The European debt crisis has made it more difficult for Spaniards to buy wine. So, vintners in Spain’s Rioja region are looking to sell their wine in more international markets. Winemakers are shipping their goods to Germany, the U.S. — and even China, which has a rapidly expanding wine market, reports North Country Radio.
The European debt crisis has made it more difficult for Spaniards to buy wine. So, vintners in Spain’s Rioja region are looking to sell their wine in more international markets. Winemakers are shipping their goods to Germany, the U.S. — and even China, which has a rapidly expanding wine market, reports North Country Radio.
New research shows how much damage the high Australian dollar is doing to the country’s wine exports while rival producers forge ahead. The Newcastle Herald reports Rabobank’s 2011 Wine Quarterly report said global wine exports were growing unless the wine was from Australia or South Africa. Italian exports are up almost 13 per cent in volume and nearly 13.5 per cent in value and the French are enjoying a 3.8 per cent volume growth and by nearly 15 per cent in value.
Firefighters in WA’s South-West are enduring a testing day, with two blazes contained but not yet controlled and still posing a potential threat to homes and lives. Residents in towns near Busselton and also on Mann Road, Nillup are under a watch-and-act advice from the Fire and Emergency Services Authority. The area is one of WA’s best known wine producing spots with Sandalford, Cullens Wines and Evans & Tate all nearby, WA Today reports.
One of South Australia’s most-loved wineries is preparing to celebrate reaching triple figures.
But if you think that marks the time to slow down and smell the roses for its dynamo father and son proprietors, then forget it, writes Tony Love in the weekend’s Advertiser.
In the tiny wine-producing region of the Waitaki Valley, there is no place for anything but excellence and “that’s a wonderful challenge”, Jim Jerram told Otago Daily Times. It might only be a drop in the glass in terms of size but the area is “punching above its weight” in terms of what it is producing and the exposure it is getting, Dr Jerram, who is chairman of the Waitaki Valley Wine Growers Association, said.
In the tiny wine-producing region of the Waitaki Valley, there is no place for anything but excellence and “that’s a wonderful challenge”, Jim Jerram told Otago Daily Times. It might only be a drop in the glass in terms of size but the area is “punching above its weight” in terms of what it is producing and the exposure it is getting, Dr Jerram, who is chairman of the Waitaki Valley Wine Growers Association, said.
The wine industry is facing a worrying shortage of high quality national account managers, according to Paul Schaafsma, general manager for UK and Europe at Australian Vintage. Schaafsma has called on the industry to work together to introduce an accredited training program to help nurture young talent in order to reverse the decline. Speaking to the drinks business at last week’s A+ Australia tasting in London, Schaafsma said: “One of the main challenges in recruiting national account managers at the moment is that there is not a lot of talent out there”.
Organisers of the Marlborough Wine and Food Festival next month say ticket sales look set to match last year’s event when nearly 8000 people attended. General manager Marcus Pickens expects a surge in sales over the coming weeks ahead of the festival on February 11, reports The Marlborough Express. New attractions, like the Chef’s Table with well-known celebrity chefs, would encourage past punters to revisit the annual showpiece at Brancott Estate Vineyard, he said.
Cooler-climate wines could be the answer to Australia’s problems of shrinking off-trade volumes and under-representation on restaurant lists. The category saw take-home volume sales drop 2.7% in the year to September 2011, while value sales remained static at £1.1 billion, according to a recent Wilson Drinks Report commissioned by Wine Australia. In the on-trade, the country only has a 9% share of red listings and 7% share of white on wine lists. But the future is bright if it gets its cool-climate offering right, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.