Global Sound Byte! BevCast Weekly News Episode #14

Listen to Industry News and other Insights on the Bevcast Podcast Channel on Soundcloud. Bevcast Weekly News is a news series giving you a quick look at the most important news, trends and developments of the week.

Bevcast Weekly News is brought to you by China Wine Competition, which is an international wine competition that Beverage Trade Network hosts in Shanghai where wines are judged by Quality, Value and Package. Submission is now open for the 2019 China Wine Competition.

Please visit ChinaWineCompetition.com for more information on how winning a China Wine Competition medal can help you grow your wine brand.

So gear up for your week ahead – these are our top stories of the week.

*To listen to the full Podcast and more, kindly stay tuned into BevCast channel on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Stitcher.

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• The New Style Change in California Wines

Wine critic Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle recently profiled the “California-Beaujolais wine connection.” She says that bright, juicy, translucent reds are the new trend among California winemakers. Wines are getting lighter and lighter, with the new style favored by winemakers closer to Beaujolais than Burgundy or Bordeaux.

• Australian Wines Are Re-Inventing Themselves Once Again

New York Times wine critic Eric Asimov is back from a three-week visit to top Australian wine regions, and is impressed with the “potential” and “diversity” of Australian wines. If you think that Australian wines consist only of mass-market wines like Yellow Tail, and big, jammy, high-alcohol blockbusters, think again.

• The Top 5 Drinking Trends for 2019

With the first quarter of the year now over, what drinking trends have started to emerge globally? One big trend is the consumer embrace of biodynamic, sustainable and environmentally friendly wines. And another big trend is the growing acceptance of lighter, uncomplicated styles and lower-alcohol wines.

• Big Alcohol Making a Big Move in the Low-Alcohol Segment

Consumers are seeking out low- and no-alcohol beverages, and some of the biggest names in the alcohol beverage market are finally adapting. AB InBev says that low- and no-alcohol beverages will comprise 20 percent of global beer sales by 2025. Big distillers such as Diageo are also moving aggressively to develop no-alcohol spirits.

• Pacific Northwest Wine Industry Still Dominated By Small Producers

There are nearly 2,000 wineries in the Pacific Northwest – including 794 in Oregon and 787 in Washington State – but only 53 of them produce more than 50,000 cases per year. In fact, 79 percent of all wineries in this region produce less than 5,000 cases per year.

• Champagne Shipments to USA Increase for Sixth Consecutive Year

According to the Champagne Bureau USA, French shipments of Champagne bottles to the U.S. market show no signs of slowing. In 2018, the U.S. imported 23.71 million bottles, up 2.7 percent from 2017 levels.

• Big VinExpo Bordeaux Event May Not Sell Out

Further evidence that the market for Bordeaux is struggling – the annual VinExpo Bordeaux event scheduled for May 2019 is having trouble signing up exhibitors and visitors. The Bordeaux Chamber of Commerce and Industry won’t release any official figures, but some insiders acknowledge the event won’t reach its goal of 2,000 exhibitors.

• German Wineries Are Running Out of Bottles

After celebrating the best grape harvest in a decade, German winemakers are running up against production constraints – they simply can’t find enough glass bottles for their wine. Germany typically imports bottles from around the EU, but nations such as Italy, Spain and France are also seeing record harvests.

• Vinsent Pioneers the Idea of Direct-to-Consumer Wine Futures

Vinsent is working on a blockchain-enabled “wine futures” concept that enables wine drinkers to have direct contact with wineries very early in the winemaking cycle. Vinsent says it will soon be possible for consumers to buy and sell wine futures from wineries in the U.S. and Europe using a blockchain trading platform.

• 5 Food Diets That Allow Wine

When going on a diet, many people give up wine and other alcoholic beverages. However, Wine Spectator recently highlighted five popular food diets that allow dieters to continue drinking wine. One option is the Mediterranean Diet, which is based on foods commonly found in wine-drinking nations such as France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

• The Best American Wines From Regions Outside of California

American Wine Project has a single goal: to highlight lesser-known varietal wines from lower-profile wine regions around the U.S. American Wine Project says that grapes grown in the Upper Midwest, Texas, Idaho and Iowa are capable of producing incredible wines – such as a new wine made from a Muscat hybrid.

• Austrian Wines Enjoying a New Surge in Popularity

Austrian winemakers just reported another record year for wine production, and the past decade has seen a significant improvement in the quality and variety of Austrian wines. There are 12 Austrian wines worth drinking now, including Gruner Veltliner and Riesling, as well as lesser-known wines like Neuberger, Zierfandler, and Blaufrankisch.

• Sparkling Water With Red Wine Antioxidants

Regarding lower-alcohol wines, innovators are experimenting with new sparkling water products that offer all the benefits of red wine, but without any alcohol, sugar or calories. One company, Napa Hills, has been making “vineyard enriched” and “heart healthy” sparkling waters since 2017, in flavors like Cherry Rosé and Pinot Berry.

• Inside the Wine and Tinned Fish Boom

In the San Francisco Bay area, a new trend involves the matching of sardines, mackerel and anchovies with high-quality wines. One trendsetter here is Bar Sardine, a pop-up wine bar inside a coffee shop. Wines range from aromatic whites and high-acid sparkling wines to natural wines with earthy tastes.

• A Wine Tasting Room In a Place You’d Never Expect

When most people think of Detroit, they think of famous automakers. But the city actually has a winery tradition dating back to the Prohibition era. Detroit is about to get its first winery in 60 years: Detroit Vineyards. The winery is opening an urban tasting room to highlight wines made with Michigan-grown grapes.

• 2018 Shaping Up to Be a Bad Year for Bordeaux

Champagne may be performing well, but Bordeaux is not. According to statistics, Bordeaux wine exports fell by 14 percent in 2018, led in large part by a collapse of sales to China, where exports were down 31 percent. Even French supermarkets and hypermarkets are seeing a double-digit decrease in Bordeaux sales.

• Legendary Burgundy Wine Continues to Set New Price Records

Domaine de la Romaneé-Conti (DRC) continues to be among the most expensive wines listed for sale on Wine Searcher. The average price for a bottle of Romaneé-Conti Grand Cru is now over $20,000, making it the world’s most expensive wine. Of the Top 10 most expensive wines, 8 are from Burgundy.

• Using Blockchain Technology To Confirm the Authenticity of Wines

In Australia, the Clare Valley Wine & Grape Association won a $50,000 prize at the Blockchain Innovation Challenge to help develop a new blockchain-based system to confirm the provenance of Australian wines. The system works with the help of QR codes included in the screwcap closures of wines.

• How A Better Wine List Led to a Turnaround At a Major Restaurant Chain

CNN recently profiled the turnaround at the fast casual restaurant chain Olive Garden, owned by Darden Restaurants. One big key, says CNN, was a move to a more expensive wine list. Before the turnaround, the company was featuring too many non-Italian menu items and patrons were not spending on premium Italian wines.

• Top Sommeliers Are Mapping the Wine World

A new book from Rajat Parr and Jordan Mackay – “The Sommelier’s Atlas of Taste” – provides a comprehensive review of wine tasting notes and analysis of local terroir from around Europe. The book is the result of 5 years of research and traveling, including thousands of hours of interviews with top winemakers.

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Thank you again for listening to Bevcast. Once again, a quick reminder to enter your wines in the 2019 China Wine Competition, the international wine competition that is organized by Beverage Trade Network in Shanghai that rates wines by Quality, Value and Package.

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