What I'm Up To This Week

Got a couple notes over the last little while from folks who wanted to know what a wine maker does this time of year. They figured that thumb twiddling was on top of the list because the harvest was over and none of my clients currently do ice wine so there must be a lot of navel gazing.
On the contrary, my friends.
I've got deadlines! We're working towards some bottling dates at the end of February which means we're into blending, filtering and fining our new whites and any reds from previous vintages that may be scheduled. There's lab trials and owner/winemaker conferences and outside, the vineyards are calling for a haircut. And all those little jobs and projects to make the plant run a little smoother are now beginning to take priority around the cellar. On top of all that, the phone is starting to ring from people who have looked at the calendar and realized they need to get a wine making consultant-type on stream if they want to open the doors on their new venture this year.
So, to summarize, I keep my days full.

Here's a few things that caught my eye in the press:

With Australia having too much wine you'd think prices worldwide would be falling. But oversupply seems to be a localized problem.
This report suggests world wide wine supply numbers are down...

The Toasted Oak down in Oliver is having a New Zealand night on the 31st of Janurary. Tickets are only $25 . Need to know more?

If you can't find your local winery owner or wine maker this week you may want to look here.

Now the wholesalers in Kansas are up to their old tricks