Alternative Wine Producers

You can get South African wine in Australia, but US wine isnt easy to come across. Ive been looking out of interest and I think Ive only seen two types from Napa. Interesting, although that may have to do more with trade laws etc.
 
Chinese wine?

I don't really trust food or drink products produced in the PRC unless I've been able to do some research on the brand and ingredients.

Remy Martin is producing Dynasty Cabernet Sauvignon, which is pretty good. Also the Tsingdao Beer group is also in the wine business now. China has suddenly became one of the largest wine consumers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_in_China

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I find it extraordinary the American east coast don't have a highly developed wine industry. The market is there, why is everything imported from Napa Valley and France? I was amazed how localized wine was in Switzerland where I have some relatives. They have a property by a lake and every family in that area own a micro vineyard with their own labels. My god I was opening eight bottles a day when I was over there.

Beyond wine, what about brandy and champagne? Many countries now make decent wine, but still nobody makes decent brandy and champagne except the French. Come on, everybody likes champagne.
 
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Beyond wine, what about brandy and champagne? Many countries now make decent wine, but still nobody makes decent brandy and champagne except the French. Come on, everybody likes champagne.

Well, with Brandy there are several American ones, and an Armenian variety that was popular with Churchill apparently.

For Champagne, the name can only be applied to sparkling whites from that region, but as I said before, there's an English Sparkling white which has recieved accolades recently
 
I find it extraordinary the American east coast don't have a highly developed wine industry. The market is there, why is everything imported from Napa Valley and France? I was amazed how localized wine was in Switzerland where I have some relatives. They have a property by a lake and every family in that area own a micro vineyard with their own labels. My god I was opening eight bottles a day when I was over there.

Beyond wine, what about brandy and champagne? Many countries now make decent wine, but still nobody makes decent brandy and champagne except the French. Come on, everybody likes champagne.
Come to the finger lakes region of ny and say that. !!!
 
I find it extraordinary the American east coast don't have a highly developed wine industry. The market is there, why is everything imported from Napa Valley and France? I was amazed how localized wine was in Switzerland where I have some relatives. They have a property by a lake and every family in that area own a micro vineyard with their own labels. My god I was opening eight bottles a day when I was over there.

Beyond wine, what about brandy and champagne? Many countries now make decent wine, but still nobody makes decent brandy and champagne except the French. Come on, everybody likes champagne.

As I have stated in a previous post prohibition largely ruined the entire wine industry in the United States. California was just the first one to pick up after prohibition ended in 1933, first with cheap basic wines, later with quality wines as well. Before the prohibition some of the best wines in the United States were in fact produced in New York State and Ohio and in the last couple of years, those regions are experiencing somewhat of a renaissance in viticulture.

There are in fact some quite decent Spanish, Portugese, Italian, Greek and German brandies. As for sparkling wine, virtually every wine producing country also produces its own sparkling wine, among the better known are the Italian Spumante / Prosecco, Spanish Cava, German Sekt and Russian Krimskoye.
 
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How about a stronger wine industry in ex-URSS and around? It is forgotten at times, but countries like georgia had an OLD wine tradition.. as Victor up implied.

(How are those wines, BTW? I always wanted to taste what Stalin may have loved..)
 
How about a stronger wine industry in ex-URSS and around? It is forgotten at times, but countries like georgia had an OLD wine tradition.. as Victor up implied.

(How are those wines, BTW? I always wanted to taste what Stalin may have loved..)

The problem is the Russian wine palete likes "sweet" wine, and we who used to western wines (including PRC's productions) are likely to abhor such tastes.
 
I find it extraordinary the American east coast don't have a highly developed wine industry. The market is there, why is everything imported from Napa Valley and France? I was amazed how localized wine was in Switzerland where I have some relatives. They have a property by a lake and every family in that area own a micro vineyard with their own labels. My god I was opening eight bottles a day when I was over there.

Beyond wine, what about brandy and champagne? Many countries now make decent wine, but still nobody makes decent brandy and champagne except the French. Come on, everybody likes champagne.
As said before, Prohibition did a number on the East Coast wine industry.
 
Nothing wrong with sweet wines, sometimes a good port is hard to beat.

Considering all the former Portuguese colonies out there, you would expect a greater international appreciating for port.

There should also be more countries making Alsatian Rieslings and Gewurztraminers. These fruity and slightly sweet wines go better with Asian cuisine. Maybe some Germans can introduce it to Tsingtao when they transplanted the beer culture.
 
As I have stated in a previous post prohibition largely ruined the entire wine industry in the United States. California was just the first one to pick up after prohibition ended in 1933, first with cheap basic wines, later with quality wines as well. Before the prohibition some of the best wines in the United States were in fact produced in New York State and Ohio and in the last couple of years, those regions are experiencing somewhat of a renaissance in viticulture.

I think it might have to do with the Mediterranean climate on the West coast being too good to resist for American wine makers.

There are in fact some quite decent Spanish, Portugese, Italian, Greek and German brandies. As for sparkling wine, virtually every wine producing country also produces its own sparkling wine, among the better known are the Italian Spumante / Prosecco, Spanish Cava, German Sekt and Russian Krimskoye.

Yeah but there is no serious competition to the French sparklings, unlike with wine where the playing field is more flat.
 
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