News

Wine lovers looking to visit the Limestone Coast can now plan their trip using a free and user-friendly itinerary planning tool showcasing the latest wine and tourism attractions.

Helping grapegrowers optimise their irrigation water use will be one of the first outcomes of a $5 million digital technologies project supporting on-farm decision making for winegrape production.

Australia’s wine sector is drawing together to provide support and advice to those affected by fire. Wine Australia, Australian Grape & Wine, the Australian Wine Research Institute and viticultural experts, backed by the Federal Government, and state and regional wine agencies, are coordinating a response that will offer support and advice in the short-term and a longer-term 
action plan. 

Research at the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre (NWGIC) has identified the potential for a bacterial strain that naturally occurs in grapevines to combat a destructive disease in vineyards.

The Geographical Indications Committee has made an interim determination to recognise Wilyabrup as a separate geographical indication within the broader Margaret River wine region in Western Australia. The decision is open for public comment until 13 March 2020.

Among some wine consumers, Grenache may not be as well-known as Australia’s major red varieties of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. However, Grenache has a distinguished history in world and Australian wine production, and the latest sales data suggest the recent resurgence in its popularity continues.

Singapore recently moved into fifth place for Australian wine exports by value, after recording double-digit growth in the 2019 calendar year. The double-digit growth was seen in both value and volume and is a continuation of the steady growth Australian wine exports have experienced to Singapore over the past four years.

Australian wine sales exceeded production for the second year in a row, indicating a tightening of supply and contributing to increased value for the wine sector according to Wine Australia’s Wine Production Sales and Inventory report 2019 released today. 

Exceptional growth in premium and fine wine categories saw the value of Australian wine exports reach $2.91 billion in the 12 months to December 2019, an increase of 3 per cent in value despite a decline in volume.

In 2018, 2.7 billion cases of wine were consumed around the world. Of this, 261 million cases, or close to 10 per cent, were sparkling wine.