Naked Wines Share Discussion Threads

[jl202] 31/10/2005 13:24

My treats of choice these days tend to be Barossa Shiraz and a drop of the old Chablis... :P

[jl202] 31/10/2005 13:21

*shame*

*gets coat, leaves*

[ttg100] 31/10/2005 12:45

if you are looking for a treat
this is good way to buy top Aussie wines


the Penfolds bin 95 is excellent

[bionicdog] 31/10/2005 12:26

I don't even like an above average French house red!

[waldron] 31/10/2005 11:13

jl, That was quite a confession.

[ariane] 28/10/2005 13:03

feel quite hungery now

[thamestrader] 28/10/2005 12:53

Had the gewurtztraminer with my starter of chicken livers, and she who must be obeyed enjoyed it with her veggie tart, then monkfish. I moved over to a cabernet shiraz with my main (steak) - equally palattable.

Chinese, interesting. I'm usually stuck for a wine to go with oriental nosh, usually end up with beer (lager), so definitely worth a try.

[ditchbert] 28/10/2005 09:14

A personal favourite of mine. Try it with a Chinese.

[ariane] 28/10/2005 09:07

cheers tt

on its own or with something?

[thamestrader] 28/10/2005 08:53

Determined to try something a bit different from our norm, so we glugged a bottle of Villa Maria (NZ) Gewurtztraminer last night.
Jolly good it was too, IMHO, DYOR, etc..

[ariane] 27/10/2005 08:00

Boss of Unwins resigns on financial woes
James Quinn, Daily Mail
27 October 2005
THE colourful businessman behind the takeover of offlicence chain Unwins has quit amid mounting concerns over the retailer's finances.



BAD TASTE: David Massey resigned a month ago but his departure has only just come to light

Former journalist David Massey resigned as a director of Unwins and its owner, DM Private Equity, earlier this month, but his departure has only just come to light.

His exit has emerged at a difficult time for the group. Some stores in the 381-strong chain are understood to have just 25% of normal stock levels following problems with suppliers. Meanwhile managers have been told not to bank their takings, but to wait until they are collected by the firm's accountants.

The company says the unorthodox cash-collection methods are part of a move to 'tighten up internal discipline and internal procedures'.

These will remain in place until early to mid-November, when it hopes a new management accounts system is rolled out across all branches. The spokesman scotched rumours the company is in financial difficulties, but refused to comment on whether suppliers had withdrawn lines of credit.

Unwins is cutting the number of products it sells from 5,000 to just 350 as it bids to become profitable. But it would appear that, in some cases, the rationalisation process has gone too far.

A visit to two stores in the Reading area revealed a number of empty fridges, with one manager admitting the shop had received no white wine - bar Liebfraumilch - for two months.

The group is also thought to be on the verge of selling 40 of its stores, while 130 store managers face redundancy as part of the revamp. Unwins believes the job losses are necessary as it is moves to a system where one manager looks after a number of local stores.

The jobs are likely to be axed just before Christmas, when a 90-day staff consultation period ends. It has been a turbulent seven months since Massey acquired the group in a rather unusual way.

Known for his unique approach to deals, he pulled this one off using 120,000 bottles of wine from Australian vintner Palandri Wines, in which DM owns a 5% stake.

DM paid £32m to buy Unwins from the Wetz family, which had controlled it for more than eight decades.

Massey was also chief executive of Aim-listed Brain Games Network, which owned the rights to the World Chess Championship but collapsed two years ago.

[ariane] 26/10/2005 07:06

Trading Statement

RNS Number:1670T
Palandri Ltd
26 October 2005

Palandri Limited

Strategic Update

The Directors of Palandri Limited ("Company") are pleased to announce a
strategic update in relation to its activities, which they will be presenting to
private client fund managers and other investors across the UK during the course
of the next 10 days.

The Board has reviewed its business plan and targeted the annual production and
sale of 500,000 cases of premium wine by 2010, which will involve a progressive
expansion of the winery capacity from its existing 4,500 tonnes to 7,500 tonnes.
In addition, the Board is seeking to increase its control over Western
Australian vineyards from the current 350ha to in excess of 600ha over the
period, providing additional grape resource for production. Key to its plans is
the targeting of further Northern Hemisphere market penetration including, in
particular, the targeting of major UK supermarket sales to complement the
progress made to date and the strong presence in the independent market, such
that it would represent some 80% of Palandri's wine sales by 2010. The Board
believes that the expected continuing strong performance will enable it to
commence the payment of dividends in the near future.

In addition to the development of the wine business, the Board is exploring
routes to simplify the Company structure, enabling clearer presentation of the
revenue derived from and assets and liabilities relating to the Managed
Investment Schemes, which will bring greater visibility of the underlying wine
sales growth and profitability.

The Managed Investment Scheme fundraising which the Company's subsidiary,
Palandri Investment Management Limited ("PIM"), undertakes, raises monies for
investment in development of vineyard projects. PIM has issued a Supplementary
Product Disclosure Statement ("SPDS") dated 20 October 2005 for the Palandri
Winegrape Project 2005. The SPDS for the Palandri Winegrape Project extends the
application period in respect of the fundraising to 15 June 2006, and the term
of the investment scheme for 18 years to 30 June 2024. In addition, the
Palandri Winegrape Project 2005 received an Australian Taxation Office Product
Ruling PR 2005/109 on 19 October 2005. The product ruling confirms the 100% tax
deductibility for Australian residents.

PIM will receive gross management fees for the life of the Project to June 2024,
for its services as Manager of the Palandri Winegrape Project 2005.

In addition, Palandri Finance Limited ('PFL'), a subsidiary of Palandri Ltd, has
recently completed a contract with United Pacific Finance, a major Australian
finance company, whereby a tranche of existing loans to PFL customers to the
value of A$2m were sold to that company at face value. The settlement of this
transaction will reflect positively in the financial accounts of the Palandri
Group.

Further information:

Darrel Jarvis
Chief Executive Officer
Palandri Limited
Telephone: [phone]


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

TSTEANESADKSFFE

[bionicdog] 23/10/2005 12:06

I have always imagined the average Richard and Judy viewer to be a discerning wine buff. This is clearly a site for the connoisseur.

[red ninja] 20/10/2005 10:44

Had a couple of bottles of rather good 2000 Bordeaux at a dinner party the other day. Sounds like 2005 may be another cracker of a vintage, and hopefully given the current red wine glut, maybe reasonably priced. :-

2005 may boost lesser Bordeaux
October 17, 2005
Panos Kakaviatos

Bordeaux producers and merchants reckon the 2005 vintage is so good it will boost the whole of Bordeaux – but only if you're cru bourgeois and above.

Merchants are hoping for 'another 2000-style selling campaign' as Laurent Ehrmann of the Bordeaux negociant house Barriere Freres said. 'Technically, few people have witnessed such a great harvest in their entire careers.'

Ehrmann added that cru bourgeois should do well, as it did five years ago. '2000 was the last vintage where we saw important sales of cru bourgeois that sold out within four years.'

Across the Atlantic wine merchants are very optimistic for lesser known Bordeaux, which has lost sales worldwide over the last few years.

Michael Aaron of Sherry-Lehmann, one of the oldest wine stores in New York City, said the harvest was so consistently good, it should ensure good sales across the board, which 'should help some of our forgotten friends of Bordeaux.'

'From what I have heard from my contacts in Bordeaux, it seems that it will be almost impossible to make a mediocre wine in 2005, and in all categories. When the news spreads out of such consistency, we may see another 2000-style buying frenzy, where virtually everything is going to be sold, whether classic chateaux or less known.'

In Washington DC, wine importer Mark Wessels does not expect 2005 to be as big a futures campaign as in 2000, but 'certainly bigger than the 2001s, 02s, 03s and 04s.'

'I will certainly buy a good dose of 2005 cru bourgeois to re-supply my stocks after not buying the 02s, 03s and 04s. There is very little demand for these small wines, but for 2005, not just the classed growths but the other wines will sell as well.'

In the UK, sellers note that it depends on the price. 'The only time we bought cru bourgeois en primeur was in 2000 because of the incredible demand,' said Joss Fowler of Berry Bros & Rudd. 'I do not think that 2005 will create as much demand at this stage, but if the price is low enough, sales of cru bourgeois should be boosted as well.'

But for some more basic Bordeaux winemakers – below the cru bourgeois level – 2005 will not make much difference.

'The market is down, down, down, and it is going to keep that way for many years,' said Yves-Bertrand of Chateau de Gaillat, a wine from the Graves region.

'2005 is one of the most beautiful crops I have ever seen in 20 years. It will be a real success taste-wise, but selling it is another thing,' he added.

'Bordeaux cannot face international competition, with the high social costs in making wine transferred to the consumer, who has an increasing choice of very good products made around the world.'

In Washington, Wessels agrees: the likely positive effect of the vintage will not resolve the structural problems such as over-planting and quality issues that many low- to mid-range Bordeaux face in the international marketplace.

[red ninja] 20/10/2005 10:41

Waldron,

Sounds heavenly ...

[waldron] 16/10/2005 11:06

Pure Bliss

First of the new season

Just eaten 6 lovely oysters washed down with a dash of lemon and
of course a little chilled Chablis.

[ariane] 14/10/2005 11:10

Palandri FY pretax profit jumps 84 pct as lower opg costs outweigh drop in
sales

LONDON (AFX) - Palandri Ltd, a company that produces and markets Western
Australian premium wine, said its pretax profit jumped 84 pct in the year to end
June as lower operating expenses outweighed a 26-pct decline in sales.
"Our results are truly outstanding in a year in which many in the Australian
wine industry faced diminishing markets and reduced returns to shareholders,"
said chief executive and managing director Darrel Jarvis.
Pretax profit surged to 3.1 mln aud from 1.7 mln aud as sales fell to 26.0
mln from 35.2 mln the year earlier. Operating expenses dropped 32 pct to 22.9
mln aud.
Sales fell after wine revenues and costs were accounted directly to the
Margaret River Wine Business and Palandri America Wine Business schemes, rather
than in previous years where they were classed within fixed management fees to
Palandri Ltd.
The company said it is pleased with the growth of its business and market
penetration achieved throughout the year.
[e-mail]
jc

[jl202] 12/10/2005 13:25

Great article about cali watering down the vino - sorry but I think that's not the idea! Have added mondovino to tesco's list...


jl.