Over the past few weeks there have been a number of newsworthy manoeuvres happening in the wine world that can possibly affect wine and spirits here in Jamaica and the region.

What does Brexit mean for wine?

Within the European Union the wine and spirits trade between member nations is tremendous. Britain is a big consumer of wine from France and other European countries, so with the value of the pound slipping the way it has after the vote there is an air of uncertainty as to what will happen as products cross borders, especially with respect to tariffs. New trade agreements will need to be made between the UK and all the countries in the union. Jamaicans love Scotch Whisky, which represents one quarter of all UK food and drink exports. Will Scotch prices be affected? Maybe – but it’s too early to say exactly how. Many of the importers in the Caribbean import their European food and drinks via the UK, but after speaking with a few importers, it’s too soon to say exactly what the overall effect on our region will be. Some theorise that with the two-year exit plan requirement, most of the issues will have worked themselves out by then, others posit that this exit might take a much longer time to actually happen, so perhaps let’s not worry too much about it right now.

E&J Gallo buys Orin Swift Cellars

E&J Gallo is one of the world’s largest family-owned wineries and wine distributors, and their growth as a company has been both organic and through acquisitions. Their latest acquisition is David Phinney’s Orin Swift Cellars. If you are familiar with a wine which has been growing in popularity here in Jamaica called The Prisoner, it was created by David Phinney who sold it to a company called Huneeus Vintners, who in turn sold it to the largest wine producer in the world – Constellation Brands. This new deal means that E&J Gallo will now own the following wine brands: Abstract, China Doll, Machete, Mannequin, Mercury Head, Mute, Palermo, Papillon, Slander, Trigger Finger and Veladora. What does this mean for us locally? We will see what the main local importer partner for E&J Gallo, which happens to be J. Wray & Nephew Ltd, will do with the brands. These brand divestments and acquisitions usually result in wines moving from one importer to another importer.

Arsenic case thrown out

You might have recalled that early last year news about arsenic in some California wines hit the media in a big way. At the time, the Californian Wine Institute branded the case an “irresponsible publicity campaign” designed to “scare the public into thinking that wine is not safe to consume, which is patently untrue. After a review of the facts, I referred to the issue as “a storm in a teacup”. However, I noticed that up to last week there are still lots of people sharing stale information on social media. Folks, the case was thrown out earlier this year. Releasing a statement on the case dismissal, the Wine Institute said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Shepard Wiley had granted winery defendants “motion to dismiss an unfounded claim that trace amounts of arsenic in wine pose a health threat to consumers”. A number of the so-called affected brands are safely being consumed in Jamaica every day.

Christopher Reckord – Information Technology Entrepreneur & Wine Enthusiast. Send your questions and comments to creckord@gmail.com. You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope @chrisreckord and on Twitter: @Reckord