As Hunter Valley vignerons struggle to make ends meet, a new business has emerged from the wine industry’s woes. The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia has revealed that 85 per cent of grape growers across the country have been unable to meet or exceed production costs this year. The situation is worse in the Hunter with 94 per cent of producers struggling to make money. Specialised vine removalist, Tom Stephens, said he has two crews pulling out 30 acres of vines a week.

THE Federal Government has revealed some wine producers have been misusing the Wine Equalisation Tax rebate system, in the strongest signal yet the tax will be overhauled. The Winemakers Federation has been pushing for a tightening of WET rebates to help boost the promotion of Australia wine in key markets, including China and North America. Assistant Infrastructure and Development Minister Jamie Briggs said the Government was concerned about the way the WET is operating.

Long a part of the E.&J. Gallo import portfolio, Australian winemaker McWilliam’s has taken a new direction in the U.S. market this year, switching importers and launching two higher-priced wine ranges and a millennial-targeted red blend, with more premium offerings on the way. “The fastest-growing price segment in the U.S. is $10-$20,” notes Mark Hely, McWilliam’s director of international markets. “We’ve traditionally sat at around $10 in the U.S. and Australia, and we’re looking to move up to the $15-$30 range.

It was a corker of a night all round at the sixth annual StarTrack Online Retail Industry Awards in Sydney last night, with wine retailers scooping the night’s top awards. Online wine retailer and former Smart50 finalist Vinomofo was named Online Retailer of the Year, while the company also picked up awards for Best Pure Play Online Retailer and Best Online Retail marketing Initiative. Fellow wine retailer Naked Wines took out the inaugural People’s Choice award.

The Apple Isle is the most profitable wine region in Australia. Tasmania is following a simple strategy of concentrating on the top-end price brackets and has been careful not to distort the laws of economics, only ever expanding production in response to rising demand. Every one of the six million bottles of wine produced in Tasmania sells at a retail level of at least $15 per bottle, with most much higher. Wine producers in the state say the increasing cachet surrounding its high-quality production is opening more doors both on the mainland and overseas.

Powered by a strong increase of Australian wine imports in both value and volume, Chinese bottled wine imports has shown moderate signs of recovery during the first six month of 2015, according to custom figures. During the first half of 2015, 143m litres of bottled wines were imported into China, which accounted for $655m, showing 7.5% and 1.9% year-on-year increase respectively, with the average price dropped by 5.2%.

Spend a day at a wine grape growers’ summit and, among many other things, you’re left with no doubt about the reality of climate change. Spend another day with a savvy grape grower touring the Barossa and you’re left with no doubt about the cost of it and the uncertainty about where it’s heading. That’s not news for those who follow the wine industry closely at the production level, but for those of us who concentrate on consumption, the matter-of-factness of the change is rather startling.

Climate change and the consumer’s role were cropped up alongside the effects on viticulture and vinification in the International Cool Climate briefing at the 2015 London Wine Fair. ‘There’s also something I call “cool climate thinking”,’ said Dr Jamie Goode, who will be closing the ICCWS on the final day of the three day conference. ‘In a warm climate you might be thinking “How can I make balanced wines”.’ Goode was speaking at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium briefing at the 2015 London Wine Fair, back in May, at London Olympia.

Since the original publication in the Grapegrower and Winemaker in June 1990, nearly 10 million of GroGuard’s vine guards have been sold. The GroGuard’s legendary ruggedness and reliability has increased the success and profitability of many hundreds of new plantings. We thank our customers for their support and look forward to ongoing success in the years to come.

Final reminder to register at #AuTT and grow your brand in Australia. Exhibitor registrations ends July 30. Exhibit your brand at Australia Trade Tasting and get in front of Australia’s leading importers, important distributors, high-profile retail merchants, and influential media executives. You will also get 1 free ticket to the conference session of your choice between 1st of September and 2nd of September sessions. Learn how to sell, market and grow your distribution, learn from the people who have done it.