Northern frontier
Climate change has shifted the boundaries of wine production in Europe and North America, said Patrick Temple-West in the FT. Canada, for example, has made “big strides as a pinot noir producer”; and Britain, along with other countries like Denmark, is now part of Europe’s “northern wine frontier”.
That is already affecting drinking and investment trends, said Lucy White in the Daily Mail. Sales of Chapel Down, England’s largest sparkling wine producer, have been on a roll, prompting the Kent-based firm – which is listed on “the challenger stock exchange”, Aquis – to scale up production and open a new, larger winery. “I used to say we were a pimple on the backside of the champagne elephant,” said CEO Frazer Thompson, who is leaving this week after two decades leading the business. “Now I think we’re more of a festering boil.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In the pink
Chapel Down investors with more than 2,000 shares (currently worth around £1,200) get a third off the price of wine bought through its website – perhaps easing the disappointment of the company’s flat shares in recent years. By contrast, prices of Europe’s best investment wines have been rocketing, said Katie Souter on the investment site Vin-X. “In a buoyant market, the leading wines have delivered 25-35% growth in the first six months” – led by pink champagne, according to the fine wine marketplace Live-Ex, which places Louis Roederer Cristal, Rosé 2008 at the top of its top ten list. Champagne may be fizzing, but “the key observation” from the list is that price increases and returns “are being enjoyed across all regions and at an impressive level”. Investors should ensure they “adopt a similar regional composition when planning their portfolio”.
Red tape victory
The Government’s decision to scrap a costly piece of “Brexit red tape” has given the UK trade a welcome filip, said Richard Woodard on Decanter.com. The move to junk compulsory “VI-1 certificates” on imports was dubbed “a fantastic outcome” by The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, which had warned that the forms – “plus the need for lab tests on wine” – would bring imports from the EU “to a standstill”. Avoiding that disaster is certainly something to toast.
-
August 23 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include deficit dimness, steamroller-in-chief, and more
-
5 museum-grade cartoons about Trump's Smithsonian purgeCartoons Artists take on institutional rebranding, exhibit interpretation, and more
-
Settling the West Bank: a death knell for a Palestine state?In the Spotlight The reality on the ground is that the annexation of the West Bank is all but a done deal
-
Rosorange: the chic 'love child' of orange wine and roséThe Week Recommends Peachy to look at and crisp to drink, here's to the wine of the summer
-
The best rosé wines to try this summerThe Week Recommends Warm weather means it's pink wine's moment in the sun
-
The jalapeño wine trend taking TikTok by stormThe Week Recommends Scatter a few chilli slices into your sauvignon blanc for a subtle and refreshing kick
-
Wine-tasting in TuscanyThe Week Recommends From biodynamic vineyards to historic cellars, the picturesque region is a wine lover's dream
-
A wine-themed tour of beautiful UruguayThe Week Recommends Secret paradise in South America boasts beautiful vineyards
-
Organic wines that won't cost the EarthThe Week Recommends From a 'zippy' muscadet to a 'dangerously drinkable' malbec
-
Mulled white wine: a 'quirky' Christmas hit?The Week Recommends Retailers are hoping to tempt shoppers with a 'lighter' version of the classic festive tipple
-
The myth of 'healthy' moderate drinkingUnder The Radar The shaky logic that a daily tipple can lengthen your life has been a 'propaganda coup for the alcohol industry'
