Any business advisor or strategy consultant will tell you that the value proposition of any retail purchase is a key driver of consumer behaviour. It’s “Business 101”, yet I’m constantly surprised by the inability of glassware manufacturers to sell the value of higher end drinking tools to consumers. After all, how often do we see…
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Marsanne is a troublesome white wine varietal that originated in the Northern Rhone region of France and has challenged winemakers and their viticultural practices for centuries. Notoriously difficult to grow, it struggles in heat or freezing conditions and it is susceptible to a wide range of vineyard diseases. Depending on the conditions and terroir, it…
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Low Alcohol Wines It is a well-known industry deception, that the alcohol content of a wine as described on the bottle, is largely understated. The Food Standards Code in Australia allows a level of tolerance which generally means that wines are labelled as being lower in alcohol than they actually are. A recent study by…
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The annual Travis Schultz Winemakers’ Master Class, backed by NAB Private, raised $91,000 to help SunnyKids to support children at risk with winemakers from the Barossa Valley, Adelaide Hills and Clare Valley regions coming together at the Maroochy RSL to share their knowledge of premium wines for the all-important cause. This year’s sold-out event featured…
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They’ve got in wrong in the Clare Valley! It’s easy to be critical from the sidelines, but as a spectator watching the wine industry blossom in South Australia’s Clare Valley, I can’t help but wonder if players and coaches alike might have made the wrong call. I’m probably going to be howled down for saying…
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Maybe I’m becoming sentimental as middle age takes its grip, but when I recently learned that a cellar door outlet for a Granite Belt Winery has opened a few hundred metres from my childhood home, I couldn’t help but feel a wistful longing for a return to my childhood stomping ground – even if it…
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We all love drinking wines that come with a story, and while much is written about wines, wineries and even their wine dogs, rarely do we get told about the background of the winemaker themselves. After all, these days, major producers are more concerned about corporate branding and profiling their product rather than any back…
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I was wrong. There it is. My wife will chime in that it “certainly isn’t the first time”, and she’s right – and it won’t be the last. But when I first heard that the Buderim based Founding Director of the Coast’s largest construction company Evans Harch was uprooting to move with his wife to…
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Rich, voluptuous and complex. No, I’m not about to review a recent episode of the diatribe that the Kardashian clan masquerade as acceptable television content, but rather discuss the Nero d’Avola grape that is Sicily’s best known native red wine varietal. Often compared to Shiraz or Grenache, it has the fullish body of a warm…
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If we think if Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia, the mental picture is typically one of seals, sea lions, penguin colonies and picturesque national parks. Sadly, it seems, us Queenslanders are largely unaware that the Island also possesses a perfect climate for viticulture and is home to about 30 vignerons and around…
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