A row over how alcohol is taxed has deepened after a report by the Parliamentary Budget Office revealed the vastly different levies applied to wine, spirits and beer. The report released on Wednesday shows the effective tax rate on the alcohol content in niche craft beers can be as low as $1.71, while the effective rate on a $40 bottle of wine is much higher at $45.55 a litre. The tax on spirits and commercially produced beer is higher still.
As a Twitter user you are aware of the unexpected joy of receiving a notification on your phone that someone has mentioned your wine and given it a little thumbs up. Feels good doesn’t? To know that the wine you have laboured hard over has been so well loved? So what’s next? How do you: make the most of the social capital, thank the Twitterer who loved your wine and not look like a nob?
Tasmania’s wine industry is looking to assure its future with a new framework for sustainable viticulture. Good environmental credentials are an important ingredient for the state’s vineyards, which occupy some of the most picturesque parts of the island. Wine Tasmania’s scheme covers financial, environmental and social sustainability measures, but is simpler than the existing Entwine Australia environmental assurance program.
Treasury Wine Estates chief executive Mike Clarke has foreshadowed a likely split of the company into a luxury wine business, led by Penfolds, Wolf Blass and Wynns, and a separate one focused on lower-end commercial wines, which may be sold. Clarke raised the possibility after announcing on Wednesday the acquisition of most of alcoholic beverages giant Diageo’s wine division for $754 million, with a large chunk of the funds to come from a 2-for-15 rights issue to raise $486 million.
Only about fifty wineries are fair trade-certified, all from South Africa, Argentina, and Chile. Producers must be in the “Global South” to apply for the program and right now, that’s the Global South for wine. “Global South” refers more to development status and national wealth, not so much to physical geography; New Zealand and Australia are in the global south, but not in the Global South. So, don’t blame poor selection when you don’t see Italian or Californian fair trade wine at your local shop.
It has been called “the most dangerous wine in the world.” But it is those who produce the Bargylus vintage, not those drinking it, who must tread carefully. For its rich flavours have been cultivated in a vineyard in war-torn Syria where shells rain down and where lashes are handed out by the dozen for dealing in alcohol. Vineyard owner Karim Saade reveals: “Every six or seven months we get some shelling. “We haven’t had any major human casualties, thank god. The only damage was material, and material can be replaced.”
A year on from winning the University of Auckland’s Dragon’s Den-style business competition, a wine industry start-up’s “grenade” is already in commercial trials with a major Hawke’s Bay winery. Wine Grenade, a micro-oxygenation tool that removes the cost and complexity associated with maturing wine, won the Spark $100k Challenge in 2014 and has now been named as a finalist in the New Zealand Innovators Awards.
Industry Veteran Don Buchanan passed away on the Sunshine Coast in September after a two-year battle with cancer. Judy Buchanan has shared a summary of Don’s proudest moments throughout his wine career which spanned more than four decades. “Don’s life was certainly full of good experiences and ventures among them piloting his own 2-seater Ultralight plane. Don came from Melbourne and with a passion for wine making, studied Agricultural Science at Dookie and then onto Roseworthy College where he graduated in 1973 in Oenology.”
The biggest Riesling event in the southern hemisphere was launched this week in Canberra, with almost 500 wines from seven countries up for judging. Canberra International Riesling Challenge chairman Ken Helm said there would be plenty of opportunity for the public to get involved in the event, which he said was not “just a wine” show. Events include master classes and seminars on Friday showcasing wines never seen in Australia before, an awards ceremony on Friday and a public wine tasting of all 500 Rieslings on Saturday.
The winery Wynns Coonawarra Estate has forced a drought on part of its vineyard in the name of climate change research. Coonawarra wine region suffers extreme seasonal conditions, including frost, drought, cold flowering and high precipitation. Chief winemaker from Wynns, Allen Jenkins has been at the helm of the climate research for the past 14 years and said understanding how these factors impact yield potential is critical.