The international body of climate change says grapevines have what it takes to beat the heat. The head of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) says grapevines are hardy little numbers and can survive global warming over the long term. In Australia, Treasury Wine Estates Ltd, is testing technology to water vines underground. It’s also expanding fermentation capacity to combat the impact of climate change on its vineyards around the world.
THE Federal Government is moving quickly towards implementing a wine industry reform plan, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Anne Ruston said yesterday. Provided the industry plan is administratively possible, she hopes to announce the plan well before the next harvest starts in January. “I hope we are weeks away from making a formal recommendation to Cabinet,” Senator Ruston said.
The closure of Treasury Wine Estates’ Seppelt winery near Great Western will leave a significant hole in the region, locals say. Treasury has announced it will stop operations at the 150-year-old winery in Victoria’s Grampians region in the next several months. The winery, which was started in 1865 by Joseph Best, is one Victoria’s oldest. Best known for producing its sparkling wines — matured in its famous 3km-long underground cellars known as the Drives — Seppelt was once Australia’s largest winery.
Napa Valley Harvest 2015 came and went in record fashion, beginning a full three weeks ahead of normal and coming to a close by the second week of October. Since July, grapegrowers across the valley have experienced the rush of the busiest and most exciting part of the growing season. It is the moment that every action in the vineyard points toward. With the 2015 harvest complete, the vines move toward winter dormancy, allowing grapegrowers to reflect on the year past.
Laser mapping data can help the English wine industry identify the best places to grow grapes, says a UK government department, as it releases the data to the public. Growers can make use of 3D LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) maps to understand variations in slope and aspect, pinpointing the best locations for vines to thrive in. It is estimated that an additional 75,000 acres of land in England is prime for grapegrowing.
Wine lovers sampled and snapped up new release wines from around the Alexandra basin at the weekend. The Alexandra Basin Wine Growers’ New Release Event is in its seventh year, and showcases over 50 new release wines. This year it came under the umbrella of the inaugural Down to Earth event celebrating Central Otago wines. Angus Bradshaw, of Grasshopper Rock vineyard, said their vineyard – which was owned by five couples from around the country – launched its 2014 Pinot Noir at Sunday’s new release event.
Looking at New Zealand wine consumption, a solid argument could be made that popular taste has had little to do with good taste for the past 50 years. The reason for that is our fondness for sweetness. We like to think that craving the next sugar fix is an American thing, but we’re actually not that far behind. The obesity stats say as much. Our beer has traditionally leaned toward sweetness. With wine, for decades now New Zealanders have lapped up a series of go-to drops offering little but dollops of sweetness.
The State government is often accused of not being able to see over the Mount Lofty Ranges or beyond Gepps Cross. So you might think a $2m grant for a business operating in regional South Australia would be universally welcomed – but, not so. The SA government last week announced Treasury Wine Estates would receive $2m from the Regional Development Fund to use as part of a $25m project to expand its Wolf Blass Winery and Packaging Centre in the Barossa Valley.
In a shed near Toowoomba, researchers at the University of Southern Queensland are developing the tools and techniques they think will dominate farming practice by 2025. The Institute for Agriculture and the Environment executive manager Kevin Norman said the University of Southern Queensland had invested $30 million in its agriculture research programs. “There’s some really exciting things coming on … real world practical solutions that we can deliver to our farmers,” he said.
Winemakers Federation of Australia is urging the federal government to force Coles and Woolworths to identify their home brand wine labels for consumers. Winemakers Federation of Australia chief executive Paul Evans told a Senate inquiry in Perth on Tuesday there were concerns in the industry about Coles and Woolworths marketing wine similarly to branded wine from producers. “What we would like to see is that home brands are identified so consumers can make their choice,” Evans said.