A significant portion of the French wine industry is facing economic problems

According to an analysis performed by the wine investment specialists of the Rabobank in the Netherlands, a significant sector of the French wine industry is facing a severe crisis. Many businesses are currently not earning sufficient money to secure future requirements, or to attract investors. Howevr, this problem is not only affecting France, but also many wineries in Spain, New Zealand and other parts of the New World, however the conclusion applies particularly to France and Italy. According to the Rabobank analysis, many wine producers are able to survive purely based on their cash flow. As a large part of their investments is already written off, this is sufficient for survival.

However, this means that measures aimed at improving quality cannot be financed, which is a threat to future survival. This circumstance means that in many cases the next generation prefers to distance itself from the family business, and investors are not being attracted. A large portion of the producers in the New World, particularly those in California, are in a better position to face the challenges of the future.

French Wine Explorers Releases New Website

French Wine Explorers, America's leading luxury French wine tour company, is offering its most exciting tour season ever in 2009.

The tours include the ultimate in luxury hotels and chateaux and Michelin-starred restaurants, and feature France's most exclusive and prestigious wine estates. The 2009 schedule includes five scheduled departures, plus private and customized wine vacations to Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, the Rhône Valley, Provence, the Loire Valley, and Tuscany and Piedmont in Italy.

Among the highlights of the 2009 season: Bordeaux Prestige, the ultimate wine tour experience, including VIP tastings at all five First Growth chateaux (Lafite Rothschild, Latour, Margaux, Haut-Brion, Mouton Rothschild) and the most legendary estates of Pomerol, Sauternes and Saint Emilion; Great Estates of Burgundy, an in-depth exploration of the Côte d'Or's finest estates; and Burgundy and Champagne Prestige, a blend of the best that Burgundy and Champagne has to offer. New to their lineup of scheduled departures is a special Grand Cru Barge Cruise, a 6-night tour aboard a luxury barge and a unique opportunity to taste the 33 Grand Crus of Burgundy, as well as special winemakers' dinners on board complete with unparalled access to owners of exclusive estates.

France Spurns Grape, Censors Wine Writing

France seems set on destroying a thousand-year wine culture that New World countries have spent decades trying to emulate. Whatever happened to “a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine,” as Brillat-Savarin declared?

It all started back in 1991 with the controversial Evin Law, named after Minister of Health Claude Evin. It placed severe restrictions on alcohol advertising and publicity, banning ads on TV and in cinemas. The Internet, in its infancy, was not on the list of media permitted to run wine ads.

Leading the French prohibitionist charge, the National Association for Prevention of Alcoholism and Addiction has filed several far-reaching lawsuits against wine and beer advertising this year -- and won.

French wine Beaujolais Nouveau perfect for the holidays

For years, celebrating the release of Beaujolais Nouveau on the third Thursday in November was a tradition for us. We had planned to revisit our tradition two weeks ago with an extensive tasting of Beaujolais Nouveau -- literally, new Beaujolais wine from France.


That went out the window when, to our dismay, we found just one Beaujolais Nouveau available in Pennsylvania state stores.

While the 2008 Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais Nouveau ($13.99) was a fine example of a nouveau -- clean and fresh with tart fruit -- tasting just one producer's effort was not nearly as fun as tasting, say, 10.

Wine.com Releases Second Annual Wine.com 100 List

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 3 2008 - Wine.com, the nation's #1 online wine retailer, today announced its second annual Wine.com 100 list based entirely on customer preferences. The only list of its kind is generated by ranking the top 1 percent of bottle sales of the over 10,000 wines sold nationally on Wine.com during the first 11 months of 2008. For a complete list, go to http://www.wine.com/100.

"Our annual ranking is unique in that it reflects the opinions of our customers," said Rich Bergsund, Wine.com CEO. "The trend we've seen is that wine enthusiasts are looking for the greatest value -- highly rated wines at lower price points -- and are increasingly choosing wines from South America and Australia."

The Wine.com 100 list shows customers are choosing both quality and price, with 94 of the wines rated 90 points or higher from leading wine critics, including Wine Spectator, and over 70 wines priced under $20. The Wine.com 100 list also demonstrates consumer demand for notable brands such as Silver Oak, Caymus, Dom Perignon, Cakebread, Duckhorn, and Jordan.