A feasibility study is underway in South Australia to determine if collection points in the state’s wine regions could be a simple, sustainable and cost-effective way to help vineyard owners manage the disposal of CCA-treated trellis posts.
Across Australian vineyards, it is estimated there are around 70 million timber trellis posts treated with CCA — a timber preservative containing copper, chromium and arsenic that protects it from fungal and insect attack. More than half of these are in South Australia, and each year, between 700,000 to 1.8 million CCA posts need to be disposed of across the state due to breakage, vineyard redevelopment or removal.
Emerging leaders in the Australian wine sector will have new opportunities to develop their skills, with Coonawarra Grape and Wine, Barossa Australia, Wine Victoria and the Queensland Wine Industry Association selected to deliver the Next Crop program in 2025.
For the first time, Next Crop will be offered in the Coonawarra wine region and Queensland. It is also returning to the Barossa, while Victoria’s program will focus on the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland.
As the Australian wine sector moves towards its emissions reduction targets, six innovative packaging solutions for premium wine have been awarded Federal Government grants to test their feasibility.
The grants have been issued as part of the Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII) – Renewables and Low Emissions Round, managed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources. BRII provides funding to startups and SMEs to develop innovative solutions for government policy and service delivery challenges.
Alternative packaging for premium Australian wine was among three challenges of the Renewables and Low Emissions Round.
The search is on for the next generation of change-makers in the Australian grape and wine sector, with applications now open for Future Leaders 2025, the sector’s peak leadership development program.
In the 12 months ended December 2024, Australian wine exports increased by 34 per cent in value to $2.55 billion and by 7 per cent in volume to 649 million litres, according to Wine Australia’s Export Report released today.
Participants at a demonstration event held earlier this month at Best’s Wines Great Western in Victoria saw firsthand the effectiveness of a non-chemical, autonomous method for controlling powdery mildew that is being evaluated at its Sugarloaf Creek Vineyard — the first commercial trial of the system in an Australian vineyard.
With the support of Wine Australia, and Agri Automation, Best’s managing director and vineyard manager Ben Thomson has been trialling the method — which combines a unit that emits UV-C, a form of ultraviolet light, and a Burro autonomous vehicle — in his Sugarloaf Creek Vineyard since October last year.
Distiller Hugh Holds was researching the impact of climate change on brandy production in Australia at the University of Adelaide when he received a PhD top-up scholarship from Wine Australia that enabled him to explore whether smoke-tainted fruit could be made into a commercially-viable brandy product.
A former winemaker, Hugh made the transition to making spirits following a couple of years in the grape and wine sector. After producing whiskey for about a decade, he found himself between jobs and decided to head back to university to undertake a PhD, focussing on brandy — a product he is keen to see take advantage of the rise in the popularity of craft spirits in Australia.
In the lead up to what is anticipated to be a challenging fire season in many regions, Wine Australia has reviewed the latest research findings and evidence-based advice from the AWRI, La Trobe University and other agencies and organisations to develop a web-based ‘quick reference guide’ to support growers and winemakers who are unfortunate enough to be impacted by fire or smoke this season.
A remediation method for smoke-affected wine that maximises the recovery of value from impacted fruit is being validated in the Australian marketplace as part of a 12-month collaborative project between Wine Australia, VAF Memstar and Amea, the New Zealand-based company behind the solution.
Wine Australia and the AWRI have embarked on a series of research projects that focus on taking research outcomes through to impact in grapegrowing and winemaking businesses. These ‘Impact Projects’ are the result of a substantial rethink on how projects are structured and, more importantly, how their direction and focus is informed to best serve the wine sector. In the following Q&A, Wine Australia’s new Research Impact Manager Josh Hixson explains the benefits of focussing investment towards research impact.
This market bulletin looks at whether the reduction in global supply is likely to lead to improved market conditions – and higher prices – for wine and winegrapes in Australia.
This market bulletin provides an update on the performance of the no and low alcohol wine categories globally, highlighting markets that have been growing.
On 1 August 2023, wine sold in the United Kingdom started being taxed on the level of alcohol in the product, rather than by volume. This has already had an impact on the level of alcohol in wine sold in the UK, including Australian products. This Market Bulletin will give an overview of the duty changes and how they are already impacting on exports and retail sales.
Australian wine exports exceed $2.5 billion in 2024, with strong return to mainland China offsetting declines in other key markets, according to Wine Australia’s Export Report released today.
This market bulletin examines the key insights from the report that was funded by Wine Australia and produced in collaboration with Wine Direct, Enolytics and Georgia Rasmussen Consulting.