Charles Metcalfe:
Some rather depressing research done by UK supermarkets on the level of wine knowledge amongst British wine drinkers. 58% think that Chablis is a grape variety; 43% think Chardonnay is a region and only 16% think Champagne comes from France, often thinking it comes from Italy and Spain. Only 3% consider what they are eating when choosing a wine. Price is the most important factor, even more important than the wine's colour.
Cristiano van Zeller (one of the Douro Boys)
The Douro Boys is a brilliant example of producers working together to promote not only their own wines but also their region.
A survey into what makes a wine producer interesting and credible came up with four important factors. These were small production, good reputation in their home country, wines coming exclusively from their own vines and the estate being family owned.
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Jancis Robinson MW
With Julia Harding MW, Jancis is now busy writing a new study of grape varieties. Of the 1600 different varieties in the world, 10% come from Portugal which is quite extraordinary for a small country.
Advertising by generic bodies is a waste of resources. Jancis cited the large amount of money spent by Bordeaux wines on adverts that were absolutely worthless.
The 50 best Portuguese wines chosen by the journalist who wins the Portuguese wine writer of the year is a very good initiative.
The enthusiasm of the ambassador is helping to promote a country's wines and can be very important, especially in providing recommendations for press and trade tastings.
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Portuguese Wine & International Media
Kristine Baeder (Meininger), Elin McCoy (Bloomberg), Simon Tam (Independent Wine Center, China)
Kristine Baeder
Sadly Kristine's presentation was dreary. Quite why she thought that delegates would want to travel from around the globe to listen to a tedious presentation of her employers' business is beyond my understanding. Still she is not the first to have made this mistake at a conference.
Fortuntately the poor start was rescued by Elin McCoy and Simon Tam. (more to add)
