Winemaker Australian Vintage expects profit to grow now it has terminated the lease of the Del Rios vineyard in Victoria. The owner of the McGuigan, Tempus Two, Nepenthe, Miranda and Passion Pop brands says onerous grape contracts and vineyard leases have been its biggest issue over the last 10 years. The early termination of the Del Rios lease at Kenley in Victoria at the end of 2015 is expected to cut the company’s annual grape payments by up to $6 million.
The largest grapevine in Australia just keeps on giving at Chiltern. Planted in 1867, the vine has never been watered or fertilised but bears fruit each February or March. Clare Reeves, who operates the The Vine Chiltern eatery in the historic Star Hotel building, said natural underground springs topped up the old vine. Reeves said it had produced a decent crop of table grapes during the past few weeks.
A Perth company has begun trials on secure labelling technology that uses a microchip to protect against counterfeit scams. The technology involves embedding labels with a small microchip that holds secure information about a product’s history. The microchip in the label can then be read using a smartphone app, which could allow food or wine products to be tested for authenticity along the supply chain.
Lathered in sweat, grimy from the dirt and toiling under sweltering sun among grape vines, picking fruit for little reward does not conjure up romanticism. But for Tina Kirkup, spending hours in the heat with her fiance David Webster on the other side of a vine is very romantic. For their efforts, the couple will be treated to a meal at Magpies Nest Vineyard, near Wagga in southern New South Wales, and 12 months down the track, a bottle of wine too.
While it may have slipped past without some of you noticing, dedicated rose fans would, I’m sure, have been well aware of the first New Zealand Rose Day, which took place on Friday, February 5.
Part of a larger Dare to Pink #sipnzrose campaign to promote rose, the New Zealand Rose Day was a collaborative initiative involving 25 wineries from around the country.
Australasian Food Corporation Ltd (AFC), the NZAX listed food exporter has signed an agreement to purchase Whangarei based wine maker Longview Estate. The Vineyard was established by the Vuletich family in 1969. The Vuletich family pioneered winemaking in the Whangarei District. The Vineyard is best known for its White Diamond wine which has a distinctive authentic fresh taste which is very attractive to Asian palates.
Australia’s largest celebration of NSW wine is back once again, with a brand new groove. The best of the best join together for a weekend-long festival of vinous fun, from grape stomping and free cheese (free! Cheese! Woo!) to wine-inspired gelato. Grab a picnic blanket and a very luxurious sausage sandwich, and celebrate the diverse wine regions of our state.
Philip White has been to visit Stephen George, whose famous Ashton Hills business is now part of the Wirra Wirra family of truly fine wine. Stephen George made no secret of his intention to get out of the wine business. The day-to-day ritual of running a room where you give expensive wine away in order to encourage people to buy it retail had long decayed through droll necessity to annoying obligation.
Prosecco, despite its sparkling nature, is consumed these days by dark thoughts, mulling over questions of legality and cultural pilfering. It’s all been a bit bewildering for the increasingly popular bubbly since the Italians indicated they wanted total ownership and control over use of the prosecco name. Anyone else using it – and that includes Australian winemakers – well, they’re imposters.
Barossa Valley wineries and grape growers are harvesting an early vintage with high hopes of top-quality wines after a dry summer. “This year we’re well underway — the dry season that we’ve had really right from winter has meant the vines got away to a good start and they’ve been growing happily and ripening their grapes,” Barossa winemaker Louisa Rose told 891 ABC Adelaide. “It’s not the earliest that we’ve had [but] we’ve got quite a good crop on the vines this year, despite the dryness.”