#WeeklyWineWrap: Smart wine

Let's pop the cork on this week's news, shall we?

Wine goes digital with the world's first 'smart' wine bottle

The gist of it: Kuvée is a Wi-Fi-connected bottle that boasts a patented valve system that prevents oxygen from entering the wine, which keeps it fresh for up to a month after the bottle was first opened. The company has partnered a selection of international producers (including Bonny Doon, Schug, BR Cohn and Pine Ridge), which package their wines in metallic sheaths for use in the Kuvée system. The smart bottle also features an interactive touchscreen that makes personalised recommendations, shares food-matching tips and allows consumers to place wine orders. Read more about this wonderful new technology here.

A man lived to be 107 by drinking red wine every day

The gist of it: After Antonio Docampo García passed away recently at the age of 107, his family said he enjoyed such a long life thanks to his love of wine. Garcia, of north-west Spain, had his own vineyard and wine business, local Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia reports. He loved having a shot of brandy with breakfast and had wine every day with both lunch and dinner. Read the rest of the report here.

Bonus WWW factoid: The key ingredient in red wine that is thought to prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce low-density lipoprotein and prevent blood clots is called resveratrol.

The prestigious 1659 award goes to Danie de Wet of De Wetshof Estate

The gist of it: Danie de Wet, pioneering winemaker and owner of the De Wetshof Estate in Robertson, was recently presented with the South African wine industry’s 1659 Honorary Award, which is annually presented by Groot Constantia Estate and Die Burger. The recipient of the 1659 Honorary Award is chosen by a panel of wine industry stalwarts and presented to an individual who has created a legacy and played a profound role in the South African wine industry. This award is the highlight of the annual Blessing of the Harvest, held at Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine estate. Read more about this wonderful accolade here.

Bonus WWW factoid: The year 1659 marks the year when the first grapes were pressed in South Africa.

Climate change is good for wine production at the moment, but it set to cause upset later on

The warming climate is causing chaos around the globe, but for the moment it is actually helping vineyards to produce better wine. In fact, dry conditions are imperative if you want to produce good wine - hot summers that follow heavy spring rains speed up the harvest, while Indian summers reduce surface moisture and dry the soil to do the same. But while the current warming trend might be improving wine for the moment, it is unsustainable in the long term. For every degree Centigrade that the Earth warms, grape harvests are brought forward by approximately a week. If this shift continues harvest time will become disconnected from the moisture cycle altogether, which could mean that established wine regions will have to move. Read more about the long-term consequences of climate change on wine production here.

via GIPHY