An online burning-off register has been introduced in the Shire of Cranbrook in Western Australia’s Great Southern to try and alleviate ongoing tension between local grape growers and farmers. March 1 marked the beginning of the restricted burning period in the Cranbrook Shire and many surrounding shires. This burning-off period coincides with grape harvest.

Beer may be central to Australia’s sense of national identity, but it’s the not the country’s most popular alcoholic beverage: that honour goes to wine. While 37.6% of Australian adults drank beer in any given four-week period last year, 45.1% drank wine. And the primary reason for wine’s dominance over beer? The number of Aussie women who drink it.

Organic grape growers and winemakers are upset at the abuse of the words ‘organic’ and ‘biodynamic’ in relation to wine. They are concerned that wine producers are using these descriptions as a tool to sell wine in a market that is increasingly congested and favouring sustainably produced wines over the more conventional. A group of Western Australian winemakers has approached the state’s wine industry association with its concerns and asked if anything can be done to stop it.

With the combination of warm temperatures and relatively little recent rain, bud break has begun in Napa Valley, marking the beginning of the winegrape growing season.
“Buds on Chardonnay have begun swelling and bursting on a few vines. With this warm weather and no real rain or cold weather in the near forecast, it shouldn’t be long before everything takes off,” said Brittany Pederson, viticulturist at Silverado Farming Company and a member of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers.

Indevin did a trial pick of the first of the region’s grape crop yesterday and signs are it could be another “stunning” vintage for Gisborne wine. The company harvested grapes from a Makauri vineyard.
“As a first pick it was a fantastic result,” said Indevin production winemaker Steve Voysey. “It showed us the grapes are ripening quickly and we are ready to go with our harvest.”

Harvest time has arrived again, with the first grapes of the season picked from the vines on Monday to make sparkling wine. Nautilus Estate of Marlborough got the ball rolling, picking around 10 tonnes of Pinot Noir grapes from its Renwick vineyard. The wine company is a member of Methode Marlborough, a group of 10 wine companies in the region that produce sparkling wine using the traditional method.

It’s ridiculous, on face value, to picture the NSW police cracking down a few weeks ago on a rogue wine list placed dangerously close to a Paddington street. That wine list was apparently a direct invitation – if not an order – for the fine citizens of Sydney’s inner east to binge and go crazy, a shining beacon attracting all of the hardcore boozers like drunken moths to an alcoholic flame.

Woolworths has appointed Brad Banducci as chief executive and managing director after posting a $972.7 million loss in its half-year results. Banducci takes over from retiring chief executive Grant O’Brien, and was deemed the strongest internal applicant by the Woolworths’ board. This article brings you five things you need to know about the new Woolies chief executive.

Aldi, the German discount supermarket chain that’s caused massive headaches for Australia’s supermarket duopoly of Coles and Woolworths, has suffered its first setback in 15 years of trading in Australia, announcing today that it will close its online liquor outlet in three weeks.

Hunter Valley winemakers have been battling to get the last of their grapes off the vine after a heat wave threatened to impact the quality of the fruit. After a turbulent start to harvest with consistently wet weather, Hunter vignerons have finally wrapped up their annual pick. There was concern heavy rain in January would wipe out much of the vintage, but a spike in temperatures in February allowed some last minute ripening of the grapes.