Select Shoalhaven Coast wineries have committed to Australia Day 2011 – a special event to raise money for those affected by floods in Victoria and Queensland. Crooked River Wines leads the charge with a donation of $25,000. Brian and Narelle Jackson, owners of Crooked River said there would be an ongoing need for the next five years to get these people back on their feet, and “we wanted to assist financially having been to the areas that have been devastated by the floods, it was [...]

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Fairfield Police have appealed to the community for information after officers were alerted to suspicious multi-million dollar wine dealings which have affected companies across the country. Investigators have recently become aware that an international company registered to a Wetherill Park address, called World Wide Trading Company, had received large quantities of wine from numerous suppliers on invoices that allegedly have not been paid, or were paid with cheques that have been dishonoured. Additionally, two other suppliers had provided more than 10,000 pallets to the business [...]

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In an amazing historical discovery, a box of old documents salvaged from a rubbish tip 50 years ago was recently opened to unearth rare information about NSW’s oldest existing vineyard, Wyndham Estate (formerly Dalwood Estate), dating back over 160 years. In 1960 a man scavenging the Cessnock rubbish tip “rescued” the box and gave it to his friend, coal miner Bill Chapman, an avid collector of old papers. Just recently, Bill opened the box and discovered some 3,500 rare documents dating from the 1840s to [...]

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New year is fast approaching and there will be plenty of parties around the country, many of them with a glass of bubbly at the stroke of midnight, and other fine bottles throughout the night. But as alcopops and other mixed energy-type drinks continue to hog the spotlight as a nightclub nightmare, the question begs asking: Is wine an old people’s drink? In an attempt to get a feel for what Gen Y is drinking, we went to the nightclub experts at Goldfish in Kings [...]

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Capercaillie has rounded off a terrific 2010 after its 2008 Hunter Valley Semillon was listed as a top 5 finalist in the Semillon category of Winestate Magazine’s Wine of the Year 2010. The winner was the 2005 Pokolbin Estate Semillon and other finalists included 2004 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon, 2005 Allandale Semillon and the 2006 Pokolbin Estate Phil Swannell Semillon. Limited stocks of the 2008 Hunter Valley Semillon are available. To top it off, the Capercaillie 2007 “The Ghillie” Shiraz has won a gold medal in [...]

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The Bidgeebong winery in Wagga Wagga is out of reach of floodwaters, which means staff, equipment and wine are all safe. Chief winemaker Andrew Birks told winery2u today that most of the wineries and vineyards of the region were away from the flood zone. And the small staff at the winery all lived in Wagga proper, which meant they did not live in the at-risk North Wagga area. If floodwaters break levees – which was unlikely to happen today – it would be the worst [...]

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Melbourne company Vinefinders has put eight years of research into an iPhone app, in a bid to keep up with the demands of technology. The app, called Grapes 101, takes visitors through a tour of grape varieties used in Australian wines. But it seems it is almost as difficult to keep up with the varieties. They have just added Bianco d’Alesano, aka Achiappapalmento or Bianco di Valdigna – a white variety at Salena Estate in the Riverland region. As the app reads: “The wine has a pale straw [...]

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If you need a great addition to the Christmas tree which will complement the wine, try a one of Matt Moran’s two books. The superstar chef, owner of ARIA Restaurant Brisbane and Sydney and MasterChef regular, Moran has left signed copies of each edition at ARIA Brisbane. The ’special edition’ hard cover cookbook “When I get Home” is $55 and available only at the Brisbane or Sydney restaurants. His original cookbook is now in soft cover only and retails for $40.    Since opening its doors 15 months ago [...]

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Southern Highland Wines has received some serious bragging rights – beating New Zealanders at their own game and claiming the best Sauvignon Blanc at the Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit competition.
The prize was for the 2010 Oldbury Reserve Sauvignon Blanc.

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Tasmanian winemaker Anna Pooley, from Heemskerk Wines, is the Wine Society’s 10th Annual Young Winemaker of the Year. Announced at the Westin Hotel, Sydney,  on Friday night, Anna won with three wines - Abel’s Tempest Pinot Noir 2009, Abel’s Tempest Traminer 2009 and Heemskerk Chardonnay 2008.   A second time nominee, Anna specialises in white winemaking but has spent two years working with sparkling wines. Through her sparkling wine experience she was responsible for the fruit coming from the Adelaide Hills, Piccadilly Valley and Tasmania.   Winner of [...]

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