W L
THE CURIOUS QUAFFER
WHAT ’ S GOING ON OUT THERE ?
This spring , as we emerge slowly out of hibernation and from confinement in our own homes , what has been hitting the headlines in the wine world ? Always one looking for interesting stories involving wine , and the wine world , here are ten current wine related stories from around the world .
1 . The worlds most admired wine brand in 2021 … is ?
Each year , for some eleven years now , Drinks International has produced a list of the world ’ s top fifty wine brands . The list is compiled by a broad voting academy featuring some of the world ’ s leading wine experts . It comprises wine buyers , sommeliers , wholesalers , bar owners , MW ’ s , wine writers , educators and other wine specialists . The voting is based on three criteria – the quality and consistency of the wines , the price to quality ratio of the wines and the strength of branding and marketing . In April this year the 2021 winner was announced a Familia Torres from Spain ; beating Henschke into fourth , Vega Sicilia into third and Catena into second place . This is some list to finish at the head of . If you ever get the chance to have a go at the Torres ‘ Mas La Plana ’ ( DO Penedès - Barcelona ) ….. have a go ! This wine is , unusually for a Spanish wine , made from 100 % cabernet sauvignon and is a wonderful wine . It is the families most prestigious wine – a real ‘ legend in black ’.
2 . Where is the best place to visit for wine tourism ?
Well , if we are allowed to travel abroad any time soon , where do the experts recommend we go to ? The Incidental Tourist acclaims the world ’ s top wine destination for 2021 as Bordeaux . Indeed , the region appears in many lists of the world ’ s best wine regions to visit . It is probably still the wine capital of the world , with its famous wineries , château and medieval villages . In second place it lists Georgia – one of the worlds emerging , exciting , wine producing countries . Another wine region that frequently comes out close to the top of other lists is Porto and the Douro Valley in Portugal . Another favourite in Europe , recommended by many commentators , is the wonderful wine region of Campania
in Italy . Winetraveler lists , amongst other regions ( and again their list also includes Bordeaux ), the Colchagua Valley in Chile , the La Rioja , Priorat and Ribera del Duero wine regions in Spain , the Willamette Valley in Oregon , Stellenbosch in South Africa and Mendoza in Argentina . Good luck if you can get there , or back , to or from any of these great wine producing regions .
3 . Wine investment and the world of fine wine
How is the fine wine market holding up during the strange , and challenging , times we are currently living in ? For those of you who don ’ t know ; there is a way of finding out . Liv-ex ( The London International Vintners Exchange ) is the global marketplace for the wine trade . It is a source of transactional price information , containing over 755 million historic pricing points and is the barometer of what is going on in the world of fine wine . The Liv-ex 1000 tracks , on a monthly basis , one thousand wines from across the world and is comprised of seven sub-indices which represent regions from around the world ( the Live-ex Fine Wine 1000 , Liv-ex Bordeaux 500 , Bordeaux legends 40 , Burgundy 150 , Champagne 50 , Rhone 100 , Italy 100 , Rest of the World 60 ). Recently the Liv-ex 1000 closed at an all-time high , surpassing the previous high set in November 2018 . All sub-indices have risen over the past year . In April 2021 the Champagne 50 was the leading performer , up 12.65 % and just a touch off its all-time high that had previously been set only in February 2021 . It was closely followed by the Rhone 100 ( up 9.94 %) and the Italy 100 ( up 9.38 %), both of which hit all-time highs in March , with the Bordeaux 500 also reaching an all-time high in the month . The Rest of the World 60 , although still growing , lagged behind ( up 0.94 %). Despite the Covid pandemic , therefore , all seems well in the world of fine wine .
4 . The third lockdown
Last year I reported , I think on two occasions , on the effect of the Covid pandemic on wine consumption and sales in the UK and beyond . We are now just starting to move out
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