Plus a quick recap of the 67 Pall Mall Global Wine Communicator Awards and harvest updates across the US and in France's Loire Valley. Above, grapes that have just come in at 21 Brix Winery in the Lake Erie AVA, courtesy Brian Barmore.
I am just back from the 67 Pall Mall Awards last weekend and I want to congratulate everyone who won! Peter Richards MW and Susie Barrie MW of the podcast Wine Blast won the audio category. Henna Bakshi, editor of Eater Atlanta, won both the short-form video and the long-form writing category. André Mack of Bon Appétit won the long-form video category. Nick Ryan of The Australian and Adelaide’s Sunday Mail won the short-form writing category for work in World of Fine Wine. And finally, our Amanda Barnes won best all-round communicator for her work in Decanter, World of Fine Wine, on YouTube and on podcasts.
I also want to congratulate anyone who received positive results from the stage one or stage two MW exam today! It’s been a long three months waiting for results and it feels good to have closure. Personally, I will need to re-sit the tasting portion of the exam next June (I passed the theory portion last year) and, while it’s not the result I was hoping for, part of the process of such a high-level exam is being able to use failure to motivate yourself to do better.
On to the news!
Alcohol – good or bad?
I’ll be brief – on Wednesday we republished a report from Harvard Public Health magazine – free to read. It’s not so much ‘breaking’ news as it is a breaking from the thought process that has characterised the media in the last six months. It highlights that however much we like black and whites and want to say unequivocally ‘alcohol isn’t bad for you’ or ‘alcohol is bad for you’ the evidence doesn’t support either. The authors point out that a study from the United Kingdom found that women who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol had increased rates of breast cancer but decreased rates of thyroid cancer. In another study, drinking moderately increased premature death if alcohol was consumed outside of meals but decreased death when consumed with meals. In essence, it’s complicated. The key takeaway is that alcohol can be beneficial or harmful, and that without large, long-term, high-quality studies you can’t trust the simplified headlines that are being splashed around vilifying alcohol. Do please make time to read this report!
One of the smallest harvests in France in a century
If you have been listening to or reading this weekly news report, this might not come as a surprise. The inclement weather that has characterised much of France’s 2024 vintage has not been normal. And while the frost-beleaguered 2021 and 1957 vintages will still hold the records for lowest yields, 2024’s hail, mildew, rain and rot has made it arguably more challenging.
On 10 September, France’s agriculture ministry published estimated statistics for 2024. Overall national production is forecast to be down 18% year on year and 11% compared with a five-year average. Champagne and Corsica have fared relatively well and are the only areas projected to have above-average yields (9% and 8% respectively). On the other end of the spectrum, Jura is expected to see 56% lower yields than average. The Charente (the area between the Loire and Bordeaux) is expecting a 17% decline, Bordeaux 16%, the Loire 15%, Provence 14%, Southwestern France and the Languedoc Roussillon both 9%, Alsace 6%, and Burgundy, Beaujolais and the Rhône are all down 5%.
Overall, these are pretty devastating numbers. But, considering the robust 2023 crop, I’m hoping producers can weather the sharp vicissitudes in production. France is not the only country effected – Austria is also expecting lower-than-average yields this vintage and, as previously reported, Santorini’s harvest was cripplingly small.
Alpha Estate buys Boutari Santorini
Speaking of Greece, Alpha Estate, a highly respected producer in the Amyndeon region of Greece, completed the purchase of the Boutari Winery in Santorini a few hours ago. This deal pertains only to the winery, not the vineyards – but it will allow Alpha Estate to expand into production of Santorini Assyrtiko, likely with the release of the 2024 vintage.
Harvest updates from Virginia, NY, Washington, Oregon and France's Loire
It’s been a couple weeks, so I apologise if I’m just getting to your emails now!
Firstly, Virginia started harvest on 1 August for sparkling wines and were well under way with white and reds by 25 August. This timeline was around 10 days earlier than usual.
In New York State, Brian Barmore, who works for 21 Brix Winery in Lake Erie AVA, emailed to say that their harvest started the week of 2 September and that they were harvesting Marquis (a hybrid bred by Cornell), Niagara (a Labrusca variety), Bacchus (a hybrid bred by Geilweilerhof Institute in 1933) and Dornfelder. A neighbouring winery had harvested Pinot Noir for sparkling.
In Washington State, Steve Robertson of Delmas emailed to say that harvest in Walla Walla is underway and that their first pick was Syrah on 4 September from the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater AVA.
In Oregon, Kim Abrahams of Lingua Franca texted that harvest has been ongoing in Willamette Valley since the end of August for sparkling, but that Chardonnay just started to trickle in last week. It is a very slow start and there’s a lot of heterogeneity between sites so it’s likely to be quite a protracted harvest.
On a trip to the Loire Valley, Education Director for the Academie du Vin, Allison Burton-Parker emailed me with the news that harvest in the Loire at La Grange Tiphaine in Touraine began on 23 August – which was actually later than expected!
Please email me if you have information on the start of harvest in places I have not yet mentioned. (So far, in addition to what I covered today, I’ve mentioned Germany, Austria, Languedoc, Greece, Sicily, Hungary and California.)
This is a transcript of our weekly five-minute news broadcast, which you can watch below. You can also listen to it on The Wine News in 5 Podcast. If you have breaking news in your area, please email us. And if you enjoy this content and would like to see more like it, please subscribe to our site and our weekly newsletter.