Lidl offers the best value for money wine of all the UK supermarkets, a panel of experts has concluded. Lidl was praised for 65 per cent of its wines offering good value for money, closely followed by discounter rival Aldi with 64 per cent. At the other end of the scale, a whopping 74 per cent of bottles sold by Marks & Spencer offer poor value for money, the panel judged. The experts included sommeliers, winemakers and Masters of Wines.
Leading New Zealand winery, Villa Maria, has announced that Alastair Maling is leaving after more than 12 years. A master of wine and general manager winemaking, he will will remain until the end of June to ensure a smooth transition. CEO Villa Maria, Sir George Fistonich said: “Alastair has played an important role in the development of Villa Maria and has ensured that deep rooted foundations have been laid to maintain the quality of our winemaking portfolio as the business has grown.
New Zealand wine continues to advance rapidly in the U.S. market, delivering impressive growth in both volume and value. In 2014, New Zealand table wine imports jumped by 19.3% to 5.67 million cases, concluding a three-year period which showed an increase of 55%, according to Impact Databank. While rival imports are sharpening their focus on premiumisation, New Zealand is already very much a premium proposition.
Unlike the wine, craft beer and cider industries, spirit distilleries receive no tax break for their products. Co-owner of Kangaroo Island Spirits and Australian Distillers Association committee member Jon Lark said excise tax cuts are necessary for industry growth. “What we are seeing done well in Australia with other beverage industries such as wine, beer and cider is that the Government is giving excise relief, particularly for small boutique producers to enable them to compete and develop in the market,” he said.
Refugees are to benefit from the exceptionally good wine harvest being experienced by growers in the Canberra district cool climate region. With harvest complete and crushing underway, a surplus of Shiraz grapes produced by one winery has inspired a number of vignerons to combine their talents and infrastructure to raise money for refugees that have settled in the area. This is being done by producing a Shiraz from this year’s vintage, with the proceeds going to the Canberra-based Companion House which was founded in 1989.
CANBERRA: A free trade pact between India and Australia could be initiated by the year end with the mineral-rich island nation showing willingness to take into consideration New Delhi’s sensitivities in sectors like dairy and wine. The two sides are keen to build on the political will that emerged after a positive engagement between the leaders of the two nations and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Australia tour in November last year. The eight rounds of talks are expected to begin in New Delhi in the first week of July.
Australia is pressuring a reluctant Canada to lower trade barriers on its wine industry, pushing for similar concessions that were won by the European Union, The Canadian Press has learned. An internal memo from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development says Australia is pushing for greater market access for its wine in Canada as part of the ongoing negotiations of the Trans Pacific Partnership. Australia is citing gains made by the EU in its comprehensive agreement in principle with Canada — known by the acronym CETA — which was announced in late 2013, but is still being finalised.
Four out of five bottles and casks of wine will increase in price if the federal government imposes a volumetric tax on the industry, the chief executive of Australia’s second largest wine company, Accolade Wines, has warned. John Ratcliffe, head of Accolade, which is 80 per cent owned by private equity firm CHAMP, is firmly rejecting a push by his two big rivals Treasury Wine Estates and Pernod Ricard, who’ve broken ranks to advocate for a flat tax for wine. The move has angered most of the remaining 2500 wine companies in Australia, who are annoyed at the duo’s surprise stance.