Shocking the Italians found something to "discuss". :)
C,
J
It's been a very scary week for prosecco fans.
On Wednesday, Robert Cremonese, an executive at prosecco producer Bisol,
told Drinks Business that bad weather in several Italian wine-growing
regions may have caused prosecco production to drop enough to spark a
"global prosecco shortage." Since then, news outlets across the world have
picked up the story, warning of higher prices and empty shelves at liquor
stores.
But in a phone call with The Huffington Post on Friday, Domenico Zonin, the
CEO of Zonin, Italy's largest privately owned wine company, said that
there's no cause for alarm. Though Zonin acknowledged that heavy rains
dampened grape growth in some areas last year, he doesn't think it'll end
up making a serious difference in prices or availability.
"I don't think there will be many problems, frankly," Zonin said.
"There are some wineries that might have a little less prosecco than they
need, so they say there will be a shortage," Zonin continued. "But I think
if there is a little shortage, it will be not a big problem. It will be
just for a short period. A very short period."
The potential trouble period, Zonin and Cremonese agreed, is this summer,
when supplies of the 2014 vintage could run low. But Zonin noted that the
2015 vintage will be released shortly thereafter. Though he admitted that
no one will be able to say exactly how large this year's grape harvest will
be until it ends in September, he said that the vineyards that supply his
company's grapes have been reporting good progress so far.
"For the moment, what we're seeing from the vineyards is that the
production is pretty good," he said. "There are a lot of grapes. The spring
was good. We have to wait to see how the weather is over the summer, but
for the moment, the number of grapes is high."
One reason some have predicted a shortage is that global demand for
prosecco has risen sharply over the last several years. Consumers have
increasingly embraced prosecco as a cheaper, easier-to-drink alternative to
Champagne; it even passed its French rival as the best-selling type of
sparkling wine early in 2014. The spike in demand has put pressure on
prosecco producers to amp up their output.
But Zonin said that changes to Italian regulations on the use of the word
"prosecco" have allowed more vineyards to produce wines destined for the
sparkling wine, helping the industry keep pace with rising demand.
And let's be real: in capitalist economies like America's and Italy's, true
shortages are extraordinarily rare. We have a highly effective mechanism
for dealing with situations where demand exceeds supply -- price hikes. And
Zonin doesn't even think those are likely.
"For 2014, I don't think there will be a rise in price," He said. "Not
significantly, anyway."
In short? Don't worry. There probably won't be a global prosecco shortage.
And even if there is, there's a very easy solution: buy cava, Champagne or
American sparkling wine.
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
For your amusement, from the UK.
Aldi's Four Pound Toro - no mention of Two Buck Chuck!
C,
J
It’s a corker! Red wine costing £3.59 and sold at Aldi scoops international
award
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149036/It-s-corker-Red-wine-costin…
By Daily Mail Reporter
Published: 18:40 EST, 23 May 2012 | Updated: 18:41 EST, 23 May 2012
Stonking plonk: Aldi's Spanish Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 (above) has won
an international award despite costing just £3.59p
Stonking plonk: Aldi's Spanish Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 (above) has won
an international award despite costing just £3.59p
Some dinner party hosts might feel insulted if a guest turned up with a
cheap bottle of plonk from Aldi.
But a panel of experts has named a wine sold by the budget supermarket for
just £3.59 as one of the world’s best.
Its own-brand Spanish Toro Loco Tempranillo from 2011 excelled in blind
taste tests alongside reds costing nearly ten times as much.
Judges at the International Wine and Spirit Competition awarded it a silver
medal, describing it as ‘fruity, rounded and appealing’ with hints of ‘nice
bright cherry’.
Tony Baines, from Aldi, said: ‘We work closely with some of the world’s
leading wineries so we can deliver high-quality own-label wines to our
customers.
‘It is fantastic that our commitment to quality has been recognised by as
prestigious a group as the International Wine and Spirit Competition
tasting panel.’
He added: ‘We’ve always known our wine range has got a lot of bottle and
now it looks like the experts agree.’
The supermarket’s red wine was compared with several older, more expensive
ones, including a £31.15 bottle of Costa di Bussia Barolo Riserva DOCG from
2005.
The Toro Loco Tempranillo 2011 hails from the Utiel-Requena region in the
province of Valencia, Spain.
Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2149036/It-s-corker-Red-wine-costin…
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
FWIW. No mention of drug use.
Few people on the planet have lived the kind of globetrotting and
adventure-filled life that chef and TV personality Anthony Bourdain has.
You can probably learn a thing or two from the man.
1.) “Skills can be taught. Character you either have or you don't have.”
2.) “If you’re twenty-two, physically fit, hungry to learn and be better, I
urge you to travel – as far and as widely as possible. Sleep on floors if
you have to. Find out how other people live and eat and cook. Learn from
them – wherever you go.”
3.) “Don't lie about it. You made a mistake. Admit it and move on. Just
don't do it again. Ever”
4.) "What nicer thing can you do for somebody than make them breakfast?"
5.) “Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you
change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in
return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those
marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they
hurt.”
6.) "You learn a lot about someone when you share a meal together."
7.) “Your body is not a temple, it's an amusement park. Enjoy the ride.”
8.) “Maybe that’s enlightenment enough: to know that there is no final
resting place of the mind; no moment of smug clarity. Perhaps wisdom...is
realizing how small I am, and unwise, and how far I have yet to go."
9.) “I don't have to agree with you to like you or respect you.”
10.) “Good food is very often, even most often, simple food.”
11.) “We know, for instance, that there is a direct, inverse relationship
between frequency of family meals and social problems. Bluntly stated,
members of families who eat together regularly are statistically less
likely to stick up liquor stores, blow up meth labs, give birth to crack
babies, commit suicide, or make donkey porn. If Little Timmy had just had
more meatloaf, he might not have grown up to fill chest freezers with Cub
Scout parts.”
12.) "Open your mind, get up off the couch, move.”
13.) “Luck is not a business model.”
14.) “There’s something wonderful about drinking in the afternoon. A
not-too-cold pint, absolutely alone at the bar – even in this fake-ass
Irish pub.”
15.) “Under 'Reasons for Leaving Last Job', never give the real reason,
unless it's money or ambition.”
16.) “It’s very rarely a good career move to have a conscience.”
17.) “The way you make an omelet reveals your character.”
18.) “Context and memory play powerful roles in all the truly great meals
in one’s life.”
19.) “Good food and good eating are about risk.”
20.) "They're professionals at this in Russia, so no matter how many Jell-O
shots or Jager shooters you might have downed at college mixers, no matter
how good a drinker you might think you are, don't forget that the Russians
- any Russian - can drink you under the table.”
21.) “If you look someone in the eye and call them a ‘fat, worthless,
syphilitic puddle of badger crap’ it doesn’t mean you don’t like them. It
can be – and often is – a term of endearment.”
22.) “Without new ideas success can become stale.”
23.) “But I do think the idea that basic cooking skills are a virtue, that
the ability to feed yourself and a few others with proficiency should be
taught to every young man and woman as a fundamental skill, should become
as vital to growing up as learning to wipe one’s own ass, cross the street
by oneself, or be trusted with money.”
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, 5219 Elliot Ave, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
FYI, from the Strib w/ an endorsement from Bill Ward.
Looking forward to Sunday.
C,
J
Best local wine blogger - Jon Thorsen - 2015 Best of MN
May 13, 2015 — 10:27am
Working under the rubric “Thumbing Your Nose at Bottles Over $20,” for
years, Shakopee’s Jon Thorsen has tirelessly touted inexpensive wines that
provide good value, amassing more than 200,000 Twitter followers and 25,000
Facebook likes. And he’s the “Reverse Wine Snob” only in his “off” hours,
when he’s not raising a family of three kids and working as senior director
of Northern Tool & Equipment’s catalog and database marketing. His efforts
have propelled Thorsen to No. 5 on VinePair Wine Web Power’s list of the
industry’s top social media influencers.
reversewinesnob.com
--
James Ellingson cell 651 645 0753
Great Lakes Brewing News, Mpls, MN 55417
James(a)BrewingNews.com BeerGovernor(a)gmail.com
