Cider and Perry producers http://ukcider.co.uk/wiki/index.php/Cider_and_Perry_producers_-_full_list_arranged_by_county
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Cider and Perry producers http ukcider co uk…
http://distributedresearch.net/status/cider-and-perry-producers-http-ukcider-co-uk/
February 29 2012, 6:59am | Comments »
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I posted to distributedresearch.net
China’s insatiable thirst for fine wine threatens to burst Bordeaux bubble
Bordeaux prices are soaring as buyers in Hong Kong develop a taste for the famed French wine, and this is why you can’t find a reasonably priced real claret in England any more, amongst all the new world wines that fill up the majority of shelf space
This article titled “China’s insatiable thirst for fine wine threatens to burst Bordeaux bubble” was written by Jamie Doward, for The Observer on Saturday 30th April 2011 23.05 UTC It is one of the most hotly debated topics in the world of wine: is the Bordeaux bubble about to burst? The price of one of France’s most celebrated wines has soared over the last 12 months as British buyers compete with an increasing number of Chinese oenophiles to snap up the all too precious cases of claret. With the likes of Chris de Burgh and Sir David Frost recently selling their Bordeaux collections for six-figure sums, attention has focused on the top-tier wines such as Château Lafite, cases of which are going for as much as £15,000. At the start of the year, Lord Lloyd-Webber sold off a large part of his cellar, including a 12-bottle lot of Château Pétrus 1982 for $77,564 (around £48,500). Berry Brothers recently sold three cases of the same vintage for £58,000 a case. A dozen bottles of a typical second-tier Bordeaux was selling for around £600 a year ago, according to Berry Brothers, the wine merchants, but is now going for anything up to £2,000. But experts say the demand for Bordeaux is now so great that even wines from less well known producers have seen prices rocket. A decision by the Hong Kong government to abolish wine and beer duties has fuelled the demand. Berry Brothers estimates that last year, of the £110m of Bordeaux it sold “en primeur” – while still in the barrel – some £30m worth went through Hong Kong, compared with just £10m the year before. With en primeur sales of the 2010 vintage, which was apparently a fantastic year, soon to take place, the company is anticipating substantial demand from Chinese buyers. “We’ve got fewer than 100 customers in China, so you can imagine what happens if more Chinese people get a thirst for Bordeaux,” said Simon Staples, sales and marketing director at Berry Brothers. Intriguingly, the demand among Chinese buyers is only for red wine and only for Bordeaux. “Burgundy is much more complicated, the knowledge among Chinese buyers isn’t there yet, whereas Bordeaux is much easier to understand,” Staples said. “They want red wine; it’s a male thing, it’s good for the heart, good for the libido.” Staples has remortgaged his home three times in the last 10 years (in 2000, 2005 and 2009) to buy Bordeaux. Last year he recommended that his mother-in-law buy five cases of a particular Bordeaux at £2,400. These are now selling for £7,800. Chateaux producing the wine have responded to the surge in interest, investing in sophisticated machinery and a more rigorous selection policy for their grapes. A taste among a new generation of drinkers to consume Bordeaux much earlier than their predecessors has been driven by an earlier ripening of the grapes, in part down to longer, hotter summers in France. Vineyards have also started to strip leaves to give grapes more sun while leaving them longer on the vine so they are softer and sweeter. “It’s coincided with a new style of Bordeaux,” said Adam Lechmere, the news editor at Decanter magazine. “The vintages are drinkable much younger. You used to have to lay them down for 15 years or so, but now they’re softer and don’t have such harsh tannins.” Staples is confident heightened global demand means Bordeaux prices will not fall even if the UK economy enters a double dip. But others are wary. “People who work in the City tell me this has all the hallmarks of a Bordeaux bubble,” Lechmere said.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
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May 1 2011, 1:17pm | Comments »
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How Not To Use Online Communities
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2008/12/07/how-not-to-use-online-communities
I’ve just read a message on the ukcider community email list which warrants a response on the meta level about how online communities can be a fantastic resource for research and tapping into a multitude of volunteer information and advice, but only when approached in the right way. Journalists are usually the worst culprits, depending on the domain, and PHD candidates can be a bit single minded too, but anybody could fall into a similar trap and end up disappointed so I’ll try to provide an explanation of how to communicate with online communities and how not to do it. First the quote: I joined this newsgroup because i have an interest in making cider … and I have found the advice gained very useful. ..the other reason for joining is that I have just completed a book about cider (I am a photographer) When I first joined, two years ago, I posted on here, explaining that I was doing a book and wondered if anyone could help (with suggestions for good people to visit and shoot)…. I was looking for interesting producers, pubs, orchards etc all over the country. I didn’t receive a single reply from anyone on this group to that message and had to do all my own research. The key is to think of an online community as an ongoing conversation. It isn’t just a noticeboard where you can put up a post card for passers by. So you need to ease yourself in gradually, rather than with a fanfare and grand announcement. After a brief introductory post, you may receive a welcome or two, or you may be completely ignored. That’s a random and normal response so there’s no point in getting offended. A group of people is incapable collectively of being “rude” by not responding to any particular individual, and people naturally are more inclined to reply to others that they have already got to know to some extent. So don’t get downhearted in the first few days (or weeks depending on the pace) after joining a new community. Keep on joining in occasional conversations whenever you have something useful to say and after a period people will begin to notice you. Then when they do start to reply it will be as if to somebody they have already been talking to, because they have. Unfortunately though, some people just never seem to get this, and they continue to try and turn every group conversation into a 1-to-1, often appending the suggestion to reply off-list as well, which can be interpreted as somewhat selfish. Should you expect an online community to go away and do all your research for you just because you have deigned to post a request? Most people would not have such expectations but from time to time, such is the good nature of people in general, it will actually happen, and stories about how easily online communities can be mined, picked, deployed and harvested add fuel to the reputation. As the ‘owner’ of a lively googlegroup I even get people trying to save themselves the bother of even joining, hoping I will ask their research questions for them and then pass on all the answers. If they come from a print media or broadcasting background they often demand a telephone interview, thinking that simply dropping their phone number into an email is enough to drive information and resources in their direction.
Posted by Andy Roberts How Not To Use Online Communities
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December 7 2008, 10:31am | Comments »
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