Rising fuel prices compound market hesitancy The sluggishness of activity on the bulk wine market globally since the turn of the year continued through March into early April, with hesitancy compounded by a rise in fuel prices – by approximately 30%+ in most countries – as a consequence of the conflict in the Middle East. Prices spiked amid the Southern Hemisphere harvests, directly impacting the picking of at least one: this month’s report provides the latest insights from the vineyards. As this month’s California page states, the Iran war is likely to compound some pre-existing consumer pessimism, “with upward pressure on fuel costs exacerbating the reduced spending power consumers have possessed since the 2021-23 post-pandemic inflation spike. Unlike in previous eras when there has been economic misfortune, consumers are pessimistic about the long term – not just the short or medium term – and could curb spending accordingly”. Not wha

How Analytical Insights Help Craft Fine Languedoc Wine By Drinks Business Magazine In this Drinks Business article from 2024, the magazine reports on how FOSS analytical technology has helped Gérard Bertrand to maintain high quality in its award-winning wines. Putting aside the oft-referenced factors of unique terroir, prestigious grape varieties or generations of experience, how does one make fine wine? The solution is increasingly found in small tabletop equipment that look more at home in a laboratory than an ancient cellar. For the last 25 years, FOSS Analytics has been producing such technology and helping winemakers get the best from their grapes. Though the technology is complex, the premise is simple. By checking the chemical makeup of the wine-to-be, whether must, fermenting juice or a wine ready for bottling, winemakers can act quickly and precisely to make the best possible product. Using a FOSS machine, one can measure up to 30 parameters from a single sa

October has arrived but the usual clarity it gives the Northern Hemisphere harvest picture is lacking this year due to diverse fortunes in Europe – sometimes between even neighbouring vineyards – and, in California, a lag in the growing season by up to four weeks. It has been a year of noticeably unusual and unpredictable weather and while the subject of “climate change” comes freighted with politics, it certainly does feel like the weather is currently out of kilter in both hemispheres.  Take the freak midwinter heatwaves in Argentina and Chile this year, now echoed by the unseasonably warm autumns in northern Europe. It seems that winters are generally drier, springs wetter, summers hotter (sometimes alternating between heatwaves and deluges) and autumns milder. All this can take a toll on vines and grapes, and protecting them requires investment, not something that comes easy for growers and wineries in the current oversupply and slow sales environment w

This year’s Northern Hemisphere harvests are now underway and while Mother Nature has seemingly been even more capricious than usual – heatwaves, humidity, hailstorms, flooding, mildew, disease pressure – there has been little news emanating from the vineyards to stimulate an uptick in buying activity on bulk markets carrying large inventories.  Despite mildew pressure in Bordeaux and drought in western Languedoc, France as a whole is estimated to be on track for a crop of 45 million hectolitres, in line with the five-year average. A suffocatingly hot summer in Spain has taken its toll on the juice yield of La Mancha’s international varietals, but we currently do not expect the overall crop to be significantly down from last year’s 40 million hectolitres. Italy’s crop is estimated at 42-43 million hectolitres, down markedly from last year’s 50 million hectolitres due to heat and hailstorms, but this size is not unprecedented, being in line

By Nathan Wisniewski How would you define varietal / fermentative aromas? Varietal aromas, sometimes called primary aromas, come from aromatic compounds present in the grapes. These aromas are generally typical of specific grape varieties (thiols in Sauvignon Blanc, Colombard, Petit & Gros Manseng, terpenes in Muscat and Gewürztraminer..). On the other hand, fermentative aromas – also known as secondary aromas – are mainly produced by yeasts during the alcoholic fermentation and can be found in all types of wines. The most common fermentative aromas are esters – like isoamyl acetate responsible for banana flavor – and higher alcohols like 2-phenylethanol characterized by rose notes. What is the influence of yeast on the aromatic profile of the wine? On the aromatic profile of the wine, yeasts have a tremendous impact on the wine aromatic expression: in addition to their direct effect on fermentative aromas, they indirectly take part to the expression of

In October 2021, as the world started to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic amid the vaccine rollout, we reported: “The global recovery is spurring inflationary pressure across supply chains and compounding a shortage of shipping containers, shipping vessels, and efficient port operations”. A year on, each of these problems persists, but we can say – in general – to a lesser extent.  According to Drewry’s World Container Index as of 6th October, average 40ft container prices on the major US-China-Europe routes had dropped for over 30 consecutive weeks, standing 64% below their peak of 12 months ago. Although the current average price on these routes is still 160% higher than average 2019 rates – and on some routes even higher – the price trend appears to be moving in the right direction. Supply of containers is still tight on many routes but we are hearing of vessel space becoming easier to find and the shipping process growing smoother in

This year, more than normal, August and the start of September felt like a holding period while the Northern Hemisphere harvests commenced and their likely respective sizes are assessed. The slowness of the bulk market in many countries – persisting for 2-3 months, brought about by the inflationary picture in key markets, perhaps too a lag in the shipping of already-contracted volumes – suggested only crops significantly down from their averages would stimulate activity. We have seen something of that in California, where an already light crop was hit by a week of extreme temperatures at the start of September.  Europe, however, has remained largely unmoved, as the crops in France, Spain and Italy appear to be coming in below their averages but not significantly so. Red wine carryover is large in Europe and across the world. Whites are in healthier supplydemand balance, and the Languedoc’s bulk campaign for the white varietals kicked off early and quickly as many