Inspired by a YouTube video of some 800 ducks lining a vineyard in South Africa, a Great Southern winery has decided to try their hand using ducks instead of pesticides and baits for problem snails. Apricus Hill in Denmark is one of just a handful of wineries in Western Australia using the animals as natural pesticides, just recently completing their first trial of the Indian Runner and Muscovy ducks.
Tonight is the night for the region’s winemakers who are testing themselves against their peers at the 16th annual Hawke’s Bay A & P Bayleys Wine Awards. Nearly 400 entries encompassing a wide range of grape varieties and wine styles were presented for an 11-strong judging panel this year at the country’s oldest regional wine awards competition. The line-up of leading New Zealand and international wine writers and winemakers spent three days at the EIT’s wine and viticulture centre late last month judging the entries to select the recipients among nine major awards, 15 category awards, and the Doug Wiser Memorial Trophy.
The Yealands Wine Group has put up New Zealand’s largest solar panel installation at its vineyard in Marlborough as it reinforces its claim to be the most sustainable winery in the world. The new investment in renewable energy means that Yealands is now capable of generating 411.12 kiloWatts of solar power, which is equivalent to powering 86 New Zealand homes, and will offset 82 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, the installation – which comprises a total of 1,314 photovoltaic panels on its winery roof – does not mean that Yealands is self-sufficient: the solar panels will generate 30% of the power necessary for winemaking.
Constellation Brands has sold its wine business in Canada, including award-winning Inniskillin estate, to a teachers’ pension fund for one billion Canadian dollars, and will buy a collection of new wave wine brands from Washington State. The move to sell up is part of Constellation’s plan to re-focus around premium and high end US wine brands aimed at millennials, alongside a burgeoning beer arm and small-scale spirits division.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has agreed to pay $1.03 billion for the Canadian wine business of Constellation Brands, one of the country’s top wine sellers, with seven of market’s Top 20 brands and a network of retail outlets in Ontario. The deal comes less than two weeks before new rules governing alcohol sales in Ontario — which will make wine available in selected grocery stores — begin to take effect. Constellation’s Canadian brands include Inniskillin and Jackson-Triggs; Teachers’ will also continue to distribute the company’s international brands, such as California’s Robert Mondavi and New Zealand’s Kim Crawford, according spokeswoman Deborah Allan.
Whether you’re drinking away your sorrows or celebrating with a few bubbles could determine how much you’re willing to pay for your grog. New research has found people in a better mood are willing to shell out more for wine. Participants in the Australian study were given four different Shiraz wines of varying quality. Some they drank at home, some in the lab, and the rest in a restaurant setting.
In two weeks’ time, at Oxford Town Hall, Matthew Jukes kicks off the biggest ever 100 Best Australian Wines Roadshow. He will then take this elite Australian wine tasting to incredible locations in Manchester, London, Brighton, Birmingham and Edinburgh (all dates and venues confirmed below) and then on to three other prestigious venues in the New Year (dates to follow). Matthew has been compiling his 100 Best Australian Wines Report for 13 years and this initiative is regarded as the true barometer of the finest Aussie wines on the shelves in the UK each year.
Anthony Road Wine Company and Keuka Spring Vineyards recently received top honors in the Six Nations Wine Challenge in Australia. Anthony Road Winery was awarded White Wine of Show and the Best Riesling trophy with its 2014 dry riesling. Keuka Springs Vineyards’ 2014 gewurztraminer won a Best of Class trophy for Aromatic Non-Riesling Wine. The competition featured wines selected from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Canada and the U.S.
In yet another attempt to make humans obsolete, scientists at the University of South Australia have developed an electronic tongue they say can taste wine and tell you its age, the type of barrel in which it is aged, and its overall quality. ‘We wanted to demonstrate the huge capabilities of electronic tongues as analytical tool for the analysis of wine samples,’ said Dr. Xavier Ceto Alseda, who ran the project with his colleagues at the university.
In a new twist on a beloved event, guests will dine under the stars as they celebrate Hawke’s Bay’s excellence in viticulture tomorrow night. Teams have been working hard over the weekend to prepare for the Hawke’s Bay A&P Bayleys Wine Awards- the country’s oldest regional wine awards competition. The winning wine entries – assessed by a panel of 10 judges – will be announced at a spectacular awards dinner held tomorrow night at the Hawke’s Bay showgrounds.