Australian wine producers are set to save valuable time this year with the introduction of a combined Wine Sector Survey to streamline the annual collection of data across the wine community. In a first for the Australian wine community, the Wine Sector Survey 2015 will combine the annual data collected by the Australian Grape and Wine Authority (AGWA) Price Dispersion Survey, the Winemakers’ Federation of Australia Vintage Survey, the South Australian Crush Survey and the Murray-Darling / Swan Hill Wine Grape Crush Report. Andreas Clark, AGWA chief executive officer, said the move should help lighten to load on wineries this year.

Wine is one of Central Otago’s most important industries and people interested in making it their career will get a chance to learn all about it. As part of the 2015 Otago Careers Festival, the Central Otago Winegrowers’ Association, with the support of the Otago Polytechnic, is hosting a seminar called “Introducing the Wine Industry” for anyone interested in becoming involved in the industry.

Online wine sales are set to increase to around 15% by 2018, according to new data from the Wilson Drinks Report. Tim Wilson, Wilson Drinks Report managing director, said online sales currently make up around 11 per cent of the market, compared to the off-trade, but the trend was likely to grow over the next three years. “It shows online wine is both here to stay and likely to take a bigger share of the market,” he said.

For lovers of world class wine, the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea (Kiwi Chamber) will host two New Zealand Wine Festival events in Seoul and Busan. The Seoul tasting will take place on May 30 at the Waterfall Garden of the Grand Hyatt Seoul, with the second of the wine extravaganzas being held at the Grand Ballroom of the Park Hyatt Busan on June 13. This will mark the seventh-annual New Zealand Wine Festival in Seoul and third in Busan, offering enthusiasts more than 75 premium New Zealand red and white wines from more than 25 participating vineyards.

New Zealand Wine, in partnership with Bayer, has begun its search for the 2015 Young Viticulturist of the Year. The 2015 contest marks the 10th year the event has taken place, according to the competition’s website. “Since the inception, this competition has attracted a high calibre of entrants from throughout the country and is now recognized within the industry as being a leading accomplishment for young viticulturists to aspire and achieve,” the site said.

HUNTER Valley-based Agnew Wines Pty Ltd has taken a significant stake in South Australia’s McLaren Vale region, with the purchase of a 21-hectare vineyard in the Blewitt Springs subregion. The acquisition was set in train by the company’s founder and chairman, Brian Agnew, before his death at the age of 69 on February 24 after a 2½-year battle with pancreatic cancer. Brian was a major figure in the law and horse racing, as well as wine.

Hotel mogul Jerry Schwartz has slammed the state government’s $1 million tourism handout calling it “manifestly inadequate”. Schwartz owns three major hotels in the Hunter and is a proud tourism advocate for the region. “The Hunter Valley needs a vibrant tourism industry if we are to generate sustainable future employment, and the NSW government would be better off allocating the $1 million directly to the Hunter Valley Wine and Tourism Association – which now has full council support – to promote the region’s tourism assets,” he said.

In a first for the region’s winegrape growers, Murray Valley Winegrowers (MVW) has teamed with the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) to present an information forum on June 11. AWRI speakers will fill the morning session with presentations on issues affecting vineyard management and grape quality. MVW takes over for the afternoon program, focusing on topics that will give growers further insights into future prospects. “With this year’s vintage delivering some of the lowest average prices in 10 years, growers who want a future in the industry are desperate for information that helps in their decision-making,” Mike Stone, MVW executive officer, said.

The union representing Treasury Wine Estates’ workers in Sunraysia, in north-west Victoria, says it expects about three-quarters of staff at a packaging warehouse near Mildura will lose their jobs. The Australian Workers’ Union met company managers on Thursday to discuss the fate of more than 100 workers employed at the Karadoc facility, which is being shut down mid-next year. The union’s Victorian vice-president Ben Davis said while there had been some progress, it was still trying to get more detail from the company.

Today’s announcement by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that the United States continues to violate WTO rules could pave the way for Canada and Mexico to immediately seek billions of dollars’ worth of retaliatory tariffs against U.S. products including wine. This is the third time that the WTO has ruled that U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) of certain meat products is discriminatory and violates WTO rules.