HUNTER Valley-based Agnew Wines Pty Ltd has taken a significant stake in South Australia’s McLaren Vale region, with the purchase of a 21-hectare vineyard in the Blewitt Springs subregion. The acquisition was set in train by the company’s founder and chairman, Brian Agnew, before his death at the age of 69 on February 24 after a 2½-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Brian was a major figure in the law and horse racing, as well as wine.
Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz has slammed the state government’s $1 million tourism handout calling it “manifestly inadequate”. Schwartz owns three major hotels in the Hunter and is a proud tourism advocate for the region. “The Hunter Valley needs a vibrant tourism industry if we are to generate sustainable future employment, and the NSW government would be better off allocating the $1 million directly to the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association – which now has full council support – to promote the region’s tourism assets,” he said.
In a first for the region’s winegrape growers, Murray Valley Winegrowers (MVW) has teamed with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) to present an information forum on June 11. AWRI speakers will fill the morning session with presentations on issues affecting vineyard management and grape quality. MVW takes over for the afternoon program, focusing on topics that will give growers further insights into future prospects. “With this year’s vintage delivering some of the lowest average prices in 10 years, growers who want a future in the industry are desperate for information that helps in their decision-making,” Mike Stone, MVW executive officer, said.
The union representing Treasury Wine Estates’ workers in Sunraysia, in north-west Victoria, says it expects about three-quarters of staff at a packaging warehouse near Mildura will lose their jobs. The Australian Workers’ Union met company managers on Thursday to discuss the fate of more than 100 workers employed at the Karadoc facility, which is being shut down mid-next year. The union’s Victorian vice-president Ben Davis said while there had been some progress, it was still trying to get more detail from the company.
Today’s announcement by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the United States continues to violate WTO rules could pave the way for Canada and Mexico to immediately seek billions of dollars’ worth of retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products including wine. This is the third time that the WTO has ruled that U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) of certain meat products is discriminatory and violates WTO rules.
A special visitor touched down on the tarmac at Hawke’s Bay Airport yesterday – and the high-flying plane will soon be connecting the country’s biggest wine-producing regions. A group of wine-industry representatives was given a test flight in the nine-seater Pilatus PC12 plane, which is set to fly direct between Hawke’s Bay and Marlborough. Sounds Air managing director Andrew Crawford said his company was in the “final stages” of sealing the deal with Hawke’s Bay Airport, with the service proposed to start in early August.
A boutique Marlborough winemaker has signed up as a sponsor of the National Whale Centre in Picton. Johanneshof Cellars founder and winemaker Edel Everling said when she was contacted about sponsoring the centre she was keen to help out. “We try to stay local with our support because that’s where we live and where we want to help.” The Whale Centre was an amazing initiative, Everling said. “Even though it’s local it reaches far. It’s quite a global thing.”
Going on a journey is a bit of a buzz concept today’s culture and it’s no different with wine where customers want to engage with the story, colour and life behind what’s in their glass. Simon Forsythe runs a wine bar and cellar door offering only wines from Orange in central west New South Wales and he’s well aware of how customers choose their drop. With a background in marketing and having worked to change the image of several well-known international food brands, he believes the colour, life and story of the wine as portrayed in the label is key.
THERE’S nothing better than teaming a prime cut of beef with a bold South Australian read. It’s part of the reason why Texas — heartland of the United State’s cattle country — is the target of a State Government strategy to reignite Americans’ hankering for South Australia’s premium wines after years of underperforming exports. Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell said Australian wines have been out of favour in the US after cheap labels flooded the market damaging the brand of our top shelf ranges.
Since 2003 smoke taint in wines has been on the rise and the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) says it expects the problem will worsen. Grapes exposed to smoke from bushfires and controlled burns can leave more than just an ashy taste in the mouth, with some smoke compounds causing wine to smell and taste like plastic, band aids or even faecal matter. Recently 25 Adelaide Hills vineyards tested positive for smoke taint from bushfires earlier this year and in 2009 40 per cent of Victoria’s wine production was affected.