The vineyard terrain of California’s Central Coast is so expansive that a single story couldn’t contain it. Today’s update completes yesterday’s “Central Coast Vineyards Report on 2016,” which included reports from associations, growers and wineries in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties. Not surprisingly, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Livermore Valley differ in vineyard growth and weather conditions from their southern counterparts.
Winemaker Kenneth Juhasz is the newly named board president of the Sonoma Valley Vintners and Growers Alliance – and he’s embracing his volunteer position with the same intensity and excitement he has for making the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that earn raves and consistently score in the 90s. He and his wife, Laura, own Auteur Wines, and he has long been the consulting winemaker at Dunum Estate and several other wineries.
For 2015 we introduced a new accolade to our arsenal, Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ) maintains and checks (through external audits) a hugely credible system to ensure that accredited vineyards follow a ‘best practice model of environmental practices in the vineyard and winery’, as well as assuring the consumer (and local stakeholders) that their concerns towards the environment are being addressed and environmental impact is minimised.
Well known British merchant Laithwaite’s Wine is bringing its doorstep wine delivery service to New Zealand. Wine drinkers will be able to order wine from around the world when Laithwaite’s launches its New Zealand wine distribution business on Monday. Founded by Tony Laithwaite in 1969, Laithwaite’s describes itself as the world’s largest wine delivery merchant with more than a million customers.
Wolf Blass was yesterday announced as the first ever official wine supplier of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball Organisation – a sport that welcomed more than 24 million attendees to live baseball matches throughout the 2015 season. Through this multi-platform partnership, Wolf Blass will showcase their extensive portfolio to the NPB’s broad and passionate base of baseball fans in Japan throughout the seasonal game series, award ceremonies and NPB fan events.
Wine Tasmania has issued an invitation for Australian wine trade representatives to participate in a wine-focused visit to Tasmania in June 2016. Comprising a two day visit in late June, ten selected wine trade representatives will taste their way around the island, meeting wine producers and sampling their wines, as well as a food, cider or whisky producer or two, whilst soaking up the breathtaking scenery and lifestyle of the island.
A new television series hosted by award-winning wine writer Tyson Stelzer will offer an unprecedented insight into what really goes on in the lives of grapegrowers and winemakers from the Barossa wine region. People of the Vines Barossa is a six episode observational documentary capturing the joys and the heartaches of a high-stress vintage.
Victoria’s wine industry is set for further growth after the Government’s launch of a new funding scheme aimed at helping Victorian growers and winemakers. Wine Victoria together with Jaala Pulford, Minister for Agriculture, launched the new Victorian Government’s Wine Growth Fund to further develop and sustainably grow the wine state’s wine industry.
The alcove looks like a shrine. But instead of a religious relic, the focus of attention is a wine bottle. A sign reads: “1st Place 1976 Paris Tasting”. On the left, are judges’ scores; to the right, a page from the June 7, 1976 issue of Time magazine. Beneath the Judgment of Paris headline, the story tells of California going glass-to-glass with Burgundy and Bordeaux. The judges were French; the tasting was blind. The victors? California.
The Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year 2016 Competition is looking to be bigger than ever this year with Auckland (Northern) now introduced as a fifth region. This tough competition helps grow the future of the NZ Wine Industry, as high calibre young viticulturists compete to win the prestigious title of Bayer Young Viticulturist of the Year 2016.