The foreign ministry in Madrid has summoned France’s ambassador after French farmers seized Spanish lorries and drained their cargo of wine. Spain said the attack by the French protesters was a “flagrant violation of various basic principles” of the EU. On Monday, farmers protesting against unfair competition attacked the lorries at a border crossing. The farmers blame falling food prices on foreign rivalry, supermarkets and distributors.
Max Allen caught up recently with a couple of great Kiwi winemakers from opposite ends of the country, both making some utterly delicious wines. Nick Mills is the winemaker at his family’s 40-year-old Rippon vineyard, spectacularly sited on the shores of Lake Wanaka in Central Otago in the South Island. It’s always fascinating to hear Mills’s thoughts on growing grapes according to biodynamic farming principles.
New Zealanders are eating and growing more organic produce than ever before, with a rise of 127 per cent sold through supermarkets since 2012. The total value of the organics industry, both domestic and exported, is estimated at between $457-467 million, according to the 2016 New Zealand organic market report. That compares to $350m in 2012, a 30 per cent increase.
A FOURTH generation member of the family behind one of South Australia’s most successful businesses is among the state’s largest trade delegation in China this week to explore new export pathways to fortune. Philippa Crawford, daughter of Paul Crawford, joint managing director of CMV Group, is visiting sister-state Shandong, assessing export opportunities for CMV Farms.
MICHAEL Kerrigan exhibited a penchant for new challenges when he switched from a career as a radiographer to winemaking. That spirit shows in a batch of new-release Margaret River nebbiolo, sangiovese, tempranillo, grenache, merlot and malbec wines bearing the Hay Shed Hill White Label brand.
A GROUP devoted to fine wine and food is in danger of folding unless membership is boosted. The Cairns Wine and Food Society was established about 25 years ago, mainly as a social group for newcomers to the city. But membership has halved, and president Lorne Clarke is devoting his time to attracting new people to the group, which meets four to five times a year.
A landmark study has revealed the Capes region has the fastest declining rainfall levels in Australia, with “immediate consequences” for the local wine and tourism industries. Margaret River Wine Association chief executive Nick Power said the industry was aware of “changing rainfall patterns both in seasonal variation and volume reduction. Insofar as the AEGIC paper, this presents an update of scientific findings that supports the overarching premise of climate change going forward,” he said.
The Australian Liquor Stores Association (ALSA) and IRI held a joint networking event in Sydney yesterday to present the findings of the inaugural 2016 Australian Retail Liquor – State of the Industry Report, following its launch in Canberra last month. Building on from last year’s Australian Retail Liquor Market Insights report published by ALSA, the State of the Industry Report provides details on the overall size, health and trends within Australia’s liquor retailing industry.
With Prosecco surging ahead in the U.S. market, this year’s Impact “Hot Brands” imported wine line-up is dominated by entries representing that rising category—which accounted for nearly half of the 22 honourees. Constellation Brands’ Ruffino is the largest of imported wine’s Hot Brands, posting a 10% increase to 1.1 million cases last year, according to Impact Databank, with its Prosecco up 43% to 250,000 cases.
French winemakers have sent tens of thousands of litres of Spanish wine gushing onto the motorway in southern France, in protest at mass produced foreign wine entering the country. Infuriated French winemakers in Languedoc-Roussillon turned on the taps of tankers full of red wine being transported in bulk from Spain, allowing it to gush out onto the motorway tarmac.