By Leslie Gevirtz

(Reuters) – Like gold, top wines are highly prized, represent wealth and are selling near their historical highs.

Prices of the five premier cru Bordeaux — Chateaux Lafite Rothschild, Haut-Brion, Margaux, Latour and Mouton-Rothschild, and the grand crus of Burgundy, particularly Romanee-Conti, are at or above 2007 levels.

“During times of economic stress and worry, buyers look to safe investments and gold is seen as a defensive strategy. It’s tangible, has intrinsic value and is a good diversifier … The same can be said for the top growth Bordeaux and for the same reasons,” said Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan, an independent wine consultant.

“With markets such as China coming on board with eyes only for the top growths, it is a promising outlook for them.”

Promising for the auction houses, too.

Sotheby’s four Hong Kong wine auctions last spring were successful, according to Robert Sleigh, the company’s vice president of wine. “Obviously, Asia continues to drive the prices in wine.”

Christie’s wine auctions in London, Hong Kong, New York, Geneva and Amsterdam, had sales of $13.9 million in the first half of the year, up 18 percent from the same period a year earlier. Asian wine buyers represented 43 percent of the sales figure, Christie’s spokeswoman Erin McAndrew said.

Christie’s is starting its fall season early with its first auction on Sept 18 in Hong Kong followed less than a week later by another in New York, according to Charles Curtis, its head of wine sales.

“I’m an optimist,” he said. “I’m feeling overall very positive about the fall season – and even 2011.”

Prices at spring auctions exceeded expectations. Seventy bottles Chateau Lafite Rothschild, which auction house Acker Merrall & Condit expected to fetch between $125,000 and $175,000 in Hong Kong sold for $320,250 – including the buyer’s premium. That’s $4,575 a bottle.

Sotheby’s has 2,000 bottles of Lafite coming up for auction in Hong Kong in October with a pre-sale estimate of between $1.5 million and $2.5 million.

One Singapore-based wine broker, who managed to get a case of each of the top five growths for roughly $77,000 during spring sales, said they were being snapped up.

Saeed Shah, who works for Premium Liquid Assets Pte, Ltd, described the Asian demand for Lafite as an “obsession.”

“As we get more and more millionaires worldwide we see that these same people drink these wines,” Shah said, adding that with their limited production the law of supply and demand takes over.

As for gold, it is nearing its record high of $1,264.90 that it touched on June 27.

All that glitters isn’t gold, some of it is wine is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

By LETTIE TEAGUE

Restaurants’ selections are grouped by grape, texture—even emotion. What Olive Garden gets right

It may or may not be comforting to know that 93% of the world’s population is completely predictable. This is according to a study published in Science magazine last February (predictably enough put together by university professors) which examined predictability in patterns of human mobility and noted, “Spontaneous individuals are largely absent from the population.”

The same might be said of restaurant menus. Appetizers are regularly followed by entrées (maybe separated by pasta or salads) and inevitably end with coffee and dessert. Restaurant wine lists, however, are much less predictable—one list may look nothing like another—and some lists I’ve seen have surely been the work of that unpredictable 7%.

There are lists whose wines are organized according to country of origin, probably the most common method. There are lists that are grouped by grape. These might be limited to standard varietals such as Chardonnay and Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Syrah, with others relegated to “all the rest,” or it might run to hundreds of different types from all over the world. Another sort of list divvies up wines according to intensity (light, medium and full-bodied) or simply color (red, white and rosé). Others group them by texture and aroma (“lush” or “floral”) or even the emotion they presumably embody (“intense and brooding”).

Some lists feature maps or even poetic musings on Ella Fitzgerald. (Yes, there is really a wine list in Chicago that does that—it serves as the introduction to the red Burgundy section.) I’ve even seen lists whose wines are ordered according to prices and scores. The now-defunct New York restaurant Zoe had a wine list that featured Wine Spectator ratings. (Did too many sub-90-point wines help close the doors?)

How do wine directors decide to put together a list—and which kind truly serves diners best?

At L’Ecole restaurant, run by the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, general manager and wine director Marcella Smith believes the most useful list is arranged according to grape. She put together a list that literally runs the varietal alphabet, starting with Albariño, the white grape of Spain, and ending—88 grapes later—with Zweigelt, an earthy Austrian red. It’s certainly comprehensive and there are lots of interesting, reasonably priced choices, but I thought it was a bit challenging for both staff and guests.

Take, for example, all the wines under “Riesling.” They were from various places all over in the world—Germany, Austria, France and New York—and made in a variety of styles, ranging from sweet to dry. And yet there was no further distinction to help the diner choose. Even more confusing was the fact that many of the grapes on the list don’t ever appear on the labels of bottles The restaurant’s Soave, the 2007 Pieropan Soave Classico, is a lovely wine but it’s slotted under “Garganega,” a grape few people know, let alone find synonymous with Soave.

Didn’t this provoke lots of questions from customers? With a wine list that featured grapes like Romorantin and Coda di Volpe, I figured they must be flagging waiters down left and right. They are, Ms. Smith replied, “But they feel comfortable doing so because it’s a school. Our wine list is a learning tool and the restaurant is an extension of the school, after all.”

Many other wine directors order their lists by country and region. Famed Birmingham, Ala., chef Frank Stitt (the Highland Bar and Grill, Chez Fon Fon, Bottega) who also serves as his restaurants’ wine director, invoked the word “classicist” to describe this particular style. Mr. Stitt studied in France, where regions and not grapes, are recognized and hallowed—but for the average American diner, the names of regions like Rasteau and Arbois are as foreign as the grapes Romorantin and Godello.

At Michys of Miami, one of the city’s top restaurants, emotions rule the wine list—words like “intense” and “bold,” rather than geographic regions or grapes, serve as wine categories. Sometimes the categories come from a thought or a mood, according to wine director Allegra Angelo. The restaurant’s co-owner David Martinez (his wife, Michelle Bernstein, is the chef) said the evocative and sometimes provocative list that he and Ms. Angelo have created encourages customers to try wines that they might not otherwise. And perhaps to save face as well: A macho guy trying to impress a date “isn’t going to admit he has no idea what a Furmint from Hungary is,” Mr. Martinez said. But he might try a wine if it’s called “cool and curious” or “intense, complemented by oak.”

Predictably, my wine-collector friends aren’t fans of these kinds of lists. Wilfred Van Gorp, a Chicago-based collector who travels all over the world, says he doesn’t know what wine directors mean by descriptions like “over the top.” Besides, he says, “If I’m looking for a particular wine, I don’t know where to look on these lists. If I want a red Burgundy I know just where to look on a list that’s arranged geographically.” “More accessible” lists can actually make knowledgeable wine lovers work harder to find the wines that they prefer.

And then there is the confusion that these categories can provoke. For example, how does one tell if the 2007 Domaine Faury St. Joseph, an “intense but complemented by oak” white on the Michys list, is more intense or less intense or just a different kind of intense than the 2007 Domaine Weinbach Pinot Blanc from Alsace listed in the category of “refreshing to intense”? Were “intense but complemented by oak” wines not actually refreshing as well?

There are shortcomings to every kind of wine list and certain compromises must always be made. And yet, I can think of a few changes that could easily improve each type of list. For example, lists that emphasize geography should contain maps. If the place where a wine is made is important, it should be illustrated somehow. This is one of my favorite attributes of the wine lists at Cru in New York—along with its extensive selection of Burgundies. (Admittedly, the maps—and the Burgundies—take up a lot of room. The list at Cru is so long it’s actually two books.)

As to grape-oriented lists, as much I think it’s a worthy ambition to try adding varietals to wine drinkers’ vocabularies, there are several thousand different grapes in the world they’d conceivably have to learn. If a wine director is determined to feature grapes, I’d want each to come with a brief story—a profile, like Brian Duncan does at Bin 36 in Chicago. (He’s the one with the ode to Ella Fitzgerald.) Under “Zinfandel,” for example, Mr. Duncan describes the grape’s characteristics, flavor and history—and manages another musical reference or two.

As to all those flavor and style notes, I’d pare them back. I’d keep the practical language of weight and texture since many drinkers find them useful, but I’d eliminate words like “sexy” and “love.” I like knowing which wines a sommelier deems delicious and worthy, but I’m not sure I want to know which ones put him or her in a romantic mood.

A wine list, after all, is ultimately a sales tool. And it only works as well as the people who actually give it to a diner. This was particularly clear on a recent visit to an Olive Garden restaurant in New Jersey (a friend had raved about Olive Garden’s wine service.) By today’s standards, the list wasn’t memorable—the wines were quite basic and the descriptors (“soft berry flavors” and “smooth and fruity”) wouldn’t win any literary awards. (The list was put together over the past several years in conjunction with various master sommeliers, according to Olive Garden’s director of beverage strategy, Jennifer Arguello.)

And yet my waiter, Lamar, couldn’t have been more enthusiastic if he’d been selling Montrachet. He started talking about the wines before he’d even given me the list. Lamar suggested that my friend and I taste any of the wines on the Olive Garden list for 25 cents a glass. (In most Olive Gardens, depending on state laws, the 1-ounce tastes are free.) Did he sell a lot of wine? I asked. Lamar answered an enthusiastic “Yes.”

As much as I love looking at wine lists and reading about wine directors’ discoveries and ways to highlight exciting regions and grapes, I like it even more when they show up in person to talk about wine—or better yet, offer a taste. “Show, don’t tell,” after all, is as good a motto for wine as it is for life. But that’s probably what you predicted I’d say.

Building a Better Wine List is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

By MICHELLE LOCKE

Call it moscato momentum.

An old grape is winning new fans as more people turn to the sweet, floral wine that’s easy on the purse and the palate.

“It’s kind of hitting that tipping point,” says James Nunes, managing director of marketing at Sutter Home Family Vineyards in the Napa Valley. Sutter Home has been making a moscato since the ’50s and it has always sold well, but in the last year sales have taken off, he says.

Nationally, in the last year sales of moscato were up nearly 79 percent to just over 1 million cases in food store sales, says wine industry consultant Jon Fredrikson of Woodside-based Gomberg, Fredrikson and Associates. That’s still only a fraction of the market; chardonnay sales, for instance, amounted to almost 16 million cases for the same period.

But it’s a significant increase, and welcome news for an industry that hasn’t had a lot to cheer about lately.

“It’s exciting,” says Fredrikson. “People are always on the quest to find the latest new thing and it’s caught on because it’s a drink that almost everyone is going to appreciate.”

Sweet and light with overtones of citrus and orange blossom, moscato is known as a crowd-pleaser. It’s also picked up some pop culture buzz with a mention in a song by the popular rapper Drake.

Moscato is Italian for muscat, a grape that is believed to be one of the world’s oldest. There are several different types of moscato; in Italy, moscato d’Asti is the base wine for the sparkling wine Asti, formerly called Asti spumante. California moscato wines are usually still, not sparkling, and pair well with fruit desserts.

“It’s a secret weapon wine because it allows you to please the people who want a little bit of sweetness in their wine, but knowledgeable folks can also appreciate the beauty of moscato,” says Leslie Sbrocco, wine writer and founder of Thirsty Girl.

There are light, low-alcohol “frizzante” style sparkling wines from Italy. Major producers in California include Sutter Home and Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, which make still versions that go for less than $10 a bottle.

Moscato also is available at the higher end. Heidi Peterson Barrett, former winemaker for the famous “cult winery” Screaming Eagle, makes a dry version, Moscato Azul, under her La Sirena label.

“It is uber high-end and coveted,” says Sbrocco. “It’s absolute elegance in a bottle.”

Barrett is known for her red wines — the Screaming Eagle cabs she made sell for hundreds of dollars a bottle. But she’s “always had a soft spot in my heart for those kind of tropical, perfumey flavors.”

So, some years ago she started making a dry moscato, using grapes grown on a rocky hillside near Calistoga. The wine smells sweet and floral but is crisp on the palate. Production is small, about 500 cases a year, and the price is $30.

“It really is a labor of love,” she says. “We make a lot of friends with that wine.”

Moscato makes a splash for summer is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

French Authorities Approve Four New Appellations

by Diana Macle

The French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) system may not be perfect, but for winemakers it can provide crucial recognition of theirterroir‘s greatness—and serve as a valuable marketing tool. Earlier this month, the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine), the body that governs the appellations, approved the creation of four new AOCs in Burgundy and the Rhône Valley. Producers in Burgundy hope that their two new appellations will improve sales of low-cost wines. In the Southern Rhône, one appellation is being elevated, while another is eager for a name change. All the AOC changes should now be approved by the French Ministry for Agriculture within a few months, if no serious objections are raised.

• Côteaux Bourguignons—Winegrowers have requested that the AOC Bourgogne Grand Ordinaire appellation be re-baptized Côteaux Bourguignons. “Nobody markets wine under the existing appellation anymore as it doesn’t have a good ring to it,” says Pierre-Henry Gagey, managing director of Louis Jadot. Like the old Grand Ordinaire, Côteaux Bourguignons will be situated at the bottom of the classification system in Burgundy, underneath the Bourgogne appellation, reserved for low-priced brands. The rules for the new appellation will be similar to its predecessor’s—wines can be made from either Chardonnay or Gamay and/or Pinot Noir sourced from the greater Burgundy region, including Beaujolais. With demand for Beaujolais Nouveau shrinking, growers planted 500 new acres of Chardonnay in Beaujolais last year.

• Bourgogne Côte d’Or—This appellation will be for low-cost wines from the Côtes de Nuit and Côtes de Beaune areas. Up until now, these wines had been simply marketed as Bourgogne. “The new name will offer a guarantee that a wine is of a good standard of quality, made from this specific zone and exclusively from Chardonnay or Pinot Noir, rather than Gamay,” says grower Philippe Charlopin. Consumers can expect 700,000 bottles of Bourgogne Côte d’Or to hit the market in 2012.

• Grignon Lès Adhémar—The Côteaux de Tricastin appellation, located 30 miles north of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, will change its name to AOC Grignon Lès Adhémar, the name of a local village. The appellation has suffered from its proximity to the Tricastin nuclear power plant, which experienced a uranium leak in 2008. As a result, sales of the area’s annual production of 15 million bottles dropped by 40 percent over the past two years. The new appellation’s reds, whites and rosés will appear as of the 2010 vintage.

• Rasteau—Twenty miles farther south, producers of dry red wines labeled Rasteau Côtes du Rhône Villages will soon shorten the name to Rasteau beginning with the 2009 offerings. Until now, the Rasteau AOC was reserved for the area’s red fortified wines. The new extension elevates Rasteau reds up to the status of Cru, alongside Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Tavel, Lirac, Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Beaumes de Venise and Vinsobres. “INAO’s decision officially recognizes the quality of our terroir and clarifies our image with wine lovers,” says Jean-Jacques Dost, managing director of the Rasteau co-operative winery. Sweet wines will also include Vin Doux Naturel (VDN) on the label.

French Authorities Approve Four New Appellations is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

BY KELLY SINOSKI, VANCOUVER SUN

The fate of Sue Hall’s wine bottle is determined by what she does with it after sipping its last drop of Merlot.

If she were to toss the bottle in the recycling bin with cans, plastics, tins and pickle jars, it could become contaminated with dirt, pulp and metals and end up in Quesnel to be used as sandblast abrasive, a silicon sand used to clean or smooth surfaces.

“The single-stream [recycling] process is the worst culprit for getting good glass,” said Wayne Elias, market manager for Enviro-Corp’s glass-crushing plant in Abbotsford. “Once [a bottle] hits that it becomes useless as glass because it gets contaminated by the metals and plastic.”

If Hall were to take her bottle to a depot for a refund, on the other hand, it might once again end up carrying her favourite tipple. Similarly, if she left it in an alley for a binner, chances are good that the binner would take it to a depot, where it would be sorted before being transferred to Encorp Pacific, a federally incorporated, product stewardship corporation that ensures bottles are properly recycled and not put in landfills or incinerated.

Once Hall’s bottle reaches Encorp it’s nearly impossible to locate, as it will have been dumped, with 800 others, in a large canvas tote bag and hauled to Abbotsford’s Enviro-Corp glass-crushing plant.

Bags full of beer and wine bottles, spirit decanters for vodka and scotch, and juice jugs are packed neatly at the site, where they’re picked up by a forklift and dumped in colourful array into a hopper. As they fall, the racket can be heard for miles.

“Amazingly, very few of them break,” Elias said.

Somewhere in the mix, Hall’s bottle is tossed, bumped and rolled as it’s fed along a conveyor belt to a four-foot-wide sorting table. Seven workers stand on each side of the table, plucking the clear glass from the mix and tossing it down a chute to a secondary belt below.

Plastics and other junk are also stripped out. Coloured glass, including Hall’s bottle, is left on the conveyor belt and fed onto another chute that runs parallel to the first.

The distinction is important: If even three pieces of coloured glass are found within 100 pieces of clear glass, it’s considered contaminated and will have to go to the sandblast-abrasive pile along with other non-refundable glass, such as ketchup, pickle and mayonnaise jars.

Care must then be taken on the sorting table. Residents often toss plates and ceramics into the recycling, which will contaminate the glass, so it has to be pulled out, Elias said.

“Lots of people throw dishes into the bottle depot thinking they’re saving the world by recycling glass,” he said. “They find their way into the system. They’re not supposed to, but they do.”

If the sort is considered “positive” with no contamination, the clear and coloured glass pass separately through a crusher, where they’re smashed into shards before pouring into two separate glittering piles in the works yard outside.

As the glass is crushed, a fine pile of granular sand falls into a trough below. Nothing is wasted. If it’s not tossed in with the crushed glass outside, it’s sold to a Langley company, which uses the glass in its kitchen countertops.

New life for old wine bottles is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

by William Hobson

New research from the US indicates that when it comes to wine, presentation is everything, as a study reveals that the label on a bottle says more to consumers than its flavour.

Marketing news website The Drum reports that a study by the American Association of Wine Economists showed that judging the value of a bottle of wine is far from an expert talent, as the majority of novice drinkers were able to estimate the value of a bottle of wine with a high degree of accuracy just from the drawings and words on the bottle’s label.

Hundreds of self-confessed non-connoisseurs were asked to estimate the price range of around 300 bottles of wine, simply based upon the label. An astonishing 72% of answers were correct, with the judgement process relating ‘high brow’ words such as “supple”, “velvety” and “smoky” as well as abstract art or landscapes with prestige vintages. Conversely, pictures of an animal on the label or descriptions of a “fruity” taste – or claims that it goes well with chicken or steak – are all associated with down market products.

Another item of research by the Association in 2008, reported on in The Australian, showed that in blind taste tests there was no evidence that tasters enjoyed pricier wines anymore on flavour alone. Yet further research showed that when informed that three samples of the same wine were different products, all of the tasters said they preferred the more expensive drink.

Taken together, this research indicates that the perception of snobbery surrounding wine may be well deserved. “If you’re having a dinner party, you should get a wine with a label that looks expensive,” said AAWE researcher Coco Krumme, “Your guests will enjoy it more.”

Study suggests label is more important than vintage for wine drinkers is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

by Beppi Crosariol

Malbec is sort of the Diego Maradona of wine. Two decades after the soccer god’s glory days, he pretty much remains the universal answer to the challenge: “Name an athlete from Argentina.” If you can name one grape grown in Argentina, I’ll bet your first thought is malbec.

The robust red variety, transplanted from Bordeaux to find its higher calling amid the dry heat of Mendoza, may be the captain of Argentina’s wine lineup, but there are other interesting players. Many of the best, in fact, are mostly or entirely malbec-free.

They include cabernet sauvignons, merlots, chardonnays and sangioveses. In a more offbeat and usually more affordable vein are Argentina’s two other signature grapes, the floral-grapey torrontes and crisp, red bonarda.

It came as little surprise, then, that my top selection in today’s release of Argentine spotlight wines at Ontario Vintages stores turned out to be a white, Luca Chardonnay 2008 ($28.95, product No. 167338).

Here’s a big, creamy-textured chardonnay that delivers cartloads of sweet, peachy fruit but manages to stay light and remarkably crisp on the finish.

It’s impressively balanced, with nicely integrated oak (unlike the more conspicuous oaky taste of the Catena Chardonnay in today’s release).

I’d serve the Luca with boiled or grilled lobster or an oily, meaty fish such as salmon, orange rough or even trout with a butter-based sauce. (For the record, I was not – repeat not – very fond of this wine’s sister red, Luca Malbec 2008, $31.95.)

Torrontes is an acquired taste, having a bold bouquet that elicits the same kind of response you tend to get from muscat or gewurztraminer – you love it or hate it. Vinecol Torrontes 2009 ($13.95, No. 32748), also from today’s Vintages rollout, shows the tamer side of torrontes. Light-bodied, it offers up that classic white-table-grape note in harmony with other flavours, such as grapefruit and lemon zest.

There’s good acidity in this dry wine, which would make a nice aperitif for an outdoor gathering and pairs well with spicy or highly aromatic Indian food.

One of the best-buy reds from the release contains just 30 per cent malbec. The rest of Bodega Poesia Pasodoble 2007 ($14.95, No. 166405) is built from syrah (30 per cent), bonarda (20 per cent) and cabernet sauvignon. Full-bodied and smooth, it’s a compelling if unconventional blend, with a polished texture, blueberry-like fruit and a bitter, dry finish.

The best Argentine red of the release is, alas, a malbec, Luigi Bosca Reserva Malbec 2007 ($17.95, No. 79293). It’s full-bodied and smooth, with an almost-sweet, fruit-forward blast followed by notes of coffee and vanilla. It would be at home glugged on its own or with a variety of grilled red meats.

I also liked Calathus Malbec 2007 ($19.95, No. 168435). If you like smooth, well-made California merlot, you will appreciate this. Notes of sweet blackberry, mocha and vanilla are carried on a creamy, crowd-pleasing texture.

Turning away from Argentina, I’d like to point out two nice pink French wines and a great Canadian “grey.”

Mas Belles Eaux Rosé Collection Languedoc 2009 ($13.95, No. 117358) is delicately tinted, with a round core of strawberry-like fruit and zippy acidity. Also good and seductively pale in colour is Chateau Val Joanis Tradition Syrah Rosé 2009 ($14.95, 707281). The word austere, which generally I consider flattering in a rosé, comes to mind here. Think light strawberry flavour, lean body and a crisp, dry finish, too.

Most people think of pinot gris as a white grape because it almost always makes a white wine. But the grape’s skin has a grey tinge to it. When the skin is left in contact with the juice during fermentation (a practice used in making red wine but not white), some of that colour leaches into the finished wine. I love the seductive, pale-peach hue of Nichol Vineyard September Ranch Pinot Gris 2009, available only in British Columbia at the moment, direct from the winery ($19.90 through www.nicholvineyard.com).

Domestic-wine geeks may recognize the name Nichol because its 2006 syrah garnered the highest praise from the respected British wine writer Jancis Robinson during a recent visit to the Okanagan Valley. I like the syrah too, but might actually prefer this pinot gris. Medium-bodied and bone-dry, it shows hints of strawberry, citrus and minerals. Sexy wine.

Beyond malbec: Buying into Argentina’s other hot wines is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

Harvest begins in February in the Barossa, when the hills are golden and the grapes are fat on their vines. Before dawn, while it is cool and crisp, machines trundle between the leafy rows, plucking the fruit.

Wicker and wine is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

by Nick Collins

Wine sold in plastic bottles or boxes remains fresh for only six months, new research suggests.

Supermarkets have claimed that wine in plastic bottles remains unchanged for up to a year. But a year-long study suggests that wine stored in bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) – the plastic commonly used for fizzy drink and water bottles – begins oxidising much earlier.

The flavour and chemical composition of white wine changed within six months of being sealed in plastic bottles and bag-in-box packaging, researchers from the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV), in Bordeaux, reported.

In contrast, the same wine remained stable when stored in glass bottles, the study claimed. Red wine was also more stable in the non-glass formats.

The ISVV tested red and white Bordeaux wines which were packed in a range of glass, plastic and bag-in-box packaging, and tested them at regular intervals over the year.

While gas levels and taste of white wine were found to changed in the plastic and bag-in-box packs over the year, there was little change in the red wine.

Rémy Ghidossi, lecturer at ISVV, said: “It is now necessary to establish the truth, based on scientific information and quantitative data, to determine the legitimacy of each package, as its main function is to preserve the flavour and characteristics of its content.”

Retailers including Waitrose have launched wines in PET bottles for the summer season, claiming the lighter packaging is more environmentally friendly than traditional glass bottles.

Waitrose wine buyer Nick Room said bottles of Khula Sky’s Shiraz and Chenin Blanc had a shelf-life that was guaranteed for a year and was proven for 24 months.

He said the shelf-life of the packaging, which includes an oxygen barrier, highlighted “that the product is as good as glass for wine quality”.

He added: “Wine-drinkers can be quite precious about compromising taste and quality, which is something we have been very careful to ensure doesn’t happen with the new plastic packaging.”

Josh Brooks, editor of Packaging News, said switching to lighter packaging was a commonly used method of reducing the environmental impact of products.

He added: “Consumers should not forget that the greatest environmental impact of the wine they buy, or indeed any product, is in the production and transport of the product itself – not the packaging.”

Six-month shelf life for wine in plastic bottles is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS

by AFP

GENEVA — A case of French wine fetched a record price this week as springtime auctions of fine jewellery, luxury watches and wines in Geneva marked a return to top price selling, auctioneers said Thursday.

An unnamed Asian private buyer snapped up the six bottles of iconic 1961 Hermitage La Chapelle for 109,250 Swiss francs (98,587 dollars, 77,469 euros) at Christie’s, during sales in the Swiss city that outstripped estimates.

“A new world auction record per bottle has been set by a rare case of the great Hermitage ‘La Chapelle’ 1961 wine, sold for 109,250 Swiss francs against a low estimate of 60,000 francs,” said David Elswood, international director of wine for Europe and Asia at the auction house.

“Two anonymous lady bidders won several of the highlights, contradicting the idea that the wine market is dominated by gentlemen,” he added.

Overall sales of fine jewellery, watches and wine by Christie’s this week surged by more than two-thirds compared to last year to 62.9 million Swiss francs (56.7 million dollars, 42.1 million euros).

“Demand for stellar examples rivalled that seen at the height of the market, which very much seems to have returned ‘en force’,” said Francois Curiel, head of Christie’s Switzerland.

A fancy intense blue diamond ring sparked a bidding battle at rival Sotheby’s, as three unidentified bidders sent the price up to a record for its type equivalent to 1.05 million dollars per carat — 8.03 million dollars.

Sotheby’s garnered nearly 60 million Swiss francs of jewellery sales this week, well above pre-sale estimates that had ranged down to about 37 million francs.

David Bennett, chairman of jewellery for Europe and the Middle East, said there was “enormous appetite throughout the world for jewels and gemstones of the very best quality.”

Big spenders already marked their return at the international contemporary art sales in New York this week.

A late self-portrait by “pope of pop” Andy Warhol sold for a record 32.5 million dollars on Wednesday, more than twice as much as expected.

Fine wine hits record as luxury auctions boom is a post from: WINE, SPIRITS AND BEER REVIEWS