With 6,200 members, who run 63,000 hectares of vines and produce 440 million bottles, the Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur appellations’ winegrowers’ union is the leading AOC organisation in France. All Bordeaux wines represent a turnover of 3.5 billion euros; 1.5 billion is generated by this union which sends 60% of all Bordeaux wines to market worldwide. (Source: Objectif Aquitaine)

South-African wines are taking over markets in the African continent, which has become their fourth largest export destination. According to Wines of South Africa, well-off economies now prefer to seek their supplies in sub-Saharan areas rather than Europe, their traditional supplier. In 2006, South-African wines had less than a 10% market share in Africa. (Source: VSB)

Amazon.com expects to start selling American wine inside the US within a few weeks, according to the Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVVA). Terry Hall, spokesman for the 315-member trade organization, said the NVVA has arranged workshops for producers who might want to sell their wine via Amazon. “The step forward with Amazon being a wine retailer is just more testament to the fact that Americans are really becoming a wine-drinking economy”, said Terry Hall. (Source: Decanter.com)

Since customs duties on wines have no longer been levied in Hong Kong, the consequences have been encouraging for all players in the wine market here. The clear winner is the consumer, who is paying significantly lower retail prices between 15% and 20% less. Producers have also benefited from greater, more diverse demand, and finally the government itself is spared of the considerable expense in time and money spent collecting the duty. (Source: Revue Vinicole Internationale)

“I can no longer find the Bordeaux of my youth: the taste of Bordeaux wines has changed, the wine making has changed and the ways they are sold have also changed. The Bordeaux area today is less friendly and less open, but it is a source of ideas, experiences and ambitions.

The Bordeaux of my youth was conservative, today’s Bordeaux exhausts me and excites me, because I’m always meeting new people here and I’m finding new places and new flavours.” Oz Clarke, one of the best wine specialists in the world. (Source: Vinexpo)

Chantal Saint-Pierre, Director of Markets of the Quebec Alcohol Corporation, has announced there will be a special section for the wines of south-west France in the Quebec state liquor stores. This decision will be implemented from 1st January 2009 and should enable consistent overall promotional campaigns to be carried out for all the appellations, while helping the Canadian consumer to identify the French “Sud-Ouest” as a fully-fledged wine growing region in its own right. (Source: Décision Boissons)

In a country where most people drink rum or beer, being a sommelier can be thankless job. Due to an handful wine importers, there just isn’t much wine available to sell, and tasting is even more difficult for the country’s sommeliers, who make most of their living from tips.

Zudlay Nápoles, Havana’s best sommelier says that most of her wine knowledge has come from books and magazines, and internet (when she can gain access). She declared her dream were one day to taste a 100-point Bordeaux. (Source: Wine Spectator)