Work began yesterday at the Fairmont Homes Seaford Heights housing development. It has prompted opponents to repeat calls for laws to protect the McLaren Vale district from further encroachment. The development was hotly contested last year but approved in May, clearing the way for about 1300 homes to be built on 77ha just north of the McLaren Vale wine region, reports AdelaideNow.
Next weekend’s Mount Barker Grapes and Gallops offers thousands of visitors and what the state government describes as an “extraordinary combination of wine and horse racing in the heart of the Great Southern.” Acting Tourism Minister Helen Morton said the event was recognised as the region’s favourite festival, incorporating premium wine, gourmet food and action-packed racing, reports Farm Weekly.
Next weekend’s Mount Barker Grapes and Gallops offers thousands of visitors and what the state government describes as an “extraordinary combination of wine and horse racing in the heart of the Great Southern.” Acting Tourism Minister Helen Morton said the event was recognised as the region’s favourite festival, incorporating premium wine, gourmet food and action-packed racing, reports Farm Weekly.
Coming up with a list of the top 50 things to do in McLaren Vale was tough work, Chapel Hill CEO Marc Allgrove says. The winery decided to do the countdown to mark the region’s Tour Down Under leg on Saturday, January 21. On the list, revealed on the winery’s Facebook page and website each day, are swimming in the surf, breakfast at Blessed Cheese and a walk through the Onkaparinga Gorge National Park. Mr Allgrove said the winery’s workers drew on their own favourite experiences to compile the list, reports Southern Times Messenger.
Coming up with a list of the top 50 things to do in McLaren Vale was tough work, Chapel Hill CEO Marc Allgrove says. The winery decided to do the countdown to mark the region’s Tour Down Under leg on Saturday, January 21. On the list, revealed on the winery’s Facebook page and website each day, are swimming in the surf, breakfast at Blessed Cheese and a walk through the Onkaparinga Gorge National Park. Mr Allgrove said the winery’s workers drew on their own favourite experiences to compile the list, reports Southern Times Messenger.
A slow and rain-affected flowering is likely to reduce the Sauvignon Blanc crop across the top of the South Island. Last week’s downpour came just as the flagship variety was finishing flowering in Nelson, adding to headaches faced by vineyard managers in a difficult and disrupted season. The deluge three weeks ago hammered Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer and some Chardonnay crops, reports the Nelson Mail.
The 2011 Frankland Estate Rieslings could be the best group of wines released by the winery so far. The estate is in the isolated Frankland River region of the Great Southern, where a growing number of Australia’s finest Rieslings are beginning to emerge. Over many years owners and winemakers Judi Cullam and Barrie Smith, and now son Hunter, have taken extraordinary, challenging and expensive steps to unselfishly promote both their releases – and the variety in general – to the international world of Riesling lovers, reports In My Community.
While New York’s wine industry has seen its promotional budget shrink the past year or two, there’s enough money there for an ambitious program called New York Drinks New York that the Wine & Grape Foundation will launch during the first quarter of 2012. Centered on New York City, the campaign is a multi-faceted program for wine trade, media, and consumers, intended to set the stage for a long-term effort to raise awareness about the quality of New York wines, reports Penn Live.
A dispute over the use of the term White Zinfandel in the European Union has been resolved. The row broke out last autumn after Italian authorities complained about the grape being referred to as “White Zinfandel” when it is a red grape, which they said would be confusing to consumers. However the term is widely understood as a brand name in the USA and UK denoting the popular rosé wine, reports Harpers Wine & Spirit.
More than two million Australians live within the Murray-Darling Basin. That’s only about a tenth of Australia’s population, yet this area includes some of our biggest regional centres and accounts for a whopping 40 per cent of all food and fibre grown in Australia. The wheat grown in southern QLD, the cattle grazed in western NSW, the rice farmed in the Riverina and the wine produced in VIC and SA are all part of the Basin – which means all Australians, regardless of where they live, are impacted by what happens here, writes CEO of the National Farmers Federation, Matt Linnegar, on ABC’s The Drum website.