House of Lord’s Veto Merger over Cheap Champagne

Whilst we love a good glass of bubbly, at the Ideal Wine Company we think the House of Lords went too far recently, when they vetoed a measure because they believed it could lower the quality of their champagne.

The House of Lords is No Ideal Wine Company

As buyers and sellers of luxury drinks for affordable prices, Ideal Wine Company understands the value of quality champagne. Indeed, we have a range of fine champagnes just for you.

Yet if we were ever given the power to oversee policy, we don’t think we’d veto one just to protect the quality of our favourite upscale tipple. The House of Lords, however, is no Ideal Wine Company.

We Want Our Luxury Champagne!

Believe it or not according to the Huffington Post, the House of Lords vetoed a services merger with the House of Commons because they feared that the quality of their champagne would suffer.

The ridiculous revelation was disclosed recently by Sir Malcolm Jack, who served as the clerk of the Commons between 2006 and 2010. Jack informed the Whitehall committee tasked with exploring the administration of Westminster that the Lords believed that if they were forced to merge catering services with the Commons, they’d be left with no choice but to drink cheap sparkling wine.

Catering is an Absolute Classic

When examined later by the committee’s chair Jack Straw, who asked; what about "the champagne? We heard a few things yesterday," retired clerk of the house Sir Robert Rogers had one response:

“No, I am not going into the quality of the champagne. People are very possessive about some services. Catering is an absolute classic." This just emphasised the Lords’ attachment to the £265,770 worth of first class Champagne the Upper Chamber bought between May 2010 and March 2014.

Feel Like a Member of the Aristocracy

In some ways, we agree with the Lords. Quality champagne shouldn’t be thrown under the bus. That’s why here at the Ideal Wine Company, we have a range of luxury champagne’s for reasonable prices that’ll make you feel as though you’re a member of the aristocracy!

Does Oak Have an Influence on a Glass of Wine’s Aroma?

Last week, the Ideal Wine Company heard of the launch of a new experiment that could answer a question we’ve been asking for years; does oak have an influence on a wine’s aroma?

This Vintage is ‘Oaky.’

When we’re describing one of the bottles of fine wine that we offer to you at very reasonable prices, Ideal Wine Company does sometimes resort to the same type of language that most in the wine industry rely on every time they’re confronted with the task of writing a new blurb.

One of the most commonly used words to describe a stellar vintage is ‘oaky.’ Yet can a wine really have accents of oak? Does lying in a barrel actually add to its flavour and aroma? We’ve never really known the answer, but thanks to a man commonly heralded as the ‘nose of Bordeaux,’ that answer may finally be in reach.

An Unnamed Cellar in Bordeaux

According to Decanter, winery consultant and trained perfumer Alexandre Schmitt has kicked off a three year experiment designed to determine whether oak barrels have an effect on the aroma of the wine they’re used to store.

Keeping various wines under the same conditions in an unnamed cellar in Bordeaux, Schmitt, along with barrel maker Charlois, will conduct a serious of tests to determine the effect different oak treatments have on their aroma. Initial tests will be performed on 40 barrels of Merlot 2014; this will progress to 60 barrels for the 2015 vintage, and 80 barrels for the 2016 label.

Choose the Exact Barrels Best Suited to Them

Charlois holds hopes that this experiment will provide them with the knowledge they need to exert more control over the effect oak treatments have on the aroma of wine. Charlois’ Group President, Sylvain Charlois, expanded by explaining:

“The molecules transmitted to wine by oak are known, but how they are affected by how the barrel is made, the width of the grain, the method and level of toasting, or the provenance of the oak is less known. We want to develop a molecular reference so our clients can choose exactly the barrels best suited to them.”

An Answer Three Years in the Making

Honestly, at the Ideal Wine Company we’re pretty curious to see how this experiment turns out. Yes, we know that oak has some influence on the aroma of a fine wine, but we don’t really know what that influence is. Maybe in three years’ time, we will.

What Could Immigration Reform Mean for the US Wine Industry?

Comments made by experts hailing from California wine country have prompted Ideal Wine Company to ask this week; what could immigration reform mean for the US wine industry?

Fixing a Broken Immigration System
If you ask a politician on either side of the partisan divide, they will be the first one to readily admit that the US immigration system is broken. However, each time they try to fix it they find themselves unable to, because advocates from both parties disagree on how the immigration problem should be dealt with.

This inaction has now spurred President Obama to wade into the immigration debate, acting where Congress could or would not. He issued an Executive Order which could save over 5 million immigrants from deportation.

Stopping Skilled Workers at the Mexican Border
The Californian wine industry, easily the biggest in the land, depends on immigrant labour – documented or undocumented – to pick its grapes. That’s why some in the sector are now suggesting that Obama’s executive action could hurt, rather than help the Californian wine industry.

Experts in the region including John Aguirre, President of the California Association of Grape Growers, and Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers, are suggesting that the one of the measure’s components – stepping up law enforcement on the Mexican border – could deprive them of a skilled labour force.

The Onset of Mechanisation
According to Wine Searcher, DiBuduo argued that "agricultural labour is skilled labour, whether you're doing pruning operations or running equipment," further suggesting that "if we don't get more workers, we're going to force more mechanisation. But it takes skilled labour to run the machinery, and some tasks are not adaptable to mechanisation."

Aguirre noted that "we could see a bifurcation in vineyards between very large vineyards that can be mechanically harvested, and very small vineyards that can afford to hire enough workers." He went on to suggest that "the mid-sized vineyards could be pushed out of business."

Immigration Reform Has No Chance of Passing a Republican Congress
What DiBuduo and Aguirre are really suggesting is that the US needs to put comprehensive immigration reform in place if it wants to protect its most lucrative wine industry. With Republicans set to take control of Congress this January, that’s unlikely to happen any time soon.

18,000 Bottles of Wine are Going to be Poured Down the Drain!

The Ideal Wine Company was left more than a little horrified this week when that we learned 18,000 bottles of wine are going to be poured down the drain.

Wine Enthusiasts of the Highest Degree

We may be a supplier of luxury vintages at reasonable prices, but that is not all the Ideal Wine Company is. We are wine enthusiasts of the highest degree, which is why we love what we do.

Therefore, we’re of the opinion that a drop of wine should never be wasted – each drop should be savoured and explored as it dances on the palate. That is why we were left stunned and shocked, when we heard that a judge in the UK has ordered 18,000 bottles of wine to be poured down the drain.

Wine Worth £155,000 to be Disposed Of

According to the Telegraph, District Judge Pam Baldwin ordered 18,000 bottles owned by wine wholesalers, A.G Peters to be disposed. Collectively, the vintages were worth £155,000, and included noted labels such as J.P Chenet, Hardy’s, Blossom Hill and Echo Falls.

The order followed raids of the wholesalers’ warehouses across Lancashire and West Yorkshire, which revealed a large scale effort to the £2 duty charge which the law demands must be paid on every bottle. According to a spokesman for Customs and Excise "the wine will be quite simply be destroyed....poured down the drain."

No Reason to Think the Duty Was Not Being Paid

The wholesalers have fiercely denied that they avoided paying duty tax on their wine intentionally. A.G Peter’s manager director, Stephen Frazer, spoke out on the matter, saying:

"We sell 15,000 cases of wine a week. I need a quick turnaround on stock. I don't want stock on the warehouse floor for more than a fortnight. I don't know where this pallet of wine came from, it should not have been there.

"We cut prices because we market loss leaders....that is how we can compete with the buying power of say Tesco. I did my due diligence checks on my suppliers and had no reason to think duty of the wine we handle had not been paid."

Ideal Wine Company Has Been Left in Mourning

We can’t be sure whether that claim holds an ounce of validity or not. Nevertheless if nothing else, this story has left the Ideal Wine Company in mourning. These bottles may not have been luxury vintages, but wine should never be wasted!

Bordeaux Poised For Recovery?

In light of comments made by the managing director of Liv-ex, on the fortunes of one of France’s most famous fine wines, Ideal Wine Company has been inspired to ask; is Bordeaux poised for a recovery?

A Superior Vintage

The Ideal Wine Company exists to bring you fine vintages from every corner of the globe at a reasonable price. Many of those vintages originate from the French region of Bordeaux.

Bordeaux wines are a cut above the rest. The climate, temperature and terrain of the region fosters the facilitation of superior bottles. Nevertheless, the value of Bordeaux as a fine wine has been in steady decline in recent years; a trend that according to Liv-ex managing director James Miles, is set to change.

How Bordeaux Can Turn Its Fortunes Around

According to Harpers, Miles suggested that now is a good time to enter the Bordeaux market. This is because prices for Bordeaux currently sit at their “lowest ebb since the early 1970’s,” after four years of continually falling values. In other words, it’s ripe for a boom.

Speaking at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Fair, the managing director gave his opinion on how Bordeaux can turn its fortunes around. Specifically, he called for a “well-priced 2014 vintage,” adding that it would act as a “vital precursor to any kind of sustained recovery.”

A Reasonably Reliable Boom and Bust Every Ten Years

Miles also expanded on the general boom and bust nature of Bordeaux, which he argued is cyclical.  He suggested that evidence illustrates that Bordeaux experiences a “reasonably reliable boom and bust every ten years or so.”

The managing director went on to point out the nature of the boom and bust trend, saying that “while booms and busts in wine are influenced by external factors – in this case, UK pension reform, the collapse of Lehman, the removal of tax in HK and the huge fiscal stimulus in China in 2009 – they also tend to be self-inflicted and tend to start and finish with successful and disastrous en primeur campaigns, in this case the 2005 and 2010.”

The 2014 En Primeur Campaign Has to Work

In other words, yes Bordeaux is poised for a recovery, but that doesn’t mean it will actually recover. As Miles went on to point out, Bordeaux’s 2014 en primeur campaign needs to be able to work with “prices falling far further than many in Bordeaux currently appreciate.”

China’s Fine Wine Region of the Future

This week the Ideal Wine Company wants to take this opportunity to introduce you to what many are calling China’s fine wine region of the future; Ningxia.

Global Wine Powerhouse

Because Ideal Wine Company is a firm dedicated to providing a range of fine wines from across the world at reasonable prices, we couldn’t have failed to notice the rise of China.

In today’s market, China is a veritable powerhouse. Not only is it the world’s largest growing economy, but is becoming one of its biggest wine consumers – especially where red is concerned. Furthermore, it is making inroads into wine production, which has prompted the rise of a potential new luxury wine hot spot, Ningxia.

The Ability to Foster a Ripe Grape Crop

An article in Drinks Business recently explored the region’s capability as a fine wine powerhouse. It featured the thoughts of Berry Bros & Rudd’s Jasper Morris, who weighed up whether Ningxia has what it takes.

Jasper started out by pointing out the region’s positives, of which there are many. Essentially, it has a “strongly continental climate with hot sunny summers and severely cold winters.” Meanwhile, with an altitude sitting 1,000 metres above sea level, Ningxia enjoys 3,000 hours of sunshine annually.

This last point means that it really is adequately positioned to become a major player in the world of viticulture. It means that harvests can be picked in October, before the first frost. Frosts are known to damage the quality of the grape. Morris elaborated on the point, saying “there seems to be just enough hang time to ripen the grapes but with current viticultural practices, it is a close run thing.”

Killing the Vine

Yet the region isn’t without its issues. Namely, Ningxia same weather patterns. It can reach extreme temperatures on either end of the spectrum. This would mean that vines would need to be buried to survive winter. This process is known to kill a certain percentage of vines every time, meaning new ones must be planted, which can hinder the development of fine wine.

Morris explained why even replanting may be hard in the region, saying “this is labour intensive and probably reduces the life of the vine as a percentage do not survive. It is also very difficult to do in those locations, such as Château Yunmo, where there is a much greater percentage of stones in the otherwise sandy soil – certainly there were many more gaps in the vineyard here.”

The Potential of Ningxia

So Ningxia is hardly going to take the crown from Bordeaux anytime soon, nevertheless, it does have the potential to become a major player in the world’s fine wine industry. Whether it does, and increases the role of China in said industry, remains to be seen. 

Why are the French on top of the world?

This week, it has come to the attention of Ideal Wine Company that France has overtaken Italy to once again become the world’s foremost producer of wine.

What does this mean for the world of wine?

Whilst global wine production was down for many nations on last year, the French have seen a substantial increase output to regain the number one position – the first time since 2011. Their production for the year is thought to equate to 46million hectolitres.

Runners-up, Italy, but saw production drop 15% this year, to 44 million hectolitres, after a less than ideal harvest. Production in other big producers such as Spain, the US, and Chile also went down.

Whilst Australia and Argentina didn’t see much difference, New Zealand, South Africa and Germany also saw considerable increases in production.

What are the reasons for this?

So it seems a lot of countries have produced then. The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (IOV) blamed the global decline from last year on “significant climatic hazards, which are at the root of these developments, particularly in Europe.”

However it appears that these adverse weather conditions didn’t affect French vineyards who saw their production increase by 10% on the previous year.

A turning tide..?

Interestingly though, whilst the French have been producing more wine, it has been reported that they are drinking less of it.

French wine consumption fell by 7% this year as the United States beat them to become the world’s largest consumer of wine, despite only having half the output as their transatlantic counterparts. 

The report also found that ten countries alone were responsible for 80% of the world’s wine production. In order, these countries are: France, Italy Spain United States Argentina Australia China South Africa Chile and Germany

Final thoughts…

We at Ideal Wine Company would like to congratulate the French for their rise back to the summit of the wine world. Ideal Wine Company can’t speak highly enough about the wine making regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, the two foremost regions where our vintages originate from.