Thursday, May 10, 2007

The Week in Alcohol

Sun judged largest star in solar system In their annual survey of the worldwide alcohol trade, Intangible Business found Gallo to be the most powerful wine brand in the world. Unfortunately, this makes it merely the 17th most powerful brand of alcoholic beverage in the world market, far behind #1 Smirnoff’s and barely ahead of #19 Jagermeister. The five most powerful wine brands were calculated to be: Gallo, Hardys, Concha y Toro, Robert Mondavi and Yellowtail. Intangible Business bases its power ranking on a complex formula in which sales and market share play only a modest part.

Flash! People with small brains drink more! A study presented to a gathering of the American Academy of Neurology in Boston showed that people who average more than 14 drinks a week had a reduction of their brain-volume-to-skull-size ratio of 1.6%, compared to non-drinkers.



Bring on the Asian Billionaires Part II On the heels of the third or fourth ‘vintage of the century’ in the last 50 years, and with prices largely beyond the reach of the mass market, top-rank Bordeaux growers are in a bind: how to keep prices up with a 2006 crop universally derided as a lousy investment? A hint at the answer is provided by Gary Boom of Bordeax Index. Describing the first growths as “completely overpriced”, Boom forecasts that the 2006’s “won't sell well and will be a bad investment” but might also prove to be “a classic vintage for new buyers – especially in the Far East – who want to secure allocations in future.” Translation: We’ll sell inferior, overpriced wine to the suckers of the nouveau riche, with the promise that this will give them entry into the club in time for the next vintage that’s really worth buying.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice.