Next weekend’s Mount Barker Grapes and Gallops offers thousands of visitors and what the state government describes as an “extraordinary combination of wine and horse racing in the heart of the Great Southern.” Acting Tourism Minister Helen Morton said the event was recognised as the region’s favourite festival, incorporating premium wine, gourmet food and action-packed racing, reports Farm Weekly.
Next weekend’s Mount Barker Grapes and Gallops offers thousands of visitors and what the state government describes as an “extraordinary combination of wine and horse racing in the heart of the Great Southern.” Acting Tourism Minister Helen Morton said the event was recognised as the region’s favourite festival, incorporating premium wine, gourmet food and action-packed racing, reports Farm Weekly.
Work began yesterday at the Fairmont Homes Seaford Heights housing development. It has prompted opponents to repeat calls for laws to protect the McLaren Vale district from further encroachment. The development was hotly contested last year but approved in May, clearing the way for about 1300 homes to be built on 77ha just north of the McLaren Vale wine region, reports AdelaideNow.
Work began yesterday at the Fairmont Homes Seaford Heights housing development. It has prompted opponents to repeat calls for laws to protect the McLaren Vale district from further encroachment. The development was hotly contested last year but approved in May, clearing the way for about 1300 homes to be built on 77ha just north of the McLaren Vale wine region, reports AdelaideNow.
Australia’s second-largest wine company, Treasury Wine Estates, has failed to arrest declining sales in its biggest market, the United States. In the 13 weeks to December 10, the amount of wine Treasury sold fell 5 per cent and the value of sales declined 6 per cent, according to The Australian Financial Review. It was a performance that lagged the broader market as revenues fell heavily from its big-selling American wine labels and its imported Australian brands such as Rosemount.
Wine bosses in Australia are frustrated by the slow progress of the country’s vine removal programme, with around half the projected amount of vines being grubbed up since 2009. The 2009 Wine Restructuring Action Agenda (WRAA) indicated there were 20-30,000 hectares of surplus vineyards in Australia. The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia estimates 14,000 ha have been removed since the Agenda’s launch but reform has not been as been as extensive as hoped, reports Decanter.
While New York’s wine industry has seen its promotional budget shrink the past year or two, there’s enough money there for an ambitious program called New York Drinks New York that the Wine & Grape Foundation will launch during the first quarter of 2012. Centered on New York City, the campaign is a multi-faceted program for wine trade, media, and consumers, intended to set the stage for a long-term effort to raise awareness about the quality of New York wines, reports Penn Live.
The 2011 Frankland Estate Rieslings could be the best group of wines released by the winery so far. The estate is in the isolated Frankland River region of the Great Southern, where a growing number of Australia’s finest Rieslings are beginning to emerge. Over many years owners and winemakers Judi Cullam and Barrie Smith, and now son Hunter, have taken extraordinary, challenging and expensive steps to unselfishly promote both their releases – and the variety in general – to the international world of Riesling lovers, reports In My Community.
A dispute over the use of the term White Zinfandel in the European Union has been resolved. The row broke out last autumn after Italian authorities complained about the grape being referred to as “White Zinfandel” when it is a red grape, which they said would be confusing to consumers. However the term is widely understood as a brand name in the USA and UK denoting the popular rosé wine, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.
UK drinkers don’t know how strong their drinks are and appear to underestimate the alcohol content of wine. According to research by the Wilson Drinks Report, just 9% of 2,000 British adults correctly identified a 250ml glass of red wine as having more units than a pint of Stella or triple vodka and Red Bull, reports The Drinks Business.