Celebrating 10 years in 2015, the Orange Wine Festival continues to be a standout showcase of the high quality wines that are being produced in the region. Kicking off on October 16, the festival will be held over three weekends and will also include an array of mid-week activity with a general focus on celebrating the regions wines. “The three-week format worked well in 2014, allowing visitors more time to venture out of the city to Orange for the festival,” said Michelle Stivens, festival chair. “Spring is also such a lovely time of year in Orange, with the leaves returning to the vines and the blossom in full bloom.”

How many vegans are there in Australia? More than a quarter million people say they are vegan, more than one percent of the population. Worldwide, some vegan converts might surprise you, like Mike Tyson and the co-founder of Twitter, Biz Stone. They all have in common a desire to live a more healthy life with a plant-based diet, and for many vegans that includes wine. Options for vegan wine have just increased in Australia, with the addition of Smidge Wines of McLaren Vale.

Western Australia’s Feral Brewing will tweak the branding of its Sly Fox beer under the settlement of a long-running trademark dispute with winemaker d’Arenberg. The winery claimed the Feral Brewing Sly Fox Summer Ale infringed its trademark for The Feral Fox Pinot Noir, which the McLaren Vale winemaker registered in 2002. A settlement agreed in recent weeks enables Feral to keep the name, but it has to make certain changes in how the branding is displayed, national sales and marketing manager Steve Finney told Australian Brews News.

The Australian wine industry mourns pioneering industry legend Baron Guenter Prass AM who passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 12, aged 88 years. The son of a winemaker and grandson of grapegrowers, Prass’ esteemed career began in Germany where he studied viticulture and winemaking. One of the first flying winemakers, he went on to work in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Australia

Fungicide resistance across Australian vineyards is on the rise, with new research identifying higher–than–expected populations of powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis bunch rot with resistance. Powdery mildew, downy mildew and botrytis bunch rot are the three most economically significant diseases in Australian viticulture – costing the sector in lost crops and disease management.

Different wine regions around the world will go head to head, in a new reality show called Best Bottle, to see who can make the best bottle of wine. Scott Krauger, CEO, founder, and executive producer has been in the wine industry for about 25 years. Wine is his passion. “The concept was really created from my love of wine,” Krauger noted. With the reality show, Krauger wants to show the world what it takes to create a bottle of wine.

QUEENSLAND wineries have gained a valuable ally in the battle for supremacy within the Asian wine market. Hiroyuki Sakai, made famous through his role as ‘Iron Chef French’ in the popular Japanese television show ‘Iron Chef’, has supported Australian wine by assisting with the launch of Tokyo-based Winetree’s premium Queensland wines. Ko Nagata, managing director of Winetree’s parent company, Global Sky Group, commented: “Sakai-san is known for his refined tastes and we’re confident he will help put premium Queensland wines on the map in Japan.

Forget Sonoma: North America’s trendiest wine region is located south of the border. The burgeoning region between the Baja California town of Tecate south to Ensenada boasts brand-new wine-tasting rooms, striking natural landscapes, unique boutique hotels and boundary-pushing restaurants. So, why haven’t you ever heard of it? Mexico has been making wine for centuries, but Baja’s Mediterranean-esque wine country, the fertile Valle de Guadalupe, has been flying blissfully under the radar of most oenophiles.

It’s a simple truth: most of us purchase wine based on our instant reaction to the wine label. “The wine label really only has about 1.5 seconds to make an impact,” notes John Lawlor, co-founder of Real Picture Research, a visual engagement research company. Lawlor and fellow co-founder, Don White, spend their days researching the impact of wine labels. “At the point of purchase the only real info the consumer has is the label, and within that 1.5 seconds we draw so many conclusions. Wine is such an image product so the label is a big part of the impression.”

A small enclave containing 140-year-old vines is trying to get growers to choose vines over lumber. A group of southern Chilean farmers is seeking government funding to help preserve their ancient Malbec vines, some of which date back to the time when Ulysses Grant was in the White House. It’s one part of an initiative – the Traditional Vines Rescue Plan – launched by the Chilean marketing consultancy Andes Wines, its aim to persuade holders of old vines and rare varieties to preserve and nurture what they have.