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🥫Canned wine has landed
In this weeks Decorked digest, you will read about a origins of the grapevine, Amazon lobbying alcohol laws, the most wanted New Zealand wines and much more.
Happy Sunday! We genuinely hope you’ve had an amazing week filled with wine and happiness. Interesting developments on the global wine scene - read about two interesting studies published in our news section as well as several other interesting updates.
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INTERESTING THIS WEEK
🍾 The best way to travel with wine and avoid "bottle shock"? READ HERE
🪶 Need another incentive to move to lightweight glass? How about $2.2 million over 14 years? READ HERE
📜 California pushes ahead with its new pesticide-reduction plan READ HERE
🇫🇷 French politicians wining on the job READ HERE
🥩 NYC steakhouse features some of the world's rarest wines READ HERE
We curate, filter, and select only the most interesting and important news for you.
GRAPEVINES FIRST DOMESTICATED 11,000 YEARS AGO, STUDY SAY
Scientists have shed more light on the origins of wine in a large study that found grapevines were first domesticated in two regions simultaneously around 11,000 years ago. In a large-scale genetic analysis of grapevine varieties, scientists across 16 countries identified two separate domestication events that took place simultaneously ‘in Western Asia and the Caucasus’ around 11,000 years ago, says a new study in the Science journal.
AMAZON WANTED TO ‘UNLOCK’ THE LIQUOR MARKET BY SECRETLY LOBBYING TO CHANGE LAWS, LEAKED DOCUMENT SHOWS
A leaked 2020 policy document shows that Amazon had detailed plans for “proactively changing alcohol laws” to get better sales. A confidential Amazon document obtained by Motherboard shows how the company wanted to make an aggressive push into the alcohol delivery market by launching a multi-state lobbying campaign to change alcohol licensing laws and regulations, in concert with a “limited government” think tank.
The document, titled 2021 Alcohol Public Policy Strategy, states that Amazon needed to defeat “Amazon-specific legislative threats” related to self-checkout in California “as it will be a highly-politicized union issue,” and that it thought the R Street Institute (RSI) could “shield us” by “providing cover when involvement by large retail brands is detrimental to progress.” Essentially, Amazon wanted to push its public policy agenda via a third party without the public understanding it was behind this effort.
DJUCE CANNED WINE LANDS IN THE UNITED STATES
Sustainable canned wine company Djuce announces its expansion to the United States, launching on the West Coast in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. Founded in Stockholm, Sweden in 2022, Djuce aims to change the whole experience of drinking wine. At the core is top European wine producers, talented artists and sustainable aluminum cans. By switching from glass bottles to cans, the CO2 emissions related to packaging are reduced by 79%, as aluminum is 28 times more efficient to recycle, and three-quarters of all aluminum ever mined is still in use today. By opting for Djuce, natural oenophiles are choosing to make a dramatic difference for the planet.
CHINA'S NEW WAVE OF NATURAL WINE
Adversity has sparked diversity for China's winemakers, with niche wines emerging in what was a very traditional wine market. They say a little stress for vines leads to better wines. That maxim also applies to Chinese producers these past three years. Of course, Covid brought more than a bit of stress. Local wine production and wine imports plummeted while the trade had quick access to the outside world and faced significant restrictions at home during a zero-Covid regime that ended in December.
"We cannot ignore international winemaking trends and young people seeking something new," says Ma Huiqin, a wine marketing expert and professor at China Agricultural University in Beijing.
THE SUCCESS STORY OF PORTUGAL’S BEST-SELLING ROSÉ WINE
Mateus Rosé is one of the world’s most successful wines. Exported to over 100 markets, it is Portugal’s number-one-selling wine. More than 20 million bottles of Mateus are sold annually worldwide – that’s one every 38 minutes. Mateus didn’t gain its popularity by chance, it was created by a visionary whose aim was to make a rosé that would draw the world’s attention. And he succeeded. In the 1970s, the rosé was the best-selling wine on the planet! Queen Elizabeth II, Jimi Hendrix, and Elton John were among the millions of people Mateus appealed to.
THE WORLD'S MOST WANTED NEW ZEALAND WINES
They say it's an ill wind that blows no good and, if that's true, then Cyclone Gabrielle was one seriously ill puppy. The storm that devastated the north and east of New Zealand's North Island has left the kind of trail of wreckage that has to be seen to be believed. Lives lost, homes inundated by floodwater, fields left buried under feet of silt in the aftermath – it's a heartbreaking vista for communities in East Cape, Gisborne and Hawke's Bay.
However, the overall picture of New Zealand wine remains bright. Marlborough, the engine room of the industry, had a decent season, as did Central Otago. The South Island generally had the better weather over the summer, so don't expect to be short of silky Sauvignons and punchy Pinots anytime soon.
Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc
⭐️90 -💰30 USD
Kumeu River Mate’s Vineyard Chardonnay
⭐️93 -💰69 USD
Te Mata Estate Coleraine
⭐️93 -💰81 USD
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir
⭐️93 -💰66 USD
Felton Road Cornish Point Pinot Noir
⭐️92 -💰64 USD
Kumeu River Estate Chardonnay
⭐️91 -💰30 USD
Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc
⭐️90 -💰22 USD
Burn Cottage Pinot Noir
⭐️92 -💰64 USD
Stonyridge Vineyard Larose
⭐️92 -💰211 USD
Kusuda Pinot Noir
⭐️92 -💰249 USD
WINE.COM DATA CORRELATES CORK WITH HIGHER-QUALITY WINES AT ALL PRICE POINTS
According to publicly available data from America’s largest online wine retailer Wine.com, the more expensive the wine, the more likely that it is closed with a cork stopper. The data also reveals that as the price of wine decreases, the probability that it will be closed with an artificial material increases.
Since price, however, is not necessarily a synonym for quality in wine, another question would be if even the higher quality wines in lower price categories are disproportionately closed with cork stoppers. Data available from Wine.com‘s website shows that the most highly-scored wines are, in fact, likely to be closed with cork stoppers; whatever the price point, cork lends itself to be used by more winemakers at the premium, super-premium, and icon spectrums for quality and price.
FORTIFIED WINE GLOBAL MARKET REPORT 2023
The global fortified wine market grew from $18.81 billion in 2022 to $20.67 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9%. The Russia-Ukraine war disrupted the chances of global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, at least in the short term. The war between these two countries has led to economic sanctions on multiple countries, a surge in commodity prices, and supply chain disruptions, causing inflation across goods and services, and affecting many markets across the globe.
The fortified wine market is expected to grow to $30.07 billion in 2027 at a CAGR of 9.8%. The fortified wine market consists of sales of sherry, madeira, moscatel, and marsala. Values in this market are ‘factory gate’ values, that is the value of goods sold by the manufacturers or creators of the goods, whether to other entities (including downstream manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers) or directly to end customers.
Copyright Madeira Wine and Dine
WINE REGION OF THE WEEK: MADEIRA, PORTUGAL
Madeira is a Portuguese-owned archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, 600 miles (970km) southwest of Lisbon and 450 miles due west of the north African coast. It gives its name to one of the world's great fortified wines. Both the wine and the island hold unique places in the history of wine. All fortified wine from the island is now produced under the Madeira DOC, while the table wines are sold under the VR (Vinho Regional) title Terras Madeirenses.
The early Madeira wines were produced in the image of those from the Portuguese mainland, and reportedly lacked the structure and stability required to survive long sea voyages. Over time, it was discovered that an addition of a high-proof spirit solved this problem, and by the middle of the 18th Century, such fortification had become the norm.
Nowadays, the cheaper, more efficient "estufagem" method is used for large-scale production. Depending on the context, "estufa" can mean "kiln", "hothouse", or "incubator", but the common factor is clear: deliberate heat.
An estufa, or "cuba de calor" ("heat box"), is a stainless steel tank with heated pipes running through it. This heats the wine to 50°C (120°F) for roughly three months – an accelerated imitation of what happened to Madeira barrels during tropical voyages.
INDIGENOUS GRAPE OF THE WEEK: TINTA NEGRA MOLE
Tinta Negra Mole is a dark-skinned wine grape best known as the dominant grape of Madeira, even if few of the Portuguese island's wine producers are keen to promote this fact. It accounts for roughly 70 percent of the vines planted on Madeira. The variety rose to prominence in the wake of the phylloxera epidemic of the 1860s; with the traditional Madeira vines (Sercial, Bual and Folgosao) being perilously close to extinction and demand for Madeira wines still high, the island's winegrowers were under immense pressure to repopulate their vineyards. Many chose Tinta Negra Mole, not for the high quality of its fruit, but for its disease resistance and prolific yields.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
🍷 In the Middle Ages, churches and monasteries produced the bulk of wines available.
🇵🇹 The world’s leading cork producer is Portugal.
🍇 The most commonly planted grape variety is the Cabernet Sauvignon.
🌳 There are approximately 400 species of oak, but only 20 of them are used in making oak barrels.
🇮🇹 In 1880, 80% or more of the Italian population relied on the booming wine industry for a living.
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