WHINE # 67
TRIVIA: I thought I’d be a little lighter in this Whine and pass on
some little known facts that relate to wine drinking. So let’s start with who drinks the most
wine. If you guessed the French or the
Italians, try again. The per capita consumption
of wine is greatest by far in the Vatican, where the consumption per person is
76 liters per year. Now that is a lot of
communion wine.
Of course it
comes as no surprise that the consumption of alcoholic beverages ranges greatly
from country to country. Also, there is
wide variation in what types of beverages are the preferred drinks. In terms of total consumption of alcohol
Belarus (not counting the 800 citizens of the Vatican) tops the list, followed
by Moldova, Lithuania and Russia. At the
other end of the scale Pakistan has the least per capita consumption, followed
closely by Mauritania, Libya, Kuwait and Bangladesh. Canada comes in at 40th, slightly
ahead of the United States. Canadians,
of course, love their beer, with more than half of our alcohol consumption coming
in cans, glass bottles or on tap. Only 22%
of our alcohol comes in wine bottles.
In terms of preference
for wine over other drinks Equatorial Guinea tops the list at 72%, followed by
Italy at 66%. The beer champions live in Namibia with 97% of their alcohol consumption
in the form of various beers. This is
followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina at 73%.
Now, if you prefer spirits you should find yourself right at home In
Haiti where 99% of all alcohol is in the form of spirits.
SOME OTHER FACTS: Of all the books in the Bible, the only Old Testament book
with no reference to wine is the Book of Jonah.
Women make
better wine tasters than men, as on average they have a better sense of smell.
One should
never fill a wine glass more than 1/3rd full to allow the aromas to
collect (and so as not to make a mess when you swirl your glass).
The number
one fruit crop in the world is wine grapes.
Plato
believed that the minimum drinking age should be 18, after which one should
drink in moderation. However, he also
believed that men over 40 should be allowed to drink as much as they wanted in
order to cure the “crabbedness of old age.”
When
checking the vintage on a bottle of wine remember that grapes in the southern
hemisphere are picked in what is our spring.
Thus, for example, a 2014 Argentinian wine is already a ½ year older
than a 2014 French wine.
Finally, the
Code of Hammurabi which formed the basis of Babylonian law in Mesopotamia
around 1800 B.C. set many precedents for future generations. For example, it contained the concept of “an
eye for an eye”; it established the principle of “presumed innocence”; and it
was the first code to mention a “minimum wage.”
However, my favorite was an included law that declared that fraudulent
wine sellers “were to be drowned in a river.”
WINE PRICES GOING FORWARD:
There are many factors determining the price of wine including marketing
decisions, taxes, reputation and quality of the particular wine, and, of course
overall inflation. However, in Canada we
import most of our wine, so an important additional factor is exchange rates
with various currencies.
We all know
that the Canadian dollar has recently dropped dramatically following the
downward plunge of world oil prices.
Four years ago our dollar was equivalent to the American dollar and now
a Loonie is only worth ¾ of a greenback.
In both countries inflation is relatively low so we should expect rising
prices for those wonderful Cabernets from Napa or Sonoma.
Sometimes,
however, we focus too closely on American currency and don’t compare our
dollars to other currencies, in this case with those countries that send us our
favorite wines.
For those
who like Old World wines we need to look at the Euro. Here our dollar has also declined in value
but not nearly as dramatically as against the US dollar. In 2012 a Loonie got one about .78 Euros, in
2014 about .64 Euros, and currently about .68 Euros. So prices of French, Italian, and Spanish
wines should also increase.
Nonetheless
the news is not all bad. Our dollar has
slightly gained against the Chilean Peso and against the Australian
dollar. Since inflation in Australia
matches that in Canada we shouldn’t expect much change in the price of our
favorite Shiraz. Similarly inflation in
Chile is only slightly higher than ours so again I would not predict much
change in the price of Chilean wine.
Argentina,
however, is in financial crisis.
Inflation is running at about 33% and at the same time the Peso has
plummeted. A dollar now gets about 12
pesos, up from 8 pesos in 2014 and 4 pesos in 2012. Whether or not we see declining prices for
Malbec in future, we certainly should not see price increases. For those of us who love Malbec this is good
news.
Finally, the
other major wine producing country that is in financial difficulty is South
Africa. Today the Rand is worth a little
more than ½ of what is bought in 2012.
Pinotage will remain a relatively inexpensive wine.
In
conclusion it looks like 2016 will be the year to drink wines from the southern
hemisphere.
QUOTES: “Beer is made by men, wine by God.” Martin Luther circa 1500
“Always
drink some wine before you cook with it.
Nothing to do with the flavour, it just numbs the fear of cooking.” Unknown
CELLAR OFFERING C241:
This time all the wines are French.
If you like subtle, flavourful, but relatively thin wines, and if you
have deep pockets then you should find some great wines for cellaring.
8599 Cremant de Bourgogne is a very
interesting wine for those who find they prefer Champagne over Cava or
Prosecco but can’t really justify the cost.
Cremant de Bourgogne tastes very much like Champagne but costs about
half the price. Still more expensive
than Spanish Cava, it is almost affordable.
8603 Brouilly is one of the nine villages
of Beaujolais and definitely a step up from ordinary Beaujolais or even
Beaujolais Villages.
8609 Chateau Maillard Graves is a wine I don’t know but was
surprised at the relatively low price.
Possibly worth a try.
8616 Hortevie Saint Julien is a very nice
wine. On the other hand a bottle will
cost you the equivalent of 3 bottles of very good Argentinian Malbec. I suggest that if you order a case you don’t
let your partner see the credit card slip.
