Laura Jewell has amassed a rare bank of knowledge over a 25-year career that has spanned wholesale to convenience and, of course, the mighty Tesco. And now she can add generic marketing to her repertoire after taking the top job at Wine Australia in March. A Master of Wine since 1997, she spent the past four years in arguably the UK’s most commercial machine, overseeing Tesco’s product development with a focus on own-label and exclusives.
THREE new multi-million dollar export deals have been created on the back of Asia’s growing taste for NSW wine, natural oats, and baby formula. Mid-way through his trade mission to China and Hong Kong to promote NSW, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres announced the state had secured three agreements for exporting wine, oats and baby formula to Asia, buoyed by increasing demand for Australian wines and health food.
The way of the future for awards nights is being embraced by Australia’s newest wine awards
Australia’s newest wine awards program, the Australian Women in Wine Awards which launched on July 30, is ditching the glittering gala night in favour of live-streaming technology in an attempt to include more women in this history making event. The awards, the first of their kind in Australia, acknowledge and reward the work of women in the Australian wine industry, as well as industry leaders who champion equality and fairness for all sexes in the workplace.
Jesus, it was said, was able to turn water into wine. But how much water and how much wine? That question has never truly been answered. And while a team at the University of California (UC) Davis may also not be able to resolve the matter, it is working to figure out ways to use less water for making wine. A winegrape crush held at the UC Davis vineyards on Thursday found researchers teaming up to help people in the state’s wine industry conserve water while making one of California’s more popular exports.
Winegrapes specially bred for extreme temperatures may have a future, despite any laughs connoisseurs might have at the thought of wine labels extolling the virtues of the terroir of Deadwood or Fargo. A grape-breeding project that already has pumped more than $400 million into northern states’ economies and created as many as 13,000 jobs is trying to grow wine grapes where summers are short and winters brutal. Scientists who are breeding the grapes say the wine is improving every year.
The USA has overtaken Australia to become New Zealand wine’s largest export market by value according to the 2015 Annual Report of New Zealand Winegrowers. Now valued at $372 million, up 13 per cent, the US market accounted for around one quarter of wine exports in June year end 2015. Significant potential for further growth in North America and other markets is cited in the Report, as the wine industry advances towards its goal of $2 billion of exports in 2020.
Bafta award-winning comedian Graham Norton can now add “chief winemaker” to his CV, after he created his own blend of New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc – which hits Kiwi stores today. The wine was created during a two-hour blending and tasting session at a London hotel with Invivo winery’s chief winemaker, Rob Cameron, and director, Tim Lightbourne. The outcome is the 2015 vintage Graham Norton Blend, and in Norton’s own tipsy words on a video promoting the wine: “It’s that, that and that … I hope you like it.”
Australia’s family-owned wine producer Brown Brothers has appointed Fells to handle its UK distribution. The Victoria-based producer will switch on its core range of wines from PLB after August 31. Duncan Brown, export manager, said Fells has a well-earned reputation for developing premium wines in the UK and will be instrumental in rebuilding the Brown Brothers brand across all market channels.
THERE ARE two things that Australians take offence to: one is that the northern hemisphere still considers the southern to be less of a hemisphere—and this has nothing to do with the shape. The other problem is that nobody can think of Australia without trying to pitch in their favourite kangaroo or sheep joke. Oh wait, the sheep joke is an ‘honour’ reserved for the Kiwis. With wines, the same attitude carries over.