Well I?m back, with many changes on the way?too many to report on here. The move was predictably stressful, complete with long waits at the police for foreign national registration, idiot bank employees who don?t do what you ask them to, negligent estate agents only interested in their miserable commission?and that?s if they?re still employed, considering the global financial meltdown that ensued, seemingly occurring right after I physically landed at Heathrow and cleared the baggage claim. Oh well, at least the internet service provider finally showed up and set me up, so on towards the more exciting, positive bits of news...I look forward to coming back more often to post, particularly on my own domain. Look for updates on that soon.

Onto the wine?one of the final remaining, seemingly recession-proof products around, particularly if you?re a wine producer from Argentina or South Africa, or perhaps a wine importer in China, but I?m getting ahead of myself again.

I find the UK wine marketplace, from the consumer?s perspective, incredibly fascinating in ways that would make importers and distributors from back in the US think twice and want to look hard and long on certain matters. After all, this is the market from which, time and again, I?ve seen trends emerge, subsequently reaching American stocklists, on average and depending on the specific trend, around 12-18 months later. Whether we?re talking organics, fair-trade wines, an upsurge in country/region-specific wines being consumed (Austria, Bierzo, NZ Pinot Noir, Chilean takes on Alsace, Argentine Tempranillo, and many more ), or even a specific craze for wines that single out a particular grape variety, it always seems like it all begins here first. A small clarification of course, we always need one of those?when I discuss market trends, the proportions I am are referring to could well be regarded as ?mainstream? or en-masse. Leaving aside the handful of enlightened, forward-looking importers, distributors, retailers and agents involved in the US wine trade, I?m thinking of trends that American consumers simply haven?t embraced in mainstream fashion.

What trends am I talking about, then, in terms of the ?here and now?? The recently sudden and intense interest, expressed particularly by some of the largest retail entities in the US (Target, Walmart, etc?), in ?certified organic? and ?fair trade? wines, has been preceded by all sorts of retail outlets here in the UK by almost five or six years. In fact, the revered wine education cathedral of sorts, Vinopolis, recently hosted a consumer-oriented Fair Trade tasting featuring South African and South-American wines. In terms of the prevalence of ?Fair Trade certified? wines in the marketplace here, even large supermarket chains maintain extensive production relationships with wine producers in Argentina, Chile and South Africa that intend to compensate the grape farming coops that supply them fairly and ethically. The venerable Trainsfair USA, I believe, is just beginning to crank the gears that will soon establish an American Fair Trade certification scheme in the vein of its successful coffee program. One recently elaborated section of its website seems to be calling all potentially interested retailers, importers and distributors of Fair Trade certified wines, complete with legal advice and guidelines to becoming approved agents.

I don?t have much in the way of a formal set of closing thoughts on this, but a few questions come to mind in terms of this apparent phenomenon where certain trends poke their heads out in the UK first:

1) Could this simply be attributed to there being an altogether greater sense of open-mindedness here in the UK? I?ve seen many food products here, ingredients easily available at mainstream chain supermarkets for very reasonable prices?meats, spices and foods for which I used to have to trek all the way to a Whole Foods in the US, sometimes fifty miles each way, just to get in line and pay frighteningly exorbitant prices, given that my purchases didn?t consist of the bland crap available in most stores.

2) The second question revolves around economic irony: Why is it that the UK is at the forefront of wine consumer trends, as far as imports, when it is actually the US market which the latest reports point to as being the most profitable market to export to, on a per liter of wine basis? This should be taken into account in addition to the US being ranked the second largest export market (by volume). Would the people at the American Association of Wine Economists have a paper on this?

Whether I am here or there, from now on I will be posting recommendations and pieces such as this one on both the American and British wine market environments. More to follow in the near future?

Well I?m back, with many changes on the way?too many to report on here. The move was predictably stressful, complete with long waits at the police for foreign national registration, idiot bank employees who don?t do what you ask them to, negligent estate agents only interested in their miserable commission?and that?s if they?re still employed, considering the global financial meltdown that ensued, seemingly occurring right after I physically landed at Heathrow and cleared the baggage claim. Oh well, at least the internet service provider finally showed up and set me up, so on towards the more exciting, positive bits of news...I look forward to coming back more often to post, particularly on my own domain. Look for updates on that soon.

Onto the wine?one of the final remaining, seemingly recession-proof products around, particularly if you?re a wine producer from Argentina or South Africa, or perhaps a wine importer in China, but I?m getting ahead of myself again.

I find the UK wine marketplace, from the consumer?s perspective, incredibly fascinating in ways that would make importers and distributors from back in the US think twice and want to look hard and long on certain matters. After all, this is the market from which, time and again, I?ve seen trends emerge, subsequently reaching American stocklists, on average and depending on the specific trend, around 12-18 months later. Whether we?re talking organics, fair-trade wines, an upsurge in country/region-specific wines being consumed (Austria, Bierzo, NZ Pinot Noir, Chilean takes on Alsace, Argentine Tempranillo, and many more ), or even a specific craze for wines that single out a particular grape variety, it always seems like it all begins here first. A small clarification of course, we always need one of those?when I discuss market trends, the proportions I am are referring to could well be regarded as ?mainstream? or en-masse. Leaving aside the handful of enlightened, forward-looking importers, distributors, retailers and agents involved in the US wine trade, I?m thinking of trends that American consumers simply haven?t embraced in mainstream fashion.

What trends am I talking about, then, in terms of the ?here and now?? The recently sudden and intense interest, expressed particularly by some of the largest retail entities in the US (Target, Walmart, etc?), in ?certified organic? and ?fair trade? wines, has been preceded by all sorts of retail outlets here in the UK by almost five or six years. In fact, the revered wine education cathedral of sorts, Vinopolis, recently hosted a consumer-oriented Fair Trade tasting featuring South African and South-American wines. In terms of the prevalence of ?Fair Trade certified? wines in the marketplace here, even large supermarket chains maintain extensive production relationships with wine producers in Argentina, Chile and South Africa that intend to compensate the grape farming coops that supply them fairly and ethically. The venerable Trainsfair USA, I believe, is just beginning to crank the gears that will soon establish an American Fair Trade certification scheme in the vein of its successful coffee program. One recently elaborated section of its website seems to be calling all potentially interested retailers, importers and distributors of Fair Trade certified wines, complete with legal advice and guidelines to becoming approved agents.

I don?t have much in the way of a formal set of closing thoughts on this, but a few questions come to mind in terms of this apparent phenomenon where certain trends poke their heads out in the UK first:

1) Could this simply be attributed to there being an altogether greater sense of open-mindedness here in the UK? I?ve seen many food products here, ingredients easily available at mainstream chain supermarkets for very reasonable prices?meats, spices and foods for which I used to have to trek all the way to a Whole Foods in the US, sometimes fifty miles each way, just to get in line and pay frighteningly exorbitant prices, given that my purchases didn?t consist of the bland crap available in most stores.

2) The second question revolves around economic irony: Why is it that the UK is at the forefront of wine consumer trends, as far as imports, when it is actually the US market which the latest reports point to as being the most profitable market to export to, on a per liter of wine basis? This should be taken into account in addition to the US being ranked the second largest export market (by volume). Would the people at the American Association of Wine Economists have a paper on this?

Whether I am here or there, from now on I will be posting recommendations and pieces such as this one on both the American and British wine market environments. More to follow in the near future?

I’ve been involved with Twitter Taste Live since the second tasting and will be participating again next time when the theme is “Bloggers Take Over.” In past tastings wineries have presented a selection of wines and wine lovers from around the world then posted their thoughts on Twitter while tasting the same wines simultaneously. But the next time out each wine blogger will be able to pick their wine(s) and give you the chance to pick them up and taste along with us on November 15th.

Consistent with my theme of Wines For Recessionary Times, I will be tasting two wines from Cameron Hughes, one of my favorite purveyors of extreme value wine.

I have selected Lot 92 2004 Margaret River Chardonnay and Lot 36 2005 Rutherford Cabernet for the tasting.

The Chardonnay is available for just $14 at the Cameron Hughes online store but Lot 36 is only available in Costco or Sam’s Club stores (I paid $12.88 today for Lot 36 at Sam’s).

So pick up one or both of these wines, friend me up on Twitter and taste along with me on November 15th. I’ll be posting a follow-up with the approximate time of the tasting next week and, of course, tweet about this too. I hope you will join me or at least follow along on Twitter Search using the hash tag #ttl.

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• Winecast 75 - Etienne Hugel

Sad sign of the times: collectors are resorting to selling their precious wine in order to raise capital. Lisa Baertlein (reuters.com) writes:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wine cellars have been taking a hit from the global credit crisis and it isn't because the owners of rare bottles are drinking more -- it's because they have been selling to raise cash.
 
The selling started with mortgage brokers and has moved to Wall Street as owners turn their collections of coveted vintages into liquid assets.
 
"People need money. Even richer people need money sometimes," Vinfolio.com founder and Chief Executive Stephen Bachmann told Reuters on Monday.
 
In the last few weeks, private collectors submitted offers to sell $10 million worth of wine to Vinfolio, a San Francisco-based company that buys and sells wine online. Normally the company has about $6 million offered to it.

» Full Story

Tags: melgab, wine, collection, recession, funds, south-africa, South Africa

My first selection for these troubled times is the second most popular wine reviewed here by pageviews, the Petite Sirah by Crane Lake. This label is made by Bronco Wine Company who also produce the Charles Shaw brand for Trader Joe’s. Crane Lake is offered to independent retailers and typically sells for a couple dollars more than the more famous “2-buck Chuck.” Another difference is that more than just the typical varieties are offered, including this Petite Sirah and even a Sangiovese.

Petite Sirah is a good variety to look for in value wines these days as it flies a bit below the radar of most consumers. Many of the best examples can be found for less than $20 a bottle but I was interested in what you could get for $4. I picked up the 2004 vintage a while back but did not review it was a bad bottle, but I was able to track down the 2005 vintage for this tasting.

Tasting Notes:

Crane Lake, Petite Sirah 2005 ($4) - Dark purple-black color with aromas of blueberry compote and white pepper. Simple and juicy blueberry and plum flavors with some black pepper finishing with plush tannins and good acidity. Clean and surprisingly varietally correct.

Composite cork closure
12.5% ABV
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

With the worldwide financial crisis in full swing, it’s a time a lot of wine lovers will be looking to dial back their wine budgets a bit. From my informal polling on Twitter, most are drinking the same amount of wine but less expensive selections are gaining in popularity.

With that in mind, I’m launching a new feature I’m calling “Wines For Recessionary Times.”

That doesn’t always mean cheap wines but we will start there and explore the most extreme values in all price tiers. I’m talking about the $10 wines that give $25 wines a run for their money. Also those $30 wines that make you shake your head and wonder what they were thinking charging $75 a bottle for a similar wine. Or those auction finds that you want to keep to yourself so you can buy more before they are sold out. And wines you can buy for less than $50 A CASE.

So stay tuned as I look for wines that you would guess are 2 or 3 times more expensive than they actually are. This should be a fun project but let’s hope it’s short lived and not necessary this time next year.

What’s your favorite extreme value wine?