A winery in northern New South Wales says it may cut jobs and ties with the domestic market if the Federal Government’s wine equalisation tax (WET) reforms go ahead. The 2016 budget revealed the cap on the WET rebate will be lowered to $350,000 from July 1, 2017 and then to $290,000 from July 1, 2018. The reforms will also see tougher eligibility criteria for the rebate which has been welcomed by John Cassegrain, managing director of Cassegrain Wines.

The UK on-trade is key to helping Australia reposition its wines at higher price points, a vital step in securing the category’s long-term future in this market, believes McWilliam’s export director. Speaking to the drinks business at the London Wine Fair last week, Mark Hely, McWilliam’s export director, said a lot of Australian winemakers had “given up” on the UK market, believing it to be “too tough”.

The stripping of up to $900,000 in support for the South Australian wine industry will hurt the wineries vital to regional tourism, says the SA Wine Industry Association. The State Government announced today that it will introduce a new wine industry development scheme worth $1.8 million a year to replace the “antiquated and inequitable” Cellar Door Liquor Subsidy Scheme (CDLSS).

The State Government yesterday announced it will be introducing a $1.8 million a year industry development scheme to support a stronger and sustainable South Australian wine sector.
The government claims the new scheme will benefit all South Australian wine regions and assist individual wine businesses of varying sizes.

Britain’s burgeoning wine industry is facing a new “catastrophic” scenario over a failure to replace pesticide products whose approval has been revoked, the UK Vineyards Association (UKVA) as warned. “The toolbox is rapidly diminishing and at the same time resistance to the ones in use [mainly herbicides and fungicides] is growing; we are heading towards a catastrophically high risk scenario,” Chris Cooper, the UKVA’s pesticides expert said.

A few weeks ago I found myself waist-deep (at times, alarmingly, a little deeper) in a vat of fermenting pinot noir. This is ‘pigeage’, the traditional Burgundian method of giving a ferment a healthy churn. You jump in and thresh about to extract more colour, tannin, and other goodies from the stems and skins. I was no pigeage virgin. Whenever I visit a winery over vintage I take my togs in case I get the call.

Biodynamic Marlborough estate Seresin Estate has signed up with Louis Latour Agencies as it seeks to grow its distribution with independent retailers and the on-trade. Seresin, which is owned by New Zealand-born cinematographer Michael Seresin, becomes the second biodynamic estate in Louis Latour’s portfolio alongside McHenry Hohnen of Margaret River, Australia.

Western Australia’s eighth biggest winemaker, 3 Oceans Wine Company has laid-off non-essential staff as it reconsiders its strategic direction in the face of falling demand from its key market in China. Owned by Hebei Qianjin Steel Group, which is controlled by Xibo Ma, 3Oceans has retained its winemaking team to see it through the 2016 vintage and keep the cellar door open at its Bussell Highway headquarters near Margaret River.

Ararat businessman Danial Ahchow has offered a lifeline to the historic Seppelt’s winery in the tiny Victorian town of Great Western, just months before the cellar door was due to close. His Great Western Enterprises is set to sign a lease with Treasury Wine Estates, the conglomerate which owns the 150-year-old site. “I grew up in Ararat and I always had a passion for this beautiful set-up here in Seppelt,” Ahchow said.

South Australian winemakers are confused and disappointed by a decision to strip nearly $1 million annually from an industry recognised as critical to the State’s economic future, according to the SA Wine Industry Association (SAWIA). The State Government today announced it would replace the Cellar Door Liquor Subsidy Scheme (CDLSS) that returned around $2.7 million a year to eligible businesses with an ongoing Wine Industry Development Scheme worth $1.8 million.