A harvest promising more than 30 tonnes of juicy grapes will set any wine maker’s heart racing. Ashley Smith is no exception. With the season’s last grapes ready for plucking, the Preston Peak Winery owner’s imagination is in overdrive. After four years battling against sub-par growing conditions, he has his hands on a treasure trove of flavour, reports The Chronicle.
More than 30,000 foodies will sample the state’s finest dishes on the banks of the River Torrens this weekend. About 100 exhibitors from across SA will showcase a range of cuisines in Elder Park for Tasting Australia’s Feast for the Senses festival. The free two-day event will include Greek, Italian, Indian, Korean, Japanese and Argentinian dishes. More than 40 wineries from regions including the Clare Valley, Coonawarra and Langhorne Creek will showcase their finest drops, reports the City Messenger.
Say goodbye to snagging fine wine at a value price. As demand increases and inventories experience an extended shortage, consumers will have to choose between paying more, trading down or buying foreign imports, according to a wine industry report released on Tuesday. Silicon Valley Bank, which provides the wine industry with commercial banking services, predicts the fine wine business will see sales growth of 7 to 11 percent this year amid a looming grape shortage, reports CNBC.
Faced by increasingly ferocious competition from New World wines, Europe’s top producer nations kicked off talks on Thursday to decide whether or not to liberalise the planting of vineyards. In discussions scheduled to last until the end of the year, a high-level group will decide whether or not to go ahead with plans to abolish by 2018 wine planting rights, determining which grapes are planted where, reports Reuters.
Oddbins creditors still haven’t got any money back after the company went into administration and, while “preferential” suppliers will recover all monies owed, unsecured creditors will get just 1p in the £1 back, a creditors’ report has revealed. Administrators Deloitte collected £1.4 million for its time, while Nicolas, which had a fixed charge over the company, has taken home £1.19 million, with a further £67,000 owed, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.
Armand de Brignac is planning to launch the world’s first prestige cuvée Champagne made entirely from Pinot Meunier grapes. The brand, famous for its bold packaging and association with celebrities, most notably American rapper Jay-Z, plans to isolate a wine from its single vineyard called Clos Yons, which is planted exclusively with Pinot Meunier. Speaking of the proposed new product, Philippe Bienvenu, commercial director for the Champagne, told The Drinks Business that the Clos was situated between Chigny-les-Roses and Rilly-la-Montagne, and was a “specific terroir that is wonderful for Pinot Meunier.”
How old is old and does it make a difference? I was amused to read the other day that a smart new range of single vineyard wines are the result of the maker’s 26 years crafting Pinot Noir, an exceptional vintage, and the age of the vines that produced the grapes to make them. The unashamed plug for what are, admittedly, some excellent wines, was right on the first two counts. But on the third, which suggests that the vines have been planted for quite some time and supports the widely held belief that older vines produce better wines … Sorry. Yet, to my knowledge these vines were planted only in 1998, writes Warren Barton in The Southland Times.
It’s time to mark April 29 in your calendar and polish your pride and joy, in preparation for the seventh McLaren Vale Vintage and Classic. For the first time, the annual Vintage and Classic will be held over two days, due to its growing popularity. Bringing together car and wine enthusiasts, the Vintage and Classic marks the end of vintage for the premium wine district. Last year, an estimated 10,000 spectators lined the main street of McLaren Vale to catch a glimpse of their favourite classic vehicle, or to cheer on a loved one participating in the spectacular parade, reports The Victor Harbour Times.
Farmers and grapegrowers across the Hunter will take to the streets of Sydney next month as part of a rally opposing coal seam gas exploration in the vineyards. Residents, farmers and grapegrowers from Broke, Bulga, Fordwich, Belford, Lovedale and Pokolbin will join the march to Parliament House on May 1 to put a stop to coal seam gas mining in the valley, reports The Maitland Mercury. “If the coal seam gas exploration continues then it could change the whole of the Hunter Valley grape industry,” Broke grapegrower and member of the Hunter Valley Protection Alliance Graeme Gibson said.
More than 30 people attended a meeting on the draft regional land use plan for the Upper Hunter, held at Muswellbrook library last week. Six NSW government representatives faced farmers, vignerons and others criticising the plan and the maps of important land that requires protection. Many in the audience arrived angry and left puzzled at the bureaucratic process that had produced what they said were faulty maps and a plan that failed to safeguard their livelihoods, reports the Muswellbrook Chronicle.