New Zealand wines are witnessing a surge in demand and are in top gear in many export markets. The exports marked a record high of NZ $1.29 billion in 2014, which was up by 8.2 percent over the previous 12 months, according to New Zealand Winegrowers. New Zealand wine producers have reason to cheer as the good times are coming after a long slump in prices the past few years because of overproduction.
The trial of former New Zealand Wine Company chief executive Peter Scutts over allegations of kickbacks continues today in the High Court at Auckland. In a case brought by the Serious Fraud Office, Scutts is facing 16 Crimes Act charges of dishonestly using a document and one Secret Commission Act charge of receiving secret reward for procuring contracts. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The Hunter Valley Wine Festival will be moving from its previous October date to Saturday 20 June to join the Hunter Valley Wine and Food Month line up. The festival will be staged at Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley boasting over 40 exhibiting vineyards including the Valley’s major wineries, as well as boutique producers. Beer and cider tastings from the on-site Lovedale Brewery, along with a host of food options will also be on offer.
Mudgee will tonight begin its annual campaign in Sydney to raise awareness about wines from the New South Wales Central West district. The annual Pyrmont Festival will be launched tonight. This year’s event will include a two-day festival on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The chair of Mudgee Region Tourism, Russell Holden, said the event was about getting more Sydney restaurants to stock the region’s wines and attract more visitors to the Central West.
Tourism operators across the Hunter are being urged to take part in a survey designed to assess the economic impact of last week’s devastating storm. Tourism Hunter says many businesses have suffered devastating damage to property and infrastructure. There has also been a severe decline in the visitor economy that it says will impact on operators long after the flood waters recede. It says business and wine tourism has been particularly hard hit, with the perception by many outside the region that the Hunter is still not capable of handling visitation.
Winemaker Australian Vintage has lately been the subject of been several major developments. The first was the announcement by S&P Dow Jones Indices that Australian Vintage has been removed from the All Ordinaries Index as part of its March 2015 quarterly rebalance. The All Ordinaries rebalances once a year. While this is non-operational in nature, it is not ideal from a share liquidity point of view and is a reflection of the deweighting of Australian Vintage’s market capitalisation relative to the largest 500 companies listed on the ASX.
Naked Winemaker Ben Gould has purchased of a 50-acre Vineyard in Margaret River, following a crowd funded Christmas wine sale, to raise the deposit. As a result of increased sales from Naked Wines and a special wine sale for his mailing list, Gould has been able to finally own a vineyard big enough to produce all the grapes required. “We crowd funded the deposit with wine specials at Christmas time, telling customers the revenue was to be used to purchase a vineyard. The response was overwhelming,” Gould said.
Yealands Wine Group plans to expand its land holdings in New Zealand’s Marlborough region as competition for wine-growing property drives up prices, founder Peter Yealands said. New Zealand’s biggest producer of Pinot Gris owns 1,500 hectares (3,705 acres) of vineyards and Yealands said he would double the company’s acreage if he could. Apart from Marlborough’s signature Sauvignon Blanc varietal, Yealands makes wines from grapes such as Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the Yealands Estate and Peter Yealands brands.
The Hawke’s Bay wine industry looks to have scored a hat-trick of quality vintages. Many in the business are describing the almost-harvested 2015 vintage as a “great one”. With more than 85 per cent of the grapes now in, there were already plenty of smiles. The 2013 and 2014 vintages across the Bay were stand-outs with several winemakers describing them as among the best over the past century, and initial indications for the latest harvest are that it will be three in a row.
The 2010 vintage of one of Australia’s greatest wines, Henschke Hill of Grace, is about to be released and wine critics are already singing its praises, with several scoring it 99/100. Winemaker Stephen Henschke, the fifth generation to tend the vines at this family-owned winery in the Eden Valley, just behind the Barossa, says the wine matches the 2002 and 2005 vintages. He describes the 2010 vintage as having “radiance”.