Six leading independent wine experts have come together to create “The Fine Wines of New Zealand” a list of the country’s most prestigious wines which has a solid line-up from Hawke’s Bay. A selection panel comprising Masters of Wine Alastair Maling, Michael Brajkovich, Sam Harrop, Simon Nash and Steve Smith, along with Master Sommelier Cameron Douglas, has agreed on the list for 2016, which includes 47 wines representing seven varietals.
There were no sour grapes on the NBR Rich List this year, with wealthy wine company owners and families cashing in on the growing industry. The New Zealand wine industry reached new heights this year, posting a record $1.57 billion worth of exports in the year to June, up nearly 10 per cent on the previous year. This increase in exports, driven by demand in the United States, has lined the pockets of the wine rich, most of whom posted increases in personal worth, according to the National Business Review.
A brand new trophy and additional awards and medals will be up for grabs at South Australia’s Limestone Coast Wine Show, with entries now open for the 16th annual event. The introduction of a Wine of Provenance Trophy is among the significant changes in store for the October show, providing a platform for exhibitors to enter three vintages of the same wine.
Preservative-free wines don’t age — and you need to drink them quickly once you’ve opened them, right? Well, not necessarily. If they have been made well, using pristine grapes, and if they have been stored carefully, good preservative-free wines not only have the capacity to mature for years in the bottle but they also can drink surprisingly well for a while after opening.
As a vine ages, it establishes a root system and framework of trunk and cordons. Over the decades, new layers of growth, like the rings on a tree, result in more solid, twisted and gnarled old vines. The dry-grown ‘Great Grandfather’ Shiraz vines, planted during the 1860s, in Henschke’s Hill of Gracevineyard are a perfect example of pre-phylloxera vine stock that continue to produce low-yielding, intense, flavourful and balanced fruit.
With six months to go before the 2017 winegrape harvest wineries have been active in securing grapes, according to Murray Valley Winegrowers executive officer Mike Stone. “There’s far more interest at this time of the year than is usual because wine stocks have declined and the export demand for Australian wine is growing,” Stone said.
A WATER treatment company is using the Internet of Things to command an army of bacteria in the battle against polluted winery wastewater. South Australian company Factor UTB has developed technology to alter the treatment environment for winery, industrial and municipal wastewater.
High profile international guest judge joins judging panel at New World Wine Awards. Sue Hodder, one of Australia’s most well-known winemakers and an international wine judge, will be part of the 13-strong team of wine judges that today begin judging the 1,325 wines entered in the New World Wine Awards 2016. Ms Hodder said this is especially timely, off the back of her attendance last week at the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference in Adelaide, which is one of the biggest international wine conferences in the world held only every three years.
TWENTY years ago local winemakers opened their cellars for the first Gisborne Wine and Food Festival. Annie and James Millton, who own Millton Vineyard, started the festival alongside a small number of other wineries. “It helped bring fun into the hard work that goes into creating a wine,” Mr Millton said. On Monday, tickets will once again go on sale for the festival taking place on October 22 and 23. However, this year’s Labour Weekend event will be unique.
When people think of the idyllic life of the wine writer and how you get a job like this, they usually think you must have demonstrated somewhere along the line that you have a highly consistent palate and the word skills to describe what your palate is telling you. The truth is, such skills are just the beginning. To really survive and thrive in this business, you must have a far more humble ability. You need to know how to collapse cardboard boxes. Fast. And flat.