A South Island vineyard owner, patron of the arts, and former casino boss is being sued for $3.5 million by two wealthy Las Vegas executives. Glenn Schaeffer owns Nelson’s Mahana Estates and earlier this month hosted Prince Charles and his wife Camilla at the winery. The day before the royal visit, Schaeffer failed to dismiss a lawsuit brought against him in the Nelson High Court by James Murren and Daniel Lee.
Australia’s wine industry has some cause for celebration. After a tough decade for producers, exports rose in value in 2014/15 for the first time in eight years. Sales to the United States and Britain were up, due largely to the weaker Australian dollar. And while 95 per cent of wine exported to the US is priced below $A5 a litre, the strongest sales growth last year was to the UK, our largest market. Significantly, that was for wines priced above $10 a litre.
Riverland Wine has been invited by Wine Australia to participate in a project to improve the quality, the availability and timeliness of grape and wine industry information. As Riverland Wine members will attest, the mantra ‘know your numbers – know your risks’ has been chanted at industry meetings for years. To their credit, many have improved their knowledge and understanding of gross margins, input costs, overheads and returns.
Treasury Wine Estates is midway through implementing a new distribution model under which customers will no longer be able to order wines directly from the company. Orders will now be fulfilled through wholesalers, which a company spokesperson told drinks bulletin is “part of a broader strategy to continually drive improvements in business performance”. We can confirm that this new model will not impact the level of service our sales team provide to our customers,” she said.
A study into the impact of climate change on wine grape production has found increased levels of carbon dioxide cause wine grapes to ripen earlier. The wine industry is investigating how climate change will impact grape production by exposing vines in north-west Victoria to the temperature and carbon dioxide levels predicted by 2050.
The Riverina Wine Grapes Marketing Board (WGMB) is handing back more than $450,000 to wine grape growers across the region after a bumper 2015 harvest saw the organisation in a surplus.
Brian Simpson, Riverina WGMB chief executive officer, said under legislation growers are required to fund the activities of the board by paying a levy of $3.90 per tonne. “This will effectively reduce the levy back to $1.90 for the 2015 vintage,” he said.
Martha Cunningham helped establish her vineyard more than a decade ago, but the Eagle Foothills remains the frontier of the Idaho wine industry. Wednesday morning, however, it began to make headlines throughout U.S. wine industry. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) established the Eagle Foothills American Viticultural Area — the first AVA entirely within Idaho’s borders.
The carbon footprint of your next glass of wine could soon be trimmed after a major South African wine manufacturer unveiled a project to reduce its annual carbon emissions by 1200 tons of carbon dioxide. A solar project announced yesterday by Douglas Green Bellingham is set to cut the company’s annual carbon emissions by the same amount as driving a small car from Johannesburg to Cape Town 5550 times.
Oyster Bay is adding to its range of wines in Australia with the launch of a Hawke’s Bay Pinot Gris.
The new wine will add to the current Oyster Bay range which includes Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Sparkling Cuvée Brut and Sparkling Cuvée Rosé. The company said that the Pinot Gris “represents a significant opportunity”, with the Pinot Gris category “currently in strong growth and being driven by the premium segment.
For the 14th time in 18 years, Villa Maria has been named New Zealand Winery of the Year by leading Australian wine magazine Winestate at an exclusive awards ceremony held in Remuera, Auckland. The winery’s Group Chief Winemaker Nick Picone also received the sought after ‘NZ Winemaker of the Year’ title – an award he has achieved at other shows twice already in his career. It’s no wonder UK publication Drinks Business included Nick in their ’30 winemakers under 40 to watch’ roundup in 2014.