Winebits 726: Alcohol regulation, wine barrels, wine bottles

This week’s wine news: China clamps down on booze advertising, plus 21^st century technology comes to wine barrels and wine bottles

• Just like in the U.S.: China and the United States might have all sorts of geo-political problems to solve, but we do seem to have one thing in common: alcohol regulation. Chinese authorities fined Big Drinks’ Pernod Richard some $25,000 for showing liquor consumption in an ad. thedrinksbusiness website reports that the ad, for a popular Cognac brand, announced a promotional video featuring a Cognac drinking scene on one of its social media accounts. Which is illegal: “alcohol-related products are not permitted to promote drinking, showcase the act of drinking, or show activities such as operating cars, boats or aircrafts. They are also banned from implying that alcohol relieves stress or anxiety.”

• Clay and wood: Winemakers in France have been experimenting with clay fermentation vessels, similar to the amphoras used by ancient Romans, reports connexionFrance.com. The hybrid barrels are made with both wood and clay, allowing the wine to age and gain the benefits of both materials. The new vessels are either made with the familiar red clay baked at relatively low temperatures and commonly used for roof or floor tiles, or with white clay baked at high temperatiures. The combination barrels almost twice the size of a traditional wood barrel, and cost about twice as much. However, the manufacturer says they should last much longer.

• Box and bottle? One more possible solution for the heavy and eco-unfriendly wine bottle – a wine container that is both box and bottle, called the Bio’teille. The boxtle – my bad punn – weighs just one-eighth the amount of a glass bottle and generates five times fewer CO2 emissions over its lifecycle than a glass bottle, says the Bio’teille manufacturer. Best yet – from the WC’s perspective – it’s aimed at wines costing around €10.