• Ontario testing supermarket wine: Two Canadian provinces, Ontario and Quebec, are famous for their state store liquor system. But even they’re feeling the pressure to deregulate alcohol sales; Ontario has announced a test program to sell liquor and wine in 10 grocery stores. The National Post newspaper reports Ontario wine drinkers will buy wine at state stores set up inside the grocery stores. This means they’ll have to pay for their wine separately from their food – not as dumb an idea as Pennsylvania’s wine vending machines, but not all that brilliant, either. How much fun will it be to wait in two check-out lines during rush hour?
• South African wine workers on strike: Thousands of of South African farm workers are on strike in the Western Cape wine region, says Reuters, part of a series of violent strikes in which two workers were killed and vineyards were damaged. The farm workers, many of them black seasonal hires employed to pick and pack fruit, suspended their strikes in December.
• Consumers clamoring for sweet: And especially sweet red, says Nielsen – up 62 percent in the year ending Dec. 8. Sweet red, in fact, has passed moscato, last year’s sales darling, in annual growth. Where this ends is anyone’s guess (and horrific fear, if I know the Winestream Media), though I’m sure sweet red is going to get a lot more popular before it peaks. I was at a consumer wine thing last week, and Cupcake Red Velvet was one of the most popular topics of conversation.
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