A SOUTH Australian winemaker has successfully sued its international insurance company for $250,000 after it refused to cover money lost when a US buyer failed to pay for wine it had ordered. Adelaide company Heath Wines took its US-based insurance company, Atradius Credit Insurance, to the SA District Court to recover $284,000 in unpaid money owed by Vinocopia.
Australian wine brand Petaluma is making a return to the UK market after after a four year absence, appointing Bancroft Wines its exclusive UK distributor. Based in the Adelaide Hills, Petaluma was last represented in the UK four years ago by Bibendum. This month it will make its return to the UK with Bancroft Wines.
WINEMAKERS on the Granite Belt are rejoicing after local vineyards took home big accolades in the Brisbane RNA wine awards last week. Granite Belt wineries claimed a total of 19 medals of the 21 which went to Queensland wineries in the RNA, which was announced on Friday. A massive 11 of those went to Symphony Hill Wines. Symphony Hill winemaker Mike Hayes said the win was “surreal” for their team. “We’re sort of pinching ourselves,” Hayes said Symphony Hill winemaker Mike Hayes was thrilled after winery’s big wins last week. “It’s incredible.”
Norfolk Rise Vineyard has attained one of Australia’s top wine awards this week when it claimed a trophy at the 2016 Royal Queensland Wine Show. The Trophy was awarded to Norfolk Rise Vineyard for their 2015 Shiraz, claiming ‘best Shiraz of show’ with 96 points, outperforming over 400 other Shiraz entries from across the country.
In the early hours of June 24, the mobile phones of executives at BI began buzzing with e-mail alerts. BI is a London-based wine merchant, known until recently as Bordeaux Index, and the messages signalled heavy trading on their Internet platform. “The [Brexit] referendum results had come in and the guys in Hong Kong were trading, bang, bang, bang, £100,000, £100,000.”
Delegat Group, New Zealand’s largest listed wine company, has revised its forecast net operating profit for the 2016 financial year up $1 million to $37 million on record case sales. Net profit is expected to be $54 million for the year ended June 30, including a $17 million fair value adjustment to biological assets such as its vines and grapes Delegat said in a statement to the NZX. It also said it achieved record case sales of 2.4 million for the year, up 9 percent on last year.
California wines sales both domestically in the US and international hit a record of 276 million cases in 2015, with an estimated retail value of US$31.9 billion, according to the Wine Institute located in California. Of the record breaking numbers 229 million cases were shipped domestically. “California wines continue to attract global recognition for their outstanding quality and value.”
One of Wanaka’s pinot noir secrets – Akitu A1 2014 – is out of the bottle. Hawkesbury Estates’ Akitu A1 2014 won four awards at the acclaimed International Wine Challenge in London on July 7, including the New Zealand Pinot Noir Trophy and the IWC Sustainable Trophy. For Hawkesbury’s vineyard manager, Steve Blackmore, the wins are just reward for more than 10 years of patient management. “There are a lot of awards out there and this is one of the best,” he said.
A blaze that took every fire crew in the Waikato to put out has done little to taint Vilagrad’s vision. Last week, the Nooyen family sat down to dinner to acknowledge the anniversary of the fire that tore through 60 per cent of their winery. The blaze destroyed the offices, kitchen and other parts of the 100-year-old wine cellar.
Finalists in the 2016 Tasmanian Wine List of the Year competition have been selected and voting is now invited from members of the wine loving public. Now in its third year, this program is presented by Wine Tasmania in partnership with the Tasmanian Hospitality Association to recognise Tasmanian businesses supporting the island’s outstanding wines.