communications without intelligence is noise Global Wine Trends Weekly Update created: 09.04.2010 Critical Publics | EDOAO Global Wine Trends 09/04/2010 Weekly Update Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................. 2 Global Market Watch ............................................................................ 4 Bordeaux vintners raise their glasses to China's wine buffs .......................... 4 American buyers: keep prices down ............................................................... 5 Bordeaux 2009: Calls for restraint as prices predicted to return to 2005 levels ............................................................................................................... 5 Wine bluffers exposed by research ................................................................ 6 Cheap Cotes du Rhone edged out of UK market ............................................. 6 Brown Bros tackles climate change ................................................................ 7 Vinitaly goes to Hong Kong ............................................................................ 7 Vega Sicilia boss: Spanish wines undervalued at auction .............................. 8 Wineries in Southern Australia bank on German tradition ............................. 8 In Burgundy, one house grows by thinking small ........................................ 10 Trading Standards on trail of wine company ................................................ 11 Global Industry Watch ........................................................................ 11 Washington wine industry tops 650 wineries .............................................. 11 French government backs wine tastings in university canteens .................. 12 Constellation-AV merger off ......................................................................... 13 Wineries are tapping into eco-friendly trends .............................................. 13 If one green bottle ........................................................................................ 14 Recession-hit Britons give up on drink as alcohol sales drop a record amount ...................................................................................................................... 15 Spain's three billion litre wine lake .............................................................. 16 Wine Domain Catalysts Watch ............................................................ 17 Top whites fight off flab ............................................................................... 17 How much should you pay for a bottle of wine? .......................................... 17 Promising newcomers in China .................................................................... 18 The Information: The world’s leading wine markets ................................... 20 Vive la France! Why the French wine industry is still bursting with life ...... 21 Scientific Developments & Technological Breakthroughs Watch ....... 22 Guala Closures launches tamper-evident screwcap ..................................... 22 Red Wine Helps Cardiovascular Health, But Is It the Alcohol or Something Else? .............................................................................................................. 22 Wines from Greece Publicity Monitor ................................................. 23 The Spirit of Benji: Toast spring with Greek martini .................................... 23 Blogosphere Monitor ........................................................................... 24 Critical Publics | EDOAO Page 2 of 30 Global Wine Trends 09/04/2010 Weekly Update Why is there so little Biodynamic wine in Bordeaux? .................................. 24 Trader Joe’s introduces new “Th. J.” wine; dubbed “ten buck Tom” ........... 25 Is Hello Kitty wine the Joe Camel of wine? .................................................. 25 An Open Door To Real Wine Criticism........................................................... 26 What The World Needs: The Wine Purse ...................................................... 27 Inventor of box wine, wineonomics, “sham” — sipped and spit .................. 27 Peripheral Domains Intelligence ........................................................ 28 Christie’s Sold Counterfeit Wine, Collector Koch Says in Suit ...................... 28 Zoo sells tiger bone wine .............................................................................. 29 Global Sustaining & Emerging Trends Digest ..................................... 29 Naked Wines offers customers cut price wine by paying producers upfront 29 Critical Publics | EDOAO Page 3 of 30 Global Wine Trends 09/04/2010 Weekly Update Global Market Watch The global market watch outlines developments, spotted and emerging trends that define the current situation in the global wine landscape. It includes all major developments in the market including consumer trends relating to wine and marketing campaigns or approaches, as well as concerns on health and sustainability. Bordeaux vintners raise their glasses to China's wine buffs THE GUARDIAN, UK 02.04.10: With its creamy chateaux and immaculately tended vines, the Bordeaux wine region has for centuries catered to the discerning tastes of European elites. But this week, as leading critics declared the region's 2009 vintage the best they have ever tasted, a distinctly new clientele crashed the claret party.From the Médoc to St-Emilion, Chinese wine merchants poured in for the first tastings of the much-hyped 2009 and opened their wallets to buy record volumes. The vintage was this week dubbed by Steven Spurrier, one of Britain's leading critics, "the best Bordeaux had ever produced", while an elated Michel Bettane, France's leading critic, said: "It is the best in my lifetime."From the baroque tasting room of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, to the grand hall of the Union des Grands Crus, Chinese delegations declared their intent to siphon off huge quantities of first growths, the very best wines."2008 was the highest level of interest in mainland China, so given the quality level of 2009 we believe there will be even greater interest," said Don St Pierre, chief executive of ASC, one of China's biggest fine wine merchants. "There is no other wine producing region that is better known than Bordeaux to Chinese consumers."Sam Yip, 36, a Hong Kong investor tasting at Chateau Mouton Rothschild, which along with Lafite-Rothschild has been dubbed by one merchant the "tipple of choice for your thrusting Chinese industrialist", said he was planning to spend $250,000 (£163,000) across the 2009 vintage for his private collection."Everyone in China is thinking Lafite," he said. "It is seen in the same light as Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci."Prices will be set in the coming two months for this vintage, but it is already clear that first growths are likely to cost at least £4,000 per 12-bottle case. Even cases of lesser wines, such as Chateau Lynch-Bages, are likely to cost at least £600." … Classy claret Top wines, top prices The 2009 Bordeaux is already being ranked as the sixth great vintage of the last 50 years. Finding good-valued bottles from previous blockbuster years – 2005, 2000, 1982, 1961 and 1959 – is now very difficult and high demand is also set to overwhelm supplies of the '09. The single bottle prices of these great vintages, when the fruit ripened perfectly, say it all. A 1959 bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild today costs £2,500, the '61 is £1,300 while the grandest, at £3,250, is the '82, according to merchant Bordeaux Index. Even the '05, which won't be ready to drink for another five years at least, costs £850 today. There are so few great vintages partly because of the region's climate. Hailstorms wipe out swaths of the crop, too much heat "overcooks" the grapes producing too much alcohol, and rain close to harvest results in "thin" wine. Critical Publics | EDOAO Page 4 of 30 Global Wine Trends 09/04/2010 Weekly Update http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/apr/02/bordeaux-wine-china American buyers: keep prices down DECANTER, UK 29.03.10: The message from American buyers at the beginning of en primeur week is clear: this might be a great vintage, but keep prices competitive. Buyers for California- based importer JJ Buckley were enthusiastic about the wines but were focussing on the lower price-brackets. 'The action is going to be at the €15 to €20 level,' said CEO Shaun Bishop. 'There is a lot of competition in the €50 to €100-level wines and we have already seen high-end Napa and Italian wines come down by 30%.' Laurent Ehrmann of negociants Barriere Frères agreed that the US economy is still fragile, but suggested that the vintage would satisfy everyone. 'It is successful on the left and right banks, red and white, and in all budget categories.' Bishop insisted prices must come down because 'we are tired of getting burned', alluding to the 2005 campaign which saw record en primeur prices later matched 'and even beaten' by lower on-the-shelf prices. … http://www.decanter.com/news/news.php?id=296416 Bordeaux 2009: Calls for restraint as prices predicted to return to 2005 levels DECANTER, UK 01.04.10: With a glut of cheap Bordeaux on the market, trade buyers are warning against opportunistic pricing in 2009, amid growing concern that prices could return to 2005 levels. In the US, Diageo subsidiary C&E Wines recently offloaded significant stocks of 2005 Bordeaux at reduced prices, leaving retailers predicting a