Hello, from California Wines

From Peter Niederhauser, at 22. August 2013 14:09

Here in the Golden State fruit-set has already occurred. This means many pollinated flowers on the vine developed fruit berries. The rest are being pruned away, allowing the vine to focus energy on grape production. The grape berries are still green, but are getting larger! Soon veraison will take place. Grapes will change color, decrease in acidity and accumulate sugars in preparation for harvest. Here’s the round-up of recent global events, as well as news of our wine regions, sustainability, California cuisine (summer recipe)—and more.

• USA. Our annual California Wine Export Seminar in San Francisco included global outlook presentations by our international representatives (Canada, UK, Continental Europe, Japan and China); a Best New Export Markets for 2013 panel; and a comparison of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance program to green programs globally.
• UK. California Wine Summit, a program of seminars, Master Classes and themed tastings in London, engaged delegates and captured the attention of writer Andrew Catchpole, who covers the Summit extensively in an upcoming Harpers Magazine.
• UK. Journalist Fiona Sims and Wine Gang member Tom Cannavan traveled to California wine country, as did author/Decanter writer Stephen Brook, who focused on the Central Coast. Food-and-wine pairing guru Fiona Beckett travels to the Golden State in September.
• UK. Independent retail leaders went on a wine-buying journey through Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma, Lodi, Santa Cruz and Monterey. The trip received considerable coverage in Off Licence News. Each retailer will promote California wines in-store and online during California Wine month.
• Continental Europe. About 48,800 guests from 148 countries visited Vinexpo 2013. Forty percent were non-French, from other parts of Europe and the Americas. Our wineries commented on the high quality of visitors–many from the US, Canada, and South America—and expressed satisfaction at the amount of business conducted.
• Continental Europe. Importers from more than 50 wineries exhibited at the California Wine Festival in Copenhagen, organized by newspaper Ekstrabladet. Our Pinot Noir seminar for 40 key media included Niels Lillelund (Jyllandsposten), Bo Madsen (Berlingske Tidende), Thomas Ryedberg (Ekstrabladet), Malene Smith Hertz (TV2) and Rasmus Holmgaard (Madmedier).
• Canada. The May promotion in the SAQ, La vague de vins Californiens (translation: the California Wave), was a great success, achieving 141,517 cases and $27,282,873 in sales.
• Japan. Our Wine-By-The-Glass promotion fueled sales of 4,400 cases of ultra-premium California wine. Half of the 216 program participants were new; many had never before merchandized California wines. We estimate 6,000 additional case sales as a result of the promotion.
• China. Our Master Class campaign continued in June with seminars in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang and Dongguan before traveling to Chengdu, Xi’an and Shanghai in July. It will reach other cities later in the 2013/14 program year.
• China. We launched our first-ever road show in Shanghai’s fashionable Xintiandi shopping area. This two-day show included consumer events as well as a mini-tasting, where micro-bloggers blogged about California wines. Also featured: a pavilion where local importers sampled our wines and heard presentations about California wines.
• Korea. California wines were featured in a seminar designed to connect our wines to Korea’s hottest summer trend: Glamping—high-end camping. Twenty-eight leading members of Korean media, in addition to traditional wine press, participated in a sensory evaluation with California wines and tasted a Glamping menu with wine-pairings from California.
• Global. Our far-reaching global website translation project continues for 6 countries—Germany, Mexico, Quebec, Japan, Korea and in traditional Chinese characters, for Taiwan and Hong Kong. We look forward to a late-autumn launch.

• The California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance has created an excellent collection of videos, about a wide range of sustainability successes. Want to have a look? Start by viewing this behind-the-scenes look at the St. Helena facility of Trinchero Family Estates.
• September is California Wine Month. From special tastings, dinners and harvest tours to hands-on wine immersion experiences and festivals, our ninth annual event offers enticing ways to experience California’s diverse regions. We’ll share details about specifics at the end of August here.
• Meet up with our California Wines Road Trip in New York City or San Francisco. In New York City, sample wines at California Wine Merchants on September 13 or attend a tasting event with wines from 10 California regions at Astor Center on Sept. 16 (details and ticketshere). In-store tastings will take place throughout September across Manhattan and Brooklyn. In San Francisco, on Saturday Sept. 21, the Grand Hall of the Ferry Building will host a tasting across all California regions (details and tickets here).

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