This is the final Wine Economist post of 2014 and a good moment to look back at 2014 and ahead to 2015.
Looking Back at 2014
The year that is just ending was full of interesting experiences, many of which were reported here. I was fortunate to be asked to speak at wine gatherings in five U.S. states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California and Virginia) and four foreign countries (South Africa, Portugal, Italy and the U.K.).
The largest audience was over 2000 persons at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium’s “State of the Industry” session. The smallest? Well, just a handful of people braved the harsh weather to come out for one local bookstore event earlier in the year, but they made up for small numbers with mighty enthusiasm.
The happiest audience? It would be hard to top the crowd that attended a Seattle World Affairs Council “extreme wine” dinner talk in February. Great food, wine and people and lots of extreme wine stories to tell. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to come to one of my talks whether the audience is big or small.
Looking Forward to 2015
2015 looks like it will be a busy year, too. I’ll be returning to the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium next month to contribute to the “State of the Industry” panel. Then I go north to Alaska to do two events in support of global education there. I’ll give a Wine Wars s talk for the Juneau World Affairs Council on February 11, 2015 and then forge on to Anchorage for an Extreme Wine fund-raising dinner event on February 12 for the Alaska World Affairs Council. I’m proud to help support global education through these World Affairs Council events.
One of the things I enjoy the most is speaking to regional wine groups, trying to bring a global perspective to their local discussions and discourage intellectual “cellar palate.” This year I’m fortunate to be talking to the Idaho Wine Commission annual meeting in Boise on February 17 & 18, 2015 (here is the agenda) before going on the the Winery & Grower Alliance of Ontario “Insight 2015″ conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario on March 3, 2015. Both of these regions produce some stunning wines and are seek to attract the recognition they deserve. I’ll try to give them some food for thought.
On the publishing front, a new book is scheduled for 2015. , Money, Taste & Wine: It’s Complicated, will appear in August 2015. Yes, Amazon will let you pre-order that! And there’s a paperback version of Extreme Wine in the wings, too. Looks like a busy year already and it hasn’t even officially started!
Best wishes to Wine Economist readers. I wish you all health, happiness and great wine in the New Year. Cheers!
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Here’s a short video of highlights from Wine Vision 2014 that’s just been released. Thought you’d find it interesting.
Mike,
You may have read the article about WGAO published in August:
http://winesinniagara.com/2014/08/the-shocking-stance-that-the-boss-of-wago-is-taking-on-privatizing-the-booze-business-in-ontario-its-downright-scary/
…if not, you should.
While the membership of WGAO rightly claims to represent a large chunk of industry volumes in Ontario and several other provinces, the vast majority of this volume comes from Constellation Brands, hardly a local firm, and secondly from Andrew Peller. These two together are the main purveyors of Cellared in Canada wines (their name for years but now called International Canadian Blends) – bulk stuff from wherever in the world cheap wine can be sluiced into tankers and bottled locally. Such wine dominates the shelves in Ontario and contributes nothing, zip, nada to the success of the Ontario or Canadian wine scene. But it is the moneymaker, transforming buck-a-litre stuff into $10 a bottle table wine.
So when you address this conference, you are really talking to the two faces of a cosy duopoly, not the industry.
Cameron Turner (CFA and ISG Sommelier, Victoria BC)
Thanks, Cameron. I have been studying up about the Canadian industry including the ICBs. Mike.
MikeI am a documentary film maker working on a one-hour video doc. about Rosé Wine. I would love to interview you about the topic. I am exploring the reason for the growing popularity of this wine. I have filmed in Provence, France, Napa Valley, USA and Cape Town South Africa.The working title of the Doc. is called :”Rosé Rising: How a pink wine got its color back.”The French producer is Artline.Could you contact me so we could set up a good time to talk.Ken KobreProfessor of photo and videojournalismSan Francisco State University1600 Holloway Dr. San Francisco CA 94132Home 415 931-6720Cell 415 902-2608Skype KKobre Home4 McCormick StSan Francisco CA 94109 Photojournalism the Professionals’ ApproachFocal Press Videojournalism: Multimedia StorytellingFocal Press 2012 Deadline Every Second1 hour documentary about photojournalist of the AP www.lightscoop.comelminate ugly flash with this device VideoPro CameraAn App that turns the iPhone into a semi professional video camera
Mike and Sue, Happy New Year from Dorothy and me. We’re hoping to see you while in Sacramento.
Happy New Year, Lowell!
Happy New Year! Thanks for sharing all the fine articles and information all year long!
Dear Penny & Andy, Happy New Year! We’ve enjoyed several of your great NZ wines in 2014 and look forward to more of them next year. Cheers!