Smoke taint analysis and solutions the talk of the industry at the 2021 NBC
May 26th, 2021
By Samuel Squire
The National Wine Sector Bushfire Conference has taken place with venues in Hahndorf, Wangaratta and Sydney hosting leading industry professionals sharing their experiences, research and recommendations for dealing with smoke taint and fire damage.
The 2019/20 summer bushfires resulted in some of the worst ever fire-related damage to Australian winegrape crops, and yesterday the industry came together to learn more about how producers and researchers have dealt with the aftermath.
Wine Australia CEO Andreas Clark said the engagement between industry members was pleasing.
Institute of Masters of Wine Australian Symposium 2022 cancelled
May 14th, 2021
The Institute of Masters of Wine (IMW) and Wine Australia have regretfully decided that the 10th International Symposium cannot be held in Australia in 2022.
IMW Executive Director Adrian Garforth MW said the ongoing uncertainty around international travel made it too difficult to plan the event confidently. Therefore, the difficult decision has been made to defer the event.
‘We will look at the possibility of holding an alternative event elsewhere in 2023, but we need to consider our options carefully in light of the ongoing pandemic’, Mr Garforth said.
Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said that it was disappointing that the event, announced at the close of the 2018 Symposium, had to be deferred, but Wine Australia understood the challenges.
New insights for the Australian wine sector
May 11th, 2021
Wine Australia has launched a new Interactive Insights portal – giving grapegrowers and winemakers 24 x 7 access to the latest wine export and grape production data.
Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said access to information was a critical factor in developing sustainable businesses and the portal had been developed to help the sector analyse the latest data.
“This resource will give the sector the power to do individualised research on exports, crush, winegrape price, vineyard plantings and global wine markets whenever they need access to this powerful information,” Mr Clark said.
Australian Wine CONNECTs with Global Wine Trade
The global wine trade can now connect with Australian wineries via a first-of-its-kind virtual marketplace – Australian Wine CONNECT – replacing global expos and on-ground activity impacted by travel constraints.
More than 1500 trade representatives from 44 countries registered for the launch events of CONNECT. Wine Australia Chief Executive Officer Andreas Clark said, with 232 Australian wineries featured and more than 2000 wines, CONNECT was already creating multiple sales leads daily between wineries, importers, retailers and on-trade.
‘Its unique virtual expo format presents a new way of doing business. It was designed to bring people together, regardless of location, time zones or travel restrictions, enabling business conversations with Australian wineries’, he said.
Australian Wine Exports Grow in New Markets, Plummets 96 Percent in China
New data shows that Australia has successfully weathered the storm of Beijing’s economic coercion by finding alternative markets for wine exports, which has seen growth in Europe, the UK, and the United States.
Despite losses in exports to China, Australia still managed to sell $12 million worth of wine into that market between December and March, down significantly from $325 million (US$251 million) the same quarter the previous year.
Industry body Wine Australia’s new report revealed just how large an impact the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) onerous tariffs had on Australia’s wine trade to China.