Lovers of world-renowned wine and food are bring spoilt for choice at the 2015 Barossa Vintage Festival. With half of the ticketed events already sold out, the Barossa Vintage Festival is expected to attract more than 55,000 people with 10,000 people travelling from interstate and overseas. Tourism Minister Leon Bignell said the visitors would inject thousands of dollars into the local economy. “It’s a highly-anticipated festival and the focus is on the very best the region is famous for –local, fresh produce and Australia’s premium wines,” Bignell said.

ATLANTA, US: Those people you see in the Yellowtail commercials on TV—they look like they’re having so much fun, don’t they? As far as I know, Yellowtail is the only commercial for wine on network television. They’ve certainly got the money for it: In 2005 they sold 7.5 million cases of wine globally and sold more wine to the US than all of the French producers combined. But popularity has its price, and many consumers have come to view all Australian wine as some type of cheap party fuel. Australian labelling hasn’t exactly helped.

The festival celebrates food, wine, beer and spirits from local producers, as well as inviting guest chefs and wine makers from six continents to participate. Over the May weekend, Australia will be represented by chef Owen Andrews, and winemaker Warren Randall, both from the Barossa Valley in South Australia. Owen Andrews said it’s a great opportunity to increase his own skills and to show how strong Australia’s food culture has become.

Tesco is said to be announcing a number of changes to its wine buying team including bringing back James Davis MW from Greene King and a series of redundancies, according to a report on harpers.co.uk sister publication Off Licence News. James Davis MW is currently a senior buyer for Greene King and has been with the company for more than seven years. His new role at Tesco is said to be reporting directly to head of Tesco’s BWS, Gavin Warburton.

It’s not uncommon in Europe to come across a wine style that is almost entirely and very happily lapped up by the local populace. Because of this, you rarely see these wines beyond their home turf.
Our young wine culture and export focus are against such a thing happening here in quite the same way. But there is one style that is a little similar – lower-priced Hawke’s Bay Bordeaux varietals and blends.

The New Zealand wine industry is firmly on the rebound after a torrid period following the Global Financial Crisis, where winegrowers’ returns plummeted despite an overall growth in export volumes. Wine exports reached record highs again last month, earning almost $1.4 billion for the calendar year – an 8.2 per cent increase from 2013. Crowe Horwarth’s resident wine expert, Alistair King, says that strong performances aren’t just limited to the international market.

Sommeliers keep pushing sweet Riesling but it is varietal suicide, Jason Wilson claims. This will be the first June in seven years that we won’t be besieged by the relentless Summer of Riesling campaign. No more fake “RIESLING” tattoos; no more mediocre bars offering three cheap, off-dry Kabinett wines on the happy-hour menu to entice wannabe hipsters. No more evangelical somms scolding us to drink Rieslings that no wine lover in Germany or Austria would fancy.

The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) have named Jessica Ferguson, Sirromet Wines assistant winemaker, as dux of the 35th Advanced Wine Assessment Course. Having topped the class in statistical scores, verbal skills and group interaction, Ferguson has been offered a place as an associate judge for the 2015 Royal Queensland Wine Show (RQWS), to be held in June – a highly sought after position due to the very limited places available.

THE popular T’Gallant restaurant in Main Ridge is for sale as part of owner Treasury Wine Estates’ cost-cutting plan. Up for grabs is the restaurant and the T’Gallant’s winery interests. About eight hectares of grapes are grown at the 16-hectare Mornington-Flinders Rd property but wine is no longer made there. Grapes from all over southeastern Australia are marketed under the T’Gallant label. The vineyard–restaurant has had a chequered career over the past decade or so, having been fined for permit breaches when owned by Foster’s Brewing Group.

Yalumba presented the North Cottesloe Food and Wine Expo in Perth on Sunday, showcasing a selection of the Barossa winery’s current release leading wines, as well as labels from Western Australia, France, Spain, Italy and Victoria. The 2012 Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon and 2009 Yalumba Steeple Vineyard Shiraz were among two of the most popular wines on the day, alongside the 2013 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay.