international briefs
Positive signals for Burgundy’s 2022 crop
“There is absolutely no frost damage, aside from the odd bud here and there,” commented Frédéric Barnier, technical director at Louis Jadot in Beaune. Unlike Chablis, the Côte d’Or dodged the worst effects of France’s adverse weather, so much so that damage from bud-eaters, which was limited, was reportedly more significant than that of frost, reported Vitisphere.
South Africa reveals ‘small but mighty’ ‘22 vintage
According to the annual South African Wine Harvest Report, the country’s 2022 grape crop is smaller than last year, with Stellenbosch proving an exception. A largely cool season and moderate weather conditions led to slower-than-usual ripening in most of South Africa’s wine-producing regions this year. However, producers say this has resulted in “stunning flavour and colour” in its wines, according to The Drinks Business:
July – Issue 702
Portugal wine exports “reduce significantly”
Portugal’s wine exports – so recently robust – have suddenly come crashing down, at least in Europe. After two-digit growth through 2021, exports have seen just 0.28 per cent growth in the first four months of 2022. According to Portugal Resident, sales in terms of volume have fallen 3.63% – a drop of four million litres compared to the same period last year – while average prices per litre have grown 4.6%.
British wine producers booming despite pandemic hit to hospitality
The top producers of English wine have seen their turnover increase by another 4.5 per cent last year. Proceeds from British wines went from £24.3m in 2019/20 to £25.4m in 2020/21, despite sales to the hospitality sector being heavily impacted by COVID. City A.M. reported that sales to hospitality venues and events organisers such as conferences, awards and weddings have traditionally made up a considerable proportion of English wine sales, leaving producers exposed to the effects of repeated lockdowns. www.winetitles.com.au
Washington grapegrowers face a future altered by COVID, weather, smoke
Like all agricultural producers in the state, Washington’s winegrape growers have faced myriad challenges since the onset of the pandemic. Tasting room closures, hot temperatures, wildfires, inflation. “It won’t go back to what the market looked like prior to COVID,” Vicky Scharlau, executive director of the Washington Wine Growers Association told Tri Cities Business News.
The rise and fall of a North African wine giant
During the first half of the 20th century, the world’s fourth-largest producer of wine was Algeria. The Muslim-majority nation in North Africa was under wine-loving French colonial rule at the time, and scores of European winegrowers, many reeling from the Great French Wine Blight that destroyed vineyards across southern France in the 1870s and ’80s, had crossed the Mediterranean in search of fertile lands. Wine Enthusiast reported that the current political climate makes the work of Algeria’s two major winegrape cultivators difficult. Grapegrower & Winemaker
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