A tourism body in central New South Wales says it is sustainable, after securing its annual funding request from the State Government. Several members, including Dubbo and Coonamble, left Central New South Wales Tourism when it decided not to amalgamate with the Outback and New England North West Organisations earlier this year.
English sparkling wine is set to become a mainstream drink of choice, according to new report that shows over half of sparkling wine drinkers in the UK have tried sparkling wine from English vineyards at least once, reports Harpers. Wine Intelligence’s new research points to a better supply of English sparkling wine and a growing reputation for quality.
Stellenbosch, a region rich in culture and heritage and famous for its wines, is home to the oldest and largest organised wine route in the country. Cape Times writer Biance Coleman reports established in 1971, when South Africans were still more spirit and beer fans than wine – despite vineyard being planted in the Cape for 300 years – the route now encompasses around 150 wineries, farms and estates and even has sub-routes. It can be mind-boggling and it takes many, many dedicated visits to become an expert. But hey, it’s a lot of fun along the way.
The ban on glass at Blues Brews and BBQs has prompted all Marlborough’s breweries to pull out of the festival. Renaissance, Moa and 8 Wired will not have stalls at A and P Park on February 4 after a Marlborough District Council liquor licensing committee, under pressure from the police, banned glass. Marlborough Express beer columnist Geoff Griggs says in his weekly column today that three Marlborough breweries, and also north Canterbury brewery Brew Moon, have told him they will not be at the festival next year. Glass is still allowed at the Marlborough Wine Festival the following week, leading brewers to claim double standards.
The US. economy may be in a funk and consumer spending in a slump, but there’s one glass that seems to be more than half full flutes of Champagne to be precise. After seeing sales tumble as the recession hit, Champagne shipments were up nearly 22% comparing the first six months of this year to the same period in 2010, with a total of 7.5 million bottles shipped to the US. as of June, according to the Washington-based Champagne Bureau.
Bad weather is usually the worst thing that vintners have to worry about in Santa Barbara County, but a decision last week to require full-scale environmental review for a proposed winery in Ballard Canyon is making some wonder whether the county’s planning department is putting a cork in the growth of the Santa Ynez Valley’s wine industry. So says vintner Michael Larner, whose plans for a winery on his 134-acre property — already home to some of the most coveted Grenache and Syrah vineyards in the state — were thwarted on December 3 when the county’s long range planning director Jeff Hunt determined that, due largely to the 20 special events proposed each year and a number of vocal opponents, the winery should produce an environmental impact report.
With a swag of awards in the bag, Palmer Wines is set to host the main event of the Margaret River Wine Region Festival in April. With just two years in the business, the winery was recently awarded the coveted WIAWA wine industry award for the Most Outstanding Cellar Door/Wine Tourism Facility.
A remote region of northern China that began growing grapes for fine wine just a decade ago has beaten the centuries-old French wine-producing region of Bordeaux in a blind tasting held in Beijing. A group of wine experts – five French and five Chinese – ranked the bottles from the remote and sparsely populated Ningxia region above those from Bordeaux at the tasting, held on Wednesday in Beijing.
The rise in popularity of Sauvignon Blanc in recent years has seen a drop in demand for Delacolline Estate Wine’s Chardonnay. But the owners of the winery, located on the outskirts of the South Australian township of Port Lincoln, were keen to make use of a good crop of Chardonnay grapes in 2009 so they decided to add bubbles to produce the region’s first sparkling white wine.
Federal Water Minister Tony Burke will front irrigation communities in southern NSW on Thursday to hear their views on a draft plan for the Murray-Darling Basin. So too will Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. The meeting, in the heart of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in Griffith, is one of a series planned by the basin authority during a 20-week consultation period.