Announcements and Suppliers

27/07/2010: Toast of the town
Entries are now open for Bathurst’s National Cool Climate Wine Show. Now in its 11th year, the event has grown from an original 125 entrants to what is expected to be more than 1000 in 2010.

22/07/2010: Canberra International Riesling Challenge entry date extended
The entry date has been extended for the Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) until July 31. Now in its 11th year, the CIRC attracts entrants from all over the world and for the first time 2010 will see the introduction of two new trophies: the Australian Capital Territory Government and Qantas Best Dry Riesling in the World, and the Australia Post Best Sweet Riesling in the World.

21/07/2010: Entry date extended for NSW Small Winemakers Show
Entries have been extended for the New South Wales Small Winemakers Show 2010. The closing date is now Friday, July 23, with judging commencing on August 24 and concluding on August 25. The show is open to all NSW wine producers that crush a maximum of 500 tonnes annually.

6/07/2010: Major wine prize goes national
One of the Royal Adelaide Wine Show’s most prestigious prizes – the Gramp, Hardy, Hill Smith Prize for Outstanding Wine of Provenance – will be open to wineries from across Australia in 2010.

2/07/2010: Winetitles prizes on offer at WineTech 2010
Winetitles invites you to visit its team at stand 608 at WineTech 2010 where its comprehensive range of wine industry related publications will be showcased and available for purchase.

29/06/2010: Riesling - a first in 222 years
A book dedicated to only one variety of grape and wine – a first in the 222 years of the Australian Wine Industry – was launched in Canberra on June 28 by ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope.

Australian Wine Industry News

30/07/2010: Accolades for Hawke’s Bay wine from Aussies
Hawke’s Bay’s red wines reportedly gained rave reviews from hospitality and wine trade guests at the Hot Red Hawke’s Bay expo held this week in Melbourne and Sydney. Twenty-four Hawke’s Bay wineries were in Australia this week for two events to share more than 130 red wines representing Hawke’s Bay annual vintage, as part of an initiative hosted by the Hawke’s Bay Wine Growers Association.

19/07/2010: Project funds to support Langhorne Creek Wine
A $75,000 grant from the South Australian Government’s Regional Project Fund will create a “wine regionalisation model” to develop marketing and advertising campaigns that will further brand Langhorne Creek as a South Australian wine region.

16/07/2010: Organic wine one of the latest trends
Australia’s largest certified organic wine producer Tamburlaine, has seen a 70% increase this financial year in exports for its organic and biodynamic wine in both Australia and overseas.

15/07/2010: Adelaide Hills winemaker responds to Richard Smart's WRAA report
On Thursday 8 July, Daily Wine News featured the full-text version of the article written by Dr Richard Smart for the March/April 2010 Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal. Owner of Adelaide Hills winery Tilbrook Estate, James Tilbrook, responded to Smart’s sentiments in the article. His words are published here in full.

13/07/2010: Ryan wins Qld Wine Press Club Trophy
Dr Bill Ryan, a highly respected Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland (RNA) councillor, wine expert and philanthropist has been awarded the 2010 Royal Qld Wine Show's Qld Wine Press Club Trophy for the most significant contribution by an individual to the wine industry in Qld.

9/07/2010: Smart thanks Northern Hemisphere for southern wine quality
During his presentation at the workshop entitled Pinot Noir – ‘the heartbreak grape’ – mending it in the vineyard and winery, held as part of the 14th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, which wrapped up yesterday in Adelaide, Dr Richard Smart thanked the Northern Hemisphere “for polluting the Earth’s atmosphere so that the Southern Hemisphere could make better quality wines (than countries in the north)”.

8/07/2010: Curtain falls on a successful WineTech 2010
The curtain has fallen on the third and final day of WineTech 2010. WineTech exhibition manager Paul Baker says the shared conclusion of visitors and attendees is that the winemaking industry is well-positioned to re-shape itself as a sustainable industry.

8/07/2010: Peak growers' body appoints new leaders
Wine Grape Growers' Australia (WGGA), has appointed a new senior executive team to lead the organisation. The WGGA board yesterday appointed a new chairman, deputy chairman and executive director.

7/07/2010: Coonawarra goes to Rome
The Coonawarra Vignerons Association will be shipping over 100 cases of Coonawarra wine to the Vatican for events surrounding Mother Mary MacKillop’s canonisation on October 17, 2010.

7/07/2010: Quality attendees in high numbers at WineTech
With day two of WineTech now complete, event organiser Reed Exhibitions say the visitor stream has been characterised by ‘quality’ attendees.

6/07/2010: Grapegrowers see future opportunities at wine conference
US robotics expert was Derek Morikawa among the key speakers on day three of the Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference today, currently underway in Adelaide.

International Wine Industry News

25/06/2010: Vineyards hit by storms
(First appeared in La Journée Vinicole, edition 223, June 24.) In the aftermath of freak flooding and landslides that devastated parts of Provence, Northern Italy also suffered the wrath of dramatic weather conditions.

25/06/2010: France sees advent of new controlled appellations
(First appeared in La Journée Vinicole, edition 223, June 24.) The national board responsible for overseeing controlled appellation products, Institut National des Appellations d'Origine, has voted in favour of a series of requests for new wine appellations.

22/06/2010: Chamarré: is the French wine industry ready for brands?
(First appeared in La Journée Vinicole, edition 222, June 18.) Hailed in 2005 when it was first launched as France’s response to the mega brands of the New World, Chamarré has gone into receivership. The company continues to trade and, in accordance with French law, has been placed under observation for four months.

18/06/2010: NZ wine industry announces 2010 vintage results
New Zealand Winegrowers has released its 2010 vintage results. According to the industry body, NZ’s 2010 harvest totalled 266,000 tonnes, 19,000t smaller than the 2009 crop and in line with NZ Winegrowers’ pre-harvest forecast.

31/05/2010: Research shows consumers spending more on wine to drink at home
The latest research commissioned by the United Kingdom Wine & Spirit Trade Association shows consumers are willing to spend more on a bottle of wine to drink at home.

18/05/2010: First quarter sales give cause for optimism
(First appeared in La Journée Vinicole , edition 217, May 12, 2010.) That sales of Champagne provide a fairly accurate measure of consumer confidence and therefore the state of the economy, is beyond doubt as France slowly makes progress along the route to recovery.

Research Findings

14/10/2009: Women wine-drinkers are more sensitive to economic uncertainty than men
According to a survey run by Australian market intelligence business Food and Wine Insights, women wine drinkers are drinking less, drinking more at home and spending less per bottle at wine retailers and restaurants than men since the global financial crisis began.

9/07/2009: Benchmarking breakthrough for winemakers
Next generation web-based technology is giving wine companies the know-how to reduce costs, reduce waste and improve their business performance.

21/05/2009: Daily Wine News Reader Survey: Wine blogs - users’ perceptions
Although wine blogging is not new, it is lacking in thorough, meticulous research. Despite the fact that wine bloggers have attempted to gather information on the wine blogging community, these surveys are often lacking rigour.

21/05/2009: Hannibal has much to answer for
A Wine Intelligence survey of 3000 wine drinkers (2000 UK and 1000 US) asked respondents to write down the first word they thought of when shown the name of a particular wine region, as reported in Decanter.

What's On in Australia

30/07/2010: Help for WA wineries
Help is available for struggling West Australian wine businesses facing oversupply and international competition. A two-day workshop called Building a Profitable Sustainable Wine Business will take place during August, supported by The West Australian Wine Industry Association and delivered by Wine Business Solutions.

16/07/2010: Closing date for Riesling Challenge entries extended
The Canberra International Riesling Challenge (CIRC) has extended its closing date for entries to 31 July 2010.

16/07/2010: Entries open for WISA 2010 Supplier of the Year awards
Australian wine industry suppliers are encouraged to register their entry to Wine Industry Suppliers Australia's Supplier of the Year awards, before the closing date of 27 September.

13/07/2010: VWIA to host regional briefings
To help grape and wine businesses face significant industry challenges, the Victorian Wine Industry Association is conducting a state-wide series of regional briefings. “In an environment where an industry is facing significant challenges, grassroots businesses need to know who is doing what, why they are doing it, how, and with whom,” VWIA chief executive officer Joanne Butterworth-Gray said.

13/07/2010: Field day to focus on mulch healthier grapevines
Local vignerons have been invited to focus on the benefits of mulch and compost in boosting soil health at field days at the Hunter Valley’s Tuscany Vineyard on Wednesday, July 28, and in Mudgee at Clearview Vineyard on Thursday, July 29.

9/07/2010: Entries soon to close for NSW Small Winemakers Show
Entries for the 2010 NSW Small Winemakers Show will close on 19 July, with judging to be conducted 24-25 August. Sponsored by The Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal, the show is open to all NSW wine producers that crush a maximum of 500 tonnes annually. The show is not open to any winery that is owned or part-owned by a large wine producer. Last year, the show attracted more than 600 entries from 103 producers across the state.

24/06/2010: Plonkies for a Cause – back in 2010
Back by popular demand in 2010 for the 14th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference, the ‘Plonkies for a Cause’ event, to be held from 7pm on Monday 5 July, at the National Wine Centre, Adelaide, follows on from the successful get-together of Roseworthy College and University of Adelaide old scholars during the AWITC in 2007.

What's On Overseas