Massey University’s beef research team put GPS collars on 30 cows within three herds of 20-30 cows and monitored their movements over two winters, as part of a project looking at pugging and cows’ environmental impactFOUR of the grapegrowing industry’s finest prospects will be lining up in Hawke’s Bay next week battling for the title of national Young Viticulturist of the Year.
A 12 strong judging team, including international judge Dan Sims, is gearing up to judge almost 600 entries for this year’s Bragato Wine Awards in Hawke’s Bay. Sims started out in the Australian wine industry as a sommelier and is a well-respected wine commentator, educator, and promoter based in Melbourne. Known for being outspoken on the subject of making the world of wine accessible, Sims is currently focused on producing large scale events for wine drinkers that are informative and interactive.
The University of Adelaide released findings yesterday that indicate the solid waste left over from winemaking could make a competitive biofuel. Published in the journal Bioresource Technology, the researchers showed that up to 400 litres of bioethanol could be produced by fermentation of a tonne of grape marc. Global wine production leaves an estimated 13 million tonnes of grape marc waste each year. Nationally it is estimated that several hundred thousand tonnes are generated annually and it is generally disposed of at a cost to the winery.
It was one of those moments where even though moving to the other side of the country sounded crazy, for Josh Phillips and Zoe Young it was about diving in the deep end and taking on the challenge of running a winery in Queensland. For some people the idea of a desk job doesn’t quite cut it. They need to feel the soil between their toes and the brush of the breeze on their face.
TWO wineries from Victoria’s Pyrenees will represent Australia at the world’s most prestigious sparkling wine conference in France later this year. Blue Pyrenees and Taltarni are two of just seven Australian wineries chosen to attend the VITeff exhibition in Champagne — the birthplace of sparkling wine. Both wineries were established by French winemakers in the 1960s and specialise in making traditional sparkling wine, which they submitted to VITeff hoping for a chance to show off their efforts on the world stage in October.
It could not have been a better start to the season for wine producers in the central west of New South Wales. There have been decent snowfalls to set fruit, dams are full of water for irrigation and the soil moisture profile is full. But this could all come undone very quickly if the threat of El Nino eventuates late this year. Local producers have grown increasingly nervous about the severe frosts predicted by the weather bureau and are already starting to prepare.
A wine tax rebate costing more than $300 million a year is distorting the industry and being widely exploited by wholesalers, distributors and “virtual winemakers”, a government discussion paper has found. A review into the wine equalisation tax (WET) to be released by Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg today, has revealed widespread rorting of the subsidy scheme, which allows winemakers — including New Zealand producers — to access a tax rebate of up to $500,000.
With nine months to go, Oz Clarke and Dr Jamie Goode, two leading UK speakers, share what they are most looking forward to next May at the International Cool Climate Wine Symposium. For both of them, the opportunity to meet with such a wide range of global winemaking and viticultural talent ranks high among the ICCWS attractions.
The Organising Committee of the 2015 NZ Syrah Workship have announced a “top quality” line up of speakers for the event, held 4-6 November 2015 at Bayview Chateau Tongariro, Mt Ruapehu. Winemaker Gary Mills from Victoria’s Jamsheed Wines will be looking at his four single vineyard sites over a particular years and the terroir expressed between them. Four distinct site spread across Victoria: Upper Yarra Valley – a cooler site on red volcanic soils producing wines of spice and silky texture. Pyrenees – pink quartz laced granite profile producing deep rugged wines with particular savoury appeal and tenacity
Don McConachy and the lead character in the movie Sideways are both in a search for the perfect Pinot Noir. But while wine buff Miles just wants to drink the elusive flawless red, McConachy’s dream is to create it. Two years ago mechanical engineer McConachy returned from working overseas for 21 years on a variety of heavy engineering projects and bought 4 hectares of prime Martinborough viticulture land in order to fulfil his ambition.