Catching up on some wine news
2:52pm Thursday 14th August 2008
I don't like August. It's a flat month in the wine world. Everyone's on holiday and my daily flood of emails from wine-maker friends and colleagues completely dries up.
On the upside, it's a time to catch up on all the magazines, press releases and articles I've been sent over the last few months. I should really do it more often. I've learnt all sorts of fascinating things. Let me share some of the highlights.
There's been a lot of talk in the last year or two about the effect of climate change on the world's wine regions.
That English wines are going to be the next big thing' has become such old news that it barely sparks a flicker of interest in me these days.
Much more exciting was the news that Castel - France's largest wine producer and owner of Oddbins - has just planted 125 hectares of vines (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Chardonnay) in Ziway, Ethiopia.
It's perhaps not the most obvious spot for growing vines but the company claims that the climate, soil and weather are all favourable to producing good wine. Even better for them, they believe that they can harvest grapes twice a year, enabling them to meet demand for wine in countries such as Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. It's an ambitious project and I hope I'll have an opportunity at some point to taste the wines they make there.
I'm always amused at the endless supply of gadgets that people keep inventing for us wine drinkers. New to the shelves is Sowine'; a supposedly handy little refrigerated cabinet that enables you to store up to two opened bottles of wines for up to ten days.
Makers, Eurocave, tell us that the unit preserves the wine and, because it automatically removes any air from the storage compartment, prevents oxidisation.
I do understand the need and want for a closure that enables you to keep a half-empty bottle in good nick for a day or two after, but ten days?! And how often do you have two half-drunk bottles to store? It's not even as though at £279 it's much of a bargain.
As you can probably tell I'm not likely to be rushing out to buy one anytime soon. I think I'll spend my money on a sensible selection of delicious wines in half bottles instead.
Infinitely more exciting is the utterly brilliant concept behind new business www.shareacase.com.
Buying Bordeaux en primeur' (before it's been bottled) is risky and expensive. Risky because you can only buy on the recommendations of the press and information from the estates, and expensive because you have, until now, had to buy in complete cases of 12.
What makes www.shareacase.com so good is that they allow you to buy en primeur' by the bottle. So, if you fancy dabbling in a vintage such as 2007 which has had mixed reviews, it may well be worth giving this company a shot.
I cannot finish this week without mentioning my friends at Bothy Vineyards at Frilford Heath who have just won the Berwick Trophy at The English and Welsh Wine of the Year competition with their Paradox 2007.
Richard Liwicki, winemaker and tender of vines said, "Many of our customers are local and they have recognised the quality of our wines and supported us over the years. However, winning a trophy has definitely put us on the national map." It's a wine I had the good fortune to taste in the spring and I'm not at all surprised it did so well.
Click here for The Oxford Times Wine Club offers.