THE director of the failed Noosa International Food and Wine Festival, Jim Berardo, has denied claims by the company liquidator that he was trading insolvent, and that money problems should have been obvious from as early as June, 2012. Berardo said his company was “absolutely not trading insolvent”, as the liquidator charged with getting the best deal for creditors considers further action.
Falling embers from a bushfire in the summer of 2013 were a wakeup call for vineyard owner, Lindy Bull. “I was made aware two years ago just how long it took for us to get everyone out of the vineyard,” she said. “How upset were the tourists, as it closed the area down. “There’s so much damage with an uncontrolled fire, particularly in the height of the tourist season.” Bull owns Freycinet Vineyard on Tasmania’s east coast not far from the popular Freycinet National Park.
Recent changes to the maximum residue level (MRL) and residue definition for captan in wine by the European Union may require many wine grape growers to reconsider their fungicide options for the 2015/16 growing season. Captan is a proven option in fungicide spray programs for the management of key grapevine diseases including Phomopsis Cane and Leaf Blight, Black Spot, Botrytis Bunch Rot and Downy Mildew.
The last 25 years in wine have been signified by the discovery or rediscovery of regions unknown, obscure or half-forgotten. Consumers, and critics for that matter, have often embraced wines from these regions. But they have occasionally rejected them, too, with no small measure of befuddlement. I heard an entire spectrum of responses to the latest subject in Wine School: white Bordeaux from Pessac-Léognan and Graves, one of those half-forgotten styles. It reminded me yet again of the subjective nature of taste.
The inaugural Down to Earth Wine Celebration is proving to have a strong wine and food matching theme with 56 food and wine events including seven degustation dinners over the 12 days of the event. It all kicks off on Saturday 24 October with the Gibbston Valley Wine and Jazz Weekend degustation dinner featuring celebrity chef Simon Gault and winemaker Christopher Keys. On Tuesday there is a feast which combines the cuisine of celebrated award-winning chef James Stapley and the passion of Maude Wines winemaker Vanessa Robson at Bistro Gentil in Wanaka.
A Marlborough delegation has returned from a trip to an emerging winemaking province in China.
Four wine industry representatives travelled to Ningxia, along with Marlborough District Council economic development officer Cathie Bell and Marlborough Research Centre chief executive Gerald Hope. The group attended the Ningxia Wine Expo, where Marlborough wine equipment company Vitis had a display. They were hosted by the Ningxia Wine Bureau, which met the cost of accommodation and transport in China.
Judging for the Hot 100 South Australian Wines competition is under way, and organisers have one simple goal: to find and celebrate the most drinkable wines in South Australia. Its goal may be simple but it’s the manner in which they judge, collate and celebrate these wines that’s captured attention and caused a stir in the traditional realms of wine shows and judging. Entries opened in June for the ninth annual Hot 100 SA Wines competition, created and hosted by The Adelaide Review.
Cashed-up New Zealand businesses could give Hunter tourism operators a welcome boost on top of what’s already proved a bumper year. Domestic business tourism to the Hunter increased 99 per cent in the past year Destination NSW figures reveal. To further capitalise on these gains Hunter tourism stakeholders will co-fund a targeted marketing campaign worth $230,000 to promote the region to Kiwi businesses.
This September Perth will be the focus of The Fabulous Ladies’ Wine Society’s mission to celebrate and give profile to women behind the wine. The Perth Fabulous Ladies Wine Soiree on 24 September at The Terrace is set to showcase Western Australia’s own Joanne Bradbury and her label 3drops wine. The timing is particularly significant as this event – which is part of a successful national series – will be held just two weeks before entries close in the first ever Australian Women in Wine Awards. And entries from Western Australia are currently far outnumbered by those from the eastern states.
Global drinks giant Pernod Ricard is riding the global sugar backlash and trend to healthier foods and drinks to try to reignite sales of the much-maligned alcopops segment after years of big declines. Pernod Ricard hopes lower-alcohol and lower-sugar products will kick-start growth in the segment for the first time since Kevin Rudd introduced an “alcopops tax”. “Our aim is to turn around category performance from decline to growth,” Pernod Ricard managing director Julien Hemard said.