Gastronomy and Wine Portal

Ahr wineries have suffered the most from the devastating flooding in Germany.

Heavy rains in Northern Europe last week caused devastating flooding in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, which was hit hardest by the water disaster. According to official figures, 183 people died, dozens are considered missing, and thousands of houses, roads and bridges have been destroyed. The wine-growing regions of Germany suffered significant damage. Among the regions, Ahr suffered the most.

Located in the valley of the river of the same name, a tributary of the Rhine, Ahr is famous for its picturesque steep hills on which vines grow: Spätburgunder, Früburgunder, Portugueser and Dornfelder have become the visiting cards of the region. However, now the grapes on the vines are the only thing that some winemakers have left because the water destroyed the premises, the machinery and equipment of the wineries, literally carrying away tractors, cisterns and presses in its streams.

Ahr winemakers will not only have to decide how and where they will be able to press and ferment grapes, but also where to get additional labor to take care of the vineyards until harvest, since they have lost all the equipment.

While the authorities are calculating possible losses and developing plans to provide assistance to the victims, their colleagues from neighbouring regions came to the aid of Ahr winemakers. Winemakers, whose vineyards have not been touched by the element, organize themselves into teams and help with cleaning in the vineyards, as well as share the essentials, including mobile generators, because the region was left without water, mobile communications and electricity.

The German association of elite farms Verband Deutscher Prädikatsund Qualitätsweingüter organizes charitable events: for example, next weekend a wine festival will take place in Gunderloch, 100% of the proceeds of which will go to help Ahr winemakers.

Photos: dw.com, reuters.com

Ahr wineries have suffered the most from the devastating flooding in Germany.

Entrepreneurs in the Moldovan tourism industry launched a new campaign to promote tourism after the pandemic period that paused visits but not the work of Moldovan hospitality hosts.

The crisis caused by the Covid-19 virus has severely impacted the tourism sector. Travel restrictions have resulted in an unprecedented decline in the number of foreign tourists worldwide and a $ 1.3 trillion loss in revenue. In Moldova, the total loss of income in the tourism industry is estimated at about 350 million dollars.

“Nevertheless, the owners of guest houses and wineries, organizers of tourist events, guides, owners of restaurants and hotels, tour operators did not waste time, but used it to renovate and create new premises for receiving tourists. They opened new terraces, created new routes, purchased bicycles and new floating facilities (kayaks, canoes), built swimming pools, and each of them prepared special treats for long-awaited guests in their basements and storerooms. And, as the local proverb says: “Guests come when someone is waiting for them.” Thus, the new campaign is a tribute to the people who work in the tourism industry and their optimism. “They are the ones who will restore tourism in Moldova,” says Diana Lazar, deputy director of the Moldova Competitiveness Project, funded by USAID, the Swedish government and Ukaid.

The campaign was launched in mid-June with a video that conveys the optimism and joy of meeting long-awaited tourists, as well as Moldovans from all over the world and closest neighbors. The protagonists of the campaign are the owners of rural guesthouses and wineries which over the years have welcomed tens of thousands of tourists and are ready to reopen their doors to visitors, offering an unforgettable travel experience. Locations featured in the video include: “Hanul lui Hanganu” in the village of Lalova, “Eco-resort Butuceni” in the cultural and natural reserve “Old Orhei”, underground galleries “Milestii Mici”, agro-boarding house “Gaguz Sofrasi” in the village of Kongaz, winery “Poiana” in the village of Ulmu, Valente Village Museum, kayaking excursions from Vadul lui Voda, Lake Beleu in the Prutul de Jos nature reserve and others.

The Asociatia Nationala pentru Turism Receptor (ANTRIM) announces the resumption of tourism in Moldova and invites visitors to discover our original travel offers in maximum safety. Most of the tourist destinations are already implementing the international standard “Safe Travel”, introduced in Moldova by ANTRIM with the accreditation of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). Through this campaign, we aim to revive domestic tourism, invite tourists from neighboring countries such as Ukraine, Romania, Poland, as well as attract tourists who have already visited Moldova before and who could again become our guests or promote this direction in social networks”, – said Victoria Bucătaru, executive director of ANTRIM.

The “Be our guest again” campaign is run by a young creative team whose goal is the interconnection between the various industries in Moldova. The campaign is aimed at retaining talent in the country and contributing to the sustainable development of the Republic. The soundtrack is provided by the Trigon group, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of its activity, and the traditional shirt presented in the video is dedicated to the international holiday of the Romanian national shirt “ia”, which is celebrated on June 24th. The video will be translated into Russian, as well as into foreign languages: English, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and others, and will be promoted mainly in the online space. In the early days after launch, the video gained widespread organic popularity, reaching over 330,000 unique users, over 475,000 views on Facebook, and over 3,000 shares of support.

The new campaign continues to promote the tourism potential of the Republic of Moldova, implemented in the period from 2015 to 2121. within the framework of the Moldova Competitiveness Project and funded by USAID, the Government of Sweden and Ukaid in cooperation with the National Association for Inbound Tourism (ANTRIM). These efforts resulted in an average annual increase in the number of foreign tourists of 20% between 2015 and 2019. At the same time, the campaign conveys a real message of hospitality that reinforces the amazing successes of the initial Be Our Guest campaign and the mysterious and famous guest video created by Atelier under the leadership of the late Viorel Mardaria. The campaign has received valuable awards from foreign experts, as well as an audience of about 20 million people. The campaign also aims to strengthen the new national slogan “Moldova: A place to find yourself” and the national campaign #neampornit.

Official campaign hashtags:

#FiiOaspeteleNostruDinNou #BeOurGuestAgain #MoldovaAplaceToFindYourself #neampornit

ANTRIM is a non-profit organization representing the voice of the private sector in Moldova’s inbound tourism industry.

Entrepreneurs in the Moldovan tourism industry launched a new campaign to promote tourism after the pandemic period that paused visits but not the work of Moldovan hospitality hosts.

A bottle of the famous Australian winery sold at Langton’s auction became the most expensive wine ever sold in Australia.

A single bottle of Penfolds Grange signed by its founding winemaker Max Schubert has set a new world record price for any Australian wines sold at auction. The lot went under the hammer for AU$ 142,131.

The inaugural vintage of the most expensive wine of Australia was purchased this month at Langton’s auction. It broke the previous record of AU$103,000 which was also sold at Langton’s.

Penfolds Grange from Shiraz varieties with a small amount of Cabernet Sauvignon is considered the cult wine of Australia. The first vintage came from the experiments of Max Schubert. Having visited several countries of the Old World to study European techniques of winemaking, he was so impressed, in particular, by the wines of Bordeaux, that he decided to reproduce something similar at home. As a result of numerous experiments, this very wine was born that later became the most famous of Australia’s great wines.

The Penfolds management team, however, initially did not appreciate the work of their chief winemaker, and the first vintage was never released for sale. It was handed out to Schubert’s friends and family: to date, fewer than 20 bottles of Penfolds Grange 1951 are believed to exist.

The record-breaking bottle was resealed in 1988 because the original cork was lost and was reported to have minor damage to the wax seal label over the original white foil capsule.

“This is extraordinary,’ commented Langton’s head of auctions Tamara Grischy. ‘Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought a bottle of Australian wine would sell for this much.”

A bottle of the famous Australian winery sold at Langton’s auction became the most expensive wine ever sold in Australia.

Over 4,000 bottles of fine wines were seized by authorities in Shenzhen. Lafite, Mouton and Penfolds 707 and other high-value products estimated at more than US$ 2.31 million were found among the bottles. Smugglers rushed to ferry goods from duty-free Hong Kong to the mainland.

As the General Administration of Customs in China claimed, the seizure took place at Heung Yuen Wai Control Point, connecting Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The latest land port – Liantang Port – was opened last August.

The smuggling was declared as 18.57 tons of imported rubber and plastic buttons, but an inspection revealed that the goods in the shipment were in fact luxury wines, various seafood and hair products, worth more than US$ 2.31 million, according to the estimate made by customs.

The contrabands found by the authorities consisted of 4174 bottles of Bordeaux first growths Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Penfolds 707, Champagne and whiskies.

On the mainland, one would pay USD 771 a bottle for Penfolds 707. And considering the picture released by the customs, at least 20 cases of the premium Australian wine can be found among the smuggled fine wines.

Demand for Penfolds, perhaps one of the best-known imported wine brands in China, surged after the country imposed about 218% anti-dumping duties on Australian wines, making wine less affordable and available.

Interestingly, while the overall supply of Australian wines to mainland China has plummeted, imports to Hong Kong have skyrocketed. From January to May this year, imports of Australian wines to Hong Kong increased by more than 340% year on year to USD 133.8 million over the same period last year.

Prepared by Oleksandra Hryhorieva based on vino-joy.com

Over 4,000 bottles of fine wines were seized by authorities in Shenzhen. Lafite, Mouton and Penfolds 707 and other high-value products estimated at more than US$ 2.31 million were found among the bottles. Smugglers rushed to ferry goods from duty-free Hong Kong to the mainland.

Hard alcohol has become the largest category of imported alcoholic beverages in China.

From January to May 2021, the volume of imported spirits grew significantly, overtaking wine, according to a report released by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products (CFNA). Hard alcohol accounted for 117% compared to the same period last year and became the largest category of imported alcoholic beverages.

Brandy has the largest share of imported spirits in China. According to published data, brandy imports totaled US $ 500 million and exceeded 17 million liters, an increase of 149% and 74% year on year, respectively. The cognac category alone accounted for more than 60% of all imports of alcoholic beverages.

The second largest imported beverage is whiskey. From January to May of this year, China purchased 10 million liters, at a cost of US $ 150 million.

Thanks to brandy, France is the main source of imported spirits, accounting for 64% of the top ten sources of imports. Together with the UK, both countries supply 80% of China’s imported spirits.

The volume of wine imports from January to May this year amounted to 170 million liters, which is 1% less than last year. However, the value of imports amounted to almost US $ 700 million, an increase of 0.2% over the same period last year.

Prepared by N. Zakharchuk based on thedrinksbusiness.com

Hard alcohol has become the largest category of imported alcoholic beverages in China.

Drinks+ is a media partner of the International Economic Forum which will be held on July 30-31 online.

For the first time, an international event organized by OenoCo International will address the issues and challenges facing the wine sector in Eastern and Central Europe. The Forum aims to bring together producers, importers-exporters, sommeliers and wine educators to exchange ideas on the latest developments in the region’s wine industry.

The forum will consider the current state of affairs and problems in this area, offer professional solutions focused on the needs of manufacturers in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as possible ways to expand exports and enter new international markets. The Forum is also aimed at uniting the efforts of the international community of wine professionals, local and international business, as well as government bodies, academia, civil society in order to increase the competitiveness of the wine sector in the economies of Central and Eastern Europe.

The International Economic Forum will be held for 2 days in an interactive mode with panels and webinars where participants can listen to famous speakers.

Forum program:

30 July

10:00- 10:10 am Opening Remarks

10:15- 10:45 am – Petar Raychev, SCEB Vice President & General Manager CPG, Bulgaria, “Wine Production In a Circular Economy: Minimum-Waste Technologies”

11:00- 11:30 am – Antonio Rallo, Sicilia Doc winemaker and President of Consorzio Sicilia Doc, Italy.

13:00- 13:30 – Caroline Gilby, MW, United Kingdom, “Role of a native grapes in building a marketing narrative”

13:40- 14:10 – Polly Hammond, 5forests, New Zealand, “More Human Than Human: How the Eastern European Wine Industry can leverage digital to overcome challenges, build relationships, grow brands…and sell more wine.”

15:00- 15:30 – Gheorghe Arpentin, R&D Purcari, Republic of Moldova

15:40- 16:10 – Nicolae Minciuna, Oenologist Engineer, Republic of Moldova, “Wine Tourism and its impact on local communities”

31 July

10:15- 10:45 am – Elizabeth Gabay, MW, France

11:00- 11:30 am – Robert Joseph, Editorial Consultant and Columnist of Meininger’s Wine Business International, Co-owner of Greener Planet and Grand Noir Wines- Germany, “Land or Brand? Local Grapes or International? Does the future for Eastern Europe like in appellations and traditional indigenous grape varieties? Or in brands and international ones? The answer is not as clear cut as some people would like to imagine.”

13:00- 13:30 – Tony Sasa, Director of Sales Il Palagio Wines, Italy, “The success story of Palagio to penetrate key wine markets”

13:40 -14:10 – Paula Stanca, OenoCo, Launching of Consortium-Introduction of the CWC

15:00- 15:30 – Tomislav Ivanovic, Vinopedia, Serbia, “The emergence of  Balkans’ native grapes as reference examples within the vast category of grape varietals.”

15:40- 16:10 – Scott Carney, Dean of Wine Studies, Institute of Culinary Education(ICE), United States, “Making the market move!”

The detailed program of the forum can be found here.

Drinks+ is a media partner of the International Economic Forum which will be held on July 30-31 online.

An amazing treasure of rare wines and spirits was found at the Tatoi Palace, the former summer residence of the Greek royal family, located near Athens.

The former country palace of the Greek kings, erected on the beautiful forest-covered mountain Parnis in Attica, keeps many secrets, one of which was revealed a few days ago. During the restoration work in the premises of the residence, a cache was discovered containing more than 4,000 bottles of wines, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.

Among the rare pieces found in the collection are bottles of Château Margaux, Château de Vincennes and Château Mouton Rothschild, as well as Chivas whiskey in a ceramic bottle, released in a limited edition in honour of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, as well as cans of soft drinks.

The Greek Ministry of Culture, which announced the find, considers it “historically significant” and hopes that as 300 cases have yet to be opened, other treasures of wine are on the way to be revealed.

The Achaia Claus winery team, which was invited to the palace for a consultation, is collecting information and cataloguing. The winery, founded in 1861, is one of the oldest in Greece.

“The Tatoi wine and spirits collection, in addition to its significant collector value, is also of great scientific and research interest. The restoration work to showcase the former royal estate is complex. For the evaluation of the wine collection, we are working with specialist scientists who have know-how, both on an oenological level and for its historic validation,” said the minister of culture, Lina Mendoni.

After the completion of the restoration work and the study of the collection, part of it suitable for exposure will be exhibited to the public in the palace basements.

Prepared by I.Chernova based on thedrinksbusiness.com

An amazing treasure of rare wines and spirits was found at the Tatoi Palace, the former summer residence of the Greek royal family, located near Athens.

Scotland introduced Spearhead Scotch whiskey for production of which infrared barrels have been used.

Spearhead whole grain Scotch whiskey is produced in the Loch Lomond distillery, which is located in the city of Alexandria in the west of Scotland. The uniqueness of the drink is that it is aged in American oak barrels from bourbon, which have been additionally toasted with infrared light.

According to the creators, this procedure allows you to maximize the natural aromas of wood and give the drink “a complex and rich range of sweet notes.” The Scotch whiskey is characterized by a soft velvety taste with notes of violets, black currants, blackberries, vanilla pod, caramel and dark chocolate, making it a light neat dram, or an exciting base for longer drinks and cocktails.

Calum Leslie, Head of Innovation at Loch Lomond Group, said: “We have been working very hard to create an innovative new Scotch Whisky and we are pleased to finally launch Spearhead to market.”

“While this style of whisky is very popular in the Irish and American markets, there isn’t anything comparable in the Scotch sector. Spearhead is one of a kind, championing the single grain, and taking a non-traditional approach to whisky making that will resonate with people new to Scotch. It’s the perfect whisky for those who prefer the sweetness of a bourbon or enjoy a long-whisky based serve, with Spearhead taking a twist on some classic cocktails,” he concludes.

The new Scotch whiskey is already available in the UK for £30 a bottle and will hit supermarket shelves around the world by the end of summer.

Photo: asiantrader.biz

Scotland introduced Spearhead Scotch whiskey for production of which infrared barrels have been used.

Premium sparkling tea brand Saicho goes along with the expending low-to-no alcohol trend and offers ‘non-alcoholic drink that would speak the language of wine’.

Saicho bottles sparkling tea in new formats of 200ml and 750ml. By forming a current proposition, the company hopes to respond to a need of consumers in the low ABV market. Offering a ‘unique and refreshing’ alternative to alcohol drinks may help the Saicho brand to build stronger connection with their consumer base.

“Rather like a single estate wine, each tea has been selected from different regions, harvested at a certain time to create varying acidities, sweetness and mouthfeel that would complement certain foods and flavours rather than overpower them”, Saicho indicated.

Here we talk about completely new experience of food and drink pairing. 24 hours are needed to cold-brew Saicho teas. They are ‘lightly sweetened’ with grape juice. Darjeeling, Jasmine and Hojicha compose the tea range.

Charlie Winkworth-Smith, founder of Saicho, reflected on the launch: “At Saicho we are on a mission to bring sparkling tea to the drinks receptions and dining tables of the world. Whether eating in a fine dining restaurant, enjoying a drink at a wine bar or just at home with family and friends, the new size bottles allow Saicho teas to be enjoyed in new ways and are a direct response to the suggestions of our customers and stockists. We hope that our knowledge, passion, hard work and hands-on approach shines through in every glass.”

The price of 750ml Saicho tea bottle compiles £10.99. And 200ml will be sold in packs of 6 for £19.99.

Photo: Saicho

Premium sparkling tea brand Saicho goes along with the expending low-to-no alcohol trend and offers ‘non-alcoholic drink that would speak the language of wine’.

Renowned alcoholic beverage producers Moët Hennessy and Campari Group intend to create Europe’s largest e-commerce platform.

Premium spirits producer Moët Hennessy and Italian wine, spirits and soft drinks producer Campari Group have entered into an agreement to create and develop a premium online sale platform for wines and spirits. The new project will be based on Tannico, an online premium alcohol store owned by the Campari Group. The companies plan to make the online platform the European leader in e-commerce.

Tannico already holds about 30% of the European wine and spirits e-commerce market, the companies said, with sales of over € 70 million (US $ 82.9 million) last year. The company will be headed by the current CEO of Tannico, Marco Magnocavallo.

“With the joint support of Moët Hennessy and Campari, the Tannico platform will be able to consolidate the fragmented European e-commerce sector, offer quality, large-scale and integrated market entry and meet the needs of all wine and spirits suppliers,” said Magnocavallo.

Renowned alcoholic beverage producers Moët Hennessy and Campari Group intend to create Europe’s largest e-commerce platform.