The top three gold medal-winning nations in the 2012 International Wine Challenge are reigning champions France with 120, Australia with 69 and Portugal with 55. France topped the medal board overall with a total of 1,136 medals, while Australia came second with 673 and Portugal third with 444. Read the full article and get more details about the winning wines at  Hapers.co.uk .

Along with a sense of humor, wine should have integrity. Bonny Doon has both. On the back label of its 2011 Vin Gris de Cigare, right under the winery’s address — “Santa Cruz, CA, USA, EARTH” — I found this description: “Ingredients: 73% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre, 8% Grenache Blanc, 5% Roussanne, 4% Cinsault grapes, tartaric acid, and sulfur dioxide. In the winemaking process, the following were utilized: Indigenous yeast, yeast nutrients, and bentonite.” Many wine bottles tell us their grape blends, but this one — unlike most others — tells us what else has been added to create the final product. Wine’s dirty little secret is that it isn’t just fermented grape juice. It might include added sugar, tartaric acid, various yeasts and yeast nutrients, color enhancers, gum arabic, gelatin, egg whites, fish bladders (isinglass) and any of a long list of other additives allowed by the federal government but not required to be listed on the wine label. That color and mouth feel you love, even the flavor, might come not from grapes, but from a jar. As Americans drink more wine, cheap wine has increased in quality, but that improvement has come through chemistry as much as through viticulture. Great wine may be made in the vineyard, but good wine increasingly is made in the laboratory. Today’s winemakers are as likely to wear white lab coats as they are tattered overalls and muddy boots. Read the full article on washingtonpost

  There are two wine communities in the U.S. -- the regular, ordinary wine drinker, who buys almost all of the wine sold in the U.S., and the elite wine drinker, who represents a tiny, tiny fraction of the wine drinking community but who is catered to by the wine business and, especially, by its allies in the Winestream Media. Read the latter, and one would assume that wine has to cost a lot of money, that one needs a PhD in wine geek to appreciate wine, and that anyone who dares to argue with them is a crude boor. We know where the Wine Curmudgeon fits, no? Nothing demonstrates this better than sales figures. I have a copy of a report from an important U.S. distributor, detailing sales from March 2011 to March 2012 in the Dallas market. It was given to me by someone who asked to remain anonymous; hence, I can’t reproduce it or link to it. And, though, it’s not a perfect fit for what’s going on nationally, it’s still a revealing look at what the real wine market -- and not the Winestream Media’s wine market -- is like.   Read the full article on The Wine Curmudgeon blog .

Chicago once again welcomes Sweets & Snacks Expo, the largest U.S. tradeshow for confectionery and snacking, taking place May 8-10, 2012. New to the show this year is a collective French pavilion, organized by Ubifrance, giving attendees an opportunity to discover delicious new tastes coming straight from France.   The annual show is the ‘’can’t miss’’ event of the year for the category. Unparalleled in the Americas and recognized around the globe, Sweets & Snacks is uniquely focused on the needs of confectionery and snack customers across all major distribution channels. Approximately 14,000 people per year attend the show, discovering new and existing product via 500+ exhibiting companies.   Not only a great place for the French-pavilion participants to find the right buyers, the event provides a unique opportunity for the U.S. market to discover great new French products. Fabulous chocolates, truffles, macaroons, honey, cakes, nougat and caramels will all be in one convenient spot, clearly identified by a large “France” overhead banner.   Be sure to visit your favorite returning exhibitors as well as French Pavilion booths 421A - 421D in the West Building of McCormick Place: -        Les Chevaliers d’Argouges (gourmet chocolate specialties):  www.les-chevaliers-dargouges.com -        Le Manoir des Abeilles (honey, caramels, nougat, small cakes):  www.manoir-des-abeilles.com -        SALPA Group – Yves Thuriès (macaroons, truffles, chocolate bars & mendiants):   www.yvesthuries.com -        Ubifrance www.ubifrance.com/us   Follow us on Twitter and Facebook , and join our French / North American Food and Beverages Business Group on LinkedIn  

World Wine Meetings America in Chicago has become a premier buying event in the USA and UBIFRANCE is delighted and honored to be one of the organizers. UBIFRANCE plays a strategic role in ensuring that the highest quality possible of both buyers and producers attend the event. This year’s meetings have several new and exciting elements as well as the uniquely-styled meetings people have come to respect and appreciate. This year, each day of the event (May 28th - May 30th) there are the unique , private BtoB meetings that are based on mutual interest and scheduled so that the participants are spending quality time only with the producers and buyers that they choose to meet. List of Producers and Buyers can be found here .                                                                                                                                                        The event kicks off with Rosé Hour with AOC Bordeaux producers  – a walk around tasting where participants can meet each other in a relaxed setting over a delicious glass of rosé before the opening lunch where everyone will have wines from various producers with lunch. The afternoon is spent in the first round of business meetings. That evening there is a special Gala Dinner Cruise for all participants on beautiful Lake Michigan aboard the Odyssey Ship. – NEW this year! Don’t miss the Côtes de Bordeaux Master Class on Sunday the 29th at 12 :30pm – Learn more about this AOC and taste the wines from the region. After your business meetings on Sunday there is some serious FUN in store at the Planet Bordeaux Rocks Party !  - Come rock out at Planet Bordeaux’s festive Wine Tasting/Apéritif! Rub elbows with the winemakers and discover firsthand their high-quality, food-friendly wines from Bordeaux & Bordeaux Supérieur, the regional appellations of the world’s wine capital. With DJ & buffet. Monday the business meetings continue, but new this year is a Tasting Exhibition where over 150 producers from all over France, Spain & Italy will feature their wines at this walk-around grand tasting. If you are a USA buyer, it isn’t too late! DON’T MISS OUT! Be part of the wine experience in just 3 steps. Decide today. • Fill in the registration application • Once your participation is validated, make the online payment of 70 Euros, having access to the whole package: convention, features, meals, including your accommodation for April 28th and 29th at the Embassy Suites Lakefront Hotel -Downtown Chicago. $400 Travel Reimbursement! • Select online the producers you want to meet and RSVP for the features of your choice. Follow us on twitter and join our French / North American Wine and Spirits Business Group on LinkedIn.

Wine consumption is growing worldwide and particularly in the world’s new largest wine market, the U.S. Trouble is, shocks to the global economy and to the wine business in particular over the past several years along with tough growing seasons have dramatically limited the supply of grapes and wine sold in bulk to supply the thirst. Hugh Reimers, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Jackson Family Wines with a background in winemaking in Australia, cautioned a recent gathering of wine industry professionals recently not to expect significant relief from shortages internationally. “The grape supply is in balance globally,” he said at a Wine Industry Financial Roundtable hosted in Napa by accounting firm Moss Adams LLP in February . Jackson owns wineries and vineyards in coastal California and owns producers and imports wines from Italy, France, Chile and Australia. But he noted that plantings worldwide have been minimal. Twenty percent of vines were nonbearing in 1999, compared to only 4 percent today, he said. Exacerbating the need for more supply, wine consumption is expected to grow from today’s 2.5 gallons per capita to 3.8 gallons in 2025, requiring more wine and grapes. The Business Journal asked members of the 2012 Wine Industry Conference panel on grape and wine supply panel at the about some of the hotly discussed topics in the wine business in California. Panel members at the April 18 conference include Joe Ciatti of Zepponi & Company; Mark Couchman of Silverado Premium Properties; Jeffrey O’Neill of O’Neill Vintners & Distillers; Bill Pauli of Pauli Ranch Winery, Yakayo Wine Co. and current president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers; and Steve Smit of Constellation Wines U.S. Read the full article on the North Bay Business Journal

The French Food Connection returns for its sixth annual edition in April, showcasing gourmet French products on a road show across the United States. Touring three cities this year, the French Food Connection will stop in Hoboken, NJ (4/16), Miami (4/17) and Los Angeles (4/18) to introduce its French food & beverage items to local importers, distributors, restaurateurs, specialty food buyers and the press. Approximately 15 French food brands, selected by the New York French Trade Office-UBIFRANCE, will showcase a wide range of specialty foods and beverages from artisanal cheese and chocolates to savory caviar and frozen goods. The last five editions of the French Food Connection have proven to offer great business opportunities for the US trade looking for fresh new products, as well as for French companies seeking business development in the US. UBIFRANCE aims to introduce French products to the American market, highlighting both their traditional quality products as well as their progressive approach to US labeling requirements, consumer trends, distribution circuits and U.S. importer, distributor and buyer needs. This is a trade exclusive tasting.   Visit www.frenchfoodconnection.com for a list of exhibitors and the complete schedule as well as to register to attend the event. Follow us on twitter or join our French / North-American Food & Beverage Business Group on LinkedIn