine, “wine”. Instead they have to call it, "mild alcoholic beverage produced from grapes by fermentation" – sooo sexy!!! – Because under the EU rules Finland is not a designated wine producing country, therefore it cannot produce wine. To become a designated/recognised country the local producers have to petition their government, to in turn petition the EU Government, to amend the country’s status, in order to be able to produce “wine” – i.e. Finland can’t simply declare itself as being a wine producer.

?UK: While on the subject of global warming and its consequences, the UK wine industry is touting 2022 as its best vintage EVER and are expecting not only sensational (champagne beating) sparkling wines, but also absolute cracking white wines as well. This year England had its hottest summer since 1844, with the most hours of sunshine and well below average summer rain, which led to more marginal varieties (later ripening) such as Chardonnay achieving full ripeness. Most of the Chardonnay grown in the UK is used for sparkling wine as full maturity for making table wine is rarely achieved. However, this year due to the heat and substantially higher yields there will be significantly more Chardonnay table wine made than normal, so in the near future if you manage to come across a 2022 UK Chardonnay, grab it and try it.

?ITALY:?The number of Italian vineyards has dropped by 500,000 since the turn of the century – almost 70%. From almost 800,000 growers in 2000 the number has dropped to 255,000 in 2020. Central Italy has dropped the most with 75% of small vineyards disappearing. In many areas very small family plots have been incorporated into larger more commercial operations, so that the total reduction in acreage is nowhere near as dramatic. The average vineyard size today is 2.5 hectares as opposed to 0.9 hectares in 2000.

?The top three (in number of vineyards) are Apulia approx. 36,000, Sicily around 30,000 and Veneto with 27,000 – each having more vineyards than all of Australia.

?AMERICA:?Although GI’s (Geographical Indicators) have a fairly high degree of meaning here in the southern hemisphere and are not sought lightly, the Yanks are currently going berserk with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) which formally approves new American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), receiving around one new application a month.

?In America, AVA’s were first established in the 1980s as before then the only tag that could be put on a wine was either the state or the town that the wines came from. Fast forward to today, and in the last year the TTB have approved the following AVA’s: Rocky Reach, White Bluffs, Lower Long Tom and Upper Lake Valley, all of which are almost totally unknown by American wine drinkers, let alone the rest of the world.

?Yes, AVA’s are important in differentiating where a wine comes from, such as Russian River, Finger Lakes or Sonoma Valley, but the latest eruption of AVA’s will do little or nothing to enhance wine sales in the USA.

?Well that’s it for another week. I hope you have a good one and #chooseaustralianwine and where possible enjoy #emergingvarieties. Cheers, Dan T.