Daily News Jan - March 08
Sydney Time
Copyright © Ric Einstein 2008
Sunday 30 March
The long boom turns to bust. THE road from Mildura to Merbein, in north-west Victoria, is a sad sight. Many of its farms are covered with wine grapes, dying on the vines. Farmers planted the vines hoping to cash in on the seemingly endless boom in Australian wine. As with the gold rush that gripped Victoria 150 years ago, the most unlikely types expected to make a fortune. But in 2007 the boom turned to bust, forcing many farmers to walk away from grapes and land they cannot sell.
Paris pawn shops to accept wine
For the first time in their history, Paris pawn shops have agreed to take bottles of wine in exchange for cash. More than 350 bottles with a total value of €60,000 (£45,000) have been pawned – inlcuding a €5,000 Domaine de la Romanee Conti.
Harvest brings wine of the century
THIS year's wine harvest is so impressive it will be bottled for the territory's centenary celebrations, the ACT Government has announced. ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said two varieties a riesling and a shiraz would be created using some of this year's best fruit and the top skills of the local wine industry. "The wine will be released in our centenary year, 2013.
Wednesday 26 March
Australian wine industry feels heat from climate change
Australian grape growers reckon they are the canary in the coalmine of global warming, as a long drought forces winemakers to rethink the styles of wine they can produce and the regions they can grow in. The three largest grape-growing regions in Australia, the driest inhabited continent on earth, all depend on irrigation to survive. The high cost of water has made life tough for growers.
ONE glass of wine a night can increase risk of breast cancer by 60 per cent
Middle-aged women who drink one glass of wine a night increase their risk of breast cancer by 60 per cent, an alarming new study shows. Up to 2,000 women every year die from alcohol-related breast cancer, with increasing numbers also suffering from liver cancer and fertility problems related to drink. Government guidelines recommend women should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week.
Friday 21 March
A world-first scientific study, conducted by the Department of Agriculture in WA, has proved that smoke taints the taste of wine grapes. Trials done as apart of the report exposed grape bunches to heavy smoke from burning straw.
Rosés surge in popularity in Australia
Dry rosés are are experiencing a renaissance in Australia, winemakers say. The dry style - both still and sparkling - as opposed to the sweeter wines that used to be popular, are perceived by the consumer as lighter in alcohol and 'fresher' than a traditional red wine, Bernard Hickin, chief winemaker at Jacob's Creek in the Barossa Valley said. 'Five years ago we made no rosés, and now we have four,' he said.
Indians take an interest in Riverland wine
A Riverland winery has been sold to an Indian company for $60 million. Australian Vintage, the company formerly known as McGuigan Simeon Wines, has sold its Loxton winery, to a Mumbai company, Indage Holdings Limited.
Winery deaths prompt safety review
Safety standards in the New South Wales wine industry are being reviewed after
three deaths and a number of injuries this year. WorkCover is currently
investigating the death of a winery worker at Leeton in the NSW Riverina last
week.
Wine maker insures nose for £3.9m
A bespoke policy was created for Ilja Gort, the Dutch owner of Chateau de la Garde in Bordeaux, France, to cover the loss of his nose and sense of smell.
U.S. businesswoman halves wine collection for $1.7 mln
U.S. entrepreneur V. Cheryl Womack made some room in her wine cellar - and about $1.7 million from an auction of half of her wine collection at Sotheby's in New York on Saturday. The sale of fine and rare wines brought in a grand total of $3.96 million, including $1.7 million for Womack's 4,775 bottles from Bordeaux, Burgundy, California and Australia.
Sunday 16 March
Wine worker dies trapped in hopper
The winemaking industry in southern NSW has been shocked by the death of a winery worker who died after becoming trapped in a piece of machinery. The 24-year-old Leeton man is believed to have fallen into a hopper and got trapped by the head, the NSW Ambulance Service said. Paramedics rushed to Toorak Wines, on Toorak Road near Leeton, about 11.40am (AEDT) today, but found the man dead when they arrived.
Global warming 'fortunate': Pontallier
Chateau Margaux general director Paul Pontallier has endorsed his fellow producers' views on climate change: it is no bad thing. Pontallier was speaking at a Margaux masterclass at Christie's in London, which he presented along with Corinne Mentzelopoulos, owner of the renowned Bordeaux first growth. Asked about climate change and rising alcohol levels in wines, he said, 'We are so fortunate with global warming. Look at the number of great vintages we have had in the last 12 or 13 years. It is absolutely amazing.'
Wine drinkers to suffer under massive price hike
UK wine drinkers are set to become the most heavily taxed in Europe after the government announced a 14p increase on a bottle of wine. The shock decision, which takes effect from midnight on Sunday, comes as consumers already face price increases on the back of rising costs for grapes, packaging, glass, transportation and energy.
Wednesday 12 March
Renowned Australian producer Hardy Wine Company is to be renamed Constellation Wines Australia. Company president John Grant said the idea was in part to take the spotlight off Hardy's as a corporate entity and bring back its old artisan identity. 'In particular, it allows the Hardys brand to return to being a winery, known for quality and craftsmanship, rather than being known as a corporation.'
A report shows Australian wine export volumes dropped five per cent in the past year. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation says at the same time, the average price of wine increased by five per cent. The Corporation's Lawrie Stanford says the volume decline is due to short harvests.
Wine exports drop five per cent
A drop in bulk wine shipments has contributed to a five per cent fall in Australian wine exports in the year to the end of February. Some 749 million litres of wine was exported in the 12-month period, valued at $2.9 billion.Bulk wine exports dropped 25 per cent in the year to the end of February this year, but bottled wine shipments rose five per cent.Famous names are boosting US wine and spirit sales.
Famous names are boosting US wine and spirit sales
Celebrity-driven alcohol beverage products - those branded with the name of, or associated with a famous individual - are gaining popularity in the U.S. According to a new study conducted by research company Nielsen, "celebrity wines" are in particular on the rise - released by celebrities as diverese as film director Francis Ford Coppola, former NFL coach Mike Ditka, golfer Greg Norman or recent releases from Martha Stewart and Paul Newman.
Friday 7 March
French group demands Sarkozy action on anti-alcohol lobby
A French group has threatened Nicolas Sarkozy with industrial action if he does not curb the anti-alcohol lobby. Vin et Société, which represents the French wine sector, has threatened to take industry wide action if President Sarkozy does not act on campaign promises to resolve increasing limitations on wine and spirits advertising in France. 'We have not yet got a date for a meeting [with Sarkozy]. We will wait only until the second half of March, after the municipal elections, because we don't want to politicise the issue,' said Delphine Blanc, director of Vin et Société.
Worker hurt, $10m wine lost in tower collapse
HALF a million litres of wine soaked into the ground when a fermenting tower collapsed at a McLaren Vale winery yesterday. Seven workers were on a platform at Wirra Wirra winery when it collapsed, injuring a cellar hand, about 12.30pm. The wine, believed to be mostly red and worth more than $10 million, spilled after the concrete platform holding several stainless steel fermenting tanks gave way.
Bees to help sniff out quality wine
Scientists at the Queensland Brain Institute are using bees' noses to help develop a machine that can smell the difference between a good and a bad wine. University of Queensland researcher Doctor Judith Reinhard says the tests are carried out by blowing different scents over the bees and measuring how they react.
Amazon.com to sell wine online
According to a job posting on Amazon's Web site, the company's consumables division is looking to hire a senior wine buyer for its specialty foods group. An Amazon spokeswoman said the company wasn't commenting beyond the ad, which was posted last Wednesday. According to the posting, the senior buyer must have broad experience in the wine industry and will be responsible for the "acquisition of massive new product selection" and "will work to build out our entirely new selection from the ground up"
Wine grape price increase expected
Low crop yields and the increasing value of wine exports are expected to push up the price of wine grapes over the next three years. Prices are expected to increase by up to $115 per tonne. The commodity forecaster ABARE's senior economist, Brenda Dyack, says despite the ongoing drought, wine makers and exporters will benefit.
Turning water into wine a future challenge
While wine grape prices are expected to increase and total sales of Australian wine are predicted to grow, future drought conditions and a lack of available water will be the major challenge facing the industry in the period to 2013. Managing and supplying water security will not only be the job of producers but also governments, and removing restrictions on water trade may provide benefits, according to ABARE.
Sunday 2 March
Health expert wants smaller bottles to stop binge-drinking
Wine-loving Britons are being pushed into binge-drinking because of large bottles, says an influential health publication. Dr Trish Groves, editor of the British Medical Journal, wrote in this week's issue that the standard 75cl bottle could be responsible for making Britain's middle classes 'wasted.' 'I like a glass of good wine with my supper,' said Groves. 'But, once two of us have had a glass each, it's all too tempting to finish the bottle there and then to avoid waste.
Foster's spurns UK wine market
Peter Jackson, managing director of Foster's Wine Estates' European business, says the "incredible pressure" on prices in the UK wine market because of strong competition between supermarkets meant the company could get better prices in other regions, including the US and Asia. The Australian company owns wine brands Penfolds, Rosemount and Lindemans. Mr Jackson says he can no longer get allocations of some kinds of boutique wines from Australia, particularly Pinot Noir, for the UK market.
American merchants wary of Bordeaux 2007
Some American merchants will skip the Bordeaux en primeur barrel tastings next month due to the high Euro, mixed vintage reports and apprehension of high futures prices. Merchants cite a lack of interest on the part of the consumer, a poor vintage and high prices as reasons for not attending. Although many will attend to ensure a good quota of wines in future vintages, strategic pricing on the part of the chateaux and negociants has alienated some importers.
Thursday 28 February
Australian wine giant goes under
Australian wine group Palandri has called in the administrators, it was announced today. The Western Australian wine giant said that it had appointed accounting firm Deloitte to oversee its 'complex' finances. The accounting firm issued a statement saying it would continue the group's wine business, including that of producing the 2008 vintage, due to begin next week.
Rosemount has invented a wine that stands up to the rigours of being served with ice, a trend that researchers found was growing as people sought more refreshing alcoholic drinks. Rosemount will back the launch with a $3.5 million advertising campaign in coming months. Lisa Saunders, general manager of marketing at Rosemount, said the development of the new brand - Rosemount O, for over ice - had taken more than two years.
Taint, oxidation forces Leeuwin to re-bottle old vintages
Top Australian producer Leeuwin is re-bottling its flagship Chardonnay under screwcap following frustration with defects caused by corks. According to the western Australian estate, random oxidation and cork taint spoilage have dogged older vintages of their Art Series Chardonnay. The series – one of its most coveted – features the work of a different contemporary Australian artist each year.
Women targeted in new campaign
An anti-drinking campaign aimed specifically at women is launched in the UK this spring. The £10m campaign promotes awareness of the alcohol units in standard drinks while warning women about health hazards of excessive drinking. 'The health warnings will be quite stark and they need to be quite stark,' public health minister Dawn Primarolo told the Guardian newspaper.
Sunday 14 February
Tesco, Asda binge drinking announcements welcomed
Announcements by the UK's two biggest supermarkets on measures to reduce alcohol abuse and under-age drinking have been cautiously welcomed by the industry. Tesco chief executive Terry Leahy has 'personally told the Prime Minister' that the supermarket would work with government to tackle the problem. All supermarkets have been criticised for selling alcohol below cost price – that is at a loss. In some cases lager can be bought for less than the price of a bottle of water.
Wine heavyweights attack heavy bottles
Two influential wine personalities, Jancis Robinson and Oz Clarke, have attacked heavy wine bottles over the past week. Robinson launched a 'name and shame' campaign on her subscription-basis website to put the heaviest wine bottles in the spotlight. 'I'd like to introduce a feature in which you name and shame below the wines you come across that are packaged in ridiculously heavy bottles,' Robinson wrote last Saturday.
World's first 'diet' wine that gives you less of a hangover to be available in UK
For those of us who enjoy a glass of wine but are worried about our waistlines or hangovers, a vineyard in Spain has hit on the perfect solution. The Bodega Casa de la Ermita has developed a "light wine" with just 6.5 per cent alcohol - half the standard strength - and correspondingly low calories. The winery in Jumilla, in the southern province of Murcia, has produced 770,000 bottles of 2006 Crianza using Monastrell, Tempranillo and Petit Verdot grapes. It is believed to be the first of its kind in the world.
Foster's went for wine pizazz when it should have stuck to boring old beer
FOSTER'S diversified into wine because it and everybody else in the booze business believed that beer had become a grind, with lousy growth prospects. Wine was meant to liven up the party by adding growth momentum. It has not turned out that way and, unfortunately for shareholders, there wasn't much in the December half result whichchief executive Trevor O'Hoy delivered yesterday to suggest that the situation will improve soon.
Tuesday 19 February
Foster's profit growth slows on weak U.S. wine sales
"I'm the first to admit we have to do better in wine. We are yet to achieve acceptable returns in this category," O'Hoy told a briefing. Foster's has struggled to integrate the wine business since its A$3.7 billion acquisition of Southcorp in 2005. Foster's U.S. sales of brands including Beringer, Lindemans, Penfolds and Rosemount slowed sharply in November and December and, although industry figures pointed to some recovery in January, the outlook was for full-year earnings to fall.
ACCC proposes collective sale of wine grapes in Vic
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has proposed authorising 39 wine grape growers in the Alpine Valleys and King Valley region of Victoria, to appoint a common agent, North East Valleys Wine Group, to negotiate wine supply contracts. The ACCC recently granted interim authorisation to allow NEV to negotiate wine grape supply contracts on behalf of the growers in respect of the current 2007/08 wine grape harvest.
Sunday 17 February
It’s time to kiss goodbye to £2.99 wine. Not because we are all buying better bottles, but because Gordon Brown says so. The Treasury warned the UK wine trade last month to expect a tough budget, with duty increases likely to be well above inflation. Exacerbating this are the problems besetting some of Britain’s largest wine suppliers, most notably Australia. Three consecutive bumper harvests there were followed by savage drought and frosts, which ruined the 2007 vintage and are likely to reduce 2008’s yield, too. Overnight the £3.99 Aussie reds and whites have been replaced almost everywhere with £4.99 bottles.
Climate change: has Bordeaux had its day?
Fine wine regions like Bordeaux will cease to be viable as global warming redraws the world wine map, said Australian viticulture specialist Dr Richard Smart. Speaking at the 2008 Climate Change and Wine conference in Barcelona, Dr Smart said producers would do well to reconsider not only the varietals they are planting, but the location of the vines as well.
Thursday 14 February
Heavy rain damages Hunter Valley wine harvest
Recent record-breaking rain across the New South Wales Hunter Valley may well have broken the drought, but for the region's vineyard operators it's created major problems. The summer rain and high humidity have provided an ideal breeding ground for bunch rot and other diseases.
Australia sets out on massive regionality education drive
Australia is embarking on a massive information campaign to educate the UK public about regionality. The Regional Heroes initiative initiative kicks off this month with a progamme of staff training across the on- and off-trade and importers, covering 15 Australian regions and 20 wines. The plan – first set out in last year's Directions 2025 document – is to establish 'a credible claim for regionally distinct wines.' The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation document says, 'it is indisputable that certain varieties flourish in certain regions, and Australia's challenge is promoting this to the rest of the world.'
Hardy: approach regionality carefully
Australia must concentrate on getting its price points up and not 'rush headlong' into regionality, veteran winemaker Bill Hardy has said. Speaking to decanter.com at last week's Australia Day Tastings in London, the Hardy Wine Company's ambassador/oenologist made clear he was in favour of the 'thrust into regionality', as he put it. He said it would be 'fascinating to see how it goes,' and added, 'but it would be foolish to try to concentrate on too many regions. I think we should keep it to around ten.'
Australia's wine export volume has declined for the first time in 12 years. Shipments to the end of January 2008 totalled 769.7m litres compared with 770.2m litres in the 12 months to 31 January 2007. A small 2007 crop, smaller inventories, a predicted small 2008 crop and a stronger Australian dollar combined to cause the decline, the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation has reported.
Wine oversupply expected to ease
Wine authorities are expecting the abundance of cheap Australian wine to fade from bottle shop shelves this year. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says local sales of Australian wine dropped in December by a seasonally adjusted 2.7 per cent to 36 million litres compared to December 2006.
Value wiped from WA wine grapes
Hundreds of dollars have been wiped from the WA wine grape market as growers struggle to sell certain varieties. Prices for chardonnay and shiraz grapes have fallen by $600 a tonne. Fruit brokers say the popularity of wines like sauvignon blanc means there's no longer a market for big volumes of older varieties.
NZ premium wine sales soar in UK
One in every eight bottles of wine sold in the United Kingdom's £5-and-over market ($NZ12.50 and over) is from New Zealand. New Zealand Winegrowers today announced record sales in the UK with New Zealand wine now exceeding 10 per cent of the £5-and-over market for the first time. That market had also increased overall in the UK, exceeding £1 billion for the first time.
WHEN it comes to wine training and education there is a magical word that exists within the parlance of Australian grape growing and grape treading: Roseworthy. An outpost of agricultural studies at the southern tip of the Barossa, this campus was for many years where young people learned how to drink, to tell anecdotes and a few of them learned how to make wine. It's not just that Roseworthy graduates are akin to a minor cult: Roseworthy even has its own entry in the Oxford Companion to Wine.
The polemic over the Bordeaux primeurs increased this month with publication of an article saying prices of €500 a bottle for the 2007 vintage would be 'immoral'. Alain-Dominique Perrin, former head of the world's second biggest luxury group, Richemont, told French magazine la Revue du Vin de France that first growth pricing must fall.
Millions for cool climate wine research
Tasmania's wine industry is celebrating a $1.8 million grant, the largest amount ever dedicated to cool climate wine research in Australia. The money, from federal and state grants, will be used to study cool climate sparkling and pinot noir wine from the grape to the glass.
Wednesday 30 January
McWilliam’s Wines Most Awarded Winery in Australia
The awards have been tallied and the results are in… McWilliam’s Wines, one of Australia’s oldest family-owned wineries, is proud to announce that after decades of receiving recognition for crafting award-winning wines, the winery can now officially confirm it is the most awarded winery in Australia.
Grape crush might improve, says wine body
The wine industry is expecting a slight improvement in this year's harvest after a big decline last year. The Bureau of Statistics says the total grape crush for 2006/07 was 1.4 million tonnes - down 500,000 tonnes on the previous year. "The latest thinking is that the harvest in 2008 ... is more than likely to be a slight improvement on last year."
Aussie wine prices get some legs
Australian wine prices are set to rise this year as the nation suffers its worst drought in a century, an official said. That excess will dry up this year and an even lower grape harvest is forecast for 2008, according to Lawrie Stanford, manager of information and analysis at the government-run industry body Australian Wine and Brandy Corp.
Official: successful people drink more wine
Big company bosses and top professionals consume the highest amounts of alcohol in the UK, says the Office of National Statistics (ONS). According to the ONS, households classified as 'managerial and professional' drank more units of alcohol per week (15.1 units) than any other group. UK broadsheet The Independent, said that chief executives of big companies and public sector organisations are 'coping with their stressful positions by drinking the equivalent of almost three bottles of wine a week' – just under 23 units.
YARRA Valley winemaker Sticks has been sold to South Australian group Global Wine Ventures (GWV) for $10 million. Its first acquisition since buying struggling winemaker Xanadu Normans in 2005, Global Wine Ventures will take over a 4000-tonne winery, bottling line, more than 24ha of Yarra Valley vineyards, stock and bulk wine storage from March 31.
New wine region added to Australian GI list
A large wine region in New South Wales has become the latest official Australian
Geographical Indication. New England Australia, which is around 200 miles north
of the Hunter Valley, is located within the Northern Slopes zone of the state.
Sunday 20 January
Australian wine imports double
Australian wine imports doubled last year while domestic wine sales fell, new figures show. Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that import wine volumes doubled from November 2006 to November 2007, as domestic wine sales fell almost 9%. Over the 12-month period, average volumes of imported foreign wine leaped from 3m to 6m litres, said Damian Sparkes, manager of the ABS wine statistics unit.
Bordeaux 2007: warning bells start ringing
As the 2007 en primeur season approaches, conditions are looking difficult in the Bordeaux fine wine market. The pound is at its weakest level against the euro since the eurozone began on 1 January 2002, and the dollar is similarly weak. But cash-rich Bordeaux producers, with some very successful campaigns behind them and with good stocks in their cellars, continue to release older vintages - in particular the 2006 - at high prices.
Hunter Valley's Trevor Drayton killed in explosion
Leading Hunter Valley winemaker Trevor Drayton has been killed in an explosion at his winery at Pokolbin. Drayton and another person, believed to be a cousin, died this morning (Thursday), reportedly when ethanol was ignited during welding work. A third person was critically injured. Drayton was a key member of one of Australia's oldest family-owned winery businesses.
Trevor Drayton, who died yesterday, would often say, 'I can't understand what all the fuss is about' when discussing wine industry issues at the many committee meetings he attended. He would be saying the same thing now about the masses of tributes being issued following his death, Phil Ryan, his close friend and fellow winemaker said. 'He was an incredible behind the scenes worker,' said Ryan, chief winemaker and manager at McWilliam's Mount Pleasant Estate.
McGuigan, Tyrrell step up for stricken Draytons
Four giants of the Australian wine industry have offered to take over the vintage at Drayton's Family Wines following the death of winemaker Trevor Drayton. This morning the Drayton family accepted the offer from veteran Hunter Valley winemakers Bruce Tyrrell, Brian McGuigan, Phil Ryan of Mount Pleasant Estate and Patrick Auld of Pooles Rock Wines. Trevor, 52, and another man, understood to have been a welding contractor, died in an explosion at Drayton's Family Wines at Pokolbin. Assistant winemaker William Rikard-Bell, 27, survived but with burns to 80% of his body.
Rain may hamper wine grape harvest
A New South Wales Upper Hunter winemaker says rain predicted for the Hunter over the next few days could cause a setback for vignerons. Some vineyards have started harvesting grapes used for sparkling wine, which is picked earlier than other varieties. Peter Orr says he expects the main harvest for table wines to start by the end of the week or early next week. But he says he will be keeping a close watch on the weather, which may stop some harvesting.
AUS$50k Grange leads Langton's pack
Penfold's Grange dominated the 2007 wine auction list compiled by leading Australian auctioneer Langton's. With its top sale a bottle of 1951 Bin 1 for AUS$50,584 (US$44,516) Grange registered the top 10 prices, 15 of the top 20, and 48 of the top 100 during the year, the auction house said. The 1951 was the first vintage of the famed wine which Langton's describes as 'the Australian wine industry's equivalent of powered flight', but 'barely drinkable today'. It was followed by the 1957 Bin 113 Grange at AUS$14,950.
Thursday 17 January
The owner of the Drayton's Winery in the Hunter Valley, Trevor Drayton, is feared dead after a major explosion and fire early this morning. The NSW Ambulance Service has confirmed that two people died in the explosion at 8.15am in a wine processing shed on Oakey Creek Road, Pokolbin
The South Australian Government has announced changes to wine labelling rules in an effort to help boost overseas wine sales. Consumer Affairs Minister Jennifer Rankine says the new labelling system will allow producers to use the same label for both local and international markets.
Champagne winemaker in violent attack on journalist
A Champagne producer with far right-wing connections violently attacked a regional journalist in Reims yesterday. Patrick Bourson, a winemaker and personal friend of National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, punched and kicked local journalist Jean-Francois Scherpereel in the entrance hall of regional newspaper l'Union.
Wine truck collides with train at level crossing
Police say it is fortunate no one was injured in a level-crossing crash near Mildura this morning. The freight train crashed into the back end of a B-double truck as it moved across the level crossing at Red Cliffs.
Weather to play vital role in wine grape harvest
The wine grape harvest is underway in the western Riverina in southern New South Wales. The Winegrapes Marketing Board estimates the crop will be more than the 220,000 tonnes harvested last year, but a clear picture will not emerge until later in the vintage.
Wednesday January 16
I won't drink my own Parker-rated wines, says California winemaker
Robert Parker's influence on Californian wines has forced winemakers to lose their sense of balance, says a cult Santa Barbara producer. Adam Tolmach of Ojai Vineyard told newspaper the Los Angeles Times that his wines had 'lost their rudder' in trying to please the palate of the American wine guru Robert Parker. Tolmach, who has made wine for 25 years, says that although he 'got the scores' he wanted, he found his wines moving further away from his own tastes.
Wine articles must carry health warning, French court decides
A French court has ruled that newspaper articles on wines should be subject to the same health and safety guidelines as alcohol advertising and display health warnings. A Paris county court ruled that an editorial piece in Le Parisien newspaper entitled 'the triumph of Champagne' could be constituted as advertising even if page space had not been sold. The piece was published in the run-up to Christmas in 2005 and focused on major Champagne houses. It contained recommendations, stockist and price details, and profiles of marques. Its headlines included 'Good and inexpensive', 'Champagne, the incontestable star of the party', and 'Four dream bottles'.
New figures show domestic wine sales to the end of November were down nearly nine per cent on the previous year, to 34 million litres. The Australian Bureau of Statistics says part of the reason was a much smaller crush, down nearly half a million tonnes. Damien Sparkes from the ABS says the level of imported wine has also risen dramatically, from around two million litres per month to six million.
Thursday 10 January
WINE exports grew by the smallest amount since 1997 last year as the drought slashed output. But bottled-wine sales pushed up the value of exports by $178million, or 6 per cent, to top $3 billion. The latest Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation figures show export volumes grew by 26million litres, or 3 per cent, last year.
Constellation Brands pares forecast, shares slip
the world's largest branded wine-maker, pared its 2008 earnings outlook on Tuesday due mostly to acquisition-related costs. The owner of Robert Mondavi, Ravenswood, Vendange and other brands said net income for the fiscal third quarter ended Nov. 30 was $119.6 million, or 55 cents per share, compared with $107.8 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.
Dutch take a liking to Aussie wine
The Netherlands was one of the fastest-growing markets for Australian wine last year, with exports there nearly doubling. The Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation says 28 million litres were sold to the Dutch in 2007, an increase of 92 per cent.
Too good to drink: internet's hand in global fine-wine investment boom
NOT LONG ago Stephen Bachmann, a private-equity investor turned online wine store owner, posted a chart on his widely read blog about wine collecting. The dots on the graphic charted an investment starting with about $US1000 in 2003. They continued on a sustained northerly path - up 100 per cent, up 200 per cent - peaking above $US4000 last year.
This year is shaping up to be a good one for New Zealand's thriving wine industry, in sharp contrast to drought-stricken winegrowers across the Tasman. Water shortages in Australia are predicted to force 1000 grape growers out of business.
Wine.com Conducts Sting Operation Against Other Retailers
Long-struggling online wine retailer Wine.com has put itself front and center in a nasty dispute with other retailers—and consumers—over the laws concerning the ability of wine retailers to ship to consumers across state lines. The company set up a series of stings on other retailers—and alerted state regulators—to show that they were violating wine-shipping laws in at least nine states, leaving consumers and other retailers wondering if Wine.com seeks to improve the country's wine-shipping laws, as it claims to, or is simply trying to compete in a new way.
Wine chief forced to smash 'irreplaceable' Grange Hermitage
A MELBOURNE brewery executive was on the verge of tears when he had to smash two bottles of Australia's best-known wine at Melbourne Airport. Neil Grant, southern region general manager with Foster's Australia, ran foul of the tough air security rules as he was about to board an Emirates flight to Britain. "I was going to conferences in Scotland and Ireland, and grabbed a 1980 and an '82 Grange from my personal cellar," Mr Grant said.
LISTED wine investment vehicle Challenger Wine Trust has sold its Gnangara vineyard in Western Australia and the Boh River vineyard in South Australia for a total of $16.25 million. The Gnangara vineyard in Manjimup, which had been leased by collapsed WA winemaker Evans & Tate, was bought by agribusiness investment company Great Southern for $6.3 million, a 6.8 per cent premium to the asset's book value. Great Southern will also pay CWT an additional $670,000 to cover expenses incurred in managing the vineyard since August, when Challenger was forced to take over as caretaker manager following E&T being placed in receivership.
rtion. Australia's wine industry has been hit by drought, fire and frost just as it was emerging from an oversupply that saw cheap wine flood the market and sink prices.
