Blog - If you can't drink wine at work, at least you can read about it!

WineCollective members can now receive 15% off cases

By Matthew Protti on 11 Mar 2010 | 0 comments

We are excited to announce a new WineCollective feature. Have you really enjoyed a WineCollective selection and wish you could have had a case of that exact wine for your cellar, as gifts or to share with friends?

WineCollective members (active monthly subscribers or gift recipients) are now able to order wine by the case and receive a member discount of 15% off the retail price! Any wine which has been featured by WineCollective will be eligible for the discount.

This feature is brand new and we’re gauging interest, so there isn’t currently a way to purchase through the website. To order a case of any previously featured WineCollective wine, simply email us at thecellar@winecollective.ca or call 403.648.9094. If you are a member, you just need to tell us which wine and let us check availability through our partners at Willow Park Wine & Spirits and we’ll take care of the rest! Your wine will be purchased from Willow Park and your case will be delivered, free of charge, with your next scheduled membership package delivery.

There’s no better (or cheaper) way to get your hands on some fantastic wine.

WineCollective partners with Willow Park

By Matthew Protti on 08 Mar 2010 | 0 comments

Willow Park Logo

WineCollective is excited to announce a new partnership with Willow Park Wine & Spirits, Canada’s largest private wine, beer and spirits retailer. This new partnership will allow WineCollective exclusive access to Willow Park’s 5,000 unique and difficult to acquire wines. The partnership is effective immediately and the March delivery (going out on March 11th and 12th) is the first with Willow Park.

Current members of WineCollective don’t need to do anything, as their subscriptions will be transferred automatically. However, you will notice on your credit card statement that payment is now being made to Willow Park Online.

We look forward to becoming active within all of Willow Park’s many tasting and wine education events and encourage members to check out the new Willow Park Winter/Spring Events Program. (Checkout page 29 for a little press on us!)

If current or prospective subscribers have any questions about what this new partnership means to you, feel free to get in touch at 403.648.9094, or thecellar@winecollective.ca.

Quake hits Chilean wine industry

By Matthew Protti on 03 Mar 2010 | 0 comments

The huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake to hit Chile which may have had enough power to shorten Earth's days also damaged Chile's wine industry.

The quake hit SW of the Chilean capital Santiago which is close to Chile's main wine producing region. The Miami Herald reports that steel fermentation tanks tipped over, wine bottles broke, bridges cracked and there are reports of wineries without power. The vineyards themselves appear to be ok, but the real loss was the "tens of millions of litres of wine" which was just being prepped for sale. While it is still early, it appears the area has escaped the devestation which occured on the coast.

We at WineCollective have featured Chilean wines recently from the areas impacted and will continue to support the industry.

German beer, Japanese sake and English champagne

By Matthew Protti on 31 Jan 2010 | 0 comments

Blind tastings are often wonderful fodder for stories. New world wine bests old world classic. Upstart beer wins taste test over best seller, or Taiwan scotch beats Scottish Scotch .

In this case, we have English sparkling wine (it can't be called champagne as indicated in the title of this article of course, because only grapes grown in the Champagne region get that luxury) winning a taste test over French champagne. Here is the full story from the Telegraph.

England is not known for its grape growing climate. While Britain is one of the world's largest importers of wine, English domestic wineries are tiny in comparison. The Romans introduced viticulture to England but in large part, England was warmer then than it is now. Indeed, in a previous inter-glacial period (when England was still part of continental Europe) it appears that grapes grew wild in areas which are currently far too cold to support vines.

Wineries in England are concentrated in the warmest areas such as Kent and Sussex, but due to England's latitude (roughly as far north as Calgary), the growing season extends into October, exposing grapes to rain, wind and frost potential. However, all of those factors mean high acidity which is an excellent feature for sparkling wine. Ironically that means England could be beating France at its own game. Nyetimber's Classic Cuvée 2003 (from Sussex) was crowned Champion of Worldwide Sparkling Wines in the competition run by Italy's wine magazine Euposia. Who would have guessed?

Unfortunately, Nyetimber's Cuvée is not available in Alberta. We will have to satisfy ourselves with French champagne.

US Wine Consumption up but California volumes down?

By Matthew Protti on 30 Jan 2010 | 0 comments

Yesterday, the LA Times had an interesting article about California wine shipments being down in 2009 for the first time in 16 years. See the story here: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-winedrop29-2010jan29,0,4062055.story

Wine consumption was up 2.1% in 2009 in the US, which is a remarkable achievement considering that 2009 was one of the worst years economically in the past twenty or thirty years. So it is obvious that people want to continue to drink wine, but California wine shipments fell by 4%, or almost 4 million cases.

It appears consumers are shifting focus to better "value" wines from "overseas wine makers", specifically Argentina, Chile and Australia. Wine imports to the US from those countries increased an incredible 87% last year.

Here at the WineCollective, we search for unique and interesting wines without a geographical bias, so we continually look at where the best value and most unique wines are being created. I think it is fair to say, we have been enjoying a fair amount of quality wine from South America and Australia recently and if these trends continue, we will continue to do so. While this may be bad news for California wine producers, an increase in choice is never a bad thing for avid wine consumers!