Current Wine News
| Drop by: Orange Orange is one of the funkiest small towns in NSW, with a thriving arts community and a gourmet culture that has grown alongside the apples, cherries and stone-fruit trees. Grapes have been grown in the district since it was first settled in the mid-1800s, following a gold rush, and today Orange is home to several of the best regional restaurants in the state. Winsor Dobbin presents the latest in a series of guides to Australia and New Zealand's leading wine regions. ... more | |
| Chardonnay and curves: the secret to success An Australian wine has received a prestigious international award, not for its nectar but for a niche marketing idea. Laurance Wines has been awarded the diamond medal at the recent Femmes et Vine Du Mon Concours International wine show in Monaco. Founder of the Margaret River winery Dianne Laurance entered their Icon and Chardonnay in the Women and Wines of the World, which is an annual international wine competition for 28 countries judged entirely by women, reports WA Today. ... more | |
| Vineyard sales pick up (NZ) Vineyard sales for one real estate firm in Marlborough have picked up considerably over the past year. Bayleys viticulture and rural lifestyle salesman John Hoare said several sales had taken place in the past 12 months, including distressed sales, such as bank sales, mortgagee or receivership sales. The agency had sold 14 vineyards in Marlborough in the past year. Some sales were still in progress, and some had gone unconditional, reports the Marlborough Express. ... more | |
| Wellington to host Air New Zealand Wine Awards (NZ) New Zealand Winegrowers has announced today that Wellington will play host to the 2012 Air New Zealand Wine Awards Dinner. The Awards Dinner, which will see New Zealand's top winemakers and industry figures gather in celebration of top quality wine productions, will be held on Saturday 24 November. The Air New Zealand Wine Awards is New Zealand's most prestigious wine awards competition, attracting entries from around the country, reports Voxy News. ... more | |
| Forrest branches into exciting territory (NZ) We live in exciting times as winemakers venture into new territory with varieties such as Arneis, Viognier, Albarino, Pinot Blanc, Petit Manseng and Gruner Veltliner. Marlborough's Forrest Estate launched The Doctors' Gruner Veltliner in 2010. That wine was made from young (2-year-old) vines and we enthused over its taste and texture. This new kid was off to a good start. Not long after the Gruner release, Forrest Estate owner John Forrest was contacted by Willi Klinger, of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board. News of the wine had travelled fast and Willi was keen to try the New Zealand version of an Austrian classic, reports the Marlborough Express. ... more | |
| ‘Confusing’ EU wine labelling rules unfit for consumer needs: UK winery (EU) An award-winning UK winery pulled up by regulators for illegally calling a wine it made using Argentinian grapes ‘wine’ under EU law says that current labelling rules are hopelessly out of step with consumer needs. Chapel Down Winery imported Argentinian grapes to produce a one-off vintage of about 1,3000 bottles for World Malbec Day, but was then told by the UK Wine Standards Board (which polices EU regulations) that the product was not 'technically' a wine, and it was illegal to label it as such, reports Beverage Daily. ... more | |
| Greek winemakers see crisis as glass half-full (Greece) Greek winemakers are not pricing their wares in drachmas - yet. The winemakers, visiting New York as part of an international promotional tour, doubted Athens would leave the euro-zone even after Fitch Ratings Agency downgraded Greece's sovereign debt on Thursday, calling the country's exit from the monetary union "probable," reports Reuters. "No, no, no. That is not going to happen," Stellios Boutaris, whose family owns the Kir-Yianni winery, insisted. "And if that happens, we will have bigger problems than just pricing wine in drachmas." ... more | |
| Barone Ricasoli to register 'Brolio' Sangiovese clone (Italy) Chianti Classico's Barone Ricasoli is about to register its own Sangiovese clone with the Italian ministry of agriculture. In tandem with a comprehensive zoning study at Ricasoli’s 1,200ha Brolio estate – which has some 230ha under vine – two or three Sangiovese biotypes, or clones, will be submitted next year to the ministry. If accepted, the new clones will be known as the Brolio clones, and will be included in the Italian National Catalogue of Grapevine Cultivars, which lists 74 officially recognised Sangiovese clones, reports Decanter. ... more |
