The airport lounge with a new Whispering Angel bar
IN THE HEADLINES
Austria’s vineyards are now digitally available, claiming to be the world’s first and only digital wine atlas, according to the Drinks Business. Sophisticated and highly detailed information is now available for almost 5,000 single vineyards, including “gradient, elevation and the types of grape varieties grown there.”
Irish entrepreneur buys Château Tour des Termes in St-Éstephe. Dr Eddie O’Connor is known for developing sustainable offshore wind technologies in the Irish and North Seas since 2003. Unusual for the appellation which churns out the most tannic and earthy wines of the Médoc, the vineyards of Tour des Termes are planted with a higher proportion of Merlot relative to Cabernet Sauvignon.
British Airways unveils new Whispering Angel bar at its lounge in Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport. Adding to the collaboration, the brand’s premium wine, Rock Angel, is now available for those travelling in first class.
Head sommelier of Restaurant Gordon Ramsey (3 star) in Chelsea, London, has given his notice after 21 years of service.
BUSINESS
Opportunity in India
India is set to become one of the world’s leading alcohol beverage markets by volume, creating much opportunity for the wine sector. India, along with Brazil and Mexico, will overtake the US and China, where growth is slowing. Plenty of scope in the premium sector too, bolstered by higher middle-class disposable incomes.
Canned wine catching on
Canned wine is slowly but surely taking hold, according to Vinca founder, Jack Green, who estimates the UK is 3-4 years behind the US in terms of market readiness. In the UK, however, Waitrose’s recent decision to move all of their single serves to cans, is a significant development. According to Green, “brands were focusing on the convenience of the cans and the wine was a secondary thought”, but nowadays, the focus has shifted to quality.
Other countries experiencing strong demand include the Nordics and Australia.
Ambitious wine investment firm launches in US
Clive Pursehouse interviews Nick King, CEO of US investment firm Vint, for Decanter. Wine has not traditionally been accepted as an asset class in the US, despite “the stability of wine as an investment”. The goal of setting up Vint, according to CEO Nick King, is to make the concept of fine wine investment a “mainstream idea” in the US, as it is in the UK and elsewhere. One advantage of setting up shop in the US, is the opportunity to test demand for “domestic wines or less traditional wine investments”. Vint’s investors will have access to “eye-popping inventory”, featuring big names like Togni, Harlan, Opus One and Scarecrow.
TECHNOLOGY
New frost prevention measure
A new environmentally-safe aqueous foam, developed by Frosco Ltd, has been produced to “protect crops of all kinds” from extreme weather conditions like frost, fungal and bacterial disease. A much cheaper alternative to traditional anti-frost and anti-disease measures, this foam will be a real “game changer” for growers.
The economic burden of heavy bottles
Reducing bottle weight isn’t just essential for the tackling carbon emissions, according to Patrick Schmitt, it is also hugely cost-saving for wine companies. Take Jackson Family Wine who began the shift to lighter bottles in 2015, which now represents 68% of their portfolio. This has brought overall emissions down by 9% and the choice to reduce the weight of the group’s four highest-volume bottles by just 5% has led to a saving of US$1 million annually and a further fuel saving of $500,000.
And that’s it. Hope you enjoyed this 3 minute read!