Jackson Family Wines (JFW) has upped the global distribution of two of its top Californian wineries, Cardinale and Vérité, to increase supply outside of the US and Canada. Starting with the 2013 vuntage, Verite and Cardinale will be represented by five additional Bordeaux negociants. The groups long term partner, Mahler- Besse, will also continue to distribute Verite.
Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. plans to turn a discarded label from the U.S. into one of the group’s top worldwide brands as it focuses on female drinkers. Truvee, rolled out in Australia on Friday, will go on sale in Europe, Asia and the U.S. and be a global brand within 18 months, Chief Executive Officer Michael Clarke said in an interview. The brand could then overtake popular Treasury labels such as Coldstream Hills, Seppelt and Devil’s Lair, he said. Treasury, the maker of Penfolds Grange, acquired Truvee when it bought most of Diageo Plc’s U.S. and U.K. wine assets for $600 million in January. It was set to be discarded.
Head of digital and content on unlocking the organisation’s vast knowledge to transform public perceptions from just being the Easter Show hosts to a go-to on fine food, wine and beer. Mention the Royal Agricultural Society (RAS) to a resident of NSW and they will most likely tell you about livestock, dagwood dogs and showbags. But if Cale Maxwell and his team prove successful, that association will soon include fine food, wine and beer.
Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Mike Clarke says a resurrected wine brand specifically targeted at women aged 30 to 40 years old has the potential to be as big as the company’s Wolf Blass powerhouse in a few years’ time. “I’m adamant this is going to be a big brand,” Mr Clarke said on Friday as he unveiled the Truvee brand which is pitched at female drinkers. “It’s going to take a few years. We’ll keep adding layers to it.” Treasury’s big global winners include Penfolds and Wolf Blass. The Truvee brand was a poor performer in the United States in a stable of mainly US wines which had been owned by British alcoholic drinks giant Diageo.
A trade delegation to promote South Australia’s food production, health and defence capabilities will head off to key north Asian countries. The business and government delegation of about 30 people will visit Japan, South Korea and Taiwan this week. South Australian Investment and Trade Minister Martin Hamilton-Smith said the trade agenda’s aim was to create jobs. “There’s about 65,000 jobs in South Australia that relate directly to selling our goods and services overseas,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said. “Food and wine are very big, particularly in Japan and Korea. We used to be the number one wine country in Korea, we have slipped from that mantel and we need to get it back.”
European winemakers are restricted on what their labels can say. Australians are not so precious. The Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée systems of Europe work on the principle that if a grape variety is not specifically approved for growing in a given region, the wine made from it cannot mention the variety; it is only allowed to state “product of France” (or Italy, etc) and, in some appellations, cannot specify the vintage. When winemakers from those countries are asked where they would go if they were to start again, they all answer Australia.
Robinsons Brewery has teamed up with two wine producers from Western Australian, expanding its portfolio of “quality” antipodean wines. As of December, the Stockpot brewery will be the sole distributor for Ashbrook Estate and West Cape Howe. Selected wines from both producers will be available across the 3400 pubs it supplies across the North West, Wales and Cumbria and to the off trade via the brewery. Based in the Margaret River area, Ashbrook Estate is a premium producer of varietal wines with a focus on sustainability.
Quality, innovation and sustainability are not the first words that come to mind when you’re relaxing with a crisp glass of pinot gris. But for wine producers Villa Maria, New Zealand’s most awarded winery, these three tenets are at the core of everything it does. Sustainability is a concept that every business ought to be focused on, and that some businesses are truly committed to. Take involvement in initiatives like Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand (SWNZ), for instance. Villa Maria has been a member for more than 20 years, since SWNZ’s inception in 1995. More recently it joined CEMARS, an internationally recognised carbon reduction program, and 27 percent of its vineyards are certified organic.
Driving across the manicured grass between rows of gnarled grapevines that have slept soundly through a mild, damp Marlborough winter, Allan Scott suddenly brakes his shiny new ute. Then he breaks into a knowing smile. Scott points towards his discovery; indiscernible to the ordinary human eye. With some focusing, they become obvious – tiny balls of fuzz on the gewurztraminer canes, about to break open with the first soft leaves of spring. This is budburst – one of the most exhilarating times in a vintner’s year. “Budburst brings an air of excitement, because it’s the beginning of another round of anticipation that this may be a better season than the last,” Scott explains. “Or could it be the beginning of the season that determines the vintage of the century. “We’re off on the seasonal merry-go-round.”
British drinkers stocking up on their favourite wine for Christmas may find they need a stiff drink at the checkout. The plunge in the value of the pound has meant the cost of buying wine from the big wine-producing regions – including the Continent, Americas, Australia and South Africa – has shot up dramatically. But this may prove a boon to Britain’s fast-growing wine producers, making their vintages more price competitive than foreign rivals.