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.
Sick and tired of the same old Shiraz and looking for some new blood? Perhaps the Brave New Wine’s 2015 Schadenfreude Great Southern Shiraz or Billy Button’s 2015 “The Affable” Barbera could be your new drop. Those who love to taste the latest can try the newest offerings from up and coming winemakers shortlisted for Australia’s 10th Young Guns of Wine awards.
BREXIT could have a negative impact on beef, lamb and wine exports to the UK. Rabobank senior analyst Marc Soccio said the lower pound would increase the price of Australian imports for UK consumers, prompting them to look elsewhere for products. “I think particularly you’ve got to look at the currency impacts to begin with,” Mr Soccio said.
Wealthy young Chinese, having acquired a modicum of savoir faire and a taste for liquid luxury, are becoming game changers in one of the world’s biggest wine markets, prompting the country’s top wine merchants to also become providers of wine education. This burgeoning army of wine aficionados offers a glimmer of hope for vintners, who have been battered by Beijing’s crackdown on extravagance and the mainland’s slowing economic growth.
How long does it take to sell alcohol in South Australia? Years. One of the world’s biggest retailers, Costco, is still waiting on a verdict from the South Australian courts on whether it can sell alcohol at its Adelaide store. In 2014, the country’s biggest retailer, Woolworths, teamed up with the Australian Hotels Association to object successfully to Costco’s bid for a special circumstances licence in South Australia.
Family-owned wine delivery firm Get Wines Direct says it is reinventing the online wine shopping experience, unveiling a new virtual wine store app. The AisleOne iPhone and iPad app, under development for two years, replaces text searches and product lists with a virtual wine store in which users swipe left and right to pick their bottle. “When you’re an independent business up against the liquor giants, you need to be clever and agile to compete,” CIO Jordan Muir said.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has purchased two vineyards in the famed Bordeaux winegrowing region in France – the Chateau Guerry and the Chateau Perenne – for nearly 12 million euros ($13.56 million), the Agence France-Presse reports. The news agency says the 64-hectare Chateau Perenne produces about 500,000 bottles of red and white wine annually, while the smaller, 20-hectare Chateau Guerry produces 84,000 bottles of red a year.
Gary Boom, managing director of BI, said he was wary of making bold predictions given the unprecedented nature of the Brexit vote, but added: ‘We can say that the uncertainty associated with a leave vote would likely result in further volatility, which is generally unwelcome for any market. ‘[Sterling] has been weakening [against the euro] in the lead-up to the vote and it seems probable that it would continue to fall if we vote leave.’
New Zealand must promote both grape varieties and its varied regionality if it is to continue its success, according to a recent debate. Speaking at a debate organized by Hatch Mansfield and New Zealand brand Villa Maria, Hatch Mansfield managing director Patrick McGrath said the country needed to look beyond Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and embrace new regions in order to grow and build on its reputation.
Chief executive Clarke explains his strategy and why he plans to stick with the winemaker. Two weeks after Michael Clarke landed the job of chief executive of Treasury Wine Estates, he received a phone call telling him that KKR, the private equity group, had proposed a takeover offer for the winemaker. “My wife and I were putting down an offer on a house when the chairman called,” says Mr Clarke, who had only recently travelled from the UK to Australia to take the job.