Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) employees from across the world are banding together to lend a helping hand in their local communities. From making hot meals to collecting litter and planting trees, employees will be out in force this week to support charities and not-for-profit organisations across the world as part of the company’s inaugural Global Volunteering Week, running from 18-22 May 2015.
While TWE employees have been involved in volunteering activities in previous years, this is the first time all activities are focused on a single week across the globe.

Dear Colleague, We’d like to share some news with you which we feel is very important to your business and the wine industry. As many of you will know, independent opinion in wine has come under pressure from several fronts: 1. Excessively high scores by some critics, which undermines the credibility of wine ratings for the consumer; 2. Wine writers being paid directly by retailers, or entering into revenue share arrangements, for reviewing wines; 3. Advertorials masquerading as independent opinion…

Nicky Grandorge has been appointed as the new National Coordinator for NZ Young Viticulturist of the Year, taking over from Emma Taylor, a previous winner of the title. Grandorge brings with her a wealth of experience from many years in the wine industry and plans to grow the competition even further. She is a WSET Certified Educator and says she is delighted to be involved in such a positive event, which helps encourage and develop young professionals within the industry.

Domestic New Zealand wine sales soared 18 per cent in the year to March following a bumper 2014 vintage. New Zealand Winegrowers figures show nearly 60 million litres of New Zealand wine was sold domestically. New Zealand Winegrowers has about 850 grower members and 700 winery members. Its chief executive Philip Gregan said domestic New Zealand wine sales experienced such high growth because 2014 was a big vintage for New Zealand wineries.

Accolade Wines is upping spend on its flagship Hardys brand and setting its sights on further expansion to strengthen its global coverage. Paul Schaafsma, general manager for UK, Ireland and global partners, said: “Retailers tell us Hardys is by far the strongest wine brand, because no one is spending or doing as much to back anything else. “The Australian category started to take itself a bit too seriously so we needed to inject some fun. The fact an Australian brand is sponsoring the England team gave us the perfect ammunition.

GRAPEGROWERS and winemakers say they are being forced to hire foreign workers because people from Adelaide’s high-unemployment areas seem unwilling to move even temporarily to the country.
More than 105,000 temporary work visas were granted by the Department of Immigration to foreign nationals in 2013-14. The South Australian Wine Industry Association has told a Senate committee inquiry into temporary work visas that many of its members experience difficulty recruiting skilled and unskilled workers.

Dan Murphy’s is turning its focus on Australia’s ‘local wine heroes’ in a campaign from Red Jelly to coincide with Aussie Wine Month. The Woolworths-owned retailer has teamed up with Wine Australia for the month-long push which includes a TV ad focusing on its monthly buyer’s guide. Central to the campaign will be wine tastings across its stores nationwide which the brand said will provide customers with greater knowledge of the country’s wine regions, varieties and local brands.

The head of Western Australia’s peak wine body says industry was not consulted before it had millions of dollars of subsidies slashed in the state budget. The State Government has committed to abolish a cellar door subsidy for wine producers from July 1 this year, which will save $11 million. The subsidy applies only to wine sold at the cellar door and is generally used by larger producers who exceed their $500,000 wine equilisation tax rebate claim.

The Australian Financial Review can reveal that the country’s biggest wine company, Treasury Wine Estates (TWE) and its rival, French drinks giant Pernod Ricard Winemakers – whose brands include Wyndham Estate, Jacob’s Creek and Orlando Wines – have unusually joined forces to campaign for radical changes to wine tax. TWE and Pernod have employed Newgate Communications to lobby for changes to the tax system, including replacing it with a category-based volumetric tax and outright removal of the WET rebate, which was introduced in 2004.

This year, the focus of Wine Business Solutions’ workshop is improving sales and sales profitability. They’ll be a strong focus on direct to customer including what it is that the 20% of companies who are responsible for 88% of direct to customer wine sales are doing right. We’ll highlight all of the best emerging opportunities. Leading edge tools tips and technology to make your sales efforts more effective will be discussed. We’ll also look at managing distributors for best results.