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From The Australian

AUSTRALIAN industry veteran Wolfgang Blass has urged winemakers to create new beverages to woo Asian drinkers rather than trying to convince them of the merits of existing products.

This year's local grape harvest is expected to produce at least 1.4 billion litres of wine, 250 million litres more than is needed to satisfy export demand of 700 million litres and domestic demand of about 450 million litres.

The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation's "Directions to 2025" strategy, released last year, advocates an export marketing plan based on "raising awareness and expectation of an Australian wine story founded on an international reputation for regionally distinct and fine wine production".

This has led to such initiatives as a program in partnership with the British-based Wine and Spirit Education Trust to make top-class international sommeliers aware of the merits of Aussie wines in the hope they will recommend them to restaurant customers.

But Mr Blass, founder of the Wolf Blass wine group bought by Foster's in 1996, says the industry should instead be looking to the methods Australian winemakers used to capture the attention of beer drinkers back in the 1950s.

"We were in a hillbilly era," he says of the period.

"There was no hospitality, there was 6 o'clock closing, no wine drinking as part of the lifestyle, we were drinking 130litres of beer each a year and 1 1/2 litres of wine and that was mostly port and sherry."

The turning point came with the introduction of Barossa Pearl, a light sparkling wine introduced by Orlando in 1956 and quickly emulated by Australian Grape Growers Co-operative, which later became Kaiser Stuhl.

In 1961, Mr Blass was hired from Germany to work on Kaiser Stuhl's sparkling wines, and he introduced cherry and pineapple flavoured versions of Pearl.

Sales were given a further boost in 1963 when Kaiser Stuhl began selling its fizz in a waisted bottle known as the Mae West, for its sumptuous curves. Kaiser Stuhl, also owned by Foster's, is now reduced to producing cask wines, and so is among the list of brands scheduled for imminent deletion as Foster's exits low-value market segments in order to concentrate on higher-margin areas.

But Mr Blass said today's winemakers could still learn from the successes of the past. "Our industry is in diabolical trouble with a surplus of 250,000 to 300,000 tonnes of grapes. Why doesn't it turn around and look again at these wonderful flirtatious products with an excellent packaging and go to China and the east to entice people who are drinking spirits and beer to get into a wine product," he said.

"We idiots think they should know something about Cabernets, that they should learn something about grape varieties when they haven't got a clue, which is exactly what happened in this country."

But rather than the fruit flavoured plonk that tickled the palates of novice Australian wine drinkers, Mr Blass said new export-orientated products should be more sophisticated. "No sweet lolly-water, we're talking about something that is flavoursome, a nice, well-balanced product, fizzy and it has to have a characteristic to appeal to women, because all over the world women control the hospitality industry," he said.

Winemakers also need to make the buying process easier for drinkers, he said, creating more recognisable packaging by which they can more readily differentiate varieties.

It's an idea Blass first hit on in the 1970s -- inspired, he says by the silks worn by jockeys and the team colours of football clubs.

"It looks good, people don't know very much about it, so bring out the Wolf Blass Yellow Label," he said.

There followed green, brown and black label varieties, the last of which won the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy three years in succession between 1974 and 1975. This simple but effective marketing technique has now been picked up by other brands such as Glenfiddich and Johnnie Walker, both of which have colour-coded labels to denote various levels of quality.

"And now even the bastards in Bordeaux are bringing out all the colours," Blass joked. It is only through innovations in products and packaging that the industry will survive the current downturn, he said, after Australia's wine exports posted their first decline in 13 years during 2008.

"The executives, the new generation, the board members, the executives, have never seen a downturn," he said.

"I've seen five breakdowns in this country and each time we survived because we came up with innovative ideas. Our guys today wouldn't bloody know. They only know one thing -- discounting, and that's the end of the bloody industry."

March 26, 2009

by Graham Tearse

French winemakers are demanding the withdrawal of a medical brochure which claims moderate alcohol consumption greatly increases the risk of cancer.

The brochure, 'Nutrition and the prevention of cancers', published by the French National Cancer Institute, INCA, an agency of the ministry of health, is destined for some 70,000 surgeries across France.

It claims that consumption of even small daily amounts of wine and all other alcohols significantly raise an individual's likelihood of developing cancer, and certain types by as much as 168%.

The winemakers want the publication re-written.

'When it comes to wine their conclusions go against many reputable medical studies and don't balance the for and against,' said winemaker Jean-Charles Tastavy, leading the legal challenge to the INCA document as head of an especially-created association called 'For the Honour of Wine.'

'We've formally requested that the French health ministry block the publication of the brochure and that the text be modified.

'If that fails we'll take the case before the national courts, and even at a European level if necessary,' Mr. Tastavy told decanter.com.

Related stories from www.decanter.com: French government new advice: 'Don't drink wine' Editor attacks government, winemakers French Parliament debates wine laws French think wine is unhealthy, survey says Minister of Health supports internet ads UK heart doctor calls on wineries to back research

His campaign has drawn outspoken support from members of the French medical community, including leading urologist and MP, professor Bernard Debré. He described the INCA report as 'a study that has neither head nor tail, and no real scientific basis.'

The INCA continues to defend its document.

'These conclusions, founded on more than 500 international studies, are the result of a collective international expertise which represents a reference for the scientific community,' said Raphaelle Ancellin, head of INCA's nutrition and cancer program.

March 26, 2009

One of Australia's leading voices in the wine industry has warned producers that they face untold upheaval if they are to combat the effects of global warming.

Dr Tony Jordan, formerly the head of Moet Hennessy's Australasian portfolio, including Cape Mentelle and Cloudy Bay, and now a high profile consultant, claimed that producers 'are in denial about climate change'.

Speaking at last week's inaugural International Sparkling Wine Symposium, Jordan predicted that 'vineyards being planted now are going to be in the wrong place in 30 years' time'.

He was quick to clarify that his comments weren't limited to producers of sparkling wine, however. 'There's no doubt that quality will decrease for varietals traditionally planted in a particular region,' he said. The effect would be most keenly felt in the northern hemisphere, due to its comparitive greater land mass and lesser ocean influence.

'Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne will become marginal for their styles,' he said. 'They'll have to migrate, which means different terroir and a possible change in styles.

'It's going to be a damn nuisance picking up your vineyard and putting it somewhere else. In the Yarra Valley we can move from the valley floor up the mountainside. We don't have to move far, but we do have to move – if we're going to stick to the same varieties.'

English wine producers would benefit in the short term, he added, even pointing to research from Professor Richard Selley of Imperial College London that suggests it will be warm enough to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the north of England by 2080. However, producers faced the challenge of deciding 'whether they are planting for 10, 20 or 50 years' time - the picture is constantly changing.'

The symposium was organised by a UK-based committee and featured presentations from Jordan, sparkling wine authority Tom Stevenson and Dominique Demarville, chef de cave at Veuve Clicquot, plus a tasting of sparkling wines from across the globe.