RIVERINA grape growers expect fruit to wither on vines if the government holds firm on the controversial backpacker tax. Originally slated to begin on July 1, the backpacker tax will ditch the $18,200 tax-free threshold for foreign workers under 30 and instead tax them 32.5¢ from the first dollar they earn in Australia.

Australia is in the doldrums after slumping to its worst Olympics performance in decades and finishing 10th in the medals table.

Geographical indicators have allowed the Australian wine industry to grow and be competitive in export markets, according to Winemakers Federation of Australia acting chief executive Tony Battaglene.

Last week the business section of the Wall Street Journal Reported that The Australian wine industry is attributing rising temperatures to causing grapes to ripen faster, and that can alter their flavor. Here is aginfo reporter Matt Rice who recently visited Australia with the story.

It won’t be long before cellar doors are humming once again. Holiday makers, tourists and locals alike are keener than ever to get up close and personal with the store front of a wine label.

This week I’ve been drinking something old, something new and something orange. Well, oldish, newish and orange-ish.

Wine Business Solutions has just released Wine On-Premise USA 2016, the first ever research into the independently owned On-Trade in the US. More than 36,000 listings from licensed On-Premise venues were collected at random across all states of the US.

We get the inside scoop on Winemaker of the Year Sarah Crowe. Here, the talented winemaker reveals how she’s taken the Yarra Valley by storm, boldly taking the reins of its iconic Yarra Yering winery.

Former Halliday magazine editor Campbell Mattinson was awarded the Chairman’s Award at the prestigious Louis Roederer Wine Writers’ Awards in London last week for the limited edition run of his book, The Wine Hunter: The Life Story of Australia’s First Great Winemaker.

The ASX-listed owner of the McGuigan, Tempus Two and Nepenthe wine brands has secured two important distribution deals in China as it strives to emulate the success of the much-larger Treasury Wine Estates, which is delivering riches for its own shareholders.