Accolade Wines has launched a new fine wine business, Distinction Wines, representing brands from Australia, New Zealand and Italy in the on-premise market nationally, from this month. Distinction Wines comprises a portfolio of wines from key premium regions across the three countries, including South Australian Hardys and Grant Burge Wines; Tasmania’s House of Arras and Bay of Fires; Leasingham from the Clare Valley; and Western Australian brands, Houghton and Brookland Valley.

Wine Australia is inviting research, development and extension (RD&E) project applications in five key areas identified in its recently released five-year Strategic Plan.
The call for collaborative multi-disciplinary proposals will be held in two separate rounds in 2015, with the first round opening today for the priority areas of customer insights and digital viticulture.
Andreas Clark, Wine Australia chief executive officer, said the five research areas will help achieve Wine Australia’s goal of a prosperous Australian grape and wine community.

How could such a strongly-united wine industry position be turned down by the Federal Government? Nathan Gogoll unpacks how the campaign for Wine Equalisation Tax rebate reform was set to be rolled out as part of the Federal Budget; cast aside at the 11th hour; and then reintroduced into an upcoming taxation review.

The wine industry remains divided over the future taxation system for alcohol, with the winemakers’ membership body refusing to support a system based on volume. Paul Evans, the Winemakers Federation of Australia chief executive, said producers did not have a unified position on tax reform for the industry, with interests divided by the volume and price of alcohol being made by winemakers across the nation.

A WINE from supermarket Aldi has scooped the best-value bottle of the year award. The £6.99 own-label The Exquisite Collection Clare Valley Riesling, won the award at the International Wine Challenge. The judges were some of the world’s top connoisseurs and consider wines across the globe. The Exquisite Collection Clare Valley Riesling has already received a host of awards this year, including a gold medal at the International Wine Challenge.

There is no better wine style to drink at the height of summer than German Riesling. At its best, it’s a style that is unmatched at combining complexity and concentration of flavour with lightness of touch and alcohol. I say style, but I should really say styles: while the Riesling grape is the ingredient German winemakers use to make the overwhelming majority of their best white wines, the wines vary greatly according to the region, village, or vineyard in which they are grown.

Marlborough organic winegrower Huia Vineyard has won a swath of international awards but the latest was the most surprising, owners Mike and Claire Allan said. The couple, who have used biodynamic winemaking principals since 1996, won the Natural/Biodynamic Winery of the Year at the New York International Wine Challenge among more than 1000 organic and conventional made wines entered from 30 countries. “We didn’t realise there was an award until we were called at home by our sales agent in Denver, ” Claire said.

Impressive growth in the demand for cider in the global markets has put it squarely back on the beverage alcohol map, attracting a younger, more affluent consumer, according to the Rabobank Wine Quarterly Q3 report. “In the past decade, the cider category has gone a long way to discard its old fashioned image and connect with a new wave of consumers,” says Rabobank beverage analyst Marc Soccio.

Hillside organic vineyard supplying highly-acclaimed wine label for sale. An established, organic Marlborough vineyard which has supplied grapes to celebrated wine label Churton, has been placed on the market for sale. Located at 941 Waihopai Valley Road, the 22-hectare vineyard sits high above Marlborough in the Waihopai Valley. Planted across the rolling contours of the land , it encompasses predominantly sauvignon blanc and pinot noir grapes, along with small blocks of petit manseng, and viognier.

The Winemakers’ Federation of Australia (WFA) released their annual Vintage Report last week with figures showing a 2015 Vintage crush of 1.67 million tonne with some modest and patchy strengthening in average winegrape prices and exports. The red crush marginally beat out the white on tonnage, with 835, 523 tonnes compared to 834,041. Shiraz (391,649), Cabernet Sauvignon (209,588) and Merlot (107,280) were the top three red varieties while Chardonnay (376,339), Sauvignon Blanc (89,125) and Semillon (66,572) led the way for whites.