San Rafael, Calif.—As many as a dozen vineyards were scorched or destroyed by wildfires in California’s Lake County and Sierra Foothills in summer 2015. Some owners have already applied for federal assistance under the USDA’s Tree Assistance Program (TAP), and others may still be eligible, though they must act promptly to receive funding.
Diageo, a British multinational alcoholic beverage company, has been making a number of changes to its portfolio in recent months including the sale of most of its wine business. This has been mainly done to focus more on its beer and spirits business, including brands such as Johnnie Walker, Ciroc, Smirnoff, and Guinness.
Fresh figures show that China’s wine import market has rebounded strongly in volume and value in the first nine months of 2015, driven by French and Australian wines. Bottled wine imports rose by 38.7% in volume to 297.7m litres and by 34.7% in value to $1.4bn, shows newly released Chinese customs data. Figures are for the nine months to the end of September, versus the same period of last year.
The head of a wine investment firm that conned people out of at least £382,000 has been disqualified as a director for 11 years by the UK’s Insolvency Service. Jonothan Piper, director of fake wine investment firm Embassy Wine UK Ltd, was banned for ‘causing or failing to prevent the company from selling wine to customers which it failed to provide, purchasing wine from customers which it failed to pay them for, and charging fees to customers for which no service was provided’.
Patrick Newton of Mudbrick Winery has been named New Zealand Young Winemaker of the Year Competition for the second year in a row at a recent event in Canterbury. Thirty-three year old Newton won the first ever Young Winemaker of the Year in 2014 and this year took out the top spot again with a 2014 Chardonnay, a 2014 Syrah and a 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon. He said winning for the second time was “quite humbling.”
Two fierce predators on the loose in south Wairarapa have endeared themselves so much to wine producers that they’re introducing three more. The New Zealand bush falcons, or karearea, will be brought to Martinborough in December, after a successful trial last year designed to reduce the damage done by starlings and other pest birds to the region’s grapes. About 80 per cent of falcon hatchlings are killed in their first year by introduced predators, illegal hunting, cold winters or flying into powerlines or fences.
The president and director of the Prosecco DOC Consortium have hit out at a growing number of imitation Proseccos flooding the market, calling them “imposters”. Speaking to the drinks business, Stefano Zanette president of the Prosecco DOC Consortium, said: “Many imitators are jumping on the Prosecco bandwagon. Imposters marketing themselves as Prosecco are being produced all around the world, from Australia to Brazil. “We would like to set the record straight: like Champagne, Prosecco is a wine of place with protected production zones in the Veneto and Friuli.
Yvonne Lorkin’s kitchen bench is awash with pinot gris. Nine bottles, she counts. “But I’m standing over the sink,” says the Hastings-based wine expert. “I’m spitting it all out!” There are more than 700 wineries in New Zealand. Every week, between 12 and 36 new releases hit the market. How does the consumer know what’s good – and what’s not? You could read the reviews. Look at the price, the number of gold sticky stars on the label and consider the winemaker’s reputation. But none of those things, says Lorkin, will account for your individual taste buds.
Marlborough wine growers have been warned to prepare, manage and conserve ahead of this summer’s El Nino weather conditions that were last seen almost 20 years ago. More than 100 winegrowers packed into a lecture theatre at the Marlborough Research Centre, in Blenheim, on Tuesday to hear what could be expected from this year’s El Nino. The capacity turnout showed how seriously wine growers viewed the next five to six months.
The Banksia Sustainability Awards took place at an all-day affair last week in Sydney. Building on last year’s initiative to communicate the collective wisdom generated through the program, the Banksia Foundation organised a range of presentations, including a four-minute rapid fire from each of the award finalists. The Gold Banksia was won by Kalleske Wines, a family-run business in South Australia’s Barossa Valley that has been farming and growing grapes since 1853.