With consumption almost tripling over the last six years, China has leapfrogged France and Italy to become the world’s biggest red wine market, with surging demand for the variety in stark contrast to that for its inauspicious white counterpart.
‘Dramatic globalization’ of wine markets over the past 20-30 years and rapid climate change means there is a pressing need for the first global database listing grapes by region and variety, according to its compiler.
The New Zealand government insists that the British are increasingly keen on sub 10.5% ABV wines as it backs a NZ $16.97m investment in lower alcohol wines, but there is skepticism in some quarters.
New Zealand is investing NZ $16.97m in its largest ever wine R&D project to secure leadership in premium quality lower alcohol and lower calorie ‘lifestyle wines’.
Winemakers could seize the opportunity to create affordable global brands – along the lines of Heineken in beer – without using native grapes, as mainstream US consumers at least don’t seem too bothered by provenance.
Winegrowers in New Zealand have embarked on their largest ever research and development project in a bid to capitalise on the world’s growing taste for so-called “lifestyle wines”, which are lower in calories and alcohol.
UK retailer Marks & Spencer is shaking-up its wine aisle and insists consumers don’t want ‘education’ but instead want to be transported, inspired and affirmed during the purchase experience.
Simon McMurtie from Direct Wines group believes that ageing populations are the wine world’s biggest opportunity, since the drink coincides with older consumers’ desire to enjoy life.
US wine drinkers who blame headaches on sulfites will pay a significant premium for bottles without them, according to a study hinting at access to a ‘substantial niche’ in the $32bn market.
Constellation Brands has installed a new Tetra Pak bottling line for its Vendange wine brand as part of a wider $20m winery investment and says it is doing so to support growth for this key brand as well as Black Box and Rex Goliath.
Hygiene, efficiency, and cross-functional processing are among the trends set to take centre stage at this month’s beverage industry trade show, drinktec in Munich, according to exhibitors and the show's organizer.
Scientists at Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute have developed an optical sorter that they claim can significantly improve the quality of wine grapes and thus wines such as Riesling.
Tyrrell’s Wines has overhauled the packaging of its bottles and cartons as part of its Lost Block range with cartoon images of its chief wine maker looking for grapes.
Consumer packaging specialist Andrew Streeter believes a new PET wine bottle for Portuguese brand Monte Dos Amigos can rival glass in a way that previous attempts have not.
The US still offers a world of wine opportunity for producers with steady growth and ‘remarkably low’ individual consumption, despite its status as the world’s largest wine market, as this exclusive gallery using Wine Intelligence data shows.
French wine company Haussmann Famille has launched the world’s first cola-flavoured wine, named Rouge Sucette, and hopes to appeal to the ‘soda generation’ of young people unaccustomed to wine.
The Government of Canada says that proposed national standards requiring that ‘ice wine’ only be made from grapes naturally frozen on the vine will benefit exports and help crack down on fraudulent sales.
An innovative new cork which screws into its wine bottle has been dubbed “the most sensible reformulation of packaging ever” by the companies behind it.
A limited edition collection of ‘Star Trek wine’ has is now being sold by online retailer Vinport.com, which claims the bottles it offers are the first ever attached to the hit sci-fi show.
While European consumers have for generations been used to standards protecting the wines they buy, that has not been the case in India. However, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has now revealed plans to introduce national wine standards, with...
The owner of a Washington State winery says that Chinese wine consumers in the ‘middle ground’ are hungry for affordable US wines that assure them a quality that native products often lack.
Recognising the newfound importance of the Chinese wine market, New Zealand’s vintners are pulling out the stops to make sure their exports have a place in Far East cellars.
Bag-in-box wines are more likely than bottled peers to develop unpleasant flavors, aromas and colors when stored at warm temperatures, according to a new study looking at US Chardonnay.
Spanish researchers have developed a novel process that involves adding dehydrated waste grape skins to red wines before bottling to improve their color, aroma and phenolic content.
A new research initiative is expected to bring a windfall to New Zealand’s wine industry, which has been adversely affected by climatic variations in the recent past.
A new study assessing Chinese attitudes to wine labeling has debunked the traditional view that consumers are only really attracted to wines promoting traditional and French labeling cues.
Stellar growth of wine sales in China is attracting foreign firms facing 'fierce competition and sluggish sales' elsewhere, but penetrating local markets remains the holy grail for foreign and local firms.
Faced with volume declines in core European export markets, exporters are reassessing the importance of smaller markets with better growth and pricing, and Canada is leading the way.
Researchers at Germany's Fraunhofer IME are close to commercialising an inexpensive detector that they claim could save wine producers significant amounts of money and time by detecting 'bad' yeasts within grape must, as Cecilia Diaz from...
Ball Packaging Europe has created a new can design for fruit wine maker EB-Secco, which has been presented to consumers at the ProWein trade show in Düsseldorf from this week.
The EU’s Standing Committee on Organic Farming (SCOF) has agreed new rules for organic wine that it claims will raise its profile within the bloc and worldiwde, in a move welcomed by a prominent group representing organic producers, despite the latter’s...
A Spanish study published by Chiva-Blanch et al. has found that both ethanol and non-alcoholic compounds in red wine could potentially cut the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic compounds in red wine have separate and potentially beneficial or protective effects that could reduce the risk of heart disease, say researchers.
An extension of its FroZen Viniflora range of malolactic starter cultures range for smaller scale red wine makers is set to revolutionise production through the faster rate of fermentation, claims Denmark based Chr. Hansen.
Nampak Closures has opened a new wine closure production line at its Cape Town facility nicknamed ‘007’ that it claims is the fastest of its type in the world.
International wine manufacturers should look to cultural preferences for niche and premium red wines to be successful in China, according to an industry analyst.
Chr Hansen is launching a new yeast for making fruitier wines that can be added directly as a frozen product rather than having to be rehydrated first.
New drinking occasions, smoking bans, and the popularity of RTD tea in Asia are among the trends driving beverage packaging innovation discussed with Euromonitor analyst Karine Dussimon.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned the Michigan-based Penguin Juice Company that its products are considered adulterated as they are not pasteurized, despite being labeled as such.
