Majestic Wine has reported the first improvement in its sales figures in four years as it made a “good start” to its three-year turnaround plan. Overall sales rose 41.3pc to £402.1m in the year to March 28, while Majestic Retail enjoyed like-for-like sales growth of 4.8pc.
New Zealand Winegrowers is offering three sommeliers from the UK and Ireland the opportunity to visit New Zealand to participate in an invite only sommelier scholarship event, with a select group of international sommeliers. The one day Sommelier Summit will see the group hosted by local sommeliers, Cameron Douglas MS and Stephen Wong MW. Cameron and Stephen will lead tastings and discussions on current trends, as well as presenting some unique examples of New Zealand wines that have limited availability.
A smattering of the great and the good of the UK wine trade turned up for a debate last Tuesday (June 14), titled ‘What direction should New Zealand winemaking take for the future’, sponsored by Villa Maria and arranged by its UK agent, Hatch Mansfield. The ‘elephant in the tasting room’ is: ‘Is New Zealand a one-trick pony (Sauvignon Blanc).
Whether it’s bold and innovative techniques in the vineyards, pushing winemaking boundaries or experimentation with non-traditional varieties, Australian wine’s new breed are prepared to throw out the old rules and step forward with a fresh attitude and approach. The desire to embrace the funky and gritty art of winemaking has led to wines that are truly exciting and capture a revolution in the glass. These are the people and the wines that are celebrated with the Young Gun of Wine Awards.
Dave Powell is larger than life. The loud-mouthed Australian is big in every way possible – size, volume, ambition, but he makes wines of surprising delicacy. I meet with him on a Tuesday morning at private members’ wine club 67 Pall Mall in St James’s. Running late, he apologises for leaving me hanging a further five minutes while he nips outside for a smoke. Dressed in chinos and a white shirt with his hair tied back in a ponytail, the 53-year-old admits that the staff had to lend him a blazer to meet the club’s formal dress code. “At least they managed to find one that fits,” he quips.’
The Daniel Pontifex Memorial Trust, with the support of Wine Australia, is now accepting applications for the 2016 Daniel Pontifex Scholarship. The scholarship offers a rising hospitality star professional placements in some of London’s finest restaurants as well as the opportunity to visit wine regions to further their career and knowledge.
When Tourism Australia launched the ‘Restaurant Australia’ strategy in 2015, Nathan Gogoll was impressed to see the efforts to put food and wine in focus. But he questions whether the Australian wine industry actually got any traction from the promotions. TOURISM AUSTRALIA RESEARCH, conducted across 15 of Australia’s key tourism markets, shows ‘great food, wine, and local cuisine’ is a major factor influencing holiday decision-making (at 38 per cent), ranking just ahead of world-class beauty and natural environments (37 per cent).
THE NEW wine equalisation tax (WET) could have grave consequences for many of Orange’s wine producers. Along with the Wine Federation of Australia, Orange producers want the government to retain the $500,000 WET rebate cap and not reduce it to $290,000 and also bring forward from July 2019 to July 2017 changes to exclude bulk and unbranded wine from the rebate.
Karissa Kruse has a mission. The charismatic president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission wants to raise the price wineries pay for Sonoma grapes, which now sell for much less than those in Napa County, and her approach is multifaceted. Part of her strategy is to position Sonoma as a leader in sustainability. The commission’s board of grape growers has set a goal of having all of its members fully sustainable by 2020.
Sue-Ann Staff, 45, made wine in Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment at Pillitteri Estates, 20 Bees and Megalomaniac before establishing Sue-Ann Staff Estate Winery Inc. I was a competitive figure skater, so if I came home after school on the bus I’d always keep an eye out for my grandmother’s car, because that’s where the crew was working. I’d come home and ask my mom what farm she was on.