News from the industry this week includes the snappy, clever (maybe) names of 2012’s top wines as well as news from Oregon on ways to put wine waste to good use. And Tennessee reconsiders wine sales in supermarkets. [level-members]
Strange Bedfellows
Not every day that the religious right and the liquor industry find themselves on the same side of an issue, but apparently they both agree that they’re not in favor of wine being sold in supermarkets in Tennessee. We’ll take this one with a grain of salt as our primary source for this is a Twitter comment that we haven’t been able to fully corroborate. Still, it paints an interesting picture, and it is an important issue for us as independent wine retailers: this clamor for convenience isn’t going to go away any time soon. Carving out your niche is going to be more important than ever.
Top Wine Brands of 2012
From Wines & Vines, it’s all about snappy names in the high-volume end of the wine pool. Here are the 20 leading wine brands of 2012. Insomnia? Really?
Putting Wine Waste To Work
Getting “wasted” may be one way younger drinkers describe their over-consumption, but wine waste takes on a new meaning with researchers at Oregon State University creating biodegradable packaging materials, nutritional supplements and food preservatives out of waste from the winemaking process.
In processing more than 4 million tons of grapes, the U.S. wine industry also creates a sizable amount of pomace, the pulpy mix of grape stems, skins, and seeds.
This is still in research stages, so it will be a while before products are available in the market, but once they are, winemaking waste may be a profit center for wineries rather than a cost of production.
Argentina
Bloomberg reports that Argentina’s wine industry is a bright spot even as their economy as a whole faces big problems. Wine sales are at an all-time high and quality is generally up across all regions and varietals.
Exports to the U.S. of Malbec, the most widely planted wine in Argentina, have doubled over the past 5 years.
[/level-members]