Wine Wire: Big Changes In Napa, Phony Pinot Salesmen Convicted
It’s been an interesting week for wine news…
The New York Times ran an in-depth story about Napa in 2010. The downturn in wine sales as a result of the recession combined with a surplus in grapes has been a tough pill to swallow, and many wineries are trying to reinvent themselves, with a focus on direct-to consumer, wine club and e-commerce. A sobering quote: “…in 2009, sales of wines priced at $25 and above dropped 30 percent nationwide, according to Nielsen. While global wine sales increased, California wine shipments fell for the first time in 16 years.” Read more at NYTimes.com.
In other news, a French court has convicted 12 French winemakers for selling millions of bottles of fake Pinot Noir wine to the U.S. wine giant E&J Gallo. Apparently they were barreling up cheap Merlot and Shiraz and calling it Pinot. The French authorities caught on because they noticed that the amount of Pinot, which was being shipped from the Languedoc, exceeded the amount of Pinot grown in the region. The nearly $10 million scam ran from 2006 to 2008 and apparently the phony wine was sold under the Red Bicyclette label. Nobody at Gallo caught the mistake. Uhh…. Whooops? Read the whole story here at AOLNews.com.
By the way, if you like the wacky little wine napkin pictured above, you can purchase a pack of 30 for $3.95 at TrueFabrications.com. Cheers!
