Casella Family Brands has successfully demonstrated a two-tier approach to selling its wines following the recent acquisition of the Peter Lehmann business. At the recent ProWein exhibition in Dusseldorf, two separate stands were used to showcase the new Casella premium portfolio as well as a range of wines from the recently-acquired Peter Lehmann Wines. The highlights of the new Casella premium range which were available for tasting to European buyers for the first time included the Casella Limited Release.

The thirsty country certainly makes a lot of drink: Australia produces well over a billion litres of wine a year, which isn’t bad for a continent largely covered by ground so parched that no vine stands a chance. Until recently, Australian wine was perceived as cheap, plentiful and about as subtle as a wallaby in your bathroom – which was never wholly true but worked well until the rest of the New World started carving up the market.

The twin demands of keeping vineyards healthy while striving for greater productivity will drive the agenda at the ASVO’s technical seminar in Mildura in July. National and international experts will address topics as diverse as salinity management, trunk disease, viruses, disease resistant cultivars, drought resilience and the necessary responses to climate change. “We’ll be looking at specific issues around the biotic and abiotic threats to productivity as well as debating broader questions about how to adapt to keep vineyards viable,” said organiser Brett McClen.

Giesen Wines is celebrating International Sauvignon Blanc Day on Friday, April 24, with its Marlborough growers. It is the sixth annual International Sauvignon Blanc Day – an online initiative that started in California with St Supery Winery as a global social media wine tasting. Giesen has one of the most diverse Sauvignon Blanc portfolios in New Zealand, producing eight main styles ranging from its ever popular Giesen Estate, which is exported to 30 countries, through to the super premium Fuder range.

Tesco has reported the worst annual financial results in the retailer’s 96 year history, showing a loss of £6.376bn (A$12.36) and underlying profit before tax fall just over 70 per cent for the year. Dave Lewis, Tesco chief executive, said it had been a very difficult year for the supermarket giant. “The results we have published today reflect a deterioration in the market, and more significantly, an erosion of our competitiveness over recent years,” he said.

Global markets are in the sights of Archer McRae Beverages after closing a $1.35 million funding round this month, with their flagship beverage ‘Joiy’ – the largest single capital raise of a Creative HQ start-up. Helmed by founder Chris Archer, Joiy is the product of 25 years of award winning wine making, coupled with global ambitions and a customer centric approach. Joiy was part of business incubator Creative HQ’s global growth programme last year.

Wine Australia has launched its updated Market Program Guide outlining upcoming user-pays activities available to wine brands, exporters, importers, regions and states to promote Australian wine both domestically and in key export markets. The guide currently includes 53 user-pays opportunities in 16 markets ranging from trade-focused events, consumer events, retail promotions, tastings and masterclasses, educational initiatives and advertorial opportunities to sommelier and trade immersion activities, that all aim to promote the diversity, quality and regionality of Australian wine.

SYDNEY: WineVine.tv announces the launch of its digital TV channel dedicated to all things wine. www.winevine.tv offers the global wine community a place to view, discover and enjoy a full-bodied blend of knowledge, information and entertainment, delivered by a collection of expert hosts. The channel will include every aspect of wine enjoyment, delivering expert opinion and commentary to consumers on all wine matters ranging from varietals to vintages, grape growth to winemaking, and retail to consumption.

Australia’s four largest newspaper publishers have come together to launch a campaign named “Influential by Nature”. The campaign is the largest marketing initiative ever undertaken by The Newspaper Works – the industry body that represents APN News & Media, Fairfax Media, News Corp Australia and West Australian Newspapers (Seven West Media) – and aims to convey the influence of newspapers in consumer alcohol spend.

Winemakers in one of Australia’s premier wine regions have finished this season’s grape harvest early. The Rutherglen region, which is famous for producing some of the world’s best Muscat and Topaque, has battled a number of natural disasters including frosts and flooding rains in the last decade. This season growers avoided disaster and were ready to make great wine. For Colin Campbell, senior winemaker and director of Campbells Wines, the tough years have been infuriating.