The last week of August has seen the start of the 2017 vintage in the Loire. The Ban des Vendanges for Muscadet (the official start of the harvest) was on 30th August, while picking in Anjou-Saumur for sparkling wine started a couple of days earlier. Langlois-Chateau started picking their Pinot Noir on 28th August. Although this is an early start - picking in August is still relatively rare in the Loire, 2017 is by no means the earliest vintage here. Since 1981 there have been six earlier starts for Muscadet

The big winery news this week for readers of Wine behind the label is the acquisition of the Calera winery, producer of some cult Pinot Noirs by the Duckhorn winery group. The Calera winery was established by Josh Jenson in 1975 when he planted vines on limestone rich soils and at significant altitude near the small town of Salinas, inland just to the north-west of Monterey. At the time it was a very unusual approach for a winery owner in California. The reputation of Calera is based on now six

Tuscan giant invests further in the Maipo Valley Regular Wine behind the label readers will be interested in this recent snippet of news. The sizeable (well very sizeable) Tuscan merchant house of Antinori has increased its investment in the Chilean Haras de Pirque winery acquiring 100% ownership in the property. In order to give readers an up to date view of both operations we include below the text profiles of both from the latest 10th edition of Wine behind the label. As well as its extensive interests in Italy Antinori

The story of transformation in the South African Winelands A fascinating article and video about the development of the South African wine industry over the past two and a half decades. Thanks to Wines of South Africa.     The South African wine industry has come a long way since 1994. Inclusivity, upliftment and growth of our industry and its people are at the forefront. While there is still much to be done, we should also recognise the many entities that consistently aid the wellbeing and positive growth of the

          Report from Kent Police on an alleged large distribution fraud – wine and flat screen TVs:       Policing news  Goods recovered in fraud investigation fill four lorries 24 Jul 2017 Items including tens of thousands of bottles of wine and the latest flat screen televisions have been seized by Kent Police following search warrants at warehouses in Horsmonden and Brenchley. Officers from the Serious and Organised Crime Unit have also recovered commodities including shipments of marble tiles and even air conditioning units, as part of an investigation

Cavas de Paraje Calificado Mid July has just seen the announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing, Food and Environment in Spain of 12 “Grand Cru” sites to be recognized under Cava DO, Cava de Paraje Calificado. It is intended these site-specific wines will be the pinnacle of the appellation and differentiated from Gran Reservas which are not. These are just regulated by ageing periods and whether the wine is dry, vintage and so on. The Paraje Calficado wines though will be subject the strictest requirements yet from the DO

From it's nadir in 2012, wine investments have steadily increased in value. It's not been even all round - traditional Bordeaux wines have been patchy but the increases from the rest of the world - particularly Burgundy. led by the Domaine de la Romanée Conti - have been very encouraging. Here is the latest report from Liv-Ex. http://www.insights.liv-ex.com/2017/07/liv-ex-1000-gains-1-1-june-led-rest-world-50.html?mc_cid=08d8f03123&mc_eid=292cc64c44 As usual - a note of caution - if you want to invest in wine (a) don't put more than 5% of your wealth into it. Prices can go down as well as