economic issues

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News & Features : News

Moscato Mania

Sales of the easy-drinking bubbly have skyrocketed—is it a passing fad or here to stay?

Posted: February 8, 2012 By Ben O'Donnell

Blogs : James Laube's Wine Flights

Liquid Assets

Can wine be a legitimate financial investment? Or is it money poured down the drain?

Posted: January 19, 2012 By James Laube

Using wine as an investment vehicle, where the goal is to profit financially rather than just drink well, is about as tricky as playing the stock market. That is, it’s just as easy to lose money as win it. And if the past few years haven't made the risk involved painfully obvious to traders of either commodity, the recent Wine Spectator Auction Index numbers for Bordeaux should serve as another cautionary tale: The Chinese are no longer driving Bordeaux prices through the roof, and prices are dropping.

News & Features : News

Has Bordeaux's Bubble Burst?

Prices for top wines are slipping as Chinese customers have second thoughts

Posted: January 18, 2012 By Suzanne Mustacich

News & Features : Unfiltered

2012 Predictions

Unfiltered gazes into the future and sees love blossom for a Sonoma sweetheart on The Bachelor, a holy wine from Tim Tebow, Napa Cabernets on the loose in China, plus, the Occupy movement takes to the vineyards

Posted: January 5, 2012

Blogs : Harvey Steiman At Large

Australia's Bumpy Financial Road

Will smart consumers turn to less conventional Oz wines?

Posted: December 12, 2011 By Harvey Steiman

One prime reason for my visit to Australia—to look for insights into why the wines seem to be on the outs with Americans—turned up much less hand-wringing by vintners than you might expect. The Aussies are smart enough to know that they are caught in a perfect storm: the rise of Argentina, Spain and other parts of the world competing effectively against their big-volume wines, coupled with a wrenching change in the exchange rate between the Aussie dollar and ours, capped off by a financial crisis that has most people thinking twice about spending money on anything they’re not entirely certain of.

The Aussies have a healthy attitude about all this. As such, they are diligently at work trying to broaden perceptions of their wines here, and looking for other places to sell them. A growing number of sommeliers and retailers have noticed that Australia produces a range of styles at higher price points. Its widespread growing regions offer specific differences in character. Inspired winemakers, some young, others experienced, are gung-ho to try something different.

News & Features : News