MORE than 200 wines from 50 wineries across Australia have been entered in this year’s Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland Wine Show and Mediterranean Challenge. The annual show will be held at the Clive Berghofer Events Centre at the Toowoomba Showgrounds this weekend. Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland chief executive officer Damon Phillips said there was a huge range of wines available for tasting. “We have been running the show for 16 years now and we are the first wine show on the calendar,” Phillips said.

Cider Australia, the national industry body representing more than 60 cider producers and suppliers, has joined the alcohol taxation debate, saying cider should be taxed in the same manner as wine.
The body’s position is that cider is a fruit wine and that the industry mirrors that of grape wine from fruit growing, production and manufacturing through to sales and distribution.

Mitchell Taylor, the managing director and winemaker at Taylors Wines has said that a move to volumetric tax “would be a disaster for the industry”. Following Neil McGuigan’s letter to the Australian Financial Review last week, Taylor has written to the same newspaper calling for a quick decision by the federal government regarding wine taxation. Taylor wrote: “The wine industry is united in its approach to freeze the amount of tax we pay as we are currently the highest-taxed wine-producing country in the World.”

Mitchell Taylor, the managing director and winemaker at Taylors Wines has said that a move to volumetric tax “would be a disaster for the industry”. Following Neil McGuigan’s letter to the Australian Financial Review last week, Taylor has written to the same newspaper calling for a quick decision by the federal government regarding wine taxation. Taylor wrote: “The wine industry is united in its approach to freeze the amount of tax we pay as we are currently the highest-taxed wine-producing country in the World.”

TASMANIA’S wine industry has a positive outlook with growing international interest in local vineyards. Lake Barrington Vineyard manager and White Rock Vineyard owner Phil Dolan said there was a lot of potential for the Tasmanian wine industry to grow, but it needed to match the market. This echoes what Wine Tasmania CEO Sheralee Davies told the ABC on Wednesday. Davies said the expansion needed to match the growth in domestic and export demand to remain sustainable.

The wine industry in Victoria will conduct a four-day trade mission for international buyers, including those from China, Japan and South Korea, who will visit local vineyards to get a taste of the state’s best wines. The event, launched by the Victorian government on Monday, is aimed at attracting more than 150 potential buyers to visit Victoria’s wineries and cellar doors, in a program called “Meet the Winemaker,” which aims to allow local businesses to grow and exercise new export opportunities.

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A Prosecco shortage is expected as a result of high demand and exceeding rainy conditions in Italy. Robert Cremonese is the export manager for Prosecutor manufacturer Bisol, and talks about the wine failing to meet demand in 2015, USA Today reports. “Last year’s harvest was very poor, and down by up to 50% in some parts, so there is a very real possibility of a global shortage,” Cremonese said in an interview with The Drinks Business.

Four large wine blending tanks are being built in Blenheim and transported to a winery in three sections because they are too big to be trucked as a finished product. Crown Sheet Metals is building the 500,000 litre tanks for Drylands Winery, in Blenheim, over the next two months. Crown Sheet Metals site manager Crichton Purdie said the 11-metre high by 9-metre wide stainless steel tanks were too big to fit on a truck in one piece so were being trucked in three sections before being assembled on site at Drylands.

The reduced 2015 crop in New Zealand has exacerbated the on-going squeeze of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc grapes, says Cloudy Bay Estate Director Ian Morden. “The Wairau valley is changing and Marlborough is not infinite. So it’s more important than ever for us to secure good grapes because there are only certain places that are suited to our classic cool climate style such as Renwick, Fairhall, Brancott and Rapaura,” he told Decanter.com in London.