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Wine News

Banrock Station launches EcoSpirit format

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Wine brand Banrock Station launches low waste reusable EcoSpirit format for restaurants and bars in Sydney, Australia.

EcoSpirits offers a closed loop wine distribution system that allows 4.5L vessels to be refilled and reused by bars and restaurants.

Accolade Wines, owner of a number of wine brands including Banrock Station, will launch the first refill Eco plant in Sydney in the first half of 2022. The company providing the technology for Eco Spirits is a Singapore company that launched in 2018. Initially the offering was for spirits and launched in the UK via importer Mangrove in 2021 where the spirit company Spirit.ed offered this solution, and is used for their Portobello Gin.

The Eco Spirit system allows for the square glass bottle in a metal case, to be easily cleaned and re-filled from bulk shipped wines and spirits. By refilling and re-using the packaging it will radically reduce the waste glass that is a key part of the carbon footprint of wines and spirits.

Interviews and News for Banrock Station

UK Wine Show 119 Tony Sharley of Banrock Station on Tetra Paks

UK Wine Show 119 Tony Sharley of Banrock Station on Tetra Paks

Tony Sharley of Banrock Station tells us about the benefits of using tetra paks for wine.

Banrock Station launches EcoSpirit format

Wine brand Banrock Station launches low waste reusable EcoSpirit format for restaurants and bars in Sydney, Australia

Interviews and News for Australia

UK Wine Show 30 Aged Semillon with Phil Ryan, Mount Pleasant

UK Wine Show 30 Aged Semillon with Phil Ryan, Mount Pleasant

Phil Ryan is Chief Winemaker at Mount Pleasant in Hunter Valley and has been with parent company McWilliams for 41 years. Phil takes us through a vertical tasting of Semillons and explains how the wine's character changes as it ages.

UK Wine Show 20 Granite Belt Australia's least known wine region Leanne Gangemi Ballandean

UK Wine Show 20 Granite Belt Australia's least known wine region Leanne Gangemi Ballandean

The Granite Belt in Queensland, Australia is at 28 degrees latitude - outside the normal range for growing grapes. Chris met up with Leanne Gangemi of Ballandean winery to find out how they are able to successfully make good wine.

UK Wine Show 102 Philip Shaw on the Orange Wine Region

UK Wine Show 102 Philip Shaw on the Orange Wine Region

Philip Shaw has been making wine in Australia for more than 4 decades and has his own vineyard in Orange, just west of Sydney. Philip tells us about the region and the wines he is producing.

UK Wine Show 101 Hugo Sharp and The Oz Wine Show

UK Wine Show 101 Hugo Sharp and The Oz Wine Show

Hugo Sharp set up the first Australian wine podcast, The OZ Wine Show, in 2005. We caught up with him in Sydney to find out about the podcast and chat about Australian wine.

UK Wine Show 113 David Paxton on the Australian drought and water management

UK Wine Show 113 David Paxton on the Australian drought and water management

David Paxton is one of Australia's best known viticulturists and consultants. He founded Paxton Vineyards in McLaren Vale, South Australia in 1979. We ask him about the Australian drought and how water is being managed in McLaren Vale.

UK Wine Show 192 Lisa McGovern Wine Australia

UK Wine Show 192 Lisa McGovern Wine Australia

Lisa McGovern is regional director of Wine Australia for the UK, Europe and Ireland. We find out about the strategy and plans for the promotion of Australian wine.

UK Wine Show 235 Australian update with Tim Smith and Matthew McCulloch

UK Wine Show 235 Australian update with Tim Smith and Matthew McCulloch

We interview Tim Smith and Matthew McCulloch of Chateau Tanunda, Barossa Valley to bring us up to speed with what's happening in the Barossa and Australia.

Riverina beats drought to produce bumper crop

Riverina, the largest wine-producing region in New South Wales, has harvested a record-breaking crop of grapes

Morrisons to sell Chinese wine

Morrisons has started to sell Chinese wine

France takes away most medals in IWC competition

France has come top of the medal table at this year’s International Wine Challenge

Consumers still confused and unconfident about wine

Recent research by Australian brand Hardys has shown that consumers are still confused about wine.

Carbon neutral is aim for more grape growers

More wineries are setting their sights on becoming carbon neutral in order to avoid contributing to climate change.

British set to be biggest wine spenders in Europe

UK drinkers are predicted to become the biggest European spenders on wine within the next three years.

Oz harvest bigger and better than expected

Australia’s 2008 grape harvest has come in above expectations in both size and quality, according to the WFA.

Online tool helps wine industry track carbon footprint

A carbon calculator has been developed for the wine industry to help producers assess the environmental impact of their activities.

NZ wine bounty grows by 39%

New Zealand’s grape harvest has come in 39% bigger than last year.

ThirtyFifty launches tastings in Oz

UK tasting company ThirtyFifty is launching down under.

Constellation to reduce presence in Australia

Constellation Brands is looking to sell three of its ten wineries in Australia

American wine overtakes France

American wine sales have overtaken French wine sales in the UK for the first time ever.

Rain at last in Oz vineyards

Above average rainfall across Australian vineyards will help rebuild water levels during a long period of drought.

Australia to lose last of Europe's wine names

The Australian wine industry will soon phase out the last of the traditional European names that are still in use for its wines.

Foster's group to keep wine business

Following a review of its wine assets which started in June 2008, Foster's is to retain its wine business but run it as a separate entity to its beer business.

Penfolds 2004 Grange released

Penfolds has released the 2004 vintage of the legendary Grange at £170 a bottle.

Wine company pulls out of Australia campaign

Wine company Australian Vintage whose brands include McGuigan and Tempus Two is pulling its funding for this year’s UK generic marketing campaign by Wine Australia.

Constellation terminates 300 contracts

Australia's biggest buyer of wine grapes, Constellation Wines, has advised 300 growers in the Murray Valley that their contracts will be terminated after the 2012 vintage.

French wine banned in Australia for masquerading as Kiwi wine

A French Sauvignon Blanc, called Kiwi Cuvee, has been prevented from being sold in Australia because of its name.

New tools to tackle Australia's wine glut

A new initiative has been launched in Australia to help producers evaluate the viability of their vineyards and encourage some of them to grub up vines.

Aussie's make less but we're drinking more

Australia's grape crush was down 5.4% in 2008-09 weighing in at 1.7 million tonnes while exports were up 5.2%.

Oz wine company in fake Chardonnay scam

A former boss of Rivers Wines in Adelaide has been found guilty of selling Chardonnay adulterated with Sultana grape juice.

Australia still too big say Rabobank

A report by food and agribusiness bank Rabobank says the process of removing vineyards to reduce Australia's over-supply of grapes is too slow.

Support withdrawn from A+ campaign

Treasury Wine Estates withdraw support from Wine Australia UK campaign.

AC/DC Cabernet Sauvignon is a Highway to Hell

Rock band AC/DC has teamed up with Australian winery Warburn Estate to launch a range of wines.

Jacobs Creek tries bulk shipping to offset high Australian dollar

The high Australian dollar is causing Jacob's Creek to bottle wine offshore rather than locally in Australia to offset the cost of the rising dollar.

Motorhead launch the Ace of Shiraz

Motorhead joins a long list of celebrities who are dabbling in the wine trade.

Australia's Queensland producers shift harvest date by 2-3 months by pruning

Australian winemakers to reset the biological clock of vines to improve grape quality.

Australia drops tasting panel to let natural wines be exported

Australia has dropped the requirement that all wines to be exported must pass a tasting panel so that faulty natural wines stand a chance.

Screw cap for fizz trialled in Australia

Australian winery Taylors is first to seal its sparkling wine with a unique screw cap that can withstand the pressure of the bubbles.

Australia has best growing season in decades while Champagne has one of the worst

Australia is set to benefit from the best growing conditions in the past twenty years but Champagne has seen the worst growing season in decades.

Ozzie pioneer brings Greek Grape to Australia

Greek grape Assyrtiko planted for the first time on Australian Soil

Australian fires destroy wineries and risk 2013 vintage

Vineyards on red alert across Australia as wildfires threaten to wipe out crops

Australia's Baron of Barossa dies

Peter Lehmann winemaker dies aged 82.

Wine Treasury Estates to destroy stock destined for US

Over ambitious forecasting contributes to excess stock destined for US market.

Decanter trophy awards announced

Australia triumphed at the Decanter Awards this week, winning six of the coveted international trophies.

Give Chardonnay Another Chance!

Hardy's new campaign to put Chardonnay back on the menu

Aussie dollar drops but so do wine exports

Will cheaper Australian wines mean exports will increase this year?

New yeast strain drops alcohol levels by over 1% ABV

Australian research team test yeast strains to reduce alcohol levels.

Orange isn't a style of wine its a region!

Wine Australia has issued a message to producers clarifying the use of the word 'orange' for wines not produced in the region of Orange in New South Wales.

Has the reign of Pinot Grigio finally come to an end?

Short supply of Pinot Grigio forces price increases for this popular white wine

Accolade Wines continues to expand

Accolade Wines buys Australian Grant Burge winemakers

Hong Kong firm buys 650ha of Australian Vineyards

Asian investment in Australian vineyards continues.

What Brits are drinking when out

Report shows which wines Brits are drinking when out.

Powdered alcohol approved in the US but Australia wants to ban it

The Victorian Government in Australia said it will move to ban 'Palcohol' after the manufacturer has reportedly shown interest in bringing the product to the Australian market.

Hardy's goes upmarket with tighter regional identity

Hardys has re-launched its premium quality William Hardy range with a much tighter regional focus.

Australia knocked off the top spot for online sales

Report on UK online wine sales shows top 5 country sources

What's hot, what's not in the wine world?

Australia, New Zealand and Prosecco grow at the cost of traditional rivals

Champagne Jayne beats the CIVC

Champagne Jayne wins her case against the CIVC

Boat launch champagne banned

Australian coastguard bans bow bottle smash launch

Bulk Wine shortage predicted

2016 harvest means potential global shortage of bulk wine.

China reduces tariff on Australia wines

FTA agreement reduces tariffs on imported Australian wines

Australia export growth soars by 10% in 2017

Australia export growth soars with exports to China up by 44%

Australia has overtaken France in China

For years the French have dominated China, but in 2017 Australia has now become Chins, main wine supplier.

Is Australia cashing in on China with supply problems in Europe?

China now accounts for 33% of all of Australia's exported wine, rising by a whopping 68% in 2017.

Australia over takes France into second place with the second highest average export bottle price

Australian wine sales, particularly to China, have been booming in the 1st Quarter of 2018. The boom has seen Australia’s average export bottle price rise to £3.70 ahead of France at £3.03.

Naked Wines pulls out of Australian Northern Territory due to minimum pricing

Australia’s Northern Territory has instigated a minimum pricing on alcohol, with Naked Wines claiming it is too difficult to calculate the new minimum prices and says it will pull out of the region.

China's top three on-trade suppliers by country

China’s wine sales in restaurants and bars were released in Wine Business Solutions latest report.

Australia 2019/2020 bushfire season has seen drop of 4% of production

The bushfires that ravaged Australia over the Christmas period are expected to cause a 4% drop in production in 2020, according to Wine Australia.

Australia’s exports to the UK are down 7% on last year, but is Australia a covid-19 wine winner?

Australia’s exports to the UK were 7% down by $356m Aus (£194m) for the year ending in April, but for January to April the imports were up 3%.

UK government started free trade agreement negotiations with Australia and New Zealand

Free trade agreement negotiations have started with Australia and separately with New Zealand. Both are very important non-EU wine suppliers to the UK.

China flexes muscle to put Australian wine producers under pressure

Importers of Australian wine are cancelling orders over confusion on whether Australian wine is banned in the country.

China gets nasty with Australian wine imports

China has effectively banned Australian wine, coal and beef after relations between the two countries soured due to Australian calls for a full investigations into the cause of Covid-19.

China continues to escalate trade dispute with Australia

China adds another 6.3-6.4% duty to Australian wine as it continues to complain about the dumping of Australian wine. The small increase in duty is not thought to be material considering the 107.1-212.1% duty already levied on Australian wines.

South Africa chronic oversupply could be golden news for UK drinkers

South Africa’s wine industry has had a bad Covid-19 pandemic, temporary export bans and on again, off again prohibition has resulted in a 300m litre wine lake, but who is going to drink it up?

China continues crackdown on Australian wine with sales falling 98%

China’s crackdown on Australian wine exports has been heavy handed and dramatic with sales falling of a cliff edge. Down 98% from US$158 million in October 2020 to just US$4 million in December.

Treasury Wine Estates announces restructure amid claims it will try and stay meaningful in China

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), one of Australia's leading wine companies with wineries in Australia and the US, announced its new company structure, while claiming that it hopes to keep a “meaningful presence” in China.

2020 a tough year for Australia, but 2021 show opportunities

2020 was a year of bush fires, drought, COVID and then the Chinese slapped a horrendous duty on Australian wine.

Massive flooding in the Eastern Australia hits vineyards

With many of the grapes harvested before the floods came, only a few regions had grapes to be picked, but Hunter Valley in NSW still at risk.

Mavrik claims to have found the solution to smoke taint

Smoke tainted wines have become the curse of Australia and California, and the resulting wines have a loss of fruit, unattractive smoke flavours and a harsh mouthfeel.

Australian exports to China fall by AU$313m in four months

China’s import tariff on Australian wines has led to a collapse in sales from AU$325m to AU$12m in the four months of December 2020 to March 2021.

Trade deals away, UK does free trade deal with Australia

UK trade deal will save up to 9p for a bottle of Aussie wine

Australia takes China to the World Trade Organisation

This week Australia formally complained to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) about China's punitive tariffs on Australian wines.

Penfolds Grange breaks record for any Australian wine sold at auction

Penfolds Grange, the iconic Australian wine, has broken all records for any Australian wine sold at auction. A bottle of the 1951 vintage sold at A$142,131 (£76,750) and was the first Penfolds wine ever to sport the Grange label.

Australian wine exports to the UK leapt by 16% by volume in the 2020-21 financial year

Australia has seen a surge in UK wine sales over the Covid lockdown, with wine exports to the UK leaping by 16% by volume in the 2020-21 financial year.

Profits at Australian wine giant Treasury hold up after China’s punitive tariffs on Australia

Profits at Treasury Wine Estates, owners of Penfolds, Wolf Blass, 19-Crimes and Lindemans, held up in the face up Covid-19 and punitive tariffs by the Chinese government to record only a small drop in profits of 0.4%

Australia’s wine sales down by AUS$1 billion in China after tariffs imposed

A year after China implemented swinging tariffs on Australian wine the effect resulted in 93% decline in sales to AUS$29 million, a drop amounting to almost AUS$1 billion.

New South Wales flooding as harvest season gets underway

Some of the worst flooding has hit Australia’s New South Wales region in 60 years, just as harvest gets underway.

Banrock Station launches EcoSpirit format

Wine brand Banrock Station launches low waste reusable EcoSpirit format for restaurants and bars in Sydney, Australia

Australian wine exports fall by 26%

Australian wine exports fall on the back of China tariffs, reduced vintages and international freight problems.

Yellow Tail vineyard sale

Australian producer and the world's most recognisable wine brand is planning on selling their 7258ha of vineyards in Australia.

Penfolds to launch Chinese wine

Penfolds is to launch a wine made in China to get around China's punitive taxes on Australia

Not Guilty alcohol-free wine launches in UK

Australian Vintage launches award winning alcohol-free wine brand Not Guilty into the UK

Australian wine growers switch grape varieties in response to changing markets

Australia has had a huge change in where it sells its wines over the last few years and demand has also changed from big reds to whites.

EU-Australia trade deal falters allowing Australian Prosecco

EU Australia trade deal falters leaving Australia free to produce Prosecco and name it Prosecco.

Aussie wine bounces back

Australian wine rebounds as Chinese market struggles to recover