Introduction Coopers have long recognized the importance of forest origin in shaping the sensory qualities of wine, yet relatively little research has been conducted to understand the underlying factors driving these effects. With access to oak sourced directly from several prestigious and historically significant French forests through our company-owned stave mill in northeastern France, we saw a unique opportunity to investigate how forest terroir contributes to wine expression. This study was conducted for our TW Boswell brand of French oak barrels and aimed to evaluate whether specific forest origins impart distinct chemical and sensory characteristics to wine. We selected three single-origin forests – Allier, Tronçais, and Nièvre and a blend composed of Bertranges, Bercé, and Russy – to compare the influence of each on wine aged in barrels crafted with TW Boswell’s proprietary toasting profiles. Our goal was to better understand the role of f

Afternoon Brief, April 15th

North Bay Wine Growers Are Having a Tough Year, as Cheap Bulk Imports Increase: April 2024 marks Sonoma County Wine Month, a celebration of Sonoma County's rich wine heritage, yet local winegrowers are seeing declining wine sales and grape sales...

Prescient Mulderbosch Vineyards leans into history of exports to the U.S. Stellenbosch, South Africa (February 16, 2021) – The impact of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has been a setback to the wine industry in many ways. In South Africa, where domestic alcohol sales bans had punishing effects on the country’s wine regions. Although the most […] The post Long Time Stellenbosch Winery Weathers the Fall-Out from South Africa’s Recent Alcohol Bans appeared first on Wine Industry Advisor. Url:https://wineindustryadvisor.com/2021/02/16/stellenbosch-weathers-south-africas-alcohol-bans?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stellenbosch-weathers-south-africas-alcohol-bans Published Date:Tue, 16 Feb 2021 19:08:18 +0000 

Pierce's Disease has been a scourge of vineyards for well over a century. It was discovered near the end of the 19th century by Newton Pierce, so the disease took on his name after originally being given the name Anaheim Disease (having been discovered in that area’s vineyards well before Disney and all that pavement moved in). Pierce’s Disease (PD) is a nasty disease caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which is vectored by several different sharpshooter insects, including blue-green, red-headed and glassy-winged. The bacteria colonize the xylem vascular tissue. The bacterial colonies, along with gums that are exuded by the vine itself, clog the vessels and effectively choke off the vine’s water transport system. The disease is catastrophic in that it cannot usually be surgically removed from the vine and will most often quickly reduce both its fruit production and fruit quality before finishing off the job and killing the vine after a few years. It is n