Nearly 4,000 guests attended New Zealand wine festival Winetopia last weekend, with event organisers labelling it a “sell-out success”. Held in Auckland at Shed 10, the two-day festival has already garnered rave reviews from attendees, who tasted wines from more than 40 wineries.
Driving through Renwick, you wouldn’t know you were in the heart of Marlborough’s wine country. In fact, tourists passing through the small township are more likely to stop for a pie than some plonk. But a community group wants to change all that with a wine-themed makeover. The group is even considering a public selfie stick for snap-happy tourists to take holiday shots promoting the region’s wineries.
THE public “turned out in droves” for open tastings at last week’s 16th International Cool Climate Wine Show at Mornington Racecourse. More than 400 wines over many classes – with 20 per cent coming from the Mornington Peninsula – had earlier been appraised by a team of judges. Cool climate wines are produced on the peninsula by 170 wineries and sold through 50 cellar doors.
Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) has reported a total revenue increase of eight per cent to the end of April 2016 on the back of strong branded sales. The increase in revenue is a reflection on higher branded sales in the UK, Europe, Australasia, and North America, however it was partially offset by lower bulk wine sales.
TWO winemakers are producing a sell-out drop from a vineyard they received for free. Independent wine label, Strenua, is produced in Chum Creek by friends Dale Wheeler and Rhen Dodd. The property sold in 2011 and the new owners had no desire to manage the 22-year-old vines, so they offered them to students at Melbourne Polytechnic’s Epping campus.
WE ARE a competitive lot here in Australia. Whether at school, on the sporting field or in business, we love to compete to gain “bragging rights” about who is the best. But is our competitive streak holding us back from reaching our full potential? Is our inherently competitive nature preventing our agricultural and food manufacturing sectors from reaching their potential and the rewards that would come from a united, single brand renowned as a reliable and safe supplier to the growing middle class in Asia?
In August the AWRI will launch what promises to be the largest ever survey of practices in the Australian wine sector. It will cover all key aspects of grapegrowing and winemaking and the aggregated results will be a valuable resource for both producers and researchers. It is intended that the survey will be repeated every five years to track practice changes.
Turmoil over prices in the dairy industry that led to a government commitment to fund the development of a milk price index should be heeded by the Australian wine industry, according to Murray Valley Winegrowers. Barnaby Joyce, Agriculture Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, announced a re-elected Coalition government would work with the dairy industry to establish a commodity milk price index to provide “greater transparency and market signals” for domestic and global milk prices.
If you’re more likely to be sitting in the cafe while everyone else runs off to ride the rollercoasters, this might be the theme park for you. But before your imagination runs away with you, this is not ‘Willy Wonka and the Chardonnay Factory’. There are no fountains of pinot noir or lakes of merlot. La Cite du Vin is more of a wine museum than anything else but it’s pretty impressive all the same.
Villa Maria has topped the Gisborne Regional Wine Awards with a trophy for the highest awarded winery and achieved a record breaking fourth Champion Wine of Show title, Lead Viticulturist Trophy and two varietal trophies. Villa Maria Group Chief Winemaker Nick Picone commented on the meaningfulness of this win, “The New Zealand wine industry is cognisant of the fact that we may not always be able to rely on Sauvignon Blanc, so to see an emerging variety like Viognier take out the top prize at one of our national wine competitions is fantastic.”