As Jacob Nooyen watched the winery his family had established a century ago go up in flames his first thought was “God, save the wine! I’m the winemaker and there’s just so much work that’s gone in to making the wine,” said the winery owner and winemaker after Monday morning’s blaze which severely damaged 60-70 per cent of the Ngahinapouri winery near Hamilton. Every Waikato firefighting crew was called in to battle the blaze.
HIGH in the Mongolian mountains, far from the reach of skyscrapers and flashing city lights, a shipment of Queensland wine is bundled up with blankets, carried through the rocky and snow-dusted countryside on the back of a yak. It’s one of the more unusual export deliveries for Sirromet winery at Mt Cotton, near Brisbane, which has been quick to stretch its legs into the booming Asian market. And while there’s unique challenges in exporting overseas, director of sales and marketing Rod Hill says it’s worth the effort as a rapidly growing middle class increases global demand for food.
Sulphur has been used as a preservative and disinfectant in winemaking for thousands of years. The ancient Romans burned sulphur candles inside amphorae before filling them with wine because they knew it helped the wine stay fresh; sulphur dioxide was first added to wine as a preservative as long ago as the late 15th century. Today, the practice of adding sulphur dioxide, SO2, to wine is almost universal.
West Australian wine lovers can again toast to good tasting wine after winemakers wrapped up another outstanding vintage, continuing a stellar trend in the west. A sustained period of successful vintages across WA’s rich and diverse wine regions have been the envy of interstate wine industries, with 2015 another standout year. Low yields resulted in top-quality varieties south of the state, while the Swan Valley harvest is one of the best vintages on record, with yields spot on and quality buoyed by the cooler start to summer.
Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) and Pernod Ricard have welcomed the signing of a new China-Australia free trade agreement, which will end excise duty on Australian wine imports to the Asian country.
The agreement, signed last week, will phase out tariffs of 14-20% over the next four years as the countries look to bolster trade ties. China is Australia’s third-largest export market by value behind the US and the UK and accounts for 5.4% of Australian wine exports, or 11.8% in sales terms.
Accolade Wines, the second largest wine company in Australia, has a lot of work do to improve the performance of its recently-acquired Grant Burge Wines, which plunged to a loss of almost $10 million in its final year as a stand-alone firm. The Australian Financial Review can reveal that Barossa Valley-based Grant Burge Wines tumbled to a loss of $9.4 million after generating sales of $40.4 million in its last 12 months as an independent company.
Due to the region’s increasing interest in bubbles, the Champagne house has relaunched highlights of the Cordon Rouge range from the last 30 years as part of the new Collection du Chef de Caves.
Speaking at the launch in Hullett House, Mumm’s chief winemaker, Didier Mariotti explained the reason behind the move from the Reims-based champagne house. “Despite Australia still being the number one market for us in the Asia Pacific, Hong Kong has a lot of potential.”
With the US Senate’s approval of a fast-track bill on Wednesday, the 12-nation trade deal may be just months away. Government ministers in the past have highlighted estimates the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership, which includes New Zealand and the United States, could deliver annual gains of $5.5 billion by 2025. For New Zealand, a TPP would open a door to a trade deal with the world’s largest economy, the United States, after 20 years of lobbying.
The oldest and largest regional wine awards in the country were launched last night at a lavish affair at EIT in Taradale. About 50 people sipped on Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah and Chardonnay to officially open the Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards, 2015. Steve Smith, Master of Wine and one of New Zealand’s most respected wine industry leaders, will return to the judging panel. “After a decade, it’s great to be back. I’m thrilled to be joining a judging team again for an exceptional year on the back of three outstanding Hawke’s Bay vintages,” said Smith.
Australia is keen on liberalisation of the trade in agricultural products and professional services after the Thailand-Australia Free-Trade Agreement (TAFTA) has been in effect for 10 years, while foreseeing strong trade growth between the two nations. However, Somkiat Tangkitvanich, president of the Thai Development Research Institute, said Tariffs on imported wine, beverages and tobacco from Australia should be maintained. “The duties from those products are one of the major sources of income for the government.”