Last week’s “Brexit” vote will have vast and as-yet-uncertain consequences for the economies and politics of the United Kingdom and Europe overall. Today’s column tries to ground the wide-ranging conversation by focusing attention on one particular category of the wine industry, namely sparkling wine.
After a successful collaborative Rosé campaign with 25 New Zealand wineries earlier this year, the duo behind Sip NZ Wine has now launched Sip Marketing, a wine marketing company. Sip Marketing offers wineries the expertise of an experienced wine marketing team without the big budget of an in-house marketing department. Founders Emily Camblin and Caro Jensen bring, combined, over 20 years of wine marketing experience in branding, packaging, PR/communications and lifestyle campaigns to this new venture.
Congratulations to Brenton O’Riley who became the Bayer Marlborough Young Viticulturist of the Year 2016 on Friday 24 June. O’Riley has worked at Giesen Wines for the last few years as Viticultural Technician and credits his time and experience there as helping him gain some of the high level knowledge and skills required to win the competition. He is due to start a new job at Pernod Ricard in a grower liaison role at the beginning of next month.
Australian wineries are being invited to participate in short survey aimed at getting a snapshot of the current levels of sulfur dioxide use in the industry. In the forthcoming July/August issue of the Wine & Viticulture Journal, regular writer and winemaker Cathy Howard will be exploring the current push for wineries to reduce sulfur levels following a recent warning by the president of the OIV Monika Christmann.
As the impact of Brexit plays out on markets and commodities around the world, Australian winemakers could emerge as unlikely winners. Britain is the largest export destination for Australian wine by volume and the national industry body Wine Australia believes the fallout from Brexit could make it less expensive to send local wine to the United Kingdom.
There are two reasons Canberra’s David Osmond puts his money into solar panels rather than stockpiling it in the bank. “The returns are better plus it’s going towards a cause I’m very passionate about,” he said. The latest solar project Mr Osmond will invest in will be the largest community-owned solar farm in Australia – and it will be right here in Canberra.
HE may have been working in the wine industry for more than 20 years, but it’s Marty Singh’s own wine venture, just four years old, that’s gaining him most recognition. Mr Singh developed Precipice Wines during the “wet and soggy vintage” of 2011, but despite the difficult start, the confessed “young at heart” winemaker has been named as a finalist in the Young Gun of Wine Awards.
Wine producers and distributors from New South Wales and beyond are being urged to submit their best drops to International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney) this month, as the world class venue looks to finalise its coveted wine collection ahead of its opening this December. Collated by sommelier and ICC Sydney’s Beverage Operations and Cellar Manager, William Wilson, the industry-leading wine list will support ICC Sydney’s innovative Feeding Your Performance philosophy, with a focus on locally and sustainably produced wines.
English wine might be the only clear beneficiaries of today’s referendum debacle as importers look to the domestic marketplace instead of the Eurozone. As the pound goes into free-fall, it is likely in the short term at least that importers will look to what English wine can offer, with dominant UK wineries such as Denbies and Chapel Down set to profit.
Premium wine maker, Marlborough Wines Estates Group Limited (MWE) has today confirmed that it will become the third wine company to list on the New Zealand stock exchange when it joins the NXT market as a compliance listing next week. Marlborough Wine Estates owns vineyards in the Awatere Valley in Marlborough and produces some of the region’s finest Sauvignon Blancs under two brands – O:TU and Music Bay.