Drinking Wine in Amsterdam !

Having recently returned from a trip to Amsterdam, visiting relatives and a wine tour of Alsace, it has been difficult getting back into the swing of my normal routine. Met with my panel to taste 7 just released delightful wines from the Starling Lane winery and getting ready to taste 12 Rose wines for my next newsletter. And of course wading through all the e-mails and answering as many as possible. I fully intend to share pictures and experiences of my trip in the next few posts. I read with interest, Alder Yarrow's post over at Vinography on wine consumption statistics and thought that would be a good starting point. So I looked at the pdf posted on his site from TDA ( Trade Data and Analysis ) on his site and scrolled down to the Netherlands. The average liters per capita for the Dutch in 2008 was 21.68. Surprisingly that great nation of wine consumers, the United Kingdom, consumed somewhat less than the Dutch with 19.14 liters per capita. There are no silly regulations and restrictions on selling wine in Holland and it is available in grocery stores and great little wine shops everywhere. The picture of De Ware Jacob is an example of one of them, located a 3 minute walk away from my cousin's home on the Keizersgracht.
(Click on the pic)
Its difficult to translate accurately but
' De Ware Jacob' means 'the real Jacob' and is an expression used when a woman has found 'the' real man of her life. The shop was originally owned by a Jacob and after his death his widow continued to run the shop until the new owner took over.
Let me tell you, we did our best to raise the national average during my visit. But while we are at this location, kitty corner from the wine shop is an incredible chocolate shop owned by Mireille, the exuberant and gracious daughter of my cousin. Her shop, 't Goede Soet, at 95 Keizersgracht is a must visit while you are in Amsterdam. 't Goede Soet translates into the Good Sweet and is a chocolate lovers paradise. Google it and see some of the great reviews.













Meanwhile back to statistics. The average consumption for Canada is listed as 12.24 liters per capita but according to Statistics Canada, the official Government of Canada branch that carries out surveys, the national average is 13.1. The Yukon territory leads the way with 18.3 but what else would you do on those long winter days in Canada's great northern white? Second place goes to the province of Quebec with an average consumption of 17.4. Could that be because of its historic ties with France? Once again I am happy to report that I am doing my share of wine consumption in the province of British Columbia which ties down third place with an annual consumption of 14.5. Our burgeoning wine industry would account for that. Newfoundland and Labrador come in 11th place with 6.5 and dead last is Saskatchewan with only 5 liters per capita. Of course they do enjoy their beer. Finally our neighbours to the south of us are working on their annual consumption with a 9.68 liters per capita. But with wine becoming much more a part of our North American culture I would expect these figures to increase in the coming years. As they say in Dutch 'tot ziens' or farewell or until we meet again. Lets all do our share to help the economy and raise the national average.

Drink more wine ....but lower the alcohol, please!

Here is wishing you all the best for 2008 and on this first post for the New Year, I would like to thank the good folk over at Answer.com for my nifty new word of the day widget. I was given the opportunity to be one of the first to try out their "wine word of the day" and I love it. Its like having a daily contributor to my blog. You will find it over on their widget gallery. Hop over and have a look. Thanks Liz and Jay!
Over the last few years as more and more Americans have turned to wine as their favorite tipple, media reports on the US eventually becoming the world's largest consumer of wine have been plentiful. The latest survey confirms that not only are more people drinking wine but per capita consumption is also on the rise. Per capita consumption in the US now stands at 2.77 gallons and projected estimates for 2007 will place the US ahead of Italy in total consumption of wine. Predictions are for the US to replace France as the number one wine consuming nation within three years. One of the reasons for the increased consumption is all the publicity about the potential health benefits red wine bestows upon us and I have blogged about that a number of times myself. But will that create a demand for lower alcohol wines? After all three glasses of wine at 15% alcohol is about equal to four glasses of wine at 12%. So if you like to drink about 3 glasses the second option is a healthier choice.
The higher alcohol wines and ways of reducing the alcohol levels have been a controversial subject for some time. Two techniques employed have been the reverse osmosis and the spinning cone method. Vinovation and Conetech are two California companies in the forefront of
using these methods. Dan Berger, editor at Appellation America, shares some good insights into this subject.
"Superstition" says Wine Enthusiast's Jim Gordon, about the believe by some winemakers that yeasts are getting stronger and are contributing to higher alcohol levels. And Jim Patterson at Wines & Vines debunks this myth in his sound explanation on the subject of yeasts.
Growing world wide consumer demand for lower alcohol wines has however spurred research into the production of lower alcohol yeasts as reported in a recent article by Wynboer from the Institute for Wine Biotechnology at the Stellenbosch University. Researchers at the Australian Wine Research Institute are also attempting to generate lower alcohol yeasts.
In the meantime make 2008 the year to learn one new wine word or fact per day by visiting my blog regularly and above all enjoy your daily bread with a good glass of wine.

100 Point Wine = 100 % plus increase in price!

Two of the most distinguished "Grand Ladies of Wine" have spoken out on the future and pricing of Bordeaux wines. Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, at a lavish dinner at her Chateau Mouton Rothschild spoke of her concerns about the Bordeaux wine trade and suggesting wine was not for investing but rather for drinking.
Meanwhile Jancis Robinson in a podcast conversation with Berry Bros and Rudd's Bordeaux sales director Simon Staples, openly states "I hope 2006 will not be a success. I hope it will really show the Bordelais the shortcomings of the system" Listen to the podcast.
Could these excessive prices be blamed on the Emperor? You can find an interesting observation on pricing and who is to blame over on Slate . However the status seeking nouveaux riche in China, Russia and other Asian countries are driving prices into the stratosphere as well.
According to Timothy Tong ( that name has kind of got a ring to it, doesn't it? ) imports to Asian countries will increase dramatically. Imported wines make up only 5.6 % of Chinese wine consumption. Currently there are over 500 wineries in operation in China. The top 10 Chinese producers make around 10-12 million litres of wine annually. Expect plantings to increase as the Chinese become a wine consuming society. I recently had the opportunity to taste the the 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon from China's Great Wall vineyards. Certainly not great but quality will improve dramatically over the next decade. Then watch for a flood of their wines to hit the export market. A survey carried out for Vinexpo 2007 by the London-based International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) predicts global wine sales will increase 45 percent by 2010 and production by 41 percent with subsequent price increases. Europe's wine lake may be drained but is there a new one in the making behind the Great Wall of China?

Here a vineyard, there a vineyard, everywhere a vineyard!

Old McDonald had a farm... but now it is a vineyard. Everywhere you go in North America, new vineyards are being planted and new wineries are getting established.

Including here on Vancouver Island, BC. One of the oldest and well established vineyards and winery is the Blue Grouse Vineyards in the beautiful Cowichan Valley. This picture was taken just prior to their bountiful 2006 harvest.

An amazing 1000 new wineries were added last year in North America. Colorado saw the largest % increase (46%) in new wineries of any of the states. Have a look at this well made video taken at the Winter Park Winery. You can almost smell the grapes.

Canada also had a large % increase with 128 new wineries added and British Columbia leading the way with 46 new wineries. Other wine regions, notably Chile, Argentina, Russia, India and China are also adding new wineries at a fast pace. Why is this happening? Certainly here in North America, it is fuelled by the tremendous surge in interest in all things related to wine, not the least of which is the health implication of drinking wine, especially red wines. Our love affair with wine is infectious and the exuberance shown by our younger generation is rapidly making wine an accepted and well established part of our culture.The consumption of wine by the Millennial generation has increased from 10 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2006.

We are making our own decisions as to which wines and what style we prefer. The Wine Spectator and The Wine Advocate are not nearly as influential with our new found knowledge and desire to make our own decisions.

"Designation and certification of American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in the United States and Designated Viticultural Areas (DVAs) in Canada has been, and continues to be, the necessary first step in shifting the North American wine culture to the kind of appellation-focused paradigm that will greatly broaden interest and expand markets." The foregoing is a direct quote from Appelation North America's publisher Roger Dial. As usual Roger has hit the nail right on the head. Be sure to read this interesting article.

One final note. We have all heard the expressions "So much wine, so little time" and "Life is too short to drink bad wine" My thought is that life is too short... period. So have another glass of wine and enjoy them all while you can. I know I will.