07.14.2010 Don't let the sun wilt your wine We're in the thick of it. Summer. And that can spell a challenge for wine lovers, at least in much of southern Canada. At times like this, a wine drinker's best accessory is not fancy stemware or a crystal decanter. It's an ice bucket. Canadians tend to take their chilling seriously when it comes to lager and soft drinks. We know those beverages can taste unpleasant if consumed too warm. Yet wine, too, is vulnerable to the vagaries of outdoor sipping. Source: Globe and Mail

07.12.2010 Ontario won't sell LCBO, OPG, OLGOntario has abandoned its SuperCorp idea to bundle together major assets, such as LCBO, Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, and sell off portions to the private sector. Premier Dalton McGuinty confirmed last December that the government had contracted banks to do a review of major assets to determine if taxpayers were getting the best return on their investment. The issue is off the table for now, but it's unclear if it could make a return at some point in the future. Source: Toronto Sun

07.06.2010 In the world of beer, a thirst for knowledge If you're sitting down to dine at a nice restaurant and looking indecisively over the wine list, odds are you might call over the sommelier to help you choose between a French merlot and a Chilean carmenère. If, however, you're similarly stumped over what beer to have, there usually isn't someone around who's been trained in the knowledge of suds, someone who could help you decide if that pork tenderloin is best accompanied by a bock lager or a pale ale. But that is starting to change, thanks to a pair of programs, one based in Chicago, the other in Toronto. The two new certification programs hope to change the way restaurants treat beer . Source: Toronto Star

06.30.2010 Japan: Will beer drinkers reach for Barreal? It looks like beer and tastes - kind of - like beer. But Aeon hopes its new drink, "Barreal," sells better than beer. The Japanese retailer says that its new 88-yen ($1) 5 per cent alcohol drink has a "good smell of hop" and a sturdy, beer-like taste that Japanese consumers favor. It's made from a mixture of wheat-based happoushu, or low-malt alcohol, and spirits. Japan's domestic beer market has been shrinking for years along with the population, and a 2003 tax increase on beer further hurt sales. A new, low-alcohol category, informally called "daisan no biiru" ("the third type of beer") became popular as producers attempted to evade the tax, which is largely based on malt content. Source: Wall Street Journal

06.29.2010 Appellation: Know where your wine comes from Appellations are geographic areas that have been mapped out to identify the boundaries of a certain wine region, but in many countries they are more complex than just geographic areas. Every country that produces quality wine has set up a system to help identify a grape-growing region. Many countries take the boundaries further and set up rules and regulations for producing wine based on alcohol percentage, grape varieties, yields per acre, and more. Source: CityPages (Minneapolis, MN)

06.27.2010 Making homemade wine a great hobby for retired archeologist Most people who buy a bottle of wine, often make their purchase at the neighborhood grocery store with the same analytical selection process given to a jar of mustard. Others raise the business of wine drinking to a level of linen napkins, elevator music and white tablecloths. Finally, there is that unique group of wine connoisseurs who prefer to mix and measure the right ingredients in a lengthy painstaking process to produce their own wine at home. This is the group that Bob Maslowski has belonged to for over 20 years. Making homemade wine isn't anything new. It's been going on for well over 6,000 years. Maslowski is a 63-year-old retired archeologist who enjoys the hobby of producing homemade wine for his personal consumption. He firmly believes when wine is properly made and cared for through each step, the end result is far superior to anything that can be purchased from a store. Source: Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, W.VA.)

06.26.2010 In wine, preferences depend on your perspectiveWhen deciding what you prefer to drink, it will depend on so many things. For vintners, it's sometimes about technicalities in the making of wines, just as for shop owners, it may be about what sells. Consumers might want to consider typicity, specificity, clarity, elegance, polish, depth and balance. Good value may be another big factor. Apart from the standard "anything you like is a good wine" response, I have found that there are many types of palates, especially among those for whom wine is a profession. When I sit down and taste with an extremely knowledgeable group of tasters, there is always a spectrum of opinion. Source: Seattle Times

06.24.2010 Like juice boxes for winos: Single-serve wine glasses Have you ever looked at a glass of wine and thought, "I really wish someone would make wine in sealed, single-serve cups"? Well, apparently your fairy bartender was listening, because a man in the UK has come up with the biggest innovation in wine since Whitesnake announced their hot-tub-ready zinfandel.  Source: The Consumerist

06.14.2010 World Cup gives South Africa's wine a boost There is no doubt that South African wines are benefiting from the World Cup. In previous decades, South Africa's isolation during the apartheid years held back both innovation and international expansion in the wine industry, but since the dawn of democracy the country's wines have become far more palatable and are increasing in popularity around the globe. South African winemakers now say that they can compete with the rest of the world but at home, the situation has been more complex. Source: CNN

06.12.2010 Tacky no more: Making boxed wine look chic Mass-produced wine bottles were a great innovation in the 1600s - the heavy glass was easier to cork and easier to ship than clay or stone jugs. But it wasn't until four centuries later that winemakers started experimenting with eco-friendlier packaging in the form of boxed wine. These rectangular juice boxes on steroids not only cost less to ship but also use vacuum-sealed bags to keep vino tasting fresh for up to six weeks after opening. The main drawback to boxed wine? It looks tacky. But savvy producers are trying to widen boxed wines' appeal with a second generation of boxes that look a whole lot nicer sitting on a counter or in a fridge for a month and a half. Source: Time

06.09.2010 Australian invents wine-preserving gadget An Australian wine preserving invention that keeps open wine at 'restaurant quality' is set to hit the market. The Wine Shield is a small circular disk that's rolled and inserted into a bottle of wine after the first glass is poured. The device sits on the surface of the wine to block oxygen, slowing the oxidation for several days and preserving both the aroma and taste of the wine for up to five days. The disk fits into 80 per cent of bottles on the market, is made from safe, recyclable plastic and has a retail price of $1.00. Source: SmartCompany

06.07.2010 Don't over-regulate the joy of terraces Life is short and so, Lord knows, is summer in Montreal. Sharing a meal or a glass of wine with friends on a sunny afternoon or balmy evening is a pleasure Montrealers rightly treasure. As more and more restaurants across the city add terrace areas large or small - usually on the sidewalk in front - pedestrians in many neighbourhoods have had to get used to wending their way past tables of diners, and dodging waiters ferrying trays of food and drink. The power to grant and regulate permits for terraces rests with individual boroughs, and each one approaches the issue differently. But this year Plateau Mont Royal borough has weighed with a host of new regulations, some of them just silly. Source: Montreal Gazette

06.04.2010 Cases of wine fraud When you buy a bottle of a famous wine, you take it on faith that the wine is genuine and not a fake. In fact, fake wine is precisely why corks began to be branded with the name of a winery (as well as the vintage date), and why most reputable wines still use branded corks. When you order a bottle of wine in a restaurant and the sommelier hands you the cork, the primary reason is so you can inspect it and see if the brand is the same one on the label. If you order a bottle of Chateau Palmer and the wine's cork is blank, for example, that alone is sufficient grounds for rejecting the wine. Is fraud rampant in the wine trade? No, but it happens often enough that it has spawned a lot of discussion. Source: Napa Valley Register

05.29.2010 Canadian wine - from bottom to top The Canadian wine industry is in turmoil but, with any luck, will emerge from its current state infinitely stronger than it was before. A recent showcase of Ontario's finest Chardonnays in London provided what should prove an emollient for the rifts that have emerged. Source: Financial Times (UK)

05.24.2010 Success brewed and bottled by couple Married couples often have activities they like to do together, from taking walks, watching certain television programmes to dining out. However, making 3,000 bottles of beer a week, probably does not feature on most people's conjugal to do list. Unless you are Chris and Suzanne Gill, who spend their days making award-winning ales and bitters at their Camberley micro-brewery in Surrey [England]. The pair makes up the entire staff of Ascot Ales, which won the best local ale at Reading Beer Festival last month Source: getSurrey (UK)

05.22.2010 LDB increases markup on booze as HST lowers tax British Columbians won't be getting a price break on their favourite libations this summer, even though the harmonized sales tax lowers the provincial sales tax on booze. The provincial Liquor Distribution Branch is ensuring its revenues won't decline by increasing its markup on wines and spirits to offset a three-per cent reduction in the sales tax, said the LDB's corporate policy director. In other words, prices of wine, beer and spirits at provincial liquor stores will remain the same. Source: Vancouver Sun

03.08.2010 Debate continues on how to deal with Ontario grape surpluses For a second consecutive year, Ontario has ended up with a large grape surplus. Key winery representatives say it's time to change the way grapes are priced. [However,] grapegrowers are resisting the mounting pressure to forego their right to collectively negotiate base rates. A total of 6,062 tons of grapes went unsold last year, according to the Grape Growers of Ontario (GGO). The surplus had been anticipated at 9,810 tons in mid-September, but a cool summer resulted in fewer red grapes. The excess is expected to be larger next year, with about a five-per cent increase in vinifera production based on vines planted three to five years ago, according to the GGO. Source: WineBusiness.com

03.05.2010 Alcohol-free wines find a niche Many of us enjoy unwinding with a glass of wine after a long day at work, at a social event or celebrating with friends and family. However, some of us cannot drink alcohol for religious reasons, being pregnant or on medication, for other health reasons or because we're the designated driver. Non-alcoholic beverages are the answer, allowing drinkers the experience of the ritual of drinking, and a similar taste and look, without the effects. Source: Tonight (South Africa)

03.04.2010 Chile earthquake rattles wine industry as millions of bottles' worth is lost The massive earthquake that struck Chile on [February 27] caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to one of the world's most popular wine industries, sending rivers of merlot and cabernet sauvignon pouring from cracked barrels and vast storage tanks onto warehouse floors. Vintners and analysts estimated that at least 150 million bottles' worth of wine, and perhaps much more, was destroyed in the 8.8-magnitude tremor, which killed more than 800 people. Source: Washington Post

03.03.2010 Cheers: Glass of wine a day may help keep the doctor away I currently have two batches of wine fermenting in my kitchen. In 28 days, I will bottle them into 60 bottles of wine and no, I don't drink all of it myself. Wine is a great gift to give to friends and family. It's a conversation starter, a mood breaker. Wine is rich with spirit (drink homemade Italian wine and you'll know what I mean) and when consumed in moderation, has many health benefits. I am most definitely a wine snob because I drink only my own wine. It's my favorite! Source: Daily Courier (AZ)