Because, for whatever reason, the Wine Curmudgeon can ?t stop writing about the world ?s grape supply and how that will affect wine prices:
? The wine grape bubble: That ?s the take from Lew Perdue at Wine Industry Insight, who has seen more than a few crop forecasts in his time. [W]e don ?t know where the grape market is headed because the California wine industry operates on pretty poor advice and a lack of full, complete and unbiased facts. ? He compares the hysteria around this year ?s news to previous shortages that weren ?t necessarily shortages, and finds several similarities. Also, he throws in a good anecdote about the late 1990s Internet bubble.
? Australia ?s never ending grape supply: Remember how the Aussies were working out their grape problems? Not necessarily. ?The report by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences predicts 5 per cent more grapes will be produced next season and another slight increase in the following vintage. ? Which, given that many Australian wineries are selling grapes below cost, and others are going out of business because of low prices, is not the news its industry wants to hear.
? Lakes of European wine: Or so says a report from something called the Independent Investor, which is taking a contrarian position about investing in wine. Like, ?Don ?t. ? It notes the difference between the fine wine market and its hype, as well as putting overall worldwide wine production in perspective: ?The wine lake refers to the continuing supply surplus of wine (supply glut) produced in the European Union. A major contributor to that glut is the Languedoc-Roussillon, which produces over one-third of the grapes grown in France. ?