Testing is underway in many of Tasmania’s wine grape growing regions to determine if bushfire smoke has impacted fruit quality. Bushfires have been burning in the state’s north-west for more than two months, and smoke has drifted hundreds of kilometres. Dalrymple Winery in Pipers River is one of a number of vineyards testing for smoke taint. Winemaker Peter Caldwell started a small batch ferment this week.
The Australian wine industry is investigating ways of turning winery waste into stock feed to reduce methane emissions from livestock. Grape marc, the waste left from crushing grapes, is known to reduce methane production in the rumen when fed to sheep and cattle. Senior winemaker at the Australian Wine Research Institute, Geoff Cowey, said the research was being driven by the livestock industry’s goal to reduce its environmental impact in the light of climate change.
Fewer people are ordering big, brash Chardonnays – at least that’s what somms are saying. America’s love affair with buttery Chardonnay in restaurants may finally be waning, according to the latest Wine & Spirits Restaurant Poll. Chardonnay is still easily America’s favorite wine in retail sales, according to Nielsen. And the number one winery on this year’s Restaurant Poll, Cakebread, is best known for its Chardonnay, while second-placed Jordan makes only a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.
NOT ONLY is Hawke’s Bay one of New Zealand’s oldest wine regions, it also has a “great wine community”, says one local winemaker. Rod McDonald came to the region in 1993, and worked at Vidal Estate where he was awarded 2006 New Zealand Winemaker of the year before he left and started Rod McDonald Wines. He is the chairman at Hawke’s Bay A&P Wine Awards and had been chairman of the Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Association for six years.
The New Zealand wine brand, Sacred Hill has announced its on-going support and sponsorship of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, alongside its Hong Kong distributor, Jebsen Fine Wines. Now in its 11th year, Sacred Hill’s continues to sponsor the infamous Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Rugby Sevens series, this year taking place between 8-10 April.
On holiday with family in the Greek Islands in 2007, Peter Barry became enchanted with the crisp, minerally white wine they were served as a house wine with almost every meal. On Santorini he learned it was Assyrtiko. The owner of Jim Barry Wines decided to plant some in his own vineyards in Clare, in South Australia. “I’m looking for something to stand up to heat,” says Barry, who is concerned that climate change might make his current white wines lose their zip and flavor if they ripen too early.
It is not a region synonymous with fine wine, but producers from China are making their mark on the industry. Judy Chan is the chief executive of Grace Vineyard wines, an internationally award-winning vineyard established in the Shanxi province in 1997. “Back then most of the wine produced in China was mainly for the mass market,” she said.
As entries draw to a close for the Sydney Royal Wine Show, the event has announced two major changes this year, with KPMG pouring in its support as the new major sponsor, while the show will be held in July for the first time. Samantha Connew, chair of Judges, said she was not only thrilled about the new sponsor but was encouraged by the show’s demand and expected to see entries reach capacity once again. “For the first time, we’re judging wine at Sydney Royal in July, which is very exciting,” Connew said.
Grapegrowers and winemakers on Queensland’s Granite Belt say this year’s harvest will be the best in decades. It is a dramatic turnaround on last year’s pickings when many crops were decimated by severe storms. “Our fingers have just come uncrossed now,” Sam Costanzo of Golden Grove Estate said. “We’ve got a fantastic crop out here.”
Taxing wine and cider the same as beer and lifting the rate by 5 to 6¢ for a glass of beer would raise $2.9 billion a year, much of which could fund tax relief, the Treasury has been told. In its pre-budget submission, the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education says if the Turnbull government adopted the recommendation of the Henry tax review and taxed all alcohol products by the volume of alcohol they contained, alcohol consumption would drop almost 10 per cent.