French wine cooperatives have rejected the recent wine labelling
agreement between the EU and US, claiming the deal will not benefit
European producers as much as the Commission thinks.
A chance to fight Pierce's disease, one of the wine industry's most
deadly foes, at its origins has come a step closer after scientists
found common weeds nestling in vineyards were helping the sickness
to spread.
US wine producers may soon scrub names of traditional European wine
regions, like Champagne and Burgundy, off their bottles in exchange
for better access to EU markets, in a breakthrough deal.
New yeast blends to help vintners enhance flavour as they make
wines with ever higher alcohol content have been developed by
international ingredients firm Chr Hansen.
Freak storms have ravaged France's Languedoc-Roussillon region,
threatening to damage the new wine crop by leaving some vineyards
under water at the crucial harvesting stage.
Opportunities await for Europe's beer industry to tap into growing
consumer health trends as Belgian brewing scientists offer newly
developed testing to assess the nutritional quality of beers.
Foster's has taken a streamlined approach to 'brand Australia' on
the world wine market, announcing two wineries will be sold off as
the firm tries to realise cost-savings from its Southcorp buyout.
The death of France's Galland law has been highlighted as a new
opportunity for branded brewers to fight back against private
labels and poor growth through better deals with retailers.
Longer opening hours or not, the latest evidence shows success on
the UK beer market requires a slim-line approach from big brewers,
using strong core brands and counting every penny.
Under-pressure vintners in southern France have handed out 50,000
free bottles of wine to tourists to publicise their plight as
prices continue to crumble amid a huge bottleneck in supply.
Hopes of an early recovery on the US beer market have been dashed
as Anheuser Busch reports falling domestic sales and warns that it
expects full-year profits to drop below 2004 levels, reports
Chris Mercer.
France will have to give back three times the amount of money it is
receiving in crisis distillation funding for appellation contrôlée
wines as the EU cracks down on wine sector mis-management,
reports Chris Mercer.
Crisis in the French wine industry is spurring producers'
acceptance of aggressive marketing strategies that, whilst perhaps
long-overlooked, could be worrying for foreign producers on an
increasingly competitive world market,...
Russian firm Sanserite will import new, Spanish wines aimed solely
at Russia as demand for foreign wine increases thanks to rising
consumption, higher disposable incomes and a declining domestic
wine industry, reports Angela Drujinina.
Never mind the pressure group fury, Anheuser Busch's caffeine beer
faces UK consumers who are sceptical about flavoured beer and a
tough advert code that will stop the product displaying its 'best'
assets, writes Chris...
Militant French vintners may be grabbing the headlines, yet new
research claims small-to-medium wineries in Australia are also on
the track to financial ruin, as the big boys march calmly on,
reports Chris Mercer.
Animosity is hotting up on America's stagnant beer market as
SABMiller lowers prices and attacks Anheuser-Busch in adverts, yet
productive responses to market pressures are still needed,
reports Chris Mercer.
Bordeaux - VinExpo, described as the largest gathering of wine and
spirits buyers and sellers in the world, is this year also a
showcase of the industry's response to a rapidly changing consumer
market, reports Ahmed ElAmin in...
Spanish researchers show for the first time that bacteria, in
addition to yeast, are involved in the secondary fermentation of
the sparkling wine Cava.
A line of wine extracts from Chr Hansen could help US food
manufacturers cut costs and improve the health profile of their
products, writes Anthony Fletcher.
As chunks of the French wine industry descend into chaos, one
family firm is standing tall, proudly talking of a strong sales
rise based on clever marketing tactics that producers worldwide
could learn from.
Masked militants decimated a wine distillery in southern France
only hours after thousands of vintners protested through the
streets of Nimes over the intense pressure on the French wine
industry, reports Chris Mercer from Nimes.
Acquisitions have helped Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries to a
solid sales rise in the UK, the country recently named as one of
the world's toughest beer markets by Goldman Sachs, reports
Chris Mercer.
SABMiller, buoyed by strong results in South Africa and Eastern
Europe, said a solid performance from Miller Lite also helped it to
hold off the black clouds hovering over America's beer sector,
despite warning of tough trading...
The Australian wine industry says it has launched its most
important global marketing campaign for 15 years following
production increases and tough market conditions - leaving the Old
World to take notes, reports Chris Mercer.
The US Supreme Court has ruled that all consumers should be able to
buy wine directly from out-of-state vineyards, offering smaller
producers greater access to the market by diversifying selling
channels, reports Chris Mercer.
Falling beer markets across Western Europe have claimed Carlsberg
as their latest victim, handing the Danish brewer heavy losses in
its first quarter despite strong performances in Russia and Asia,
reports Chris Mercer.
Two of the world's biggest brewers have announced plans to expand
in Russia, yet competition will intensify as an outdoor drinking
ban and slow economic progress threaten the market's blistering
growth, writes Chris Mercer.
Falling beer sales in the US have left big brewers like Anheuser
Busch banking on new products and better marketing to revitalise
growth as small-time craft beers go from strength to strength,
writes Chris Mercer.
Angry French wine makers clashed with riot police in Narbonne
yesterday, turning the city centre into a smoking battle zone in
protest at a lack of government support for their ailing industry,
reports Chris Mercer from Narbonne.
The EU's main wine-producing countries, led by France and Italy,
this week torpedoed discussions to raise the minimum excise duty on
all alcoholic drinks, fearing a domestic backlash from vintners,
reports Chris Mercer.
Tetra Pak has launched wine packaged in the firm's Tetra Brik
aseptic package, a move that could redefine how vintners and
retailers position and merchandise wine.
One of Southeast Asia's leading food and beverage companies San
Miguel said yesterday that it was planning to establish a presence
in Thailand's growing beer market.
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) has launched the
latest edition of its code of practice for the dispense of beer by
pressure systems in licensed premises, aimed at helping designers,
engineers, contractors, suppliers,...
Wineries are getting bigger and their businesses are therefore
exposed to greater risk. In a bid to help producers achieve greater
consistency, Danish ingredients firm Chr Hansen has created blended
yeasts, writes Philippa Nuttall.
Ochakovo, one of Russia's best known brewers, has launched itself
into the wine market in an ambitious move to revive the flagging
fortunes of the country's wine industry, writes Angela
Drujinina.
Southcorp, the Australian winery being stalked by compatriot
Foster's, has made a bold suggestion to its would-be acquirer - a
merger with the Mildara Blass wine division which would create the
country's biggest wine group....
South African winemakers are keen to capitalise on growing interest
in their wines from US consumers - and on the predicted growth in
the market there. Their US counterparts, meanwhile, continue to
focus on Europe, where sales have...
The maximum concentrations of compounds transferred to wine from
wood is reached after 10 to 12 months of the wine being stored in
wooden casks, according to a Spanish scientist.
A substantial drop in organic sales growth in Asia and continued
problems with its eponymous anis brands were the only low points in
an otherwise impressive set of financial results for Pernod Ricard
in 2004, writes Chris Jones.
The French authorities have come up with a €70 million rescue
package for ailing wine producers, but as Kim Hunter Gordon and
Chris Jones report, they have once again failed to tackle the
principal problem - massive overproduction...
Twelve bottles of prestigious French wines will be kept for six
months on the bottom of Russia's Lake Baikal by a group of people
looking to push the boundaries of wine consumption and production.
writes Angela Drujinina.
Trawling through the mounting investigations into the impact of
wine-drinking on heart health, Danish researchers confirm ongoing
findings that drinkers of wine benefit from its cardio-protective
effects, more so than those who drink...
Moldovan wine producer Asconi Corporation is launching 14 new wine
ranges as the company seeks to build on a recent sales increase and
recover Moldovan wine's lost export markets in Russia, writes
Chris Mercer.
Wine grape production is projected to increase by over 5 per cent
to 1.93 million tonnes over the two years to 2006-07, according to
a new report that goes against industry opinion that slowing
exports could lead to a red wine glut.
In the last two years Spain, France and Italy's wine production has
increased by over 8 million hectolitres each. In the face of a
global glut, the French wine confederation is calling on the EU to
fund a crisis distillation,...
In the US, Alcoa Closure Systems International has begun the
commerciallaunch of VinTegra, its new closure system for wine
bottles as an alternative tocorks and synthetic stoppers.
