As managing director and CEO of Treasury Wine Estates, one of the wine industry’s most geographically diverse marketers, Michael Clarke was well placed to address the topic of “The Globalisation of Wine Marketing” at the recent Impact Marketing Seminar. Clarke began by noting that some industry observers questioned TWE’s wisdom in hiring an FMCG veteran as CEO when he took the helm in February of 2014 (Clarke has held senior executive roles with both Kraft and Coca-Cola).

The Senate will hold a broad-ranging inquiry into the Australian wine industry, which is experiencing a long-running grape glut and low prices for growers. South Australian Senator Anne Ruston, who lives in the state’s Riverland wine region, moved for the inquiry to investigate whether there was market failure in the industry and whether government policies could help the industry become more profitable. “For the last couple of years, I’ve constantly watched as the industry has battled with a number of issues and it became apparent that there were perhaps some opportunities that we should have been pursuing that we weren’t.”

Murray Valley winegrowers have welcomed the Senate’s inquiry into the wine industry, stating the issues affecting the industry a decade ago are still present. The Senate’s Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee is expected to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry that tackles issues of grower profitability, the impact on industry performance of the wine equalisation tax rebate scheme, the power and influence of wine retailers, and the effectiveness of market information and wine grape pricing.

Two trucks spilled grapes on Marlborough roads last week, as the first week of mechanical harvesting got underway. Sergeant Michael Moloney, of the South Island Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, said both spillages happened on Alabama Rd in Blenheim on Thursday last week. One driver was slapped with an instant $600 fine for having an insecure load. The truck company responsible for the second spill had yet to be identified, Moloney said.

WELLINGTON: As the ink dried Monday on the free trade agreement between New Zealand and South Korea, critics claimed it was a second-rate deal that would “handcuff” New Zealand’s sovereign right to make laws and regulations. Prime Minister John Key and South Korean President Park Geun-hye witnessed the signing of the free trade agreement (FTA) by Trade Ministers Tim Groser and Yoon Sang-jick in Seoul. “The agreement shows the strength of the relationship between New Zealand and Korea.

In the last six years, the Wine & Viticulture Journal has held tastings of Australian-made Arneis, Vermentino, Fiano and Pinot Grigio and today each of these Italian whites are being produced by at least 50 local wineries. We’ve decided it’s time to throw our spotlight on some of these varieties’ lesser-known Italian cousins. On their own these whites aren’t yet produced in sufficient number in Australia to warrant stand-alone tastings.

A giant stick blender that chops wine grape skins into a pulp could be the next big thing in red wine making. Dr Angela Sparrow, from the University of Tasmania, has been carrying her blender around in a suitcase, trialling it in Pinot Noir winemaking in Mildura, Adelaide, Canberra and soon Tasmania. She says her trial is showing by leaving the red grape skins in contact with the wine, it can improve flavour, colour and even reduce labour in the process.

Wine grape growers on the western edge of the New South Wales Snowy Mountains have a reason to celebrate this vintage. Demand for cool climate fruit has attracted at least eight new buyers to the district this year. Winemakers will turn the fruit into table and sparkling wine. Cathy Gairn, from Courabyra Wines near Tumbarumba, said renewed interest in the region was extremely positive for its 17 growers. “The produce is getting quite scarce,” she said.

A surplus block of grape vines in South Australia has been turned over to the community and used to raise thousands of dollars for a local homeless charity. The South Australian wine grower offered up the vines because it was not viable for him to pick them. More than 100 people turned out to pick the grapes on Sunday, while others volunteered to make and bottle the wine. Some of the wine has already been sold, raising more than $30,000 for Adelaide’s Hutt Street Centre for the homeless.

New South Wales Premier Mike Baird has repeated his commitment to visit the Hunter Valley amid horse and wine industry demands to address land use conflicts in the region. The Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association and the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association have called for bi-partisan political support to resolve land use conflicts, which they claim threatens the future of their industries. It includes a 10km buffer around the equine and viticulture critical industry clusters, with new open cut and underground coal mines and coal seam gas mining banned.