Food for thought

TOP industry analysts and critics say that Prosecco, Italy’s sparkling wine, is growing up. The sometimes sweet bubbly from Northeastern Italy has gained traction and popularity worldwide. Producers striving to make something more refined and complex sought a way to distinguish themselves using the complex Italian production an labeling requirements. Starting with the 2009 vintage, 160 producers with 12,000 acres of vineyards in prosecco’s epicenter of Conegliano and Valdobbiadene were permitted to start to use the DOCG designation on their labels, more exclusive than the DOC designation. The “G” stands for “garantita.” It signifies that winemakers, using grapes from a specific area, agreed to stricter production requirements. The wine is approved by a tasting panel before release. Every bottle contains a numbered seal. There are 41 DOCG regions in Italy, but over 300 DOC regions. It’s a big step for Italy’s big bubbly if producers make the “G” mean something.

Baboons have wiped out a crop of grapes at a South African vineyard. Decanter reports that bush fires in the surrounding mountains had driven the some 50 baboons into the Franschhoek Valley wine region in search of food sources.
One vineyard owner said that the baboons were going through some three tonnes of crops a day, equivalent to 2000 bottles and thus resulting in a loss of almost 40% of his crop. The baboons have centred their efforts on pinot noir growers as they are situated on the higher slopes in the region.

Deadly virus threatens Bordeaux

REPORTS from Bordeaux this week indicate that their precious crop yield from the region is under threat and attack following the outbreak of a deadly virus. The vine disease, Flavescence Dorée, is taking hold in the region, and threatening to become as big a problem as Phylloxera.
Decanter reports that the disease – the ‘golden’ name comes from the colour that it turns the leaves before they die off – is carried by the cicadelle (an insect known as a leaf hopper) and causes the slow destruction of vines. This leads initially to heavy loss of yields, and eventually to the loss of entire vineyards.
Industry professionals have said that; “This is a serious problem across France, and the authorities are watching it closely, adding that “legally, we have to pull up any vines that are affected by Flavescance Dorée, and carry out preventative treatments on all vines within the same area, including neighbouring vineyards.”
It’s now a wait and see for the winemakers of the famous French region.