Giesen treads late harvest wine

Giesen treads late harvest wine

A Marlborough winery is counting on the feet of their staff to again produce an award winning sweet wine. Giesen Wines began treading up to three tonnes of late harvest Sauvignon Blanc grapes by foot this week at its Riverlands plant, near Blenheim. Giesen Wines winemaker Hamish Kempthorne said the grapes picked from the company’s Alma St vineyard in Renwick would be bottled as sweet late harvest sauvignon blanc dessert wine. The foot treading method had become an annual event for staff with the wine recognised at major wine awards for the past three years

‘NZ wine boom’ in the United States

Constellation Brands NZ has hailed the figures from North American wine industry media sources over the weekend that show soaring growth in New Zealand wine sales to the US in 2014 and early 2015. Two of the three top wine brands are made by Constellation Brands NZ and New Zealand wine is reported to be advancing rapidly in the U.S. ‘delivering impressive growth in both volume and value. Described as a ‘New Zealand wine boom’, Impact Databank, a North American wine industry analyst, has reported a 55% increase in growth over three years.

Hardys: Making wines people want

Perhaps the best word to describe the main philosophical difference between Old World and New World wines is “tradition.” Old World winemakers in Europe, where wines has been made for more than 2,000 years, embrace tradition with a sense of reverence and pride. Although in recent years some European winemakers have started producing more modern-styled wines, most make wines the way they’ve been made for centuries.

Businesses pledge support for Noosa food and wine festival

THE loss of the Noosa International Food and Wine Festival would send the local economy reeling, and local businesses have vowed not to let the festival die. Noosa Boathouse managing director Phil Bradford told the Daily Noosa businesses would rally behind the festival vision after its parent company, Noosa Food and Wine Events, went into administration on Friday. This year the festival was lauded as a huge success, attracting 30,000 visitors to the region.

Australian Vintage appoints new chairman

The board of Australian Vintage Limited (AVL) has announced the appointment of Richard Davis as its chairman of the board, effective from today. In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, AVL confirmed the appointment following the retirement of current chairman Ian Ferrier. Non-executive director Brian McGuigan has also confirmed his retirement. Davis, who joined the AVL board as a non-executive director in May 2009, said he was very pleased to have been asked to serve as AVL’s chairman and that it was an “honour” to succeed Ferrier.

Wine row leaves sour taste

One of the Barnett Government’s most senior MPs has lashed out at the decision to axe a rebate scheme for WA winemakers, saying it had “sideswiped” the industry and should be reversed. Barry House, the Legislative Council President who is also South West Liberal MP, criticised the decision to scrap the so-called cellar door subsidy to save $11 million over four years. The subsidy is paid as a top-up to wine producers once they have exhausted their maximum entitlement of $500,000 under a Federal rebate scheme.

Women in Horticulture group says situation dire for Riverland growers

In the South Australian Riverland a group of women in agriculture say there is a crisis looming. They say years of poor wine grape prices are crippling local farmers and threatening the future of the family farm in the region. The Riverland produces over half of South Australia’s wine grapes and much of this goes into bulk wine production. Women in Horticulture group member and wine grape grower Margaret Duggin said they had serious concerns about farm viability as wineries increasingly grew their own grapes.

Lidl voted best supermarket for value for money wine

Lidl offers the best value for money wine of all the UK supermarkets, a panel of experts has concluded. Lidl was praised for 65 per cent of its wines offering good value for money, closely followed by discounter rival Aldi with 64 per cent. At the other end of the scale, a whopping 74 per cent of bottles sold by Marks & Spencer offer poor value for money, the panel judged. The experts included sommeliers, winemakers and Masters of Wines.

Maling to leave Villa Maria

Leading New Zealand winery, Villa Maria, has announced that Alastair Maling is leaving after more than 12 years. A master of wine and general manager winemaking, he will will remain until the end of June to ensure a smooth transition. CEO Villa Maria, Sir George Fistonich said: “Alastair has played an important role in the development of Villa Maria and has ensured that deep rooted foundations have been laid to maintain the quality of our winemaking portfolio as the business has grown.

Wine soars to new heights

New Zealand wine continues to advance rapidly in the U.S. market, delivering impressive growth in both volume and value. In 2014, New Zealand table wine imports jumped by 19.3% to 5.67 million cases, concluding a three-year period which showed an increase of 55%, according to Impact Databank. While rival imports are sharpening their focus on premiumisation, New Zealand is already very much a premium proposition.

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