January
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Barossa winemaker proves busy people can have it all. Well, sort of
With two vineyards, a winery and a two-year-old, “Life’s a bit ... saturated,” says Brett Grock. Still, he’s found the time to put his artwork on his labels.
- Max Allen
The three things needed to lift winery asset sales out of the slump
Lower interest rates and a rise in consumer spending will help but for banks to lend more, margins will have to improve, industry figures say.
- Michael Bleby
Why Chinese-made wine could be coming to a bar or restaurant near you
Top bars and restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide are selling Chinese wines produced by both major players and smaller independent outfits.
- Gus McCubbing
It was once worth $1.2b – will Australia’s Chinese wine trade recover?
Australian wine exports to China have generated $612 million since Beijing lifted tariffs last year, but the market’s future remains uncertain.
- Lucy Slade
December 2024
There’s something special about Tasmanian sparkling, and they know it
Move over Champagne, the Apple Isle makes some of the best sparkling wines in the world. And the Effervescence festival is where it’s on display.
- Yolanda Redrup
Fine wine market in the red as Chinese demand dries up
The falls mark a second consecutive tough year for the industry, which was hit in 2023 by higher interest rates and dwindling sales from Asia.
- Laurence Fletcher
Bordeaux, Napa, Ningxia? Penfolds elevates China to prestige terroir
Treasury Wine Estates has bought a 75 per cent stake in Stone & Moon winery in a $27.5m bet that Chinese wine will one day rival prestige regions.
- Updated
- Simon Evans
November 2024
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
How one man’s mission to save a rundown vineyard won him global renown
When viticultural expert Dylan Grigg bought his plot of old-vine grenache in the Barossa, it was a mess. Now it’s a destination for travelling winemakers.
- Max Allen
Is this Australia’s best shiraz?
These wine show judges certainly think so: the Great Australian Shiraz Challenge turns 30, and it’s needed now more than ever.
- Max Allen
October 2024
Ed Peter’s Duxton Pubs appointed wife, sons to roles in business
The decision has inflamed tensions with big investors at the same time as the asset manager contends with broader financial pressures and sells properties.
- Updated
- Primrose Riordan and Simon Evans
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Bain seeks to quaff up Australia’s Accolade Wines
The local winemaking giant’s first private equity owner made a motza, the second lost it. The new brigade promises its reign will be very different.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Drinks With Max Allen
- Life & Leisure
Hands down the best non-alcoholic wine I’ve tried
Based in Berlin, Kolonne Null partners with wineries in Germany, France and Spain to source wine that is then de-alcoholised.
- Max Allen
September 2024
Melbourne dining powerhouse wins award for country’s best wine list
Gimlet’s head sommelier says the key to success is paying the same level of attention to someone drinking by the glass as to a high-roller ordering a $12,000 bottle.
- Gus McCubbing
August 2024
The fundie who unexpectedly became CEO of a wine company
James Williamson has temporarily jumped the fence to run Australian Vintage, and is agitating for M&A. His fund owns shares in the listed wine group.
- Simon Evans
In ‘diabolical trouble’ – How big wine brands fell out of favour
Wolf Blass, who set up his eponymous wine brand almost 60 years ago, says the cheaper end of the wine sector is in ‘diabolical trouble’ but the cycle will turn positive again.
- Simon Evans
Treasury Wine to offload Wolf Blass, Lindeman’s, Yellowglen
Australia’s biggest wine group will cop a $354m impairment and shop around its cheaper wine brands as part of a strategic reset for the Penfolds owner.
- Simon Evans
Liquor giant Dan Murphy’s absorbs Penfolds price hikes
The retail chain’s managing director Agi Pfeiffer-Smith said the market is increasingly competitive and even shoppers seeking small luxuries want a deal.
- Carrie LaFrenz
July 2024
The suburbs where Australians drink the most champagne
Baby boomers are big drinkers of imported bubbles, but younger consumers are driving demand for alternatives such as prosecco.
- Michael Bleby
- Exclusive
- Wine & spirits
Langtons eyes $1m sales from vintage Champagne auction
The Australian fine wine marketplace is partnering with expert Tyson Stelzer to offer rare European and wartime vintages.
- Carrie LaFrenz
Pernod Ricard exits Australian wine making, sells to Bain consortium
The French giant’s portfolio of local brands – as well as those in New Zealand and Spain – will be combined with Accolade Wines, the company behind Hardys.
- Kylar Loussikian