Innovative approaches to vineyard management will feature at a free National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) vine health workshop in Mudgee on Tuesday August 23. NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) viticultural development officer, Darren Fahey, said local vignerons will gain insights into the latest technology available to keep their vineyards productive and business on track.
AN award-winning winery wants to relocate to the Surf Coast this summer, where it would establish a new vineyard and cellar door facility. Premium boutique firm Pondalowie Vineyards, which has been based in Bendigo for almost 20 years, has lodged plans to set up a new home in Bambra. Owners Dominic Joseph and Krystina Morris said the 40ha site on Bambra School Rd would replace their Bendigo complex.
As CEO of the Barossa Grape & Wine Association back in 2011, Sam Holmes didn’t seem like an obvious candidate to apply for the Australian Rural Leadership Program. He’s glad he did however, describing it as ‘an amazing opportunity’. ‘At the BGWA we were annually circulating and promoting the program to local wineries and grapegrowers and the feedback was always how amazing the program was and that it was actually life changing,’ he said. ‘When our Chair, Linda Bowes, encouraged me to make time for personal development, I applied and was lucky to be accepted.
TALK show host and wine lover Graham Norton is releasing a South Australian Shiraz following the international success of his Sauvignon Blanc. The Irish comedian teamed up with New Zealand’s Invivo Wines in 2014 and has sold more than 500,000 bottles of their 2015 Graham Norton’s Own Sauvignon Blanc By Invivo in Ireland, the UK, Australia and New Zealand since its release in October.
Ways to recycle the vast amount of plant waste produced by the wine industry are under investigation by chemistry and biotechnology researchers at Swinburne. Grape pomace is the skins, pulp, seeds and stems remaining after the fruit has been pressed for juice. While pomace contains tartaric acid, a common additive used to balance the acidity of the wine, it is of limited nutrient value. It is also too hard for animals to digest so can’t be used as feed, and degrades too slowly to be useful as compost.
When grapegrowers look back on the hot, dry summer of 2016, they may raise a glass to toast one of the best growing seasons they’ve had in a while. The sun has baked much of the land in southern Ontario this summer to the point where most farmers are crying for mercy. But for those looking to harvest grapes to produce wine, the sun is a grape grower’s best friend.
For many including your correspondent, the news in June that Pernod-Ricard, owners of Jacob’s Creek, was to close and sell off the stocks of Morris of Rutherglen hurt more than the announcement from Treasury Wine Estates late last year that it was shutting the doors of Seppelt Great Western. The venerable wine producer, established in 1859, is of considerable cultural and vinicultural significance to both its region and the country.
YES, it has been a wet windy winter. In combination with months of soaking rain it has meant many big old trees have succumbed – I have days on the chainsaw to show for it. The wet weather has put many gaps in the pruning schedule for vineyards around the region. The risk of disease means you can’t prune in the rain. It has also restricted machinery movement. Taking a heavy machine onto waterlogged ground will have you bogged to the axles in no time at all.
South Australia is often synonymous with producing world-class wine, and the peak body representing the Riverland’s wine industry believes the region has all the ingredients to become a world leader in growing organically. Winemakers and grape growers in the region were out in force last week to learn more about bringing organic practices and soil health to their vineyards.
Australia’s second-largest wine company, Accolade Wines, which owns brands including Hardys, Leasingham, Grant Burge and Banrock Station, is set to return to the stock exchange in a $1 billion-plus listing in the first half of 2017 as private equity firm CHAMP exits after six years of ownership.