Drinks talk | Wine news

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Vegetable restaurant

It has been a rotten year for the hospitality industry, but 2020 may yet have a little golden lining for De Nieuwe Winkel in Nijmegen. For the restaurant has been named Best Vegetable Restaurant of the Netherlands in 2020. Chef Emile van der Staak was admiringly proclaimed 'vegetable wizard'. He gets his ingredients from Europe's oldest food forest, where more than 350 edible plants from all over the world grow, and he lovingly creates the most delicious dishes from them. In doing so, he pours purely natural wines, but also a juice arrangement. Just as exciting.
denieuwewinkel.com | weresmartworld.com

Wynkopers searched!

The harvest is approaching, but there is still a huge puddle of wine waiting in South Africa. While in previous years drought was a major problem for agriculture, now the corona crisis threatens this fantastic wine country. The closure of the local hospitality industry, the absence of tourism, and temporary export bans have left as much as 300 million litres of wine unsold, according to South Africa's Nedbank. Solutions to the surplus can be thought of: reselling for distillation, making alcohol for industrial use, making grape juice, or lowering selling prices. But since wine prices are already constantly being pushed down, a further drop could destroy the market. And what a shame it would be if farmers grub up their beautiful old vines to generate more land income.

VinPro, the association of 2,500 South African winemakers and producers, estimates that within 16 months, 80 wineries and 350 growers will already go under. Hopefully the government will still wake up to give the wine sector an injection? Perhaps outlet China could provide solace? According to Daneel Rossouw, division manager of agriculture at Nedbank, there are still gains to be made here as South Africa holds only 1 per cent of the growing market of Chinese wine drinkers.

Oscars of wine

Being named at the International Wine Challenge is momentum for many wines, winemakers, merchants and personalities. And when you get one of the wine industry's Oscars thrust into your hand, your year can't be better. It happened to Aurelio Montes of Chilean winery Viña Montes. He won the IWC Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 for his life's work. Montes has become a figurehead of Chilean winemaking since its establishment in 1988. Son Aurelio is now also fully involved in the work in Valle Colchagua and Valle Curicó. But the Montes name also echoes in valleys outside Chile: in America in Napa Valley and in Argentina in Valle Mendoza, their vines are raised with passion and, above all, great skill. This is certainly not the first time Montes has won prizes at a prestigious wine competition, but for an Oscar they will certainly have a place.

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